162
also Calvinists in France, where
they were called Huguenots,
although that country was split
between Catholics and Protestants,
who fought in the Wars of Religion
of the second half of the 16th
century. Spain, Portugal, and
Italy remained Catholic.
In England, the seeds of reform
were sown early. Many people
objected to abuses such as the use
of church funds to pay for clerics—
including the Pope and foreign
bishops—to lead a life of luxury.
However, Protestant ideas were
not yet widely enough held for the
faith to take hold. Things changed
when Henry VIII of England broke
with Rome in 1534, rejecting papal
authority and proclaiming himself
head of the church in England. As
supreme ecclesiastical leader, he
exercised his sole right to authorize
the publication of the English Bible,
the Coverdale Bible, but English
religious practice and doctrine
remained Catholic. A moderateform of Protestantism was later
established in England under
Henry’s daughter Elizabeth I.
Reformers risked their lives by
speaking out at a time when heresy
was punishable by death. Czech
reformer Jan Hus had been burned
at the stake in 1415, Zwingli died
in a battle between Protestant and
Catholic forces in 1531, and English
Bible translator William Tyndale
was executed in 1536. Luther, urged
to recant by Pope Leo X in 1520,
threw the written request on a
bonfire, so church authorities
handed him over to Frederick the
Wise, Elector of Saxony and founder
of the University of Wittenberg, for
punishment. Frederick convened a
formal enquiry or “Diet” at Worms,
at which Emperor Charles V
presided. The emperor rejected
Luther’s arguments and banned his
views in the empire, but Luther
refused to recant. He was outlawed
and excommunicated, but Frederick
saved him from execution by faking
his abduction, then hiding him
at the Wartburg castle. Luther
continued to write and organize,
garnering increasing support.Powerful allies
Support from people in positions
of power assisted the spread of the
Reformation. Like Henry VIII in
England, the princes of Germany
resented church wealth, taxation,
and its independent law courts,
and were also eager to strengthen
their own power. Throughout the
Middle Ages, popes had made
alliances with kings and emperors,
and intervened in secular affairs.
Many German princes wanted to
prevent such alliances by cutting
ties with Rome and removing
bishops from their princedoms, so
their support for the reformers was
motivated by political expedience
as well as personal piety.MARTIN LUTHER’S 95 THESES
In what would become the first in
a long list of religiously motivated
conflicts between Catholics and
Protestants, the Holy Roman
Emperor Charles V invaded
Lutheran territory in an effort to
stamp out the movement. Lutherans
united against him and, despite his
triumph at the Battle of Mühlberg
in 1547, he was unable to suppress
them. A temporary compromise was
eventually reached at Augsburg in
1555 when the emperor conceded
that each prince within the empire
could choose how to worship in his
own domain. The peace was not to
last, however; bitter divisions drawn
by the Reformation would cause
people across Europe to take up
arms again, and the continent was
ravaged by more than a century
of religiously-motivated conflict.Reform from within
Even before Luther wrote his 95
theses, a movement for reform had
begun within the church. Inspired
partly by Renaissance Humanism,
it brought on a resurgence of
scholarship and philosophy, and
motivated churchmen such as
Spaniard Francisco Ximenes,
who produced a Bible with texts in
Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Aramaic.I do not accept the
authority of popes and
councils, for they
have contradicted
each other.
Martin Luther, 1517Cartoon images of the pope as a
bestial monstrosity communicated to
an international audience, literate and
not, a common Protestant idea that the
papacy was the institution of the devil.US_160-163_Martin_Luther_Wittenburg.indd 162 15/02/2016 16:42
163
The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, a
white marble altarpiece and one of the
masterpieces of High Roman Baroque,
by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the leading
sculptor of his day.However, Luther’s clear theological
challenges prompted the papacy to
prepare a more widely considered
response. In 1545, Paul III called
together the Council of Trent at
which bishops and cardinals
reaffirmed Catholic doctrines, from
the importance of the priesthood
and sacraments to the legitimacy
of indulgences. But the council
also introduced reforms: it forbade
abuses such as the holding ofmultiple offices by one priest, set up
training seminaries for priests, and,
in an attempt to slow the spread of
Protestant doctrine, established a
commission to specify which books
Catholics were forbidden to read. In
addition, a number of popes from
Paul III onward lived austerely,
appointed like-minded bishops,
and reviewed papal finances.Counter-Reformation
The council met periodically for
18 years, and provoked a renewal
and resurgence of Catholicism from
within the church that is usually
called the Counter-Reformation.
The new Society of Jesus (also
known as the order of Jesuits),
founded by Spanish knight Ignatius
Loyola in 1534, was approved by
the pope in 1540 as an answer to
the Reformation, and it spread
a powerful Counter-Reformation
message across Europe. The
contemporary revival of Christian
art, which coincided with the
flowering of the baroque style in
Italy, added a vibrant emphasis.THE EARLY MODERN ERA
Baroque churches were imposing
and ornate, filled with affecting
sculptures, paintings, and strikingly
posed biblical scenes. This potent
propaganda served to underline
the difference between Catholic
churches and their Protestant
counterparts, which were usually
plain and undecorated. Baroque art,
together with the zeal of reforming
popes and Jesuit priests, helped to
ensure that the Catholic church
survived and flourished in countries
such as Italy and Spain, even while
the Protestant movement was
gathering strength elsewhere.
Europe, which had once been
united under the pope in the
Roman Catholic Church, was now
irrevocably split into Catholic and
Protestant states. The seeds were
sown for over a century of conflict
as subjects took up arms against
their rulers, kings and princes
clashed, and nations attacked
nations in the name of religion. ■Has the Catholic Church
been dead for a thousand
years to be revived
only by Martin?
Cardinal Girolamo
Aleandro, 1521Some attempts
are made at
internal reform.Luther’s reforming influence
spreads across Europe and
divides the Catholic church.The Catholic
church begins
the Counter-
Reformation.Martin Luther begins his
reform campaign based
on his 95 theses.Corruption is widespread in the Catholic Church.US_160-163_Martin_Luther_Wittenburg.indd 163 15/02/2016 16:42