TASK ONE:
Until the Reformation began in the sixteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church had united the Christians of Western Europe. The Catholic Church, with the pope at its head, appeared to bind all believers to a single faith. The Catholic Church was more than just a religion; it was a
cornerstone of the medieval social and political system.
The Renaissance, that great flowering of culture that occurred at the end of the Middle Ages,
began to loosen the grip of the Church on society. Scholars of the Renaissance were influenced
by the ideas of Humanism, an essential component of which was the questioning of accepted
beliefs. Humanists placed less emphasis on the spiritual aspect of humankind and stressed a more
secular and individualist philosophy.
The Renaissance set the stage for the Reformation in another important way, too. In the midfifteenth
century, a German named Johannes Gutenberg had invented a kind of printing that used
movable metal type. This was a vast improvement on previous methods of printing used in
Europe. Before Guttenberg, most books were written by hand and could take months to produce.
Now, hundreds of pages could be turned out in a day for a fraction of the cost. Cheap books, or
pamphlets, would come to play an important role in the spread of ideas during the Reformation.
The rise of national monarchies weakened the power of the Church. Disputes over the authority
of the pope and the control of Church property festered throughout the Middle Ages. When the
pope threatened to excommunicate King Philip IV in a conflict over taxes, the French monarch
had the pope kidnapped. He was released shortly after but died a few days later. Then, in 1309,
the new pope moved the seat of the papacy from Rome to Avignon, a town in France, where it
remained for the next seventy years. Efforts to move the center of the Church back to Rome
caused a schism in the Church, resulting in two, and then three, men claiming to be the rightful
pope.
The Church was also raising money in some less than respectable ways. One practice, that came
to symbolize the need for reform, was the selling of indulgences. An indulgence was the
remission of the temporal penalty due to forgiven sin, in virtue of the merits of Christ and the
saints. It exempted either the bearer, or a dead friend or relative of the bearer, from the
punishment associated with the sin. In other words, people could buy forgiveness and a ticket to
heaven by handing over money to the Church. Another way of making money was the practice
of selling positions of authority in the Church. This widespread practice was known as simony.
Some people bought multiple Church offices, and used these positions as a source of income.
The Church was also open to criticism further down the pecking order. Many priests led
debauched lives, cohabiting openly with their mistresses and making a mockery of any vows of
chastity. Many priests did not even live in the parishes they represented. This kind of corruption
was the fuel that fed the fire of the Reformation, but it was the monk, Martin Luther, who in
1519 lit the first match.The movement began in Wittenberg, a city in the German-speaking region known as Saxony.
There, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the cathedral door. He was protesting
against corruption in the Church, but more than that, Luther objected to some of the teachings at
the heart of Church theology. For the Church, the way to salvation was by following the
practices and rituals of Catholicism. For Luther, salvation came through faith in Christ and a
belief in the truth of the Bible. Luther’s argument became known as “justification by faith.”
The movement soon spread throughout much of Europe. When the pope, Leo X, issued a
directive condemning Luther’s ideas, Luther publicly set fire to the document. Charles V, the
Holy Roman Emperor and a loyal Catholic, ordered Luther to recant. Luther refused, and the fire
continued to spread. Luther’s opposition to the Church became a focus for others throughout
Europe. Those who were unhappy with the Church for their own reasons rallied behind Luther.
For many, Luther’s revolt provided an opportunity to break with the Church and reject the
authority of Rome. Within a short time religious uprisings and wars erupted across the continent.
In Germany, Luther looked to sympathetic German princes for support, and some came to his
defense, sheltering him from Charles V. Lutheranism continued to grow, often in the face of
fierce opposition from the Catholic clergy. Fighting between Catholics and Protestants continued
during the rest of Luther’s lifetime. Nine years after his death, Charles V agreed to the Peace of
Augsburg, recognizing the practices of Luther’s new Church, even though religious wars
continued in Europe for more than a century. One change was permanent: even though the
Roman Catholic Church continued to thrive in much of the subcontinent, it never again spoke for
all Western European Christians.
TASK TWO: The Spread of Protestantism
1. Read the Seven Sacraments. Which Two did Martin Luther see as the only two necessary and include in his new church? Which of the seven do you find important?
http://www.loyolapress.com/the-seven-sacraments_article2.htm
2. Read Luther's 95 Theses. Skim most but focus on # 36 and 62.
http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/history/95theses.htm
3. Pope Leo X Papal Bull.
Arise, O Lord, and judge your own cause. Remember your reproaches to those who are filled
with foolishness all through the day. Listen to our prayers, for foxes have arisen seeking to
destroy the vineyard whose winepress you alone have trod …
For we can scarcely express, from distress and grief of mind, what has reached our ears for some
time by the report of reliable men and general rumor; alas, we have even seen with our eyes and
read the many diverse errors. Some of these have already been condemned by councils and the
constitutions of our predecessors, and expressly contain even the heresy of the Greeks and
Bohemians. Other errors are either heretical, false, scandalous, or offensive to pious ears, as
seductive of simple minds, originating with false exponents of the faith who in their proud
curiosity yearn for the world’s glory, and contrary to the Apostle’s teaching, wish to be wiser
than they should be.
With the advice and consent of these our venerable brothers, with mature deliberation on each
and every one of the above theses, and by the authority of almighty God, the blessed Apostles
Peter and Paul, and our own authority, we condemn, reprobate, and reject completely each of
these theses or errors as either heretical, scandalous, false, offensive to pious ears or seductive of
simple minds, and against Catholic truth. By listing them, we decree and declare that all the
faithful of both sexes must regard them as condemned, reprobated, and rejected … We restrain
all in the virtue of holy obedience and under the penalty of an automatic major
excommunication …
Moreover, because the preceding errors and many others are contained in the books or writings
of Martin Luther, we likewise condemn, reprobate, and reject completely the books and all the
writings and sermons of the said Martin, whether in Latin or any other language, containing the
said errors or any one of them; and we wish them to be regarded as utterly condemned,
reprobated, and rejected. We forbid each and every one of the faithful of either sex, in virtue of
holy obedience and under the above penalties to be incurred automatically, to read, assert,
preach, praise, print, publish, or defend them. They will incur these penalties if they presume to
uphold them in any way, personally or through another or others, directly or indirectly, tacitly or
explicitly, publicly or occultly.
Therefore let Martin himself and all those adhering to him, and those who shelter and support
him, through the merciful heart of our God and the sprinkling of the blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ by which and through whom the redemption of the human race and the upbuilding of holy
mother Church was accomplished, know that from our heart we exhort and beseech that he cease
to disturb the peace, unity, and truth of the Church for which the Savior prayed so earnestly to
the Father. Let him abstain from his pernicious errors that he may come back to us. If they really
will obey, and certify to us by legal documents that they have obeyed, they will find in us the
affection of a father’s love, the opening of the font of the effects of paternal charity, and opening
of the font of mercy and clemency.
We enjoin, however, on Martin that in the meantime he cease from all preaching or the office of
preacher.
Source: “Pope Leo X: Exsurge Domine,” 15 June, 1520, Internet Modern History Sourcebook, Paul Halsall, ed.,
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook1.html.
4. Watch Luther at the Diet of the Worms.
HOMEWORK: Read, The Bondage of the Will
