Renaissance and Reformation

The Reformation Begins

Lesson 3

Early Calls for Reform

In 1517 a German monk named Martin Luther challenged the

Catholic Church. At first, Martin Luther wanted only to reform, or

change, the Catholic Church. This is why these events are called

the Reformation. By the end of the Reformation, Europe had

many new Christian churches.

Church officials had grown rich by selling indulgences. An

indulgence was a certificate that said a person would not be

punished for his or her sins. Many Catholics became angry at the

Church for focusing on money.

Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation

Early Calls for Reform Cont...

In the 1370s, an English priest named John Wycliffe said that

Jesus was the head of the Church, not the pope. Wycliffe wanted

everyone to read the Bible, so he translated parts of it from Latin

into English. After he died, his followers finished translating it.

Renaissance humanism led to Christian humanism. Its goal was

to restore the simple faith of the early Church. A Dutch scholar

named Desiderius Erasmus wrote that people should use their

reason to become better Christians. He believed that people

should be good in their everyday lives.

Open Ended

What was the major complaint people had about the Catholic

Church?

Multiple Choice

What in an indulgence?

• having too much of things

• spoiling someone

• a pardon, or forgiveness, of sin

Open Ended

What was one of the goals of the Christian humanists?

Luther’s Reformation

Martin Luther’s disagreement with the Catholic Church led to a

big change in Christianity. Luther decided that Catholic Church

teachings were wrong. He said that a person needed only faith,

and not good works, in order to go to heaven.

In 1517 Pope Leo X told church leaders to sell indulgences to

get money for a new cathedral. Luther was angry. He wrote a

list of 95 reasons why indulgences were wrong. The list became

known as the Ninety-Five Theses. People across the German

kingdoms read them.

The Ninety Five Theses was a list of all the reasons indulgences were wrong and posted on the church door.

Luther's Reformation Cont...

Luther began to attack other Catholic beliefs. He said popes could make mistakes when they taught about Christianity. He argued that all Christians had a right to read the Bible. He said Christians could confess their sins to God without the help of a priest.

Pope Leo X thought Luther was dangerous. He made Luther leave the Catholic Church. Luther’s ideas led to a new branch of Christianity, called Lutheranism. It was the first Protestant church.

It was based on three main ideas.

• Belief in Jesus, not good works, brings a place in heaven.

• The Bible is the final source for truth about God.

• The church includes all believers, not just the clergy.

Luther's Reformation Cont...

Many German rulers made their kingdoms Lutheran. They took

land from Catholic monasteries. In addition, rulers could set their

own church taxes and keep the money for themselves. Protestant

rulers became stronger. The Catholic Church became weaker.

These changes angered the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

Charles V went to war with the Lutheran German rulers, but could

not defeat them. Finally, an agreement named the Peace of

Augsburg made most of northern Germany Protestant territory.

The south stayed Catholic. This division still exists today.

Multiple Choice

Which is NOT one of the main beliefs of Lutheranism?

• Belief in Jesus, not good works, brings a place in heaven.

• The Bible is the final source for truth about God.

• Kings and bishops

  should not control the church.

• The church includes all believers, not just the clergy.

Open Ended

How did the Ninety-Five Theses affect the Catholic Church in Germany?

The Reformation Spreads

Martin Luther’s reformation spread across Europe. John Calvin agreed with Martin Luther and added other ideas, too. Calvin’s

main idea was that God has decided who will go to heaven and who will not. This belief is called predestination. This means that no matter what people do, God has decided the final outcome of all events.

Another important idea of Calvinism is that kings and bishops should not control the church. The people of the church should

choose their own elders and ministers. His ideas influenced people in England, Scotland, and the Netherlands. Calvinism began to give people the idea that they could elect government leaders.

John Calvin - Theologian

The Reformation in England

In England, King Henry VIII wanted a son to rule after him. Unfortunately, he had only a daughter with his wife Catherine. Henry wanted to annul, or end, his marriage. Then he could remarry. The pope refused. So Henry had the highest-ranking church official in England end his marriage to Catherine. He then married Anne Boleyn. Because of that, the pope excommunicated Henry from the Catholic Church. Henry had Parliament pass the Act of Supremacy. This made the king, not the pope, the head of the Church of England.

● Henry ordered all priests and bishops to accept him as the new head of the church.

● Some who refused were killed.

● Henry took the Catholic Church’s land in England.

● He gave some of the land to his nobles so they would stay loyal

King Henry VIII

The Reformation in England Cont...

When Henry’s oldest daughter Mary became queen, she wanted to make England a Catholic country again. Mary arrested or executed many Protestants. When she died, her half-sister Elizabeth became queen. She was a Protestant, so she brought back the Anglican Church.

A group of Protestants called Puritans wanted to purify the Anglican Church of its Catholic ways. Queen Elizabeth I put up with the Puritans, but James I did not. James I and the king who came after him, Charles I, mistreated the Puritans. Many Puritans moved to America so they could practice their religion freely. These colonies became the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

The Puritans ...First winter in American Colonies

Multiple Choice

According to Calvin, who should control the church?

• The people of the church

• bishops and priests

• the king

Open Ended

How did Calvinism influence ideas about government?

Open Ended

Why did Henry VIII seize Catholic Church lands in England?