The Protestant Reformation: Outcomes

Results of the Protestant Reformation

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 people 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. Within 100 years of Luther’s 95 Theses, of all the Catholic countries in Europe, only Spain, Italy, and Portugal didn’t experience a major protestant conversion. It truly was a Re-formation!

In the map pictured to the right, you can see how the Protestant Reformation spread in Europe. To understand the map, the following color key was included:

Dark Blue: Lutheran
Light Blue: Calvinist
Magenta (in England and Ireland): Anglican
Orange: Hussites
Light Green: Unitarians
Grey: Others (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, etc.)
Small Red Dots: Anabaptists

John Calvin (1509-1564)

John 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. Martin Luther felt that salvation came through faith, so he did not agree with Calvin. Calvin and his followers eventually moved to Switzerland to avoid both the Catholics and Lutherans. They established a Protestant theocracy with strict rules against acting, dancing, singing, gambling, and swearing while emphasizing work ethic. Calvinists in France became the French Huguenots; Calvinists in Scotland became the Presbyterians; the Puritans in the American Plymouth Colony were also Calvinists.

Henry VIII (1491-1547) and Elizabeth I (1533-1603)

A painting of Henry VIII with his son, Edward, and his daughter, Elizabeth I. When King Henry VIII assumed the throne in 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 and Henry VIII sought an annulment from the Catholic Church in the hopes of finding a wife that would give him a son. The Pope was persuaded by Catherine’s family not to grant Henry VIII's request.

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 Anglican Church was who was in charge (the Pope in the former and the king in the latter). Everything else remained about the same.

The painting to the left shows Henry VIII, his son (by his 3^rd marriage) Edward, and his daughter (by his 2^nd marriage) Elizabeth. This image was made during Elizabeth’s reign and is meant to be allegorical, so it depicted both Henry and Elizabeth in their adulthood, but since young Edward only ruled for a few years before dying, he is still shown as a young boy.

Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I) eventually became queen of England. Queen Elizabeth I created the Act of Uniformity, which declared that everyone in England had to attend weekly Anglican services or pay a fine. Mass and Catholic priests were outlawed.

The Counter (or Catholic) Reformation

So how did the Catholic Church respond? In a drive to crush the Reformation, the Catholic Church, at first, responded by excommunicating any people who 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. The Pope called for a series of meetings known as the Council of Trent. 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. One of the most influential was the Society of Jesus - commonly referred to as the Jesuits.

The Jesuits were founded by Ignatius Loyola, a former Spanish soldier and intellectual. The image to the right shows the symbol of the Jesuits. It is based on a picture Ignatius Loyola designed. It has “IHS”, (an abbreviation of the Greek word for "Jesus": IHSOUS) a cross, and 3 nails in a circle surrounded by 32 rays. Jesuit priests stressed a certain formula for salvation that was well-received by other Catholics that asked people to combine the following:

self-control
moderation
prayer
good works

Their pious example became the standard for all Catholics. Neither the Council of Trent nor the Jesuits made 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 in Europe. The bigger impact would be when Catholics of Spain and Portugal went to find converts outside of Europe – in Africa and the Americas – in the Age of Exploration.

Practice Activity

[CC BY 4.0] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION