The Protestant Reformation

Background Information In the 16th century, anger and frustration at the Catholic Church, combined with the spread of attractive new ideas, caused many Europeans to break away from the Catholic Church and, establish a new form of Christianity – Protestantism

Causes Distrust in the Church because of the Black Death Anger at indulgences (the act of paying money to the Church to have a sin forgiven) Anger at corruption (improper use of money) by many leaders in the Church Stronger monarchies made the Church less important Scientific discoveries during the Scientific Revolution challenged the teachings and power of the Church Invention of the printing press allowed new ideas to spread much more quickly Increase in literacy during the Renaissance allowed people to read arguments against the Church

The Beginnings In response, people began to protest the Catholic Church The movement to reform (change in order to improve) the Catholic Church was known as the Protestant Reformation Above, people burn documents of the Catholic Church to show their protest

Martin Luther The most famous Protestant leader was Martin Luther In 1517, he posted his 95 Theses (a list of what he thought was wrong with the Catholic Church) on the door of a Catholic Church in Wittenburg, Germany He also translated The Bible into German(language of the commoner) Luther criticized: Indulgences The power of the Pope The huge wealth of the Catholic Church Luther’s teachings later became known as Lutheranism(a branch of Protestantism)

Spreading the Reformation Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in 1450 made it possible for Luther to copy the 95 Theses and spread his beliefs Soon, people all across Europe were reading his ideas and reform movements began in many other European countries

John Calvin Another important Protestant leader was John Calvin Expressed his concerns about the abuses of the French Catholic Church Later was forced to flee France and traveled through both Switzerland and Italy 1536- published Institutes of the Christian Religion Criticized Catholic Church Support Protestant Reformation Outlined how he felt people should worship God His teachings later became known as Calvinism(branch of Protestantism

Effects Weakened the power of the Pope and Catholic Church Strengthened the power of monarchs, who had been arguing with the Church for a long time over who had more power – a king or the pope Caused multiple violent religious wars between Catholics and Protestants Split European countries into two groups (in general, northern European countries became Protestant, while southern European countries remained Catholic)

Protestant Catholic -Salvation is . the free gift of God, you cannot earn it. -Jesus offers salvation but you must work to get it. -Jesus lived, was crucified and resurrected. -Only God can forgive sins -Popes can forgive sins. -Communion and baptism are very important -Regular church members help make decisions. -Only clergy make decisions in the church.

The Counter Reformation The Council of Trent- meeting of Catholic leaders to make changes in response to Reformation Most important change: NO MORE SELLING INDULGENCES(can still have them but cannot sell them) Both churches were now competing for members Missionaries were sent out by both churches to find new converts That competition soon spread from Europe to Asia and even the “New World” with the discovery of the Americas