REFORMATIONS
Challenges to the Hegemony
of Roman Catholic Church
• 12th C: Cathar Heresy – countered by Crusade against Cathars
• 13th C: Establishment of the Inquisition (1233): court established
to stamp out heresy
• 14th C:
• John Wyclif (1328-84): first English Bible: Lollard Movement
• Jan Hus (1369-1415): launched religious movement in Bohemia
based on Wyclif’s ideas: Hussites
Excommunicated and burned at the stake.
• Avignon Papacy 1305-1378
• Papal Schism 1378-1418
• 15th C:
• William Tyndale (1484-1536): first printed English Bible
• Rise of nation-states – breakdown of medieval centralization
under Church and Pope
• 16th C: Humanist reaction against Church corruption
Weaknesses in Roman Catholic Church
• Administrative divisions: competing Popes
• Proliferation of questionable rituals
• Pilgrimages
• Saint worship
• Endowment of masses
• Corruption
• Sale of Indulgences – certificates of remission from
Purgatory
• Simony – sale of Church offices
Northern Renaissance
• Rise of Middle Class that patronized the arts
and valued education
• Christian Humanism
• Interest in classical humanism
• Renewal of spiritual values and teachings of
early Church Fathers
• Criticism of Church corruption and
materialism
Devotio Moderna:
The Brethren of the Common Life
• Movement founded by Geert Groote (1340-84) that
emphasized meditation and the inner life
• Two types of communities arose:
• The Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life: lay
communities that devoted themselves to religious exercises,
the search for personal perfection, work, and service to
others. They have been described as practical mystics.
• The Congregations of Windesheim, a center for monastic
reform, emphasized a deep and personal religious
experience and faith, combined with learning, especially in
the fields of Biblical and patristic study.
• Imitation of Christ, attributed to Thomas a Kempis (13801471: second most widely published book in the West until
Modern times
Northern Humanist Literature:
Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)
• Dutch Humanist
• Educated in the Brothers of the Common Life and
Augustinian college at Stein
• Travelled widely throughout Europe
• 1511: The Praise of Folly – satire on the follies of
mankind, especially Scholastic theologians and
church dignitaries: dedicated to Sir Thomas More
• 1516: Annotated Greek New Testament
Northern Humanist Literature:
Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)
• English lawyer, politician and Chancellor to Henry VIII
• Helped Henry VIII in writing his Defence of the Seven
Sacraments, a repudiation of Luther.
• 1516: Utopia: description of an ideal state in contrast to the
current hypocritical Christian society.
• Opposed Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn and the
establishment of the Church of England: refused to swear
to the Act of Supremacy and Oath of Supremacy.
• Convicted of treason and beheaded: "The King's good
servant, but God's First."
Northern Humanist Literature:
François Rabelais (ca.1484-ca.1553)
• French Franciscan/Benedictine monk, humanist and
physician
• Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532-64): a series of 5
books recounting the stories of two giants traveling in a
world full of greed, stupidity, violence, and grotesque
jokes.
• Banned by the Catholic Church and later placed on The
Index librorum prohibitorumon (the Index of Forbidden
Books).
• Although printing with
The Printing
Press
movable type had existed in
East Asia since at least the
700's, the invention had not
spread to Europe.
• About 1440, the German
goldsmith Johannes
Gutenberg developed
movable type.
• Printing soon became the
first means of mass
communication. It put more
knowledge in the hands of
more people faster and
more cheaply than ever
before. As a result, reading
and writing spread widely
and rapidly.
