THE REFORMATION, COUNTER REFORMATION

AND RELIGIOUS WARS

NAISBITT/FREILER

THE BIBLE AND THE REFORMATION

• In the early 16th century, Europeans developed a consuming passion for the Bible

• Scriptures rolled off printing presses in all languages and forms from the large Gutenberg Bibles to small pocket Bibles for soldiers

• When Martin Luther created a German translation, his Bible became an immediate best seller

Gutenberg Bible

Luther Bible

A REFORM IMPULSE

• A renewed spiritually and desire to change many of the traditional practices of the Roman Catholic Church was sweeping through Europe

• The demand for reform came from within the Church and from outside the Church

• The inspiration for reform was based on the Word of God – vernacular Bibles allowed commoners to read the Bible in their own languages

THE BIG PICTURE

• In the early 16th century Europeans experienced one of the greatest of all religious rebirths: the Protestant Reformation

• The Reformation was a movement to purify the Catholic Church that resulted in the creation of new denominations collectively known as Protestants from their “protest” against the Church

THE INTELLECTUAL REFORMATION

• If new ideas about religion were to supplant old ones, they had to communicated

• That was made possible with the invention of the printing press which appeared in the late 15th century in Germany and spread across Europe rapidly

• The development of printing did not cause religious reform, but reform would have been difficult to achieve without it

THE PRINTING REVOLUTION

• The printing revolution represents one of the true technological revolutions in Western history – it was rated the #1 event of the last millennium in a Life Magazine special in 2000

• Printing was not invented per se, but rather was achieved through progress in related industries such as papermaking and goldsmithing

PAPER PLAYS

KEY ROLE

• Sheepskin and calfskin were used for manuscripts and book reproduction

• This process was slow and expensive

• In the early 15th century paper made from linen rags were substituted and made for better impressions and a smoother surface

An early paper mill

PRINTING SPREADS RAPIDLY

• Once it began, printing spread quickly

• By 1480, more than 110 towns had established presses, most in Italy and Germany

• By 1500, Venice and Paris were the centers of the industry

• Most of the subject matter was religious or classical

PRINTING BECOMES PART OF CULTURE

• In the first 40 years after the presses began, as many as 20,000,000 books were produced

• Printing changed the habits of teachers and students, and altered the way governments did business

• It affected legal training and proceedings

• Printing standardized languages and furthered science

• It created an international intellectual community and increased the value of ideas and thinking

Printing allowed commoners to read

the Bible in their own language

CHRISTIAN HUMANISM• By the

beginning of the 16th century, the force of humanism was felt strongly in northern and western Europe

• As Italian humanism moved northward it merged with traditional theological teaching

• The combination became a powerful intellectual movement known as Christian humanism

ITALIAN HUMANISM VS. CHRISTIAN HUMANISM

• Italian intellectual interests were largely secular subjects, especially classical languages and texts

• Christian, or Northern humanists, applied the techniques to the study and translation of Christian texts

• Furthermore, Christian humanism was a program of reform rather than philosophy

REFORM THROUGH EDUCATION

• Christian humanism aimed to make better Christians through better education

• Humanists founded schools for girls and advocated that they be trained in the same subjects as boys

• Schools now trained many who were not destined for careers in the Church

ERASMUS: THE CHRISTIAN HUMANIST

• The man most closely associated with Christian Humanism was Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam

• Educated by the Brethren of Common Life, Erasmus had a quick wit and an enormous intellect

• He sought to bring the gospel to all: “The doctrine of Christ casts aside no age, no sex, no fortune or position in life. It keeps no one at a distance.”

Erasmus 1466-1536

IN PRAISE OF FOLLY• Erasmus’s satire, Praise of

Folly (1509), was one of the first best sellers in publishing history

• The book focused on the abuses in the Catholic Church through his dialogue with his friend Thomas More

• Erasmus was especially critical of the clergy saying, “. . . they are a style of man who show themselves exceeding supercilious and irritable . . .”

ERASMUS TRANSLATES BIBLE

• Erasmus was called “the father of biblical criticism” for his attacks upon the Scholastics, superstition, and the pretensions of the Church

• Erasmus’s Greek translation of the New Testament appeared in 1516

Erasmus's text served as the foundation for critical editions of the

Greek New Testament into the modern era

Durer

THE LUTHERAN REFORMATION

• By the early 16th century, abuses in the Catholic Church were causing many to call out for reform

• Charges against the clergy included simony (the selling of church offices), pluralism (holding more than one church office), and absenteeism

INDULGENCES

• Indulgences came to viewed as pardons to the individual who bought them

• Therefore, one could theoretically buy their way out of purgatory

• Indulgences were bought by the living to cleanse the sins of the dead, and some people even bought indulgences in anticipation of sins they had not yet committed

WHAT WERE INDULGENCES? • Indulgences were a means to

spend less time in purgatory• At this time the worry was not

going to hell, but spending a long time in purgatory. By purchasing an indulgence, you could get out of purgatory sooner

• Indulgences also were extraordinarily important for the papacy as a major source of income

• Indulgences were used to finance major building projects

INDULGENCES BECOME BIG BUSINESS

• Indulgences were one of the first items printed on Gutenberg’s press

• Popes used special occasions to offer indulgences for papal projects (fundraisers)

• Other indulgences were licensed locally, usually at shrines of saints or at churches that contained relics

Relics

RELICS BECOME INCREASINGLY POPULAR

• Frederick III, “the Wise” (1463-1525), ruler of Saxony, was one of the largest collectors of relics

• He had 17,000 items, including a branch of Moses’ burning bush, straw from Christ’s manger, and 35 fragments of the true cross

• Taken as a whole, his relics carried remission for sins that would have otherwise taken equal to 250,000 years in purgatory

TETZEL SELLS INDULGENCES

• In 1517, the Pope was offering a special indulgence to finance the rebuilding of the St. Peter’s Basilica

• A Dominican friar, Johann Tetzel was hired to promote the latest indulgence

• By October, Tetzel was nearing Wittenberg Castle and a professor at the local college chose that night to post his famous 95 theses on castle church door

Tetzel

The Showdown

LUTHER CHALLENGES INDULGENCES

• By the fall of 1517, the frenzy to buy indulgences had prompted some priests and monks to criticize the practice

• Among his 95 Theses was a scathing indictment of the practice of selling indulgences

• His theses were immediately translated into German and spread throughout the HRE

Luther’s 95 Theses

ON LUTHER

• A gifted student, Luther experienced a scare early in life when he was almost struck by lightning

• He then entered a monastery and was ordained in 1507

• He continued his education and received a doctorate and was appointed to the theology faculty at Wittenberg in 1512

LUTHER IN TURMOIL

• Despite being a successful preacher and teacher, Luther was tortured by his own sense of sinfulness

• Luther: “I was one who terribly feared the last judgment and who nevertheless with all my heart wished to be saved.”

