REFORMATIONS

Challenges to the Hegemony of Roman Catholic Church

• 12th C: Cathar Heresy – countered by Crusade against Cathars

• 13th C: Establishment of the Inquisition (1233): court established to stamp out heresy

• 14th C:• John Wyclif (1328-84): first English Bible: Lollard

Movement• Jan Hus (1369-1415): launched religious movement

in Bohemia based on Wyclif’s ideas: Hussites. Excommunicated and burned at the stake.

John Wyclif (1328-84)

• A sample translation of John 3:16 from Wyclif’s Bible, written in the Middle English of his time:

"Forsothe God so louede the world, that he gaf his oon bigetun sone, that ech man that bileueth in to him perische not, but haue euerlastynge lyf.“

• "He declared the right of every Christian to know the Bible, and that the Bible emphasized the need of every Christian to see the importance of Christ alone as the sufficient way of salvation, without the aid of pilgrimages, works, and the Mass."

Challenges to the Hegemony of Roman Catholic Church

• 15th C:

• William Tyndale (1484-1536): first printed English Bible

• Rise of nation-states – breakdown of medieval centralization under Church and Pope

• 16th C: Humanist reaction against Church corruption

Weaknesses in Roman Catholic Church

• Administrative divisions: competing Popes

• Proliferation of questionable rituals• Pilgrimages

• Saint worship

• Endowment of masses

• Corruption• Sale of Indulgences – certificates of remission from

Purgatory

• Simony – sale of Church offices

Northern Renaissance

• Rise of Middle Class that patronized the arts and valued education

• Christian Humanism• Interest in classical humanism

• Renewal of spiritual values and teachings of early Church Fathers

• Criticism of Church corruption and materialism

The Printing Press

• Although printing with movable type had existed in East Asia since at least the 700's, the invention had not spread to Europe.

• About 1440, the German goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg developed movable type.

• Printing soon became the first means of mass communication.

• It put more knowledge in the hands of more people faster and more cheaply than ever before.

• Reading and writing spread widely and rapidly.

Northern Renaissance: Christian Humanism

• Grew out of German Universities

• Renaissance classical studies: Greek and Latin

• Focused on study and translation of early Christian manuscripts

• Revival of Church life and doctrine based on early Christian literature

Erasmus by Hans Holbein

Sir Thomas More by Hans Holbein

Rabelais

Lutheran ReformationMartin Luther (1483-1546)

• Augustinian monk and Biblical scholar

• 1517: Nailed 95 Theses on Church door at Wittenberg: particularly incensed by selling of indulgences

• German translation of Bible

• “Justification by faith alone” and “The Priesthood of all believers”

Lutheran ReformationMartin Luther (1483-1546)

• Two sacraments: Baptism and Holy Communion• Consubstantiation rather than

Transubstantiation

• Advocated universal education• Wrote hymns: “A Mighty

Fortress Is Our God”• Supported by bourgeoisie,

merchants, German princes• Countered Peasants’ Revolt

Lutheran Reformation: Music

• Luther saw music as a form of religious instruction

• Hymnals: collections of religious songs

• Professional and congregational singing in vernacular languages

• Chorale: congregational hymn – communal expression of devotion

• “Ein feste Burg is unser Gott” : “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiRpUtVByxU

Albrecht Dürer1471-1528

• Portraits, landscapes, naturalistic studies, religious meditations

• Woodcut engravings• Mass produced

images

• Illustrated books

• Available to wide population

Albrecht Dürer Young Hare

1502watercolor

Albrecht Dürer Praying Handswoodcut print

Albrecht Dürer Four Horsemen of the

Apocalypsewoodcut print

 Book of Revelation (6:1–8): "And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and its rider had a bow; and a crown

was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the

second living creature say, 'Come!' And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay

one another; and he was given a great sword. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living

creature say, 'Come!' And I saw, and behold, a black horse, and its rider had a balance in his hand; …

When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, 'Come!' And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him; and they were given great power over a fourth of the earth; to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild

beasts of the earth." 

