Transcript Reform and Renewal in the Christian Church

Cover Slide
Chapter 14
Reform and
Renewal in
the Christian
Church
3
The Protestant Reformation
• In the 1500s, calls for reform unleashed forces
that would shatter Christian unity. The
movement is known as the Protestant
Reformation.
• People who joined the movement for reform
called themselves Protestants, for those who
“protested” papal authority.
3
Abuses in the Church
• Beginning in the late Middle Ages, the
Church had become increasingly caught up
in worldly affairs.
– Popes competed with Italian princes for political
power.
– Popes fought long wars to protect the Papal
States against invaders.
– Some clergy promoted the sale of indulgences.
– Popes led lavish lifestyles and spent a great deal
of money on the arts.
– The Church increased fees for services such as
weddings and baptisms to finance worldly
projects.
The Condition of the Church
(ca 1400–1517)
• Signs of Disorder
– Clerical immorality - priests frequently violated their vows of
celibacy. They were also accused of drunkenness, gambling,
and other vices.
– Clerical ignorance - many priests could barely read or write.
They were less educated than most educated laity.
– Clerical absenteeism and pluralism - especially in higher-level
Church officials who were often absent from their sees. Many
held more than one office at a time, and some had bought their
offices.
– Many Italian officials in Rome held benefices in England,
France, or Germany, drawing income there from, but doing
little for their sees.
– Upper levels of the Church hierarchy were dominated by
aristocrats who lived well.
Benefices, Pluralism and Simony
• Under pre-Reformation Cannon Law Benefices came to
mean an income enjoyed — often linked to some land
administered — by a priest in chief of an ecclesiastical
office.
• Over time, the benefice system was abused throughout
Europe. As benefices came to priests due to feudal
patronage and political considerations, priests occasionally
held more than one benefice, called pluralism. This
pluralism quite often resulted in absenteeism, where the
priest would not take care of his benefice.
• Pluralism was often seen as a good investment for a family
that could afford to buy a position (Simony) for a younger
son or other protégé. The position would allow the family
to curry favor in the Church and serve to guarantee a
future for the appointee.
St. Sebastian and the
Plague-stricken
In his painting St. Sebastian
Interceding for the Plague-Stricken,
the Flemish artist Josse Lieferinxe
portrays an outbreak of the plague.
One dying man seems to be falling
terrified to the ground while a female
bystander in the background screams
in alarm. In the foreground the body
of a dead person, carefully shrouded,
is attended by a priest and other
clerics bearing a cross. In the
background is a cart transporting the
dead to common graves. At the top of
the painting, Christ listens to the
prayers of Saint Sebastian (pierced by
arrows). (The Walters Art Gallery,
Baltimore)
The Condition of the Church (ca
1400–1517)
• Signs of Vitality
– In Holland the Brethren of the Common Life
lived simply, aided the poor, and taught in
local schools.
• An example of pre-reformation church reform
– Church attendance and church donations
remained high.
– Pope Julius II summoned an ecumenical
council to discuss Church reform (1512–
1517).
Lieferinxe, Pilgrims
at the Tomb of St.
Sebastian
Josse Lieferinxe, a French painter of
the Provencal school, was active in
Marseilles from 1493 to 1508. This
ancon (devotional object), decorated
with eight scenes from the life of St.
Sebastian, was commissioned in 1497
for the church of Notre Dame des
Accoules in Marseilles. Lieferinxe took
over the painting when the original
artist died before finishing the work.
This panel was from the right section
of the great ancon. Here we see
Christians, especially those who are ill
or handicapped, flocking to the Tomb
of St. Sebastian. (Scala/Art Resource,
NY)
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• Luther’s Early Years
– Luther was a conscientious friar, but
observance of the religious routine did not
bring him a sense of security in salvation.
– Eventually he concluded that only simple
faith in Christ led to salvation.
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The Teachings of Martin Luther
• Salvation is achieved through faith alone.
– Luther rejected Church doctrine that good deeds were
necessary for salvation.
