Text 1: Causes of the Reformation

Topic 10: The Renaissance and Reformation (1300–1650)Lesson 3: The Protestant Reformation

BELLWORK

What factors encouraged the Protestant Reformation?

OBJECTIVES

Summarize the factors that encouraged the Protestant Reformation

Analyze Martin Luther’s role in shaping the Protestant Reformation

Causes of the Reformation

During the Renaissance, Christians from all levels of society grew impatient with the corruption of the clergy and the worldliness of the Roman Catholic Church

From such bitterness sprang new calls for reform

During the Middle Ages, the Church had renewed itself from within

In the 1500s the movement for reform unleashed forces that would shatter Christian unity in Europe

This reform movement is known as the Protestant Reformation

Abuses Within the Church

Beginning in the late Middle Ages, the Church had become increasingly caught up in worldly affairs

Popes competed with Italian princes for political power

Fought long wars to protect the Papal States against invasions by secular rulers

They plotted against powerful monarchs who tried to seize control of the Church within their lands

Popes, like other Renaissance rulers, led lavish lives

Like other Renaissance rulers, popes were patrons of the arts

They hired painters and sculptors to beautify churches and spent vast sums to rebuild the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome

To finance such projects, the Church increased fees for services such as marriages and baptisms

Some clergy also promoted the sale of indulgences, a type of pardon that lessened the time of punishment a soul faced for sins committed during a person's lifetime

In the Middle Ages, the Church had granted indulgences only for good deeds

By the late 1400s indulgences could be bought with money or a gift to the Church

Many Christians protested such practices

In Northern Europe, especially, religious piety deepened even as interest in secular things was growing

Christian humanists such as Erasmus urged a return to the simplicity of the early Christian church

They stressed Bible study and rejected Church pomp and ceremony

Early Reformers

Even before the Protestant Reformation, a few religious thinkers had called for change

In England in the late 1300s, John Wycliffe attacked corruption in the Church and questioned some Church doctrines

He is probably best remembered for supporting the translation of the Bible into English

After his death, Wycliffe was condemned for heresy, but not before his ideas had spread to other lands

A Czech priest and philosopher, John Hus, was a follower of Wycliffe

Like Wycliffe, Hus believed Christians should be allowed to read the Bible in their own language

He rejected some Church teachings, including indulgences

Put on trial for his activities, he was condemned and burned at the stake

His followers continued to operate in Eastern Europe, despite Church efforts to destroy the movement