The Protestant Reformation, led by such figures as Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and John Calvin, was a turning point in the history of Western Europe. Followers of the Protestant Reformation were known as Protestants because they protested abuses within the Roman Catholic Church. The protest of these abuses led to a revolution that destroyed the religious unity of Europe and established various Protestant denominations or sects, a large concentration of which were located in Northern Europe.
Protestantism also led to a series of religious wars in Western Europe and to the dominance of religious leaders by political rulers. The underlying tone of the Reformation was one of national pride. Kings questioned whether they had to follow the leadership of a distant pope who lived in Italy. In Germany, local rulers supported Martin Luther’s attacks on the church because they saw it as an opportunity to increase their power. Outside of Germany, the Protestant reformer, John Calvin who was influenced by Ulrich Zwingli, had a great impact on the rest of Europe. Calvin’s ideas spread from Geneva, Switzerland, to Northern Europe, England, and Scotland. The invention of the printing press after 1450 led to the further spread of the Protestant Reformation. Since books could be reproduced inexpensively and in large quantities, they could be easily obtained throughout Europe, shortly after reformers such as Luther completed them.
The Catholic Reformation, or Counter Reformation – officially launched by the Council of Trent – was an attempt to stop the spread of Protestantism and to end the abuses within the Church. The church re-established its authority and renewed the Inquisition, a secret order of church officials, to rid the church of heretics, Jews, and Moslems. The efforts of the Jesuits under the leadership of Ignatius Loyola led to warfare between Catholics and Protestants throughout the first half of the seventeenth century and created a religious split between the Protestant countries of Northern Europe and the Catholic countries of Southern Europe. Protestantism allowed for greater religious freedom for some individuals but ultimately led to spiritual disunity and political disorganization for Europe.
The causes of the Protestant Reformation were religious, political, economic, and intellectual.
Many people were critical of certain church abuses or practices, such as the following:
Simony Catholic Church officials sold positions to the highest bidders who used these positions for their own personal gains. Many church leaders also held multiple positions that made it difficult for them to take care of their parishioners.
Immorality Many church leaders violated the law of celibacy and neglected their religious duties for more worldly activities.
Nepotism Catholic Church officials appointed relatives to high offices regardless of their abilities.
Sales of indulgences The selling of indulgences was a practice that originated in the time of the Crusades. Church leaders sold indulgences as pardons, supposedly to reduce the punishment in the hereafter for certain sins. The sale of indulgences was often used as a way to raise money to fund certain church activities.
Clerical ignorance The Black Death in Europe in the fourteenth century had destroyed one-third of the population of Europe including many members of the clergy. The Catholic Church was forced to recruit many priests who could barely read or write and knew little or no Latin. Many of these peasant priests were unable to intelligently deal with Luther’s challenge.
Decline of Church prestige People lost respect for the Church because of the Babylonian Captivity (1309–1377). During the early 1300s, the papacy came under the influence of the French monarch. In 1305, Philip IV of France persuaded the College of Cardinals to choose a new French bishop as the new pope. Clement V, who wanted to escape the civil wars that were disrupting Italy and was critically ill with cancer, was convinced to settle in Avignon, a small city in southern France. For the next sixty years, the popes lived in Avignon under the control of the French king and never entered the city of Rome. This long period of exile is known as the Babylonian Captivity, after the period of exile of the Jews in Babylon in the 500s B.C.E. The seven popes at Avignon concentrated on monetary and bureaucratic matters to the exclusion of spiritual concerns. Furthermore, the general atmosphere at Avignon of luxury and extravagance also hurt the prestige of the pope.
The Great Schism (1377–1417) There were two different popes who claimed to be pope and the embarrassment of two popes excommunicating each other did little to help the Church. In 1377, Pope Gregory XI ended the Babylonian Captivity when he returned to Rome. However, he died shortly after he returned. After his death, the Roman mobs forced the College of Cardinals to elect an Italian as Pope (Urban VI, who ruled from 1378–1389). Some Cardinals, however, declared that the election was invalid because they had voted under duress. In addition, Urban VI had alienated some members of the Church hierarchy with his proposals to reform the Church. The Cardinals then selected a new pope (Clement VII, who ruled from 1378–1394) who settled in Avignon. The powers of Europe aligned themselves with either Urban or Clement, along political lines. England and Germany recognized Pope Urban VI; Scotland, France, Aragon, Castile, and Portugal recognized Pope Clement VII; the Italian city-states at first recognized Urban and then after being alienated by his reform policies, opted for Clement. In the 1400s, western European leaders were committed to the idea that the Church was ruled not by the pope but by a General Council representing bishops, cardinals, theologians, and lay people. In 1409, the Council of Pisa met to unite the Church behind one pope. It resulted in the election of a third pope, since neither the pope at Rome or in Avignon wanted to resign. In 1414, the Council of Constance met in Germany and forced all three Popes to resign. The Council chose Martin V, ending the Great Schism. This period of disunity weakened the political influence of the Church as many Europeans began to feel a greater sense of loyalty to their monarchs rather than to the pope.
Failure of Reform Leaders John Wycliffe (1328–1384) in England and Jan Hus (1369–1418) in Bohemia (today the Czech Republic) were forerunners to Luther. Wycliffe denied the pope’s supreme religious authority, translated the Bible into English, and encouraged people to read the Bible themselves. Wycliffe was condemned as a heretic (one who denies the basic teachings of the Church) in 1380 and again in 1384. He was persuaded to moderate his views and received only a mild punishment. He died peacefully in 1384 in retirement. Hus, who advocated ideas similar to Wycliffe, was burned at the stake for his beliefs. Hus’s execution led to a rebellion against the church that took years to resolve.
By the sixteenth century, many secular leaders resented the interference of clergy in state affairs and wanted to reduce the Church’s influence. These leaders were also jealous of the wealth and power of the Church. National-minded rulers considered the pope to be a foreign ruler.
Members of the rising middle class, peasants, and rulers disliked Church taxes such as Peter’s Pence (a yearly tax on all Christians) and the fact that a good portion was being sent to Rome. Many of the kings also wanted to take control of the vast landholdings of the Church throughout Europe.
The Renaissance, which had weakened a respect for authority, encouraged some people to question the Church’s teachings in science, history, and religious dogma. Humanists, especially in Northern Europe, attacked the abuses of the Church. Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536), who wanted an orderly change, argued for the revival of simple piety based on a renewed study of the Bible. These movements convinced many people that it was time for changes.