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Protestant Reformation |
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a movement for religious reform
During the Middle Ages, the church had the highest power in society. They were the authority and dominated religious life in Europe. The Renaissance's emphasis on the individual over religious entities challenged the Church's dominance in life and society. People began to stray away from the authority of the Pope, priests and monasteries. Additionally, rulers opposed the control the Pope and Church tried to impose on them and their kingdoms. These things, along with other issues people had with the church, contributed to the religious reform movement that took place in the 16th century.
Problems with the Church
People believed the Church was corrupt. They had selfish and lavish tendencies and had little time for their spiritual duties. Some members of the clergy broke their priestly vows by marrying, gambling, or drinking. The lower clergy - monks and priests - were poorly educated and could barely read, let alone teach. At the time, the Bible and the sermons were given in Latin, a language that very few people spoke.
Problems with the Church
People believed the Church was corrupt. They had selfish and lavish tendencies and had little time for their spiritual duties. Some members of the clergy broke their priestly vows by marrying, gambling, or drinking. The lower clergy - monks and priests - were poorly educated and could barely read, let alone teach. At the time, the Bible and the sermons were given in Latin, a language that very few people spoke.
Martin Luther
After Martin Luther became a monk in 1507, he taught scripture at the University of Wittenberg in Germany. Never intending to cause a religious revolution, he found himself at the leading end of the reform.
In 1517, a friar by the name of Johann Tetzel was raising money to rebuild St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. He did this by selling indulgences, or pardons by the church. In Catholicism, when a person sinned, they go to a member of the clergy and admit to the act as well as their sorrow for it. These pardons being sold released a sinner from performing the prayers that the priest imposed for sins. Tetzel gave the impression to the people that by purchasing an indulgence, it was a guarantee into heaven, or a "get out of hell free card."
Troubled by this, Luther wrote a list of all of the issues he had with the church. The 95 Theses, or formal statements made to the church, addressed the indulgences and the corruption of the church. On October 31, 1517, Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church. Thanks to the recent invention by Johannes Gutenberg, the Gutenberg printing press, the complaints were copied, printed and distributed around Germany quickly. Luther had three main ideas:
In 1517, a friar by the name of Johann Tetzel was raising money to rebuild St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. He did this by selling indulgences, or pardons by the church. In Catholicism, when a person sinned, they go to a member of the clergy and admit to the act as well as their sorrow for it. These pardons being sold released a sinner from performing the prayers that the priest imposed for sins. Tetzel gave the impression to the people that by purchasing an indulgence, it was a guarantee into heaven, or a "get out of hell free card."
Troubled by this, Luther wrote a list of all of the issues he had with the church. The 95 Theses, or formal statements made to the church, addressed the indulgences and the corruption of the church. On October 31, 1517, Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church. Thanks to the recent invention by Johannes Gutenberg, the Gutenberg printing press, the complaints were copied, printed and distributed around Germany quickly. Luther had three main ideas:
- People could win salvation only by faith in God's gift or forgiveness. The church would not sell salvation; nor did the Church's teachings that faith and "good works" were needed for salvation have any validity according to true Christian faith.
- All Church teachings should be clearly based on the words of the Bible, not translated or filtered through the traditions and corruption of the Church.
- All people with faith were equal. People did not need priests to interpret the Bible for them. Because the Bible and the sermons were both in Latin, Luther demanded they be translated into local vernacular, or language of the people. In doing so, people could read the Bible and interpret it for themselves and base it solely on their individual faith.
Responses to luther
The Pope threatened to excommunicate Luther, or suspend from the religious community, unless he retracted his statements. Luther refused to do so, but rather burned the Pope's degree into a bonfire. Luther was excommunicated.
The Holy Roman Emperor at the time, Charles V, controlled the vast empire which included Germany. He, too, opposed Luther's ideas and declared him an outlaw and a heretic. Luther's ideas began to spread - priests began wearing normal clothes; they led services in German instead of Latin; they began calling themselves ministers. Rather than trying to reform the Catholic Church, Luther and his followers became their own religious group called Lutherans. Many princes in the north also accepted Luther's ideas. While some genuinely shared his beliefs, other liked this teachings for several reasons. They saw it as an excuse to seize church power and land, making themselves more powerful and gain independence from the Holy Roman Empire. Of course, there were numerous princes and nobility who remained loyal to the Pope who agreed to join forces against Luther. Princes who supported Luther signed a protest against that agreement. These protesting princes (pro-Luther) came to be known as Protestants. Eventually, the term Protestant was applied to Christians who belongs to non-Catholic churches. The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V went to war against the Protestant princes. Although he won, he could not force them back into the Catholic Church. Eventually, the Peace of Augsburg was signed in 1555, stating that the religion of each German state or region was to be decided by its rule. |
England Becomes Protestant
King Henry VIII of England wanted an heir to the throne after he died. His wife, Catherine of Aragon, had given Henry a daughter, Mary. The Catholic Church did not allow for divorce, so Henry had to determine an alternative option. The pop could annul, or set aside, Henry's marriage if he could find proof that it had never been legal in the first place. Catherine was the aunt of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, so when the pope denied the annulment, Henry did not challenge it as to not offend the Holy Roman Emperor. Henry solved his marriage problem himself - he went to Parliament and asked them to pass a set of laws to end the pope's power in England. In 1534 Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, making the English king, not the pope, the head of England's church.
Following the Act, King Henry closed all monastaries and seized their wealth and land, which accounted for about 20% of the land in England. This significantly increased the royal power of Henry VIII.
King Henry divorced Catharine and married five more women; his third wife gave him a son (he beheaded or arrested the others). His son, Edward VI, took the throne for six short years. During his reign, Protestants grew powerful in England. After Edward's rule, Henry's first daughter, Mary, took the thrown. She was a devout Catholic and began executing Protestants. Elizabeth I, the second daughter of King Henry VIII, took the throne following Mary.
Following the Act, King Henry closed all monastaries and seized their wealth and land, which accounted for about 20% of the land in England. This significantly increased the royal power of Henry VIII.
King Henry divorced Catharine and married five more women; his third wife gave him a son (he beheaded or arrested the others). His son, Edward VI, took the throne for six short years. During his reign, Protestants grew powerful in England. After Edward's rule, Henry's first daughter, Mary, took the thrown. She was a devout Catholic and began executing Protestants. Elizabeth I, the second daughter of King Henry VIII, took the throne following Mary.
Elizabeth I restored Protestantism to England. In 1559, Elizabeth requested that Parliament set up a national church of England, which was to be the only legal church in England. Under this church ruling, people were required to attend its services or pay a fine. Parliament named Elizabeth the head of the Church of England, or the Anglican church. This state church was moderate for both Protestants and Catholics to accept. As a concession to the Protestants, members of the clergy were allowed to marry, and they could deliver their sermons in English, not Latin; for the Catholics, the Church of England kept some of the lavish trappings of the Catholic service, such as rich robes and golden crucifixes.
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