The Protestant Reformation (1450-1565)

THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

Revolution in religious thought & practice

Challenged established authority & secured triumph of secular power

Contributed to centuries of violent conflict

Shaped identities & changed map of Europe

Contributed to ascendancy of individualism

THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

Continuing crisis of the Church

Growing popular dissatisfaction

too much emphasis on ritual

increasing secularization

wealth, corruption, abuse

Caricature of Pope Alexander VI

The printing press

The development of printing took a dramatic step forward thanks to Johan Gutenberg, a Goldsmith working in Mainz, Germany, in the middle of the 15th century.

His revolutionary idea was to use metal to make individual pieces of type.

This moveable and re-useable type enabled printing to become a cheaper alternative to making books by hand

Once the printing had been finished, the type could be broken up and re-used to print another book.

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Print

Before Gutenberg there were very few books. The books that did exist were mostly written in Latin and owned by the Church and the very rich.

Books has to be written out individually by monks which took a long time and kept the price high.

News had to be announced in church by Priests. Limited access to information allowed church to control the masses

Without access to books, most of the population were unable to read or write. There were very few schools and the ones that did exist were only for the rich.

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Print

Gutenberg’s invention produced what is regarded as a landmark in the history of printing, and of western civilisation.

An edition of the Bible in Latin, known as the Gutenberg Bible was made at his workshop in Mainz between 1453 and 1455.

It consists of over 1,300 large pages. We know that 180 were offered for sale. 48 copies survive today, about 20 of them are complete.

The book was printed with two-colours, black and red, and was produced to an exceptionally high standard.

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•The first thing printed on Gutenberg’s press was the Bible.

•This is a picture of a page from one of Gutenberg’s Bibles.

8Creative Media Production 2011

Print

The Spread of Print

By 1471 printing had spread to other cities in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and France.

By 1480 it had spread to many other cities in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and France and also to Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Holland, Belgium and England.

By 1500 printing had spread to almost every part of Europe, including Portugal, Denmark, Austria, and Sweden.

100 Years War and Black Death

Scientific Advances which contradicted the Church

The Corruption within the Catholic Church

The Selling of Indulgences

Jorge Breu, 1530 “A Question to a Mintmaker”Depiction of Selling Indulgences

• Prior to 1517, the Catholic Church had been “selling indulgences.”

• Indulgences allowed people to “buy their way into heaven.” Given the right amount of money, the Church would forgive a person’s sins.

Prior to the Reformation all Christians were Roman Catholic

The [REFORM]ation was an attempt to REFORM the Catholic Church

People like Martin Luther wanted to get rid of the corruption and restore the people’s faith in the church

In the end the reformers, like Luther, established their own religions

The Reformation caused a split in Christianity with the formation of these new Protestant religions

Lived from 1483-1546 in Germany

A sudden religious experience inspired him to become a monk—Lightening in a tower or on a road

He became troubled over the possibility of not going to heaven

He turned to the Bible, and confession for comfort

In the Bible he found the answer for which he was looking

THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

MARTIN LUTHER (1483-1546)

“Justification by Faith Alone”

good works = evidence of grace, not cause

selling indulgences - 1517

JOHANNES TETZEL

authorized by Pope

“The righteous shall by his faith.”

Luther realized that only faith (in the ultimate goodness of Jesus), not good deeds, could save a person. No good works, rituals, etc. would save a person if they did not believe.

Ninety-Five Theses (1517)

condemned selling of indulgences

only inner grace & faith guaranteed salvation

Luther nails Ninety-Five Theses to Wittenburg Castle, Oct. 31, 1517

denied papal authority over faith

Gutenberg’s Printing Press made it possible for Luther to spread his beliefs

Posted his 95 Theses on Church doors in Germany

Gained support from people and criticism from Church

THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION and MARTIN LUTHER

Revised Christian doctrine

clergy no different than rest of believers

--rejected belief in purgatory

--called for end of monasteries

The balance: The Church v. the Bible

--reduced 7 sacraments to 2: baptism & communion

The Diet of Worms1520 Pope Leo X order Luther to give up his beliefsLuther burned the order and was excommunicatedLuther went into hiding where he translated the New Testament into German – spreading his beliefs even further

He was the Pope during the height of the controversy

“I am fed up with the world, and it with me. I am like a ripe stool, and the world is like a gigantic anus, and so we’re about to let go of each other.”

-Luther

Some Local German Churches accepted Luther’s ideas

Lutheranism was formed

Supported by German Princes who issued a formal “protest” against the Church for suppressing the reforms

The reformers came to be known as [PROTEST]ants - Protestants

“May little chickens dig out your eyes 100,000 times.”

- Calvin speaking to another reformer whose ideas he disagreed with

Anti-Catholic

Influenced by Martin Luther

Disagreed with Luther’s “Salvation through faith alone.”

Created his own Protestant religion in Switzerland

Calvin believed in:

Salvation through Predestination

At birth it is decided if you will go to heaven or hell

Foreknowledge

God knows everything that will happen in your life

Purified approach to life:

No drinking, swearing, card playing, gambling etc..

Started in Switzerland – Calvinists

England = Puritans

Scotland = Presbyterians

Holland = Dutch Reform

France = Huguenots

Germany = Reform Church

PuritanHugeunots

Presbyterian