The Protestant Reformation.

The usual term for the religious movement that made its appearance in Western Europe in the 16th century, and which, while ostensibly calling for an internal renewal of the Church, actually led to a great revolt against it and an abandonment of the main religious beliefs. We must review the general characteristics of this movement from the following perspectives:

I. Causes of the Reformation;

II. Original Ideas and Purposes of the Reformers;

III. Methods of dissemination of the Reformation;

IV. Spread of the Reformation in Various Countries;

V. Different Forms of the Reformation;

VI. Results and consequences of the Reformation 

I. CAUSES OF THE REFORMATION

The causes of the great religious revolt of the 16th century must be sought as far back as the 14th century. The doctrine of the Church, it is true, had remained pure; Holy lives were still common in all parts of Europe, and the numerous medieval institutions of benefit to the Church continued their course uninterruptedly. Whatever unfortunate conditions existed were largely due to civil and profane influences or the exercise of authority by ecclesiastics in civil spheres; These did not have the same intensity in all places, nor did they always occur simultaneously in the same country. Ecclesiastical and religious life showed vigor and variety in several places; works of education and charity abounded; he religious art in all its forms it had a living force; domestic missionaries were many and influential; pious and edifying literature was common and appreciated. Gradually, however, and largely owing to the variously hostile spirit of the civil powers, nourished and intensified by many elements of the new order, political and social conditions grew up in many parts of Europe which hindered sincere reforming activities in the Church, and which favored the rash and unscrupulous, who found a unique opportunity to unleash all the forces of heresy and schism for so long restrained by the harmonious action of the ecclesiastical and civil authorities.

