Religious Upheavals in the Atlantic Developing Region

US History Summary Historical Themes (HST 200) Religious Upheavals in the Atlantic Developing Region For Christian Europe up to the 1500s, the Catholic Church served as a uniting religious institution. Because it imposed taxes on the devout, the Vatican in Rome had considerable influence on education and research as well as economics in the lives of Europeans. Spain was the Catholic faith's stronghold because of its richness in the New World. However, once the Protestant Reformation, a break or schism among European Christians, got underway, Catholic supremacy came under threat, starting with the reform initiatives of Martin Luther in 1517 and John Calvin in the 1530s. Protestantism expanded over northern Europe in the sixteenth century, and in response, Catholic nations made efforts to quell what they saw as the Protestant threat. The history of the Atlantic World was also impacted by the theological conflict between Catholics and Protestants, as many nation-states fought not only for control of new lands but also for the supremacy of their respective religious doctrines there. The history of early globalization is tied to the history of rival Christian groups in the Atlantic World, much as the history of Spain's ascent to prominence is linked to the Reconquista. MARTIN LUTHER Before Martin Luther, many Europeans had demanded changes to the Catholic Church; but, his outcry unintentionally caused rifts in European Christianity. In Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517, Luther wrote a list of what he saw to be necessary Church reforms, which became known as The Ninety-Five Theses. He posted the list to the door of the church. In addition to opposing the Church's practice of enforcing tithes—a mandatory contribution to the Church that seemed to benefit the clergy—he demanded that the Bible be published in plain English and opposed the purchasing and selling of indulgences. Luther intended to remain a member of the Catholic Church and reform it, but instead his actions set off a movement known as the Protestant Reformation that split the Church in two. He was denounced as a heretic by the Catholic Church, but Lutheranism— a theology founded on his reforms—spread across Scandinavia and northern Germany. JOHAN CALVIN Like Luther, the French jurist John Calvin maintained that Christians could only begin to comprehend the power of God by reading scripture and thinking about their spiritual situation on a daily basis. Calvin also supported making the Bible available to common people. Calvin headed the Reformation movement from Geneva, Switzerland, after leaving Catholic France in 1535. Calvinism placed a strong emphasis on predestination—the concept that God picked a limited group of people for salvation while condemning everyone else—and highlighted the helplessness of humans in the face of an all-knowing God. Calvinists believed that reading the Bible readyed sinners to accept God's favor, if they were among the chosen. Calvin founded a Bible commonwealth at Geneva, a group of Christians whose only source of authority was their understanding of the Bible, not the authority of any king or prince. Calvin's theories quickly made their way to Scotland and the Netherlands. England's Protestant Movement Beyond the German states and Geneva, Protestantism made its way to centuries-long Catholic England. The Bible was translated into English in 1526 by English scholar William Tyndale, who was prompted by Luther to provide scripture in a language that worshipers could easily understand. When Henry VIII established a new, Protestant official religion in the 1530s, it caused a seismic disruption with the Catholic Church in England.Henry, a devoted Catholic, had first opposed the Reformation. He was even given the title "Defender of the Faith" by Pope Leo X. But when Henry wanted a male successor to the Tudor throne, things took a turn for the worst. The king requested the annulment of his marriage with Catherine, his Spanish Catholic wife (the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella), after she failed to bear him a son. Henry established the Church of England as the leader of a new national Protestant church when the Pope denied his request. He was thereafter allowed to divorce himself and wed Anne Boleyn. In addition to failing to bear a male heir, Anne Boleyn was killed by Henry when she was suspected of infidelity. Edward, the son of his third wife Jane Seymour, finally came of age and reigned for a brief period of time before passing away at the age of fifteen in 1553. After Henry VIII's first wife Catherine was dumped, his daughter Mary ascended to the kingdom with the intention of reestablishing Catholicism. Because of the many Protestant deaths she ordered throughout her reign—many of which were burning alive— she acquired the moniker "Bloody Mary." When Elizabeth, the Protestant daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, took the throne in 1558, religious unrest in England was at last calmed. The Church of England reverted to becoming the state church under Elizabeth, keeping much of the Catholic Church's rites and hierarchical organization. But during the late 1500s, a few English Church members started to push for more change. Known as Puritans, their goal was to purge the Church of England of all trace of Catholicism. The word "puritan" was derogatory at the time; many people thought Puritans were pious con artists who took advantage of their neighbors' religious beliefs. Worse yet, since Puritans opposed the national church, many powerful people saw them as a security danger. The number of Puritans increased gradually throughout Elizabeth's lengthy reign (1558–1603). Following the death of James I in 1625 and the accession of his son Charles I to the throne, Puritans found themselves under growing official pressure to comply. Instead, in the 1620s and 1630s, a large number of people crossed the Atlantic to establish New England, a sanctuary for reformed Protestantism where the label "Puritan" was no longer derogatory. Thus, the Americas saw equally significant repercussions from the theological changes that greatly impacted England. RIGGORIOUS GUER The vast Spanish Catholic dominion was under danger from the Protestant Reformation by the early 1500s. Spain would not accept any opposition to the Holy Catholic Church as the leading Catholic nation. It committed enormous resources and work to spearheading an abortive attempt to exterminate Protestantism in Europe throughout the course of the 1500s. During this period, the North Netherlands' renegade Spanish provinces were Spain's principal adversaries. These seven northern provinces broke away from Spain in 1581 to form the Dutch Republic, often known as Holland, a place where Protestantism was accepted. King Philip of Spain put up a vast army of more than 30,000 soldiers and 130 ships with the intention of crushing Protestantism in England and Holland. In 1588, he sent this armada, known as the Spanish Armada, north. However, a marine storm and English sea power decimated the flotilla. The 1588 Spanish Armada loss was just a small portion of a wider, unofficial conflict between Catholic Spain and Protestant England. The two adversaries engaged in many altercations between 1585 and 1604. In an attempt to neutralize the Spanish fleet and seize Spanish wealth, England established its own armada in 1589. However, the English expedition was ultimately unsuccessful due to a combination of illness, weather, and the might of the Spanish Armada. The war between Spain and England continued into the early seventeenth century, and as imperial rivalries developed in the Atlantic World, the emerging Protestant countries—particularly England and the Dutch Republic—posed a serious threat to both Catholic France and Spain. Although Spain still had a sizable American empire, by the early 1600s it was unable to prevent England and its competitors from Europe, the French and Dutch, from settling on smaller Caribbean islands. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when strong state religions had the ability to impose and enforce belief systems on the populace, were marked by religious intolerance. Religious violence was frequent in this environment. The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572, in which French Catholic forces started killing defenseless French Protestants, is among the most notable instances. The killings sparked mob violence that resulted in the deaths of nine thousand people, a horrific incident that demonstrates the extent of religious unrest that engulfed Europe during the Protestant Reformation.