• No amount of good works could overcome Luther’s feelings of guilt for his own sins

Luther was tormented about his own salvation

“THOU SHALL LIVE BY FAITH”

• Luther’s reading of Saint Paul’s words, “Thou shall live by faith,” provided the answer to his torment

• Luther believed that through God’s grace, salvation was not a burden but a gift from a merciful God

• Salvation could not be earned, but was given freely; Sola Fida Sola fida (by faith alone) was

one of Luther’s key tenets

LUTHER’S KEY TENETS

• The second major tenet of Luther’s was Sola Scriptura (by word alone)

• Faith in God’s mercy came only from the knowledge and contemplation of the word of God (Bible)

• All that was needed to understand God’s mercy was contained in the Bible

Luther believed in only two of the seven sacraments

Baptism

Communion

SOLA GRATIA• Sola gratia is a Luther doctrine

which teaches that God extends love and favor to sinners on the basis of the atonement accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus and the merit of Christ's righteousness

• Man, being sinful, does not earn or deserve the love and favor of God; rather, God chooses to give that which man does not merit

• It is God's grace (Sola gartia) that saves us through faith

PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS

• Luther thought that all who believed in God’s righteousness were equal in God’s eyes

• Neither pope nor priest, neither monk or nun, could achieve a higher level of spirituality than the ordinary citizen

• Ministers and preachers were valuable, but could not confer faith

LUTHER UNDERMINES AUTHORITY OF RCC

• The doctrine of justification by faith alone meant the RCC’s emphasis on good works and sacraments were called into question

• Luther’s doctrine of faith through individual biblical study weakened the authority of the clergy

• Finally, his doctrine of equality of all believers struck at the heart of the long-established hierarchy of the RCC

Which man do you think history credits for “laying the egg that Luther

hatched”?

THE DIET OF WORMS

• Excommunicated by Pope Leo X in 1521, Luther was then ordered by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to appear before the Diet assembled in Worms, Germany

• Charles ordered Luther to recant his teachings

• Luther replied, “I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise”

• Charles V declares Luther an enemy of the empire – in both Church and state he was now an outlaw

Pope Leo X, center, excommunicated Luther in 1521

for his radical views

Emperor Charles V looks on as Luther, gesturing skyward, defends his beliefs at the Diet of Worms in 1521

LUTHER CONTINUES TO DEFY AUTHORITIES AND GAIN SUPPORT

• Luther wrote many controversial books and essays after posting his theses

• His Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520), called upon princes to take the reform of religion into their own hands

• Some powerful supporters emerged such as Prince Frederick III of Saxony

• Additionally, political issues such as Charles’ desire to maintain the support of German princes played into Luther’s hand Luther took advantage of new

printing technology to author 30 works between 1517-1520

LUTHER HAS PRINCES’ SUPPORT • There were two key

reasons German princes turned to Luther’s theology

• First, sincere religious conviction

• Second, economic considerations such as increased personal revenue (Luther’s call for civic leaders to lead their own churches meant they could keep their own revenues)

German princes were not above using the new theology for their own gain

CITIES EMBRACE LUTHER

• The Reformation spread especially well in the German cities

• Once Protestant princes adopted the ideas, entire towns followed

• Urban dwellers had long resented the benefits bestowed on the RCC (land) and the clergy (exempt tax status)

• Once Protestant, city governments secured their own autonomy over the Church by taking over many of the religious houses and encouraging monks and nuns to enter civilian life

Luther Bible

LUTHER APPEALS TO PROMINENT WOMEN

• Noblewomen were among the most important defenders of Protestant reformers

• Marguerite of Navarre (1492-1549), sister of Francis I, created her own court in the south of France and stocked it with humanists and Protestants

• Bona, wife of Sigismund I of Poland, was especially important in the eastern reform movement

• An Italian by birth, Bona was a central figure in spreading both Renaissance and art and humanism learning in Poland

LUTHER APPEALS TO COMMON WOMEN, TOO

• The doctrine of equality of all believers put men and women on equal spiritual footing, even if it did not allow for women ministers

• Furthermore, Luther realized the enormous value of family life and holy matrimony

• Finally, by promoting the education of both genders, Luther further gained the support of women

Despite his radical views on gender equality spiritually, Luther had

traditional, conservative views about women’s role in society and the

household

THE SPREAD OF LUTHERANISM

• By the end of the 1520s, the HRE was divided between cities and states that accepted reformed religion and those that adhered to the RCC

• Included in the Lutheran movement were parts of Germany, Poland-Lithuania, Prussia, Scandinavia and SwitzerlandIn Denmark, Christian III seized RC

Church lands and created a reform religion under Luther’s direct control

ZWINGLI BRINGS REFORM RELIGION TO SWITZERLAND

• Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531) brought reformed religion to the town of Zurich

• Zwingli was a preacher among the Swiss mercenary troops that fought for the HRE

• He was stricken by the plague in 1519 and came to a personal realization of the power of God’s mercy

Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531)

ZWINGLI’S BELIEFS• Zwingli believed the Church

had to rediscover its earlier purity

• He stressed the equality of all believers, justification by faith alone, and the gospel as the chief authority

• He attacked indulgences, penance, clerical celibacy, prayers to the Virgin, and statues and images in churches

• Furthermore, he preferred to view mass as a commemorative event rather than one that involved the real presence of Christ (Lord’s Supper)

