The Protestant Reformation

The Medieval Church

• Most powerful political institution in Europe– Incredibly wealthy– Carried out 8 Crusades–Made political alliances– Popes very much like a

King

• Many people becoming increasingly unhappy with the Church

Culture Prior to Reformation

• Public is better educated– Result: Urban population becomes very

critical of the Church

• Renaissance monarchs were growing impatient with the power of the Church– Result: Resent the power of the Pope

• Society was more humanistic and individualistic– Result: Society becomes more secular

Culture Prior to Reformation

• Invention of movable type was invented by Johann Gutenberg– Books are now available to

the masses not just the rich!–Manufacture of paper

becomes easier and cheaper• Major Impact:– Helped spread ideas before

Catholics could squash them– Intensified intellectual

criticism of the Church

Printing Press = 3,600 pages per workday

Hand Printing = 40 pages per workday

Language Barriers

• Most uneducated people didn’t understand Latin, but could read and write the local common language–Almost all Bibles were written in LATIN before the Reformation.

• It was the job of the church clergy to translate the Bible to lay people.–Problems with this?

Dissatisfaction

• People grew displeased with the churches…– Financial

Corruption– Abuse of Power– Immorality of

the Popes

The Reformation• The Reformation—A religious movement

in the 1500’s that split the Christian church in western Europe and led to the establishment of a number of new church denominations.

• Why?– Nobles resented Church’s wealth and power– Poor encouraged by message of equality from

reformers–With introduction of the printing press, people

could access information for themselves

What Sparked the Reformation?

• Pope Leo X needed money to build St. Peter’s Basilica

• Begins reselling indulgences to raise money for his projects

Martin Luther

• Luther was a German monk and professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg.

• One of the many leaders of the Protestant Reformation.– Luther objected to a

saying attributed that stated "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs."

Luther’s 95 Theses

• In 1517, the 95 Theses were nailed to a church door. • Luther’s intention: not to break from the

church, but rather reform the church.• Criticized: – Power of the Pope–Wealth of Church– Clerical abuses

Clerical Abuses

• Nepotism – assignment of nephews to cardinal positions by Catholic popes and bishops

• Usury - making unethical or immoral monetary loans intended to unfairly enrich the lender by charging high interest rates

• Simony – the act of selling church offices and roles

• Indulgences – pardons issued by the Pope that people could buy to reduce a soul’s time in purgatory – Essentially, people could buy forgiveness

Papal Indulgence, 1516

Papal Indulgence

Martin Luther’s Complaints:

• God’s salvation won by faith alone• Catholic View:

Good Works

• Authority of the Pope vs. The Bible’s Authority– Role of priests was

overstated

Excommunication

• In 1520 Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther.–Holy Roman Emperor Charles V passed measures to suppress Luther’s writings.–Lutheran princes in Germany issued a protestatio or protest.•Hence the term Protestant!

Judaism

Messianic Jews

Eastern Orthodox

Anglican Lutheran Reformed Anabaptist

Baptist Episcopal Methodist

• American• Southern• Primitive• Freewill

Pentecostal

Mormons

• Assemblies of God• Nazarene• Church of God• Non-Denominational

• Reformed Church of America

• Presbyterian

• Mennonite• Amish• Quaker

Roman Catholic

Henry VIII &

Henry VIII

• Famous for marrying six times in his quest for a male heir to secure the Tudor succession and for England’s split from the Catholic Church.

HenryVIII

• Henry VII, King of England, married to Catherine of Argon– Catherine had been married to

Henry’s brother, Arthur, who died– Henry appeals to the Pope in 1509

to sanction the marriage

• Catherine can’t produce a son – She does however give birth to a

daughter named Mary. • Mary later becomes a queen of

England and restores the Catholic Church!

• History knows her as Bloody Mary.

Catherine of Aragon

• Catherine of Aragon had been betrothed to Henry’s older brother, Arthur, since she was three. She survived a perilous three-month sea voyage in order to marry him, only to be widowed five months after the wedding.

Annulment of Marriage

• 1520s: Henry falls madly in love with Anne Boleyn while still married to Catherine, who cannot produce a male heir

• Divorce is not an option, and only the Pope can issue an annulment– 1527 Henry make a case that his

marriage to Catherine of Aragon was against God’s law citing Leviticus Chapter 20 Verse 16

Leviticus Chapter 20 Verse 16

• “If a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an impurity; he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.”– In other words, Henry’s marriage to his

brother’s wife was sinful– He was therefore living in sin and the

Pope had to annul his marriage

Pope’s Response

• For seven years the Pope refused to annul their marriage, as he was afraid of angering Catherine's nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V.

• 1533, Anne Boleyn already pregnant with his child the couple wed in secret

Pope Clement

VII

Act of Supremacy

• Declares England is no longer under the authority of the Pope

• Appoints Thomas Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury, who annuls Henry’s marriage to Catherine.

• Subjects were required to take an oath declaring Henry VIII to be “Supreme Head of the Church of England”– Church of England = Anglican Church

• Dissolution of the Abbey’s– https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=St9-z6OAewA

Thomas Cranmer

Anne Boleyn• Even though Henry VIII had

moved mountains in order to marry Anne Boleyn, their marriage was not to last. After giving birth to Elizabeth, two later pregnancies ended in miscarriages.

• Still desperate for a male heir, Henry began searching for a way out of his marriage. With the help of his principal secretary, Thomas Cromwell, he found one. In 1536 Anne was arrested on charges of adultery and beheaded at the Tower of London.

Jane Seymour

• Henry VIII first met Jane Seymour when she was a lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn. Henry was betrothed to Jane just one day after Anne's execution and the couple were married on 30 May 1536.

• Jane quickly became pregnant, but Henry’s joy at the birth of their son, Edward, turned to devastation when Jane died shortly after the christening through complications related to the birth.

Anne of Cleves

• In 1538, Hans Holbein the younger was dispatched to Europe to paint portraits of prospective wives for Henry VIII.

• When Henry met her in the flesh he felt Holbein had far from captured her likeness, and felt duped.

• They married, but were divorced a few months later.

Katherine Howard

• Henry waited just three weeks after the annulment of his marriage to Anne of Cleves before marrying her lady-in-waiting, Catherine Howard.

• But Henry was not alone in finding the young and vivacious Catherine attractive.

• A previous relationship with Henry’s courtier, Francis Dereham, and an affair with another, Thomas Culpeper, earned her a conviction for adultery and treason, and she was executed in 1542.

Katherine Parr• The last lady to catch the eye of

the already ailing king was the twice-widowed Catherine Parr, who married Henry in 1543.

• Catherine Parr had a more harmonious relationship with Henry and also showed kindness to his children from his former wives.

• She helped the king reconcile with his daughters Mary and Elizabeth and ensured they received an education and were restored to the succession.

• Henry VIII died in 1547 and Catherine married her fourth husband Sir Thomas Seymour.

Henry’s Heirs

• Three legitimate children: Mary, Elizabeth, and Edward– Edward

• Crowned at the age of nine, but at age 15, Edward fell ill and died

– Queen Mary I or “Bloody Mary” • Raised Catholic like her mother Catherine of Aragon;

she reestablished the Catholic Church in England. She killed many Protestants and had approximately 300 heretics burned at the stake.

– Queen Elizabeth I (Ends the House of Tudor)• Raised Protestant and ruled England for 44 years.

Ruled during the Spanish Armada, and never married…known as the Virgin Queen.

King Edward VI

Queen Mary I

Queen Elizabeth I