Lutheran Reformation
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
• Augustinian monk and Biblical scholar
• 1517: Nailed 95 Theses on Church door at
Wittenberg: particularly incensed by
selling of indulgences
• German translation of Bible
• “Justification by faith alone” and “The
Priesthood of all believers”
Lutheran Reformation
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
• Two sacraments: Baptism and Holy Communion
• Consubstantiation rather than Transubstantiation
• Advocated universal education
• Wrote hymns: “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”
• Supported by bourgeoisie, merchants, German
princes
• Countered Peasants’ Revolt
Lutheran Reformation: Music
• Luther saw music as a form of religious
•
•
•
•
instruction
Hymnals: collections of religious songs
Professional and congregational singing in
vernacular languages
Chorale: congregational hymn – communal
expression of devotion
“Ein feste Burg is unser Gott” : “A Mighty
Fortress is Our God”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiRpUtVByxU
Albrecht Dürer
1471-1528
• Portraits, landscapes,
naturalistic studies,
religious meditations
• Woodcut engravings
• Mass produced
images
• Illustrated books
• Available to wide
population
Political Reformation
Henry VIII (1491-1547)
• Proclaimed “Defender of the Faith” by Pope
Clement VII when he countered Luther’s
arguments
• Sought divorce from Catherine of Aragon to
marry Anne Boleyn: refused by Pope
• 1534: Act of Supremacy: declared the king as
head of Church of England – Anglican Church
• Ordered dissolution of monasteries: transfer of
property to crown; iconoclasm
Henry VIII
1509-1547
Edward VI
1547-1553
Lady Jane Grey
1553-1553
Mary I
1553-1558
Elizabeth I
1558-1603
Reformed Churches: Calvinism
• Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)
• Swiss Humanist scholar
• Salvation by grace and works
• Baptism as a covenant/contract
• John Calvin (1509-64)
• French Doctor of Law
• Refuted RC opposition to usury: work ethic and capitalism
• 1536: Institutes of Christian Religion
• Predestination: the elect and the damned
• TULIP: Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited
atonement, Irresistible grace, Preservation of Saints
• Established theocratic state in Geneva, Switzerland
• Church governance: presbyterian, synodal, congregationalist
• Huguenots, Puritans, Presbyterians
John Knox
(1505-72)
Scottish
Presbyterianism
• Originally ordained a Roman Catholic priest,
Knox became a Protestant and studied with
Calvin in Switzerland.
• On his return to Scotland, he became the leader
of the Scottish Reformed Church
• Knox and his supporters began to reshape the
Scottish church--theologically and politically.
Scottish Presbyterianism
• Knox took the idea of representative government
characteristic of Calvin's reformed churches (communities
lead by elected elders or "presbyters"), and applied it
locally, regionally and nationally in total reversal of the topdown or hierarchical fashion of Catholic or "episcopalian"
government.
• Thus local councils ("Presbyteries"), regional councils
("Synods") and national councils ("General Assemblies")
were made up of representatives of the people.
• Thus was born "Presbyterian" or representative church
government--one source of inspiration for the new
democratic forms of government that led eventually to the
U.S. Constitution of 1789.
Radical Reformation: Anabaptists
• Rejected all sacraments as sources of God’s grace: total
•
•
•
•
•
emphasis on Christian conscience and voluntary
acceptance of Christ
Adult baptism: rebaptism – considered heretical by other
Protestants
The Mass is not a sacrifice but a memorial – restricted to
baptized believers
Pacifist
Anti-secular: religious separation from secular world
Shunning of sinners
Radical Reformation: Anabaptists
• Appealed to lower classes and peasants: Peasants
•
•
•
•
Wars 1525-35
Persecuted by both Catholics and Protestants –
often burned at stake
Freedom of religion: priesthood of all believers,
Bible as sole authority, ordinances rather than
sacraments, separation of church and state
Amish, Hutterites, Waldensians, Mennonites,
Quakers, Baptists, 7th Day Adventists, Jehovah’s
Witnesses
Genealogy: Baptism and Confirmation Registries
Anglican
Europe, c. 1560
Catholic Counter-Reformation
• Council of Trent (1545-63)
• Called for moral reform of clergy
• Strengthened Church structures and institutions
• Proclamation of dogmas
• Affirmation of both Faith and Works
• Transubstantiation
• Establishment of Society of Jesus (Jesuits) under
Ignatius Loyola
• Vigorous missionary work in Americas and Asia
• Revitalization of religious art: Baroque
CounterRerformation Art
The zeal of the CounterReformation inspired a
new, more dramatic
and emotional artistic
expression in
Mannerist and
Baroque artists.
Bernini, The Ecstasy of St. Teresa
Reformation Repercussions
• Rivalry between Spain and England
• 1588 Defeat of the Spanish Armada
•
•
•
•
•
•
Religious wars in France (1560-98)
The Thirty Years War (1618-48)
Revival of the Inquisition’s persecution of heretics
“The Burning Times” -- Witch-hunts (1550-1750)
Religious Persecution
Migration to the New World for religious freedom
•
•
•
•
French Huguenots to Florida – driven out by Spanish
Puritans to New England
Quakers and Amish to Pennsylvania
Roman Catholics to Maryland
• Natural theology: Derives the
existence of God from reason and
personal experience rather than
divine revelation or scripture
• Cultural influences:
• Reaction against sectarian
violence in Europe
• Growing knowledge of diverse
religious beliefs both classical
and contemporary
• Textual study of Biblical
scriptures
• Advances in scientific knowledge
– Bible could not be seen as
authoritative for matters of
science
• Skepticism about miracles and
books that report them
• “Watchmaker God”
• Unitarianism
William Blake
Deism
Treaty of Westphalia, 1848