Zwingli viewed communion as a memorial, thus symbolic and not the

actual blood and body of Christ

ZWINGLI’S IDEAS SPREAD• The principles Zwingli

preached spread quickly to neighboring Swiss states; including Bern and Basel

• Zwingli’s reform were carried out by civil governments which he allied himself

• In Zwingli states there was an important integration of church and state

• It was fitting that Zwingli died on the battlefield defending the state Zwingli felt church and state could

not be separated

THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

• By the mid 1530s, Protestant reform had entered a new stage• Luther never intended to form a new religion; most of his energy was

expended in attack on Rome and the RCC• The second generation of reformers were builders whose challenge

was to create enduring structures for reformed churches

GENEVA AND CALVIN• The town of

Geneva, Switzerland was saved from a war with Savoy when it allied with powerful Swiss neighbor, Bern

• In 1536, the adult males of Geneva voted to become Protestant

• All they lacked was a powerful reformer; that’s when a French-born priest and lawyer emerged to lead Geneva’s reform movement

CALVIN’S FLEES FRANCE• At age 20, Calvin converted

to Lutheranism and predictably was run out of France by Francis I

• In 1535, he arrived in Basel, where he wrote his Institutes of the Christian Religion

• The book was a defense of French Protestants against persecution

• For the next 25 years, Calvin organized his reform church in Geneva

CALVIN’S BELIEFS

• Like Luther and Zwingli, Calvin believed in justification by faith alone, the biblical foundation of religious authority, and that salvation came from God’s grace

• But more strongly than his predecessors he believed that the gift of faith was granted only to some and that each individual’s salvation or damnation was predestined (predetermined) before birth

CALVIN AND PREDESTINATION

• The doctrine of predestination was not new, but Calvin emphasized it and brought it to the center of the faith

• Those who were predestined to salvation, the “elect” were obliged to govern; those who were predestined to damnation were obliged to be governed

• For Calvin, therefore, discipline and structure were critical

Or

CALVIN’S CHURCH STRUCTURE

• Calvin’s greatest contribution to religious reform came in church structure and discipline

• He structured his church in four parts:

• 1) PastorsVery few who preached the word of God

• 2) Doctors (Theological)Studied and wrote

• 3) DeaconsLaymen who ran hospitals and schools

• 4) EldersGovernors of moral issues

Strict moral codes meant rock n’ roll was prohibited in Calvin’s Geneva

CALVIN’S DISCIPLINE

• The most controversial part of Calvin’s Geneva was the strict moral code that extended into all aspects of private life

• The 12 elders met each week in a body known as the Consistory to examine violations

• Offenses ranged from blasphemy to adultery to prostitution

CALVINISM SPREADS

• Waves of Calvinist-educated pastors returned to France in the mid-16th century and established churches along Calvinist lines

• Calvinism spread north to Scotland and the Low Countries and east to Poland where it flourished in Lithuania and Hungary

• Perhaps it greatest impact was in Britain, where the Reformation took place not once but twice

THE ENGLISH REFORMATION• It all started when Henry VIII wanted

a divorce from his wife Catherine of Aragon because she had not produced a male heir

• Despite 6 births and several miscarriages, Catherine and Henry VIII had one daughter that survived, Mary Tudor

• Henry VIII believed it was God’s punishment for his marriage to his late brother’s former wife

• It took a papal dispensation for his marriage and wanted a papal dispensation for a divorce

• Not so fast said the pope . . .

DIVORCE COMPLICATIONS

• For three years Henry’s case was mired in the papal courts

• Complicating his desire for divorce was the fact that Catherine was the aunt of the Emperor Charles V who took her side

• With imperial power strong in Italy, the pope was in no hurry to help Henry VIII

HENRY VIII MOVES FORWARD• By 1533, Henry VIII could

no longer wait – he had impregnated one of the ladies-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn

• He decided to bypass the papal courts and had his marriage annulled by Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of the highest ecclesiastical court in England

• That was the first step in a complete break from Rome Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of

Canterbury, annulled Henry VIII marriage

THOMAS CROMWELL LEADS SPLIT

• Under the guidance of Thomas Cromwell, the English Parliament passed several statutes ultimately making Henry VIII head of the church in England and owner of all its wealth

• Culminating with the Act of Supremacy passed in 1534, which declared the king as Supreme Head of the Church of England

• Monasteries were dissolved and a Lutheran service was introduced

• England’s first reformation came as a result of the “King’s Great Matter”Cromwell was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and

later served as Henry's Vice-Regent of Spirituals

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND• Henry VIII had actually

suppressed the growth of reformed religion prior to his desire for a divorce and staunchly supported Catholicism

• He even earned the title of, “Defender of the Faith” from the pope after he authored an attack on Luther’s ideas in 1521

• However, Henry VIII’s divorce unleashed a groundswell of support for religious change in England

Medal of Henry VIII as Defender of the Faith

issued in 1545

CATHOLICS SUPPRESSED IN ENGLAND

• In the 1530s, the English Parliament took control of religion in England as the valuable church estates were sold to the gentry

• Those citizens who did not swear to new oaths of allegiance or recognize the legality of Henry VIII’s marriage suffered (Thomas More and 40 others were executed)

• Catholics continued to exist (even thrive) in England, surviving underground during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and reemerging under Mary I (1553-1558)

THE SUCCESSORS OF HENRY VIII• It was in the reign of Edward VI (1547-

1553), Henry’s son by his third wife, Jane Seymour, that the central devotional changes were made

• Though Protestant in tenor, there remained compromises and ambiguities:

* Church service in English

* Two English Prayer books created

* Mass reinterpreted along Zwingli

lines (Lord’s Supper)

* Priest became ministers

* Imposed the First Book of Common Prayer on English worshippers

(Act of Uniformity)

* Clerical reform was instituted

Crowned king at the age of 9, Edward VI is regarded by many as the architect of

the Reformation in England

MARY TUDOR’S REIGN• The first women to rule

England, Mary Tudor was as Catholic as her mom, Catherine of Aragon

• She vowed to bring the nation back to the Catholic Church

• When Edward VI died, the ruling elite opted for political legitimacy (Mary) rather than a Protestant pretenderQueen Mary 1553-1558

