Back to Index of Lecture Notes Europe: The Protestant Reformation I. Religious / Intellectual life on Eve of Reformation

• A. Piety and mysticism
  • 1. moving away from money to endow cathedrals
  • 2. religion increasingly less focused on organization
  • 3. ie. more personal
  • 4. emphasis on personal pilgrimages
  • 5. emphasis on ethics (ala humanism)
  • 6. pious living and "closeness to God" important
  • 7. ie. more individualistic
  • 8. "This was a religious approach favored by townsmen, who found scholastic subtleties beyond them and preferred a simple, practical, and intuitive theology."

II. Characteristics of Roman Catholic. Church of 16th Century

• A. Irony of decadence and beauty of Renaissance papacy
• B. Different from "ancient Church" desired by humanists
  • 1. Political intrigue
  • 2. Papal authority: since middle ages popes sought to manipulate politics
  • 3. Wanted dominion over temporal rulers
  • 4. Boniface VIII (1294-1303) declares: No human beings, including kings, can find salvation unless they are subject to the pope.
• C. Extremely well organized, wealthy, complicated
  • 1. Political activity, administration need funding
  • 2. Papal activity in politics begins in earnest with Sixtus IV (1471-84)
  • 3. Irony: In gaining political power, pope must dirty his hands: If he becomes political, he might just lose!
• D. Corruption and Immorality in RCC
  • 1. Forgot spiritual concerns
  • 2. Flagrant Immorality
    • a. related to political nature of papacy
    • b. Innocent VII (1484-1492)
      • (1) 16 children
      • (2) presided over their weddings
      • (3) kept Sultan's bro. in jail for money
    • c. Alexander VI Borgia (1492-1503)
      • (1) grossly immoral
      • (2) used force, intrigue
      • (3) money for kids (Cesare & Lucretia) Borgia
    • d. Julius II (1503-15)
      • (1) warrior pope
      • (2) centralized papal states govt.
      • (3) wanted to be known as statesman
      • (4) yet also patronized Raphael, etc.
    • e. Leo X (1513-21) de' Medici
      • (1) son of Lorenzo the Magnificent
      • (2) not a warrior
      • (3) "Let us enjoy the papacy since God has given it to us"
  • 3. These created calls for reform all over Europe
• E. Indulgences
  • 1. Originally to help people "relax" a penance
  • 2. Indulgentia means "permission"
  • 3. Treasury of Merits (13th C. onwards)
    • a. storehouse of good works
    • b. many done by saints
    • c. also lives of good Chistians
    • d. could be given by the pope
      • (1) shows papal power
      • (2) a gift if people for penance
    • e. originally a reward, gift become sold
  • 4. Contrition (sorrow for sins), the better way
  • 5. Attrition (fear of punishment) leads to indulgences
  • 6. However, uneducated do not see difference. Thought they could buy salvation.
  • 7. Finances of indulgences
    • a. used to repay Fuggers
    • b. money had been needed for St. Peter's

IV. Desires to Reform Church--precursors to Luther

• A. Wycliff (1320?-84)
  • 1. called for translation of Bible into English
  • 2. wanted a simple church
  • 3. denied papal authority
  • 4. focused on personal piety
  • 5. believed in universal priesthood
  • 6. predestination
• B. John Hus (1369-1415)
  • 1. Czech
  • 2. same ideas as Wycliffe
  • 3. did not attack transubstantiation
  • 4. desired a more communal Church
• C. Paramount in these reformer-heretics: REFORM OF RCC

V. Martin Luther (1483-1546)
VI. 95 Theses of 1517 - Oct 31, 1517, Wittenberg

• A. Luther's attack on indulgences, papal authority
• B. Against salvation by "works" in general
• C. A manifesto on the church in Wittenburg: calls for debate
• E. Diet of Augsburg 1518, Luther won't recant, spirited away
• F. Luther-Eck debate ensues, 1519--highly charged, political
  • 1. Johann Eck the quick witted
  • 2. Martin Luther the stolid
  • 3. Eck gets Luther to say that past reformers were Christian
    • a. this forces Luther to disagree with pope openly
    • b. forces Luther into a more extreme position
• G. Luther then claims that only the Bible is infallible
  • 1. not the Church
  • 2. not Tradition
  • 3. certainly not the Pope

VII. The "Trinity of Lutheranism"

• A. Centrality of the Bible
  • 1. read by each person
  • 2. translated into vernacular languages
  • 3.translated by Luther (1522), becomes standard German
• B. Universal Priesthood of Believers - each believer their own priest
  • 1. minimizes need for administrative Church
  • 2. no need for priests, hierarch "between God & Man"
  • 3. also de-emphasizes the importance of communion
    • a. no more transubstantiation
    • b. to be done, taken, by any Christian
• C. Justification (Salvation) by faith alone
  • 1. also minimizes importance of "visible Church" - outer trappings
  • 2. makes the "saved" or "invisible" Church more important - individual faith
  • 3. emphasizes that some are chosen (elect) by Grace

