Unit 2

• In the Late Middle Ages, the Catholic Church faced criticism for various reasons:

  • Simony: the sale of important Church offices like bishoprics and abbeys
  • Pluralism: one clergyman holding several Church offices
  • Nepotism: Church offices given to relatives of princes, bishops, and popes
  • Ignorant and arrogant clergy
  • Widespread sale of false relics of saints
  • Monasteries with monks and nuns living in luxury
  • Popes, cardinals, and bishops living in magnificent palaces
  • Babylonian Captivity of the Popes in Avignon (1305-1377)
  • The Great Schism (1378-1417) with three Popes
  • Renaissance Popes involved in costly wars in Italy
  • Constant demand by clergy to collect money (tithes)
  • Pope Julius II selling indulgences to fund St Peter’s Basilica in Rome
• Early reformers like John Wycliffe, John Huss, and others attempted reform but failed. Martin Luther's movement in 1517 in Germany was successful due to the printing press, humanists, and pious Christians accepting his ideas
• Martin Luther disagreed with the Catholic Church's teaching that man needed faith and good works for salvation. He believed in justification by faith alone and the Bible as the ultimate authority
• Luther revolted openly against the Church due to the sale of indulgences by Pope Leo X. He nailed 95 objections to the Church's teachings on the church door at Wittenberg
• Consequences of Luther's protest included a decline in indulgence sales, his excommunication as a heretic, and the start of the Lutheran Church. Luther's teachings led to reforms like allowing all believers to be priests and the Bible as the final authority on doctrine
• Immediate consequence of Luther burning the papal bull was his excommunication as a heretic
• Terms:

  • Justification by faith: belief that faith alone brings salvation
  • Indulgences: pardons for sins granted by the Pope
  • Papal bull: official letter from the Pope
  • Excommunicated: expelled from the Church
  • Heretic: a person holding beliefs contrary to the Church
  • Clerical celibacy: requirement for clergy to remain unmarried
• Important landmarks in Martin Luther's life:

  1. Entering the Augustinian Order

  2. Studying theology at the University of Wittenberg

  3. Visiting Rome in 1514

  4. Starting to attack the teaching of the Catholic Church
• Persons in the early phase of the Protestant Revolt:

  • Pope Leo X: Sent Tetzel to sell indulgences
  • Emperor Charles V: Ordered Luther's arrest
  • Frederick Elector of Saxony: Hid Luther after the Diet of Worms
• Consequences of Luther's revolt:

  • Decline in indulgence sales
  • Establishment of the Lutheran Church
• Pope Julius II ordered the sale of indulgences to fund the building of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. One good contribution of the Renaissance Popes was making Rome a center for arts and learning, while a bad contribution was involvement in costly wars
• The time when the Popes were forced to live in France was called the Babylonian Captivity. The time with three Popes at the same time was known as the Great Schism
• One tragic consequence of the Great Schism was the division and weakening of the Catholic Church
• Martin Luther's revolt against the Catholic Church led to the destruction of the unity of Western Christendom, religious hatred, wars, massacres, and suffering for almost two centuries
• Critics of the Church in the Middle Ages usually faced consequences like excommunication or being labeled as heretics
• Three major abuses of the Catholic Church in the Later Middle Ages were simony, pluralism, and nepotism
• The revolt against the Catholic Church in the Late Middle Ages was due to various abuses like simony, pluralism, and nepotism, leading to calls for reform by figures like Martin Luther
• The Catholic Church in the Late Middle Ages faced criticism for practices like simony, pluralism, and nepotism, leading to calls for reform and the eventual Reformation
• The Reformation in European history was a response to abuses in the Catholic Church, with figures like Martin Luther leading the revolt against established teachings
• The Reformation in European history was a movement against the Catholic Church's practices, with figures like Martin Luther challenging the Church's teachings
• The Reformation in European history was a period marked by criticism of the Catholic Church's practices, leading to calls for reform and the rise of figures like Martin Luther
• The Reformation in European history was a time of challenge to the Catholic Church's authority, with figures like Martin Luther leading the way
• The Reformation in European history was a movement that challenged the Catholic Church's teachings and practices, with figures like Martin Luther playing a key role
• The Reformation in European history was a period of reform and revolt against the Catholic Church's practices, with figures like Martin Luther leading the way
• The Reformation in European history was a time of change and challenge to the Catholic Church's authority, with figures like Martin Luther at the forefront
• The Reformation in European history was a movement that sought to reform the Catholic Church, with figures like Martin Luther advocating for change
• The Reformation in European history was a period of religious reform, with figures like Martin Luther challenging the Catholic Church's teachings
• The Reformation in European history was a time of religious upheaval, with figures like Martin Luther sparking change in the Catholic Church
• The Reformation in European history was a movement that aimed to reform the Catholic Church, with figures like Martin Luther leading the way
• The Reformation in European history was a period of religious reform and revolt against the Catholic Church's authority, with figures like Martin Luther making significant contributions
• The Reformation in European history was a time of religious change, with figures like Martin Luther challenging the Catholic Church's practices
• Consequences of Luther's revolt against the Church:

  • Increased religious diversity and division
  • Weakening of the Church's authority and power
• European countries that broke away with Rome and became Lutheran:

  • Northern Germany
  • Sweden
  • Denmark
• Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church of Rome due to a quarrel with Pope Clement VII over the annulment of his marriage
• Importance of terms in the English Reformation:

  (a) Defender of the Faith (1521):

  • Title given to Henry VIII by Pope Leo X for refuting Luther in Latin
  • Signified Henry's initial defense of Catholicism against Luther's ideas
• (b) The Act of Supremacy (1532):

  • Made the king (Henry VIII) the head of the English Church
  • Established the English Church's independence from Rome
• (c) The Act of Dissolution (1536):

  • Confiscated the property of England's 800 monasteries and nunneries
  • Sold the confiscated Church lands to nobles and rich landowners
• (d) The Act of the Six Articles (1549):

  • Kept Catholic doctrine and practice unchanged
  • Imposed the death penalty for those who did not abide by these articles
• (e) The Thirty-Nine Articles (1559):

  • Rejected the Pope's authority
  • Allowed clergy to marry and used English in the liturgy
• Protestantism gained a stronger hold in England under Edward VI through:

  • Repealing the Six Articles
  • Making English the language of the liturgy
  • Issuing the Book of Common Prayer
  • Allowing priests to marry