AP European History

Crash Course

The Reformation

I. Lutheranism

• A. Martin Luther’s Personal Quest For Salvation
  • 1. Luther’s early life was dominated by a private struggle to find the key to personal salvation.
  • 2. The Catholic Church taught that salvation could be achieved by both good works and faith. For many long years, Luther struggled to follow this dual path to salvation. However, he was overwhelmed by a deep sense of personal guilt.
  • 3. After many years of study, Luther began to examine St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. One evening, Luther read Paul’s admonition that “the just shall be saved by faith.”
  • 4. Luther’s arduous years of study prepared him for this fateful moment. At last he understood that salvation was a gift freely given by God.
• B. Ninety-Five Theses
  • 1. Luther’s spiritual journey seemed to culminate in a personal revelation. But then historic events intersected with his life.
  • 2. In 1517, Luther witnessed Johann Tetzel selling indulgences near Wittenberg. In Luther’s time, an indulgence was a certificate granted by the pope in return for the payment of a fee to the church. The certificate stated that the soul of the dead relative or friend of the purchaser would have his time in purgatory reduced by many years or cancelled altogether.
  • 3. Part of the income from the indulgences sold by Tetzel was destined for Rome to help pay for the construction of the new St. Peter’s Basilica.
  • 4. Tetzel’s aggressive marketing tactics appalled Luther. He believed that salvation could not be sold by the pope; it was a free gift given by God.
  • 5. On October 31,1517, Luther dramatically nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg. Aided by the printing press, Luther’s defiant challenge was soon disseminated across Europe. Within a short time, he became the most famous and controversial person in Europe.
• C. Luther’s Key Beliefs
  • 1. Salvation is achieved by faith alone.
    1. The Catholic Church had long taught that salvation could be achieved by both faith and good works.
    2. Luther insisted that faith was the only path to salvation.
  • 2. The Bible is the only valid authority for Christian life.
    1. The Catholic Church taught that authority rests in both the Bible and the traditional teachings of the church.
    2. Luther insisted that all church teachings should be based on the Word of God as revealed in the Bible.
    3. Based upon his study of the Bible, Luther argued that Christ established just two sacraments: baptism and the Eucharist or holy communion. Luther thus rejected the Catholic teaching that there were seven sacraments.
  • 3. The church consists of a priesthood of all believers.
    1. The Roman Catholic Church was a hierarchical organization led by the pope.
    2. Luther insisted that because all Christians are spiritually equal, the church consists of the entire community of the Christian faithful.
  • 4. All vocations have equal merit.
    1. The Catholic Church taught that the monastic life was superior to the secular life.
    2. Luther rejected this belief, arguing that all honest work has equal merit. Each person should serve God in his or her own individual calling.
    3. Luther abolished monasteries and convents. He declared that the clergy should marry.
• D. The German Peasants’ War, 1525
  • 1. Causes
    1. German peasants originally supported Luther. They heard his message as one that promised freedom from oppression by the landlords and the clergy.
    2. Complaints that nobles had seized village common lands and imposed exorbitant rents soon escalated to open attacks on monasteries, castles, and prosperous farms.
  • 2. Luther’s response
    1. The peasants believed Luther would support them.
    2. Luther, however, believed that Christians ought to obey their rulers – even unjust rulers – and that rebellion against the state was always wrong and must be crushed.
    3. Horrified at the prospect of a bloody revolution, Luther urged the German nobility to crush the rebels.
  • 3. Consequences
    1. The German Peasants’ War of 1525 strengthened the authority of the German nobility.
    2. Lutheranism became closely allied with the established political order controlled by the German nobility.
    NOTE: It is easy to focus on Luther’s dramatic stand against indulgences while ignoring his response to the German Peasants’ War. Don’t make this mistake. The German Peasants’ War has been featured on several multiple-choice questions and was the topic of the 2008 DBQ (see Chapter 27). In addition, It can be used in free-response essay questions discusslng the political and social consequences of the Protestant Reformation.
• E. Luther and the Role of Christian Women
  • 1. The elimination of monasteries and convents was a key factor in changing the role of sixteenth-century women.
  • 2. Luther believed that Christian women should strive to be models of obedience and Christian charity.
• F. The Spread of Lutheranism
  • 1. Lutheranism became the dominant religion in northern and eastern Germany. It is important to remember that most of southern Germany, Austria, and the Rhineland remained Roman Catholic.
  • 2. Lutheranism became the predominant religion in Denmark and Scandinavia.
• G. The Peace of Augsburg, 1555
  • 1. Between 1546 and 1555, a religious civil war between Catholics led by Charles V and Protestants led by German princes tore Germany apart. It is important to note that the Catholic king of France supported the Protestant nobles. This is an example of the long-standing French policy of maintaining a divided Germany.
  • 2. The Peace of Augsburg ended the civil war. The settlement gave each German prince the right to determine the religion of his state, either Roman Catholic or Lutheran. The Peace of Augsburg did not provide for the recognition of Calvinists and other religious minorities.
• H. Was Luther a Revolutionary or a Conservative?
  • 1. Luther was a religious revolutionary.
    1. Luther’s core beliefs went well beyond attempting to reform the Roman Catholic Church. His doctrines of justification by faith, priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole authority marked a major departure from long-standing Catholic principles.
    2. Luther’s revolutionary actions included abolishing monasteries, reducing the number of sacraments, encouraging priests to marry, and repudiating the pope’s authority to interpret the Bible.
  • 2. Luther was a political conservative.
    1. Luther insisted that Christians owed obedience to established authority.
    2. Luther gave his support to the German nobility as they brutally suppressed the peasant rebellion.