Chapter 12:The Reformation Part I

The Protestant Reformation

Main Ideas
• The major goal of
humanism in
northern Europe
was to reform
Christendom.
• Martin Luther’s
religious reforms
led to the
emergence of
Protestantism.
“I do not accept the authority
of popes and councils… my
conscience is captive to the
word of God. …Here I stand
and I can not do otherwise.
God help me. Amen.”
– Martin Luther April 18th, 1521
 The Protestant Reformation
• Christian humanists
believed in the ability of
human beings to reason
and improve
themselves.
themselves
• They wanted to reform
the Catholic Church.
• This reform would occur
through developing inner
piety,
piety or religious feeling,
based on studying the
works of Christianity –
not rules & rituals.
rituals
 Erasmus and Christian Humanism
• The best known
Christian humanist
was Desiderius
Erasmus.
• He developed what he
called “the philosophy of
Christ,” meant to show
people how to live good
lives on a daily basis
rather than how to achieve
salvation.
 “Erasmus laid the egg that Luther hatched.”
He did not wish to break from the church,
just reform it.

•In his 1509 work The Praise of Folly,

Folly he especially
criticized the monks.
 Religion on the Eve of the Reformation
• Between 1450 and 1520 a
series of popes failed to
meet the Church’s spiritual
needs.
• They were more
concerned with the
political interests of the
Papal States.
• Julius II,
II the “warrior-
pope,” even led armies
against his enemies.
• Many people were
disgusted with him and the
Catholic Church.
Church Corruption
 Religion on the Eve of the Reformation
• Church officials seemed ignorant of their
spiritual duties, especially instructing the
faithful on achieving: salvation –
acceptance into Heaven. 
• As a result, obtaining salvation became
almost mechanical; by collecting relics, for
example. 
• Venerating a saint could gain an
indulgence–release
indulgence from all or part
of punishment for sin–according to the
Church of the time.
Indulgences
 Johann Tetzel’s Slogan:

“As soon as the coin in

the coffer rings, the
soul from purgatory
springs!”
 Martin
Luther
-
Germany
 95 Theses:
Posted them to
the door
Reform topics
for debate
• Martin Luther was a monk and
professor at the University of
Wittenberg, where he lectured on the
Bible.
• Through his study of the Bible,
Luther came to reject the
Catholic teaching that both faith
and good works were necessary
for salvation.

• He believed human
deeds were
powerless to affect
God and that
salvation was
through faith alone.
Show Luther Movie Trailer
• The Edict of Worms • Luther’s local ruler,
made Luther an outlaw however, protected
in the empire. him.
• His books were to be burned and Luther
delivered to the emperor.

Lutheranism became the first Protestant faith.

The Reformation in England
• Not religion but politics brought
about the English Reformation.
• King Henry VIII wanted to divorce
his first wife, Catherine of Aragon,
whom he thought could not give him
a male heir.
• The pope was unwilling to annul
(declare invalid) his marriage,
however, and Henry turned to
England’s church courts.
• The archbishop of Canterbury ruled
that Henry’s marriage to Catherine
was null and void.
“I need a divorce! (and
a low carb diet)”

Henry VIII
-
King of
England
Catherine of
Aragon
1st queen of King
Henry VIII
Could not bear a
male heir to the
throne
All Children died
at childbirth
except for Mary
 Anne
Boleyn
• In Catherine of
Aragon’s court
• Caught the ‘eye’ of
Henry VIII
• Bore the
daughter
Elizabeth
• Could not
produce male heir
- Anne Executed
The Reformation in England (cont.)

• Henry then married

Anne Boleyn, who
was crowned queen
and who gave birth
to a girl.

• The child later

would become
Queen Elizabeth I.
The Invisible Princess: Elizabeth’s
Diary
The Wives of Henry VIII
Henry VIII - Marriage Lengths

The Wives of
Henry VIII
 The Anabaptists and
Effects on the Role of Women
• The radical Anabaptists Today the Anabaptists include:

rejected the involvement of

the state in church affairs.
• To them the true Christian
church was a voluntary
community of adult believers
who had undergone spiritual
rebirth and had then been
baptized.
• This belief in adult baptism
separated the Anabaptists
from both Catholics and
Protestants, who baptized
infants.
 The Result of the Protestant
Reformation
Find your religion on the
following slides.

(do not need to copy to

study for the test, just FYI)
 R o m a n C a th o lic

R o m a n C a th o lic E a s te rn O rth o d o x

P ro te s ta n t R u s s ia n G re e k O th e rs