Reformation of the
Christian Church
Overview:
-The Protestants built a
whole new system for the Christian Church designed around faith and a personal
relationship with God, rather than works and authority
-Between 1450 and today, the
importance of religion has changed from absolutely powerful to nearly
irrelevant
1500: people would die for their faith, 10 million people
died over religious questions
Today 10% of
OVERVIEW OF REFORMATION
-Destroyed the unity of the
Catholic Church
-Created a new freedom for
Christians
-Built up the power of the
political leaders, because of the power vacuum when the church was fighting
within itself
-Protestants were a huge
stimulant to education because everyone needed to be able to read the
scriptures
*Ended up causing a lot of
wars in
BACHGROUND
-Growth of nation-states to
support those protesting the church’s corruption
-Nation-states (kings) as
rivals to the church (pope, bishops)
-Church raised taxes
The Reformation Begins
1. John Tetzel – sold indulgences and infuriated
Martin Luther
- The Coin in the Coffer rings…the
soul from purgatory springs.
2. Pope Leo X
-Hires Tetzel to sell
indulgences in
3. Martin Luther “Rebel with a Cause”
-1517: 95 Thesis=statement
printed and hung on the door of the
-1518-1521: tried to work it
out with the Pope, did not want to leave the Catholic Church
-1521: Papal Bull, Diet of
Worms and Luther’s Banishment
-1521-1526: Luther writes
German Bible and lays foundation for Lutheranism
4.
-Chose to protect Luther from
HRE and Pope after the Diet of Worms
-One of the leaders of the
Protestant Princes who revolted against Catholicism
The Diet of
-Calls for Christian unity
against Muslims
-Defeat the Turks
-First written expression of
what Protestants believed (Augsburg Confession)
-7 Sacraments: Catholic
tradition
Protestants say only 2
-Separate church and
state=Protestants
*First
-Consubstantiation, believed
that Holy Communion is a symbolic remembrance of the bread and the wine
-Transubstantiation believed
that the bread and the wine change into the flesh and blood of Christ at the
moment of Holy Communion
*Second
-Believed that you had to
choose to be baptized for it to count, so infant baptism did not count
(Catholics and Lutherans)
-Equality for everyone once
you are baptized
-Believed in sharing property
-Unitarians and
anti-Trinitarians denied the Trinity and were usually burned at the stake
Michael Servetus
*Third
-Predestination vs. Free-will
-Founded Calvinism, which
believed in Predestination (belief that certain people are chosen by god for
salvation)
-French Calvinists became
known as Hugenots
-Founded the city of
-Calvin’s Tragedy
-Iconoclasm (destruction of
icons, relics and distracting art in church)
Reformation in
Henry VIII of
-Named “Defender of the
Faith.” by Pope Leo X
-Married Catherine of
-Wanted a divorce because
Catherine did not produce a male heir, but the Catholic Church would not allow
it
-Founds Anglican Church and
grants himself a divorce
-1533: Henry is
excommunicated
-1534: Henry passes the Act
of Supremacy to make him leader of the Church of England
-In total had 6 wives
Henry’s Decision
-I rule the land, the church
and the kingdom, but no other changes are made
-1536-1539: Monasteries are
suppressed
-1539-1544: Gave Monasteries
to nobles, built loyalty
-1539: The Act of Six
Articles were passed, heretical to deny the main theological tenets of medieval
Roman Catholicism
Edward VI: 1547-1553
-Son of Jane Seymour and
Henry VIII
-Passed 39 Articles that
replaced the Six Articles
-Moves
Mary I: 1553-1558
-Returns
-Killed over 300 Protestants
-Married Philip II: King of
Elizabeth I: 1558-1603
-Returned
***Politique: allowed people
to believe what they wanted as long a s they remained
loyal to Queen and Country
Catholic Counter Reform
Three Main Parts
1. Council of
-Examined Catholic Doctrine and decided it was perfect
-No doctrinal changes were made
-Changes in practices were recommended, clergy should be
better educated and better supervised, indulgences should be sold less, simony
and pluralism should decrease
2. Papal Decrees
-Excommunicate Protestants, Spanish and Italian
Inquisitions and the Index of Forbidden Books
3. Jesuits
-Religious order of priests and monks who were loyal to
the Pope; established school and engaged in the global Missionary Enterprise
-Founded by Ignatius Loyola