QUEEN MARY’S CHANGES

• Mary reestablished papal sovereignty, abolished Protestant worship, and introduced educational programs to train new priests

• She ordered the burning of Cranmer and three other bishops along with 270 others

• Many English Protestants fled to friendlier nations

• She failed to restore old church lands, however

Illustration of Cranmer going to the stake

ELIZABETH I RETURNS ENGLAND TO PROTESTANTISM

• When Mary died in 1558, her half-sister Elizabeth I came to the throne

• Elizabeth I ushered in the second English Reformation and like Mary she used execution as a means to her religious goals

• The English Church adopted the Calvinist doctrine of predestination and the simplification of the church

• The Thirty-nine Articles (1563) continued the English tradition of compromising points of disputed doctrineUnder Elizabeth I (1558-1603),

England adopted a kind of Calvinist-lite Protestantism

THE RADICAL REFORMERS• While Luther attacked the

Catholic Church and was considered quite controversial theologically, he never intended and did not desire subverting civil authority

• “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities with fear and reverence,” Luther often quoted from the Bible

• Other Protestant groups were not so inclined

• They represent a radical group of second generation Protestant reformers who sought greater social reforms

Luther’s, “On the Jews and Their Lies,” (above), illustrate his social

and political conservative leanings

THE ANABAPTIST CHALLENGE

• Often called the “left-wing of the Reformation,” Anabaptist (meaning to baptize again) described the outcasts from the Protestant fold

• Anabaptists first appeared in German and Swiss towns in the 1520s

• Anabaptists believed only adults could make the decision to be baptized

• This belief put them at odds with mainstream Christians who viewed infant baptism as a core doctrine

ANABAPTIST TENETS• Aside from the radical

baptism stance, Anabaptist believed more in the mystical side of religion and gave testimony to revelations they experienced

• Furthermore, and perhaps most objectionable to the mainstream was their belief in separation of church and state

• They wanted nothing to do with civil authority and did not pay taxes, perform military obligations or take oaths

Anabaptist are considered among the first pacifists

ANABAPTISTS PERSECUTED• Wherever they settled, the small

bands of believers were persecuted to the full extent of the laws of heresy

• Catholics and Protestants tortured and executed scores of Anabaptists

• One stubborn group that persevered were the Moravian Anabaptists in Bohemia, Poland and Hungary

• Another enduring sect was founded by Dutch Anabaptist Menno Simons (1496-1561) whose followers became known as Mennonites

Modern Amish have their roots in the Mennonite community

CATHOLIC COUNTER REFORMATION

• Despite the Protestant Reformation, Catholicism remained strong especially in southern Germany, Italy, Poland-Lithuania, Spain, France, and Ireland

• While they felt the same impulse for reform that Protestants did, Catholics reformed their church from within

• The RCC placed a new emphasis on personal piety, founding new religious and missionary orders, and preaching education

• The Protestant Reformation actually served to revitalize the RCC, and Catholicism was stronger at the end of the era than it had been before

THE SPIRITUAL REVIVAL• Thomas a’ Kempis’ influential

book, The Imitation of Christ (1427), was the central text in a Catholic movement known as the “New Piety”

• The book instructed the reader to lead a simple Christian life with personal devotion at its core

• This New Piety was a central influence on Christian Humanists (Erasmus) whose goals included reform of the RCC through education and simple devotion, but always within the confines of the Church

Early in the 15th century, Catholics were experiencing

a spiritual revival

SPAIN AVOIDS PROTESTANT REFORMATION

• Spanish Archbishop Jimenez de Jimenez de Cisneros, who also served as Inquisitor-General of the Spanish Inquisition, undertook a wide-ranging reorganization of Spanish religious life in the late 15th century

• Cisneros’s program took the bite out of Protestant attacks on clerical abuse, and there was never a serious Protestant movement in Spain

Jimenez de Cisneros (1436-1517)

ITALY AVOIDS PROTESTANT REFORMATION

• Perhaps the most influential reforming bishop was Italian Gian Matteo Giberti

• Giberti lived a simple, frugal life, visited his parishes regularly, and enforced vows and residency requirements of all his clergy

• Additionally, Giberti founded almshouses to aid the poor and orphanages to house the homeless

Gian Matteo Giberti (1495-1543)

NEW ORDERS FORMED• The most important

indication of a renewed spirit of reform within the Catholic Church was the foundation of new religious orders in the early 16th century

• The Capuchins in Italy sought to follow the teachings of Saint Francis of Assisi and were devoted to penance and good works

• A particularly arduous order of sect of Franciscans, the group still flourishes today

SAINT TERESA OF AVILA• In Spain, Saint Teresa

of Avila (1515-1582) led the reform of the Carmelites

• She believed that women had to withdrew totally from the world around them to achieve true devotion

• She founded a convent and began writing devotional tracts such as The Way of Perfection

• She went on to supervise the organization of 16 religious houses for women

THE URSULINES

• In 1535, Saint Angela Merici (1474-1540) established another female order – The Ursulines

• A unique foundation, the Ursulines were composed of young unmarried women who remained with their families but lived chaste lives devoted to the instruction of other women

• The Ursulines began in northern Italy, spread into France and helped provide women with education and moral role models

LOYOLA’S PILGRIMAGE• Saint Ignatius

Loyola (1491- 1556) led one of the most important movements for religious reform in the 16th century

• Trained for military service in Spain, a cannonball shattered his leg in 1521

• As he recovered, he read extensively on the life of Jesus and the saints

• He decided to give his life over to spirituality

Stained glass depiction of an injured Loyola on the battlefield

LOYOLA “EXERCISES” HIS DEMONS

• Like Luther, Loyola was tormented by his inability to achieve grace through penance

• Unlike Luther, he remained a dedicated Catholic

• He wrote a book of devotion called The Spiritual Exercises

• In 1540, Loyola won the approval of Pope Paul III to establish a new holy order, the Society of Jesus

• Loyola volunteered his followers (Jesuits) to serve all over the world Ignatius Loyola formed the Jesuits in

1540. The order remains an important feature of modern Catholicism.

JESUITS TRAVEL THE WORLD TO SPREAD THE WORD

• One Loyola discipline, Francis Xavier, made converts to Catholicism in India and Japan

• The New World was the destination of other Jesuits missionaries hoping to convert the native populations

• The Jesuits embraced a kind of militant Catholicism; they called themselves “soldiers of God” who served “beneath the banner of the cross”

Loyola founded schools to train recruits for his order. The training was rigorous.

