1. AIM: Why did Luther challenge the Catholic Church?
Do Now: Tell me about the Catholic Church through the end of the Dark Ages (Black Plague timeframe).

2. Reformation Timeline
1517 = Johann Tetzel travels in Germany preaching on indulgences.
Oct. 31, 1517 = Martin Luther sends his 95 Theses with a letter to the Archbishop of Mainz.
1518 = Pope Leo calls on Luther to take back the 95 Theses, but Luther refuses.
June 15, 1520 = The Pope excommunicates Martin Luther from the Catholic Church.

3. Reformation Timeline Cont.
1521 = The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, declares Luther a criminal and attempts to arrest him.
1521= Frederick, a German prince, pledges his support to Luther and grants him protection at his castle.
= Luther’s ideas spread throughout Europe and gain more and more support. Over the next twenty years, it becomes clear that an irreversible break has occurred between the Catholic Church and the Protestant movement.

4. Martin Luther Old Martin Luther Young Martin Luther
Left image retrieved from
Right image retrieved from
Young Martin Luther
Old Martin Luther

5. 16th Century Europe: The Reformation
Europe in 1560
Map retrieved from
16th Century Europe: The Reformation. In 1517, Europe was uniformly Catholic, but by 1545 large sections of Europe were Protestant.
The shift was part of the Reformation, spurred by the writings of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, drafted in 1517.

6. The Selling of Indulgences
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The Selling of Indulgences. Prior to 1517, the Catholic Church had begun selling indulgences. Indulgences allowed people to “buy their
way into heaven.” Given the right amount of money, the Church would forgive a person’s sins.
1530 Depiction of Selling Indulgences

7. Collection of Martin Luther’s Writings, 1581
Luther’s Ideas
Image retrieved from
Luther’s Ideas. Martin Luther, a Catholic monk, was troubled by the practice of indulgences and wrote a letter to the Archbishop of Mainz to explain his position. The Pope considered Luther’s position to be heretical and excommunicated Luther from the Catholic Church. Luther gained support from a group of German Princes who protected Luther and helped him spread his ideas.
Collection of Martin Luther’s Writings, 1581

8. Luther’s Different Accounts
Left image retrieved from
Right image retrieved from
Often, historians find two opposing accounts of the same event, and sometimes, they are even written by the same person. During his
life, Luther gave different accounts of his break with the Catholic Church.
To figure out what really happened, they use the skill of sourcing to determine when, where, and why a document was written. They also
use corroboration to compare accounts and look for similarities and differences.
Today, we are going to explore two documents attributed to Luther than illustrate different motivations for separating from the Catholic
Church. As we go through the documents pay close attention to the time and place each document was written as well as to the similarities and differences between the two accounts. On what details do they agree? On what details do they differ?
Young Martin Luther
Old Martin Luther

9. Central Historical Question
Why did Martin Luther challenge the Catholic Church?
Through reading the two documents, we will try to explain the differences between the documents and decide which one is a more reliable answer to our question: Why did Martin Luther challenge the Catholic Church?

10. Exit
Why did Martin Luther challenge the Catholic Church?

11. Do Now: Was the Protestant Reformation inevitable?
Aim: How did the Reformation bring about two different religious paths in Europe?
Do Now: Was the Protestant Reformation inevitable?

12. Religious Overview History of Christianity Judaism Jesus
Main differences..
Christianity
Early Christian Church
This happened because…..
Great Schism
1054
This happened because…
Catholic Church
(Europe)
Orthodox Church
(Byzantine Empire)
Protestant
Reformation

13. Key Concepts End of Religious Unity and Universality in the West
Attack on the medieval church—its institutions, doctrine, practices and personnel
Not the first attempt at reform, but very unique

14. I. The Church’s Problems
Charges of greed
Worldly political power challenged
Weariness of dependence on the Church and the constraints it enforced
Growing human confidence vs. “original sin”
Catholic church becomes defensive in the face of criticism
The confusing nature of scholasticism

15. I. The Church’s Problems (cont)
The corruption of the Renaissance Papacy
--Rodrigo Borgia
European population was increasingly anti-clerical
Absenteeism of church leaders
--Antoine de Prat
The controversy over the sale of indulgences

16. II. Convergence of Unique Circumstances

17. A. Cultural
More educated, urban populace was more critical of the Church than rural peasantry
Renaissance monarchs were growing impatient with the power of the Church
Society was more humanistic and secular
Growing individualism
--John Wyclif

18. B. Technological: Printing Press
Invention of movable type was invented in 1450 by Johann Gutenberg
Manufacture of paper becomes easier and cheaper
Helped spread ideas before Catholics could squash them
Intensified intellectual criticism of the Church
Protestant ideals appealed to the urban and the literate

