The Corruption of the Church By the late 15 th century the position of pope and even of cardinal had...
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Transcript of The Corruption of the Church By the late 15 th century the position of pope and even of cardinal had...
The Corruption of the Church• By the late 15th century the position of pope and even of cardinal
had become an incredibly powerful and wealthy position• Many ambitious individuals, little concerned with spiritual issues,
saw the church as an opportunity to amass a fortune and to advance their family’s position in Europe
• Indulgences had become a major source of revenue for the church and despite being criticized by many Catholic theologians the practice was far to lucrative to end
• St. Peter’s Basilica typified the extravagance of the Catholic church and was funded by the sale of indulgences
Early Reformers• There had been earlier reformers that had attempted to
reform the church and its practices• The Lollards – existed in the mid-14th century in England.
Followers of John Wycliffe who was a prominent theologian dismissed from the University of Oxford in 1381 for his criticism of the Church.
• The Hussites – existed in early 15th century in Bohemia (modern day Czech Republic). Followers of Jan Hus who was tried for heresy and burned at the stake in 1415. The Hussite Wars were fought from 1420-1434 and strengthened Czech national awareness
The Borgia• The Borgia papacy came to personify the
corruption of this period• Rodrigo Borgia of Spain became Pope
Alexander VI in 1492• Charges of bribery, blackmail, assassinations,
adultery, extreme decadence, and even incest were attributed to his family
• His reputation is mostly drawn from his enemies including his successor and bitter rival Cardinal Giuliana della Rovere who would become Pope Julius II in 1503
• Regardless of the truth, the reputation of corruption and excess spread throughout Europe and tainted the image of the Church
Pope Leo X• Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici become
Pope Leo X in 1513• Under Leo the sale of indulgences reached
unprecedented levels as he attempted to reconstruct St. Peter’s Basilica
• He borrowed and spent heavily• Like other Medici, he was a great patron of
the arts employing artists such as Raphael to decorate the Vatican rooms
• It was during his papacy that Martin Luther would write his 95 thesis
St. Peter’s Basilica• St. Peter’s Basilica is the most
renowned work of Renaissance architecture
• There had been a church on the site since the time of Constantine the Great
• The current St. Peter’s began construction in 1506 and was completed in 1626
• The construction of St. Peter’s cost a tremendous amount of money and lead to the belief amongst many in the Christian world that the Church had lost its way
Martin Luther• Lived 1483 – 1546• German monk, Catholic priest,
and professor of theology• Strongly disagreed with the
claim that one could purchase an indulgence to erase one’s sins
• 1507 – Luther was ordained to the priesthood
Wittenberg, Saxony• 1508 – Luther began
teaching theology at the newly founded University of Wittenberg
• Wittenberg was a small German town in the region of Saxony
German States• In the early 16th century Germany remained
only loosely united in the Holy Roman Empire• The Prince-elector’s held considerable power
over their realms which included Saxony, Bavaria, Hanover, Brandenburg, etc.
• They answered to the Holy Roman Emperor but could be unruly and difficult for the Emperor to control
Johann Tetzel• Lived 1465 – 1519• Roman Catholic German Dominican
friar and preacher• Grand Inquisitor of Heresy to Poland• Became the Grand Commissioner
for indulgences in Germany• His arrival in Wittenberg and his
claims of what an indulgence could achieve was the catalyst for Luther’s Reformation
Luther’s 95 Thesis• Oct. 31, 1517 Luther posts his 95 thesis on
the door of the castle church in Wittenberg• These thesis challenged the sale of
indulgences and other excesses of the Catholic Church
• Luther argued that:– Salvation is achieved by faith alone– Bible is the only authority for Christian life, not
the church– Argued against papal supremacy, clerical
celibacy, and transubstantiation (the belief that the bread and wine of communion literally turn into the body and blood of Christ)
Luther’s Criticisms of the Church• Luther appealed to Pope Leo X to correct the abuses of indulgences –
the Pope refused• Called for a general church council to assemble which would have an
authority even higher than the pope• Came to believe that neither the pope nor any council would have the
authority to define true Christian belief and that individuals might read the Bible and freely make their own interpretations
• Luther soon rejected purgatory, reduced the seven sacraments to two (baptism and communion), declared clergy should marry, demanded that monasticism be eliminated
• Initially he had only wanted to eliminate the corruption of the Church • He would not break away from it until after he was excommunicated
The Church’s Response• Initially the Pope paid little attention to Luther• Several attempts were made to reconcile
