Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter Reformation
The
people of medieval Europe were mainly Christians who believed in the power of
god. God-fearing Catholics accepted the role of the Church that acted as the
medium between them and god. The church became the focal point for all the
activities of common people from birth to death. In due course of time, the
power wielded by the church authorities increased beyond measure. The kings and
people of Europe were, however, beginning to feel the heavy hand of the Church.
There were occasional instances of defiance and disobedience of Papal
authority. The Church created the Inquisition to treat this new heresy with
violence. The Inquisition dubbed the people who questioned the activities of
the Church as heretics and women as witches.
The
revolt against the absolute power of the church was called Protestant because
it protested against the dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. The movement is
called the Reformation. It was a popular revolt against corruption as well as
the authoritarianism of the Church. In response the loyal Roman Church men made
some attempts to reform the Church of its abuses from within. This phase of
reform movement came to be known as Counter-Reformation which once again acted
against the protest sternly.
The
practice of sale of indulgence (absolving one’s sin by getting papal pardon
through payment of money), nepotism, and simony (sale of church posts for
money) came under attack. The indulgence emptied the pockets of poor as they
had to spend money to get papal pardon for their sins. Some Popes such as
Alexander VI, Julius II and Leo X quarrelled with the rulers on the above
practices. There was an instance of Albert of Mainz becoming the archbishop by
paying money to Pope Leo X. The Pope was said to have collected it saying that
half of the money would be used for St. Peter’s Basilica.
Members
of the great merchant families such as the Medicis became Popes in order to
increase their own wealth and expected to pass the wealth on to illegitimate
sons. Inexperienced youths were appointed to lucrative bishoprics. Clergymen
received incomes from several churches but never appeared in any of them. The
peasantry saw the Church as an oppressive landowner. Many of the princes were
casting their covetous eyes on the vast properties of the Church.
The
reformation movement had a few pioneers. Erasmus was a protester of many Church
practices and teachings. His well known work, The Praise of Folly (1511), made fun of theologians and monks.
Others like him who worked towards reform two centuries before him were John
Wycliffe and John Hus. They preached the gospel in the language of the people,
and not in Latin. John Wycliffe, an English clergyman, was famous as the first
translator of the Bible into English. He managed to escape the anger of Rome
during his life time, but in 1415, after thirty-one years of his death, a
Church Council ordered that his bones should be dug up and burnt. And this was
faithfully carried out.
Though
the bones of Wycliffe could be burnt, his views could not easily be suppressed.
The event reached Bohemia, and influenced John Huss. Huss, the head of the
Prague University, was excommunicated by the Pope for his views. As he was
popular in his town he escaped harm. Promising a safe conduct by the Emperor,
he was invited to Constance (Konstanz) in Switzerland, where a Church Council
was in session. He was pressurised to confess his error. When he refused, in
spite of their promise for his safety, he was burnt alive.
The reformation movement was popularised by three reformers at three different places. Martin Luther at Wittenberg, Huldrych Zwingli at Zurich, and John Calvin at Geneva.
Martin
Luther, a Christian priest, rose in revolt in Germany against Rome. After a
visit to Rome he became disgusted with the corruption and luxury of the Church.
He wrote ninety-five complaints against the Roman Church known as ‘95 Theses’
and nailed it on the door of the church at Wittenberg. He made a few moderate
suggestions to reform the church. The role of printing press was a key factor
in making his ideas widespread. He argued that Bible alone is supreme and not
the Pope and Bishops. He believed that only two main rituals, namely, baptism
and Holy Communion are accepted by the Bible. Salvation, he said, could be
attained by one’s belief in Lord only. In this way the Protestant revolt began.
Luther translated the Bible into German and Lutheran Protestants laid down
certain rules and regulations. They did not accept the authority of Pope. They
had their own churches, administrative set-up and they believed in the
supremacy of Bible alone. The rules for priests were relaxed by which they were
permitted to lead a married life.
The pope
tried to hold peace talks with Luther by calling him for Diet of Worms. It
failed. The Diet of Worms disavowed his books and burnt them. He was outlawed
from the Holy Roman Empire by the emperor. Martin Luther’s radical views
influenced many and one such was Thomas Muntzer who fought for a classless
society. This started the Peasant’s Rebellion in parts of Germany. However,
Luther supported the feudal lords in this fight and denounced the peasant
movement. As the Protestants became popular there was a civil war in Germany.
In the end the northern Germany became Protestant, while the southern state
remained catholic.
Huldrych
Zwingli started a similar movement in Switzerland. He was influenced by the
Dutch humanist Erasmus. He did not agree with some of Luther’s viewpoints.
Zwingli believed that Christ lives in the heart of the believer and not in the
bread and wine. He had written sixty-seven articles outlining the reformist
views against the Catholic Church. Zwingli opposed the celibacy of the monks
and construction of monasteries, indulgence, fasting and pilgrimage. Efforts
made to bring Luther and Zwingli together for a stronger Protestant movement
failed.
Holy Communion (also known as the Eucharist) is a religious
ceremony performed in church by Catholics. Catholic Christians partake of Holy
Communion in remembrance of the sacrifices made by Jesus. They accept bread and
wine which are believed to symbolise (transubstantiation) the body and blood of
Jesus Christ.