Political Reformation

Henry VIIIand the

Anglican Church

Political ReformationHenry VIII (1491-1547)

• Proclaimed “Defender of the Faith” by Pope Clement VII when he countered Luther’s arguments

• Sought divorce from Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn: refused by Pope

• 1534: Act of Supremacy: declared the king as head of Church of England – Anglican Church

• Ordered dissolution of monasteries: transfer of property to crown; iconoclasm

Henry VIII 1509-1547

Edward VI 1547-1553

Lady Jane Grey

1553-1553

Mary I 1553-1558

Elizabeth I 1558-1603

Reformed Churches

• Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)

• Swiss Humanist scholar

• Salvation by grace and works

• Baptism as a covenant/contract

Reformed Churches: Calvinism• John Calvin (1509-64)

• French Doctor of Law• Refuted RC opposition to

usury: capitalism• Predestination• Established theocratic state in

Geneva, Switzerland• Church governance:

presbyterian, synodal, congregationalist

• Huguenots, Puritans, Presbyterians

John Knox Scottish (1505-72) Presbyterianism

• Originally ordained a Roman Catholic priest, Knox became a Protestant and studied with Calvin in Switzerland.

• On his return to Scotland, he became the leader of the Scottish Reformed Church

• Knox and his supporters began to reshape the Scottish church--theologically and politically.

Scottish Presbyterianism• Knox took the idea of representative government characteristic

of Calvin's reformed churches (communities lead by elected elders or "presbyters"), and applied it locally, regionally and nationally in total reversal of the top-down or hierarchical fashion of Catholic or "episcopalian" government. 

• Local councils ("Presbyteries"), regional councils ("Synods") and national councils ("General Assemblies") were made up of representatives of the people. 

• "Presbyterian" or representative church government--one source of inspiration for the new democratic forms of government that led eventually to the U.S. Constitution of 1789.

Radical Reformation: Anabaptists

• Rejected all sacraments as sources of God’s grace: total emphasis on Christian conscience and voluntary acceptance of Christ

• Adult baptism: rebaptism – considered heretical by other Protestants

• The Mass is not a sacrifice but a memorial – restricted to baptized believers

• Pacifist

• Anti-secular: religious separation from secular world

• Shunning of sinners

Radical Reformation: Anabaptists

• Appealed to lower classes and peasants: Peasants Wars 1525-35

• Persecuted by both Catholics and Protestants – often burned at stake

• Freedom of religion: priesthood of all believers, Bible as sole authority, ordinances rather than sacraments, separation of church and state

• Genealogy: Baptism and Confirmation Registries• Amish, Hutterites, Waldensians, Mennonites, Quakers,

Baptists, 7th Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses

Anglican

Catholic Counter-

Reformation

Ignatius Loyola(1491-1556) founder of the

Jesuits

Catholic Counter-Reformation• Council of Trent (1545-63)

• Called for moral reform of clergy• Strengthened Church structures and institutions• Proclamation of dogmas

• Affirmation of both Faith and Works• Transubstantiation

• Establishment of Society of Jesus (Jesuits) under Ignatius Loyola

• Vigorous missionary work in Americas and Asia• Revitalization of religious art: Baroque

Counter-Reformation Art

The zeal of the Counter-Reformation inspired a new, more dramatic and emotional artistic expression in Mannerist and Baroque artists.

Bernini, The Ecstasy of St. Teresa

El Greco,Christ Carrying the Cross1580s

Peter Paul Rubens,The Annunciation1610

Caravaggio, St. Jerome, 1605-06

Artemesia

Gentileschi,

Madonna and

Child, 1610

Artemesia Gentileschi, The Birth of John the Baptist

Reformation Repercussions• Rivalry between Spain and England

• 1588 Defeat of the Spanish Armada

• Religious wars in France (1560-98)• The Thirty Years War (1618-48)• Revival of the Inquisition’s persecution of heretics• “The Burning Times” -- Witch-hunts (1550-1750)• Religious Persecution• Migration to the New World for religious freedom

• French Huguenots to Florida – driven out by Spanish• Puritans to New England• Quakers and Amish to Pennsylvania• Roman Catholics to Maryland

Deism• Natural theology: Derives the existence of God from reason and personal experience rather than divine revelation or scripture

• Cultural influences:• Reaction against sectarian

violence in Europe• Growing knowledge of diverse

religious beliefs both classical and contemporary

• Textual study of Biblical scriptures

• Advances in scientific knowledge – Bible could not be seen as authoritative for matters of science

• Skepticism about miracles and books that report them

• “Watchmaker God”• Unitarianism

William Blake