VIII. Luther's ideas--Lutheranism--expands

• A. Reformation = politics + religion
• B. Quick response to Luther (Three Ps: pope, print, politics)
• C. Methods of dissemination
  • 1. Printing
    • a. small pamphlets
    • b. even illiterates could listen to them being read
  • 2. Spreading the word--Luther's disciples as preachers
  • 3. Fertile ground
    • a. anticlerical
    • b. use of music
    • c. direct access without sacraments
    • d. common believers fed up with the Pope
      • (1) already talked about papal degradation
      • (2) easy to dislike the popes
      • (3) popes become evil, antichristian
• D. Political questions help spread of Lutheranism
  • 1. Germany not united under strong leadership
  • 2. important cities make it ideas move quickly

VI. Excommunication and Diet of Worms

• A. Luther excommunicated from RCC in Jan 1521
• B. Charles V, HRE, calls diet for April 1521
  • 1. Germany aflame with Lutheran ideas
  • 2. anti-Italianism
  • 3. anti-clericalism
  • 4. gives Luther backing to maneuver
• C. Luther will not recant his beliefs
  • 1. is 1500 years of Christianity wrong?
  • 2. are you an authority over the pope?
• D. "Edict of Worms" notes that Luther will not recant, is outlawed in HRE. A final break with the past for Lutheranism.

VII. Developments in Protestanism

• A. England and Henry VIII (1509-1547)
  • 1. Had defended the Pope and Catholic Church against Luther
  • 2. But marriage and politics got in the way
  • 3. Wanted to get annulment of marriage to Catherine because of no male heir
  • 4. Pope would not grant one - Catherine is a relative of Charles V, a major ally of the Pope
  • 5. So Henry breaks from Pope, sets up Church of England - purely political reasons
  • 6. Church of England retains a lot of trappings of Catholicism, but absorbs Lutheran ideas over time.
• B. Anabaptism - a more radical form of Protestantism
  • 1. Mainly a peasant movement in Germany, Switzerland
  • 2. Militantly anti-Catholic
  • 3. Goes against everything the Catholics do (priests must be married, against statues of saints, etc)
  • 4. Against infant Baptism - only those old enough to understand can be Baptized (origin of idea of being born again)
  • 5. Held that the poor are best able to interpret the Bible
  • 6. Millenarian - believed that the Second Coming would happen soon
  • 7. Peasants Rebellion (1525-27) - series of Anabaptist revolts - eventually put down

VIII. John Calvin (1509-1564)

• A. Second most important figure after Luther
• B. Of French origin, moves to Switzerland, eventually to Geneva
• C. Institutes of the Christian Religion - 1536
  • 1. book that outlines his main ideas
  • 2. faith is a gift from God
  • 3. only the "elect" can understand the Bible (those predestined to achieve salvation)
  • 4. emphasized the importance of living a disciplined life
  • 5. to work is to worship
  • 6. wealth is a blessing
  • 7. ultimately very influential on U.S. culture
• D. Revolutionary tendencies
  • 1. Calvinists view themselves as elect, which gives them moral courage, feeling that what they do is right
  • 2. Emphasis on moral discipline pushes them to create "heavenly cities on earth" - Christian utopias
  • 3. Desire to create moral, hard-working, disciplined Christian societies
  • 4. like the Pilgrims and the Puritans, who were Calvinist

IX. Catholic response - the Counterreformation

• A. Catholic Church has to play catch-up
• B. Many residual strengths
  • 1. millions of followers
  • 2. large resources
  • 3. large hierarchy, vast array of priests, monks, nuns, etc.
• C. Cleaning house, internal reform
  • 1. efforts top deal with corruption, incompetent priests
  • 2. attacking heresy in the ranks
  • 3. Some Christian Humanism influence seeps in
    • a. greater emphasis on ethics, the Bible, the individual
    • b. but Pope still in charge
• D. Combating Protestants, spreading the Word
  • 1. Makes use of religious orders, Inquisition
  • 2. Jesuits
    • a. new order designed to promote and protect Catholicism
    • b. Founded by Spanish soldier - Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556)
    • c. organized on military lines, heavy emphasis on education
    • d. takes on the hardest jobs
      • i. combating the spread of Protestantism in Europe
      • ii. Difficult missionary areas - China, Canada, etc.

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