GHG - Back in Europe (Lesson)
Back in Europe
While the world was changing in the Americas and Africa, what was happening back in Europe? They were experiencing their own transformations. The first one we will discuss is religious in nature (although at the time, it was very difficult to distinguish between the religious and the political.)
Protestant Reformation
By the 1300s CE, much of Europe had been Christian for almost a thousand years. During the Middle Ages, the practice of Christianity was dominated by local issues. This is because, at that time, it was impossible to separate the religious from the political. Therefore, the Church was occupied with the handling of spiritual issues, like salvation and behavior, but also political issues, such as territorial disputes, disease and famine, education and small-scale trading. During the Crusades, Christians and the Church were exposed to the more civilized institutions that developed earlier in the Muslim World—sophisticated transregional trading systems and institutions of higher learning. Ultimately, this exposure led to cultural movements within the Church and Europe. The first was the Renaissance—which we've already discussed—but the next movement was the Protestant Reformation.
Between 600 and 1450 CE, the Catholic Church held the most power in all of Europe. Popes, as heads of the Church, clashed with the kings and princes of the newly-emerging nation-states; but, ultimately, these political leaders knew that their livelihood depended on the Church's blessing and bowed to papal authority. But as Europe entered the 16th Century, the Renaissance was well underway—and with that, a new way to view the world. At the time, the Catholic Church was very much involved in the Renaissance. If you will remember, the Church was quite often a patron of Renaissance artists having hired many to design and decorate their cathedrals. However, this patronage led to great expenses for the Church. To raise money, the Catholic Church began to sell indulgences—a way to reduce the amount of punishment that one underwent for the committing of sin. Indulgences existed within the Church for many years before the Renaissance. However, always before indulgences were granted to those who earned them or during times of calamity. At the end of the Middle Ages, the exchange of money for indulgences became a widespread practice—and one that many viewed as an example of the corruption within the Church.
One such person who viewed the selling of indulgences as a corrupt act was a German monk within the Church named Martin Luther. In 1517 CE, Martin Luther nailed a list of his grievances with the Roman Catholic Church to the door of a church in Germany. This, in itself, was not such a revolutionary act—at the time, it was not uncommon to post notices or announcements on the doors of churches as they were popularly attended. However, the content of Luther's "post" was revolutionary. In his Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences—more simply known as the Ninety-Five Theses —Luther outlined his thoughts that deviated from traditional Church doctrine and practices. Included in these thoughts were:
- A rebuke for the selling of indulgences because it implied that salvation could be bought or sold;
- A request for church services to be conducted in the vernacular (local language) rather than in Latin;
- An argument that salvation came directly from God and that people did not need the Church to get to Heaven.
As you can imagine, his Ninety-Five Theses caught everybody's attention. On one side were the frustrated peasants who agreed that it was unfair for undeserving wealthy people to be allowed to purchase their salvation; ironically, they were joined by some nobility hoping to gain more power at the Church's expense. On the other side was the Catholic Church that did not like to see its authority questioned. Both sides reacted promptly. Those who supported Luther's arguments made use of the recently invented European version of a printing press and then distributed copies of his work far and wide. Those who were against Luther's argument—the most important of which was the Pope—excommunicated Luther and then called for his arrest.
Luther managed to avoid arrest by living in seclusion for a couple of years. During his break from society, though, Luther stayed busy and continued to write controversial material. He attacked the seven sacred sacraments of the Catholic Church—he argued that only Baptism and the Eucharist (Communion) were necessary. He attacked the Church's place as an intermediary between man and God—he argued that faith alone was enough. He attacked the authority of the Church—he argued that the German princes should urge the Church to make reforms and check the Church's political and economic authority within Germany. But most importantly, he translated the New Testament of the Christian Bible from Greek and Hebrew into German. This allowed the masses—at least the German masses—to read and interpret the Bible for themselves.
