1. The Protestant Reformation

2. What was the Protestant Reformation?
16th c. split in Catholic Church
PROTEST against C.C.; intent to REFORM C.C
Germany
Leader: Martin Luther

4. What event marks the beginning of the Protestant Reformation?
1517 – Luther’s 95 Theses
It is legend that Luther nailed the 95 Theses to a church door in Wittenberg.

5. What were the long-term causes?
DISORDERS IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH:
clerical immorality
clerical ignorance
pluralism
absenteeism
simony
sale of indulgences
Babylonian Captivity
Great Schism

6. The Passion of Christ & Antichrist (Lucas Cranach the Elder)
Christ washing feet of the disciples
People kissing the Pope’s feet

7. The Passion of Christ & Antichrist (Lucas Cranach the Elder)
Christ driving the userers out of the Temple
Pope selling indulgences

8. What was the immediate cause?
Tetzel’s sale of indulgences
Above: St. Peter’s Basilica – reason for this sale of indulgences.

9. How did Luther’s ideas appeal to all social classes in Germany?
For all classes: priesthood of all believers
Nobility: sought to show independence from Catholic emperor; opportunity for land/$$ gain from confiscation of Catholic holdings
Middle class: educated group that liked direct access to Scripture … appealed to their intelligence
Peasantry: direct access to Scripture … found biblical support for their demands for better economic/social conditions

10. Additional factors in the appeal and spread of Lutheranism:
Luther’s powerful language skills, plus:
use of vernacular (Bible in German)
appeal to German nationalism
use of pictures (illiterate gain access)
printing press

11. German Peasant’s War of 1525
unhappy peasants – life was never good (remember the 14th c. rebellions?), and it just kept getting worse
Twelve Articles (1525) – document expressing peasant grievances in Swabia
more crop failures
blamed lords for land seizure, unfair rents, service requirements, and taxes

12. German Peasant’s War of 1525
peasants found biblical support for their demands and called on Luther for support
Luther flip-flopped:
1st: sided w/ peasants – condemned lords for harsh treatment, though did not affirm biblical support (Bible has nothing to do with material gain on earth, which is what peasants wanted)
2nd: turned against peasants once revolts broke out – did not support rebellion against secular authority … feared disorder

13. German Peasant’s War of 1525
Outcome: peasants lost
secular authority strengthened
peasants eventually did see moderate improvement in economic conditions

14. Who are the Habsburgs? major European dynasty, 15th-20th c.
ruled the HRE

15. How did the Habsburgs rise to power?
strategic marriages!

16. How did the Habsburgs rise to power?
Key marriage in 1477 made the Habsburgs an international power:
Maximilian (Habsburg, ruler of Austria, Holy Roman emperor) +
Mary of Burgundy (Netherlands, Luxembourg, Burgundy)
 France was NOT happy (considered Burgundy to be French)  centuries of conflict b/t Habsburgs and France

17. How did the Habsburgs rise to power?
Maximilian married off his children to the children of Ferdinand and Isabella (Spain, southern Italy, New World)

19. How did the Habsburgs rise to power?
European Holdings of Charles V

20. Religious Division in the HRE
HRE became religiously divided:
Catholics: Emperor Charles V + some rulers
Lutherans: some rulers adopted Lutheranism to exert political power and for financial gain
Fighting began in 1546 – Charles V successful at first … but this worried Catholic France and the pope, who were concerned about growing Habsburg power
Hence Catholic France supported Lutheran princes –political rather than religious reasons

21. Religious Division in the HRE
Peace of Augsburg (1555) – each German leader chooses Catholicism or Lutheranism for his territory
Map: Religious Situation of Europe, ca. 1560