– Doctrine of Indulgences does not agree in this
• The Bible is the sole source of religious
truth.
– Luther denied other authorities, such as Church
councils or the pope.
• All Christians have equal access to God
through faith and the Bible.
– Luther rejected the idea that priests and Church
officials had special powers.
Luther and his wife Katherine
Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) is known for his portraits. He painted the
dual portraits of Martin Luther and his wife Katharine von Bora, who married
in 1525 and had an exceptionally happy union. (Scala/Art Resource, NY)
Cranach, Luther and
the Wittenberg
Reformers
The massive figure of John
Frederick, Elector of Saxony, who
protected and supported Luther,
dominates this group portrait of
Martin Luther and the Wittenberg
Reformers by Lucas Cranach the
Younger. Luther is on the far left;
his associate Philipp Melanchthon
is in the front row on the right.
Luther's face shows a quiet
determination. (The Toledo Museum
of Art, Gift of Edward Drummond
Libbey)
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• The Ninety-five Theses
– In Luther’s home of Wittenburg in 1517 the Church
was selling indulgences to raise money for the
construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome
– By the 1500s common people believed that when
they purchased an indulgence, they were purchasing
from the Church full remission of penalties for sin.
– Luther rejected the notion that good works, such as
donating money to the Church through an
indulgence, could lead to salvation. He was
disturbed that Church friars were misleading the
common people and wrote to his archbishop in
protest.
Matthias Gerung, Folly of
Indulgences
In this woodcut by Matthias
Gerung (Spottblatt auf die
katholische Geistlichkeit) the
sale of indulgences is viciously
satirized. With one claw in the
holy water symbolizing the rite
of purification, and the other
claw resting on the coins paid
for indulgences, the church, in
the form of a rapacious eagle
with its right hand stretched
out for offerings, writes out an
indulgence with excrement-which represents its worth.
Fools, in a false security, sit in
the animal's gaping mouth,
representing hell.
(Kunstsammlung
der
Veste
Coburg)
Cranach, True Church and False
This woodcut by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) was designed to make clear
the distinction between the evangelical church and the papacy. On one side Christ
and his sacrifice are clearly at the center; on the other the pope and innumerable
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• The Ninety-five Theses
– In 1519 Luther challenged the authority of the Pope
(and of a general church council) in public debate.
He was excommunicated.
– Holy Roman Emperor Charles V declared Luther
an outlaw.
• Demanded that he appear before the Diet of Worms
• Duke Frederick of Saxony sheltered him.
– Ulrich Zwingli, a Swiss priest, joined the
Reformation in 1519, denouncing indulgences,
monasticism, Mass and celibacy. Like Luther,
Zwingli insisted the laity should read the Bible.
Coronation of Charles
V in Bologna
Pope Clement VII's coronation
of Charles V as emperor of the
Holy Roman empire on
February 24, 1530, shown in
this
painting,
added
a
significant
dimension
to
Charles's formidable stature.
Charles grips a sword and an
orb, symbols of the political
and military power he already
holds. The ceremony took place
in San Petronio, a church
remodeled
during
the
Renaissance to recall the
architecture of the Roman
Empire.
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• Protestant Thought
– Luther maintained that God’s grace alone, without
any element of individual good works, saved people.
– Luther held that religious authority resided in
Scripture alone, not Scripture in combination with
traditional Church teachings.
– Luther asserted that the Church consisted of the
whole community of believers, not just the clergy.
– Luther emphasized the invisible Church of all
believers, not the visible hierarchy culminating in
the Pope.
– Luther argued that there were only three, not seven,
sacraments - baptism, penance, and the Eucharist.
Everyday Holy Household
One of the most
popular ideas among
Protestants was that
true religion should be
taught and preserved
in
the
Christian
family, presided over
by the father. The
detail in this painting
shows not only the
interior of a Flemish
home but also the role
of the father and the
symbolic importance
of
meals
eaten
together.
(The
Shakespeare
Birthplace Trust)
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• Protestant Thought
– The Catholic Church claimed transubstantiation that is, that the bread and wine of the Eucharist
literally became Christ’s body and blood—but
Luther disagreed.
