The Protestant Reformation began in 1517 as a protest against corruption and abuses within the Catholic Church, led by Martin Luther. Luther's 95 Theses criticized the Church's sale of indulgences and doctrine of salvation, and emphasized faith alone and scripture as the sole religious authority. The printing press helped spread his ideas to a wider audience. Other reformers like Calvin and Henry VIII also challenged Catholic doctrine. This led to over a century of religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics, culminating in the Thirty Years' War.

1. Protestant Reformation
And Its Consequences

2. Just a Reminder…
• Renaissance
▫ “Rebirth” of learning and science
▫ Rediscovery of Greco-roman ideals
• Humanism
▫ Idea that man, not God, was the center of the universe
▫ Man controls his own destiny
▫ Man can learn about and understand his world by observation
and reason without God’s help
▫ Led many to question both governments and the institutional
Church

3. Protestant Reformation
Protestant – one who protests
and works for reform outside the
Catholic Church

4. Why is this necessary?
• Church Corruption
▫ History of popes with mistresses and children; John XII ran a
brothel from inside the Vatican in the 10th century
▫ Clergy sells indulgences to forgive sins, decrease days spent in
purgatory, save the dead from damnation
• Belief is superstitious
▫ Worship of “relics” thought to provide salvation
• Humanism emphasizes reason
▫ Church used its power and authority to keep the people ignorant
and illiterate – people couldn’t think for themselves

5. An Indulgence (1517) signed
by Johann Tetzel
“With the Authority of all
Saints and with mercy for
you, I free you of all sins and
crimes and excuse you from all
punishments for ten days.
Johann Tetzel”
“When the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”
– saying attributed to Johann Tetzel

6. Martin Luther: A Protestor
• Monk and religious scholar
• Trained in the law before going
into the seminary; comfortable
with legal arguments and
logical reasoning
• One of the most educated men
at the time in Europe
• Understood the power of the
printing press and used it to his
advantage

7. Luther’s 95 Theses (1517)
• Arguments against the Catholic Church
▫ Based on his reading of Romans 1:17, “He who through faith is
righteous shall live.”
• Nailed to the Wittenberg Cathedral door
▫ Written in German so people could read for themselves
▫ Mass produced with the printing press and widely distributed
• Humanism emphasizes reason
▫ Church used its power and authority to keep the people ignorant
and illiterate – people couldn’t think for themselves

8. Luther’s Ideas
• Justification (salvation) by Faith Alone
▫ Based on his reading of Romans 1:17, “He who through faith is righteous
shall live.”
• The Bible is the Sole Authority
▫ Undermines the infallibility of the Pope and the clergy members of the
Catholic Church
• An Educated People is Necessary
▫ If people can read, they can read their own Bibles and so rely on
themselves to know what it says
▫ Citizens in “protestant” areas of Europe will generally be more literate
than in Catholic ones well into the 20th century

9. Cultural Impact of the
Printing Press
Luther takes advantage of a
rising literacy and prints
pamphlets for the masses
Uses images used to teach the
illiterate criticisms of the
Catholic Church

10. Other Major
Protestant Reformers
• Calvin
▫ In Switzerland with influence in Scotland, France, and the Netherlands
▫ Strong Proponent of a Predestination and the “Elect” – only 144,000 earn
heaven in the end
▫ Influential for colonial Puritans and their legacy of an American idea of
US as God’s chosen people
• Henry VIII
▫ In England, after the Catholic Church would not grant him a
divorce, creates the Church of England
• Elizabeth I
▫ In England, creates the Anglican Church as a compromise
▫ Like her father, is sworn allegiance to as the head of the church

11. Henry VIII
In 1534 is the head of the
Church of England
Orders destruction of
monasteries in 1535
Thomas Cromwell, on behalf
of the King, destroys religious
“idols”

12. Consequences
• Thirty Years War
▫ War between Catholics and Protestants (1618 to 1648)
 Culmination of a series of sporadic wars that first broke out in the German
lands during the time of Luther (1520s)
 The most destructive war in European history before the outbreak of World
War I in 1914
▫ Ends with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, which decrees that Catholic
nations recognize the existence of Protestant states
• Counter-Reformation
▫ Ignatius Loyola (Catholic) founds the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1534, an order
dedicated reforming the Church within the Church
▫ A learned order, the Jesuits open schools and colleges to more people to read
both the Bible and other works
▫ Emphasized a Classical Education (Greco-Roman) with faith woven into the
curriculum