Chapter 14: Reformations and Religious Wars

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Ch. 14: Reformations and Religious Wars

The Early Reformation

·       Early 16^th c: wide range of ppl had grievances with the church

·       Educated laypeople, Christian humanists, urban residents called for reform

·       Even more radical concepts of the Christian message were being developed and linked to calls for social change

The Christian Church in the Early 16^th Century

·       Early 16^th c: Europeans were externally very religious

o   Processions, pilgrimages, altars,

o   Ppl of all social groups devoted an enormous amount of their time and income to religious causes and foundations

·       People also very critical of the Roman Catholic Church and its clergy

o   Badly damaged prestige of church leaders

o   Concentration on artistic patronage and building up family power did not help maters

o   Criticized papacy as an institution

§  Great wealthy and powerful courts

o   Some thought some doctrines were incorrect

·       Suggested measures to reform institutions, improve clerical education and behavior, and alter basic doctrines

·       Reforms had some success, in at least one area: Bohemia

·       Led to formation of a church independent of Rome

·       Early 16^th c: widespread anticlericalism: opposition to the clergy

o   Clerical immorality: drunk, no celibacy, gambled, fancy dress

o   Clerical ignorance: barely literate priests, did not understand Latin text

o   Clerical pluralism: holding many church offices/benefices for money; rarely visited offices, paid poor priest to work office

§  Some Italian church officers held foreign benefices, creating national resentment

o   Absenteeism: being absent at a job because they had multiple offices (pluralism)

·       There were some pious church leaders, but lecherous monks, lustful monks, and greedy priests were also known of

·       As well as national, there was local resentment of clerical privileges and immunities

o   Priests, monks, nuns exempt from civic responsibilities: defending city, paying taxes

o   Religious orders frequently held large amounts of urban property

·       City gov’s tried to integrate clergy into public life by reducing their privileges and giving them some public responsibilities

·       Urban leaders wanted some say in who would be appointed to high church officials

·       Brought city leaders into opposition with bishops and papacy, which had stressed independence of church from lay control and distinction between members of clergy and laypeople

Martin Luther

·       Widespread criticism of church did not lead to changes of 16^th c

·       Changes resulted from Martin Luther:

o   Father sent him to school to be lawyer, decided instead to join Augustinian friars, who assisted and taught the poor

o   Ordained a priest and earned a doctorate in theology

o   Served as professor of Scriptures

·       Luther’s observance of religious routine, frequent confessions, and fasting gave him only temporary relief from anxieties about sin and his abilities to meet God’s demands

o   Studied Saint Paul’s letters

o   Faith alone, grace alone, Scripture alone

o   Salvation and justification came through faith

o   Faith is a free gift of God’s grace, not the result of human effort

o   God’s word is revealed only in Scripture, not in the traditions of the church

·       Pope Leo X authorized sale of special Saint Peter’s indulgence to finance his building plans in Rome

o   Albert of Mainz:  promoter of indulgence sale, received share of profits

·       Indulgence: earthly penance (repaying for sins) and time in purgatory could be shortened by virtuous acts, indulgence was a piece of paper signed by pope that substituted for a virtuous act

o   Believed to bring forgiveness of all sins, lessened penance and time in purgatory

·       Johann Tetzel: Hawked indulgences, phenomena success, ppl traveled from miles to buy indulgences

·       Luther was troubled that ppl thought they had no further need for repentance after buying indulgences

o   “Ninety-Five Theses”: Thought indulgences undermined serious sacrament of penance, competed with preaching of Gospel, and downplayed the importance of charity in the Christian life

§  Was quickly printed in Latin then German

·       Luther was ordered to come to Rome

·       Engaged in a scholarly debate with Johann Eck

·       Refused to take back his ideas and continued to develop his calls for reform, publicizing them in a series of pamphlets which he moved further and further away from Catholic theology

·       Luther’s ideas

o   Both popes and church councils could err, and secular leaders should reform the church if the pope and clerical hierarchy did not

o   There was no distinction between clergy and laypeople

o   Requiring clergy to be celibate was a fruitless attempt to control a natural human drive

·       Authorized publication of his works

·       Papacy responded with a letter condemning some of Luther’s propositions, ordering that his books be burned, and asking him to recant or be excommunicated

o   Luther burned the letter

·       Luther’s theological issues had become interwoven with public controversies about the church’s wealth, power, and basic structure

