The Reformation: Split and Struggle of the Church

1. The Reformation

2. Reformation Questions • What caused an upset which led to the Great Schism? • Where were the two centers of power for the church? • Why did people dislike the Church? • Who were the Protestants? • Name 3 Reformers? • What led Martin Luther to write the Ninety-Five Theses? • What became a good method to spreading Luther’s Ideas? Why? • Why was there a peasant revolt in the 1500s? • Who founded Calvinism? • Who started the Church of England? • What was the Counter Reformation, Jesuits, and the Inquisition?

3. Trouble for the Catholic Church • In the 1300s and 1400s, many followers disagreed with the catholic church. • Many people left the church. • From 1378-1417 Pope Clement V decided to move the Roman Catholic Government from Rome, Italy to Avignon, France. • This caused a great upset which led to the Great Schism.

4. The Great Schism • In 1305, the French king used to his power to elect Clement V as the pope. • 2 years later Clement V moves the center of the church to Avignon. • After the move most popes were French. • This made Europeans feel the French king was controlling the pope. • This resulted in a struggle for control of the church.

5. A Struggle for Power • The church developed two centers of power-Avignon and Rome. • In 1378, the two sides split and elected different popes. This split became known as the Great Schism. • This caused confusion and doubt among Christians and weakened the church. • In 1414, the emperor summoned an end to the schism. Church officials removed both popes and elected Pope Martin V.

6. Criticism of the Church • Over the centuries, the medieval church had become an enormous institution. • The church owned one-third of all the land in Europe. • Church leaders needed huge sums of money to maintain the institution. • People were anger of how the church earned and spent its money.

7. A Corrupt Church • Many people disliked paying taxes to the church and they were upset that the church paid no taxes. • Reformers also objected the sale of indulgences. • An indulgence is a relaxation of earthly penalty for sin. However, sometimes they were sold as a pardon for sin. People bought these thinking they could avoid punishment in the after life and buy their way into heaven.

8. Reformers Take a Stand • During the 4th and 15th century a number of reformers like Martin Luther, took a stand against the church. • John Wycliffe, a philosopher and priest questioned the pope’s right to levy taxes and appoint church officials. • Dutch priest and scholar, Desiderius Erasmus, urged people to pursue a true Christian faith.

9. Luther Confronts the Church • Martin Luther saw the church as a corruption of the original Christian faith. His ideas represented the new reform movement. • He was born in Germany and was going to study law when in 1515, he was struck by lightening. • Fearing for his life he vowed to become a monk. He felt that he was a sinner and was punished. • He believed that people could be saved only if they had faith in Christ. As a result, he questioned that idea that salvation could be won through good works.

10. Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses • Luther’s ideas led to conflict in the church. The conflict began in 1517, Wittenberg, Germany. • Church officials were selling indulgences to Finance St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. Luther disapproved and wrote out all his disputes with the church in his ninety-five theses. • The Theses were ideas that Luther wanted to debate. • These included: The Bible as the only source of God, People don’t need the clergy to interpret the Bible, salvation can be gained only through faith.

11. Ninety-Five Theses • In 1529, German princes who remained loyal to the church agreed to unite against Luther. • Princes who support him signed a protest against the agreement. • The protest earned them the name Protestants. • Eventually, Protestant became the name for Christians who broke with the Catholic Church. • Protestants use the term Reformation to describe the movement of opposition to the Christian Church.

12. Luther’s Ideas Spread • Luther’s ideas spread with priests who preached his message in their churches. • Churchgoers talked about it in the streets and universities. • Merchants spread Luther’s ideas along the trade routes. • The printed word also became an effective method for spreading Luther’s ideas.

13. The Printed Word • The printed word became an effective method for spreading ideas because: • The printing process was cheaper. • More people could read • Bibles were printed in local languages. • People could interpret the bible for themselves and develop their own ideas which challenged the authority of the church.

14. The Peasants Revolt • Peasants during the 1500s, wanted better living conditions and wages. • Peasants began to use Luther’s ideas to justify revolts. • Luther condemned both the peasants for the violent nature of the revolts and the nobility for their disregard for the peasants. • In 1521, Charles V made Luther an outlaw but too many people supported Luther and a peace treaty was signed called the Peace of Augsburgin 1555.

15. The Reformation Grows • Luther believed the bible was the only source of religious truth, people read the bible in different ways. • This led to many different interpretations. • John Calvin was a French reformer and his interpretation of the bible led to a type of Protestantism called Calvinism.

16. Calvinism • John Calvin argued that Christians could do nothing to earn salvation. God had chosen people for salvation even before they are born. • This idea is called predestination. If people are condemned there is nothing they can do about it. • Calvin became an important leader Calvinism and of the Protestant Revolution.

17. The Church of England • The Reformation in England was different than the rest of Europe. • It started with King Henry VIII wanting a divorce from his wife, but the pope would not permit it. • As a result, Henry refused to recognize the Catholic church and he founded the Church of England. (also called the Anglican Church.) • It kept the Catholic beliefs but rejected the pope.

18. The Counter Reformation • The Catholic church began new policies to stop the spread of Protestantism called the Counter Reformation. • The Council of Trent met to reform and define the Catholic belief system. • They wanted to show how the Catholic church and Protestantism differed.

19. The Jesuits • A new religious order of the Society of Jesus or Jesuits. • The Spaniard, Ignatius of Loyola formed the Jesuits in the 1500s. • The Jesuits were more like the military than a religious order. • They learned obedience and discipline. • Their education was based on a balance of faith and reason.

20. The Inquisition • The Inquisition was a court that established to investigate people “who wander away from the way of the lord and the Catholic faith.” • Church officials used intimidation and sometimes torture to get people to confess their sins-including that of being Protestant. • They also burnt any forbidden books which included the Protestant Bible.

21. The Expansion of Christianity • During the 16th century the Catholic Church sent missionaries to spread the faith all throughout the world and convert people to the church. • The Protestants tried to send missionaries as well but the Catholic church was more successful. • The religious geography of the world had a great impact on the Americas religious landscape. • Protestants' new practices of self-government may have helped the development of the democratic practices.