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The Protestant Reformation (1450-1565). Key Concepts. End of Religious Unity and Universality in the West Attack on the medieval church—its institutions, doctrine, practices and personnel Not the first attempt at reform, but very unique
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Key Concepts • End of Religious Unity and Universality in the West • Attack on the medieval church—its institutions, doctrine, practices and personnel • Not the first attempt at reform, but very unique • Word “Protestant” is first used for rebelling German princes who met at the Diet of Speyer in 1529 • A convergence of unique circumstances
I. The Church’s Problems • Charges of greed • Parties • Worldly political power challenged • Weariness of dependence on the Church and the constraints it enforced • Growing human confidence vs. “original sin” • Catholic church becomes defensive in the face of criticism • The confusing nature of scholasticism
I. The Church’s Problems (cont) • The corruption of the Renaissance Papacy --Rodrigo Borgia • European population was increasingly anti-clerical • Absenteeism of church leaders --Antoine de Prat • The controversy over the sale of indulgences
A. Cultural • city people (more educated) were more critical of the Church than farmers • Renaissance monarchs were growing impatient with the power of the Church • Society was more humanistic and secular • Growing individualism --John Wyclif
B. Technological: Printing Press • Invention of movable type was invented in 1450 by Johann Gutenberg • Manufacture of paper becomes easier and cheaper • Helped spread ideas before Catholics could squash them • Intensified intellectual criticism of the Church • Protestant ideals appealed to the urban and the literate
(1) England • Notion of the Renaissance Prince • Recent War of the Roses created a sense of political instability for the Tudor dynasty --Henry VIII (need for heir) • The significance of a male heir to the Tudors
(2) The Holy Roman Empire • Decentralized politics • Pope successfully challenged the monarch here • New HRE, Charles V, is young, politically insecure and attempting to govern a huge realm during the critical years of Luther’s protest • Charles V faced outside attacks from France and the Turks • Circumstances favor Luther
D. Spiritual • Growing piety, mysticism and religious zeal among European masses • Dutch Christian humanist Erasmus inadvertently undermines the Church from within --In Praise of Folly (1510) • Call for a translation of the New Testament into Greek • Call for a return to the simplicity of the early Church • Millenarian “fever”
A. Germany (Northern) • Luther troubled by the sale of indulgences • Dominican friar Tetzel was selling indulgences in Wittenberg in 1517 • Luther posts his 95 theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517 • Luther slowly but surely is drawn into a heated debate
A. Germany (Northern) • Pope pays little attention to Luther at first • Luther attacks the Pope and his bull of excommunication • Luther goes into hiding in 1521 -- “A Mighty Fortress is our God” • Constraints against the spread of Luther’s ideas • The Peace of Augsburg • The Protestant Reformation further divided Germany
Excommunication • Being completely cut off from the church and therefore the community
B. England • Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon • Henry seeks an annulment • Henry creates the Church of England and establishes his own supremacy over it • A “political reformation” only at first • The six wives of Henry VIII --Anne Boleyn --Jane Seymour
Marriage to Catherine of Aragon • In 1509, Henry VIII had married Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, and the aunt of Emperor Charles V. • By 1527, the union had produced no male heir to the throne and only one surviving child, a daughter, Mary. • Henry was justifiably concerned about the political consequences of leaving only a female heir. • In this period, people believed it unnatural for women to rule over men.
The King’s Affair • By 1527, Henry was thoroughly enamored of Anne Boleyn, one of Catherine’s ladies in waiting. • He determined to put Catherine aside and take Anne as his wife. • This he could not do in Catholic England, however, without papal annulment of the marriage to Catherine.
The Reformation Parliament • When the king’s advisors could not obtain a papal annulment, they conceived of a plan to declare the king supreme in English spiritual affairs. • In 1529, Parliament convened for what would be a seven-year session that earned it the title the “Reformation Parliament.”
Royal Reins on the Clergy • During this period, it passed a flood of legislation that harassed, and finally placed royal reins on the clergy (told them what they could and could not do).
Head of the Church of England • In January 1531, the Convocation (a legislative assembly representing the English clergy) publicly recognized Henry as Head of the Church in England “as far as the law of Christ allows.”
Grievances Against the Church • In 1532. Parliament published official grievances against the church, ranging from alleged indifference to the needs of the laity to an excessive number of religious holidays.
Submission of the Clergy • In the same year, Parliament passed the Submission of the Clergy, which effectively placed canon law under royal control and thereby the clergy under royal jurisdiction.
Marriage to Anne Boleyn • In January 1533, Henry wed the pregnant Anne Boleyn, with Thomas Cranmer officiating.
King the Highest Court of Appeal • In February 1533. Parliament made the King the Highest Court of Appeal for all English subjects.
