Ottomans conquering Byzantines Bosphorus

(ii) RENAISSANCE

Tntroduction: In the fifteenth century, momentous political changes took place in Eastern Europe. Ivan III began the long and painful process of building up Muscovite Russia, and the Moslemn Ottomans succeeded in conquering the and

orthodox Byzantines at the great city by the Bosphorus. There were major political changes in the west. The Italian city states reached the height of the power and prestige in the

late 1400's, by 1500, the national monarchies of France, England and Spain were rapidly coming into their own. But politics alone did not make the fifteenth century memora-ble in Western history. It was also a timme of culturalflowering. the mid point in a great literary and artistic movement that had started in the fourteenth century Italy and was later to reach northern Europe.

Out of the turmoil and travail that were spreading all over Europe rose the fine fiower of Renaissance; and this

was the age of Renaissance. It grew in the soil of Italy first, but it looked across the centuries to old Greece for inspira tion and nourish ment. From Greece it took its love of beauty

and added to the beauty of bodily form something that was

deeper, that came from the mind and was of the spirit. It was

an urban growth, and the cities of North Italy gave shelter to

it. In particular, Florence was the home of the early

Renaissance. It is said that all history is the record of change. This

Change may be either in the direction of social progress or

decay. This movement was so gradual that, like the transition

Om night to dawn or noon to evening it is not possible to

c the moment when tendencies began or ceased. We can

STUDIES IN WORLD HTSTORY

only note the definite changes in their achievement TL

interpretation of the term Renaissance has given rise to prea

controversies. The term itselt means rebirth", the rebirthe

classical culture of antiquity. 1he Renaissance was the

rebirth of learning-the growth of arts and science and

literature, and the languages of European countries. Like the

label "Dark Ages" the label "Renaissance challenges the

historian to assess its validity. It was called Renaissance

because, then it became apparent that the old medieval

outlook and ways of life had vanished and the modern world

had been called into being.

Today we cannot accept the contrast between mediaeval

darkness and Renaissance light. Even the dark ages were not

totally black, and it is grotesq ue t0 denounce as barbarous

many mediaeval masterpieces, as the Summa St. Thomas or

Gothic cathedral.Culture, even culture in the narrow sense of

the classical heri tage, never died in the mediaeval west:

therefore we can scarcely speak of its "rebirth" at the close

of the middle ages. We can no longer attribute such

exaggerated importance to the fall of Constantinople. Well before l453 knowledge of Greek writings was filtering into the West from Moslem Spain; from Sicily, and from

Byzantium itself. Also historians now knew that Greek influence was not the only decisive factor in promoting the

Renaissance. The cut throat economic and political competi- tion of the Italian city states instructed men in resourceful individualism; the successful businessmen of Italy, left upon the Renaissance the stamp of their own enterprise and

146

of

materialism. It is indeed important to note that the Renaissance also owed a great debt to the middle ages themselves. 1 ne

Renaissance was both religious, materialistic, credulous as well as skeptical; caste conscious as well as individualistic. Is style was in part mediaeval and in part modern. lt was noo the rebirth of the classical past, not the abrupt beginning o modern times, but a transition, sometimes gradual, some times swift, from the mediaeval to the modern. The period of transition began in the 1300's. It came t an end during the 1500's and early 1600's as Europe passeu into the ages of Reformation and dynastic and religio wars. The movement reached F rance, Germany, and

THE MODERN AGE 147

Low countries as well as England, but it did not flourish everywhere in the West. It scarcely touched the Scandina -vian states, and it affected Portugal and Spain only in part. Its homeland was Italy, the Italy of aggressive and cultivated businessmen and politicians.

Renaissance in Italy In the Italian movements there were three marked

phases. In the first phase, interest was created in Italian literature. The second period saw a revival of classical literature written in Latin language. The highest water mark of these movements as also their end were witnessed in the third period.

Literature: Great figures arose in Italian literature. The one who helped to fashion the Italian language as a literary medium was Dante (1265-1321). After Dante, the redisco- very of ancient civilization had begun in an important way in the fourteenth century with an Italian Francesco Petrarca better known as Petrarch who is regarded as the father of Italian literature and also as the father of humanism. He devoted himself exclusively to a life of scholarship and the pursuit of literature. As an avocation he wrote some popular poems in Italian, but his vocation was the sympathetic and enthusiastic study of Latin classics. He tried hard to learn Greek but failed; at least, however, he could gaze reverently at his Greek manuscripts of Homer and Plato. He took

148 STUDIES IN WORLD HISTORY

himself very seriously and with the result that he exerted

tremendous influence. He became famous as a scholar. The

people supplied him with funds. Kings Vied with one

another in heaping benefits upon him. The Venetian Senate

gave him the freedom of the town. The University of Paris

and the city of Rome alike crowned him with laurels.