• Luther argued for consubstantiation - that Christ was
really present in the host in spirit, but that the bread and
wine were not transformed.
• Zwingli argued that the Eucharist was a memorial of the
Last Supper and nothing more.
• John Calvin believed with Luther in consubstantiation.
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• The Social Impact of Luther’s Beliefs
– Even before Luther city governments in
Germany had been expressing resentment of
clerical privilege and immunities.
– Even before Luther town burghers, disgusted
with the poor quality of priestly teaching, had
endowed preacherships to support good
preachers.
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• The Social Impact of Luther’s Beliefs
– Luther’s writing that “a Christian man is the
most free lord of all” contributed to peasant
unrest in Germany.
– Following crop failures in 1523 and 1524,
Swabian peasants in 1525 listed Grievances
through the Twelve Articles and demanded an
end to death taxes, new rents, and noble
seizure of village common lands.
– Luther initially backed the peasants.
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• Summary of the Twelve Articles of the Peasants in
Swabia, 1525
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The right of each community to choose and depose its own pastor
An end to the small tithes of cattle for lay and ecclesiastical lords.
Release from serfdom.
Free access to fish and game.
Free access to firewood as needed.
An investigation of excessive tenural services.
Strict observance by the lords of the agreements made with their
servants.
New rent assessments, based on equity and justice.
The basing of legal judgments, that is, punishments, on customary law
rather than on constantly appearing arbitrary new laws.
The return of expropriated common fields.
Abolition of the death tax.
The Bible and "divine law" justifies these demands.
Luther’s ideas spread quickly in
northern Germany and Scandinavia.
• Many clergy saw Luther’s reforms as the answer to
Church corruption.
• German princes hoped to throw off the rule of both the
Church and the Holy Roman emperor.
• Germans supported Luther because of feelings of
national loyalty.
• Peasants hoped that Luther would support social and
economic change.
Martin Luther and the Birth of
Protestantism
• The Social Impact of Luther’s Beliefs
– When the peasants turned to violence, however, Luther
egged the lords on as they crushed the rebellions.
– Lutheranism came to exalt the state and subordinate
church to the secular rulers.
– Luther owed his success to the printing press, which
helped him to spread his message, and to his own
rhetorical skill.
– Luther’s claim that all vocations have equal merit, the
Protestant rejection of monasticism and celibacy, the
insistence that all laity (including women) should read
the Bible, and Luther’s acceptance of sexual desire
(within marriage) all contributed to some improvement
in women’s circumstances.
Peasant Freedom
The German peasants believed
Martin Luther's call for
individual freedom of
conscience included economic
and political freedom. Their
revolt of 1524-1525 struck
terror in the hearts of German
rulers. This sixteenth-century
German woodcut--the title
page of an anonymous
pamphlet from the Peasants'
War, 1525--shows that the
peasant army was lightly
armed; many peasants carried
only tools, pitchforks, flails,
and scythes.
Map: Reform in Germany, 1517-1555
Reform in Germany, 1517-1555
The pattern of religious reform in Germany was complex. Although some territorial
princes, such as the dukes of Bavaria, rejected the reform, most free towns, particularly
those in the southwest, adopted it. (Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.)
Germany and the Protestant
Reformation
• The Rise of the Habsburg Dynasty
– In 1477 the marriage of Maximilian I of the House
of Habsburg and Mary of Burgundy united the
Austrian Empire with Burgundy and the
Netherlands, making the Habsburgs the strongest
ruling family in the Holy Roman (German) Empire.
– The Habsburg Charles V (1500–1558) inherited
Spain, and Spanish possessions in Italy, Sicily, and
Sardinia, in addition to the lands mentioned above.
– In 1519 Charles was elected Holy Roman Emperor.
He believed that it was his duty to maintain the
unity of Christendom.
Map: The Global Empire of Charles V
The Global Empire of Charles V
Charles V exercised theoretical jurisdiction over more European territory than anyone since
Charlemagne. He also claimed authority over large parts of North and South America. (Copyright
(c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.)
