Reformation

TIMELINE• c. 1360 Petrarch, an Italian scholar, develops the ideal of humanism• 1403–4 Lorenzo Ghiberti works on first set of bronze doors for Baptistery in Florence• c. 1450 The printing press is invented• 1469–92 Lorenzo de Medici rules Florence• 1489 Savonarola preaches moral reforms in Florence• 1492 Columbus discovers America• 1493–1506 Ancient Roman paintings and sculptures are discovered at Rome• 1497 Portuguese explorers reach India• 1508–13 Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel ceiling• 1517 Luther’s 95 Theses begin the Reformation• 1519–22 Magellan circumnavigates the globe• 1527 Emperor Charles V sacks Rome and imprisons the Pope• 1564 William Shakespeare and Galileo Galilei are born

Conditions of the Church

• Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales heaped sarcasm on the Church

• Boccaccio’s Decameron described immoral behavior of the clergy

• Conciliar Movement wanted reforms of the church “in head and members”

• Machiavelli’s The Prince relates, “We Italians are irreligious and corrupt above others, because the Church and her representatives set us the worst example.”

• Erasmus, in The Praise of Folly, condemned the absurd superstitions, extreme ignorance, and excessive rituals of Europeans, particularly local clergy

The Church at the Local Level

• Villagers were semi-pagan, combining pre-Christian myths w/ Church teachings

• Village priests were peasants who could barely read and write Latin

• Often, they did not know the words they were mouthing during service (always in Latin)

• Their morality was little better than their fellow peasants. Accusations were many:– Violations of celibacy (mandated since the 4th

century)– Drunkenness– Gambling– Excessive wealth

The Church Leaders

• Pluralism and absenteeism became so wide spread and abused that absurd situations developed– Many (I) clerics in papal curia held

bishoprics in (E) (F) (S) & (G)– Thomas Wolsey (E), Archbishop of

York under Henry VIII, did not enter the city of York until 15 years after he became its Bishop

– Antoine du Prat (F), Archbishop of Sens, first entered his cathedral in his own funeral procession

• Nationalist feelings bristled at (I) clerics taking money, in absentia, from the rest of Europe

The Popes• Pius II (r.1458-1464) wrote love stories

and Latin poetry• Sixtus IV (r.1471-1484) built Sistine

Chapel, supported artists• Innocent VIII (r.1484-1492) made papal

court model of luxury and scandal• Alexander VI (r.1492-1503) (Borgia

Pope) publicly acknowledged his mistress and children

• Julius II (r.1503-1513) fought in battles to expand Papal States

• Leo X (r.1513-1521) (son of Lorenzo de Medici) was great patron of the arts

Humanism & Reform

• (E) (F) (S) (G) humanism started educational & religious reforms

• Nationalistic in form (Pope ruled as secular Italian (I) lord, after all)

Northern Humanism

Northern humanism was more diverse than (I) counterpart:

- Wrote more to commoners

- Focused on reforming the Church

- Unlike (I) Humanism, wrote few secular works

Johann Gutenberg (d.1468)

• Invented printing press w/ moveable type in Mainz, Germany

• Published Bible in 1454• Could print for everyone• Humanists had instrument to

disseminate ideas• Literacy increased• Church was challenged on non-

biblical doctrines, but the Church could use the press too!

The Clergy

• Upper 3rd Estate & nobility dominated higher Church offices

• Pluralism meant absentee Church leaders

• Local priests, unable to advance, often ignorant of the Gospels, and lacking spiritual guidance became increasingly frustrated. They either became disenchanted or chose individual pursuit of piety. In short, the links between the top of the Church pyramid and the bottom were being greatly weakened

I Want to Know that I am Going to Heaven!

• People sought surety of salvation in 2 ways:

– Purchase of relics & indulgences, and pilgrimage trips

– Personal spiritual experience, as seen in the movement Modern Devotion, which established the Brothers of the Common Life lay religious order

• Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471) wrote The Imitation of Christ, a work outlining the need for a Christ-like life for salvation, rather than adherence to religious dogma

The Church’s Theology & Indulgences• Sinners alienate themselves from God & His

love• Sinner must confess & do penance assigned

by clergy• Doctrine of indulgences rested on three

principles:– God is merciful, but also just– Christ & saints, through infinite virtue,

established “treasury of merit” from which the Church (Pope), through special relationship with them, can draw

– Church (Pope) has power to grant to sinners the spiritual benefits of those merits

Luther’s Reformation:Religious or Political?

• Albrecht of Brandenburg bought Archbishopric for 20,000 florins

• Pope Leo X secretly allowed Albrecht to keep 50% of proceeds from sale of indulgences

• 1517 sale of indulgences by Tetzel conflicted w/ Luther’s belief in salvation through faith, not works. Wittenburg, Luther’s school, was in Saxony, Germany

• Frederick III (the Wise) of Saxony, Elector of the Emperor, refused Tetzel’s sales on Frederick’s soil.

