21 The Reformation

Until the later Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church had enjoyed unchallenged spiritual supremacy across western Europe. True, there had been outbreaks of heresy—such as Catharism in southern France in the early 13th century—but these had been efficiently and violently extinguished. There had also been fallings-out with secular rulers, where the interests of church and state had come into conflict—such as over who had the right to appoint bishops, or whether a king had the right to tax the clergy.

The church had experienced periods of laxity and abuse within its ranks, but had generally managed to reform itself, for example by the creation of new and stricter monastic orders, as the older ones grew rich and self-indulgent.

But the growing wealth and worldliness of the church led in the 14th century to a new mood of anticlericalism, and the church’s claim that only its priests could mediate between God and lay men and women was increasingly challenged. One such challenge was offered by the English theologian John Wycliffe (?1330–84), who criticized the doctrine of transubstantiation (the belief that the bread and wine served at the Eucharist literally become the body and blood of Christ) and emphasized the role of individual action as opposed to priestly mediation. Wycliffe also oversaw the first translation of the Bible into English. Hitherto, the Bible had only been available in Latin, and thus its teachings were hidden to most people, who were obliged to rely on what the priests taught them. Wycliffe’s ideas influenced the Bohemian (Czech) reformer Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake in 1415 for refusing to recant his views. However, his followers in Bohemia considered him a national hero and successfully fought off a crusade sent to crush them.

Calls for reform By the end of the 15th century the popes in Rome were behaving with all the ostentation, ruthlessness and materialism of Renaissance princes, lavishing money on great artistic projects, taking mistresses and appointing their illegitimate children to positions of power within the church. To fund this extravagance they offered high church offices up for sale and encouraged the practice of selling indulgences, by which those who confessed their sins would be granted remission, on condition that they paid for the privilege. This practice was particularly resented in Germany, where one of the most notorious practitioners was Johann Tetzel, who, according to one contemporary, said that a man would be forgiven even if he had slept with his own mother.

Such abuses were criticized by humanist scholars such as Erasmus (see The Renaissance). In 1516 Erasmus translated the New Testament from the original Greek into Latin, and in so doing showed up the flaws in the Vulgate, the Latin version endorsed by the church. This return to the original text of the Bible also showed up the disparity between the austerity of the early church and the flamboyance and corruption of the institution in Erasmus’s own day. Erasmus, against church practice, also wanted the Bible translated into everyday language, so that everybody could understand the word of God.

Lutheranism Erasmus sought to reform the church from within, but others came to the conclusion that this would not be possible. In Germany, an Augustinian monk and priest called Martin Luther (1483–1546) also called for the text of the Bible to be made available to everyone, not just those who could read Latin—and to this end he translated the New Testament into German. Luther believed that religious truth was to be found in Scripture alone, and that salvation could only be attained by faith. This led him to excoriate the selling of indulgences, and confront Johann Tetzel with his famous ninety-five theses against the practice, which he nailed to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Luther also denied the special role of the priesthood, asserting that every man and woman stood alone and equal before God.

“My conscience is captive to the word of God … Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.”

Martin Luther defies papal authority at the Diet of Worms, April 18, 1521

Luther’s attacks on both priests and pope led to his excommunication in 1521, followed by a summons to appear at the imperial diet (assembly) in the city of Worms. Luther was a subject of Charles V, who as Holy Roman emperor was a staunch supporter of the papacy, but at the diet Luther refused to recant, and as a consequence was declared an outlaw by the emperor.

The new medium of print helped to disseminate Luther’s ideas rapidly to a wide audience, and they found much support in Germany, both among the princes (Germany then comprised numerous small states, notionally under the emperor) and among the common people. The latter took Luther’s rejection of both papal and imperial authority as a cue to free themselves from oppression, leading to the Peasants’ War of 1524–5. But Luther was appalled by this revolt against temporal authority, and realized he needed the support of the princes against the attempts by Charles V to crush the Reformation he had initiated. He therefore urged “everyone who can to avoid the peasants as he would the Devil himself,” and supported the brutal suppression of the revolt.

Why “Protestantism”?

The word “Protestantism” derives from the “protest” issued by a minority of delegates at the Diet of Speyer, an assembly called by the Emperor Charles V—the papacy’s staunchest supporter—in April 1529. The “protest” was against a resolution calling for an end to “innovation in religion”—in other words, the teachings of reformers such as Luther. The “Protestants” declared that individual conscience was paramount in such matters.

The spread of Protestantism With the Augsburg Confession of 1530, which summarized the basic tenets of Lutheranism, the break with Rome became final. A series of religious wars followed in Germany, coming to an end with the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, by which it was agreed that each prince should have the right to determine the faith of his subjects. By this time Sweden and Denmark had also adopted Lutheranism, and the breakaway Church of England, of which the monarch was the head, also contained Lutheran elements. In England as elsewhere, the state profited by the confiscation of church property, and was strengthened by its power over ecclesiastical appointments.

Lutheranism was not the only strand of reformed religion. The most significant alternative, Calvinism, derived from the teachings of the French theologian Jean Calvin (1509–56). Calvin taught that salvation was predestined: no matter what one did in one’s life, only those chosen by God would be saved. At the same time, Calvin urged the authorities to closely supervise the moral lives of church members, giving an austere and theocratic bent to his teachings. Calvinist churches were set up in Geneva, France, the Low Countries and Scotland, and were later established in New England. As in Germany, the reformers often met with violent opposition, particularly once the Roman Catholic Church began the process known as the Counter-Reformation (see The Counter-Reformation).

“A man with God is always in the majority.”

John Knox, c.1505–72, Scottish reformer, inscription on the Reformation Monument in Geneva

the condensed idea

The spiritual monopoly of the Roman Catholic Church was broken forever