Soon teaching lay people became the Jesuits’ most important function as they established over 100 colleges worldwide.

THE CATHOLIC COUNTER-REFORMATION

• The traditional Catholic Church was determined to meet the challenge of Protestantism head-on

• The Counter-Reformation saw the revival of the Inquisition, a list of prohibited books published, new religious orders thriving, and a general meeting to (re) establish church doctrine

THE COUNCIL OF TRENT

• The most important aspect of the Catholic Reformation was the Council of Trent which met intermittently during the mid-16th century and

corrected a number of abuses (most noteworthy was the ending of the sale of indulgences)

formulated rules for the regulation of priests

said the Church’s interpretation of the Bible was final

emphasized the function of the clergy and celibacy

prepared a new modern and uniformed Catholic service

updated the Index of Prohibited books Reiterated Catholic doctrine

reaffirming the 7 sacraments, justification by faith and works, and the miracle of the Eucharist (transubstantiation)

The Council met in Trent, Italy from 1545-1563

CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS CONFLICT

• Beginning in the 1530s, Western European Christianity (especially Germany) took to the battlefield to settle their differences and assert their power

• On one side were the Catholics, headed by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V

• On the other side were the Protestants, led by the northern German towns and Zwingli’s Swiss contingency

PEACE OF AUGSBURG• After decades of fighting,

a broken and dying Charles V signed the Peace of Augsburg in 1555

• The treaty granted the princes of Germany the right to establish the religion of their people

• Thus, Protestant princes would govern Protestants states and Catholic princes would govern Catholic states

• The Peace of Augsburg ended 40 years of religious struggle in Germany

WAR LOOMS ON HORIZON• Despite the Peace of

Augsburg, religious differences in western European Christendom were far from over

• For the next century, Europe would engage in numerous religious wars

• Luther had forever split Christianity and unleashed a deadly battle for power that would not end until the middle of the 17th century

Luther’s ideas not only split Christianity, but ultimately led to a

century of religious warfare

EUROPE AT WAR: 1555-

1648

• The wars that dominated Europe from the Treaty of Augsburg (1555) to the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) were fought on a larger scale, were more brutal and more expensive, and claimed more victims than previous conflicts

• Religious differences were exacerbated by dynastic claims and international rivalries

• The future of Europe was shaped by this century of slaughter

WHY NO TOLERATION?

• Toleration seemed so logical that it is difficult to understand why European nations failed to embrace it

• The problem was that society had had been organized under one king, one faith for centuries

• Those that advocated even limited forms of toleration were universally despised

• Only Poland-Lithuania, Hungary, and a few German states experimented with religious toleration in the 16th century

THE FRENCH WARS OF RELIGION

• Protestantism came late to France

• It was not until after Calvin reformed the church in Geneva that French society divided along religious lines

• By 1560, 10% of France was Protestant

• Protestantism was especially popular among French merchants, traders, artisans and aristocratic women

POWER VACUUM IN FRANCE

• After Valois King Henry II (1547-1559) died in a jousting contest, his oldest son, Francis II (1559-1560), under the influence of his wife, Mary, Queen of Scots, allowed the Guise family to dominate the state

dies

heir

heir’s wife

Guise family

GUISE FAMILY FLEX MUSCLES, COMPETE WITH BOURBONS

• The Guises controlled Valois Monarchy and the two other most powerful institutions of the state, the army and the Catholic Church

• Their enemies were the Bourbons, a family with a direct line to the throne and many powerful Protestants

• The Guise family was determined to rid the country of Protestants

FRANCIS II DIES, CHARLES IX TAKES OVER

• After Francis II died, Guise power evaporated

• His ten-year-old brother, Charles IX took the throne under the control of his mother, Catherine de Medicis, who declared herself regent of France

Dies

Regent

10

FRANCE’S CIVIL WAR

• In 1562 French Catholics and Protestants went to war

• The Catholics wanted Henry Guise (the head of the ultra Catholic faction) to ascend to the throne and reclaim France for Catholicism and they courted the support of Catholic Spain

• The Protestants, or Huguenots, wanted the right to practice their faith freely and they imported Swiss and German mercenaries

THE ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S DAY MASSACRE

• By 1570 Catherine de Medicis was ready to reconcile by marrying her daughter Margaret to Henry of Navarre in August of 1572

• The ceremony presented the Guises with an opportunity to turn the tide of the war by assassinating leading Protestants in attendance

• And they did . . .On August 24, 1572, the streets of Paris ran red with Huguenot blood

• In the weeks that followed, the violence spread to the countryside as thousands more Protestants were killed

An eyewitness account of the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre by

François Dubois

CONSEQUENCES OF THE

MASSACRE

• The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre prolonged the French Civil War

• Huguenots now had an emotional attachment to the continuation of the conflict

• Even some Catholics joined the outrage over the savage slaughter

• Those sympathetic Catholics became known as “politiques,” from their desire for a practical settlement of the wars

CATHOLIC LEAGUE FIGHTS PROTESTANTS, CATHOLIC POLITIQUES

• The Catholic league was formed and took up where the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre left off

• By 1585, when the final civil war began – called the “War of the Three Henrys,” named for King Henry III, Henry Guise, and Henry of Navarre – the crown was teetering on the edge

WAR OF THE THREE HENRYS

• In December 1588, Henry III summoned Henry Guise and Guise’s brother to a meeting in the royal bedchamber

• There they were murdered by the king’s order

• The politiques were blamed for the murders

• Henry III fled Paris under pressure from the Catholic League and made a deal with Henry Navarre

III

Guise

Navarre

Moderate Catholic

Protestant

Ultra Catholic

ROYALISTS SEIZE PARIS

• Henry III and Henry Navarre team up to save Paris from control of the Ultra Catholics

• Other developments happened quickly as Catherine de Medicis died (1589) and that same year a fanatic priest gained revenge for the murder of Guise by assassinating Henry III

