The History of the Church 3: Reformation & Counter-Reformation -

Themes

 The Reformation  The Counter-

Reformation  Evangelism : the

New World

Reformation & Counter-Reformation : Timeline

  1517 : Luther’s 95 Theses   1531 – Pizarro conquers the

Incas   1534 – Henry Vlll Act of

Supremacy   1545 to 1563 – Council of Trent

(Counter Reformation)   1571 – Turkish navy defeated at

Battle of Lepanto

  1611 – King James’ Bible   1626 – Dedication of St

Peter’s Basilica   1683 – Battle of Vienna   1730s onwards – growth of

Methodism   1769 – first Californian

Mission

1. The Reformation : Medieval Church   “The Church (in 1500) was in rude

& lively health…Feast days were celebrated, fasts solemnly observed, images venerated, prayers for the dead recited…”

  “Church teachings were graphically represented in the liturgy, reiterated in sermons, enacted in Miracle plays, painted on walls, screens, bench-ends & windows of parish churches”.

  Eamon Duffy in The Stripping of the Altars

1. The Reformation : Changing World   Intellectual changes – the

Renaissance focus on Greek / Roman culture

  Humanism : poetry, grammar, history, moral philosophy & rhetoric : not anti-Christian!

  Nation States : control over Church affairs

  “Heresy” : Wycliffe, Huss   Printing : spread of ideas

1. The Reformation : Early Reformers

  John Wycliffe (1320-84) : Translated Bible into English. Poverty v Church wealth & abuses. Predestination. Posthumous heretic. Lollards.

  John Hus (1369-1415) : Czech disciple of Wycliffe. Condemned Church (clerical) corruption, hierarchy, Indulgences. Burned as heretic. Hussites.

1. The Reformation : The Renaissance Popes

 Calixtus lll (1455-8) : Nepotism   Pius ll (1458-64) : Poet, Nepotist, 2

children   Paul ll (1464-71) : Papal printing

House   Sixtus lV (1471-81) : Patron, Nepotist

(6 nephew cardinals)   Innocent Vlll (1484-92) : Wife,

mistresses, several children. Sold tiara.

1. The Reformation : The Renaissance Popes

  Alexander Vl (1492-1503) : Borgia. Numerous mistresses & 9 children. Nepotist.

  Julius ll (1503-13) : Warrior Pope. Patron of Arts. Began St Peter’s basilica.

  Leo X (1513-21): 7 / 13. “Let us enjoy the Papacy since God has given it to us.” Hunter.

  Clement Vll (1523-34) : Military Evangelism. Sack of Rome. Patron of Arts.

1. The Reformation : Visible Display Pope Nicholas V (1447-53) : “ A popular faith sustained only on doctrines

will never be anything but feeble & vacillating. But if the Authority of the Holy See were visibly displayed in majestic buildings, imperishable memorials & witnesses seemingly planted by the hand of God Himself, belief will grow & strengthen like a tradition from one generation to another & all the world will accept & revere it.”

1. The Reformation : St Peter’s Basilica

  Inside St Peter’s Basilica by Giovanni Pannini

1. The Reformation : Fund-Raising  Financial : Huge cost of

rebuilding St Peter’s employing Bernini, Branante, Botticelli, Ghirlanaio, Raphael, Michelangelo etc

 Financed partly by sale of Indulgences ( led by John Tetzel) & 2150 Papal posts

Old & new St Peter’s

1. The Reformation : Indulgences

  “Place your penny on the drum, The pearly gates open & in strolls mum” - Tetzel

 An Indulgence releases the individual fully or partially from the temporal punishment due to sin

  Indulgences given for donations – not for contrition for sins

 Even for sins not yet committed!

1. The Reformation : Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)

  Augustinian friar, ordained 1507   Obsessed with guilt & sinfulness   1517: 95 Theses, protesting sale of

indulgences.   1521: excommunicated   Produced New Testament in

German in 1522   1524 married ex-nun, Catherine

von Bura. 6 children.

1. The Reformation : Martin Luther : Key Teachings

  “The righteous shall live by faith” (St Paul)   Salvation is the pure gift of God’s grace – achieved only

by individual faith in Christ   “Every act aimed at attracting God’s favour is a sin”  Only God can forgive – indulgences are meaningless  Only 3 sacraments based on scripture : Baptism,

Confession & the Eucharist (but not the sacrifice of the Mass)

  Scripture is the only authority – the Papacy is the Antichrist

1. The Reformation : John Calvin ( 1509 – 1564 )

 Leading Protestant theologian

  Importance of faith over “good works”

 Predestination  Geneva

2. Counter-Reformation : The Eucharist

  The Synoptic Gospels (Mat26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20) & Paul's 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 : "This is my body … this is my blood.“

  Catholic & Orthodox traditional teaching (confirmed at 4th Lateran (1215) : the substance of the bread & wine literally / really changes into the substance of Jesus’ body & blood (Transubstantiation)

  Luther : Sacramental Union ie the bread & wine remain but are united with the body & blood of Christ

  Zwingli : a memorial only, symbolic

1. The Reformation : The Bible

  Early translations : Bede – into Old English (735), Slavonic (863), Old French (1360), Wycliffe into English (1383)

  Luther into German (1522)  William Tyndale (1492-1536) first mass-

produced English Bible . Posthumous endorsement.

