The Rise and Fall of the Roman Catholic Church Or a Brief History of the Protestant Reformation

The Catholic Church was based on four basic beliefs The divinity of Jesus Christ The keeping of the 7 sacraments Apostolic succession of bishops The resurrection of the dead for the apocaplypse

During the Dark Ages The church’s role was to advise, counsel, and lead people in prayer while they awaited the apocalypse and the final judgment They also maintained all written knowledge in Europe.

The Church gained power during the Crusades The church gained an army Crusaders donated their lands to the church, so that by 1350 the Pope controlled more land than any king in Europe Plunder from the Middle East built giant churches throughout Europe Tithes began to be collected in gold, rather than in wheat

The Church got Greedy Church bishops would “sell” parishes to nobles—picking new priests who paid them for the job Priests would sell absolution to the wealthy in the form of indulgences Even the pope could be bought for a price.

Humanism and Secularism Many Renaissance writers, including Erasmus and Machiavelli thought the church had gained too much political power. Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press in 1445 helped spread these ideas

Martin Luther In 1517 Martin Luther wrote a document called the “ninety-five theses,” listing 95 complaints against the church. The “Ninety-five Theses” were printed and distributed throughout Europe. The Pope excommunicated Luther, and the Holy Roman Emperor banished him

Luther’s Teachings Only 2 sacraments are mentioned in the bible All men are evil in thought, word and deed, and so only faith—not works, nor absolution can save them Everyone ought to read the bible and develop their own understanding of God for themselves

Effect: Many people decided to follow Luther—some because they believed him, others because they wanted to break the Catholic Church’s power Riots broke out in the countryside. Starving peasants attacked and robbed church lands. Nearly 100,000 died in the fighting

Others join in Other priests in other places decided to reform the church like Luther had. In the 1520’s Calvin started a movement in France, Zwingli in Switzerland, Wycliffe in England and others elsewhere. Throughout Europe Catholics and Protestants fought bitter wars for control of the church and land

The Peace of Augsburg In 1555 the Holy Roman Empire announced that the ruler of each town would decide the religion of his territory, and that fighting should end. France made a similar agreement in the Edict of Nantes. Spain and Italy stayed Catholic, but England and the Netherlands became protestant The Catholic Church, had lost at least half of its power.