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WH1 Topic 16 #1 Study Guide

Important Names:

Desiderius Erasmus: A well-known Christian humanist who believed that Christianity should help people live better day-to-day lives, rather than save them from purgatory or hell. Wrote The Praise of Folly.

Martin Luther: German priest and professor, began Protestant Reformation.

Johann Tetzel: A monk who was allowed by the Catholic Church to sell indulgences, and told people that they could free their loved ones’ souls from purgatory by buying his indulgences.

Charles V (5): Summoned Luther to the imperial diet of the Holy Roman Empire in the city of Worms to try to change Luther’s mind.

Frederick III: The prince of Saxony. Saved Luther by sending him into hiding and protecting him when he returned to Wittenberg. Had 5,000+ relics.

Important Vocab:

Christian Humanism: A movement mainly based on making changes in the Catholic Church.

Salvation: The state of being saved through faith alone or through faith and good works

Indulgence: A release from all or part of punishment for sin by the Catholic Church, reducing time in purgatory after death

The Gospel: The first four books of the New Testament in the Christian Bible

Imperial diet: Legislative assembly

Peace of Augsburg: An agreement that made an end to the religious warfare in Germany, officializing the divide of Catholicism and Lutheranism, making it so a state’s ruler could choose which one they wanted.

Excommunication: To officially exclude from the Church

Justification by faith alone: Martin Luther’s belief that you could get salvation through only faith.

Gospel: The last four scriptures of the New Testament, part of the Bible or smth

Lutheranism: The branch of Christianity that Luther created. It got rid of most religious ceremonies, and took the Bible as the only true religious text.

Graft: To abuse one’s political power for their own purposes, eg. to advance their careers & personal wealth

The Praise of Folly: A book criticizing the religious state that people are in and praises a simpler life.

Venerate: Regard with great respect; revere. Venerating a relic is basically praying to that relic, and thinking about how that relic interacted with holy figures in the past.

Papacy: The office or authority of the Pope.

Modern Devotion movement: A religious movement that focused less on the Church and more on Jesus.

Valid: Well-grounded or justifiable

Fundamental: Basic or essential

External: Outward or observable

Prelude to Reformation

A German priest/professor named Martin Luther began Protestant Reformation in the early 1500s.

Christian Humanism

2nd half of 15th century, Italian Renaissance humanism spread to northern Europe.
Out of this came Christian humanism, aka Northern Renaissance humanism.

The main goal was making changes in the Catholic Church.
Christian humanists believed that if people read the classics (esp. the bible), they would become more sincerely religious.

One well-known Christian humanist was Desiderius Erasmus, who believed that Christianity should help people live better day-to-day lives, rather than save them from purgatory or hell.

Wrote The Praise of Folly, a book criticizing the religious state that people are in and praises a simpler life.
Thought that internal religion was more important than external religion

External: Outward or observable

Wanted to educate people in Christian literature, and worked to criticize the abuses of the church.
Wanted a reform of the Catholic Church

“Erasmus laid the egg that Luther hatched.”

Need for Reform

General society was critical of the Church
Church officials cared mostly about getting money or advancing their status, and did not do their religious duties.
Church leaders being negligent of their duties + people wanting religious expression & salvation = process of salvation becoming metaphorically mechanical.

Salvation: The state of being saved through faith alone or through faith and good works

Church practice said that venerating a relic could give someone an indulgence.

Venerating: Praying to, regarding as holy, reflecting over.
Indulgence: A release from all or part of punishment for sin by the Catholic Church, reducing time in purgatory after death
Many people took trips to venerate relics to get indulgences and salvation.
Frederick III (Frederick the Wise) had 5,000+ relics.

Some believed their indulgences could reduce purgatory time by 1,443 years.

The Church sold indulgences.
Modern Devotion movement focused less on the Church and more on Jesus.

Martin Luther

A monk in the Catholic Church and a professor at the University of Wittenberg, in Germany.
Luther wanted to know about the certainty of salvation.
Catholic church believed that faith and good works were necessary for salvation, while Luther believed that humans are saved by faith in God instead.

That belief is called justification by faith alone.

For Luther, and later for all Protestants, the Bible became the only valid source of religious truth.

The Ninety–Five Theses

Luther was greatly upset by the selling of indulgences.
He especially disliked the monk Johann Tetzel.

Tetzel was allowed by the Catholic Church to sell indulgences. He told people that they could free their loved ones’ souls from purgatory by buying his indulgences.
His slogan was “As soon as coin in the coffer [money box] rings, the soul from purgatory springs."

Luther was enraged, for he believed that indulgences could not forgive sins.
In 1517, Luther publicized his Ninety-five theses, an attack against abuses in the sale of indulgences.

Thousands of copies were printed and spread all over Germany.

A Break With the Church

By 1520, Luther started to drift away from the Catholic Church. He wanted German princes to overthrow the Pope’s authority and establish a new and better German church.
Luther also attacked the Church’s system of sacraments, religious ceremonies. He believed that they were how the Church had destroyed the real meaning of the Gospel (A religious text detailing the way to Salvation). He wanted there to only be Baptism and Communion. He also wanted the clergy to marry.
Luther emphasized his doctrine of salvation, which said that it is only faith that brings salvation.
The Pope, disagreeing with Luther, excommunicated him (officially excluded him from the Church).
The emperor Charles V (5) summoned Luther to the imperial diet (legislative assembly) of the Holy Roman Empire in the city of Worms to try to change Luther’s mind.
He failed.
Charles V was outraged, and passed the Edict of Worms,making Luther a criminal within the empire.

Luther’s works were supposed to be burned, and Luther was supposed to be captured and sent to the emperor.

However, Frederick III, the prince of Saxony, saved Luther by sending him into hiding and protecting him when he returned to Wittenberg.

The Rise of Lutheranism

Luther’s religious movement became a revolution
He got the support of many German rulers, who took over the Catholic Churches in their areas, and formed state churches.
As a part of this new development, Luther set up new religious services instead of Catholic Mass. These services consisted of:

Christian Bible readings,
Preaching the word of God,
And song.

Luther married a former nun, Katharina von Boren.
Luther’s doctrine became known as Lutheranism, and the churches as Lutheran churches. Lutheranism was the first Protestant faith.
However, Luther had some troubles spreading Lutheranism, such as the Peasants’ War.

In 1524, German peasants revolted against their lords and wanted Luther to support their cause, but Luther supported the lords.
Luther believed that the state + rulers were called by God to maintain the peach to spread the Gospel
The German princes crushed the peasant revolts, and Luther was even more dependent on the state for the growth of his church.

Political Impact of the German Reformation

Luther’s movement was tied closely to political affairs
Religious authorities saw the Reformation as a challenge to Church power.
Rulers such as Charles V saw the Reformation as a force that disrupted the political and social order.

Charles V wanted to keep his territories united under Catholocism, but failed.

Many German states supported Luther rather than Charles
The Peace of Augsburg made an end to the religious warfare in Germany, officializing the divide of Catholicism and Lutheranism, making it so a state’s ruler could choose which one they wanted.

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