The Birth of Modernity? Part II: Freedom of Conscience in the European Reformations, c.1500- 1700.
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The Birth of Modernity?
Part II: “Freedom of Conscience” in the European Reformations, c.1500-
1700
Outline and Key Terms
I. The Early Reformations
II. Europe in the “Confessional Age”
III. Self-determination, toleration, and “modernity”
Definitions• reformare (lat.) – to
transform, re-shape, restore
• Why “the Reformation”?
• Significance for “early modern” Europe?– Permanent division in
western Christianity– Religious conflict and
warfare – The growth of state power
A “Luther Bible” (The Complete Holy Scripture in German), 1534
Historiography• Max Weber (1864-1920)
• Famous for his concept of the “Protestant ethic,”• Explaining the rapid
economic and social advancement of northern Europe
• Weber linked the Protestant ethos to the birth of “modern” society– Entzauberung
(“disenchantment”)
Above: Max Weber (1864-1920)Right: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905)
Reformation Europe
“Confession”: a religious creed or statement of faith
Criticism of the Church • Problem:
– The Church a bastion of power and wealth in the Renaissance centuries…
– ….. by 1500, many people dissatisfied with the “worldliness” (i.e. corruption) of the Roman Church
• Responses: – Widespread anti-clericalism
– Protests and rebellions
– Moving outside the Church (the Devotio Moderna movement)
– Criticizing the Church from within (Christian Humanists)
The “Drummer of Niklashausen - visionary Hans Böhm preaching an uprising against monks and priests, 1476
Ad fontes re-applied• “Christian Humanism” –
A contradiction in terms?
• The ad fontes method applied to Christian matters– Scripture– Canon Law (church law)
• “Christian humanists” used Petrarch’s method to critique Church doctrine and tradition The Pope selling Indulgences,
woodcut by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1521)
Martin Luther (1483-1546)• Born in Eisleben, 1483
– Original Career goals?
• Conversion Experience, 1505
• Monastic Life (1505-1520)– Pilgrimage to Rome, 1510
• Criticizes Roman Church leadership:– Ninety-Five Theses Against Indulgences (1517)– To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation
(1520)– The Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520)– The Freedom of A Christian (1520)
• Teachings:• Sola Scriptura – The Bible as the only authority!• The “priesthood of all believers” • “Christian freedom”
Luther as Augustinian Monk (engraving by Lucas Cranach, 1520)
Break with the Church • Luther’s writings threaten
Roman Church authority
• Luther prosecuted– June 1519 – the “Leipzig
Disputation” against Johannes Eck
– 1520 - Pope Leo X threatens Luther with excommunication
– 1521 – Luther judged at Diet of Worms, excommunicated and made an outlaw
– Luther claims that an individual Christian’s freedom of conscience permits him to disobey worldly authority!! Luther Before the Diet of Worms, by
Anton Alexander von Werner (1843-1915)
From Reform to “Reformation”• “Reformation” = reform
movement becomes a political phenomenon
• The implications of Luther’s movement
• Many princes and Imperial Cities adopt the Reformation….
• …but the Emperor and other princes remain loyal to the Roman Church!!
Confessional Age Europe (1555-1648)
The Reformation in England • Henry VIII (Tudor), King of England
(r. 1509-47)
• Succession problem (from 1525)• Known as Henry’s “Great Matter”
• Solution – a papal annulment from Pope Clement VII (?) • Cardinal Thomas Wolsey sent to Pope
Clement VII to annul Henry‘s marriage
• Chief Minister Thomas Cromwell suggests that Henry take over as head of the Church in England !
• Henry issues the “Act of Supremacy” (November 1534) – Act of Parliament making the king the
sole head of the church in England
Above: Queen Catherine, by Lucas Hornebolte; Left above: Henry VIII, by Hans Holbein the Younger (1537) Left: Sir Thomas More, by Holbein (1473-1530)
The Swiss Reformation
“Turning Swiss” - Historian Thomas A. Brady on the Swiss model of reform.
Debate in many south German Cities – Lutheran or Swiss reform model?