Germany and the Protestant
Reformation
• The Rise of the Habsburg Dynasty
– Many German princes converted to Lutheranism
because it allowed them to seize Church property.
– Charles V focused his attention elsewhere, and he
needed the help of Protestant princes—for example,
to fight off the Turkish attack on Vienna in 1529.
– In the Peace of Augsburg (1555) Charles accepted
the religious status quo in Germany.
• People of Germany became either Lutheran or Catholic
depending on the preference of their prince.
Augsburg Confession
In this woodcut of the Augsburg Confession being read to Charles V, the artist has included
text and images of the Lutheran teachings on the sacraments and the nature of salvation in
the background. In contrast are the images on the left of a papal ceremony and court
hierarchy in which, the artist implies, Christ is not present. (Kunstsammlung Veste Coburg)
The Growth of the Protestant
Reformation
• Calvinism
– Much of northern Europe broke with the Roman Church by 1555.
– Calvinism was the most important new form of Protestantism.
– Proceeding from the idea of God’s absolute sovereignty and his
omnipotence, the founder of Calvinism, John Calvin, concluded that
human beings could do nothing to save themselves. God decided at the
beginning of time who would be saved and who would not
(predestination).
– Predestination did not lead to fatalism. Rather, Calvinists, convinced they
were saved, were ready to endure great hardship in the struggle against
evil.
– Calvin and the city government of Geneva attempted to regulate people’s
conduct in order to create a godly city on earth. Card playing, dancing,
and so on were banned.
– The Genevan government (Hated dissent and would not tolerate it)
prosecuted heretics, burning fifty-eight at the stake between 1542 and
1546, including the Spanish heretic Servetus.
– The Calvinist ethic of “the calling” glorified all vocations as pleasing to
God. This doctrine encouraged hard work and vigorous activism.
The most important Protestant reformer to
follow Martin Luther was John Calvin.
• Calvin followed most of the teachings of Martin Luther. He
also preached predestination, the idea that God had long ago
determined who would gain salvation.
– Made Calvinists confident of their salvation
• In 1541, Calvin set up a theocracy in Geneva. A theocracy is a
government run by Church leaders.
– Religion was integrated into the Civil government of Geneva
– The Elect of the Church were individuals chosen for salvation
– The Geneva Consistory severely regulated conduct
• By the late 1500s, Calvinism had taken root in Germany,
France, the Netherlands, England, and Scotland.
• In several of these countries, Calvinists faced opposition and
persecution from other religious groups.
John Calvin
John Calvin's theology was in
most respects similar to
Luther's. Both reformers gave
primary importance to the
authority of the Bible and to
the idea of predestination. This
portrait of John Calvin is
attributed to the German artist
Hans Holbein the Younger (ca.
1497-1543). It was painted
around 1538, when the 29year-old reformer was at the
beginning of his career in
Geneva, where he stayed to
participate in the reform of the
city, and then remained for the
rest of his life. (H. Henry
Meeter Center for Calvin
Studies, Calvin College and
Calvin Theological Semnary)
Calvinist worship
This painting, the Temple of
Lyons, was attributed to Jean
Perrissin (ca. 1565). The temple
was constructed in 1564 on land
near the town hall and paid for
by the Protestant community of
Lyons. This picture of a simple
Calvinist service was probably
brought to Geneva by a refugee,
for the temple disappeared after
the revocation of the Edict of
Nantes.
Although
Calvin's
followers believed in equality
and
elected
officials
administered the church, here
men and women are segregated.
Beside the pulpit an hourglass
hangs to time the preacher's
sermon.
The Growth of the Protestant
Reformation
• The Anabaptists (for-runners of the Quakers)
– Anabaptists believed in adult baptism, religious
tolerance, and separation of church and state. They
shared property and admitted women as ministers.
– Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, and Zwinglians all
recognized the doctrine of separation of church and
state as pointing toward a secular society, and they
persecuted Anabaptists.
– Others wanted use violence to speed up judgment
day.
– Most called for religious tolerance and separation of
Church and state.
