9.2: The Reformation Continues

9.2 The Reformation Continues

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Protestant reformers were divided
over beliefs, and split into several new
Protestant groups.

Protestant reformers were divided over
beliefs, and split into several new
Protestant groups.

• Explore Calvin's Protestant teachings.

• Describe the beliefs of other reformers and the roles of women in the Reformation.

Huldrych Zwingli
John Calvin
predestination

Calvinism
theocracy
John Knox

Presbyterian
Anabaptist

Setting the Stage

Under the leadership of Queen Elizabeth I, the Anglican Church, though Protestant,
remained similar to the Catholic Church in many of its doctrines and ceremonies.
Meanwhile, other forms of Protestantism were developing elsewhere in Europe.

Martin Luther had launched the Reformation in
northern Germany, but reformers were at work in
other countries. In Switzerland, another major
branch of Protestantism emerged. Based mainly
on the teachings of John Calvin, a French
follower of Luther, it promoted unique ideas
about the relationship between people and God.

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The Reformation Continues

Religious reform in Switzerland was begun by Huldrych Zwingli, a Catholic priest
in Zurich. He was influenced both by the Christian humanism of Erasmus and by
the reforms of Luther. In 1520, Zwingli openly attacked abuses in the Catholic
Church. He called for a return to the more personal faith of early Christianity. He
also wanted believers to have more control over the Church.

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The Reformation Continues

Zwingli’s reforms were adopted in Zurich and
other cities. In 1531, a bitter war between Swiss
Protestants and Catholics broke out. During the
fighting, Zwingli met his death. There are varying
stories about what happened after. One says that
Catholics staged a posthumous mock trial, hurling insults at him and condemning
him for various offenses and then beheaded, quartered, and burned his corpse.
Another that he was captured, and gave a vigorous defense of his views before
being killed. Another claims his heart was salvaged from the ashes of his burning
body, symbolizing the passion and purity of his message.

Meanwhile, John Calvin, then a young law student in France with a growing
interest in Church doctrine, was beginning to clarify his religious beliefs.

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Multiple Choice

How was Zwingli different from Luther?

• Zwingli viewed the Eucharist as symbolic, while Luther believed in the real presence of Christ in it.
• Zwingli was a Catholic priest, while Luther was a monk.
• Zwingli believed in predestination, whereas Luther did not.
• Zwingli rejected the idea of any sacraments, while Luther accepted them all.

Multiple Choice

How else was Zwingli different from Luther?

• Zwingli took up arms and died fighting against Catholics, while Luther resisted Catholicism in other ways.

• Luther fought only against Catholics who actively oppressed dissenters, while Zwingli attacked anyone who didn't also attack Catholics.

• Zwingli would take any excuse, religious or not, to attack his neighbors, while Luther was more focused.

• Luther was more interested in collecting Catholic treasures from the churches he conquered, while Zwingli was interested in changing ideas.

John Calvin (1509–1564)

A quiet boy, Calvin grew up to study law and philosophy at the University of Paris.
In the 1530s, he was influenced by French followers of Luther. When King Francis
I ordered Protestants arrested, Calvin fled. Eventually, he moved to Geneva.

Because Calvin and his followers rigidly regulated morality
in Geneva, Calvinism is often described as strict and grim.
But Calvin taught that people should enjoy God’s gifts. He
wrote that it should not be “forbidden to laugh, or to enjoy
food, or to add new possessions to old.”

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Calvin Formalizes Protestant Ideas

When Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses in 1517, John
Calvin was only eight years old. But Calvin grew up to
have as much influence in the spread of Protestantism
as Luther did. He would give order to the faith Luther
had begun.

(This image is not meant to suggest that Calvin was in
Wittenberg – he was not.)

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Calvin Formalizes Protestant Ideas

In 1536, Calvin published Institutes of the Christian Religion. This book
expressed ideas about God, salvation, and human nature. It was a
summary of Protestant theology, or religious beliefs.

