The Protestant Reformation was the schism within Western Christianity
initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other early Protestants.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE [ edit ]
Explain the main motivating factors behind the Protestant Reformation
KEY POINTS [ edit ]
The Reformation began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church, by priests who
opposed what they perceived as false doctrines and ecclesiastic malpractice.
John Wycliffe and Jan Hus were early opponents of papal authority and their work and views
shaped the way for the Reformation.
Martin Luther was a seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation who strongly disputed the sale
of indulgences. His Ninety­Five Theses criticized many of the doctrines and practices of the
Church.
The work and writings of John Calvin were influential in establishing a loose consensus among
various reformist groups in Switzerland, Scotland, Hungary, Germany.
The Roman Catholic Church responded with a Counter­Reformation spearheaded by the new
order of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) specifically organized to counter the Protestant movement.
TERMS [ edit ]
ecclesiastic
One who adheres to a church­based philosophy.
indulgences
In Catholic theology, an indulgence is a remission of the punishment which would otherwise be
inflicted for a previously forgiven sin as a natural consequence of having sinned. They are granted
for specific good works and prayers in proportion to the devotion with which those good works
are performed or prayers recited
doctrine
List of beliefs and teachings by the Church.
Diet of Worms
An imperial diet (formal deliberative assembly) of the Holy Roman Empire held in Worms,
Germany at the Heylshof Garden in 1521.
the Western Schism
A split within the Catholic Church from 1378 to 1418 when several men simultaneously claimed to
be the true pope.
Council of Trent
Council of the Roman Catholic Church set up in Trento, Italy in direct response to the
Reformation.
Give us feedback on this content: FULL TEXT [ edit ]
The date most usually given for the start of the Protestant Reformation is 1517, when Luther
published The Ninety­Five Theses in which he criticized many of the doctrines and
devotional practices of the Catholic Church. The reformation led to the creation of new
national Protestant churches.
Early Attempts at Reform
The Reformation began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church, by priests who
opposed what they perceived as false doctrines and ecclesiastic malpractice—especially the
teaching and the sale of indulgences or the abuses thereof, and simony, the selling and
buying of clerical offices—that the reformers saw as evidence of the systemic corruption of
the Church's Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, which included the Pope.
New perspectives came from John Wycliffe at Oxford University, one of the earliest
opponents of papal authority influencing secular power and an early advocate for translation
of the Bible into the common language. Jan Hus at the University of Prague was a follower of
Wycliffe and similarly objected to some of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Hus
wanted liturgy in the language of the people (i.e. Czech), married priests, to eliminate
indulgences and the idea of Purgatory. Hus was condemned and burned at the stake despite
promise of safe­conduct when he voiced his views to church leaders at the Council of
Constance (1414­18). Wycliffe, who died in 1384, was also declared a heretic by the Council of
Constance and Wycliffe's corpse was exhumed and burned.
Although the core motivation leading up to the Reformation was theological, many other
factors played a part, including the rise of nationalism, the Western Schism which eroded
people's faith in the Papacy, the corruption of the Curia, and the new learning of
the Renaissance which questioned much traditional thought. On a technological level the
invention of the printing press proved extremely significant in that it provided the means for
the rapid dissemination of new ideas.
The Creation of new Protestant Churches
The Reformation led to the creation of new national Protestant churches. The largest of the
new churches groupings were the Lutherans (mostly in Germany, the Baltics and
Scandinavia) and the Reformed churches (mostly in Germany, France, Switzerland, the
Netherlands and Scotland).
Luther
Martin Luther (1483­1546) was a seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation. Luther
strongly disputed the sale of indulgences, or the idea that freedom from God's punishment
for sin could be purchased with monetary values. He confronted indulgence salesman
Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar, with his Ninety­Five Theses in 1517. His refusal to retract
all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the Pope and
condemnation as an outlaw by the Emperor.
Martin Luther
Martin Luther, shown in a portrait by Lucas Cranach the Elder, initiated the Protestant Reformation in
1517
Luther's translation of the Bible into the vernacular (instead of Latin) made it more
accessible, which had a tremendous impact on the church and on German culture. It fostered
the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to
the art of translation, and influenced the writing of an English translation, the Tyndale Bible.
His hymns influenced the development of singing in churches and his marriage to Katharina
von Bora set a model for the practice of clerical marriage, allowing Protestant priests to
marry.
Luther taught that salvation and subsequently eternity in heaven is not earned by good deeds
but is received only as a free gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer
from sin and subsequently eternity in Hell. His theology challenged the authority of the Pope
of the Roman Catholic Church by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely
revealed knowledge from God. Luther's followers and those who identified with his wider
teachings, become known as Lutherans even though Luther insisted on Christian as the only
acceptable name for individuals who professed Christ.
Reluctant Revolutionary
PBS Documentary about Martin Luther the 'Reluctant Revolutionary'. Luther opposed the Catholic
Church's practices and in 1517 he wrote his 95 Theses which detailed the Churches failings. His actions
lead to the start of the Protestant Revolution.
Calvin
John Calvin
An influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal
figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism.
Calvin was recruited by William Farel to help reform the church in Geneva, however the city
council resisted the implementation of Calvin's and Farel's ideas, and both men were
expelled. Calvin continued to support the reform movement in Geneva, and was eventually
invited back to lead its church.
Calvin's 'Ordinances' of 1541 involved a collaboration of Church affairs with the City council
and consistory to bring morality to all areas of life. After the establishment of the Geneva
academy in 1559, Geneva became the unofficial capital of the Protestant movement,
providing refuge for Protestant exiles from all over Europe and educating them as
Calvinist missionaries. These missionaries dispersed Calvinism widely, and formed the
French Huguenots in Calvin's own lifetime, as well as causing the conversion of Scotland
under the leadership of John Knox in 1560.The faith continued to spread after Calvin's death
in 1563 and reached as far as Constantinople by the start of the 17th century.
Response from the Catholic Church to the Reformation
The Roman Catholic Church responded with a Counter­Reformation initiated by the Council
of Trent and spearheaded by the new order of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) specifically
organized to counter the Protestant movement. In general, Northern Europe, with the
exception of most of Ireland, turned Protestant. Southern Europe remained Roman Catholic,
while Central Europe was a site of fierce conflict, escalating to full­scale war.
Council of Trent by Pasquale Cati
Painting representing the artists depiction of The Council. It met for twenty­five sessions between 13
December 1545 and 4 December 1563, all in Trento (then the capital of the Prince­Bishopric of Trent in the
Holy Roman Empire), apart from the ninth to eleventh sessions held in Bologna during 1547.