He was followed by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375),

Patrarch's friend and pupil. The son of a Florentine banker

he turned to letters and scholarship after a brief apprentice

ship in banking. In Florence he taught at the university. He

learnt Greek, and aided his master in the search of ancient

manuscripts. He claimed indeed to have rescued copies of

Tacitus lying 'shamefully neglected in the Benedictine

abbey of Monte Cassino. The anticlerical touch is very

significant. Baccaccio is of course, synonymous with the

Deccameron, and the Deccameron is synonymous with an

un-christian view of life. After 1375 emphasis came to be laid on classical learning

and languages and the writers in Greek or Latin were

regarded as worthy of merit. People began to question the

Christian ideal of morality and austerity. The tendency to

adore anything that was classical became the order of the

day. Italian scholars visited Constantinople in search of

Greek works while the Byzantine scholars visited ltaly. For

instance, Chrysoloras opened an especially famous school of

Greek studies at Florence, wrote a Greek grammar and lectured to students.

The new movement was patronised by the wealthy and infuential individuals. The ardent clergymen who initially opposed it extended their patronage to the movements afterwards. The centre was also shifted from Florence to Rome. Pope LeoX patronised art, music and classical literature. Great attention was paid to history, drama, epics and poetry. With his death in the first quarter of the Sixteenth century the golden age of the Italian Renais came to an end.

One other writer whom we cannot forget is Lorenzo Valla (1405-1477). His genuine love of nature and poetry becomes evident in his sonnets. But his claims to remain

immortal in the history of the world rest not on his literary achievements but on his general patronage and appreciation

THE MODERN AGE 149

of scholars and artists as well as on the political wisdom that

make him the first statesman of his day. As the father of

historical criticism, he disproved the authenticity of many

well known documents, including the Donation of Constan-

tine' that put an end to Papal superiority.

Main Characteristics of Renaissance Art: The Humanism

not only prepared the way for the religious upheaval of

Retormation but also helped to promote a revolution in the

fine arts. Two of the great Humanistic characters, namely,

the new interest in classical antiquity and the new emphasiS

on the secular world influenced the realm of art as well. In

the mediaeval West, architecture had eclipsed the other fine

arts. Painting and sclupture had no independent existence of

their own. They had been absorbed into that great enterprise

of religious devotion and municipal pride which produced

the Gothic cathedral. Sculptors, the painters of altarpieces,

and the superb craftsmen who made stained glass windows

all contributed to the Glory of Gothic. But the beauty of

Gothic's buildings rest more in the whole edifice than in

individual statues or windows.

But in the Renaissance, architecture yielded place to

sculpture and painting. In fiuenced by the classical revival,

architects changed their style of building irom the soaing

Gothic to adaptations of the ancient Roman Temple, which

emphasised Symmetry and horizon tal line. To the modern

eye the Renaissance buildings appear monotonously

balanced. Their interest sometimes lies less in the whole than

in their individual parts in bits of design or in the decorative

painting and sculpture. In the Renaissance, moreover, art was not essentially

Christian. Painters and sculptors did not exhaust themselves

in decorating ecclesiastical buildings and executing religious

themes. They produced Such independent works of art as

portraits and statues.

The artists of the Renaissance, like its writers and

thinkers, displayed. an extraordinary range of talents and

interests. They produced both secular and sacred works.

They both copied ancient classical models and launched

bold new experiments, in artistic expression. Some of the

very greatest were also the most versatile. Michelangelo


Rome with hund reds of figures. Working alone for four and

td years in a trying posture lying face upwards, undeterred

Dy hostile intrigues, delays in payment and deternoration of

nealth, he painted scenes from the Old Testament. 7he Last

Judgement is regarded as 'probably the most famous Single

painting in the world'. His most celebrated sculptures were

Bound Save and Moses carved for the tomb of Pope Julius Ii

and Pieta, carved for his own tomb. Raphael established his

Own repute and even surpassed Michelangelo in harmonious

beauty of painting

Science and Philosophy: A great upsurge of scientific activity

did come in the early modern period, but it came in the

seventeenth century and not in the Renaissance itself. The

seventeenth century brought the experimental method and

witnessed Galileo, Harvey, Newton and a host of other great

men. In the history of science the Renaissance centuries

fourteen. fifteen, sixteen-were a time of preparation. Scien-

tists absorbed and digisted the body of scientific knowledge handed down to them from the Middle Ages. By criticising and modifying the earlier work. they prepared the way for