·       Charles V had his first died (assembly of nobility, clergy, and cities of HRE) in German city of Worms and summoned Luther to appear

o   Luther refused to recant and take back ideas

§  “Neither safe nor right to go against conscience”

o   His appearance at the Diet of Worms created an even broader audience for his ideas

·       Throughout Europe other individs began to preach and publish against the existing doctrines and practices of the church, drawing on the long tradition of calls for change as well as Luther

Protestant Thought

·       Swiss humanist, priest, admirer of Erasmus, Ulrich Zwingli read from Erasmus’s New Testament instead of prescribed church readings

o   Was convinced that Christian life rested on the Scriptures, which were the pure words of God

o   Sole basis of religious truth

o   Attacked indulgences, Mass, the institution of monasticism, and clerical celibacy

o   Reform in Zurich, had the strong support of city authorities who’d long resented privileges of the clergy

·       Followers of Luther, Zwingli, and others who called for a break with Rome were called Protestants

o   “protest”ing the decisions of the Catholic majority

·       Luther, Zwingli, and other early Prots agreed on many things

o   How is a person to be saved: not by faith AND good works, faith ALONE

§  God, not people, initiate salvation

o   Where does religious authority reside: not in Bible and traditional church teachings, Bible ALONE

§  For a doctrine to be valid, it had to have a Scriptural basis

o   Church is a spiritual priesthood of all believers, an invisible fellowship not fixed in any place or person, which differed markedly from the Roman Catholic practice of a hierarchical clerical institution headed by the pope in Rome

o   What is the highest form of Christianity: not monastic and religious life over secular, every person should serve God in his or her individual calling

·       Prots did not agree on everything

o   Communion: Luther: Christ is really present, Zwingli: Christ is symbolically present

·       Colloquy of Marburg failed to unite Prots, thought Prots agreed on virtually everything else

The Appeal of Prot Ideas

·       Printing presses spread Prot message all over Germany, and by middle of 16^th c, ppl of all social classes rejected Catholic teachings and had become Prot

·       Appeal of Prot ideas

o   Educated ppl and humanist

§  Simpler personal religion based on faith, a return to the spirit of the early church, the centrality of the Scriptures in liturgy, and in Christian life, and the abolition of the elaborate ceremonies – just what the humanists had been calling for

o   Literate/thoughtful city residents and priests/monks who left Catholic church

§  Everyone should read/reflect on Scriptures

o   Townspeople

§  Notion that clergy should also pay taxes and should not have special legal privileges

·       Luther’s fame and success

o   Invention of printing press that spread and reproduced his Luther’s ideas

§  Woodcuts/illustrations so illiterate could understand

o   Luther’s eloquence

·       Both Luther and Zwingli recognized that for reforms to be permanent, political authorities as well as concerned individs and religious leaders would have to accept them

o   Zwingli worked closely w/ city council of Zurich

o   City councils spread to other cities and appointed good pastors with Prot ideas, and oversaw their teachings

o   Luther lived in a territory ruled by a noble: the elector of Saxony, and worked closely with political authorities, viewing them as justified in asserting control over church in territories

o   Demanded that German rulers reform papacy and its institutions, and instructed all Christians to obey their secular rulers, whom he saw as divinely ordained to maintain order

o   Territory became Prot when its ruler brought in a reformer or two to reeducate the clergy, sponsored public sermons, and confiscated church property

§  Happened in many of the states of the HRE in the 1520s

The Radical Reformation and the German Peasant’s War

·       Some individs and groups rejected idea that church and state needed to be united

·       Sought to create a voluntary community of believers separate from the state

o   Groups varied widely

o   Called “radicals”

o   Some adopted baptism of believers: called “Anabaptists”

o   Others saw external sacraments as misguided

o   Many views

·       Religious radicals were often pacifists and refused to hold office or swear oaths, which made them social pariahs who were hated

·       Both Prots and Catholics agreed on one thing: they had to stamp out the radicals threatened by social, political, and economic implications of their religious ideas, and by their rejection of a state church (they thought it was key to maintaining order)

·       Radicals banished or cruelly executed

·       Martyrdom fomented their religion

·       Radical reformers sometimes called for social as well as religious change, a message that German peasants heard

