Monday, January 14, 2013

The Protestant Reformation and the Challenge to the Old Order


I. Reshaping Society through Religion
A. Protestant Challenges to the Social Order

1. Martin Luther--German monk who challenged the practice of the Roman Catholic Church to sell "indulgences" (the forgiveness of sins in return for a donation to the "good works" of the Church. While initially the so-called 95 Theses was not very radical in tone, Luther's refusal to withdraw the Theses led eventually to his excommunication from the Church. Luther was protected from any physical repercussions from the church by Frederick III, Elector of Saxony. Luther espoused the belief that eternal salvation could not be purchased through the Church, but was instead a gift obtained through God's grace and faith in his son, Jesus Christ. Luther went about setting up churches in Saxony, and eventually married, as well.

2. John Calvin--a French lawyer and theologian, broke with the Roman Catholic Church around 1530. Calvin left France for Geneva shortly thereafter, when religious tensions in France led to a round of persecution against "protestants"; Calvin initially settled in Geneva, Switzerland, but controversy there led to his leaving Geneva for Strasbourg, although he eventually returned to Geneva, and accomplished much of the work he is known for at that location. The religious doctrine most closely associated with Calvin is the idea of predestination; that a person is chosen at birth (or even before) to ascend to heaven, and no amount of good works, indulgences, or even faith in God will change one's destiny.