the achievements of the seventeenth century. Humanism thwarted Renaissance science. Of course we

cannot call every humanist anti -scientific, the general rever

ence of humanists for classical antiquity tended to put ancient authorities high on a pedestal. Many men of the Renaissance believed it impOssible to improve on the astronomy taught by Ptolomy in Alexandria during the second century A.D. or on the medicine taught in the same

century by the Greek physician Galen. Galen. for example. had advanced the erroneous theory that the blood moved from one side of the heart to the other by passing through invisible pores in the thick wall of tissue separating the two sides of the heart. Harvey discovered in the seventeenth century, that blood gets from the one side to the other side by circulating through the body and lungs.

Few scientists ot the Renaissance were bold enough to take a step beyond Leonardo and publicise their dissent from recognised authority. None equalled him in versatility Leonardo participated in the major areas of Renaissance scientific activity-technology, invention and medical know-

THE MODERN AGE 153

ledge. The understanding of human anatomy and physiology

was facilitated by the introduction of dissection of the bodies

in the University of Bologna. It was under the fostering care of Cosimo de Medici that

Florence became the home of the intellectual Renaissance.

From Florence the "new learning" redia ted out across the

World. This intellectual movement was two-fold. Medici had

been a friend and patron of learned men, but it was in the

time of his grandson, Lorenzo 'the magnificient' that the

Renaissance reached its height in Florence. It was Lorenzo

who founded the "Platonic Academy" in imitation of the

old academics of Greek philosophers, an assembly that

became the battle ground of the sharpest and most brilliant

intellectuals of the day. "Here were fought world-

tournaments, often venomous in the intensity of their

partisanship, between defenders of the views of Plato and of

Aristotle; here were welcomed like princes cultured Greeks,

driven into exile by Mohammedan in vasion, certain of

crowded and enthusiastic audiences if only they were

prepared to lecture on the literary treasures of their race". There were attempts to reconcile Christianity with Pagan

religion and to evolve a universal religion. The schools of

Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics were revived.

Among the notable philosphers mention may be made

of Lirenzo Valla, Leonardo and Machiavelli. In his Prince

Machiavelli gave a picture of the political man who knows

how to act as a beast and 'imitate the fox and the lion'. It

was his conviction that men as a whole were anything but

good and that those who talked of Utopia (the ideal state)

only made the world worse still. He ruled out ethics in

politics and 'urged that a King or prince, in order to promote the interests of his country or to safeguard his own power,

had the right to use deception, trickery, po1Son, assassination,

or any other means.

Renaissance in other European Countries: AS mentioned

earlier, from ltaly the Renaissance movement reached

France, Germany, the Low Countries as well as England.

Again the Cosmopolitan by profession, Erasmus was an

outstanding citizen of the Republic of Letters. He studied,

taught and lived at Oxford, Cambridge and Paris, and in

(i) GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIESs

It is truism to say that the modern age was heralded more by Voyages of discovery than by intellectual or artistic

activity. Various forces were at work to bring out this change. The impact of Renaissance can by no means be minimised. It not only liberated the minds of men from the crumpling

influence of medieval ideas but also instilled in them a spirit of bold adventure. The voyages of discovery were the

Outward expression of this new pulsation of life. However

139

141 THE MODERN AGE

the strongest incentive to the geographical exploration was

funished by commercial ambition and rivalry.

In the fifteenth century the trade of Europe with Asia

along the land routes was subjected to enormous tolls and

charges. The Europeans who were determined to deprive the Turks of their monopoly to have a share in the prohts took

interest to find a sea route to the East. Further, the prosperous and profitable trade with the East was mostly in the hands of Italian cities of Venice and Genoa. These traders jealously guarded their monopoly against their rivals. The fall of Constantinople and the progress of the Turkish conquests closed the Mediterranean routes to all nations. Venice and Europe were now starved of oriental luxuries. To circumvent this the European nations were eager to discover a new non-Mediterranean route to India. Portugal and Spain were the pioneers in this quest. In this quest they were urged by commercial motive and missionary zeal.