·       16^th c: crop failures made economic condition worse than it had been in 15^th c, and nobles seized village common lands, imposed new rents, required additional services, and taking peasants’ best horses or cows

·       Peasants found demands they believed were confirmed in the Scripture, and cited Luther as proof

·       Luther wanted to prevent rebellion

·       Initially he sided with peasants, blasting lords, but when rebellion broke out Luther’s support was weak

o   Freedom for Luther meant indep from authority of the Roman church, not opposition to legally established secular power

o   Scripture had nothing to do with earthly justice or material gain

o   Thought rebellion would hasten the end of civilized society

·       Nobles furiously crushed revolt

·       German Peasant’s War greatly strengthened authority of lay rulers

·       Reformation lost popular appeal after 1525

·       Peasants found a place with radical groups

·       Peasants’ economic conditions did moderately improve

Marriage and Sexuality

·       Luther and Zwingli believed that a priests/nun’s vows of celibacy was against human nature and God’s commandments, and that marriage brought spiritual advantages and was the ideal state for nearly all human beings

o   Luther/Zwingli married

·       Wives were living demonstrations of their husband’s convictions of marriage over celibacy, and were expected to be models of wifely obedience and Christian charity

·       Denied that marriage was a sacrament, said it was ordained by Adam and Eve

·       “Remedy” for the unavoidable sin of lust, and a site for rearing the next generation of God fearing Christians, and offered husbands and wives companionship and consolation

·       Proper marriage was one that reflect spiritual equality of men and women and the proper social hierarchy of husbandly authority and wifely obedience

·       Prots did not break with medieval thinking that women were subject to men

o   Women advised to be cheerful not grudging, for in doing so they were showing willingness to follow God’s plan

o   Men were urged to treat wives kindly and considerately, but to enforce authority through physical coercion if necessary

·       A few women took Luther’s idea of priesthood of all believers to heart

·       16^th c Prots didn’t allow women to be members of clergy

·       Prots saw marriage as a contract in which each partner promised the other support, companionship, and sharing of mutual goods

·       Marriage was created by God as a remedy for human weakness, so marriages without support endangered their own souls and community’s souls

·       Only solution was divorce and remarriage

o   Catholics disagreed, thinking marriage was a holy sacrament that couldn’t be dissolved

·       Divorce did not have a dramatic impact on newly Prot areas

·       Marriage was a cornerstone of society socially and economically, divorce was a desperate last resort

·       Prots and Catholics condemned prostitution

o   Brothels closed

o   Harsh punishments for prostitution

o   Selling sex was immoral “whoredom”

·       Prostitution didn’t go away, illegal brothels were established

·       Prot Ref had positive impact on marriage, but its impact on women was mixed

o   Nuns in convents didn’t have a strong sense of religious calling

o   Convents provided upper class women with a scope for literary, artistic, medical, or administrative talents if they didn’t want to marry

o   Prot Ref closed convents and marriage became virtually only option for upper class Prot women

·       Some women fought Prot Ref

o   Argued they could still be pious within convent walls

o   Most nuns left and disappeared…forever

·       Prot emphasis on marriage made unmarried women suspect, for the didn’t belong to the type of household regarded as the cornerstone of a proper, godly society

The Reformation and German Politics

·       Reform movements could be easily squelched among strong central governments that evolved in Spain and France, England also (but Henry VIII broke for other reasons)

·       HRE included hundreds of largely indep states

·       With the HRE in fragments, Luther could easily gain support to “reform the church” that would not be quelled

·       Two years after Luther published “Ninety Five Theses,” electors of HRE chose Charles V as emperor, which shaped the course of the Prot Ref

The Rise of the Habsburg Dynasty

·       In 16^th century, Habsburgs increased power through marriage

·       Frederick III, ruler of most of Austria, married Princess Eleonore of Portugal and arranged for his son Maximilian to marry Mary of Burgundy who inherited Netherlands, Luxembourg, and County of Burgundy

·       Union of duchy of Burgundy and Austrian house of Habsburg became an international power

·       Max and Mary’s marriage angered the French who thought Burgundy theirs

·       Austrian house of Habsburg vs. France – start of a rivalry?  I think yes

·       Max married his son to children of Ferd and Isa, and their son was Charles V

o   Fell heir to a vast and incredibly diverse collection of states and peoples, each government by a different manner and held together only by the person of the emperor