Pierre Virer preaching before Calvin
Another great reformer, the
Swiss Pierre Viret (1511-71)
exercised his ministry at
Orbe,
Payerne,
and
Lausanne before taking
refuge in Geneva. In this
Limoges enamel plaque,
Viret
preaches
before
Calvin and others on the
fourth petition of the Lord's
Prayer, "Give us this day
our
daily
bread."
(Louvre/R.M.N./Art
Resource, NY)
The Growth of the Protestant
Reformation
• The English Reformation
– The Catholic Church was vigorous in early sixteenth
century England and there was less of a gap between
clergy and educated laypeople than elsewhere in Europe.
– In 1534, in order to legitimize his divorce and subsequent
marriage to Anne Boleyn, English King Henry VIII
convinced Parliament to approve the Act of Supremacy,
making him head of the English Church.
– Later, Henry seized monasteries (because he wanted the
money) and distributed their lands to the upper classes.
– Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603), daughter of Henry VIII,
steered a middle course between Catholicism and the
“Puritans” who wanted a “pure” church free of Catholic
influences.
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England and the Church
In 1528, King Henry VIII asked the pope to annul, or
cancel, his marriage.
The pope refused Henry’s request.
Henry took the Church from the pope’s control and
created the Church of England.
Protestant King Edward VI brought Protestant
reforms to England.
Queen Mary wanted to restore Catholicism to England.
She had English Protestants burned at the stake.
Queen Elizabeth forged a compromise between
Protestants and Catholics.
Holbein, portrait of
Henry VIII
This portrait of Henry
VIII, painted by Hans
Holbein the Younger in
1540, is the best known
of all of Henry's
portraits. Although the
king is painted halflength, Holbein has
successfully captured
Henry's regal bearing,
finely detailed dress,
the impact of his 6′2"
frame, and his
imperturbable, aloof
expression.
Henry VIII on death-bed
In this allegorical painting by an unknown artist, Henry VIII, on his deathbed, points to his
heir, Edward, who is surrounded by Protestant worthies, as the wave of the future. The
pope collapses, monks flee, and through the window iconoclasts knock down statues,
symbolizing terror and superstition. Since the new order lacked broad popular support,
propagandistic paintings like this were meant to sway public opinion. (Reproduced by
courtesy of the Trustees, National Portrait Gallery, London)
The Growth of the Protestant
Reformation
• The Establishment of the Church of Scotland
– Scottish nobles tended to support the Reformation,
while the monarchs, King James V and his daughter
Mary (r. 1560–1567), opposed it.
– James Knox, a minister who studied in Geneva with
Calvin, was instrumental in getting the Scottish
Parliament to set up a Calvinist church as the
official state church of Scotland (Presbyterianism).
• Protestantism in Ireland
– Although the English tried to impose their church
on Ireland, the Irish resisted and remained Roman
Catholic.
The Growth of the Protestant
Reformation
• Lutheranism in Sweden, Norway, and
Denmark
– In Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, monarchs
took the lead in initiating the Reformation.
– The sixteenth century saw the establishment of
Lutheranism and the consolidation of the Swedish
monarchy.
– Christian III of Denmark and Norway secularized
church property and set up a Lutheran church.
The Growth of the Protestant
Reformation
• The Reformation in Eastern Europe
– Ethnic factors shaped the Reformation in Eastern Europe.
– In Bohemia, ethnic grievances of the Czech majority fused
with resentment of the Roman church.
– By 1500 most Czechs had adopted the utraqism position.
– During the Counter-Reformation, a Catholic revival was
promoted in Bohemia.
– By 1500 Poland and Lithuania were joined in a dynastic
union.
– Luther’s ideas spread to the Baltic towns and then to the
University of Cracow.
The Growth of the Protestant
Reformation
• The Reformation in Eastern Europe
– King Sigismund I of Poland banned Luther’s teachings,
limiting its success there.
– The Polish szlachta found Calvinism appealing.
– The Counter-Reformation cemented the identification of
Poland with Catholicism.