There were some developments which facilitated such voyages. In the first place, the mariner's compass had come into use in the thirteenth century. Secondly, maritime enterprise was encouraged by classical knowledge. The idea that the earth was a globe was declared by the Greeks. The Phoenicians, who were great navigators, had circumnavigat- ed Africa. The improvement in ship building and the accurate map making facilitated voyages to a great extent.

The Voyages: The geographical position of Portugal ranked it as a pioneer in both discovery and exploration. The Portuguese had already crossed the Straits of Gibralter, fought with the Moslem Mores and worked their way down the West Coast of Africa. Since the Mediterranean routes

were blocked to them they ventured out in the Atlantic Ocean. They felt that sailing some distance down the Western coast of Africa and then proceeding eastwards they Would establish an all water route to India and China.

Prince Henry, commonly styled Henry, the Navigator (1394-1460) was the pioneer in the series of world discover-es. He was no navigator, but interested himself in discover-

ing the means thereby encouraging the explorations of his

Countrymen towards the south. He established a school for

navigation and extend ed patronage to learned geographers


and sailors of the day. He sent out naval expeditions which

consisted of fighting men and merchants and misSionaries.

They rediscovered and colonised the Medeira and Azores

islands and sailed further down the unknown Atlantic coast

of Africa. In 1487 Bartholomew Diaz reached the 'cape of

Storma and returned. The King of Portugal rechristened it

the 'Cape of Good Hope'. Success was at last within reach.

The king's optimism was no doubt justified though not

in his life tüme. In 1497 Vasco da Gama sailed around the

Cape and landed at Calicut in India. Here he erected a

marble pillar to commemorate his discovery of a new route

from Europe to the East. In 1499 he returned to Lisbon

carrying with him goods worth sixty times the cost of his

expedition. From then onwards Portuguese ships made

regular visi ts to the Far East for trade and their merchants

had their own agencies in Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, China and

Japan. At the town of Goa in India the Portugese merchants

and Christian missionaries indulged in converting the In-

dians to Christianity. Francis Xavier, the celebrated mission-

ary, was met with considerable success in this respect both in

Japan and India. As result, by the close of the Sixteenth

century there were 200,000 Christians in Japan and many

more in India. Other European countries like Spain, England, Holland

and France did not lag behind in evincing keen interest in explorations. The most astonishing maritime adven ture was that of Christopher Columbus, an Italian sailor from the city of Genova. He believed that the easier and shorter route to the Far East lay by sailing through west across the

Ocean. He spent eighteen long years in planning, in con-

vincing others about the sound ness of his theory and seeking support for his project of sailing. Eventually Queen Isabella gave her assent to his project. He also secured the financial backing from two Jews. He set out in August 1492 with three small ships, Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina and having

eighty-eight men on board. He also carried with him letters to the Great Khan of Cathay.

Braving the perils of an uncharted ocean he passed a month in sailing, but failed to reach land. The crew lost faith, thought of throwing Columbus overboard and turning home. Without losing his nerves Columbus held fast to his

143 THE MODERN AGE

purpose and at last on the 11th October 1492 the sight of a branch of thorn with berries newly separated from a tree and an artificially carved staff showed, without a shadow of doubt, that land was near, None slept the whole night for

fear of missing the coast. At 2 a.m. the sailor cried that the ship was in sight of land. On the morrow Columbus disembarked and planted the Spanish flag on San Salvavor. Columbus thought that he just landed on an island just off the coast of Asia. But in fact he discovered a new and hitherto unknown world. On his return he however reported to the King and the Queen that he had found the Indies.

He visited America in 1493, 1498 and 1502 taking with him merchants, missionaries and colonists, but he failed in his search of the islands that grew spices. He explored the Carribbean Sea, Venezula and Central America, and called the inhabitants Indians, the name that 'has stuck to the natives of the American continents ever since'. Credit must go to Columbus for the discovery of the New World. Since 1492 an intimate, close and continuous contact exists between Europe and America.