·       Charles V not only believed it was his duty from God’s calling to maintain the political and religious unity of Western Christendom

Religious Wars in Switzerland and Germany

·       16^th c: religion remained a public matter

·       Ruler determined official form of religious practice

·       Almost everyone believed the presence of a faith diff from the majority was a political threat to the security of the state

·       Luther’s ideas appealed to German rulers because

o   People had an understanding of “being German” because of language and traditions, and Luther’s frequent use of “we Germans” appealed to their national feeling influenced many people

o   Some German rulers were sincerely pious

o   Material considerations swayed others to Prot side: Rejection of Roman Catholicism and adoption of Prot would mean legal confiscation of lush farmlands, monasteries, and shrines – Prot helped political authorities extend financial and political authority and enhance their independence from the emperor

·       Charles V was a vigorous defender of Catholicism, so the Ref led to religious wars

o   First battleground: Switzerland (officially part of HRE, but really was a loose confederation of autonomous states called “cantons”)

o   Some cantons remained Catholic and some became Prot, and in the 1520s, the two sides went to war

o   Zwingli killed and two sides thought a treaty was better than continued fighting

o   Treaty allowed each canton to determine its own religion and ordered each side to give up foreign alliances, a neutrality that still exists today

·       Trying to halt the spread of religious division, Charles V called Imperial Diet in 1530, to meet at Augsburg

o   Lutherans developed a statement of faith, called the Augsburg Confession, bu Charles refused to accept it and ordered all Prots to return to Catholic Church and give up any confiscated church property
Demand backfired, and Prot territories in empire (mostly German) formed a military alliance

o   Empire couldn’t respond militarily because it was busy in the Habsburg-Valois wars (fighting over Italy), and Ottoman Turks had taken over Hungary and were attacking Vienna

·       1530s and 1540s: complicated political maneuvering among many powers of Europe

o   Attempts to heal religious split with church council, but it was clear this would not happen and that war was inevitable

o   Charles V knew he was fighting for religious unity and a unified state, against territorial rulers who wanted their own indep state

o   Defending church and empire

·       Fighting began in 1546 and initially the emperor was very successful

o   Success alarmed France and pope who didn’t want Charles to become more powerful

o   Pop withdrew papal troops and Catholic king of France sent money and troops to Lutheran princes

·       1555 Charles agreed to Peace of Augsburg which officially recognized Lutheranism

o   Political authority in each state was permitted to decide whether the territory would be Catholic or Lutheran and was ordered to let other territories do the same

§  Most of n. German became Prot, while most of s. Germany became Roman Cath

§  Still princes/political leaders cose religion, no religious freedom

§  Dissidents had to convert or leave

§  Religious refugees became common

·       Peace of Augsburg ended religious war in Germany for many decades

·       Hopes of uniting his empire under a single church dashed, Charles V abdicated and transferred over holdings in Spain and Netherlands to his brother Ferdinand

The Spread of Protestant Ideas

·       By 1520s, religious change came to Denmark-Norway, Sweden, England, France, and e. Europe

·       In most areas, second gen reformers built on Luther and Zwingli’s ideas to develop their own theology and plans for institutional change

·       Most important was John Calvin

Scandinavia

·       1^st area outside of empire to officially accept Reformation was Denmark-Norway Christian III broke with Catholic church, clergy followed, smooth change

·       Norway and Iceland: violent reaction, gradually imposed

·       Sweden: at first didn’t accept, then did

Henry VIII and the Reformation in England

·       Henry VIII wanted a son but couldn’t have one with Catherine of Aragon

o   Thought God was showing his displeasure with the marriage by denying him a son, appealed to pope to have marriage annulled

o   In love with Anne Boleyn so divorce was great for him

o   Charles V, whose aunt was Catherine, opposed annulment

·       Henry VIII decided to remove English church from papal jurisdiction

·       Used PLMT to end authority of pope and make himself supreme head of church in England

·       Some opposed king and were beheaded

·       Eventually Anne was beheaded

·       Henry VIII eventually had a son, Edward VI with Jane Seymour, and had 3 more wives

