Reformation

Differing conceptions of salvation and the individual’s relationship to the church were at the heart of the conflicts among Luther, subsequent Protestant reformers such as Calvin and the Anabaptists, and the Catholic Church.

Reformation,

c. 1450-1648 CE

Late medieval reform movements in the church - including lay piety, mysticism, and Christian humanism - created a momentum that propelled a new generation of 16th-century reformers, such as Erasmus and Martin Luther. After 1517, when Luther posted his 95 Theses criticizing ecclesiastical abuses and the doctrines that led to them, Christianity fragmented, even though religious uniformity remained the ideal. Some states, such as Spain and Portugal, which had recently expelled Muslims and Jews, held fast to this ideal. Others did not, notably the Netherlands and lands under Ottoman control, which accepted Jewish refugees.

In central Europe, the Peace of Augsburg (1555) permitted each state of the Holy Roman Empire to be either Catholic or Lutheran at the option of the prince. By the late 16th century, northern European countries were generally Protestant and Mediterranean countries generally Catholic. To re-establish order after a period of religious warfare, France introduced limited toleration of the minority Calvinists within a Catholic kingdom (Edict of Nantes, 1598; revoked in 1685). Jews remained a marginalized minority wherever they lived.

Differing conceptions of salvation and the individual’s relationship to the church were at the heart of the conflicts among Luther, subsequent Protestant reformers such as Calvin and the Anabaptists, and the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church affirmed its traditional theology at the Council of Trent (1545–1563), ruling out any reconciliation with the Protestants and inspiring the resurgence of Catholicism in the 17th century. Religious conflicts merged with and exacerbated long-standing political tensions between the monarchies and nobility across Europe, dramatically escalating these conflicts as they spread from the Holy Roman Empire to France, the Netherlands, and England. Economic issues such as the power to tax and control ecclesiastical resources further heightened these clashes.

All three motivations—religious, political, and economic—contributed to the brutal and destructive Thirty Years’ War, which was ended by the Peace of Westphalia (1648). The treaty established a new balance of power with a weakened Holy Roman Empire. The Peace of Westphalia also added Calvinism to Catholicism and Lutheranism as an accepted religion in the Holy Roman Empire, ensuring the permanence of European religious pluralism. However, pluralism did not mean religious freedom; the prince or ruler still controlled the religion of the state, and few were tolerant of dissenters.

Source: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-european-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf

Latin Christendom

Objectives:

Explain the context in which the religious, political, and cultural developments of the 16th and 17th centuries took place.
Explain the continuities and changes in the role of the Catholic Church from 1450 to 1648.

Latin Christendom

Main facade of Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome

Criticism of the Church by Desiderius Erasmus, the leading Christian humanist, set the stage for the Protestant Reformation.

Reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin criticized Catholic abuses and established new interpretations of Christian doctrine and practice.
Christian humanism, embodied in the writings of Erasmus, employed Renaissance learning in the service of religious reform.

Alchemy and Astrology

Popular culture, leisure activities, and rituals reflecting the continued popularity of folk ideas reinforced and sometimes challenged communal ties and norms.

Occultist John Dee was court astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Nostradamus was a French seer who published prophecies that have since become famous. He's been credited with predicting the Great Fire of London, the rise of Napoleon and Adolf Hitler, and 9/11.

Latin Christendom Quizlet

The Church Before the Reformation, Alchemy, and Astrology

The Protestant Reformation

Objective: Explain how and why religious belief and practices changed from 1450 to 1648.

Reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin criticized Catholic abuses and established new interpretations of Christian doctrine and practice. Responses to Luther and Calvin included religious radicals, including the Anabaptists, and other groups, such as German peasants.
Monarchs and princes, including the English rulers Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, initiated religious reform from the top down in an effort to exercise greater control over religious life and morality.
Protestant reformers used the printing press to disseminate their ideas, which spurred religious reform and helped it to become widely established.
Some Protestants, including Calvin and the Anabaptists, refused to recognize the subordination of the church to the secular state.
Some Protestant groups sanctioned the notion that wealth accumulation was a sign of God’s favor and a reward for hard work.
Religious conflicts became a basis for challenging the monarchs’ control of religious institutions.

Jesuits at the court of the Mughal emperor of India, c. 1605

The Catholic Reformation, exemplified by the Jesuit Order and the Council of Trent, revived the church but cemented division within Christianity.

Mannerism and Baroque Art

Objective: Explain how and why artistic expression changed from 1450 to 1648.

Mannerist and Baroque artists employed distortion, drama, and illusion in their work. Monarchies, city-states, and the church commissioned these works as a means of promoting their own stature and power.

MANNERISM

Baroque Spotify Playlist

The Catholic (or Counter-) Reformation Quizlet

The Catholic (or Counter-) Reformation, Mannerism, and Baroque Art

The Wars of Religion

Objectives:

Explain how matters of religion influenced and were influenced by political factors from 1450 to 1648.
Explain how the religious, political, and cultural developments of the 16th and 17th centuries affected European society from 1450 to 1648.

The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of French Protestants (1572). It was the climax of the French Wars of Religion, which were brought to an end by the Edict of Nantes (1598).

Religious pluralism challenged the concept of a unified Europe.
Religious reform both increased state control of religious institutions and provided justifications for challenging state authority.
Issues of religious reform exacerbated conflicts between the monarchy and the nobility, as in the French wars of religion.
States exploited religious conflicts to promote political and economic interests.
A few states, such as France with the Edict of Nantes, allowed religious pluralism in order to maintain domestic peace.
Habsburg rulers confronted an expanded Ottoman Empire while attempting unsuccessfully to restore Catholic unity across Europe.
The Peace of Westphalia (1648), which marked the effective end of the medieval ideal of universal Christendom, accelerated the decline of the Holy Roman Empire by granting princes, bishops, and other local leaders control over religion.