The Growing Illegitimacy of the Church Roots of Reformation

Learning Objectives Today we will be able to identify the reasons for discontent among Europeans regarding the Catholic Church

Plague and Famine The plague and various famines caused people to fear that God’s wrath was being cast on the Earth. People increasingly turned the Catholic church, especially the pope, for spiritual leadership. They did not find this leadership and turned to preachers, and humanism for guidance. How could the lack of leadership by the Church impact how people viewed it?

The Growing Illegitimacy of the Church The Avignon Papacy – The moving of the papacy to Avignon, for material and political reasons. Many feel that the papacy sacrificed spiritual integrity for the immense prosperity of the church at this time. The Second Great Schism – The divide in loyalties of the papacy when it moved back to Rome. Anti-popes – popes still in Avignon vs. the popes seated in Rome. The selling of indulgences Lessen the time in Purgatory The selling of Church offices Simony

Church Reform Movements Monastic preachers felt that the Catholic Church had become to wordly and preached about God’s wrath. Girolamo Savonarola Organized the purification of Florence by the, “burning of the vanities” Attacked Pope Alexander VI’s sexual immorality Humanism and Desiderius Erasmus – Felt that clergy should live in the way that Christ and the early church fathers did. If practices were not a part of early church sources, than they were not necessary Confession, clerical celibacy, etc… How is Erasmus’ view of the role of clergy a reaction to the nature of the Church?

A Diatribe Against the Pope