HENRY OF NAVARRE BECOMES HENRY IV

• If Henry of Navarre was to ever become King of France he would have to be a Catholic king

• Reportedly saying, “Paris is worth a mass,” Henry of Navarre converted to Catholicism

• He finally was crowned Henry IV in 1594

• Resistance to his rule continued for years, but he was a strong and capable ruler

• The league collapsed, and moderate Catholics rallied around him

EDICT OF NANTES• In 1598, Henry IV proclaimed

the Edict of Nantes, which granted limited toleration to the Huguenots

• It was a compromise that satisfied no one, but it was a compromise that everyone could accept

• One king, two faiths was as apt a description of Henry IV as it was of the settlement

• Yet, sporadic fighting continued and Henry IV survived 18 attempts on his life before he was finally assassinated in 1610 The Edict of Nantes marked the end of

religious wars between French Roman Catholics and Protestants for 87 years

THE WORLD OF PHILIP II• By the mid-16th century, Spain

was the greatest power of Europe

• The dominions of Philip II (1556-1598) of Spain stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific; his continental territories included the Netherlands and Milan and Naples

• In 1580, he became King of Portugal, uniting the Iberian peninsula

• Spain’s maritime power was unsurpassed as was their cultural and intellectual prowess

ON PHILIP’S REIGN• Few monarchs took

their tasks more seriously than Philip II

• Philip II earned his reputation as the “King of Paper” by maintaining a grueling work schedule

• Philip poured through the mountain of paper his empire created

• No detail was too small to escape his attention

PHILIP II VS. OTTOMANS

• In the Mediterranean, Spain stood alone against the expansion of Ottoman power

• Philip took up the challenge of defending European Christianity

• In 1571, both sides prepared for a decisive battle

• A combined Spanish and Italian force of more than 80,000 men met an even larger Ottoman force off the coast of Greece

• The Spanish naval victory at Lepanto was considered one of the great events of the 16th century and marked the end of the Ottoman advances

Fresco of the Lepanto battle plan by Antonio Danti in the

Vatican Museums

European artists, story-tellers, and song-writers celebrated Philip II’s victory against the Ottomans at Lepanto for centuries after

the 1571 battle

Battle of Lepanto by Paolo Veronese 1572

PHILIP II AND THE ENGLISH• Philip was equally aggressive

against the English Protestants• Ironically, for a brief time Philip

II was King of England through his marriage to Mary I (1553-1558)

• He encouraged Mary’s efforts at restoring Catholicism in England

• When Mary died and Elizabeth I (1558-1601) rejected his marriage proposal, his limited rule in England ended

• From then on, Spain and England entered a long period of hostility

Mary I

Liz I

Phil II

PHILIP II VS. THE ENGLISH• English pirates

raided Spanish treasure ships returning to Europe

• Elizabeth I secretly aided both French and Dutch Protestants

• Finally, in 1588, Philip II decided upon an invasion of Britain using his powerful ArmadaThe Spanish Armada had over 130

ships and were bigger and stronger than the English

THE SPANISH ARMADA GOES DOWN IN DEFEAT

• The Spanish Armada was the most powerful navy in the world, but the English ships were faster and more maneuverable

• Furthermore, the English ships had re-loadable guns while the Spanish could take only a single shot before hand-to-hand combat began

• The English were able to defeat the Spanish Armada and dealt Spain and Philip II a military and psychological blow

1588

THE REVOLT OF THE NETHERLANDS

• The biggest crisis of Philip’s reign was the revolt of the Netherlands (an important Spanish possession)

• The Netherlands was one of the richest and most populous regions of Europe

• The region was the international leader in manufacturing, banking, and commerce

• Charles V attempted to unify the diverse areas of the Netherlands by removing them from the HRE and establishing a regent under his eldest son, Philip II

PHILIP II LOSES CONTROL OF LOW COUNTRIES

• Once firmly in Madrid, Philip II named his half-sister, Margaret of Parma, as regent of the Netherlands

• Traditional resentments built up – hostility to foreign rule, distrust of royal advisers, and contempt of royal policies – and culminated in Philip’s religious policy Margaret of

Parma

THE NETHERLANDS RESISTS PHILIP’S CATHOLIC DOGMA

• Protestantism, especially Calvinism, was popular among the large urban population of the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Antwerp)

• As Philip attempted to strengthen and enforce Catholicism in the Low Countries, Protestant resistance intensified

• Leading Protestants, including William of Orange, made ultimatums to Madrid regarding tolerance

REBELLION AND WAR• Soon Calvinists rioted

against governmental intolerance by occupying Catholic Churches and destroying stained glass windows, statues of the Virgin and saints

• Philip was determined to punish the rebels and enforce the heresy laws

• A large military force under the command of the Duke of Alba was sent to occupy the NetherlandsCatholic symbols were destroyed

by rioting Calvinists

COUNCIL OF BLOOD• The Duke of Alba was brutal

in his suppression of the rebellion in the Netherlands

• He executed leading Protestants via a military court called the Council of Blood, which convicted 9,000 and murdered 1,000

• He allowed his soldiers to rape and pillage towns before slaughtering entire populations and razing them to the ground

THE PROTESTANT REBELS

• Alba’s brutal policies drove the Protestants to further rebellion

• Spain was forced to raise taxes to maintain a large army in the Netherlands

• The tax increase led to further Protestant assaults – some succeeded in surprising Alba and the Spanish forces

• Protestant generals established a permanent base in the province of Holland and Zeeland

SPAIN STRUGGLES

• As William of Orange led the two renegade provinces (Holland, Zeeland), Spain’s government was collapsing all over the Netherlands

• Margaret of Parma resigned over Alba’s tactics – soon after Alba was relieved of his duties

• With no one in control of the Spanish army, they roamed the southern Provinces looking for plunder

• The wayward army attacked Antwerp for 4 days in 1576 and turned one of the world’s important banking centers into ruins

PROVINCES BREAK FROM SPAIN

• The “Spanish fury” in Antwerp effectively ended Philip’s rule over the Netherlands

• The Protestants had established a permanent home in the north and the States-General had established rule in the south

