Reform for the Church

Chapter 16

Section I

Protest against the Catholic Church had a long history

¨          John Wycliffe and John Huss

¨          Printing Press and the Spread of New Ideas

¨          Martin Luther encouraging reforms

I.          Problems of the Popes (1500s)

A.          Patronized Art, Collected Ancient Manuscripts, and defended the Papal States

B.          All of these left little time for Spiritual Matters

C.          Corruption rampant from Popes to Lower Clergy

D.          Many became religious and educated and expected the leaders of the Church to be at least one step above them.

E.          Savonarola-1497-friar that defeated the Medici and encouraged reform in Florence, but after only a year the people overthrew him!

**People were easily swayed into drastic revolutions!

F.          Erasmus and More

1.          Christian Humanists

2.          Thomas More of England-Utopia (a perfect society based on reason and mercy.  Means "No Place" in Greek.

3.          Desiderius Erasmus-Holland-In Praise of Folly (poked fun at all levels of society but especially at the clergy!)

4.          Thousands of Europeans read these works!!!

G.          Printing Press

1.          1440-1450 Germany- movable type.  Gutenberg printed a bible in 1455.  1st full size book printed with movable type.

2.          By 1500 250 cities had print shops and over 9 million books had been printed!  Now books were cheap enough to buy!

3.          Printing Press Prepares the Way for Revolution

a.          Writers, such as Erasmus, wrote criticisms of Popes.

b.          Popular Piety encouraged.  Pictures stirred people's religious feelings

c.          Bible available to all whom could read.  No more dependence on the Popes or clergy.  Open to interpretation.

d.          New ideas spread more quickly than before.

II.          Martin Luther (1483-1546)          

A.          Lifestory:

He grew up in Saxony, Germany.  His father was an angry man and scared little Martin to death.  He was constantly impressed by the stern teachings of the local priests.  At the age of 21 he was almost struck by lightning and fearful for his life begged Saint Anne to save him.  He then became a monk and his father was furious because he wanted Martin to be a lawyer.

          He was a studious monk and often fasted, slept without a blanket and tried desperately to find peace of mind.  He finally realized that the biblical phrase "The just shall live by faith" was the key!  He now knew how to live his life for God and he began a reform movement that would shake the Catholic world to its knees! 

B.          95 Theses

1.          Friar John Tetzel was selling indulgences-gave the impression people could buy their way into heaven.

2.          Martin Luther was disturbed by this and wrote 95 points of disagreements and nailed it to the front door.  Someone took these to a print shop and the ideas spread all over Europe!  The REFORMATION within the Catholic Church had started.

C.          Luther is excommunicated by Pope Leo X

1.          3 Main ideas of teaching

a.          Salvation by faith alone.

b.          The Bible as the only authority for Christian life.

c.          The Priesthood of all believers. 

2.          June 15, 1520 Bull issued which Martin burned in a fire! 

D.          Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, opposed Luther as well!

1.          City of Worms- Luther on trial and accused as a notorious heretic. 

2.          May 26, 1521-Edict of Worms- no food, shelter, or help to Luther in Germany.  Burn his books too!

3.          25 Years later he was still around and very popular.

4.          Charles could not govern effectively because:

a.          Empire too large

b.          Hapsburg family of Austria and marriages acquired land

c.          Political divisions within the Empire (Austria, Spain, Italy, and New World Holdings of Spain) but Nationalism strong!

d.          The German people resented sponsoring Rome with money and the rest were all for Luther's ideas.

E.          Luther's ideas spread in Germany

1.          1522- For one year after the Diet of Worms Luther translated the New Testament into German. 

2.          By 1522 many were practicing the ideas of Luther and instead of Catholic Reform we now see a new religion:  Lutherans

3.          1524-1525- Peasants revolt to end serfdom and reek havoc with violence.  Luther totally opposed to violent reform.  He wrote a letter to the princes to stop the revolt and show no mercy.  They crushed the revolt and over 100,000 people were killed.  Lower classes felt betrayed by Luther and the Princes wanted to follow him for less than noble reasons!

4.          Some Princes followed him to seize Church Property

5.          Others truly believed in his ideas.

6.          The protesting princes eventually became known as Protestants.  This was a change from the Catholic Papacy and is known as the Protestant Reformation. 

7.          Luther continues to write until his death but the Reformation was continuing on its own just fine!  He died in 1546.

Protestantism Spreads in Northern Europe

Chapter 16

Section II

**Other Reformers around Europe voicing the need for change as well!

          John Calvin-France          John Knox-Scotland

**Catholicism is being challenged around Europe!

I.  Henry VIII

A.          King of England-  1509-1547

1.          Henry was 18 when he inherited the throne of England.  He was only the second Tudor ruler. He hated Luther and the reforms and was called the "Defender of the Faith" by the Church!

2.          He and his wife Catherine of Aragon only had a daughter and he was afraid of another Wars of the Roses occurring without a male heir.  They had five other babies and 3 were boys but they all died in infancy.

3.          By 1527 he wanted a new wife named Anne Boleyn so he could have a male child.  How to get rid of Catherine of Aragon?  Petition the Pope so he can declare the marriage illegal because divorce was absolutely forbidden!

4.          In 1527, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, held the Pope captive and Catherine was his aunt so the Pope could never grant such a wish!

5.          In 1529, Henry VIII went to the Reformation Parliament and asked them to legalize the divorce from Catherine.  They did so very quickly.

6.          In 1533, Henry married Anne.  The Parliament also stated that the King was independent of any outside potentates or rulers!  Meaning the POPE!!!

7.          Anne had a little girl much to Henry's distress and her name was Elizabeth (later to be known as one of the greatest Tudor rulers!)