• Tetzel set up shop just across the border and money flowed from Saxony to Tetzel

• Luther responded w/ 95 Theses on indulgences, writing them in German

Luther’s Reformation:Religious or Political?

• Word spread quickly, and Tetzel’s sales plummeted• 1518 Luther denounced Scholasticism as anti-

intellectual, gaining support of Humanists, who declare themselves “Lutherans”

• Tetzel privately reprimanded by Archbishop Albrecht of Brandenburg, but Catholic Church publicly supported Tetzel (What was the alternative?)

• Pope underestimates problem claiming Luther is, “some drunken German who will amend his ways when he sobers up.”

• At the Leipzig Debate (1519) Luther was bested by Catholic apologist John Eck– Luther forced to deny the authority of the Pope

Luther’s Reformation:Religious or Political?

• 1520-1521 Peasants begin to understand fragments of the Gospels, in which it becomes clear that Jesus has sympathy for the poor, hostility toward the rich

• Peasants assume Luther’s support & literate 3rd Estate publish Karthans (Pitchfork John) supporting Luther

• Peasant view of Pope as great magician shattered• Luther now the voice of millions, (peasants, nobility,

and upper 3rd Estate, some middle 3rd Estate)• 1520 Luther declares, “Farewell, unhappy, hopeless,

blasphemous Rome! The Wrath of God has come upon you, as you deserve.”

• He begins to write hymns, and people begin to sing them

The Church Responds!

• Unable to respond to Luther’s printed attacked w/ traditional Catholic teachings, the Pope excommunicates Luther in 1521

• Emperor Charles V summons Luther to Worms, where he is expected to recant. He does not

• Luther is declared an outlaw, goes into hiding for a year

• Support for Luther continues to grow.

Charles V (r.1519-1556)

• 1519 Charles I of Spain becomes Charles V, HRE (unites Spain under 1 crown, makes Habsburg lands vast!)

• Wants to unite Europe under Catholic faith

• Personally controls nearly ½ of Europe

• Cannot stamp out Luther due to– Weakness of HRE

– Support for Luther among Germans

– Frequent wars w/ rivals

Titian

Peace of Augsburg

• Charles V forces to recognize that he could not stamp out Luther or the Reformation

• Princes will choose religion of their realms

• NOT an act of toleration

• Europe split

• C5 retires, gives throne to brother

The Reformation Elsewhere

• Simultaneous, independent movements developed (F), Switz.

– Reformation in Zurich

– Anabaptists & Radical Protestants

– Spiritualists

– Anti-Trinitarians

John Calvin’s Geneva• Calvin, passing through Geneva, was asked

to stay & reform Geneva church but forced to flee because his rules were seen as too harsh.

• 1540 Calvin returned & reformed Geneva– Wrote Institutes of the Christian

Religion in 1536, in Basel

– Surpassed Luther in popularity of beliefs by late 16th century

• Principle: elect should live manifestly God-pleasing lives

• Captured & executed Michael Servetus in 1553

• Geneva became Calvinist refuge and “woman’s paradise” (wife-beating condemned)

Believers

Pastors

Deacons

Elders

Teachers

The English Reformation

• (E) had long history of opposing Pope

• William Tyndale (1492-1536) translated Bible in (E) (1524-26)

• Lollardy (poor): Vernacular Bible, rejection of Pope as Church authority

• Christian Humanism (rich)– Thomas More

The King’s Affair

• 1509: H8 married dead brother’s wife, Catherine of Aragon (HRE C5’s aunt!) WHY?

• Special dispensation granted by Pope Julius II (remember: WHAM! “You’re excommunicated” Remember: Sistine chapel)

• No male heirs (just future Queen Mary I)• H8 sought annulment (after 18 years!)• Pope Clement VII delayed granting annulment

out of fear WHY?• 1529: Wolsey fired, Thomas Cromwell (1485-

1540) #1 advisor. Cromwell advises annulment by (E) clerical courts, not (I)!

Sources of Catholic Reform

• Several Orders sought reform in the 1500s

– Reform the Church

– Educate pious men for Church leadership

– Individuals called for return to mystic piety

– Popes resisted threat to power

Council of Trent (1545-1556)

• Three sessions, four popes, started @ insistence of Charles V WHY?

• Pope controlled, very Italian

• Results:– Church offices no longer for sale

– Bishops to reside in own dioceses

– Serve Mass regularly

– Better educated priests

– Seminary in every diocese

– All core doctrines kept

– Thomas Aquinas’s theology elevated

– Parishes improved w/ better clergy