Reformation

Reformation Assignment Timeline: 1. 1309-1378 “Babylonian Captivity”: Papacy in Avignon • The elected pope Clement V moved the papal court to France primarily for political reasons; it was the longest period of almost 70 years when the papal court remained away from Rome. All seven popes of this period were French, as were most of the cardinals, which aroused English and German bitterness. During the Avignon papacy the cardinals began to play a stronger role in church government, church and clergy were reformed, missionary efforts were expanded, and popes tried to settle royal rivalries and establish peace. The heavy French influence damaged the prestige of the papacy, however, and in 1377 Gregory XI returned to Rome. The cardinals elected a new pope who took the Avignon seat, becoming the first of a line of antipopes and beginning the Western Schism. 2. 1337–1453 The Hundred Years’ War between England and France • A war that lasted for 116 years, it was started because of the land the English king and aristocracy owned in France that the French little by little started to invade upon, and the claim of the English king, Edward III, to the French throne. By the end of the war both monarchies became stronger politically and the nobles did not have as much power as they did before. The system of feudalism in both countries began to decline, which gave the lower class of people more freedom of thought. The long war proved to be extremely difficult for the people, it led them to have questions and wanting an explanation for their woes that the Catholic Church could not provide, the outcome of the 100 hundred years war shifted people’s thinking in the direction of change that paved the way to a period of Reformation. 3. 1348-1350 Black Death decimates European population • The Black Death was a fatal, gruesome disease that wiped out most of Europe’s population in the 14th century. Since tens of thousands of people died the clergy wasn’t left behind, a lot of the priests that tended to the sick died, and people who weren’t particularly religious began converting to priesthood just to gain profit. Another outcome was that people began to lose all hope, because of the corrupt clergy, people distrusted the church and began to separate in their own little groups, also Europeans began being more secular in a way that they tried to live their lives to the fullest since they believed that they all would die anyway. 4. c. 1350-1500 Renaissance Humanism and Art • The Renaissance was a period when the study of Greek classics was renewed, art flourished, and people began to think of what it really means to be human. The Renaissance was also a rebirth that helped change personal views of oneself and the world. The Renaissance and the Reformation can be tied together since the Renaissance triggered a new flow of ideas that led to question of the Catholic Church and ultimately to the Protestant Reformation. 5. 1378- 1417 Western Schism a.k.a. Papal Schism A great split in the Catholic Church; a period when at first there were two and later three rival popes each with their own set of cardinals. The schism began right after the Papacy of Avignon ended, the local demands for an Italian Pope put Urban VI to power, but a group of Cardinals with French connections elected an antipope Clement VII, later both parties came together and elected a third Pope to put a stop to the church. All three popes excommunicated each other and were contradictory in their sayings. People did not know who to believe and trust; the Great Schism put in question the authority and reputation of the Church and the Pope. 6. 1382- John Wycliffe translates the Bible into a commoner’s language – English. His translation of the New Testament into English language created a thirst for the Bible to the common man, which led to a great desire for the Bible translations in 16th century England, and since now the Bible was available in the language understood by everyone, people began developing their own thoughts and ideas of Christianity and faith apart of that of Catholic Church. 7. 1454 – Johann Gutenberg begins printing books with movable type The first book that he printed was the Gutenberg Bible that helped the faster spread of people reading the scripture, and understanding it by making their own conclusions of faith sometimes contradictory of the Catholic Church. Reformation and its ideas spread mainly because of the printing press. 8. 1517 – Martin Luther posts his “95 theses” ; beginning of Protestant Reformation • Martin Luther was part of the protestant reform. He posted the 95 Theses, a document containing his disagreements with the Catholic Church. His regards were of the corruption and misuse of the people within the Catholic Church. He was a priest who, through his studies, found salvation not to be dispensed through sacraments but rather a free gift of god, received by the faith of us as individuals. He brought the Reformation to a world that only received a filtered version of Christianity. People were unable to read the Bible for themselves and therefore did not know what the bible said except that which clergy and magisterial members wanted them to know. As a result of his bold proclamations, his 95 thesis, and the Bible finally ending up in the hands of common people, a vast majority of people began to see the bible for themselves, thus the birth of Protestantism, Puritanism, and of course Lutheranism, through the 17th and 18th century on. Though he was not the only person to speak out against the Roman Catholic Church, he seemed to make the biggest impact against the dominating control of the papacy. 9. 1545-1563 Roman Catholic Council meets at Trent; promotes Catholic reforms • Roman Catholic Council has met at Trent to counterattack Protestant Rebellion and put an end to the Protestant heretics, by addressing the errors in the Church’s discipline at that time, and to reform them and by doing so they hoped to return the people the Church. The council was very successful in its first goal of revising their discipline, but they were not so successful in their second goal, since the people that were “led astray” had not returned to the Church. 