Unit 2: Reformation and Religious Warfare in the 16th Century Flashcards
Christian/northern Renaissance humanism
- major goal= reform Christianity
- classics= bond that united all humanists into a kind of international fellowship
- education= classical and christian antiquity; brought new editions of the classics, of the Bible, and writings of church fathers
- believed that we need to change ppl before society; optimistic
Desiderius Erasmus
-most influential of all Christian humanists
-born in holland
-Handbook of the Christian Knight (1503)= reflected his preoccupation with religion,; called his conception of religion “the philosophy of Christ “ (Christianity should be guiding philosophy for the direction of daily life rather than the system of dogmatic beliefs and practices that the medieval church seems to stress
emphasized inner piety and de-emphasized the external forms of religion (sacraments, pilgrimages, fasts, veneration of saints, relics)
-simplicity= ppl need to learn the meaning of the Scriptures and the writings of the early church fathers
-edited Greek text of the New Test. and published it, and a new Latin translation in 1516= most outstanding achievement
-Martin Luther= use Erasmus’ works
-The Praise of Folly= humorous but effective criticism on corrupt practices of society
-harsh on abuses in ranks of clergy
-didn’t result in a huge reform of the Church
-Erasmus began what Luther did but he disapproved of Luther and Protestant reformers; no intention of destroying the unity of the medieval Catholic Church (but his whole program was based on reform
Thomas More
- son of London lawyer; good education
- trained in law but took interest in new Classical learning and became skilled in Latin and Greek
- became lord chancellor of England, worked for -Henry VIII
- friend of Erasmus
- made translations from Greek authors and wrote both prose and poetry in Latin
- devout; many hrs in prayer and private devotions
- Utopia= idealistic life and institutions of the community of “Utopia” (greek word of nowhere)= in the New World
- reflects his view/concerns on economic, social, and political problems of his day
- presented a new social system in which cooperation and reason replaced power and fame and proper motivating agents for human society
- in utopia= ppl works 9 hrs a day, and were rewarded according to their needs
- free of competition and greed
- intolerant of heresy; thought these ppl would reform the Church
- opposed England’s break with the Church (Roman Catholic) over the divorce of King Henry VIII; died
Pluralism
- the practice of holding several church offices simultaneously; problem
- led to absenteeism, when church officeholders ignored their duties and hired underlings who sometimes lacked the proper qualifications
- ppl complained about the ignorance and the ineptness of parish priests; this was widespread in the 15th century
Thomas a Kempis
- author of The Imitation of Christ
- wrote that when we die we will be judged by God how religiously we have lived our lives
Cardinal Ximenes
- used Christian humanism to reform the church
- had religious writings. like The Imitation of Christ, translated into Spanish
Martin Luther
- Germany; Born 1483
- –Key beliefs……
- Salvation is by faith alone (not faith and good works, what the Catholic Church taught)
- Bible (Word of God) is the only valid authority for Christian life (not church teachings and bible)
- kept Baptism (signified rebirth through grace) and Lord’s Supper (real presence of Jesus’s body and blood in the bread and wine given as a testament to Go’d forgiveness of sin)
- church consists of a priesthood of all believers (no hierarchy, all equal)
- all vocations have equal merit (all honest work had equal merit; each person should serve God in his or her own individual calling)
- clergy should marry; abolished monasteries and convents
- justification by grace through faith
justification of faith
- justification is the act by which a person is made deserving of salvation
- primary doctrine of Protestant Reformation
priesthood of all believers
-all Christians who followed the word of God were their own priests
Johann Tetzel
- indulgences= remission , after death, of all or part of the punishment for sin
- sold indulgences to raise money for the St Peters Basilica
Ninety-Five Theses
- charges of abuses in the sale of indulgences
- pope= didn’t take this seriously; though that Luther was drunk
- Luther was not the first to criticize the church (john wycliff and john huss)
Edict of Worms
- Charles V; Luther was made an outlaw within the empire
- his works were to be burned and he had to be captured and delivered to the emperor
- Luther’s prince (Frederick, Elector of Saxony) sent him into hiding at Wartburg Castle (1 yr)
- he translated the New Test. into German (12 yrs= sold 200,000 copies)
Philip Melanchthon
- 1518= arrived in Wittenberg at age 21 to teach Greek and Hebrew
- attracted to Luther’s ideas and became a loyal supporter
Peasants’ War (1524-1525)
-some didn’t experience economic improvement; SW Germany= lords abuse peasants; -peasants demand new taxes and other things
peasants thought that Luther would support them
-Thomas Mustzer (radical and ex follower of Luther) encouraged the peasants to rebel against lords
revolt in 1524
L-uther (in Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants) called on German princes to put down the revolt (kill them)
-Luther partially blames the princes for the rebellion bc of their mistreatment of the peasants but he still need their support
Charles V
- Charles I before he was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519
- ruled large empire (spain, and its overseas possessions, traditional Austrian Habsburg lands, Bohemia, Hungary, Low Countries, kingdom of Naples) → Italians, French, Spanish, German (languages he spoke)
- wanted to maintain his dynasty’s control over his empire
- he hoped the preserve the unity of the Catholic faith throughout his empire (didn’t happen)
- 4 problems (French, papacy, Turks, and Germany’s internal situation) cost him his dreams and health
- this gave Luther’s movement time to grow before facing the onslaught of Catholic forces
- LOOK AT FRANCIS I (Habsburg-Valois Wars)
- Ottomans= threat in 16the century; armies had taken control of much of the North African coast and captured the Christian island of Rhodes
- Turks
- Schmalkaldic League
- Turks come back
- 2 more Habsburg-Valois Wars (not a peaceful compromise)
- —-Schmalkaldic Wars
- part 1= emperor’s army defeated Lutherans at Battle of Muhlberg
- Schmalkaldic League= reestablished and allied themselves (along with other German Protestant princes) with Henry II (French king), who was Catholic
- 1552= revival of the War
- Charles= forced to make a truce
- Charles= abandoned all German affairs to Ferdinand (brother) in 1556; renounced all his titles; retired to country estate where he spent 2 yrs alone
- PEACE OF AUGSBURG
Francis I
- Valois king of France; rival of Charles V
- Habsburg-Valois Wars (24 yrs)= conflicts with Charles over disputed territories in southern France, Netherlands, Rhineland, northern Spain, and Italy
- they prevented Charles from concentrating on Lutheran problem in Germany
- the Habsburg emperor then expected papa cooperation in dealing with Lutherans
- Pope Clement VII joined Francis in the 2nd Habsburg-Valois war
- Charles V’s army (1527 April)= attacked Rome(Sack of Rome); bloody
- Clement came to terms with Charles
- by 1530, Charles stood supreme over much of Italy
Suleiman the Magnificent
- leader of Ottomans; his forces killed King Louis of Hungary (Charles bro in law) at battle of Mohacs in 1526
- went to Hungary and Austria; driven back at Vienna
Schmalkaldic League
-defensive alliance formed between 8 princes and 11 imperial cities (Lutheran)
Peace of Augsburg
- end religious warfare in Germany; important turning pt in Reformation
- marked the formal division of Christianity
- Lutheranism granted equal legal standing with Catholicism
- accepted the right of German rulers to determine what religion his country will follow