  1. Since the barbarian invasions the Church had effected a complete transformation and revitalization of the races of Western Europe and a glorious development of intellectual and religious life. HepapacyIt had become the powerful center of the Christian family of nations, and as it had done for centuries, in union with the episcopate and the clergy, it carried out a most beneficial activity. With the ecclesiastical organization fully developed, it came to pass that the government activities of the ecclesiastical bodies were no longer confined to the ecclesiastical sphere, but affected almost every sphere of popular life. Gradually, a regrettable worldly attitude manifested itself in many high ecclesiastics. His main object – leading men to their eternal goal – took very little of his attention, and worldly activities became in many cases his main interest. Political power, material possessions, privileged position in public life, the defense of ancient historical rights, earthly interests of various kinds were very often the main purpose of many of the high clergy. Pastoral care, the specifically religious and ecclesiastical purpose, was quite relegated to the background, while still considering various lively and successful attempts to rectify existing evils.
  2. Closely connected to the above, there were various abuses in the life of the clergy and the people. In the Papal Curia political interests and a worldly life were often prominent. Many bishops and abbots (especially in countries in which they were also princes of the territory) showed themselves more as secular sovereigns than as servants of the Church. Many members of the cathedral chapters and other benefited ecclesiastics were mainly concerned with their income and how to increase it, especially through the union of prebends (including episcopal sees) in the hands of one person, who then enjoyed a large income and greater power. Lust openly prevailed among the higher clergy, while the lower clergy were frequently oppressed. The scientific and ascetic training of the clergy left much to be desired, the standard of many being very low and the practice ofcelibacynot observed everywhere. No less serious was the condition of many male and even female monasteries (which were frequently homes for the unmarried daughters of the nobility). The formal prestige of the clergy had thus suffered enormously, and its members were in many places regarded with contempt. For the Christian people, in many districts ignorance, superstition, religious indifference and immorality They were ordinary. However, vigorous efforts to restore life were made in most lands, and side by side with this moral decay appear numerous examples of sincere and upright Christian living. Such efforts, however, were very often confined to limited circles. Since the fourteenth century, the demand for a “reform of the head and members” (reformatio in capite et in membris) had been voiced with increasing energy by serious and sensible men, but the same claim was also supported by men who had no sincere desire for a religious renewal, merely aspiring to reforms for others but not for themselves and seeking only their own interests. This call for the reform of the head and members, insistently discussed in many writings and in conversations about the existing and often exaggerated abuses, necessarily tended to lower the clergy still further in the eyes of the people, especially since the councils of the fifteenth century, although quite busy in attempts at reform, did not succeed in carrying them out extensively or permanently.
  3. The authority of the Holy See had also been seriously damaged, partly through the fault of some of its occupants and partly through the action of secular princes. The transfer of the Pope to Avignon, in the 14th century, was a serious mistake. Since then the universal character of the Papacy was obscured in the minds of Christians. Certain phases of the dispute with Louis the Bavarian and with the Franciscan Spirituals clearly indicated a decline in papal power. The most severe explosion occurred with the disastrous papal schism (1378-1418) that familiarized theWestern Christianswith the idea that war had to be waged, with all material and spiritual weapons, against one whom many other Christians considered to be the only legitimate Pope. After the restoration of unity, attempts at reform of the Papal Curia were not consistent. Humanism and the Ideals of the Renaissance were zealously cultivated in Rome and, unfortunately, the pagan tendencies of that movement, so opposed to the Christian moral law, very deeply affected the lives of many high ecclesiastics, to the point that such worldly ideas, lust, and immorality quickly gained ground in the center of ecclesiastical life. When ecclesiastical authority weakened at the head-bottom, it necessarily declined everywhere else. There were also serious administrative abuses in the Papal Curia. The increasing centralization of ecclesiastical administration had caused many ecclesiastical benefices in all parts of Christendom to be conferred on Rome, while in the granting of these the personal interests of the petitioner were often considered before the spiritual needs of the faithful. The various types of restraint had also become a serious abuse. Dissatisfaction was widely felt among the clergy with the many taxes imposed by the Curia in reference to ecclesiastical benefits. In the 14th century, these cups caused great complaints. Proportionately to the loss of respect by many for papal authority, resentment grew against both the Curia and the Papacy. The reform councils of the 15th century, instead of improving the situation, further weakened the highest ecclesiastical authorities due to their anti-papal tendencies and measures.
  4. Meanwhile, a national consciousness, purely temporary and largely hostile to the Church, had developed among the princes and governors; Evil forces interfered more frequently in ecclesiastical matters, and the direct influence exerted by laymen on the domestic administration of the Church increased rapidly. In the course of the 14th and 15th centuries, the modern concept of the State emerged. During the preceding period many issues of a secular or mixed nature had been regulated or governed by the Church, in contact with the historical development of European society. With the growing self-consciousness of the State, secular governments sought to control everything that fell within their competence, which, although largely justifiable, was new and offensive, and led later to frequent collisions betweenChurch and State. The State, furthermore, due to the close historical connection between the secular and ecclesiastical orders, invaded the ecclesiastical sphere. During the course of the Western Schism (1378-1418) the opposing popes sought the support of the secular powers, and thus gave the latter ample opportunity to interfere in purely ecclesiastical matters. Again, to strengthen their authority in the face of anti-papal tendencies, the 15th-century popes on several occasions made certain concessions to the civil authorities, so much so that the latter came to consider ecclesiastical matters as within their domain. In the future, the Church was to be not above, but subordinate to, civil power, and increasingly threatened with total subjection. According to the national self-consciousness developed in the various countries of Europe, the sense of unity and interdependence of the Christian family of nations became weaker. Envy among nations increased, selfishness gained ground, the gap between politics and Christian morality and religion became wider, and dangerous and discontented revolutionary tendencies spread rapidly among the people. Meanwhile, the love of wealth received a great incentive with the discovery of the New World, the rapid development of commerce, and the new prosperity of cities. In public life, a multifaceted and intense activity was manifested, heralding a new era and inclining the popular mentality to changes in the hitherto undivided province of religion.
  5. The Renaissance and Humanism partially introduced and greatly nourished these conditions. The love of luxury was soon associated with the revival of the art and literature of Greco-Roman paganism. The religious ideal of Christianity was lost to a large extent of people; the highest intellectual culture, formerly largely confined to the clergy, but now common among the laity, assumed a secular character and was in many cases actively and practically nourished by a pagan spirit, morality, and outlook. A crude materialism appeared among the upper classes of society and in the educated world, characterized by a great love of pleasure, a desire for acquisition, and a voluptuousness of life diametrically opposed to Christian morality. Only a timid interest in supernatural life survived. The new art of printing made it possible to openly disseminate the works of pagan authors and their humanist imitators. Immoral poems and romances, spicy satires on ecclesiastical personalities and institutions, revolutionary works and songs, circulated in all directions and caused immense damage. As humanism grew, it waged a violent war againstScholasticismof that time. The traditional theological method had degenerated quite a bit due to the meticulous, fussy way of dealing with theological questions, and a solid and strong treatment of theology had unfortunately disappeared from many schools and writings. The Humanists cultivated new methods and based Theology on the bible and in the study of the Fathers of the Church, an essentially good movement that properly developed should have renewed the study of Theology. But the violence of the Humanists, their exaggerated attack on Scholasticism and the frequent obscurity of their teaching aroused strong opposition on the part of the most representative Scholastics. The new movement, however, had won the sympathy of the secular world and the section of the clergy devoted to Humanism. The danger became too imminent that the Reformation would not remain confined to theological methods but would extend to the content of dogma, and that it would find widespread support in humanist circles.