Invalidation of First Marriage • In March 1533. Cranmer became archbishop of Canterbury and led the Convocation in invalidating the King’s marriage to Catherine.
Ended Payments to Rome/Church Appointments • In 1534. Parliament ended all payments by the English clergy and laity to Rome and gave Henry sole jurisdiction over high ecclesiastical appointments.
Acts of Succession & Supremacy • The Act of Succession in the same year made Anne Boleyn’s children legitimate heirs to the throne and the Act of Supremacy declared Henry “the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England. • When Thomas More and John fisher, Bishop of Rochester, refused to recognize the Act of Succession and the Act of Supremacy, Henry had them executed, making clear his determination to have his way regardless of the cost.
Dissolution of the Monasteries • In 1538. Parliament dissolved England’s monasteries and convents.
The Six Wives of Henry VIII • To satisfy his desires and to secure a male heir, Henry married six times: • His marriage to CATHERINE OF ARAGON was annulled 1533. • In 1536, ANNE BOLEYN was executed for alleged treason and adultery and her daughter Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. • JANE SEYMOUR died in 1537 shortly after giving birth to the future Edward VI. • Henry wed ANNE OF CLEVES sight unseen on the advice of Cromwell, the purpose being to create by the marriage an alliance with the Protestant princes. The marriage was annulled by Parliament and Cromwell was dismissed and eventually executed. • CATHERINE HOWARD was beheaded for adultery in 1542. • Henry’s last wife, CATHERINE PARR, a patron of humanists and reformers, survived him.
Edward VI (1547-1553) • When Henry died, his son and successor, Edward VI, was only ten years old. Under the regencies of the duke of Somerset and the duke of Northumberland, England fully enacted the Protestant Reformation.
Mary I (1553-1558) • In 1533, Catherine of Aragon’s daughter succeeded Edward (who had died in his teens) to the English throne as Mary I and proceeded to restore Catholic doctrine and practice.
Mary I (1553-1558) • Marries Philip II of Spain • Receives the nickname “Bloody Mary” • Kills over 280 people in her attempt to place the Catholic faith back into place • Dies in 1558 placing her sister Queen Elizabeth I next in line.
Elizabeth I (1558-1603) • It was not until the reign of Anne Boleyn’s daughter, Elizabeth I, that a lasting religious settlement was worked out in England. • Elizabeth merged a centralized Episcopal system, which she firmly controlled, with broadly defined Protestant doctrine and traditional Catholic ritual.
B. England (cont) • Born in 1533 • Died in 1603 (70 yrs old) • Gained the throne in 1558 (ruled for 45 years) • Never married • The attack of the Spanish Armada in 1588 • England now a super power
(1) Zurich • Very urban, cosmopolitan setting • Reformer Ulrich Zwingli and his Old Testament persona • “Memorialist” view of the Mass • Zwingli also opposed purgatory, clerical celibacy, intercession of the saints, and salvation by works • The death of Zwingli
(2) Geneva (Switzerland) • John Calvin’s leadership in Geneva from 1541-1564 • Geneva became the model Protestant training center • Stress on order and loyalty to God’s law • A “Quasi-theocracy” • Very austere religion practiced in Geneva • Self-discipline and the “Protestant Work Ethic”
D. France • King Francis I was initially sympathetic to Luther as long as his ideas stayed in Germany • Protestantism made illegal in France in 1534 • Persecution of the Huguenots • St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre • King Henry and the Edict of Nantes (1598)
E. Other Parts of Western Europe • No Protestant inroads into Spain or Italy • Protestantism succeeded only where it was urban and supported initially by the nobility • After 1540, no new Protestant territories outside of the Netherlands • Most powerful European nations were Catholic • Protestants were feuding with each other
(1) Background • More of a scholar than Luther • More of a systematic thinker than Luther • Calvin’s Institutes (1536) • Early legal training • Clear-cut moral directives for living • Relied on Scripture and Augustine primarily for his ideas
(2) Teaching • Predestination • The right of rebellion --English Civil War • More of a stress on works than Luther • Divine calling to all sorts of vocations • The “invisibility” of the True Church • Government serves the Church --Michael Servetus • Just war position • Calvin’s positions on communion and baptism
(1) Background • Desire to return to the primitive, first-century Church • High standard of morality valued and pursued • Bitterly persecuted by both Catholics and other Protestants • The descendants of the “Anabaptists” • Ardent missionaries who were harassed for their zeal
(2) Teaching • Free will—all can be saved • Adult, “believer” baptism • Social and economic equality • Pacifism • Separation of Church and State • Unity of the “visible” and “invisible” Church • Stressed role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer— “inner light” • Simplicity of life and millenarianism—living in the last days