 Myles Coverdale – first complete Bible in English (1535)

 King James version (1611)

1. The Reformation : Printing

 1450 : First printing press (moveable type)

 By 1517 : 200+ printing centres in Europe

 Used especially by Protestant Reformers for pamphlets, Bibles etc

 Luther’s works : 2200 print runs

1. The Reformation : England   1521: Henry Vlll – “Fidei Defensor”  Divorce refused by Pope - marries

Ann Boleyn 1533.   1534: Act of Supremacy. Schism

with Rome.   1535 : execution of Saints Thomas

Moore & John Fisher   1536 To 1540: Dissolution of the

Monasteries   1538: Henry VIII excommunicated

1. The Reformation : Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-40)

  No explicit ideological reason   Masterminded by Thomas Cromwell   Need was to raise money – for cathedrals,

grammar schools, universities but mostly for coastal defences

  852 monasteries dissolved ; 10,000 monks & 2000 nuns expelled

  200 (inc 3 abbots) hanged   Bury St Edmunds abbey (which had given

£400 pa to the poor) sold for £413

2. Counter-Reformation : “Consilium de Emendenda”

 Report to Pope Paul III (1537) on the evils affecting the Church :  Papal sales of spiritual privileges  Curial stockpiling of benefices  Heretical teaching in universities  Ignorance of country priests  Poor spiritual direction in

convents  Corruption of Religious Orders

Pope Paul III

2. Counter-Reformation : Council of Trent (1545-1563)

Reaffirmed :   the 7 sacraments   Transubstantiation : Real

Presence   Church interpretation of

scripture final   Salvation : faith and good

works   Clerical celibacy   Abolished notorious abuses eg

sale of indulgences, pluralism

2. Counter-Reformation : St Ignatius of Loyola (1491 – 1556)

  Read life of Christ during convalescence   1534 founded Jesuits (with Francis Xavier)   Wrote the Spiritual Exercises   Desire to “fight for God under the cross & serve

only the Lord & the Roman Pontiff, His vicar on earth”

  By his death : over 1000 Jesuits worldwide. By 1625 ; 16,000+ in 23 provinces

  The Jesuits were suppressed in 1773 but restored in 1814

2. Counter-Reformation : Erasmus   He imagined : Pope Julius ll to St Peter :” I

raised the revenue. I invented new offices & sold them. I invented a way to sell bishoprics without simony. I have torn up treaties & kept great armies. I have covered Rome with palaces…”

  “I will put up with this Church until I see a better one. And it will have to put up with me until I become better.”

  Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (1466 – 1536)

2. Counter-Reformation : Reform   Pope Benedict XlV (1740-58) :

improved seminary education, agriculture, raised revenues, supported scholarship & science. Opposed enslavement of natives.

 HR Emperor Joseph ll ( 1741-90) issued 6000+ edicts on religious life (inc no kissing statues) & closed 400 monasteries. Girdle riots.

2. The Counter Reformation : War   Wars of Religion : 1524 – 1697 inc :

  1562-98 : French wars of Religion   1568-1648 : 80 Years’ War (Low Countries)   1618-46 : 30 Years’ War

  Battle of the White Mountain (1620) : first major Catholic victory in 30 Years War marked Protestant retreat in C Europe

  Absolutism in Europe : Catholic rulers seek to reduce Pope to figurehead

  “We must kiss the Pope’s feet & bind his hands” (Cardinal Richelieu, 1585-1642)

2. The Counter Reformation : Europe

3. The Church in the Wider World : 1500-1750

  Spain :  The Americas : South, Central & North (eg

California)  West Indies  Philippines  Francis Xavier : India, Japan, Borneo

  Portugal  S America  SE Asia  W Africa – esp Congo

3. The Church in the Wider World : 1500-1750

  France   SE Asia : Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam  N America /Canada

  England  N America / Canada

  Netherlands   SE Asia   S Africa

  Denmark   S India

3. The Church in the Wider World : 1750

3. The Church in the Wider World : New World

  1492: Christopher Columbus discovers the New World.

  1494 : Treaty of Tordesillas – Pope Alexander Vl divides New World along meridian 270 leagues west of Cape Verde

  East = Portugal  West = Spain

3. The Church in the Wider World : South America

  1519: Spanish conquest of Mexico by Hernando Cortes : population fell from 25 to 2.5 million.

  1532: Conquest of Inca Empire by Pizzaro : population fell from 9 million to 600,000.

 Missionaries learn, preach & write in native languages

3. The Church in the Wider World : Francis Xavier 1506-52)

3. The Church in the Wider World : Francis Xavier 1506-52)

  Spanish co-founder of the Jesuits  First Jesuit Missionary travelling throughout S Asia –

mainly Portuguese Empire - & Japan  Armed with breviary, catechism & “De Institutione

Bene”  Took pains to learn local languages & adapt to local

customs  Typical day : AM : hospital / prison visiting & PM

Catechism for children & servants  Died of fever in 1552

3. The Church in the Wider World : Victory over the Ottomans – at Sea

  Battle of Lepanto (1571)   The Holy League (inc Spain, Venice,

Papal States) under Don John of Austria

  Defeated Ottoman fleet at Lepanto ( west of Greece)

  Prevented Ottoman expansion in N Mediterranean

  Credited to Our Lady of Victory ( now Rosary)

3. The Church in the Wider World : Victory over the Ottomans – on Land

  Battle of Vienna (1683)   Saved Vienna after 2 month

siege  Holy Roman Empire & Holy

League   Largest cavalry charge ever  Habsburgs replaced Ottomans

in Hungary / Transylvania   “Venimus, Vidimus, Deus Vincit”

Reformation & Counter-Reformation : Quiz

1.  Who was the leading seller of Indulgences?

2.  How many Theses had Martin Luther?

3.  Who master-minded the dissolution of the monasteries?

4.  Which 2 saints founded the Jesuits?

5.  Which Church Council defined the Counter-Reformation?

1.  John Tetzel

2.  95

3.  Thomas Cromwell

4.  St Ignatius Loyola & St Francis Xavier

5.  Trent : 1545-63