1. Corruption in the Medieval Church

2. The state of the Church just prior to the Reformation
Use the slides provided to you to answer the questions. Be focused and thorough.

3. What forms of corruption existed within the Medieval Church?
Popes used excommunication to force monarchs to obey the Church
Many priests were illiterate
Many clergy broke their vows of chastity
Some officials led lives of luxury and leisure
Some clergy
Charged repentant Christians to see holy remains
Sold church offices to the highest bidder (simony)
Sold indulgences

4. Babylonian Captivity 1305-1375
Philip IV of France quarreled with the pope over his power to tax the clergy
Pope Boniface kidnapped in 1296 and replaced with French pope, Clement V
Seven popes ruled the Church from Avignon, France
Many Christians thought these popes were only puppets of the French king

5. The Great Schism 1378-1417 Papacy moved back to Rome in 1376
French cardinals elected a new pope, Clement VII
Both Urban VI and Clement VII claimed to be the rightful pope
Many Christians questioned the authority of the papacy

6. Early Calls for Reform
Who were some of the first people to speak out against Church corruption?

7. John Wycliffe of England
Thought Christians did not need Church or sacraments to achieve salvation
Regarded the Bible as the most important source of religious authority
Completed first translation of Bible into English
Outcome: the Church persecuted his followers as heretics

8. Jan Huss of Bohemia Criticized the wealth of the Church
Wanted religious services conducted in the language of the worshippers
Opposed the sale of indulgences
Outcome: Burned at the stake for refusing to accept importance of Church rituals

9. Other methods of reform
Catherine of Siena
Popularized mysticism
Believed that people could experience God through intense prayer
Outcome: maintained that Christians did not need priests, rituals or sacraments
Girolamo Savonarola of Florence
Launched crusade against immoral society
Encouraged book burnings
Claimed the Vatican was filled with sin and corruption
Outcome: Burned at the stake by angry citizens of Florence

10. Luther kicks things off!

11. Lutheranism spoke diagram
Using the handout, create a spoke diagram of the
origins,
beliefs,
ultimate source of authority,
ritual and worship
and community life of Lutheranism.

12. Now let’s go back to questions 8 and 9. Expand your answers.

13. Others reformed in their own ways
Let’s make some more spoke diagrams!

14. Martin Luther and the Beginnings of Reformation
Why did Luther question the practices of the Catholic Church?
Troubled by the idea that salvation was attainable through good works
Interpreted St. Paul to mean that path to salvation was by faith alone
Believed that forgiveness of sins could only come from God’s mercy

15. Early Life Son of middle-class German peasants
Received his BA and MA degrees at Erford University
The plague compels a turning point for Luther at 23; vowed to become a monk
Became an Augustinian

16. How did his criticisms expand into an effort to form a new Church?
What Martin Luther saw when he went to Rome:
In this clip, Luther travels to Rome and witnesses the corruption of the church

17. How did his criticisms expand into an effort to form a new Church?
Wrote 95 Theses to start debate on Church abuses
Published books and pamphlets questioning Church teachings
Ideas for reform led to a new church:
Congregations choose their own ministers
Worship of saints and holy days was considered sinful
Mass conducted in German instead of Latin
Clergy allowed to marry

18. Why did his reforms create widespread revolt in Germany?
Peasants, believing everyone was equal under God, revolted against lords
Princes, who wanted freedom from the pope, seized Church land
Peace of Augsburg forced many to move in order to worship freely

19. The Help of the Printing Press
Amidst church corruption, Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press.
This allowed for rapid reproductions of the Bible
Not only did literacy rates increase, but also people began to question the practices of the Catholic Church.

20. How did the Church Respond?
Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms:
Charles V summoned Luther to Diet of Worms (meeting of all German princes from Holy Roman Empire)

21. Other Protestants of the Catholic Church

22. Anabaptists (1525) Founded by dissatisfied followers of Zwingli
No baptism until adulthood
True Christians should live in a separate community
(Considered “weird” even by other Protestants.)

23. Anglicans (1534) King Henry VIII of England wanted a divorce.
Pope said no. Henry enraged. Created a new Church.
King at the top, not the Pope.
Beliefs were pretty much the same as Catholic Church.

24. Calvinists (1546)
John Calvin (Started in France, but moved to Switzerland where they had a better acceptance)
Predestination was key – God had predetermined who would gain salvation
Thought that a discipline, austere life would prove who had been chosen.

25. Why did Protestantism spread beyond Germany?
Political leaders wanted to escape the power of the Church
People were tired of Church abuses and corruption
Charismatic individuals questioned Church teachings and provided leadership
Rising literacy rate allowed for rapid spread of new ideas

26. So…How did the Catholic Church respond?
They took two major paths…
A. Reform the Church from within
Pope Paul III
The Council of Trent
And
B. Tried to stop the spread of Protestantism
Jesuits
Inquisition
Index of Prohibited Books

27. Reform From Within… Pope Paul III
Led the Counter, or Catholic Reformation
Promoted reform-minded cardinals to the Curia
Had Church abuses catalogued
Called meeting at Trent to deal with the growth of Protestantism

28. Reform From Within… Council of Trent (1545-1563)
Defined Catholic beliefs and corrected abuses
Sale of indulgences prohibited
Simony outlawed
Seminaries established to train parish priests
Monasteries and convents cleansed of immoral clergy

29. Tried to Stop the Spread of Protestantism
Jesuits (1540)
Disciplined and well-educated order of Catholic priests
Won Poland and southern Germany back into the Catholic faith
Spread Christian message across Africa, Asia, and the Americas

30. Tried to Stop the Spread of Protestantism
Inquisition (1542)
Church court designed to judge and convict heretics
Designed to stamp out heresies by interrogating all people suspected of unorthodox views
Imprisoned, exiled, or executed those with unorthodox views
Less brutal than Spanish Inquisition

31. Tried to Stop the Spread of Protestantism
Index of Prohibited Books (1559)
List of banned books with Catholics were forbidden to read
List included Protestant Bibles and some scientific writings