10. 1555- Peace of Augsburg recognizes Protestant and Catholic states in Germany • Peace of Augsburg was a treaty signed by the Holy Roman Emperor’s brother Ferdinand and Schmalkaldic League which led to establishing officially two religions Lutheranism and Catholic. Each state of the Holy Roman Empire could chose to be either Catholic or Protestant, but still individuals could not chose for themselves, if the state they lived in chose to remain Catholic, the individuals had to become Catholic. This treaty created a period of nominal peace between the warring Catholic and Protestant groups. There had been almost constant combat between nations of those two groups. Essentially, it ended the religious struggle between two groups and made the legal division of Christendom permanent in the Holy Roman Empire. 4 Primary Sources: 1. Romans 1:17 The Bible “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” -This excerpt from the Bible caused Martin Luther to question the Church’s authority and the Pope’s teachings. 2. The Council of Constance from The Enduring Past book pg. 513 “… has its authority directly from Christ; and everybody, of whatever rank or dignity, including also the pope, is bound to obey this council in those things that pertain to the faith, to the ending of this Schism, and to a general reform of the Church in its head and members.” -This excerpt is relevant since it gives a pretty good idea of how authoritative the council was and that no one, even the Pope, could question its decisions and doings, since everyone believed that the council had the direct authority of Christ, this is also very relevant to how powerful Martin Luther’s idea was, and that he dared to question the ultimate power of the Council. 3. Luther’s 95 theses : #37 from The Enduring Past book pg.519 “37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has a share in all the benefits of Christ and of the Church, given him by God, even without letters of pardon….” -This excerpt is relevant first of all because the real starting point of Reformation in action was the 95 theses. In #37 Luther clearly states his complaint of that of the indulgences sold to Catholics to clear their sins and save their soul. This thesis is quite important because the thought is one of the foundations of the Protestant Church, since Luther believes that a true Christian meaning the one that is faithful to God, has all of the benefits of salvation, since God is first of all Love, and God will forgive any sin if the person feels that he or she has done wrong in heart. 4. EXCERPTS FROM THE RELIGIOUS PEACE OF AUGSBURG (1555) Constitution of the Peace between their Imperial and Royal Majesties, on the one hand, and the electors and estates of the realm, on the other -“… We therefore establish, will, and command that from henceforth no one, whatsoever his rank or character, for any cause, or upon any pretense whatsoever, shall engage in feuds, or make war upon, rob, seize, invest, or besiege another.  Nor shall he, in person or through any agent, descend upon any castle, town, manor, fortification, villages, estates, hamlets, or against the will of that other seize them wickedly with violence, or damage them by fire or in other ways.  Nor shall any one give such offenders counsel or help, or render them aid and assistance in any other way. Nor shall one knowingly or willingly show them hospitality, house them, give them to eat or drink, keep or suffer them. But every one shall love the other with true friendship and Christian love. It is provided also that no estate or member of the Holy Empire shall deprive or cut off any other estate from free access to provisions and food, or interfere with its trade, rents, money, or income; for justice should be administered not irregularly but in suitable and fixed places. In every way shall his Imperial Majesty, and we, and all the estates, mutually adhere to all the contents of this present religious and general constitution for securing the peace of the land.” This is an excerpt from the Treaty between Ferdinand and the Schmalkaldic League; it truly states the new rules of the peace between Catholics and Protestants. The new rules are tolerable and are to both parties, this is the true outcome of Reformation a new religion that finally can coexist with the Catholic Church. 1. Romans 1:17 The Bible “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” AND 2. The Council of Constance from The Enduring Past book pg. 513 “… has its authority directly from Christ; and everybody, of whatever rank or dignity, including also the pope, is bound to obey this council in those things that pertain to the faith, to the ending of this Schism, and to a general reform of the Church in its head and members.” Compare and Contrast The 2 excerpts in comparison are quite different, the Council of Constance states that it has authority directly from Christ and that there is no higher power on Earth than it, while the actual Bible says that there is only one God and if you have faith in him and you give your heart to him than your soul is saved. The Council was mainly political, as a method of controlling the people of Europe while the Bible is truly a salvation for the human soul, just the fact that the bible wasn’t translated from Latin and read by common folk proves that people were kept quite ignorant of what God truly wants, The Church had all the control over the nation as a whole and people were kept very fearful of what is to come next after their deaths and the deaths of their loved ones. Bible clearly states that God is our father and we are his children, and that God is pure and honest love while