In 1497, the king of England commissioned John Cabot, an Italian sailor from Gen0a "to seek out, discover and find whatsoever lies, countries, regions or provinces of the heathens and infidels, which before this time have been unknown to all Christians. In 1500 Cabral reached the coast of South America and the region received the name Brazil. In 1501 Amerigo Vespucci, an ltalian, made vOvage down the coast of South America almost to the river Plate. America gets its name from him though he called it the New World. The Pacific was sighted by Baboa in 1513. The first circumnavigation of the world was undertaken by Ferdinand Magallan in 1519, a Portuguese in Spanish service. He was killed in the Phillippines, but his men Completed the journey. Between 1578 and 1580 Sir Francis Drake, an English sailor, sailed round the world. On his arrival in England he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I

The Effects of the Geographical Discoveries

The effects of these geographical discoveries were momentous. The discoveries increased men's knowledge


about the world and this in turn led to the expansion of their mind. New world, new peoples, new modes of life, dispelled the funny and the blind notions of medieval ignorance. This gave a tremendous impetus to the intellectual revolution augurated by the Renaissance. The impact of these disco-

veries on economic spheres was indeed very great. Theyy brought about what is popularly known as Commercial Revolution by promoting trade and industry. Commerce underwent a remarkable change as regards both the quantity

and the kind of goods carried as also in the routes and methods. This increased trade of Europe was divided among the ltalian cities on the Mediterranean coasts and the towns

ot the Hanseatic League. "Rome was also the hub of the

universe, Venice and Genoa were the emporiums of its trade, and Florence the home of its arts and letters. All men's eyes looked towards Italy but now there came an aversion of gaze". The Mediterran ean countries lost their Commercial empire to the countries open to the Atlantic like Spain and Portugal. England was no longer in a remote corner of the mnappa mundi. Before the sixteenth century passed she was ready to make full use of the great commercial and colonial opportunities that opened out before her.

To facilitate trade which was now carried on a much bigger scale joint-stock companies and banking houses came into existence.

The European colonists demanded cheap labour to develop their colonies. T his gave great 1mpetus to the African slave-trade. The European manufacturers, merchants and bankers grew rich by this profitable trade. The introduction of new commodities like tea, coffee and potatoo increased the comforts of men. All these fostered the growth of the middle class, the dwellers in towns and the bourgeois and as a result of the remarkable enrichment of the middle class, the guild system of the European Middle Age was transformed into the capitalism which constitute the central fact in modern history and modern civilization".

The impact of the explorations and discoveries on Asia was lesS immediate and less protound. The people of Asia who had overrun Europe now became the pupils of Europe seeking modern knowledge.

THE MODERN AGE 145

The discoveries produced far reaching political results. The vast wealth of the new world attracted the maritime powers of Europe to plant their colonies. The desire to powers

establish and maintain monopoly of trade and colonisation led to a terrible and protracted series of commercial and colonial wars, which became merged, at least in part with the contemporary dynastic and autocratic wars on the Continent

of Europe and which lasted throughout the seventeen th and eighteenth centuries".

(ii) REFORMATIOON

In 'the first half of the sixteenth century the

Aigious It must be unity of Europe was broken by the Reformation. IS0us

noted new thing.

here For

that about the movement

a hundred

towards

and fifty Reformationt

years the Catholic be

Church had been menaced with disruption as a result of hearsay or reform. The unity of the Church could have been

of

was no

maintained if the leaders of the Church had mes movement with a moderate and enlightened attitude B. that was not to be and the split became unavoidable.

The Reformation was a religious revolution, a revolt against the Roman Church. It was a popular revolt against

the corruption of the Church. It was also a revolt of the

princes of Europe against the claims of Pope to rule over

them. In short, it was a movement to reform the church from within. It has two phases: (1) The Protestant Revolution of 1517 broke the link between northern Europe and Rome: (2) The Counter Reformation of about 1560 achieved a large number of reforms from within.

met this But

Causes: Many factors accounted for the Reformation move-ment. They may broadly be grouped under three heads: (1) political (2) economic and (3) religious. (1) Political Factors: The monarchs opposed the political power enjoyed by the Church. Secondly, the rise of nationa- lism instiiled in the minds of the people the feeling of love and pride in one's own naíon. They now found it difficult to

accept the powers of the Church. To put it differentdy. tne

growing feeling of nationality ran counter to the enoro Ous

powers claimed by the Papacy. The Pope's claim of poliua olitical supremacy as well as religious supremacy was opposcu by powerful nation-states like Spain, France and Engla England. These states found the Church as an hindrance to hche authority. They won the right to tax the property ic Church. to nominate Church officials, to limit the Ju

perty of the

isdic-

THE MODERN AGE 157

tion of Church courts, and to control the enforcement of Papal decrees'.