·       English church retained traditional Catholic practices and doctrines

·       Under the influence of his chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, Henry decided to dissolve English monasteries to get their wealth

o   Through PLMT, Kind dispersed monks and nuns and confiscated their lands

o   Proceeds enriched royal treasury, and hundreds of properties were sold to middle/upper classes

o   Redistribution of land strengthened the upper classes and tied them to the Tudor dynasty and the new Prot church

·       Nationalization of church and dissolution of monasteries led to important changes in gov administration

o   Formerly monastic land came under Crown’s jurisdiction, and a new bureaucratic machinery had to be developed to manage those properties

o   Cromwell reformed and centralized the king’s household, the council, the secretariats, and the Exchequer

o   New departments of state were set surplus fund went into a liquid fund to be applied to areas with deficits

o   Balancing led to greater efficiency and economy

o   Henry VIII’s reign saw the growth of the modern centralized bureaucratic state

·       Catholicism still stuck with the ppl, but most clergy accepted Henry VIII’s moves, though they did not quietly acquiesce

o   Popular opposition in north to religious changes led to Pilgrimage of Grace, a massive rebellion

o   “Pilgrims” accepted a truce, but their leaders were arrested, tried, and executed

·       People responded with a combination of resistance, acceptance, and collaboration

·       Loyalty to Catholic Church was strong in Ireland

o   Claimed by English kings

o   English had control of area around Dublin, Pale

·       Irish PLMT, representing only English landlords and ppl of Pale, approved English laws severing church of Rome

·       Church of Ireland was established on English pattern, and English ruling class adopted new reformed faith
most of the Irish ppl remained Roman Catholic, adding religious antagonism to ethnic hostility

·       Irish armed opposition to Ref led to harsh repression by English
Catholic property was confiscated and sold, and the profits were shipped to England

·       Roman church was essentially driven underground and Catholic clergy acted as national and religious leaders

Upholding Protestantism in England

·       Edward VI’s reign included Prot ideas significantly influencing life

·       Thomas Cranmer invited Prot theologians to England and prepared a book of common prayer

·       Mary Tudor moved back to Catholicism

o   Devout Catholic, she restored Roman Catholicism

o   Marriage to Philip II of Spain was highly unpopular; furthermore, her execution of Prots further alienated her subjects

o   Prots fled to the continent during her reign

·       Henry VIII’s daughter, Elizabeth, saw the beginnings of religious stability

·       Elizabeth’s reign started off with sharp differences in England

o   Catholics wanted a Roman Catholic ruler

o   Exiles wanted all Catholic elements in Church of England eliminated; these are Puritans

·       Elizabeth chose a middle course between Catholic and Puritan extremes

o   Referred to herself as “governor” instead of “head” of Church of England à allowed her Catholics to remain loyal to her w/o denying pope

o   Required subjects to attend service to pope of England, but did not interfere with privately held beliefs

·       Anglican Church: moved in a moderately Prot direction

o   Services in English, monasteries not reestablished, clergymen allowed to marry

o   Church remained hierarchical: archbishops, bishops

o   Elaborate services

·       End of 16^th c: Eliz’s reign threatened by European powers attempting to reestablish Catholicism

·       Phillip II of Spain hoped his marriage to Mary Tudor would reunite England with catholic Europe, but Mary’s death ended the plans

·       Mary Queen of Scots was next in line to English throne, and Elizabeth imprisoned her because she worried Mary would become center of Catholic plots to overthrow her

o   Became implicated in a plot to assassinate Elizabeth

·       English executed Mary, Catholic pope urged Phillip to retaliate

·       Philip prepared a vast fleet to sail from Lisbon to Flanders, where a large army of Spanish troops was stationed; Spanish troops were to attack England

·       Spanish Armada met English fleet before it reached Flanders

·       English ships were smaller, faster, and more maneuverable, and many had greater firing power

·       English got victory due to combination of factors: weather, inadequate ammunition, etc.