3. The Peasant’s War of 1525 — Many interpreted the call for greater spiritual freedom as offering freedom in other areas as well. In southern and central Germany, Luther and Zwingli’s anticlerical message resonated with heavily taxed peasants who lived on lands owned by the church or Catholic lords. Many peasants rose in rebellion, attacking convents, monasteries, and castles, and claiming to be following the Word of God. They were joined by urban workers, who looted church property. An ex-priest, Thomas Muntzer (1468?–1525), led the movement in central Germany, promising to chastise the wicked and clear the way for the Last Judgment.  Leaders of the reform movement turned against the rebels, and Catholic and Protestant princes joined to crush Muntzer and his supporters. Across Germany, rebels were hunted down and more than 100,000 were killed. Luther tried to mediate, criticizing both the rebels and the princes for their excesses. He saw Muntzer as a dangerous man doing the “devil’s work.” Luther connected the Lutheran church with the German princes and established political authority. When the Holy Roman Emperor declared Catholicism the state religion, the princes protested and the empire fragmented.
4. Anabaptists — In Zurich, laypeople, many of them artisans and members of the middle and lower classes, attempted to conform themselves to the New Testament descriptions of early Christian communities. Embracing a simple but radical message, they rejected the validity of infant baptism and called for the rebaptizing of adults. Many of these Anabaptists (literally “rebaptizers”) were pacifists who rejected civil authority. Zwingli condemned them in 1529, and when they remained resistant, condemned them to death; however, Anabaptism still spread through southern Germany. In 1534, one group seized control of Munster, proclaiming themselves a community of saints, but they were overthrown by a combined Catholic and Protestant army. In northwest Europe, under the pacifist Dutchman Menno Simons (1469–1561), the Anabaptist movement survived.
B. New Forms of Discipline
1. Reading the Bible — Middle-class urban reformers urged greater conformity and stricter moral behavior. Rulers and clergy encouraged Bible reading and hard work, piety, and attendance at sermons. Many saw the poor as lacking personal virtue, and greater emphasis was placed on the regulation of marriage. Luther’s German translation of the Bible became standard, and a Bible-centered culture took root, with 200,000 copies printed over twelve years. Bibles became central in urban, literate households, and Catholic Bibles in German also circulated. In England, the church executed William Tyndale (1495–1536), who translated the Bible into English, for heresy.
2. Public Relief for the Poor — In Catholic and Protestant states, secular governments began to take over public charity from the church in an era of increasing poverty and less tolerance for the poor. Moralists condemned the sloth and crime that was associated with vagabonds. Protestant magistrates in urban areas appointed officials to certify the genuine poor and distribute funds to them. During the 1520s, cities in the Low Countries, Italy, and Spain prohibited begging. Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives wrote a treatise urging authorities to establish public poor relief, and national laws followed in Spain and England.
3. Reforming Marriage — Seeking order and discipline, Protestant reformers denounced sexual immorality and glorified the family. Magistrates closed brothels and established marriage courts, and fines were put in place for fornication, adultery, and violent behavior. Prior to the Reformation, marriage had largely been a private affair between families, where promises made between couples with witnesses present were recognized by the church. Government control was now asserted over marriage, first in Protestant, then in Catholic countries. The first generation of Protestant women attained a high level of marital equality, but for the most part women’s role in society did not change, although the closing of convents did confine women more to the household and family in Protestant areas.
C. Catholic Renewal
1. The Council of Trent and Its Rejection of Protestantism — In the 1540s, the Catholic church acted dramatically to fend off the Protestant threat. Pope Paul III convened a council at Trent in 1545, which met sporadically for twenty years. It had the goal of renewing religious devotion, clarifying doctrine, and reforming clerical morality. Italian and Spanish clergy predominated among the 255 bishops, archbishops, and cardinals. The council condemned central Protestant doctrines on salvation, the Eucharist, clerical authority over the laity, and interpretation of the Bible. Divorce was rejected, and indulgences confirmed. Bishops had to be residents of their dioceses, and more seminaries were established. The council reduced hope for reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants, as Catholics focused on rolling back dissent.    
2. New Religious Orders — The Catholic Reformation also prompted the formation of new religious orders, the most important being the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), who were established by a Spanish nobleman, Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556) . A soldier in wars against France, Loyola was injured in battle in 1521 and during his recovery read the lives of the saints and decided to serve the church. A charismatic and active figure, he attracted followers, and his order was recognized in 1540. The Jesuits vigorously defended papal authority and established hundreds of colleges. They were particularly active globally as missionaries. Jesuits helped to restore confidence in the church, although they also had a reputation for controversy and for having a great deal of political influence. 
3. Missionary Zeal — Missionary activity became especially important in the face of the Protestant challenge. Some missionary work was repressive and coercive, while at other times it offered welcome reason and faith. Catholic missionaries focused on winning over local elites and establishing schools. Initially involving very little racial discrimination, distinctions based on race or language became more common in the Americas and Africa. In Asia, elites were especially targeted by missionaries under Portuguese protection. Missionaries admired Asian civilization; the Jesuit Francis Xavier preached in India and Japan and converted many. In Asia and the Americas, these activities converted many and were successful.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
II. Striving for Mastery
A. Courtiers and Princes
1. Princely Power, Patronage, and the Arts — Courts, which functioned as centers for state building and the projection of power, also became centers of intrigue, cultural activity, and patronage. Political and cultural elites grew up around courts, as typified by the work of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), an immensely talented artist who worked at the Florentine court and for the pope.
