Act. 3.2 The Spread of Protestantism The Middle Ages is also referred to as the Age of Faith. The Church was in a position of power. Reformers from both within and outside the Church questioned the validity of some of the Church's teachings and practices.

Slide A: Corruption In the Medieval Church Popes sometimes used excommunication to force monarchs to adhere to their wishes. Over time, people lost respect for the position of the church because they were corrupt. –Some priests and nuns would have illegitimate children and purchase a document from the Church to make them legitimate. –Church leaders also used their positions to lead lives of luxury and leisure. –They practiced simony, the practice of selling Church offices to the highest bidder, regardless of their background or training. –Indulgences were sold to help the truly repentant sinner to reduce his or her years in purgatory. Some leaders even said you could purchase indulgences for your dead family members.

Slide B: Early Calls for Reform In this slide, we see Jan Huss about to be executed. John Wycliffe of England: Regarded the Bible as the most important source of religious authority; completed the first translation of the Bible into English. OUTCOME: his followers, the Lollards, become persecuted as heretics Jan Huss of Bohemia: Wanted religious services in the language of the people; opposed the sale of indulgences. OUTCOME: burned at the stake for refusing to accept the importance of the church rituals Catherine of Siena: believed people could experience God through intense prayer; popularized mysticism. OUTCOME: maintained that Christians didn’t need priests, rituals, or sacraments Girolamo Savonarola of Florence: encouraged book burning; claimed the Vatican was filled with sin and corruption. OUTCOME: burned at the stake by angry citizens of Florence

Slide C: Martin Luther and the Beginning of the Reformation Luther was a Catholic monk who studied law and was from a middle-class German family. Luther questioned the idea that salvation was attainable through good works and was angered by Tetzel’s sale of indulgences. He wrote 95 Theses to start a debate on Church abuses. His ideas for reform led to a new church: –Congregations choose their own ministers –Worship of saints and holy days was considered sinful –Mass was in German instead of Latin (The language of the people) –Clergy were allowed to marry

Slide D: The Reformation Spreads Throughout Europe Anabaptists (1525): founded by dissatisfied followers of Zwingli –Thought baptism should be only for adults –Believed true Christians should form a separate community Anglicans (1535): Founded by King Henry VIII of England-He wanted to divorce his wife, but the pope wouldn’t allow it –Believed the monarch was the supreme authority in England, not the pope –Beliefs were almost the same as the Catholic Church Calvinists (1546): founded by John Calvin –Believed in predestination -God predetermined who would have salvation –Thought a disciplined, austere life would prove who had been chosen

Protestantism spread beyond Germany because: -political leaders looked for ways to escape the power of the Catholic Church -people were tired of the Church's corruption -rising literacy rate allowed for rapid spread of new ideas through books and pamphlets

Slide E: The Catholic Church’s Response to the Reformation They tried to reform the church from within Pope Paul III: led the Counter, or Catholic Reformation; called a meeting at Trent to deal with the growth of Protestantism; had the abuses of the Church catalogued Council of Trent ( ): Defined Catholic beliefs and corrected abuses; prohibited the sale of indulgences; simony outlawed; seminaries established to train priests; monasteries and convents cleansed of immoral clergy

Slide E: The Catholic Church’s Response to the Reformation They tried to stop the Spread of Protestantism Jesuits: Catholic priests who won Poland and southern Germany back to the Catholic church. Inquisition (1542): church court designed to judge and convict heretics; imprisoned, exiled, or executed those with unorthodox views