Calvin
was one of the later leaders of the Protestant movement. As a French Protestant
he opposed the activities of the Church. He was excommunicated for fighting the
Pope. After his excommunication, he settled In Geneva, Switzerland. His book
titled 'Institutes of the Christian
Religion' in Latin contains his core ideas. Calvin was a great organiser
and for a while he controlled the city of Geneva. He strived hard to establish
an organised society based on biblical teachings. Calvinism became popular even
during his lifetime. It became widespread in other parts of Europe as Huguenots
in France, Puritans in England and Presbyterians in Scotland.
The
Reformation in England was started not by theologians but by the king. It was
Henry VIII who separated the state from the Church. Though he was a devout catholic
in the initial years, due to his personal needs (a divorce from his wife Queen
Catherine of Aragon for a remarriage to another woman, Ann Boleyn), he favoured
the Protestants. He passed the Act of Supremacy, 1534, and severed England’s
connection with Rome. He established the Anglican Church and ordered the
confiscation of Church property, including all the lands of abbeys and
monasteries. This Protestant movement led to the Puritan movement in various
parts of England and her colonies.
(a) Divisions
in the European nations: The schism in the church led to the division of
religious practices in the same country. North Germany became Lutheran while
South Germany remained Catholic. England became Protestant while Scotland and the
people of Ireland became devout Catholics.
(b) Literacy:
The
printing press encouraged the
printing of various religious teachings of reformation movement and also
reading of the same by common people. People were encouraged to read and
understand the Bible. The use of vernacular language in preaching and the
translation of Bible in regional languages opened a new avenue to reach
ordinary people.
(c) Status of Women: Due to
the opposition of celibacy in
churches, the pastors of the Protestant churches became married men. This
strengthened the role of women in household and in churches. Women were
encouraged to read the Bible and bring up the children in Protestant methods.
This led to the increase in literacy level of women.
(d) Power of
Kings: The reformation movement gave
more power to some rulers such as Henry VIII, who became the head of both the
state and the Church.
(e) Race for
colonies: Both the Protestants and
the Catholics wanted to convert people from other parts of the world to their
own religious beliefs. The Spanish conquest in South America was followed by
Jesuit priests (a new sect of Roman Catholics created to spread Catholicism).
The Puritans, Catholics and Anglicans set up their churches in the thirteen
British colonies of North America.
(f) Spread of Christianity: The
availability of gold and silver from
the colonies made the European nations to send explorers in the guise of
missionaries to various parts of the world. “First the missionary, then the gun
boat, then the land grabbing” _ that was the sequence of events
people of the succeeding generation had to contend with.
The
Catholic religion watched the rise of the Protestant movement with caution and
concern. Just about the time Martin Luther was gaining in popularity, a new
Church order was started by a Spaniard, Ignatius of Loyola in Paris, France, on
15 August 1534, when he and six university students pledged to keep vows of
chastity, poverty, and obedience and to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. One of
the students was Francis Xavier, who later became a missionary to India and
Japan. This society aimed at training people for efficient and dedicated
service of the Roman Church and the Pope. It used education as a tool to teach
the Catholic religion to the masses. They set up various educational
institutions to promote the Catholic religion. Society of Jesus succeeded in
producing efficient and faithful followers of the Church. These priests, known
as the Jesuits, helped in raising the standard of the Church in Europe.
The measures adopted by the Roman Church, largely on account of the threat posed by the Protestant revolt, included the removal of abuses from the church, reiteration of the power of Pope, and rebuilding the faith in seven sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist or Holy Communion, Reconciliation or Confession, Anointing of the Sick, Ordination or Holy Orders, and Marriage).This movement is known as Counter Reformation. Three major events that mark the Counter Reformation are: Council of Trent, the Inquisition, and the founding of new religious schools to popularise Catholic religion.
Pope Paul
III appointed the cardinals to reform the Catholic Church. The Council of Trent
met three times in eighteen years and emphasised faith in the Bible and the
teachings at Church along with adherence to the seven sacraments for salvation.
The celibacy of the priests and the supremacy of the Pope were upheld. The council
also removed the abuses in the Church such as sale of indulgence, nepotism and
absenteeism of the Bishops (who did not visit their dioceses). It insisted on
the study of catechism, an instruction on the sacraments. It supported the
image worship of Jesus and Mary in all churches. Due to the Council of Trent,
the Catholic religion became better organised.
Special
Church courts were established to give punishment to the heretics. They used
many methods to make the heretics confess, which ranged from recantation,
flogging to burning at the stake. Roman Inquisition was set up to deal with the
Protestants. Witch-hunt became a common practice. Women, usually widowed or
single, were called witches and blamed for crop failures, diseases etc. They
were captured and put to death. It has been estimated that about 110,000 people
in Europe were put on trial and 60,000 put to death in the Inquisition.
Due to
the Counter Reformation, Europe was divided along religious lines. Wars broke
out within the countries and with the countries professing faith in different
denomination. The Thirty-Years’War fought between 1618 and 1648 at various
provinces of Holy Roman Empire was an example of this division. Protestant
churches were austere, while the Catholic churches became more ornamental. Both
the religious communities used education as a tool to spread their religious
and spiritual ideas.
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