2. The Court of Francis I — Italian artists also flocked to the French court of Francis I (r.1515–1547), the largest in Europe. There were 1,622 people, many of them artists, musicians, and performers at the French court, by 1535. The court moved around between palaces but was centered in a renaissance palace built at Fontainbleau. It took 18,000 horses to move the French court from place to place.
3. Ariosto, Castiglione, and Courtier Ethics — Two Italian writers, Ariosto (1474–1533) at the Este court in Ferrara, and Castiglione (1478–1529), a servant of the duke of Urbino and the pope, composed poetry (Ariosto) and a dialogue (Castiglione) representing court culture as the highest synthesis of Christian and classical values. Gentlemen at court were urged to speak in refined language and carry themselves with nobility and dignity in serving their prince and their lady. Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) was a courtier whose essay, The Prince, urged another, more pragmatic, ethic on rulers, encouraging princes to be feared rather than loved. Rulers were urged to keep a firm grip on power through deceit and manipulation if necessary.
B. Dynastic Wars
1. The Valois versus the Hapsburgs — The French Valois and Spanish Hapsburg families fought each other for domination of Europe. The Italian Wars over French claims that began in 1494 escalated into a general conflict that involved the Ottomans and the major Christian monarchies from 1494 to 1559. Both families were Catholic, and they fought over the Low Countries and Italy. After a defeat at the hands of Charles V and his capture at the battle of Pavia in 1525, the Valois French king Francis I was forced to renounce all claims to Italian territory. However, he immediately repudiated the treaty and continued the conflict. When the pope allied with the French, Charles sacked Rome in 1527. Charles made extensive use of German Protestant mercenaries, and their attack on Rome was brutal and spurred Catholic reform. In 1559, the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis ended the conflict, as the French gave up their claim to Italy and the French king Henry II married his sister and daughter into the Hapsburg family. Other Europeans were drawn into this long conflict, often switching sides to gain religious or political advantage.
2. The Extension of Ottoman Power — The Ottomans seized the opportunity the conflict provided to expand. Suleiman the Magnificent (Suleiman I, r.1520–1566) destroyed the Hungarian army in 1526 and lay unsuccessful siege to Vienna. Francis I forged an alliance with the Ottomans in 1535, scandalizing many Christians but reflecting the opportunistic spirit of the times. Ottoman help and Protestant challenge at home prevented Charles V from defeating the Valois.
C. Financing War
1. The Challenge of Meeting Wartime Expenses — The cost of war increased as technology and firepower developed and governments devalued currency to pay for the conflict. Charles V had the largest army and supported it with gold and silver mined or looted from the new world. Still, expenses exceeded income and Charles accumulated a heavy debt, as did other monarchs of the era. Bankruptcy loomed for many states despite the expansion of revenue sources and the devaluation of currency. Hapsburg and Valois monarchies looked to bankers to finance their expenses.
2. The Fugger Financial Empire — The Fugger bank, based in Augsburg, Germany, built a financial empire based on supporting monarchy. Jakob Fugger (1459–1525) built a financial relationship with Maxmillian I, Charles V’s grandfather. In 1519, Fugger arranged through a consortium of Italian and German bankers to secure Charles V’s election as Holy Roman Emperor.  A long relationship developed between the bank and Europe’s largest wealthiest monarchy. Between 1527 and 1547, the bank’s assets doubled, due largely to its management of Hapsburg debt.
D. Divided Realms
1. France — Religious differences challenged political unity in some states. In France, Francis I cracked down on Protestantism after 1534 but did not root it out. Calvinism continued to grow in France in the 1540s and 1550s as noble families converted and protected other Protestants. Francis and his successor Henry II (r.1547–1559) maintained a balance of power between Catholics and Calvinists, but after Henry’s death, four decades of savage religious war followed.
2. England and Scotland — Henry VIII’s church remained ambiguous. Edward VI (r. 1547–1553) encouraged the growth of Calvinist Protestantism, but he died at fifteen, and when his Catholic half-sister Mary Tudor (r. 1553–1558) became queen she restored Catholicism and persecuted Protestants, executing some three hundred. Others fled to the continent. When Anne Boleyn’s Protestant daughter Elizabeth succeeded Mary (r. 1558–1603), Protestantism regained momentum and became ingrained in the English church. In Scotland, where the monarchy was challenged by strong nobles, Protestantism took root in the 1550s as the Calvinist reformer John Knox (1514–1572) returned from exile. The queen, Mary of Guise, married to James V until his death in 1542, surrounded herself and her daughter Mary Stuart with Catholic French advisors, strengthening the anti-French loyalties of many Protestants in the nobility. In 1558, Knox published an attack on Mary’s reign, and she was deposed by the nobility. Mary Stuart (Mary Queen of Scots) fled to England, and her infant son James was installed as king.
3. The German States — In Germany, Protestant princes formed the Schmalkaldic League in 1531, which included most imperial cities. Emperor Charles V was supported by the Bishops and some Catholic princes, but war with the Ottomans and French kept him from dealing with divisions in Germany until 1541, when he convened an Imperial Diet at Regensberg. When the Diet broke down, Charles went to war with the League in 1547. He suppressed Protestantism in southern Germany with Spanish and German troops and then destroyed the fragmented Schmalkaldic League at Muhlberg in Saxony, capturing the leading Protestant princes. Protestant resistance to the restoration of Catholic worship led Protestant princes to regroup and drive Charles out of Germany, resulting in the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, which recognized the Lutheran church, accepted the secularization of church lands, and established the principle that the religion of princes would determine religion within German states. Calvinists and Anabaptists were excluded and persecuted, but the peace held until 1618. Charles V resigned many of his thrones in 1555 and 1556, leaving the Netherlands, Burgundy, and Spain to his son Phillip II and his Austrian lands to his brother Ferdinand. He retired to a monastery.

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