Chapter 17 Section 3 Notes
1. Martin Luther’s protest over abuses in the Catholic Church led
to the founding of Protestant churches
2. Nearly one-fourth of the Christians in today’s world are
Protestants
I. Causes of the Reformation
A. The Renaissance emphasis on secularism and the individual
B. Printing press spread secular ideas
C. Merchant class resented church taxes
D. Rulers resented Pope’s attempts to control them
E. Problems in the Catholic Church
1. Corrupt Church leaders
2. Church leaders lived in luxury
3. Monks and priests were poorly educated
4. Priests broke their vows
F. Early Calls for Reforms
1. By the 1300’s John Wycliffe of England and Jan Hus of Bohemia
a. Denied the Pope had worldly power
b. Taught the Bible had more authority than Church leaders
2. Desiderius Erasmus and Sir Thomas More joined in the criticism
II. Luther Challenges the Church
A. Martin Luther, German monk, that taught at the University of
Wittenberg in Germany
1. In 1517 Luther stands up against a friar named Johann Tetzel that came to Wittenberg and was selling Papal
Indulgences
2. Papal Indulgences were praying for ones sins for money
3. Johann Tetzel was even selling indulgences for dead relatives
4. Luther post the 95 Theses on the Church door at Wittenberg
October 31, 1517, "Nailing the 95 Theses to the Door of the Castle Church"
a. 95 Points or reforms for the Catholic Church
5. Luther’s two major thoughts
a. Salvation by faith not membership in the Catholic Church
b. The Bible was the main authority not the Pope
III. The Response to Luther
A. The Pope issued orders for Martin Luther to immediately stop his
protests
B. Pope Leo X would next excommunicate Luther
C. The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V supported the Pope
1. Issued the Edict of Worms which said no one should harbor Martin
Luther
Luther at the Imperial Diet of Worms (1521)
D. The German reaction
Burning the Papal Bull of Excommunication and Excommunication
1. People harbored Martin Luther
2. People began to read and interpret the Bible for themselves
3. Priest dawned ordinary clothes and called themselves ministers
4. Many priest wed
5. People began to call themselves Lutherans
E. The Peasant Revolt
1. Peasants saw the conflict between the new Protestants and the Church
as a way to gain social reform
a. They demanded the end to serfdom
F. German princes saw the reform as a way to separate from the Catholic
Church politically
1. Many of the northern German princes supported Martin Luther
2. Germany was split half were Catholics half were Protestants
G. The Peace of Ausgsburg
1. Each German state was allowed the right to choose their type of
Christianity
IV. England Becomes Protestant
A. Henry VIII will break from the Catholic Church for personal and
political reasons
Henry VIII (1491-1547)
B. Henry VIII wants a Son
1. Catherine of Aragon has a daughter Mary
2. Henry wants a divorce, but the church would not grant it
3. Henry wants the church to annul the marriage or cancel it but the
church wouldn’t
4. Henry calls Parliament together and asks them to pass The Act of
Supremacy making him the head of the Church in England
5. He then divorces Catherine and marries Anne Boleyn and become
Protestants
6. They have one child
7. Soon afterwards Henry divorces Anne and has a son by his third wife
8. Henry would marry four more times
9. When he dies in 1547 Edward VI takes over at age 9 but soon dies
10 Next heir is Mary (Roman Catholic) and she begins to persecute
the Anglicans
a. Becomes known as Bloody Mary
Mary I (1553-1558 AD)
11. When Mary dies Elizabeth takes over and she eases the conflict
between the Protestants and Catholics
a. She does have to send some of the Puritans away because they
are too radical
b. For protestants she allowed priests to deliver the sermon in
English
c. For Catholics she kept the ministers in robes and used golden
crosses in ceremonies
C. Elizabeth as Queen
1. Moderate good for England at a difficult time
2. Elizabeth supported Protestants in the Spanish Netherlands
V. The Spanish Armada 1588
King Philip II of Spain
Queen Elizabeth
A. Because Elizabeth had supported the Spanish Netherlands Phillip II of
Spain would send the Spanish Armada to England to invade
B. Phillip II sends 130 ships to England
C. Elizabeth has better captains and faster ships and sinks all but some 20
ships
D. This defeat enabled England to control the seas between the new
world and Europe
E. Weakened Spain’s foothold in the new world and reduced their supply
of gold