Luther with the religious authorities• Luther’s ideas had been published by this
point on the new printing presses of the era and were gathering a larger following throughout Germany and beyond
• The Church put pressure on the Prince-Elector of Saxony, Frederick III (aka Frederick the Wise) to deliver Luther to Rome
Frederick III, Elector of Saxony
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor• 1519 – King Charles of Spain,
would become Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
• A devout Catholic but mindful of his unruly German subjects, it would be very early in the reign of the young Charles that he would be caught in the middle of Luther’s Reformation
‘I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse.’ Charles V
Imperial Diet at Worms• Frederick III was able to convince Emperor Charles V to try
Luther at Worms in front of the Emperor himself• 1521 Luther was brought
before the Imperial Diet (Parliament) of Worms and asked to recant his views
• He refused, already excommunicated by the Pope, he was outlawed by the Emperor
The appeal of the Protestant movement begun by Luther was different for different sections of society
• Peasants/Commoners:– endemic dissatisfaction with the church– associated the bishops and abbots as part of the wealthy and oppressive ruling class– Religious ideas were mixed with protest against the whole social order
• Merchants/Middle Class:– more educated with broader world views, mostly lived in cities– Cities which were emerging, especially in Italy and central Europe, as autonomous little
republics – Wished to manage their religion as they did their business – free of foreign interference
• Kings/Princes– long disputed with the church over taxes, legal jurisdiction, and political influence– Wanted to be Masters in their realm, the new protestant movements gave those rulers a
golden opportunity
Worldwide Appeal
Conversion of the German Princes• The Elector-Princes of the German States saw in Luther’s
movement an opportunity to gain a considerable measure of sovereignty from the Emperor
• Those Princes that protected Luther and the emerging Lutheranism were just as likely to be motivated by political reasons than any religious reasons
• Many imperial free cities and most of the dynastic states of north Germany used Lutheranism to increase their own political power
Societal Upheaval• Lutheranism quickly spread
throughout Germany• Became mixed with all sorts of
political and social revolution• 1524 – the peasants of a large
part of Germany revolted being stirred up by preachers who went beyond Luther in asserting individuals could readily understand between right and wrong
• The rebellion, which Luther opposed, was crushed
Societal Upheavals• Various religious leaders became extremist
and attracted many followers• 1534 – tens of thousands of religious radicals
descended on the German city of Münster• Proclaimed the reign of the saints, abolished
property, and introduced polygamy• A Dutch tailor, John of Leyden, claimed that
authority came to him directly from God• Surrounded by besieging armies, he ruled
Münster by a revolutionary terror• Münster stood for a year before finally falling,
John of Leyden was executed
Lutheranism• Luther had been horrified with how his religious
revolution had become mixed with social revolution• Luther saw Christian liberty as an internal freedom• Lutheranism became more submissive to the state• In worldly matters a good Christian owned
obedience to established authority• Lutheranism came to view the state with more
deference and respect than governments were use to under Roman Catholicism or the Calvinism which arose later
Political Response• Emperor Charles V was bound to uphold
Catholicism – only in Catholic world did the Holy Roman Empire mean anything
• Charles V tried to suppress Lutheranism across his realm but was resisted when a group of Lutheran princes and free cities formed the League of Schmalkald
• Catholic France, concerned with the power of the Emperor, supported the league – politics became more important than religion
• Threatened by Francis I of France in the west and Turkish armies led by Suleiman the Magnificent in the east, Charles could not control his German princes
• Civil war erupted throughout Germany and would not end until the Peace of Augsburg of 1555
‘I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse.’ Charles V
Peace of Augsburg• 1555 – the terms signified a complete victory
for the cause of Lutheranism and states’ rights• Each state of the Empire received the liberty to
be either Lutheran or Catholic - no individual freedom of religion was permitted
• The effects on German politics was that Germany became even more disintegrated into a mosaic of separate states
Religious Division• By the late 16th century
Lutheranism was established in Northern Germany and Scandinavia
• Southern Europe remained Roman Catholic
• Calvinism would be the third major form of Christianity in Western Europe
Ulrich Zwingli• Lived 1484-1531 in Switzerland• Converted the city of Zurich along
Lutheran lines• A pastor and humanist who was