(2) Economic Factors: In the Middle ages the Church had become the centre of feudalism. It had accumulated a lot of wealth. The Church derived its income from its own lands and property. It collected from every Christian household a tax called Peter's pence in addition to tithe, one-tenth of the income. The offices of the Church were sold for money. The popes lived in luxury and spent a lot of money upon Worldly pleasures. Pope Leo X went to the extent of creating many new offices in the Church and selling them to defray the cost of his luxurious tastes. The courts of the Popes

resembled those of the Kings both in luxury and lavishness. Even monks and friars lived in rich monasteries. Both the rulers and the common people were unhappy at the way the Popes enjoyed powers. Though the Church had grown wealthy the rulers could not collect anything from them to meet the cost of the administration as well as the army. The commoners were unhappy because the burden of taxation fell on them though they were unable to pay. All these led to a general demand for reform.

(3) Religious Factors: People were indignant with the abuses prevailing in the Church. In fact the Church had become a mass of abuses and this offered an easy and tempting target for attack. It was not that the critics of the Church were anti-christian or anti-clerical; but they only challenged clerical malpractises.

The Church exhibited a low moral tone from top to bottom. They became too worldly and neglected ecclesiastical duties. There were some clergymen who were ignorant of their duties and responsibilities and some were ignorant of Latin and could not utter prayers. They were often illiterate and uneducated and sometimes immoral. They were expect- ed to maintain celibacy and of course they did not marry. But there were instances of monks main taining mistresses.For instance, Pope Alexander VI had eight illegitimate children. Thus they were neither quite fit to exercise their

parochial duties nor qualified as teachers.

Many bishops behaved as statesmen and not as church-


men. Politics so absorbed one French archbishop, for

instance, that he made his first appearance in his archiepis-

copal cathedral only when his corpse was brought in for his

funeral service." There was the system of indulgence. It is said an

indulgence "was not a forgiving of sin, and it was never a

permission to sin. It was (and is) a promise of remission, in

whole or in part, of the punishment which might be meted

out to a person after his death for sins for which he had been

Sincerely sorry and had done penance". The Church accu-

mulated much weal th by the sale of indulgences. Another

abuse that prevailed during this period was the sale of

permits for heaven. One could free oneself from religious

laws and codes by purchasing 'exemptions. The Church

resorted to the shameful practice of collecting money from

the sale of holy relics or objects supposed to have been used

by Christ and other saints. The people who were interested

in a pure religion were very much disenchanted and turned

away from these systems. Added to this, towards the close of the fourteenth

century the prestige of papacy suffered much as a conse-

quence of the "Great Schism. Between 1375 and 1417 there were two rival Popes, one in Rome and the other in Avignon.

There were also movements against the worldliness and corruption of the Church. Many individuals had challenged

the authority of the Church. Meister Eckhart, John Wycli ffe and his followers in England and the Hussites in Bohemia were noteworthy. The real revolt and ultimate challenge came from Martin Luther and Calvin and they brought the movement to function.

The Protestant Reformation: Luther:

One of the sturdiest embodiments of German national qualities was Martin Luther (1483-1546) who was to become the great leader of the revolt against Rome. He was the son of a Thuringian miner. He had resolved to devote himself to a life of religion. Accordingly he joined the ministry of Augustinians at Erfurt. In 1508 he became Professor of Theology in the University of Wittenburg. In 1511 he visited Rome and experienced himself the secular as well as the sacred pomp of the papacy. This, however, did not prompt

THE MODERN AGE 159

him to criticise the church. Such criticism came from his

close study of the works of St. Paul and St. Augustine. By

readings and meditations he was gradually convinced that it was faith in Christ and not by works that man could be saved. He felt that it was by reliance upon the sacred truths of religion and not by penan ces, fasts, and other outward acts

enjoined by the Catholic church that one can be saved. To insist on inward repentence after agonies of remorse made

religion unattractive, to sinners, who would rather pay money for indulgence to be got without much trouble.

In 1517, John Tetzel came near Wittenberg to sell

indultences as Papal agent. Luther was shocked at the sight and the mad rush of the people to buy them made him

wild. This he considered as an example of the Church deceiving and exploiting the people. Luther passed down the street with a copy of ninety five theses and nailed them on the door of the Palace Church ready for the festival of All Saints. A struggle then began which was to split Christen-dom into Protestant and Catholic. Pope Leo X condemned and excommunicated him. Luther publicly defied him and in 1520 burned the papal Bull in the market square at

Wittenberg. He also burnt along with it the volumes of the

Canon Law. n the 28th of January 1521 the Diet or Parliament of

the Empire met at Worms to discuss the question of the treatment of Luther. When Luther was summoned to thee

Diet, his friends pleaded with him not to go. But he replied that "he would go to Worms, even though there were as

many devils within its walls as there were tiles on its houses".

