Bellwork
• How did the printing press affect
Christianity?
World History
Section 5, Unit 2
The Reformation
Objectives
• Describe the role of Martin Luther on the
changes in the Church.
• Identify how secularism and the Renaissance
affected Church authority.
• Connect the creation of the printing press to
the rise of church reform movements.
• Discuss other major reformers, including John
Calvin and Marguerite of Navarre.
• Describe how the reformation damaged the
unity of Europe at this time.
Changes in Europe
• By 1500, due to the Renaissance, the spread
of secular ideas because of the printing
press, the plague, and various other
problems, the Church began to weaken.
• Rulers, especially, became tired of the Pope
trying to control them and merchants
resented paying taxes to the Church.
• These feelings began to sweep across
Europe.
Problems with the Catholic Church
• Critics of the Church
(meaning Catholic Church
for now) claimed that its
leaders were corrupt.
• The popes who ruled
during the Renaissance
patronized the arts, spent
extravagantly on luxury
and funded wars.
• Many of these popes even
pursued worldly affairs,
such as having children.
Problems with the Catholic Church
• The lower clergy experienced its own
problems, such as being poorly educated,
getting married, drinking, or gambling.
Reform
• Influenced by reformers, people came to
expect higher standards from the priests.
• Many of these reformers argued that the
pope is not above the Bible or that church
leaders should not be living in excess.
– Many died for their beliefs, but their calls for
change lived on.
Martin Luther
• In 1505, Martin Lutherthe son of a German
miner- became a monk
and from 1512 to his
death in 1546, he taught
scripture.
• He wanted to be a good
Christian, but had not
planned on his beliefs to
cause a revolution.
Martin Luther
• In 1517, Luther decided to take a public
stand against a friar named Johann Tetzel,
who raised money by selling indulgences or
pardon (releasing a sinner from having to
repent).
• In response, Luther wrote The 95 Theses or
formal statements attacking these “pardonmerchants”.
Martin Luther
• He then posted his
theses on the door of the
castle church in
Wittenburg and invited
scholars to debate him.
• However, someone
copied his words and
mass produced them.
• Martin Luther’s actions
started what was known
as the Protestant
Reformation.
Protestant Reformation
• The Protestant
Reformation was a
movement of religious
reform .
• It led to the founding
of churches that did
not accept the pope’s
authority.
Protestant Reformation
• Soon, Luther went beyond criticizing
indulgences. He wanted to reform the church
entirely by teaching three basic things:
1. People could win salvation only by faith in God’s
gift of forgiveness.
2. All church teachings should be clearly based on
the words of the Bible, not the pope or church
traditions.
3. All people of faith were equal and that people did
not need priests to interpret the Bible.
Reformation Spreads
• Luther himself was surprised by how
quickly his ideas spread.
• Many merchants and rulers were unhappy
with the Church and took to his ideas
quickly for political and economic reasons.
Reformation Spreads
• Initially, the Church
officials just saw
Luther as a rebellious
monk who needed to
be punished.
• However, when his
ideas became more
radical, the pope
realized that Luther
was a serious threat.
Reformation Spreads
• At one point, Luther was threatened with
excommunication and, when Luther
refused to take back his words, he was
excommunicated. Luther and his students,
however, were unfazed.
Question: Why might Martin Luther have not cared about being
excommunicated?
Reformation Spreads
• As a devout Catholic, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V did not like to hear what Luther was
saying.
• Because he has control of Germany, he
summoned Luther to the town of Worms to
stand trial in 1521.
• The trial ended with Luther having all his
books burned and being told that no one in
the empire was allowed to shelter or give food
to him.
Reformation Spreads
• However, while Luther
was named a heretic by
the court, Prince
Frederick the Wise of
Saxony, who ruled the
state where Luther lived,
ignored the ruling.
• He provided Luther with
shelter and time to
translate the New
Testament into German.
Reformation Spreads
• When Luther returned to Wittenberg in
1522, many of his ideas were put into place.
• Priests began dressing in normal clothes
and called themselves ministers and they
led services in German rather than Latin.
• Instead of continuing the reformation,
Luther and his followers had become a
separate religious group: Lutherans.
Response
• While many joined
Lutheranism to
oppose the Church,
some German princes
used Luther’s ideas for
selfish reasons.
• They saw his teachings
as a good opportunity
to assert their
independence from
Charles V.
Response
• In 1529, German
princes who remained
loyal to the pope
agreed to join forces
against Luther’s ideas.
• Princes who supported
Luther signed a protest
against that
agreement.
Response
• These protesting princes came to be known
as Protestants: Christians who belong to
non-Catholic churches (except Orthodox
Christians).
Making Connections: What was the point of the Reformation? How
did the reformation create Protestantism?
The Reformation simply existed to change the existing Catholic Church, not create an
entirely new Church. Protestantism came from when the reformers protested.
Other Reformers
• While Martin Luther began the
Reformation, he was not the only reformer
of the time.
• Other reformers included John Calvin, who
created the faith of Calvinism which pushed
forth the idea of predestination: the idea
that God already knows who is saved and
who is not.
Other reformers
• Another reformer, John Knox, helped
created the Presbyterian church in
Scotland.
• However, religious changes in England may
have been one of the most important
consequences of the Protestant
Reformation.
England
• The Catholic Church faced another great
challenge to it’s authority in England.
• However, unlike Luther- who broke away
from the Church for theological reasonsthe man in England who did so did it
because of personal reasons.
England
• When Henry VIII became
king of England, he was a
devout Catholic; however,
his needs would test his
loyalty.
