The Spread of Protestant Ideas

The Spread of Protestant Ideas

Things to Think About• Why did many German political authorities

[especially the nobility] support Luther's cause?  Why was their support so essential to his success?

• To where did Calvinism spread throughout the 16c?

• *The Appeal of Protestantism*• - Appeal to the peasants:• Message of equality in religion, which they extended to life in general.• A simplified religion with fewer rituals, which made it easier to

understand.• Luther rebelled, which inspired many of them to do the same.• - Appeal to the nobles:• No tithe to pay, so $ stays in the country.• Since they are against Charles for political reasons, they can justify it

by becoming Protestant.• No more church owned land, so they can get more land.• No tithe for peasants, so they can tax them more.• - Appeal to the middle class:• No tithe to pay, so more $ for them.• Now they can read the Bible and interpret it in their own way.• Concept of individualism – you are your own priest.

• Charles V,  (1500, Ghent- 1558), Holy Roman emperor (1519–56), king of Spain (as Charles I, 1516–56), and archduke of Austria (as Charles I, 1519–21)

• Inherited a Spanish and Habsburg empire extending across Europe from Spain and the Netherlands to Austria and the Kingdom of Naples and reaching overseas to Spanish America.

• Struggled to hold his empire together against the growing forces of Protestantism, increasing Turkish and French pressure, and even hostility from the Pope. At last he yielded, abdicating his claims to the Netherlands and Spain in favor of his son Philip II and the title of emperor to his brother Ferdinand I and retiring to a monastery

– Emperor Charles V sought to stop Protestantism and preserve Catholicism• In this sense, Charles was like a medieval emperor in

that he was trying to maintain religious unity in Europe.• He was now allied with the pope in trying to stamp out heresy

• Charles was preoccupied with the Turkish threat in Hungary and his dynastic struggle with Francis I of France.

• Between 1521 & 1530 Charles was away from the HRE, much of the time spent in Italy• Thus, Charles could not focus his military

solely Germany at a time that Protestantism was spreading vigorously

(1484-1531) – Independent of LutherZurich – SwitzerlandRoman Catholic Church – built on superstition & human traditionChristian Life rested in ScripturesAttacked indulgences, monasticism, celibacyReduced sacraments from 7 to 2 (baptism and communion) Lord’s Supper – a memorial, no changeRejected the Papal office

ULRICH ZWINGLI

The Spread of Lutheranism

– Spread of Lutheranism• Many German states in the North turned to Lutheranism

»Many German princes were politically motivated: they could now escape the authority of the Catholic Church and confiscate church lands for the state’s benefit.»The southern part of Germany largely remained

Catholic• Denmark and Sweden became Lutheran states as well• Lutheranism did not spread much beyond northern

Germany and Scandinavia.• This was unlike Calvinism that spread throughout western

Europe and parts of the New World

The Spread of Protestant Ideas

• A. Scandinavia • 1. Denmark-Norway — King Christian III broke

with the Catholic Church in the 1530s.• 2. Norway and Iceland — Violent reactions to the

imposition of Lutheranism from an unwilling populace.

• 3. Sweden — King Gustavus Vasa (r. 1523–1560) took control of church personnel and income and Protestant ideas gradually spread.

John Calvin

– Calvinism (most significant of the new Protestant sects)• John Calvin (1509-1564)

– Frenchman; studied to be a priest and later trained as a lawyer.– Influenced by humanism, especially Erasmus– Exiled to Switzerland due to his reform ideas

• Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536)– Calvin’s foundational work for Calvinism– Predestination: Since God is all-knowing, he already knows who is

going to Heaven and who is destined for Hell.• Thus, “good works” is not sufficient for salvation and there is

no free will since God has already made His decision.• However, good works are a sign that one has been chosen for

salvation.• God reveals if one has been chosen for salvation by a

conversion experience.

• “We call predestination God’s eternal decree, by which He determined what He willed to become of each man. For all are not created in equal condition; rather, eternal life is ordained for some, eternal damnation for others.”

• D. Calvinism • 1. John Calvin (1509–1564) — converted to Protestantism

and who believed God had called him to reform the church. He accepted an invitation to assist in the reformation of Geneva.

• 2. Calvin’s Theology — Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536, 1559) — belief in the absolute sovereignty of God and the total weakness of humanity — human beings lacked free will. Doctrine of predestination (only God knew who was chosen for election or damnation). Calvin set up a theocracy in Geneva, in which moral vices (absence from sermons, gambling, dancing, etc.) could all be punished.

• 3. Impact — Calvinism (often termed “Reformed”) became the compelling force in international Protestantism, the model for the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, the Huguenots in France, and the Puritans in England and New England.

Calvin’s World in the 16c

Started in Switzerland England = PuritansScotland = PresbyteriansHolland = Dutch ReformFrance = HuguenotsGermany = Reform Church

CALVINISM

– Anabaptists (formed in 1525)• Characteristics–Voluntary association of believers with no connection or

allegiance to any state.• Rejected secular agreements, refused to take civil oaths, pay taxes,

hold public office, or serve in the military–Believed that only adults could make free choice about

religious faith, baptism, & entry to C. community-kids baptized: preposterous-no Scriptural basis Want to rebaptize believers who had been baptized as kids–As millenarians, they believed the end of the world was

near.–Rejected the idea of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy

Spirit)– Some historians see the Anabaptists as the “left wing” of

the Protestant Reformation

The Anabaptists

Dutch persecution of Anabaptists (Mennonites)

The Reformation and German Politics• B. Religious Wars in Switzerland and Germany • 1. Assumptions about Religion — The ruler determined the official form

of religious practice in his (or her) jurisdiction: the presence of minority faiths represented a political threat to the security of the state. Few believed in religious liberty.

• 2. Luther’s Appeal to German Leaders — Luther appealed to national sentiment and to hopes to enlarge territorial holdings and increase their wealth by confiscating church property.

• 3. A Religious Stalemate — Fighting broke out in Switzerland (Zwingli was killed) and a treaty allowed each canton (member states) to determine its own religion and to give up its foreign alliances.

• 4. Peace of Augsburg (1555) (Germany) — Each political authority was to decide whether the territory would be Lutheran or Catholic and was to leave other territories in peace. The population had to follow the religion of its rulers: dissidents had to convert or leave.

•

• E. The Reformation in Eastern Europe • 1. Bohemia — Mixed outcome — there was strong

appeal of Lutheranism to the Germans in Bohemia, yet the Catholic counter-reformation also took hold there.

• 2. Poland-Lithuania (diverse population — Germans, Jews, Tartars, Poles, and Lithuanians) — Luther’s ideas took root but the Counter-Reformation effectively took hold, thanks in particular to the activities of the Jesuits.

• 3.Hungary — (Complicated because of the Turkish conquest in 1526) — many Hungarian nobles embraced Lutheranism, as did peasants — but in late 17th century, Hungarian nobles recognized Catholic Habsburg rule after the Turkish withdrawal in 1699, and Catholic rule was restored.