Luther faced the gathering of the potentats of Germany at

Worms and was asked to give up his heretical views, and to

disown the books that he had wntten. But he said "I may not

and will not recant, because to act against conscience is

unholy and unsafe".

The Emperor decided against Luther, and condemned

him in an edict of outlawry which the Electors present at the

Diet were induced to sanction. Since Charles V had assured

him safe conduct Luther was secure for the time being.

Luther left Worms and took refuge in a castle: In the

Wartburg he meditated and wrote. The chief aim of the

Reformation movement was to give the Scriptures to the


people in their mother tongue. Here at Wartburg he

continued his translation of the Bible.

The Relformation now began in earnest. The Papacy

definitely rejected Luther and all his ways. The first result

was that Germany was split; next Europe, next the whole

world. Those who continued their loyalty to the Pope and

the Holy Roman Empire came to be known as Roman

Catholics and those who followed the path of Luther were

called Protestants. Luther attack ed the Church and flooded the country

with pamphlets, letters and inflammatory diatribes. He

strove to build up an independent German Church. In his

theology he adopted some Catholic principles and intro-

duced quite a few revolutionary changes in the religion.

German became the language for Church services. He

refused to believe that Popes held the keys to heaven.

Among his other reforms mention may be made of ending

the monasteries, insistance on the rights of the priests to

marry, elimination of the sacraments, ending of fasts, faith in

relics and holy places. He laid emphisis on the mercy of God

and maintained that good work would lead one to heaven.

He did not accept the view that the Church was superior to

the State and considered the officers of the Church as States

representatives.

Luther's rebellion was essentially popular and national

and his new theology was quickly and widely accepted in

Germany. Thus between 1520 and 1555, Martin Luther

preached his new theology at Variance with the Catholics and

it was accepted generally throughout the northern half of

Germany. By 1530 its creed had been defined and its official

toleration was recognised in 1555.

Protestant Movement in Europe

Many of the things that had troubled Luther had long

been troubling his comtemporaries in Europe. Erasmus,

Thomas More and many oth ers opposed the worldliness and

corruption of the Church. Many wanted the Catholic Church to be reformed from within. Of the other founders of

Protestantism and first in the time was Zwingli and first in

importance was Calvin.

Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531): Ulrich Zwingli was inspired by

THE MODERN AGGE 161

the teachings of Luther and started in Switzerland a quieter reform. Like Luther, he was aiming to destroy the perversion of primitive christianity, which made the consecrated priest an agent, indeed a sharer, of a miraculous power not possessed by the laymen. Zwingli believed in a personal god and the miraculous origin ot the christian religion but not in superstitions and other things associated with the church. He began the

process of making the church building a simple one, of making the service a sermon and responsive reading of abolishing the catholic liturgy. His reform was characterised by Puritanical simplicity.

With the sudden death of Zwingli, Swiss Protestantism lost a leader. But soon John Calvin took up his residence in Geneva in 1536 and continued he work. He became the most implacable foe of Catholicism.

John Calvin: John Calvin a Frenchman was a most conspi- Cuous protestant leader of the 16th century. Born in 1509, he from an early age longed for an ecclesiastica career with a pension from the catholic church. He studied at Paris, where he displayed an attitude for theology and literature. Giving up the ideas of the priesthood, he proceeded to Orleans to study law. In 1529 he is said to have experienced a sudden conversion to a new faith. He then accepted protestantism.

Calvin shaped the protestant movement as a faith, a

way of life and gave it a European basis. In his "Institutes of the Christian Religion he laid a firm doctrinal basis for

protestantism. Since he had been trained as a lawyer his

system was based on logical rigor provided Geneva became

the base of his work. To Geneva came protestant refugees

from many parts of Europe to receive indoctrination in his

faith and to spread the word in their own countries. In course

of time Phillip falled to suppress Calvinism. The F rench-

men welcomed the new faith and organised Protestant

Churches called Huguenot. But they unsuccessfully carried

on struggles to succeed catholicism.

Calvin organised his ecclesiastical organization on a

democratic basis. The lay elders played an important part in

the institution. In some matters the whole congregation of

lay men had a voice. The Calvinists considered themselves as


the chosen instruments of God's will. They succeeded in

Creating biblical commonwealth after the pattern of Geneva,

and their influence was far-reaching than Luther.