influenced by Erasmus• His 67 theses of 1523 were adopted by
the city council as official doctrine• Became more radical than Luther leading
the church in an anti-hierarchical direction
• Killed in 1531 while defending Zurich against the Catholic cantons (provinces) of Switzerland
John Calvin• Lived 1509-1564• Frenchman trained as a priest and a
lawyer with a Humanist’s knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew
• At 24 he had a religious conversion and became swept up in the reform movements begun by Luther
• Became involved in the reform of the church in Geneva Switzerland
Calvinism• Agreed with Lutheranism in many of its criticisms of the Catholic
church• Disagreed with Lutheranism in two major ways:
– Believed in predestination – God already knew who was saved and who was damned, God controlled all human actions
– Believed that church and state should act together to create a “godly society” in which religious beliefs and strict codes of conduct would shape every aspect of daily life
• Rejected the institution of bishops • Church to be governed by elected bodies made up of ministers
and devout laymen – broke the monopoly of priestly power• Church rules and thus Calvinist living was strict; all loose, light,
and frivolous living was suppressed
Calvinism• Priests wore black gowns – colour, music, incense
were all rigidly subdued• Images of the saints, Mary, or Christ were taken
down or destroyed as they were seen as a form of idolatry
• Calvinism had difficulty establishing itself because of its views on authority
• Only in Geneva, the Dutch Netherlands, and Scotland would the Calvinists establish a society based on their religion
Calvinism in France• In France the Huguenots would
attempt to establish Calvinist beliefs and overthrow Catholicism
• This would lead to years of religious wars culminating in the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572 when the French regent, Catherine de Medici authorized the killing of 200 Huguenot leaders meeting in Paris
• A Catholic mob went on a rampage killing thousands more Huguenots
• Religious wars in France ended with the Edict of Nantes in 1598 which granted religious toleration
Calvinism in England• For a brief period of time during the
17th century Calvinism was established by the puritans under the rule of Oliver Cromwell
• Most Calvinists would leave for the New World to escape religious persecution – the most famous being the pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower and landed at Plymouth Rock Massachusetts
Catholic Counter-Reformation• Initial response of the Catholic Church was to excommunicate
those who rebelled against it• As it became clear they could not crush the Reformation, the
Catholic Church began to reform itself• Meeting in three sessions at Trent in the Italian Alps from 1545-
63, the Catholic Church initiated a Counter-Reformation• It strengthened the spiritual institution of the papacy, reformed
old and formed new religious orders, most notably the Jesuits– The Jesuits set up schools and missions to preach Catholic virtues
• Congregations were lured back into church through increased use of ornament and spectacle
St. Ignatius Church in Rome
• Baroque style churches in Austria and Italy personified the glorious new Counter-Reformation• The Ceiling of St. Ignatius Church in Rome shows the work of the Jesuits
Wars of Religion• The wars of religion that would be sparked by the Reformation would
be the most violent that Europe had seen• Civil wars erupted in Germany, France, England, and elsewhere• Political factors would often be the underlying reasons and the leaders
would simply use religion as an excuse to gain support• The Thirty Years War of 1618-1649 began as a religious conflict
between Catholic Austria and Protestant Bohemia and would and would turn into a struggle of political supremacy between Catholic France against Catholic Spain and the Catholic Holy Roman Empire based in Austria
• These wars would devastate Europe, upwards of 1/3 of the population of the Germany states would be killed through war or famine
Peace of Westphalia• 1648 – the Peace of Westphalia
would end the war that had become intolerable
• Calvinists were granted the same privileges which the Lutherans had received in the Peace of Augsburg
• Freedom of religion was permitted in a number of German lands but not those controlled by the Habsburgs in the Holy Roman Empire
Impact of the Reformation• Germany was politically weakened and fragmented• Right of Rebellion introduced by both Jesuits and Calvinists• A century of Religious wars devastated Europe• Political stability became more valued than religious truth leading to an
era where monarchs would rule with absolute power – Age of Absolutism
• Society became even more individualistic and secular• Protestantism changed ideas about work and business – work was a
virtue in Protestant societies• Profits and money lending were no longer frowned upon• Persecuted religious minorities would immigrate to the Protestant
English colonies where they would enjoy a far greater degree of religious and political freedom for an extended period of time