Chapter 13
The Age of Reformation
 Prelude to Reformation: The Northern Renaissance
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Christian or Northern Renaissance Humanism
 Sources of Christianity
 Simplicity of Christianity
 Reform of religion
 Reform of education
Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)
 Handbook of the Christian Knight, 1503
 In Praise of Folly, 1511
Thomas More (1478-1535)
 Utopia, 1516
 Henry VIII
 Prelude to Reformation: Church and Religion on the Eve
of Reformation
 The Clergy
 Wealth
 Ignorance
 Division between higher and lower clergy
 Popular Religion
 Relics
 Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)
 The Imitation of Christ
 Deemphasis of religious dogma
 Indulgences
 Martin Luther and the Reformation of German
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Early Luther
 From peasantry
 Study of law
 Monastic life
 University of Wittenberg
 “Justice of God”
 “Justification by faith”
 Archbishop Albrecht
 Johann Tetzel
 Indulgences
 95 Theses on Wittenberg Church door, 1517
 Debate at Leipzig, July 1519
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 Address to the Nobility of the German Nations, 1520
 The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, 1520
 Excommunicated , 1521
 Diet of Worms, 1521, Trial
Development of Lutheranism
 Appeal to university students
 Urban phenomenon
 Older generation of humanists break from Lutheranism
 Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560)
 Peasants’ War, mid-1520s
 Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants
The Empire of Charles V
1. The empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1519-1556), was a consequence of diverse inheritances. From his mother, Juanna, the
daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, he gained the now unified crown of Spain (Castile and Aragon), the Spanish New World possessions, and
lands in Italy (Sicily, Sardinia, and the Kingdom of Naples). From his grandfather Maximilien of Austria (1493-1519), Charles obtained
Austria, Tyrol, Milan, and territories in southern Germany. Charles' grandmother, Mary of Burgundy, left him the Netherlands (Low Countries)
and Franche-Comte.
2. With a massive campaign chest, the nineteen year old Charles successfully won election by the seven German electors as Holy Roman
Emperor in 1519 though he was opposed by Pope Leo X (1513-1521) who supported French king Francis I (1515-1547).
3. The lands of Charles were a source of constant trouble. As Holy Roman Emperor he faced the challenge of Lutheranism. As the ruler of Naples
and Sicily, he was in a constant war with the ambitious French king Francis I. In Austria, Charles was faced with the aggression of Turks who
were at the walls of Vienna in 1529. In Spain, after being crowned king in 1516 Charles was faced with a revolt in 1520 when he left behind a
Flemish regent during his absence in Germany.
4. The rebellion in Spain began in Toledo and very quickly other cities joined it to protest the delegation of political authority to foreigners. There
also existed a feeling that Charles was abusing the traditional rights and privileges of both the nobility and the towns. Ultimately, fifteen cities
formed a league of opposition bringing together the nobility, clergy, and the people in what was called the Revolt of the Comuneros. Charles
prudently appointed two Castilian nobles as co-regents.
4. It is worth noting that the territories of the Habsburgs came to encircle France which now feared for its security. Further causing consternation
was the consolidation of the Germanies to the east by the Habsburgs.
4. So unwieldy was the empire of Charles that in 1521-22 he transferred eastern Austrian territory and parts of the German territory to his brother
Ferdinand. In 1556 when Charles abdicated in retirement, Ferdinand I (1556-1564) took the mantle of Holy Roman Emperor.
Questions:
1. For Charles, what were the consequences of holding so many lands under his authority?
2. Why would Francis I of France be a natural enemy of the Habsburgs?
The Empire of Charles V
Church and State
 Luther keeps only 2 of 7 Catholic sacraments – baptism
and Lord’s supper
 Bible the authority for religious affairs
 State dominated churches
 Germany and the Reformation: Religion and Politics
 Emperor Charles V, 1519-1556
 Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Spanish America
 Preserve the unity of the Catholic Church
 Francis I, 1515-1547
 Habsburg-Valois Wars, 1521-1544
 Suleiman the Magnificent, 1520-1566
 Battle of Mohács, 1526
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Diet of Augsburg, 1530
Schmalkaldic League
Wars against the Turks
Schmalkaldic Wars, 1546-1547
 Battle of Mühlberg
 Peace of Augsburg, 1555
 Lutherans same legal rights as Catholicism
 Right of each German rule to determine the religion of
his subjects
 The Spread of the Protestant Revolution
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Lutheranism in Scandinavia
 Gustavus Vasa, 1523-1560, of Sweden
 Frederick I, 1523-1533, of Denmark
The Zwinglian Reformation
 Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)
 Zurich, Switzerland
 League of evangelical cities
 Marburg Colloquy, 1529
 War between Swiss Protestant and Catholic cantons
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The Radical Reformation: The Anabaptists
 Church as a body of believers
 Democracy
 Ministers
 Lord’s Supper as remembrance
 Refuse to hold political office or bear arms
 “Thou shall not kill.”