Calvin wrote that men and women are sinful by nature. Taking Luther’s idea that
humans cannot earn salvation, Calvin went on to say that God chooses a very few
people to save. Calvin called these few the “elect.” He believed that God has
known since the beginning of time who will be saved.
This doctrine is called predestination. The religion
based on Calvin’s teachings is called Calvinism.

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Calvin Leads the Reformation in Switzerland

Calvin believed that the ideal
government was a theocracy, a
government controlled by
religious leaders. In 1541,
Protestants in Geneva,
Switzerland, asked Calvin to
lead their city.

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Calvin Leads the Reformation in Switzerland

When Calvin arrived there in the 1540s, Geneva was a self-governing city of about
20,000 people. He and his followers ran the city according to strict rules. Everyone
attended religion class. No one wore bright clothing or played card games.
Authorities would imprison, excommunicate, or banish those who broke such
rules. Anyone who preached different doctrines might be burned at the stake. Yet,
to many Protestants, Calvin’s Geneva was a model city of highly moral citizens.

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Calvin Leads the Reformation in Switzerland

One admiring visitor to Geneva was a Scottish preacher named John
Knox. When he returned to Scotland in 1559, Knox put Calvin’s ideas to
work. Each community church was governed by a group of laymen called
elders or presbyters. Followers of Knox became known as Presbyterians.

In the 1560s, Protestant nobles led by Knox made Calvinism Scotland’s
official religion. They also deposed their Catholic ruler, Mary Queen of
Scots, in favor of her infant son, James. (We’ll see more of him later.)

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Calvin Leads the Reformation in Switzerland

Elsewhere, Swiss, Dutch, and French reformers adopted the Calvinist form of
church organization. One reason Calvin is considered so influential is that many
Protestant churches today – including Presbyterians, Anglicans/Episcopalians,
Reformed/Dutch Reformed, United Church of Christ, and some flavors of Baptist –
trace their roots to Calvin. Over the years, however, many of them have softened
Calvin’s strict teachings.

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Multiple Choice

How might you describe Geneva under Calvin's leadership?

• A theocratic and disciplined society focused on moral governance.
• A diverse and multicultural society with no religious influence.
• A peaceful and relaxed community focused on leisure.
• A chaotic and lawless city with no governance.

Protestant Ideas Spread

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Western Religious Beliefs and Practices in the 16th Century

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Multiple Select

Which faiths believed in salvation by faith alone?

• Catholics

• Lutherans

• Calvinists

• Anglicans

Multiple Choice

Which faith did not believe the Bible was the sole source of truth?

• Catholics

• Anglicans

• Lutherans

• Calvinists

Protestant Ideas Spread

In Reformation Europe, published in 1963, historian G. R. Elton notes
the role of geography and trade in the spread of Reformation ideas.

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Could the Reformation have spread so far and so fast
if it had started anywhere but in Germany? The fact

that it had its beginnings in the middle of Europe

made possible a very rapid radiation in all directions….

Germany’s position at the center of European trade
also helped greatly. German merchants carried not

only goods but Lutheran ideas and books to Venice and

France; the north German Hanse transported the

Reformation to the Scandinavian countries.

Multiple Choice

Based on G.R. Elton's argument, why was geography important in the spread of Reformation ideas?

• Germany's location at the center of Europe facilitated access to urban centers and routes.

• Geography had no impact on the spread of Reformation ideas.
• Reformation ideas spread solely through religious texts without geographical influence.
• The original text of the Bible was more easily understood by German speakers than those who spoke other languages, making ideas easier to spread.

Other Protestant Reformers

Protestants taught that the Bible is the source of all religious truth and that people
should read it to discover those truths. As Christians interpreted the Bible for
themselves, new Protestant groups formed over differences in belief.

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The Anabaptists

One such group baptized only those persons who were old enough to decide to be
Christian. They said that persons who had been baptized as children should be
rebaptized as adults. These believers were called Anabaptists, from a Greek word
meaning, “baptize again.”

The Anabaptists also taught that church and state should be
separate, and they refused to fight in wars – they were pacifists.
They shared their possessions with one another.