The result of all of this writing was the Protestant Reformation—literally a movement of protest—against the Catholic Church. Luther's supporters began to call themselves Lutherans and to separate themselves from the Catholic Church as a new religious denomination. Following Luther's example, more theologians published their own takes on Christianity and established their own protestant denominations. And thinkers throughout Europe questioned other topics such as education, politics and science. It truly was a Re-formation!
Let's quickly see who else was involved in this "Re-formation" .... Review each of the six below to find out more.
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Martin Luther (1483-1546) - Even before Martin Luther caused such a stir, there were different movements within the Catholic Church that practiced and taught Christianity and Catholicism in their own way. Martin Luther attended one such group's school while growing up. Therefore, his earliest education in the Church was from a reformer's perspective. Then, after Luther chose the Church as an occupation, he visited Rome on business and personally witnessed the corrupt practices that angered him so. Increasingly he turned to the Bible to find answers to his theological questions rather than the Church and he encouraged others to do so as well. (Which is probably why he spent time translating the New Testament into the language of his people.) One of the people who followed his lead in questioning the authority of the Church was a nun—she eventually ran away from the nunnery and became Luther's wife in 1525. They went on to have six children. |
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John Calvin (1509-1564) - John Calvin was a French lawyer. (His name was probably Jean and not John- but he is better known by his Anglicized version.) He also annoyed Martin Luther quite a lot. This stemmed from Calvin's theological interpretations. Calvin argued that God had predestined people's fate so, no matter what a person did or believed, God had already determined whether or not they would get to Heaven. As Luther felt that salvation came through faith, Calvin's arguments did not go down well with the father of the Protestant Reformation. Caught between Luther's and the Catholic Church's stances, Calvin and his followers had a difficult time finding a place where they were welcomed at first. Eventually they moved to Geneva, Switzerland and established a Protestant theocracy with strict rules against acting, dancing, singing, gambling and swearing while emphasizing a work ethic. From this new base of Protestantism, Calvin continued to spread his own version of Christianity—which along with its theological break from Catholicism also encouraged a more decentralized Europe run by local leaders known as Presbyters. Calvinists in France became the French Huguenots Calvinists in Scotland became the Presbyterians.
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John Knox (1513-1572) - Ordained as a priest in Scotland during a particularly sketchy part of the history of Catholicism there, John Knox eventually took work as a lawyer. Under the tutelage of a Protestant preacher later burned for heresy, Knox became a rather radical Protestant. As a rather radical Protestant, Knox stormed the Scottish castle in St. Andrews and declared that all popes were the Antichrists and Catholicism was wicked. As you can see, he led quite an interesting and, at times, infamous life (you should read about what he did and where he is buried—his life was quite fascinating.) Eventually, Knox fled to the Protestant haven in Geneva and studied under John Calvin. He later returned to Scotland and established the Presbyterian Church of Scotland as the nation's official religion. |
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Henry VIII (1491-1547) - When King Henry VIII assumed the crown of England, he was very young and a devout Catholic. As such, he married Catherine of Aragon—the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and aunt of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Unfortunately, this union did not provide a male heir—just a daughter—and Henry VIII sought an annulment from the Catholic Church in the hopes of finding a wife that would give him a son (he didn't think a female would be a suitable monarch for England.) Considering Catherine's lineage and the fact that she and Henry VIII had a daughter (Mary,) the Pope opted not to grant Henry VIII's request. Frustrated, Henry VIII turned to Parliament for advice and they recommended a break from the Catholic Church. Henry VIII issued the Act of Supremacy in 1534 nullifying the Pope's authority in England, establishing the Church of England (or Anglican Church,) and naming the King of England (himself) as the head of the new church. The biggest difference between the Catholic Church and Henry VIII's Protestant one was who was in charge (the Pope in the former and the king in the latter,) everything else remained about the same. Henry VIII proceeded to use his new religion to marry many more women. |