·       Mixed consequences

o   Spain rebuilt navy; quality of Spanish fleet improved

o   War between England and Spain dragged on for years

o   Defeat of Spanish Armada prevented Phillip II from reimposing Catholicism on England by force

o   English got enhanced national sentiment by victory

Calvinism

·       John Calvin

o   Experienced religious crisis, converted to Prot

o   Believed God specifically selected him to reform the church

o   Accepted invitation to assist in reformation of city of Geneva

o   Worked hard to establish a Christian society ruled by God through civil magistrates and reformed ministers

o   Geneva became model of a Christian community for Prot reformers

·       Calvin’s ideas

o   Belief in absolute sovereignty and omnipotence of God and total weakness of humanity

o   Men were as insignificant as gains of sand

o   Did not ascribe free will to humans, that would detract from power of God

o   God decided in beginning of time who’d be damned and saved: predestination

·       Predestination did not lead to a pessimistic view of the nature of God

o   Did not lead to pessimism or fatalism

o   Calvinists believed in the redemptive work of Christ and were confident God had elected (saved) them

o   Energizing dynamic, giving a person strength to undergo hardships in the constant struggle against evil

·       Calvin had remarkable assets

o   Mastery of Scriptures

o   Eloquence

o   Established Genevan Consistory: body of laymen who kept watch over every man’s life and admonished those who led a disorderly live to turn them to the Lord

§  Severely punished for playing cards, dancing, not attending service

§  Serious crimes and heresy were handled by civil authorities, which sometimes ended in torture to extract confessions

·       Religious refugees came

·       Church of Calvin served as model for Presbyterian church in Scotland, Huguenots in France, Puritan churches in England

·       Calvinism became the compelling force in international Prot

o   Calvinist ethic of “calling” dignified all work with a religious aspect

o   Hard work was pleasing to God

o   Encouraged vigorous activism

·       Calvinism spread to continent of Europe

o   Found audience in Scotland

o   Political authority was decisive: weak monarchy, factions of nobles competed for power

·       John Knox: dominated reform movement, which led to establishment of state church

o   Structured Scottish church after model of Geneva

o   Persuaded Scottish PLMT to end papal authority by bishops, substituting governance by presbyters, councils of ministers

·       Presbyterian Church of Scotland was strictly Calvinist in doctrine

The Reformation in Eastern Europe

·       Ethnic factors determined course of Ref in e. Europe where ppl of diverse backgrounds settled

·       Bohemia

o   Czechs adopted idea of Jan Hus, state recognized a state church

o   Lutheranism appealed to Germans in Bohemia

o   Nobility embraced Lutheranism in opposition to Catholic Habsburgs

o   Catholic spiritual revival, some reconverted

·       Poland and Great Duchy of Lithuania

o   Jointly governed by king, senate, diet but two territories were separate essentially

o   Very diverse

o   Came as merchants invited by rulers

o   Each group spoke its native language

o   Luther’s ideas took root in Germanized towns, but opposed by Sigismund I, nobility, and Poles, who wanted Calvinism: it originated in Germany, not France

o   No united opposition to Catholicism, Counter Reformation gained momentum

o   Poland was Roman Catholic again

·       Hungary

o   Lutheranism spread and accepted by king

o   “German heresy”,

o   Battle of Mohacs, Suleiman the Magnificent defeated Hungarians

o   Kingdom divided into 3 parts: Ottoman Turks, Habsburgs, Janos Zapolya

o   Turks indifferent to religious conflicts, thought Christians were infidels

o   Christians paid sultan but kept faith

o   Many Magyar nobles accepted Lutheranism

o   Lutheran schools multiplied

o   Hungarian nobles recognized Habsburg Catholic rule and Ottoman Turk withdrawal led to Catholic restoration

The Catholic Reformation

·       Roman Cath Church made a significant comeback

·       After 1540, no new large areas of Europe other than the Netherlands accepted Prot

·       Prot Ref and Counter Ref are interrelated

o   One a drive for internal reform

o   Other a Counter-Reformation that opposed Prots intellectually, politically, militarily, and institutionally

Papal Reform and the Council of Trent

·       REN popes and advisors were not blind to need for church reform but resisted calls for any transformation that would mean a los of power, revenue, or prestige

·       Change began with Pope Paul III: papal court became center of reform movement, rather than its opponent

o   Lives of his reform minded popes/cardinals/abbots/bishops were models of decorum and piety in contrast to worldly REN popes

o   Supported improvements in education for the clergy, end of simony, and a stricter control of clerical life

o   Established Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition called Holy Office

§  Jurisdiction over Roman Inquisition

§  Powerful instrument of Catholic Reformation

§  Committee of sex cardinals with judicial authority over al Catholics and power to arrest, imprison, and execute suspected heretics