19. C. Political

20. (1) England Notion of the Renaissance Prince
Recent War of the Roses created a sense of political instability for the Tudor dynasty
--Henry VIII
The significance of a male heir to the Tudors

21. (2) The Holy Roman Empire
Decentralized politics
Pope successfully challenged the monarch here
New HRE, Charles V, is young, politically insecure and attempting to govern a huge realm during the critical years of Luther’s protest
Charles V faced outside attacks from France and the Turks
Circumstances favor Luther

22. D. Spiritual
Growing piety, mysticism and religious zeal among European masses
Dutch Christian humanist Erasmus inadvertently undermines the Church from within
--In Praise of Folly (1510)
Call for a translation of the New Testament into Greek
Call for a return to the simplicity of the early Church
Millenarian “fever”

23. III. The Emergence of Protestantism in Europe

24. A. Switzerland

25. (1) Zurich Very urban, cosmopolitan setting
Reformer Ulrich Zwingli and his Old Testament persona
“Memorialist” view of the Mass
Zwingli also opposed purgatory, clerical celibacy, intercession of the saints, and salvation by works
The death of Zwingli

26. (2) Geneva (French-speaking)
John Calvin’s leadership in Geneva from
Geneva became the model Protestant training center
Stress on order and rigorous adherence to God’s law
A “Quasi-theocracy”
Very austere religion practiced in Geneva
Self-discipline and the “Protestant Work Ethic”

27. B. England Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon
Henry seeks an annulment
Henry creates the Church of England and establishes his own supremacy over it
A “political reformation” only at first
The six wives of Henry VIII
--Anne Boleyn
--Jane Seymour

29. B. England (cont) The brief reign of Edward VI
The rule of “Bloody” Mary
Return of the Marian exiles to England from Geneva
-- “Puritans”
Queen Elizabeth I and the “Via Media”
The attack of the Spanish Armada in 1588
-- “The Protestant Wind”
-- Guy Fawkes

30. C. France
King Francis I was initially sympathetic to Luther as long as his ideas stayed in Germany
Protestantism made illegal in France in 1534
Persecution of the Huguenots
St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
King Henry and the Edict of Nantes (1598)

31. E. Other Parts of Western Europe
No Protestant inroads into Spain or Italy
Protestantism succeeded only where it was urban and supported initially by the nobility
After 1540, no new Protestant territories outside of the Netherlands
Most powerful European nations were Catholic
Protestants were feuding with each other

32. IV. Reformation Ideas

33. A. John Calvin ( )

34. (1) Background More of a scholar than Luther
More of a systematic thinker than Luther
Calvin’s Institutes (1536)
Early legal training
Clear-cut moral directives for living
Relied on Scripture and Augustine primarily for his ideas

35. (2) Teaching Predestination The right of rebellion --English Civil War
More of a stress on works than Luther
Divine calling to all sorts of vocations
The “invisibility” of the True Church
Government serves the Church
--Michael Servetus
Just war position
Calvin’s positions on communion and baptism
Predestination – all events have been willed by God.

36. B. Radical Reformers

37. (1) Background Desire to return to the primitive, first-century Church
High standard of morality valued and pursued
Bitterly persecuted by both Catholics and other Protestants
The descendants of the “Anabaptists”
Ardent missionaries who were harassed for their zeal

38. (2) Teaching Free will—all can be saved Adult, “believer” baptism
Social and economic equality
Pacifism
Separation of Church and State
Unity of the “visible” and “invisible” Church
Stressed role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer— “inner light”
Simplicity of life and millenarianism—living in the last days

39. V. The Counter-Reformation: The Catholic Response

40. Ingredients
Reformation shaped the form and rapidity of the Catholic response
Council of Trent ( )
The Society of Jesus (“Jesuits”)—1534
--Ignatius Loyola
The Inquisition
The Index
Renewed religious emotionalism
--Baroque Art
Religious warfare and a new Bible

41. VI. Results of the Reformation
Germany was politically weakened and fragmented
Christian Church was splintered in the West
100 Years of Religious Warfare
Right of Rebellion introduced by both Jesuits and Calvinists
Pope’s power increased
Furthered societal individualism and secularism
Growing doubt and religious skepticism

42. VI. Results of Reformation (cont)
Political stability valued over religious truth
Calvinism boosted the commercial revolution
Witch craze swept Europe in the 1600’s
--Between , 3000 people in Germany, 9000 people in Switzerland and 1000 people in England were executed as witches
Possible reasons for this witchcraft craze

43. Exit -
Should the Reformation be considered one of the greatest events in European history?
Make a choice, defend the choice.