the Church used religion and fear of death in truly economic means by selling indulgences that were just a cheap way of corrupt clergy as the outcome of the 14th century disasters, to gain money for their own profit, never really caring about the people or the true religion that they so cleverly hidden thinking common people will never raise the question of “Why are the rich that are supposed to live simple Christian lives only getting richer and are living in sin, and we the common folk that barely have enough to eat are getting poorer and poorer'” There are barely any similarities between the 2 excerpts besides the fact that they are both talking about religion though in quite a different terminology, voice, tone, and the main message. If not for the people like Martin Luther who wanted to bring the truth of God to the people and actually confronted the powerful political party of the Roman Catholic Church, we might have been still living in a bitter delusion of God being an evil punisher instead of a loving father. The Outcome of the Reformation • Western Christendom would be left permanently split and even the Catholic Church profoundly changed. Changes in man's view of himself and the Church were to also affect his view relative to the state and many in Europe began to question royal absolutism and divine right monarchy, a process leading to the French Revolution • The Roman Catholic Church mounted a counter-reformation. Protestant churches were condemned as heretical. It moved to use other rulers to suppress Protestants. Protestants sought the protection of the local ruler and war resulted. While the war was religious, it was also a desire to assert local rights and freedoms on one hand, and to conquer and acquire more land on the other hand. • Peace of Augsburg German peace in 1555, it recognized the existence of both Roman Catholic and Lutheran Churches. • Confirmed the property settlement, people were to follow the religion of their ruler, if they wanted to switch; they had to sell their property and move. • Allowed people to see how the church had turned out to be a corrupted institution where indulgences were sold, buying and selling of church positions occurred and false doctrines were practiced it negatively led to a series of religious wars which was called the Thirty Years' War. Reformation as a Social Revolution Reformation was just an outcome, sooner or later to happen, from the previous events that led to it. The 16th century was a period of transition from feudalism to capitalism, from an earlier cause of the disasters of the 14th century, the Black Plague that killed thousands of people and made the church corrupt, the decline of feudalism and economic power of nobles, the church that lived a too lavish life – a lot more richer and demanding of money than it generally was supposed to be. Common people were sick of the rich only getting richer, all they needed was a cause and the new Lutheran thought was just what they needed – a trigger. The uprising of peasants and townsmen in the 16th century pushed ahead a program of social revolution aimed at the total transformation of feudal society. A new religion introduced itself to forever split and rival the Catholic Church, a series of Wars emerged as the result of the new Protestant religion, and history has been changed in so many ways. There were religious teachers decrying the decline of moral standards in the increasingly secular world. And the 16th century had its own communications revolution. Printing with moveable type first appeared in Germany in the mid-15th century. Europeans by the 16th century had access to printed material and books that had previously because of the cost of publishing been impossible. As religion was still a major aspect of European life, much of the published work dealt with religion and much of it was not favourable to the Church. The very idea of publishing modern language versions of the Bible was opposed by the Church, concerned of the effects that will take place because of the common man reading the Bible. Science has greatly developed in the age of religious turmoil and unrest, the Catholic Church still imposed limitations on scientific studies, but this was not much of a case with the Protestant church. As a result, scientists were left alone to pursue their work under the Protestant religion, which caused the modern science to arise. It started out as a want for change in the church, but it grew into much more than that, the Protestant church and many of its branches is still thriving today, many wars and conflicts had been fought over the people’s beliefs, the battle between the poor and the rich, and it has truly become a significant part of our world today. Sources: (Excluding the ones listed in the text) http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search'q=cache:FryFAwqLO2oJ:www.the-orb.net/textbooks/nelson/great_schism.html+the+avignon+papacy+link+to+reformation&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&source=www.google.ca http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search'q=cache:EhXGTprLBoIJ:www.christianchronicler.com/history1/avignon_papacy.html+avignon+papacy+significance&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&source=www.google.ca The History of the Modern World handout you gave us http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search'q=cache:BO1LYl1R6sMJ:www.cedarville.edu/cf/advancement/cbts/heritagegallery/exhibits/dawn-of-the-reformation/+translation+of+the+Latin+Vulgate+scriptures+into+English+reformation&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&source=www.google.ca http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search'q=cache:eNSxT_3ZeCwJ:www.victorclaveau.com/Doc's/causes_of_the_reformation.htm+black+death+reformation&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca&source=www.google.ca http://personal.ashland.edu/~jmoser1/augsburg.htm