§  Index of Prohibited Books: forbidden reading

§  Within Papal States, Inquisition destroyed heresy, but outside papal territories, influence was slight

o   Called a general council which met intermittently at Trent

§  Reform Catholic church

§  Secure reconciliation with Prots

§  Lutherans and Calvinists invited, but reconciliation was impossible

§  Political objectives of Charles V and France both worked against reconciliation

·       Charles V wanted to to avoid alienating Lutheran nobility

·       France wanted Catholics and Lutherans to remain divided to keep Germany centralized

·       Council of Trent laid solid basis for spiritual renewal of Catholic Church

o   Equal validity to Scriptures and tradition as sources of religious truth and authority

o   Reaffirmed seven sacraments

o   Tackled disciplinary matters that had disillusioned faithful

§  Suppressing simony/pluralism, forbidding indulgences, training of clergy

o   Great emphasis was laid on preaching and instructing laity, especially uneducated

o   Marriage vows had to be made publicly before a priest and witness

§  Ended widespread private marriages and ending conflicts

·       Did not achieve all its goals, but Council of Trent composed decrees that laid a solid basis for spiritual renewal of church

o   Basis for Roman Catholic faith, organization, and practice

New Religious Orders

·       New religious orders: central feature in Cath Ref

o   Developed in response to need to raise moral and intellectual level of clergy and people

o   Education was a major goal

·       Ursuline order of nuns

o   Education of women

o   First women’s religious order concentration exclusively on teaching young girls, with the goal of re-Christianizing society by training future wives and mothers

o   Spread rapidly to France and New World

·       Society of Jesuits

o   Strengthened Catholicism in Europe

o   Spread faith around the world

o   Ignatius Loyola

§  Gave up military career to be a soldier of Christ

§  Spiritual Exercises

·       Training program of structured meditation designed to develop spiritual discipline and allow one to meld one’s will with that of God

·       Daily exercises that build in intensity

§  With a group of 6 companions, he secured papal approval of new Society of Jesus

o   First Jesuits were recruited primarily from wealthy merchant and professional families

§  Saw Ref as pastoral problem, caused by people’s spiritual condition

§  Reform played no role in future the Jesuits planned for themselves

§  Goal was “to help souls”

o   Became a highly centralized, tightly knit organization

§  Vowed special obedience to the pope

§  Flexibility and willingness to respond to needs of time and circumstance

§  Attractive to young men

§  Achieved phenomenal success for papacy and reformed Cath Church

o   Carried Christianity to India, Japan, Brazil, N. Am, Congo, s. Germany, e. Europe

o   Adopted modern humanist curricula and methods

§  Educating sons of nobility as well as poor

o   Exercised great political influence

Religious Violence

·       1559, France and Spain signed Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, which ended Habsburg-Valois Wars

o   Spain was victor

o   France had to acknowledge Spanish dominance in Italy

·       True peace was elusive, over next century religious diff led to riot, international conflicts

·       Prots and Caths used violent actions as well as preaching against each other

·       Each side viewed the other as poison

·       Catholics believed Calvs and Luths could be reconverted

·       Prots thought Caths should be destroyed

·       Caths and Prots feared people of other faiths, whom they thought were agents of Satan

·       Fears those who were ID’d with Satan: witches

·       Most virulent witch persecutions

French Religious Wars

·       Cost of Habsburg-Valois wars forced French to increase taxes and borrow heavily

·       King Francis I sold public offices and had a treaty with papacy

o   Selling pub offices was temporary source of money – a man who bought an office was exempt from taxation

o   Concordat of Bologna gave French crown right to appoint all French bishops and abbots, rich supplement of money and offices

·       French rulers had no need to revolt against Rome: French rulers had vested financial interests in Catholicism