• He needed a male heir to
the throne to avoid a civil
war for the crown.
• He and his wife Catherine
of Aragon had only one
child- Mary- but no
woman had ever
successfully claimed the
English throne.
England
• In 1527, Henry was
convinced that Catherine
would have no more
children, so he wanted to
divorce her and marry
another woman.
• However, the Church
would not allow divorce,
but could allow an
annulment (setting aside)
of his marriage.
England
• Henry went to the pope to request an
annulment, but was turned down because
Catherine was related to the current Holy
Roman Emperor.
Question: How do you think Henry is going to react?
What might he do?
England
• Without the Church, Henry decided to
solve the problem himself.
• In 1529, he called Parliament into session
and asked to pass laws to end the pope’s
power in England.
• Following this, in 1533, Henry married Ann
Boleyn, divorced Catherine, and in the
following year, saw his break from the pope
finalized.
England
• In 1534, Parliament
passed the Act of
Supremacy, making the
English king head of the
English Church.
• Afterwards, Henry
closed all English
monasteries and seized
their wealth.
– The monasteries had
about 20% of all English
wealth, vastly increasing
Henry’s power.
England
A Family Portrait:
King Henry and
his children
• However, once again, Henry did not get a son
from Anne. He had her sent away and then
later beheaded in 1536.
• Henry later married four more times. His third
wife did provide him a son named Edward.
England
• After Henry died in 1547, all three of his
children eventually ruled, creating religious
turmoil.
• When Edward VI was king, he gave Protestants
power. When his half-sister Mary ruled, she
returned the Church back to the pope and had
many Protestants killed (hence why she would
later be called “Bloody Mary”).
• However, England would once again change
under the rulership of Anne Boleyn's daughter,
Elizabeth.
Elizabeth
• Inheriting the throne in 1558, Elizabeth I
returned her kingdom to Protestantism.
• In 1559, Parliament allowed her to set up a
national church in England.
• People were required to attend services or
pay a fine.
• Parliament then declared Elizabeth the
head of the Church of England, or Anglican
Church.
Elizabeth
• The Church of England was
designed to attract both
Catholics and Protestants.
• Priests were allowed to
marry and English was the
main language of the
church.
• However, the Church of
England kept traditional
services in place, such as
having priests wear
elaborate robes and golden
crucifixes.
Problems
• When Elizabeth created
the Anglican Church, she
faced opposition from
outsiders.
• Philip II of Spain planned
to attack England for
several reasons, among
them was Elizabeth’s
support of Protestants in
his country and that
England left the Catholic
Church.
Problems
• Philip II attempted to attack England with
the Spanish Armada– an invasion force of
130 ships- but the Armada was ultimately
defeated due to a mix of bad weather and
English naval forces.
Catholic Reformation
• While many were
moving towards
Protestantism, millions
of people remained in
the Catholic Church.
• To help spur people to
stay, the Catholic
Church attempted to
reform itself.
• This period of change is
known as the Catholic
Reformation.
Catholic Reformation
• One great reformer of
the Church was
Ignatius of Loyola.
• In 1540, Ignatius and
followers that he had
gained from preaching
from 18 years, became
known as the Society
of Jesus, or the Jesuits.
Catholic Reformation
• The Jesuits concentrated on three activities:
1. They founded schools throughout Europe and
vigorously trained in both classical thought
and theology.
2. Convert non-Christians to Catholicism.
3. Stop Protestantism from spreading. The zeal
of the Jesuits helped overcome the growth of
Protestantism in several areas.
Catholic Reformation
• Popes also helped to reform the Church.
• In 1534, Pope Paul III took four important steps
towards reform:
1. He had the council of cardinals investigate abuses
within the Church.
2. Approved the Jesuit order
3. Used the Inquisition to seek out and punish
heresy (anti-church rhetoric)
4. Called a council to meet in Trent, Italy which
created the Council of Trent.
Catholic Reformation
• The Council of Trent- between 1545 and
1563- agreed on several doctrines:
1. Church’s interpretation of the Bible was final.
2. Christians needed faith and good works for
salvation.
3. Bible and Church traditions were equally
powerful forces.
4. Indulgences (pardons) were valid expressions
of faith– but one could not sell them.
Catholic Reformation
• 1559, another reforming
pope came to power: Paul
IV.
• He carried out the
council’s decrees and had
officials draw up a list of
books dangerous to the
Catholic faith.
• Catholic priests
throughout Europe were
to find these books and
burn them.
The Reformation
• The Reformation had enduring effects.
• Protestant churches flourished, despite
religious wars and persecutions.
Question: What do you think happened to the
unity the Church provided in Europe?
The Reformation
• Unity under the Church was gone in Europe.
• As the Church’s powers declined, individual
monarchs and states gained power and paved
the way for modern nation-states.
• In addition, reformers who rejected the church
laid the groundwork for rejection of Christian
belief that would happen in later centuries,
primarily during the Enlightenment.
Questions
• If you have any questions, please ask now.
Next Lesson
• In the next lesson, we are going to discuss
European exploration.
Review
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Why do you think the Reformation spread throughout
Europe so quickly after the Renaissance and Financial
Revolutions?
Did the early church reformers want to leave the
church? Why or why not? Explain your answer.
Why are people who oppose the Catholic Church called
“Protestant”? Where does the term come from?
Why did Martin Luther criticize the Church?
Why did Henry VIII want to leave the Church?
What were the purposes of the Catholic Reformation
and describe no less than three (3) changes that
occurred during this time.
What was the long term impact of the Reformation on
Europe? Describe at least two (2) impacts of the
Reformation.