8.          1534- Parliament declared that the King was the only and supreme head of the Church of England. (Act of Supremacy) 

9.          Parliament and the King gained a great deal of power in England in a short seven year period. 

10.           The Church of England is called the Anglican Church and in America it is called the Episcopal Church!

B.          Henry enforced his changes.

1.          Thomas More did not support the Act of Supremacy and Henry had him beheaded.  This shocked people around Europe!

2.          Henry closed all the monasteries and seized the land (1/3 of all England's land).  He then sold it to the nobles and increased his treasury while gaining a great deal of support for the Protestant Reformation in England!  If they went back to the Catholic Church then many new landowners stood to lose a great deal of land.

C.          Henry's remaining years

1.          Anne was imprisoned in the Tower of London and beheaded in 1536.

2.          Within a month Jane Seymour was the new queen.  In 1537, she had a son and then died 12 days later. 

3.          He married again 3 more times!  Six in all!

a.          Anne of Cleves- German princess used for Henry to gain an alliance with Lutheran Princes.  He set that marriage aside after just a few months!

b.          Catherine Howard was executed after less than a year as Queen on charges of adultery!

c.          1543- Catherine Parr loyally cared for Henry until his death in 1547.  He had grown very fat and ill.

4.          Henry's Children

a.          Edward IV- staunch Protestant ruled and gained more power for them.

b.          Mary- ruled as a Catholic and returned the Church to the Pope! 

c.          Elizabeth I returned to Protestantism and we will look at her rule more closely in the next unit!

III.          Women Influenced the Reformation

A.          France:  Marquerite of Navarre-sister of the King- protected Protestant preachers and also passed the teachings to future heirs of the throne. 

B.          Margaret More, daughter of Thomas More, was highly influential.

C.          Catherine Parr wrote a book about justification by faith.

D.          The middle class loved Protestantism because it was preached in the vernacular.  Many accepted it and as it grew women again found themselves in the background.

IV.          John Calvin

A.          Calvin gave an order to the Reformation.

B.          He escaped an arrest of Protestants in France and fled to Switzerland where he published Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536.  It was extremely popular and sold out in 1 year.

C.          This book had a systematic approach to Protestantism

1.          All men/women are sinful by nature.

2.          By God's grace a very few will be saved-Elect.

3.          Predestination-since God is all-knowing he has known who these people are since the beginning of time.

4.          Theocracy-gov't controlled by church leaders (Calvinism and Lutheranism differ on this point.)

5.          Geneva, Switzerland, "City of Saints" practiced Calvinism:

a.          No brightly colored clothes

b.          No card playing

c.          No public inns after 9:00 PM

***One could be imprisoned for these things and burned at the stake for teaching a different doctrine!!!!!!!!

V.          Scottish Reformation

A.          John Knox

1.          Visited Geneva in 1559 and organized Scottish towns on this idea. 

2.          Presbyters-small group of laymen or elders ruled the community churches.

3.          They later became known as Presbyterians.

4.          1567-overthrew Mary Stuart and put her 1-year-old son, James VI, on the throne of Scotland.  The real power, the nobles, made Calvinism the official religion of Scotland.

VI.          Protestant Churches spread widely!

A.          France- Huguenots-followers of Calvin

B.          Sweden, Denmark & Norway converted

The Catholic Church Makes Reforms

Chapter 16

Section III

** Even as Protestant Reformation was occurring many Catholics held firmly to their faith and beliefs while undergoing internal reform!

I.          Ignatius

A.          Wrote Spiritual Exercises while recovering from a serious wound.  This was a day by day plan for:

1.          Meditation

2.          Prayer

3.          Study

B.          His new monastic order called the Society of Jesus or Jesuits.

C.          They emphasized discipline and obedience.

D.          They were willing to go anywhere, such as Africa, Asia and the Americas for the Pope and focused on 3 things:

1.          Excellent Schools

2.          Convert Non-Christians to Catholicism

3.          Prevent Protestantism especially in Poland and South Germany (Bavaria).  They are Roman Catholic today because of the Jesuits' work.

II.          Reforming Popes led the Church (1500s)

A.          Pope Paul III-(1534-1549) 3 steps to reform the Church

1.          Directed the Council of Cardinals to investigate simony, indulgence selling, and abuses in the Church.

2.          Approved the Jesuit Order

3.          Called the great Council of Church leaders and they agreed on the 4 major doctrines.

a.          Pope final interpreter of Bible.

b.          Faith and good works saved believers-not faith only

c.          Bible and Church tradition were equal in the lives of Christians

d.          Indulgences, pilgrimages, and venerations of holy relics were okay.  False uses were banned!

B.          Pope Paul IV-(1555-1559)

1.          Wrote the Index of Forbidden Books

2.          Book Burning included Protestant Bibles

C.          Protestant historians call this the Counter-Reformation because it appeared to try to stamp out Protestantism

 D.          Religion Divided Europe

1.           Peace of Augsburg 1555-Ruler of Germany decided religion. 

2.          Charles V was dissatisfied and divided up his empire among his family. 

a.          Philip II, his son, received Spain, parts of Italy, Netherlands and Spain's holdings in America

b.          Ferdinand, his brother, received the Holy Roman Empire

    3.  Charles retired to a monastery and died there in 1558.

Scientists Revolution

Chapter 16

Section IV

ü          Nicolaus Copernicus

ü          Johannes Kepler

ü          Galileo Galilei

ü          Andreas Vesalius

ü          William Harvey

ü          Evangelista Torricelli

ü          Scientific Method

ü          Precise tools

1.          Microscope

2.          Thermometer