The Reformed Tradition (“Calvinism”)• John Calvin (1509-1564)
• Born Jean Cauvin in Picardie, France (1509)
• Studied law at Paris and Orleans (1528-1534)
• Calvin moves to Basel, Switzerland • Writes Institutes of the Christian Religion
(1536)
• Moves to Geneva, 1541 - presents his model for religious reform to city council
• Geneva becomes a “Protestant Rome”• Sin and heresy prosecuted by law
• Geneva-trained pastors spread “Calvinism” in France and Germany!
John Calvin, by Hans Holbein
The “Confessional Age”• When? The 16th and 17th centuries
Milestones:– The Edict of Worms (1521) – The Augsburg Confession (1530)– The Religious Peace of Augsburg (1555)– The Peace of Westphalia (1648)
• What? A new era of competing religious creeds
• The European “Wars of Religion”
– German Peasants’ War (1524-26)– Schmalkaldic War in Germany (1546-47)– Wars of Religion in France (1562-98)– Dutch Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648)– The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)
• Legacy for the early-modern state?
Emperor Charles V at the Battle of Mühlberg, by Titian (1548)
Religious War in Germany• The Reformation divides the Empire
– The “Protestation” (Speyer, 1529) and “Augsburg Confession” (Augsburg, 1530)
• Protestant princes form a defensive alliance at Schmalkalden, Feb 1531 – The “Schmalkaldic League” meets
annually– “Schmalkaldic Articles” issued 1537
• The “Schmalkaldic War,” 1546-1547
• Catholic Emperor Charles V defeats the Lutheran princes!– Battle of Mühlberg (Saxony), 24 April
1547 Top Left: Philip II, Landgrave of Hesse (1534-37)Top Right: Johann Friedrich I, Elector of Saxony, by Lucas Cranach the Younger (1537)Above: Charles V, by Titian (1548)
Toleration in Germany• German protestant princes
make new alliance with Henry II of France!
• Charles agrees to the Treaty of Passau (1552)– Guarantees toleration of German
Lutheranism
• The Religious Peace of Augsburg (1555)– Cuius regio, eius religio
• “Lutheranism” as defined by the Augsburg Confession officially becomes a legal religion (in the Holy Roman Empire) Title page of The Religious Peace of
Augsburg (Mainz, 1555)
War and Peace in France• Persecution of French Protestants
– The Massacre of Vassy (1562)– The St. Bartholomew’s Day
Massacre (1572)
• The “Wars of Religion,” 1562-1598– Nobility divided by religion
• Civil war resolved by victories of Huguenot leader Henry of Navarre (Bourbon)– Converts to Catholicism, 1593 –
“Paris is Worth A Mass”
• Royal toleration for Huguenots – the Edict of Nantes (April, 1598)
Top: Henry IV, King of France, by Frans Porbus (1610)Bottom: The Edict of Nantes (with royal seal)
The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day, by Francois Dubois (c. 1572-1584)
The Dutch Revolt• 80 years of conflict!
– 1565: Spanish King Philip II rejects religious toleration for the Spanish Netherlands
– Dutch Protestants revolt
• Philip’s response – send a Spanish army – 1567 - Duke of Alba invades Belgium
• The “Spanish Fury”
• Dutch resurgence - The “Dutch Republic” declared in 1581
• King Philip III and the “Twelve Years’ Truce” (signed April, 1609)
• What can we conclude about the origins of religious toleration?
Above: Dominions of Philip II in 1580Left: William, Prince of Orange, by Adriaen Thomasz
Reform and “modernity”?• Does the Reformation create a “modern”
worldview?• Luther’s emphasis on individual salvation,
right to freedom of conscience (self-determination)
• Tudor reform (Henry VIII) – the state takes control of the church!
• Zwingli and Calvin condemn “idolatry” and “superstition”
• Wars of religion produce religious toleration
• Does the Reformation create a “modern” society? • Growth of state power over the church• Multiple legal religions (after 1555): • What did “religious toleration” mean in the
1500s and 1600s?
A “tolerant” society?
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