·       Some rulers were attracted to Calvinism

o   Initially, it drew reform minded members of Cath clergy, industrious city dwellers, and artisan groups

o   Most French Calvinists (Huguenots) lived in major cities

·       Feebleness of French monarchy was seed for civil violence

o   Three weak sons of Henry II didn’t provide necessary leadership

o   Dominated by mother Catherine de Medici

o   French nobility took advantage of monarchial weakness

o   French nobles adopted Prot as a religious cloak for independence

·       Armed clashes between Cath royalists lords and Calv antimonarchical lords occurred in many parts of France

o   Thought each other was pollution

·       Calvinist teachings called power of sacred images into question, mobs smashed sacred images and church decoration to purify the church

o   Ordinary men and women carrying out Reformation

·       Catholic mobs responded by defending images and killing opponents

·       Saint Bartholomew’s Day: Catholic attack on Calvs

o   Marriage of Henry Navarre to reconcile Caths and Hugs

o   Hug wedding guess were massacred, other Prots slaughtered

·       Religious violence spread to provinces

·       St. Bartholomew’s Day led to civil war for 15 years

·       Agriculture and commercial life declined; starvation and death haunted land

·       Politiques: believed only the restoration of a strong monarchy could reverse the trend toward collapse

o   Favored accepting Hug as officially recognized and organized group

·       Henry of Navarre, politique who became Henry IV

o   Moderates of both faiths

o   Willingness to sacrifice religious principles to political necessity saved franc

o   Edict of Nantes: Granted liberty of conscience and liberty of public worship to Huguenots in 150 fortified town

§  Presented the way for French absolutism by restoring internal peace

The Netherlands Under Charles V

·       Struggle for Dutch independence

·       Charles V inherited the 17 provinces

·       Each was self governing and enjoyed right to make its own laws and collect taxes

·       Provinces were united politically only in recognition of a common ruler, the emperor

·       Cities of Netherlands made living by trade and industry

·       Low Countries, corruption in Roman church provoked pressure for Reform, Lutheran ideas took root

·       Charles V wanted to limit its impact

·       Charles V abdicated, transferred power over to son Philip II

·       Prot ideas spread

·       Prots in Netherlands were primarily Calvinists

o   Seriousness, moral gravity, emphasis on labor appealed to merchants, artisans

o   Lutherans taught respect for powers, Calvinism encouraged opposition

·       Spanish authorities tried to suppress Calv worship and raised taxes, rioting ensued

o   Sacked Cath churches, destroyed religious images

·       Philip II sent Spanish troops under Duke of Alva to pacify Low Countries

o   Ruthless extermination of religious and political dissidents

·       Opened “Council of Blood” 1,500 men executed

·       Clear sign to Calvs that Spanish rule was ungodly and needed to be overthrown

·       Civil war between Caths and Prots in Netherlands and between 17 provinces of Spain

o   North Prot, South Cath

o   Southern provinces: Spanish Netherlands came under control of Spanish Habsburg forces

o   Seven northern provinces led by Holland formed Union of Utrecht declaring their indep from Pain

·       Philip did not accept this, war continued

·       England supplied money and troops to northern United Provinces, Spain tried to retaliate (Spain lost in Spanish armada)

·       Spain agreed to a truck that recognized the indep of the United Provinces

The Great European Witch Hunt

·       Increasing persecution happened before Ref

·       Extreme notions of devil’s powers and insecurity by religious wars

·       Tried/executed witches by secular and nonsecular peoples

·       Witches: ppl who used magical forces, then they were thought of as making a pact with the Devil, people who were used by the Devil to do what he wanted

o   Organized in conspiracy to overthrow Christianity

o   Witches became ultimate heretics, enemies of God

·       Trials became less when Prots and Caths were fighting each other, picked up again

·       Mostly witches were women

o   Ideas about women and womanly roles

§  Misogynists

§  Weaker women easier to give into Devil

§  Women associated with disorder, body, linked with the demonic

o   Women’s lack of power meant they were more likely to curse instead of beating ppl up or going to court

o   Women had contact with areas in life with unexpected maladies

§  Preparing food, newborn children

o   Legal changes

§  Inquisitorial procedure

§  Legal authorities brought the case – ppl much more willing to accuse each other, never had personal responsibility or never had to face relatives

§  Intense questioning, torture

·       Spain, Portugal, Italy lenient on witches

o   Inquisitors believed in power of Devil and were misogynist, but doubted whether ppl accused actually made pacts with the Devil

o   Superstitious, ignorant peasants

·       Woman sphere included witchy things and women who accused others got security

·       Questioning, confession, execution

·       Witch panic: hunt for implicated suspects

·       Divided territories used witch hunts to demonstrate piety and concern for order

·       Panics ended when ppl realized they were being silly and this was impossible

·       Doubts of validity of witches, less common, gradually outlawed

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