Protestant Reformation

SWBAT: identify the causes of the Protestant Reformation and the impact Martin Luther’s 95 Theses had on religion in Europe.

Homework: Read pages 365-367 (starting at “The Spread of Protestantism”) in your textbook and take notes.

Do Now: In your opinion, how should a priest/minister/reverend live and behave?

Problems in the Catholic Church

Remember the acronym BICEBehavior

IndulgencesCorruption

Extravagance

Behavior

Popes and cardinals often engaged in behaviors they were supposed to abstain from

Pope Alexander VI (Borgia) fathered 7 children by 2 mistresses Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia

Engaged in gambling as well.

Indulgences

Buying a pardon of sins from “God”. Men would go around promising salvation

from eternal damnation for a monetary fee.

Corruption

Sale of indulgences went towards funding the Crusades and building projects. Pope Leo X offered indulgences for men who worked on rebuilding St. Peter’s. Under Sixtus IV, indulgences started to be sold for dead people furthering revenue.

Extravagance

People disliked that the church cared more about wealth and luxury than its own people.

Were afraid that the focus had turned away from God and towards worldly things.

Inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican, Italy.

Other Examples of Extravagance

The beginnings of the Reformation

Started in what is today Germany Made up of over 300 independent states which

made it difficult to prevent abuses and the spreading of new ideas.

Martin Luther was a monk in constant fear of damnation.

Felt that the Catholic Church did nothing to help overcoming sin which gave him no comfort.

This in addition to BICE led to Luther leading the Reformation.

95 Theses

Luther wrote the 95 Theses (statements) which outlined his problems w/the church. Posted them on a door of a church. Church leaders denounced him b/c he challenged the church. However news had spread fast about Luther and his ideas gained popularity.

What makes Luther’s work so popular? What was the response of those living in Germany? Why is this popularity a problem for the church? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFqWnEpZvjs

But how did news spread?The Printing Press

Up until Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, all books had to be written by hand.

Printing press made it much easier for materials to be printed and machines could produce 3,600 pages per workday.

Allowed books to be accessed by anyone and information and knowledge spread much faster.

Catholics in Charge are PISSED

Holy Roman Emperor Charles V called Luther to a meeting of the empire’s rulers. Aka the Diet of Worms

Diet (meeting) of Worms (a city in Germany). Charles commanded the Luther abandon his beliefs and the printing of his ideas. However, because of 300+ German states, he couldn’t really enforce it.

Frederick the Wise

Meanwhile, the Elector of Saxony (Frederick the Wise) whisked Luther away and gave him a safe place to stay.

While there, Luther translated the Bible in German (previously was in Latin). Now all literate Germans could read the Bible for themselves.

The end result:

The creation of a new form of Christianity called Protestantism. Followers in Luther’s church in particular became known as Lutherans. Eventually, Christianity would break up into dozens of sects, all with slightly differing

beliefs. And the Catholic church? The Catholic Church is pissed.

The Reformation Rap- for your entertainment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt5AJr0wls0

Exit Slip/Discussion

Looking at the map to the right, what inferences can you make about how geography helped shape the results of the Protestant Reformation?