Read History Online- The Reformation Europe

1. Read History Online- The Reformation Europe Read up on history online with The History Learning Site. The two key reformers in Sweden were Olaf and Laurentius Petri. Both these men had studied at Wittenburg and were influenced by Luther and Melanchthon. Sweden Swedish bishops were very wealthy and most of then came from the leading Swedish families. Like the rest of western Europe pre-Luther they supported a system that allowed them the opportunities to abuse their position. In 1500 Danish kings ruled Sweden and they upheld the power and rights of the Catholic Church. After the death of Sten Sture, a national rebellion took place against Denmark led by Gustavus Vasa. In June 1523, Vasa was proclaimed king by the Estates of Nobles. However, his war had been costly and to recoup his losses, he decided to attack the wealth of the established church. He faced one main problem. With the exception of Stockholm, which had trading links with the north of Germany, Lutheranism had made no real inroads into Sweden and the majority of the people were loyal to the Catholic Church. Hence there was no obvious lever to get at the Catholic Church’s wealth. In 1527 at the Diet of Vasteras the bishops refused to have a public debate with those who wanted reform. They knew that their wealth was an obvious target to attack and there would be royal approval to do so. The bishops appealed to Rome for help but the sheer distance involved meant that help was impossible. Vasa threatened to abdicate over the issue and no- one was willing to tolerate the threat of civil war breaking out again or allowing Denmark the chance to re-assert her authority again. Vasa won the day and the Diet gave way and agreed to hand over the “surplus wealth” of the church to the crown. No restrictions on the preaching of God were also introduced. Vasa was willing to tolerate the Catholic Church and the Protestants. His clash was purely with Rome for financial and political reasons – who ruled Sweden, him or the nobles ? The two key reformers in Sweden were Olaf and Laurentius Petri. Both these men had studied at Wittenburg and were influenced by Luther and Melanchthon.

2. In 1526, Olaf had written the New Testament in Swedish. This allowed the Swedish people to actually read and understand it. In 1531, Laurentius was appointed Archbishop of Uppsala. In 1536, a synod at Uppsala decided that there should be no more masses in Latin. Olaf drew up a Swedish communion service. Clerical celibacy was abolished and ministers had to “preach the word of God.” By 1539, Lutheranism was firmly planned in Sweden. However, the Petri brothers wanted freedom from the crown as well as Rome. This obviously brought them into conflict with Vasa and they lost as a result of Vasa’s status as being the creator of Sweden. In 1539, Olaf was arrested and sentenced to death. He was not executed but it acted as an example to others that Vasa was not willing to lose control of the church. Those who opposed Vasa were frightened into silence. In 1544 at the Diet of Vasteras the results of the Reformation were formally adopted on behalf of the Swedish people. The Vasa family was made the hereditary monarch as opposed to elective. A systematic opposition to the Catholic Church was introduced and up to his death in 1560, Vasa kept a close ‘eye’ on the church. At his death, Protestantism was popular and this was helped by the publication of the Swedish Bible in 1541 by the Petri brothers. Laurentius became the accepted head of the church on the death of Olaf in 1552 and remained so until his death in 1572. In 1572, the king was given the power to appoint bishops but he could only pick those who had been forwarded by the church and senior laity. This meant that after Vasa’s death, the church was effectively self-governing which was in sharp contrast to what was happening in north Germany. The doctrine of the Swedish Protestant Church was simple – “commitment to pure words of God.” The Netherlands The cities of the Netherlands had warmly welcomed the Renaissance. The cities were filled with educated men who were skilled in such areas as trade and their influence on how to conduct trade spread throughout Europe. Erasmus lived in Louvain where his preaching, regardless of its ambiguities, found ready listeners. The extensive printing works ensured that the writings of Luther were available. However, Charles V was determined that the Netherlands would not fall into the hands of the Protestants – he was king of Spain and the Netherlands were part of the Spanish Empire. In January 1521, all Lutheran books in the Netherlands were ordered to be confiscated and the Edict of Worms was duly enforced. The clamp down forced Erasmus to leave for Basle in 1521 as the Netherlands had become too repressive. Charles V even thought about introducing a form of the Spanish Inquisition in the Netherlands. There was huge opposition to this in the Netherlands but a local version was introduced in 1522. A lay person was appointed Inquisitor-General which received Papal approval in 1523. However, this form of an Inquisition could never be free for either Papal or royal influence as Charles insisted that all sentences be approved by him of his council. In July 1523, two Protestants were burned in Brussels. In 1529 and 1531, orders were issued proclaiming death for Lutherans, those who sheltered them, those who spread their writings and those who publicly discussed matters of faith. France

3. France is probably the most complicated country to assess as Luther was used primarily by the king, Francis I, as a lever to assert his authority over a governmental body that he viewed as a rival – the Parlément de Paris. Francis was a catholic and France was a catholic nation. So why was Lutheranism not quashed the moment it entered France? Francis was an educated man who had already started to question what exactly was meant by the word “heresy”. But by far his biggest problem was his constant battle with the Sorbonne and the Parlément on who actually had the power in Paris. Both these institutions had historic rights of power and by the time of Francis they considered these powers as a partner to monarchical power. Such a sentiment was not shared by the autocratic Francis. There is no evidence that both the Sorbonne or the Parlément were disloyal to the king but they both clung jealously to the power that they believed was theirs. Francis used the influx of Protestantism to his advantage in an effort to undermine the power of both institutions.