 Münster, 1530s
 Menno Simon (1496-1561)
 Separation from the world
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The Reformation in England
 Henry VIII, 1509-1547
 Catherine of Aragon
 Mary I,
 Need for a divorce
 Archbishop Thomas Cranmer
 Second wife, Anne Boleyn
 Elizabeth I
 Act of Supremacy and Treason Act, 1534
 Six Articles Act, 1539
 Third wife, Jane Seymour
 Edward VI
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 Edward VI, 1547-1553
 Movement closer to Protestantism
 Book of Common Prayer
 Mary, 1553-1558
 Attempted restoration of Catholicism
John Calvin and the Development of Calvinism
 John Calvin (1509-1564)
 Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1536
 “Power, grace, and glory of God”
 Predestination
 Two sacraments – baptism and Lord’s Supper
 Geneva
 Ecclesiastical Ordinances, 1541
 Consistory
 The Social Impact of the Protestant Reformation
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The Family
 Positive view of family relationships
 Place of women
Education in the Reformation
 German gymnasium
 Genevan Academy
 Jesuits as educators
Religious Practices and Popular Culture
 Decline of superstition
 Reform of social practices
 Puritans
Catholics and Protestants in Europe by 1560
1. Wittenberg was the home to Martin Luther where he taught at the local university. In 1517 Luther posted on the door of the local church ninetyfive theses against the sale of indulgences. Luther presented his views in 1521 to the imperial diet at Worms called by Emperor Charles V (15191556). Refusing to recant his criticism or beliefs, Luther was placed under imperial ban.
2. One of the chief tools for diffusing the ideas of Luther were the students who attended the University of Wittenberg. Between 1520 and 1560
some 16,000 students were graduated. As they returned to their homes throughout Germany they spread the ideas of Luther.
3. In the 1520s as the Union of Kalmar collapsed, Lutheranism appeared in Sweden, Denmark, and Norwary.
4. The teachings of the Anabaptists spread into southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Seen by both Catholics and Lutherans as a threat,
the Anabaptists were virtually stamped out in Germany. Some of the survivors went to Munster and proclaimed it the New Jerusalem. As they
became radical millenarianist, Lutherans and Catholics increasingly became distrustful and a coalition recaptured the city in 1535. Not only were
the Anabaptists exterminated here but also tens of thousands were killed in Germany and the Low Countries.
5. In 1519 Ulrich Zwingli was named the people's priest by the Zürich city council. From this post he was able to guide religious reform in the city.
Zwingli saw no distinction between government of the Chruch and the state. Both should be guided by the laws of God. Efforts by Zürich to
export to the rest of Switzerland its reform resulted in its spread including to Bern in 1528 and Basel in 1529. Resistance by the Catholics resulted
in civil war between the cantons in 1531. That same year the Zürich army was defeated and Zwingli killed.
6. In England the Reformation was political in nature as the Anglican Church was created for the purpose of Henry VIII (1509-1547) giving himself
a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Henry became the head of the church but made few doctrinal changes. Under Henry's sickly son Edward VI
(1547-1553) the church drifted to Protestantism. Edward's successor, Mary (1553-1558), tried to move back to Catholicism and persecuted the
Protestants. Mary was followed by Elizabeth I (1598-1603) who chose a middle course between Catholicism and Protestantism.
7. John Calvin converted to Protestantism in 1533. By 1536 he was in Geneva and would influence that city until his death in 1564. The central
location of Geneva allowed easy dissemination of Calvinism. In southern and western France, Calvinism was received by the Huguenots and it
penetrated England as persecuted Protestants returned after the death of Mary. In Scotland John Knox established it. By the 1550s Calvinism
had eclipsed Lutheranism among the Polish, Hungarian, and Bohemian nobility thereby facilitating its growth.
8. The Council of Trent, convened by the Church, met from 1545 to 1563 but failed to reconcile Protestant and Catholic differences.
Questions:
1. Why did Protestantism grow so rapidly in the sixteenth century?
2. How was the growth of Protestantism in England different from that of the rest of Europe?
Catholics and Protestants in Europe in 1560
 The Catholic Reformation
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New mysticism
 Saint Teresa of Avila, (1515-1582)
 Religious orders
 Capuchins
 Theatines
 Ursulines
 Oratory of Divine Love
 Society of Jesus, 1540
 Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)
The Spiritual Exercises
Absolute obedience
 Francis Xavier (1506-1552)
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Revived Papacy
 Pope Paul III, 1534-1549
 Reform commission
 Recognized the Jesuits
 Council of Trent
 Pope Paul IV, 1555-1559
 Inquisition
 Council of Trent, 1545-1563
 Doctrinal issues
 Division between moderates and conservatives
 Reaffirmed traditional Catholic teachings
 Theological seminaries