– Lutheranism reached Hungary via Polish merchants.
• Military defeat at the battle of Mohács by the
Ottomans left Hungary divided into three parts.
– Many Magyar magnates accepted Lutheranism because of the
battle.
– Recognition of Habsburg rule led to a Catholic restoration in
1699.
The Catholic Reformation and the
Counter-Reformation
• The Slowness of Institutional Reform
– Preoccupation with the Habsburg-Valois wars and
resistance to the idea of a council kept the popes
from acting quickly to deal with the Reformation.
• The Council of Trent
– The Council of Trent (1545–1563) reaffirmed the
equal authority of Scripture and of Church
tradition. It reaffirmed also the seven sacraments
and transubstantiation.
– The Council required bishops to reside in their own
dioceses, ended pluralism and simony, and forbade
the sale of indulgences.
– The Council ordered that for a marriage to be valid
the vows had to be exchanged publicly.
Council of Trent, School of Titian
This sixteenth-century painting by the School of Titian depicts a well-attended meeting of the Council
of Trent. Since the early sessions were sparsely attended, this meeting seems to be a later session. Few
bishops from northern Europe, however, ever attended. The Swiss guards (forefront) of the Vatican
were founded by Pope Julius II in 1505 to defend the papacy. (Louvre/R.M.N./Art Resource, NY)
The Catholic Reformation and the
Counter-Reformation
• New Religious Orders
– The new order of Ursuline nuns fought heresy with
religious education for girls.
– Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuit order to fight
the Reformation, again largely through education.
• The Congregation of the Holy Office
– In 1542 Pope Paul III created the Sacred
Congregation of the Holy Office to manage the
Roman Inquisition’s battle against heresy.
– The Inquisition was a committee of six cardinals
with authority to investigate, judge, and punish
heretics. They had authority to execute.
Pope approves Jesuit
constitutions
Juan de Valdes Leal (Spanish;
active mainly in Seville and
Cordoba) was famous for
grimly moralizing subjects. He
also created moving religious
paintings and fine portraits.
This portrait of Ignatius
Loyola is a reasonable likeness
and that of Pope Paul III an
idealization; in 1540 he was a
very old man. When the Jesuit
constitutions were read to him,
the pope supposedly
murmured, "There is the
finger of God." (Institut
Amatller d’Art Hispanic)
Teresa of Avila
Between 1562 and her death in 1582,
Teresa of Avila founded or reformed
fourteen houses of nuns--no small feat for
a woman in a very sexist society. She was
the first spiritual author to provide a
scientific description of the life of prayer,
from simple meditation to mystical union
with God. But for all her mystical
experiences, Teresa was a motherly,
practical, and down-to-earth woman with
a strong sense of humor. In her late
thirties Teresa had profound mystical
experiences: she heard voices and had
visions in which Christ chastised her for
her frivolous life and friends. This
seventeenth-century cloisonne
enamelwork illustrates one of Teresa of
Avila's visions, where an angel seems to
pierce her heart several times.
The Catholic Reformation and the
Counter-Reformation
• The Reformations: Revolution or
Continuity?
– Protestant historians stress that the
Reformation was a radical break with the
past, as the Church fragmented.
– Catholic historians stress continuity, noting
the reform efforts underway in the Church
well before the Protestant Reformation that
continued after it had taken hold.
Map: The Protestant and Catholic Reformations
The Protestant and Catholic Reformations
The Reformations shattered the religious unity of Western Christendom. What common cultural
traits predominated in regions where a particular branch of the Christian faith was maintained or
Causes and Effects of the Protestant
Reformation
4
Immediate Effects
Long-Term Effects
•Peasants’ Revolt
•Religious wars in Europe
•Founding of Lutheran,
Calvinist, Anglican,
Presbyterian, and other
Protestant churches
•Catholic Reformation
•Weakening of Holy
Roman Empire
•Jewish migration to
Eastern Europe
•Luther calls for Jews to
be expelled from
Christian lands
•Increased anti-semitism
•Strengthening of the
Inquisition
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Major European Religions about 1600