• Terms were all that was left to decide

PACIFICATION OF GHENT• The settlement, The

Pacification of Ghent ((1576), saw the Spanish government concede local autonomy in taxation, the central role of the States-General, and the withdrawal of Spanish troops

• Five southern provinces remained loyal to Catholicism and the regent (though that was not permanent)

• By 1609, Holland was a major rival of Spain and Portugal in building empires

THE STRUGGLES OF EASTERN EUROPE

• Until the end of the 16th century, Poland-Lithuania was the dominant power in Eastern Europe

• During the 16th century, Poland lost lands to Muscovy in the east, but the union with Lithuania in 1569 and the absorption of the Baltic region of Livonia more than compensated for the loses

THE POLISH DIET

• War, peace, taxes, religious policy and reform were all placed under the strict supervision of the Polish parliamentary body known as the “Polish Diet”

• Roman Catholicism was the principal religion in Poland, but the state tolerated numerous Protestant and Eastern creeds

SIGISMUND III• After the Jagiellon

Monarchy of Poland failed to produce an heir, Sigismund III (1587-1632) was elected to the throne

• Sigismund III, also the heir to the Swedish throne, accepted the idea of tolerance while actively promoting Catholicism in Poland through Jesuit schools and the expansion of monastic orders

Sigismund III attempted to regain the Swedish throne but could not despite

spending Polish money and manpower on the effort

MUSCOVY’S TIME OF TROUBLES

• Following the death of Ivan the Terrible in 1584, the Muscovite state began to disintegrate

• Ivan’s conflicts with the boyars (nobility) had created an aristocracy unwilling to aid his successors

• By 1601, the crown was plunged into a crisis of legitimacy known as the Time of Troubles

WHO TO RULE?

• After Ivan the Terrible killed the heir to the throne, his half-witted son was left to inherit the crown

• Groups of boyars and military officials backed their own claimants to the throne

• Poland tried to take advantage of the Time of Troubles as Sigismund III abandoned his war with Sweden to intervene in the struggle for the Russian crown

• Polish forces poured into Muscovy and in 1610, they took Moscow and Sigismund III proclaimed himself tsar, intending to unite the two massive states

BOYARS UNITE AGAINST FOREIGN INVASION

• The Russian boyars rose up against the Polish enemy

• The Polish garrison in Moscow was starved into submission, and a native Russian, Michael Romanov (1613-1645) was chosen tsar by an assembly of landholders, the Zemsky Sobor Michael Romanov initiated a 300-year

family dynasty as tsars of Russia

THE RISE OF SWEDEN

• Sweden’s rise to power culminated in the 17th century

• In 1523, Gustav I Vasa led the uprising of the Swedish aristocracy that ended Danish domination in the Baltic region

• Nobles had a powerful voice in Swedish affairs through the Rad, the council of state

SIGISMUND III BOOTED, CHARLES IX IN

• Protestant Swedes did not appreciate Sigismund III’s close alliance with Polish Jesuits, so despite his claim to the throne, they replaced him with Charles IX (1604-1611)

• War with Poland resulted from Sigismund III’s efforts to regain the Swedish crown

• Sweden had the edge at sea, while the Poles were better on land

• Early Polish victories were not followed up as Sigismund decided to intervene in Russia affairs

THE DANES TAKE ADVANTAGE

• The Danes continued to claim sovereignty over Sweden and took the opportunity of the Polish-Swedish conflict to reassert it

• In 1611, under the leadership of the Danish King Christian IV (1588-1648), Denmark invaded Sweden from all directions

• Finally, Sweden accepted humiliating terms in 1613, renouncing all claims to the northern coasts and recognizing Danish control of the Arctic trading route

Danish King Christian IV reasserted control over

Sweden

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS SUCCEEDS CHARLES IX IN SWEDEN

• Protestant prince Gustavus Adolphus (1611-1632) was raised to be king of Sweden

• His greatest skills were military as he introduced new weapons like a light mobile gun and reshaped his army into standard- size squadrons and regiments

• He re-captured Riga and firmly established Sweden as a coequal Baltic power

ADOLPHUS CREATES PROMINENT STATE

• By mid-17th century, Gusatavus Adolphus enhanced Sweden’s prestige and increased her commercial prosperity

• His marriage into the family of the Protestant rulers of Prussia gave Sweden a presence in Germany as well

• Adolphus now took his place among leading Protestant Princes of Europe, and Sweden among the leading Protestant powers

THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR 1618-1648

• Finally the isolated European conflicts merged into a major war

The Origins:• The Spanish had reluctantly

accepted Dutch independence and hoped to regain the territory

• The Twelve Years’ Truce between the Dutch and Spanish (1609-1621) allowed the Spanish to prepare for a final assault

BOHEMIA REVOLTS• By the beginning of the 17th

century, Catholicism and Protestantism had achieved equal numbers within the German State

• In 1617, Mathias, the childless Holy Roman Emperor, began making plans for his Catholic cousin, Ferdinand Habsburg, to succeed him

• Complicating matters was the necessity of Ferdinand being elected King of Bohemia to ensure control of the electors

• The Protestant princes of Bohemia could not prevent Ferdinand’s election, but they could cause trouble Where is Bohemia?

Historically, Bohemia is a region in central Europe, occupying the western and middle thirds of the Czech Republic. With an area of 52,750 sq. km. and 6.25 million of the country's 10.3 million inhabitants, Bohemia is bounded by Germany to the north-west, west and south-west, Poland to the north-east, the Czech province of Moravia to the east and Austria to the south. BOHEMIA

DEFENESTRATION OF PRAGUE• Ferdinand’s

Protestant opponents in Bohemia objected to his limitation of Protestant liberties by throwing two of his chief advisors out of a upper story window of Prague castle

• The officials survived the “defenestration” by landed in a pile of manure

The Encyclopedia describes defenestration as “the act of throwing someone or something out of a window” and “the traditional Czechoslovakian method of assassinating prime ministers"

May, 1618

DEFENESTRATION BEGINS 30 YEARS’ WAR

• The Defenestration initiated further Protestant offensives throughout Habsburg land

• Despite the protests, Ferdinand succeeded Mathias as HRE and became Ferdinand II (1619-1637)