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Multiple Choice

What set Anabaptists apart from other believers?

• Belief in infant baptism and complete church control over the state.
• Belief in adult baptism and separation of church and state.
• Rejection of all forms of government and political engagement.
• Emphasis on individual living and property ownership.

The Anabaptists

Viewing Anabaptists as radicals who threatened society, both Catholics and
Protestants persecuted them. In 1533, some fled and settled in Münster,
Westphalia, in Germany.

Among them were Jan Mathijs (sometimes spelled Jan Matthys) and John of

Leiden, who led the persecution of all non-Anabaptists there. An
army comprised of Catholics and Protestants
surrounded and later captured the city in 1535. But the
Anabaptists survived and became the forerunners of
the Mennonites and the Amish.

Later, some descendants of these people settled
in Pennsylvania. Their teaching influenced the
later Quakers and Baptists, groups who split from
the Anglican Church.
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Mathijs

John of Leiden

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Religions in Europe, 1560

Women’s Role in the Reformation

Many women played prominent roles in the Reformation, especially during the
early years. For example, the sister of King Francis I, Marguerite of Navarre,
protected John Calvin from being executed for his beliefs while he lived in France.
Other noblewomen also protected reformers.

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Women’s Role in the Reformation

The wives of some reformers, too, had influence. Katherina Zell, married to
Matthew Zell of Strasbourg, once scolded a minister for speaking harshly of
another reformer. The minister responded by saying that she had “disturbed the
peace.” She wasn’t having it:

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Do you call this disturbing the peace that instead

of spending my time in frivolous amusements I
have visited the plague-infested and carried out
the dead? I have visited those in prison and under

sentence of death. Often for three days and

three nights I have neither eaten nor slept. I have
never mounted the pulpit, but I have done more

than any minister in visiting those in misery.

Multiple Choice

What did Katharina Zell argue about women's role in the church?

• Women should not have any roles in the church.
• Women are only allowed to serve in supportive roles.
• Women should lead the church exclusively.
• Women should actively participate and have roles in the church.

Women’s Role in the Reformation

Katherina von Bora played a more typical, behind-the-scenes role as Luther’s wife.
Katherina was sent to a convent at about age ten, and had become a nun.
Inspired by Luther’s teaching, she fled the convent.

After marrying Luther, Katherina had six children. She also
managed the family finances, fed all who visited their
house, and supported her husband’s work. She respected
Luther’s position but argued with him about women's equal
role in marriage.

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Katherina von Bora

In addition to mothering six children with Martin Luther, Katherina von Bora played
an active role at the Black Cloister, the monastery at the University of Wittenberg,
where they lived. She took care of the animals, her garden, a brewery, and nearby
farmland. Frederick the Wise gifted the Black Cloister to the Luther family in 1532.
By this time, the home had been dubbed “God's Inn.”

She also played host to numerous guests and
students that stayed in their home. Luther called her
"The Morning Star of Wittenberg" because she
began her daily chores before the sun came up.

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Katherina von Bora

Luther himself was generous to a fault – always giving away their property to
others who had need. While their marriage and home was a happy one, it was not
without difficulties. Like many couples, their quarreling often concerned money, or
the lack thereof. In a letter to a friend, Luther states that he had intended to send a
vase to him as a wedding present, but Katie had hid it from him.

Katherine’s hard work earned her several pet names from her husband: Katie, my
rib, Selbander (better-half), and Lord Kate, Mistress of the Pigsty. When she
became too domineering, Luther would offer a play on words for her name by
calling her Kette, which means chain in German.

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Open Ended

Compare and contrast the roles and ideas of Katharina Zell and Katherina von Bora. What was their vision of women in the church? Which do you think was more effective in promoting gender equality? Why?

Women’s Role in the Reformation

As Protestant religions became more firmly established, their organization became
more formal. Male religious leaders narrowly limited women’s activities to the
home and discouraged them from being leaders in the church. In fact, it was
Luther who said, “God’s highest gift on earth is a pious, cheerful, God-fearing,
home-keeping wife.”

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