AP European History
AP European History
Inspired by the writings of Christian humanists, troubled by the abuses that existed within the Roman Catholic Church, and increasingly concerned with church teachings concerning salvation, Martin Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, igniting a movement that split the Catholic Church and resulted in a century and a half of religious warfare. This movement, the Protestant Reformation, changed the face of Christianity and led to a series of political, economic, and social reforms that affected every sphere of life in Europe. From the breakdown of political authority in the Holy Roman Empire to the extension of education to more men and women in some areas in Europe and, finally, to the development of divergent styles of art, the Reformation sparked changes that significantly altered the religious, political, economic, and social organization of Europe.
• The Reformation contributed to the outbreak of many civil wars that were sparked not only by religious differences but also by political and economic rivalries in regions such as the Holy Roman Empire.
• Although the Reformation was primarily a religious movement, it was a catalyst for social and economic changes that encouraged education so that men and women could read the Bible, and it secured limited rights for women within the family.
• Actions taken by Martin Luther splintered the Catholic Church and sparked the Reformation. Although Luther’s message and actions inspired reformers, such as John Calvin, to split from the Catholic Church, most of these other religious revolutionaries did not entirely agree with Luther’s theological ideas.
• The Catholic Reformation included the formation of reform orders, such as the Jesuits and the moral improvement of clerical practices, but it reaffirmed Catholic theological doctrine.
The Protestant Reformation officially began on October 31, 1517, the date that Martin Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses at the Castle Church in Wittenberg, but it had taken root long before, when political, economic, intellectual, and religious factors led to the questioning of papal authority and Church practices.
The growth of Christian humanism, which quickly spread from Italy to Northern Europe through both trade and the new writings made available by the printing press, laid the groundwork for the Reformation. Like the Italian humanists, northern humanists focused on the classical works of Greece and Rome and on cultural and educational reform, but they also studied early Christian writings and the Bible. These “Christian humanists,” yearning for the simple piety of the early Church, criticized some of the medieval traditions of the Catholic Church and called for its internal reform.
It is important to remember that the Christian humanists were critical of the corruption and abuses of the Catholic Church, but they did not advocate a split from it. Instead, they urged reform within the Church and looked for ways to combine classical and Christian values. Wyclif and Hus sometimes show up on AP exams. They predated the reformers, but their ideas about justification by faith alone resemble Luther’s.
Often called the father of Christian humanism, Erasmus translated the New Testament from the early Greek manuscripts and advocated an educated approach to Christianity. Erasmus stressed a return to the simplicity of early Christianity and criticized many of the external trappings of the Catholic Church, such as the veneration of saints. He especially disapproved of the abuses by many churchmen of his time and satirized them in a book, In Praise of Folly. Another prominent Christian humanist, Sir Thomas More, was a government official, English scholar, and author of the book Utopia, in which he outlined an ideal society much like a modern socialist model. More is remembered for both his devotion to the Roman Catholic religion and his execution for refusing to accept King Henry VIII’s break with the Church.
Corruption within the Catholic Church also fueled the Protestant Reformation. The status and credibility of the Roman Catholic Church had been damaged by the Great Schism and by common clerical abuses, such as the fathering of illegitimate children, as well as by unethical business and financial dealings. Trying to increase its revenues, the Church sold leadership positions to wealthy nobles and businessmen. Known as simony, the practice sometimes led to pluralism, the holding of several Church positions by a wealthy Church leader, and often created absenteeism because it was impossible to work in more than one place at once. But the central issue that incited Martin Luther’s criticism of the Roman Catholic Church was the selling of indulgences.
Indulgences were partial remissions of temporal punishment for sin. One could purchase an indulgence for oneself or for one’s relatives, alive or dead. It is important to remember that although indulgences exist within the Catholic Church today, their sale is no longer allowed.