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Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) - Ulrich Zwingli was influenced by the Renaissance and Humanist author, Erasmus. He led the Reformation in Switzerland prior to Calvin's arrival but steered it in a more radical direction outside of Martin Luther's comfort zone. Basically, Zwingli argued that whatever did not have literal support in the Bible was to be questioned—this approach caused Luther to label Zwingli as "dangerous." However, Zwingli's approach appealed to the people of Zurich, Switzerland. They converted and adopted Zwingli's principles based on his 1526 Sixty-Seven Theses (he must have been more succinct than Luther) as the city council's official doctrine. Just five years later, though, Zwingli died in battle against Swiss Catholics. As a result, the Reformation in Switzerland faltered until John Calvin's arrival in 1536. |
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The Radical Reformers - Martin Luther kicked off the Protestant Reformation—but he was only trying to tweak issues within the Catholic Church. Once the Reformation got underway, he was dismayed to see the extent of reforms and revolts that later Protestants called for. He wasn't a fan of John Calvin and he thought that Ulrich Zwingli was outright dangerous—but their Reformed Protestant movements were conservative in comparison to the Radical Reforms that emerged. The Radical Reformers in Europe never had a large following—which is probably why their approach has been labeled "radical" by history. They included the Anabaptists (the 16th Century predecessors to later Mennonites and Amish,) Spiritualists, Antitrinitarians and Unitarians among several more lesser known groups. These denominations were much smaller in comparison with the more mainstream Protestant denominations (Lutheranism/Calvinism/Church of England) therefore, they experienced less political protection and more religious persecution than other Protestant groups. As Europe colonized North America, many radical reformists immigrated there to escape religious persecution. There they found a more hospitable environment and thrived. [Side note The United States has had quite a few Unitarian presidents.] |
So how did the Catholic Church respond to all of this "Re-formation?" In a drive to crush the Reformation, the Catholic Church, at first, responded by excommunicating any they thought were rebellious. But the Church soon realized it was too late to crush the Reformation. So, the Catholic Church had its own Counter-Reformation—also known as the Catholic Reformation—in response to the Protestant conversions. At the urging of the Holy Roman Empire's emperor, the Pope called for a series of meetings known as the Council of Trent. These meetings, held in Italy, spanned a period of eighteen years from 1545 to 1563 CE. [Side note: It took so long to hold these meetings because they were constantly interrupted by war, disease and politics. So, as you can see, political gridlock is not a new concept.] During the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church redefined its interpretation of religious doctrine while posing and answering many hard theological questions.
On top of the reforms made officially by the Church out of Rome, other priests developed reform groups that worked within the Catholic Church. Not all of the reform orders were the same nor did they always agree, but one of the most influential was the Society of Jesus—commonly referred to as the Jesuits. Founded by Ignatius Loyola, a former Spanish soldier and intellectual, the Jesuit priests stressed a certain formula for salvation—self-control + moderation + prayer + good works—that was well-received. In 1540 CE, the Catholic Church formally recognized the Society of Jesuits and their pious example became the standard for all Catholics. They built schools throughout Europe and recruited Jesuit missionaries to travel to the "New World" to spread Catholicism there.
The decisions made at the Council of Trent and the standards and schools of the Jesuits made no concessions to Protestantism—the Church continued the strict doctrine that maintained its place between the masses and God, still punished heretics and still held masses in Latin only. Still, the Counter-Reformation was fairly successful and the Catholic Church made an amazing comeback. By 1600 CE, the Catholic Church had managed to contain the Protestant Churches to the northern nations of Western Europe; while Southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Southern France and Southern Germany) remained very Catholic. See the map on the right: This map shows religions found in Europe. Blue represents Protestantism, Green is Catholicism.
Now...how did the Catholic Church do this, you might ask? Well...there were the reforms made by the Catholic Church within itself and they pleased many people. And...there were the new orders of priests that could be found living locally and they pleased many people. And...there was the tradition of ornament and spectacle that was best exemplified in the new Baroque-style churches being built and that pleased many people. And all of those things deserve a lot of credit in preserving and strengthening the Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation. But there is one more thing we haven't discussed yet—war. There were a lot of physical skirmishes, battles and wars happening between the Protestants and Catholics (and between Protestants and Protestants) during the 16th Century in Europe.
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