European History The Reformation

The Reformation ● reform= a change for the better ● Time when people are trying to reform Christianity in Europe ● The Catholic Reformation ○ Reform within the Catholic Church ● Protestant Reformations ○ Break with the Catholic Church and reforms Chritainity outside of it Important Aspects of Medieval Christianity ● Praying to saints ● Venerating relics (body parts or objects that had belonged to saints) ● Venerating images of Jesus and the Saints ● Going on pilgrimages to shrines of saints ● Important because people cannot read- anyone can understand images Late Medieval Christianity ● 14th-15th century ○ Explosion of religious devotion ○ Lay people = Ordinary people, not clergy - were more involved in religion Problems in Church ● Corrupt Bishops take Church money and do not do their jobs ● Priests and bishops break vows of chastity ● Priests are uneducated and live shameful lives ● Monks and nuns are very laid back ● Efforts to reform the church increase in later middle ages Martin Luther (1483-1546) ● Almost struck by lightning ● “ Help me St. Anne… I will become a monk!” Martin Luther the Monk ● Scrupulous= obsessed with his sins ● Felt like God hated him and that he was damned to hell, no matter what he did Luther’s Theology ● Justification by faith alone ○ We cannot do anything to be saved. Only our faith in Christ saves us. Nothing we do affects our salvation ○ The Bible is the only source of Truth ● Priesthood of all believers ○ There is no difference between priests and regular people. We are equally priests Sola Scriptura ● Only two sacraments ● No Pope, they believe Pope is the Anti- Christ ● No praying to Saints ● Priests can marry No monks and nuns ● No purgatory ● No pilgrimages Luther and the Bible ● Rearranges the books of the Bible ● Removes 7 books of the Old Testament Luther’s Break with the Catholic Church ● 1517-Martin Luther's bishop in Germany sells indulgences (reductions in time in purgatory) to pay back bribes to the Pope ● October 13, 1517 - Martin Luther writes 95 theses to protest against indulgences, nails them to Church doors ○ Says God forgives sins, not letters from the Pope ○ 1518- begins to deny the authority of the Pope ○ Excommunicated ○ 1521- Holy Roman Emperor gives Luther last chance to back down at the Diet of Worms (imperial council) ○ Luther refuses so Emperor declares him an outlaw ○ Prince of Saxony - defends Luther and takes him in More Protestant ReformationsSwitzerland ● Started by Ulrich Zwingli ○ Believed images in churches were idolatry (worship of false Gods) ○ Believed that the Eucharist was only a symbol, not actually the Body of Christ ○ One by one the cities of Switzerland destroy all images and decoration in churches, abolish Catholic mass ○ Make every strict society with many rules Anabaptists ● Believe you should only be baptized as an adult ● Persecuted by other Protestants (expelled, burned at the stake) ● Some deny that Jesus was divine, deny Trinity ● Some say only inner relationship with God is important, say that any Church or rituals are necessary John Calvin ● Most important reformer in France and Switzerland ○ His ideas spread across Europe and England ● Believed in predestination (God decides whether you go to hell or heaven before you are born) ● Took over Swiss city of Geneva- made into strict society ○ Burns alive people who disagree with his theology The English Reformation Henry VIII ● Wants an annulment from the Pope to separate from his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and marry Anne Boleyn because his current wife cannot conceive children. ● Pope does not allow the divorce ○ Henry declared himself Head of the Church of England and divorces Catherine Henry VIII’s Six Wives ● Catherine of Aragon - divorced ● Anne Boleyn- beheaded ● Jane Seymour- died ● Catherine Howard- beheaded ● Catherine Parr- survived! Henry’s Reformation ● Takes all of the Church’s property and closes all monasteries ● Edward VI (his son) - Protestant makes Book of Common Prayer in English and abolishes the Mass, destroys the images of the Church (in churches) ● Protestant church of England= Anglican Church Mary I (Bloody Mary) ● Makes England Catholic again ● Executes Protestant clergy ● Strict Catholic, kills many who are not Catholic ● Rebellion against her reign because of marriage to Philip II king of Spain St. Thomas Moore ● Henry VIII’s chancellor ● Refusal in recognition of Henry as head of the Church ○ Executed 1535 Elizabeth I, The Virgin Queen (1558-1603) ● Bans Catholic Church ○ Catholic’s forced to pay fines if skipped mandatory mass for the Church of England ○ Catholics need to worship in secret ○ Catholic priests automatically killed ○ Catholic priests (especially Jesuits) sent in secret to England, to give mass, many of them die ● Makes England Protestant again ○ Keeps certain Catholic rituals ● She is called the “Virgin Queen” due to the fact she never married 1588 Spanish Armada (fleet of ships) tries to conquer England and make it Catholic again - Defeated by smaller, lighter English ships Puritans = English Protestants who thought the Church of England was still too Catholic and needed to be freed from idolatry Mary, Queen of Scots ● Was Catholic and in line to the English throne but was deposed and exiled to ENgland ● She participated in a plot to kill Elizabeth and take the throne of England ● She was beheaded by Elizabeth in 1587 Henry VIII 1509-1547 Edward VI 1547-1553 Mary I 1553-1558 Elizabeth I 1558-1603 James I 1603-1625 James I ● Mary, Queen of Scots son. James I becomes king of England and makes the King James Bible which is the first English translation of the Bible ● Dies in 1625, Son Charles inherits throne as King Charles I Guy Fawkes ● Almost blows up Parliament - known as The Gunpowder Plot ○ Failed ○ Celebrated in England on November 5th The Catholic Reformation ● The Council of Trent (1545-1563) ○ Church council called to deal with the Protestant doctrines ○ Called by Pope Paul III ○ Condemns Protestant doctrines ● Reform of the Clergy ○ The inquisition finds and punishes corrupt priests and bishops who are not celibate, stealing from the church, etc ○ Seminaries are established to make sure priests are educated ○ Monasteries and religious orders become more strict again ● New Religious orders founded= make schools for boys and girls, serve the poor ○ The oratorians use music, plays to illustrate faith for people ● The Jesuits ○ Founded by Ignatius of Loyola ○ Specialized in schools= open and free to everyone, educators of the sciences ○ Missionaries ○ Run hospitals and prisons ○ Write a lot of catechisms ● Catholic Art ○ Protestand believe images in Churches are Idolatry and that the senses distract you from god ■ Protestant churches are very simple, there are no images ○ Catholic Art in the Counter- Reformation are extremely decorated, try to make you feel and see the world of the Sacred ● Miracles and Mystical Experiences ○ Protestants do not believe in miracles and think that mystical experiences come from the Devil ○ Catholics in the Counter- Reformation focus on miracles and on spiritual experiences that we can see, feel, touch ● Demons and Witches ○ Both catholics and Protestants obsessed with the devil and demons in this period ○ Both sides afraid of witches; execute them in witch hunts ● Protestants Disagree ○ Luther and Zwingli argue about the Eucahrist ○ Lutherans kill Calvinists as heretics ○ Lutherans and Calvinists kill Anabaptists