Calvinism became very popular in Europe. Very soon it

spread to Scotland, England, Plymouth in New England and

even to Hungary and Poland.

John Knox: Calvinism met with significant success in the

British Isles. In Scotland John Knox created an ecclesiastical

'democratic dictatorship. The Catholic church was des-

troyed and a Pressyterian church was erected. Presbyterian -

ism became the official religion of Scotland in 1560.

The seeds of Presbyterianism were carried by wind from

Scotland to England. A group of English calvinists who

found it difficult to practice their religion freely sailed in the

seventeenth century to Plymouth Bay (in Massachusetts) and

laid foundations of Calvinism in New England.

Henry VIlI and the Anglican Church: Even in England the

seeds of revolt had been sown against the Catholic Church.

King Henry VIII ably defended the church. But when Pope

refused him permission to divorce his wife Catherine of

Aragon, he severed all relations with Rome and carried

through Parliament the Act of Supremacy (1534) by which

he became the protector and only Supreme Head of the

Church and clergy of England. He raised his voice against

the corruption prevalent among the monks, reduced their

monasteries and divided the church property among himself

and his nobles. Under his successors English came to be used

for religious services and priests were permitted to marry.

Queen Mary tried to restore the Catholic Church and

persecuted the protestan ts who refused to return to Catholic

religion. Her successor, Queen Elizabeth restored the Protes-

tant Church. She now became the 'Supreme Governor of an

independent Anglican or Episcopal Church which continues

to be the 'established Church of England even at present.

The Counter Reformation

The Counter- Reformation attempted to reform the

Catholic order from within and halt the progress of Protes- tantism. It began first in Spain and then spread to Italy, the

THE MODERN AGE 163

two strongholds of Catholic religion. This Catholic reformation in Protestant historical writing is called Counter-

Reformation. It was no mere negative defence, but a positive spiritual renewal in its own right. It did not restore the medieaval unity of Christendom, but it did preserve and reinvigorate fundamental Catholic beliefs and practices.

Reforming current was already gathering strength. Dur ing Leo X's pontificade an earnest group formed at Rome an Oratory of Divine Love. This Oratory was dedicated to the deepening of spiritual experience through special services

and religious exercises. In the third decade of the sixteenth century the Oratory inspired the foundation of the Thea-tines, an order which interested itself in the education of the clergy. Thus every attempt was being made to reform the Catholic church from within.

The Jesuit Order-lgnatius Loyala: A predominent factor in the catholic revival was the formation of several new religious orders. They sought to deepen the spiritual life of the people and to strengthen the position of the church. The most celebrated of these orders is the Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius Loyala (1534). Its constitution was formally approved by the Pope six years later.

Loyala 1491-1556: Spain was the home of the new move-ment. Loyala, a wounded young Spanish soldier, started the Counter- Reformation movement. He meditated on the mysteries of life and death. Being debarred from continuing his military career by his wound, he resolved to raise an

army for the service of God. With a view to perfect his scant education, he studied

the classics, philosophy and theology at the University of Paris. Here he made the acquaintance of the group of

scholarly pious men who became the first members of the

Society of Jesus. In 1534 lgnatius and six Companions took

perpetual vows of poverty and celibacy. In l1540 Pope Paul Il gave his approval. Henceforward there was a compact

army of priests, a disciplined order of servants of the papacy,

well educated, cultured, absolutely obedient to their general

and all for life working with one object, the advancement of

the interests of the church.

The Council of Trent: (1545-1563): The Counter-Re-


formation was not a change of dogma, or a change of spiritual direction. It promoted catholic uniformity. Thereforming zeal of the individual Popes was stimulated and reinforced by the work of the Council of Trent. The work of this council lies in bringing together the various measures of reform. It illustrates clearly the fact that what the Catholic Reformation reformed was not doctrine but practice.

The Council of Trent was called in 1545. It was devoted to the task of combating realistically the inroads of Protes- tantism. The Council was caught in the web of the religious wars and the intrigues of high politics and its work was several times interrupted. Inspite of this it continued to meet frequently for twenty years until it completed its work in 1564.

On matters of doctrine the Council of Trent took a On stand that ruled out all possibility of a compromise with the Protestants on the major items separating them from Catho- lics. It reaffirmed the essential role of the priesthood. reafirmed all seven sacraments, reaffirmed the great importance of faith and works., reaffirmed that both the scriptures and the spokesmen of the church were authorities on

theology.

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