SOCIAL SCIENCE III
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Reformation Background
Causes
Early reformers
Martin Luther
Henry VIII
Quiz (part 1)
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Over centuries, rulers, scholars and members
of the clergy criticized church practices.
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Though reforms were made and introduced
publicly during the Middle Ages, problems
with the Church still lingered.
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Problems in the Catholic Church
 Corruption of Church leaders
▪ Pope Pius II says “If the truth be confessed, the luxury
and pomp of our courts is too great.”
 Poorly educated low-ranking members of the
clergy
▪ Couldn’t read nor teach people of the words of God.
 Marrying, gambling, drinking, and other practices
which counter the doctrines of the Church.
▪ Pope Alexander VI admits to having fathered several
children.
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In the late 1300s and
early 1400s, John
Wycliffe and Jan Hus
advocated church
reform.
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Girolamo Savonarola
from Florence.
 Wanted to change
 POPE does NOT have
Florentine’s secular view.
 Executed for heresy,
eventually.
the right to worldly
power.
 Bible had MORE
authority than Church
leaders.
By the early 1500s, more
Europeans began to
question religious
teachings.
MARTIN LUTHER
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1517, Martin Luther opposed
the actions of a friar named
Johann Tetzel who was selling
indulgences by raising money
to rebuild the St. Peter’s
Cathedral in Rome.
95 THESES
These are formal statements
aimed to criticize the
“pardon-merchants”.
 Luther wanted a full reform of
the Church. His ideas rested
on three:
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 People could win salvation only
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Tetzel gave this impression
that by buying indulgences, a
person can have an assured
place in heaven.
by God’s forgiveness.
 All Church teachings should be
clearly based on the words of
the Bible.
 All people with faith were
equal.
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After being excommunicated, Luther and his
followers became a separate religious group
called Lutherans.
 Priests were dressed in ordinary clothes. They
would be called as ministers.
 Ministers were allowed to marry.
 They led services not in Latin but in German.
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Luther was revolutionary in
his ideas on the Church’s
teachings. Many people
began to apply Luther’s
ideas to society.
 German peasants’ revolt to
end serfdom
 Luther’s response: SHOW
PEASANTS NO MERCY
 100,000 peasants, more or
less, were massacred by
German princes’ armies.
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The agreement that the religion of each German
state was to be decided by its ruler.
 German princes loyal to the pope VS German princes
who supported Luther.
 Protestants was the term used to refer to these
protesting German princes (against an agreement
between the Pope and his loyal German princes to join
forces against Luther’s ideas).
 Charles V, wanting to put an end to the dispute
between German princes, ordered all of them to
assemble in the city of Augsburg.
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Was a young, strong,
handsome, intelligent
royal.
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Loved sports,
literature, music, food,
and most of all, he
loved his God.
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Defender of the Faith
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Fear of producing no heir
 Believed that Catherine of
Aragon could no longer bear
a son (they only had one child
– Mary)
 First sought to have his
marriage divorced, then he
wanted it to be annuled
 Pope’s side is with Catherine
of Aragon
 Henry breaks with the pope
and started the Protestant
Anglican Church.
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Secret marriage to Anne
Boleyn
 Parliament legalized their
marriage
 The Parliament ended pope’s
power in England by
approving the Act of
Supremacy
 Act of Supremacy – English
king, not the pope, is the
official head of England’s
Church.
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Married 6 times.
Produced 3 children, all of whom would
eventually rule England:
 Edward VI – king of England at the age of 9. And
ruled for only 6 years.
 Mary – devout Catholic who reinforced the
authority of the Pope over the English Church.
 Elizabeth I – Anne Boleyn’s daughter who would
restore Protestantism in England.
 True or False
1) According to John Wycliffe and Jan Hus, the
bible has more authority than the Church.
2) Johann Tetzel was selling his self just so to
acquire money for the beautification of St.
Peter’s Cathedral.
3) Henry VIII was known as the Defender of Faith
before going against the Church.
4) Henry VIII’s reasons for going against the
Church were personal and political.
5) Mary would restore Protestantism after the
death of Henry VIII.
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Became Queen of England in
1558
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Elizabeth I returned her
kingdom to Protestantism.
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Somehow, she tried to
harmonize Protestantism and
Catholicism.
 For Protestants, priests in the
QUEEN ELIZABETH I, head of the
Church of England or Anglican
Church
Church of England were allowed
to marry.
 For Catholics, the Church of
England maintained the rich
robes and golden crucifixes.
Furthermore, the Book of
Common Prayer was revised to
be acceptable to Catholics.
JOHN CALVIN
Believed that the ideal government was
theocracy, Calvin would eventually lead
the Protestants in Geneva, Switzerland.
CALVINISM
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Institutes of the Christian
Religion
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“Men and women are sinful
in nature.”
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Predestination explains
that God has known since
the beginning who will be
saved.
JOHN KNOX
PRESBYTERIANS
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A Scottish preacher who
was greatly inspired by
Calvin’s ideas.
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Knox, with other Scottish
Protestant nobles, made
Calvinism as their country’s
official religion.
 Huguenots, on the other hand
are those Calvinists in France.
ANABAPTISM
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People who had been
baptized as children should
be rebaptized as adults.
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“to baptize again”
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Church and state must be
separate, they refused to
fight in wars.
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They shared their
possessions.
Anabaptism would later influence
Quakers and Baptists who would
split from Anglican Church
CATHOLIC REFORMATION
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“Helping Catholics to
remain loyal to the Church”
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Aka the COUNTERREFORMATION
ST. IGNATIUS DE LOYOLA
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Spiritual Exercises –laid out
a day by day plan of
meditation
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Society of Jesus – Jesuits
(members of the order)
 Founded superb schools
throughout Europe
 Convert non-Christians to
Catholicism
 Stop Protestantism from
spreading
PAUL III
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Directed a council of
cardinals to investigate
indulgence selling
Approved the Jesuit order
Used Inquisition to seek
out and punish heresy in
papal territory.
Gathered a great council of
Church leaders at Trent
COUNCIL OF TRENT
1)
2)
3)
4)
The Church’s
interpretation of the Bible
was FINAL.
Christians need faith and
good works for salvation.
The Bible and the Church
were equally powerful
authorities for guiding the
Christian life.
Indulgences were valid
expressions of faith.
PAUL IV
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EFFECTS OF REFORMATION
Index of Forbidden Books –
list of books considered
dangerous to Catholic
Church.
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 Most of them were Protestant
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Bibles
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Protestant religion
flourished
Religion no longer united
Europe
Set the stage for modern
world.
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Yes or No