• Meanwhile, Frederick V, one of the Protestant electors, accepted the Bohemian crown

• Frederick was the leader of the Protestant Union and the "Winter King of Bohemia"

Ferdinand II HRE

Frederick V King of Bohemia

FREDERICK V - THE WINTER KING

• A sincere but weak Calvinist, Frederick V had famous relatives• His mother was a daughter of William of Orange and his wife,

Elizabeth, was a daughter of James I of England• Once Frederick V accepted the Bohemia crown he faced war on three

fronts• His immediate opponent, Ferdinand II had plenty of Catholic support,

while Frederick V had little help from Protestant nations• At the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, Ferdinand II annihilated

Frederick V’s army forcing Frederick and Elizabeth to flee north

Battle of White Mountain

BOHEMIA FALLS TO HRE

• Bohemia became part of the hereditary Habsburg lands and subject to imperial law

• Protestants were repressed and rooted out, forever consolidating the Catholic character of Bohemia

• The Battle of White Mountain was a turning point in the history of central Europe

THE WAR WIDENS• The Habsburgs were

now more dangerous than ever

• Ferdinand’s aggressive Catholicism now threatened Protestant princes of Germany

• A grand Protestant alliance – supported secretly by the French – brought together England, Holland, several German states and Denmark

The Danes led this potentially powerful alliance against the

Spanish and the HRE

KING CHRISTIAN IV LEADS CHARGE . . .UNSUCCESSFULLY

• In 1626, a large Danish army under the command of King Christian IV engaged imperial forces on German soil

• By the Danes could not match the superior forces of the Catholic mercenaries under the brilliant Count Albrecht von Wallenstein

• In 1629, the Danes withdrew and sued for peace

Wallenstein

King Christian IV

PROTESTANTS THREATENED• Ferdinand II was

determined to return all previous Catholic land (prior to 1555) back to the Catholics

• Furthermore, he proclaimed that the Peace of Augsburg made no provision for the toleration of Calvinists

• Ferdinand II’s bullying had succeeded in pushing the Lutherans and Calvinists into an alliance against him

Emperor Ferdinand II threatened the very survival of Protestant nations with

his aggressive Catholicism

SACK OF MAGDEBURG PROVIDES RALLYING POINT FOR PROTESTANTS

• Meanwhile, the Imperial forces sacked the Protestant German town of Magdeburg – setting new standards in cruelty and brutality

• Protestants rallied around the sack of Magdeburg as it gave the Protestant community a unifying symbol

• In 1630, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden decided to enter the German conflict

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS GAINS PROTESTANT SUPPORT, VICTORIES

• King Adolphus was joined by the German states of Brandenburg and Saxony

• He had 140,000 men under his command and he soon won decisive victories against the Imperial forces

• His victory at Breitenfeld marked the first Protestant gains since the onset of the war

• King Adolphus would now take the war to the Catholics

Gustavus Adolphus shown at the Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631 – the

first important Protestant victory in the war

ADOLPHUS PRESSES HIS ADVANTAGE

• After his victory at Breitenfeld, Adolphus pressed his advantage as the Swedes marched west to the Rhine, easily taking Catholic cities and the lower Palatinate

• Next, Adolphus captured the Upper Palatinate from Bavarian ruler Maxiliian

There are two areas of Germany described as "Palatinates": the Upper and the Lower. The Upper is in eastern Bavaria and the Lower is on Germany's western border...they are not connected.

THE SHOWDOWN: ADOLPHUS VS. WALLENSTEIN

• In the winter of 1632 the armies of Protestant King Adolphus and Catholic general Wallenstein met at the battle of Lutzen

• The Swedes won the battle, but lost their leader • Adolphus left his legacy as Protestant forces now

controlled most of central and northern Europe

FRANCE AND SPAIN RESUME STRUGGLE

• The final stage of the war involved the resumption of the century-old struggle between France and Spain

• After the Spanish declared war on the Dutch in 1621 and the Habsburg success in central Europe, French King Louis XIII and his chief minister Cardinal Richelieu finally decided it was time to intervene in European politics

King Louis XIII

Cardinal RIchelieu

France declared war on Spain in 1635

FRANCE AND SPAIN POUND ON EACH OTHER

• France took the offensive first, invading the Spanish Netherlands

• In 1636, Spain struck back, pushing to within 25 miles of Paris before being repelled

• The war resembled two punch-drunk fighters pounding each other

FRANCE OUTLASTS SPAIN

• In the end, Spain’s poor economy and Imperial loses in central Europe, proved too much to overcome

• At the battle of Rocroi, exhausted French troops held out and the Spanish invasion failed

• The desire for peace was universal as the war took its toll on the combatants

PEACE OF WESTPHALIA• A series of

agreements, collectively known as the Peace of Westphalia, established the outlines of the political geography of Europe for the next century

• The focus was on the HRE, and reflected Protestant success in the final two decades of the war

The Peace of Westphalia, also known as the treaties of Münster and Osnabrück respectively,

refers to the series of treaties that ended the Thirty Years' War, and "officially" recognized the United

Provinces. The treaty was signed October 24, 1648, and meant an end to the long conflict between

Catholic and Protestant forces.

DETAILS OF SETTLEMENT• Sweden gained further Baltic

territories• France gained territory and

prestige• The Dutch gained statehood

through official recognition by Spain

• Habsburgs regained control of both Bohemia and Hungary

• Rights of Calvinists and the independence of the Swiss cantons were officially recognized

• The Emperor’s political control over the German states was weakened

• German rulers were given independent authority

The Holy Roman Empire clearly lost prestige, land, and power

COST OF THE WAR

• The costs of the conflict were horrific

• The population of Germany fell from 15 million in 1600 to 11 million in 1650

• Plague and famine were resurrected

• The war played havoc with the economies of the combatants

THE BOTTOM LINE

• Luther’s questioning of his own faith led later to a series of religious and political conflicts of enormous proportions

• In the end, the northwest of Europe – England, Holland, Scandinavia, and the north German states –was Protestant, while the south was Catholic

• The HRE was dead, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire was just beginning

• Holland and Sweden became international powers; Spain and Denmark faded

• Muscovy began a long period of isolation