The ground was then ready for the growth of revolutionary movements in the religious sphere. Many grave warnings were indeed proclaimed, indicating the imminent danger and urging a fundamental reform of the then poor conditions. Much had been done in that direction by the reform movement in various religious orders and by the apostolic efforts of zealous individuals. But a general renewal of ecclesiastical life and a uniform improvement of bad conditions, beginning with Rome itself, the center of the Church, was not readily undertaken, and soon only an external impulse was necessary to precipitate a revolution, which would separate large territories of Central Europe and almost all of Northern Europe from the unity of the Church.

II. ORIGINAL PURPOSES AND IDEAS OF THE REFORMERS

The first impetus for secession was provided by the opposition of Luther in Germany and Zwingli in German Switzerland to the promulgation by Leo indulgence for contributions to the construction of the new St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It had long been customary for Popes to grant indulgences for public service constructions (e.g. Bridges). In such cases, the true doctrine of indulgences as a remission of the penalties of sin (not of the guilt of sin) had always been maintained, and the necessary conditions (especially the obligation of a contrite confession to obtain absolution of sin) were always inculcated. But the donation for a good purpose, prescribed only as a good work supplementary to the main conditions for the profit of the indulgence, was often prominently emphasized. The indulgence commissioners sought to collect as much money as possible in connection with the indulgence. In fact, many times since the Western Schism, the spiritual needs of people did not receive as much consideration as a reason for the promulgation of an indulgence, as the need for a good end for the promotion of which the indulgence could be gained, and the consequent need to obtain alms for that purpose. The war against the Turks and other crises, the erection of churches and monasteries and numerous other causes led to the granting of indulgences in the 15th century. The consequent abuses were intensified by the fact that secular rulers frequently prohibited the promulgation of indulgences within their territories, only consenting on the condition that a portion of the receptions be given to them. However, in practice and, consequently, in the public mind, the promulgation of indulgences took on an economic aspect and, as was common, many came to consider them as an oppressive tax. Righteous men raised their voices in vain against this abuse, which aroused no little bitterness against the ecclesiastical order and, particularly, against the Papal Curia. The promulgation of indulgences for the new St. Peter’s Basilica provided Luther with an opportunity to attack indulgences in general, and that attack was the immediate cause of the Reformation in Germany. Shortly after, the same reason led Zwingli to apply his mistaken teachings, thereby inaugurating the Reformation in German Switzerland. Both declared that they were attacking only the abuses of indulgences; However, they soon taught a doctrine in many ways contrary to the teaching of the Church.

The great acceptance that Luther received in his first appearance, both in humanistic circles and among some theologians and some of the good laymen, was due to a dissatisfaction with the existing abuses. His own erroneous visions and the influence of a portion of his followers soon led him to rebel against ecclesiastical authority as such, and consequently to open apostasy and schism. Its main supporters at the beginning were among the Humanists, the immoral clergy, and the lowest levels of the landed nobility imbued with revolutionary tendencies. It soon became evident that he planned to subvert all the fundamental institutions of the Church. Beginning by proclaiming the false doctrine of “justification by faith alone,” he then rejected all supernatural medicines (especially the sacraments and the Mass), denied the merit of good works (thus condemning monastic vows and Christian asceticism in general), and finally rejected the institution of a genuine hierarchical priesthood (especially the papacy) in the Church. His doctrine of The Bible as the only rule of faith, with the rejection of all ecclesiastical authority, established subjectivism in matters of faith. By this revolutionary assault, Luther lost the support of many serious people unwilling to break with the Church, but, on the other hand, he conquered all anti-ecclesiastical elements, including numerous monks and nuns who left the monasteries to break their vows and many priests who embraced his cause with the intention of marrying. The support of its sovereign, Frederick of Saxony, was of great importance. Soon afterward, secular princes and municipal magistrates made the Reformation a pretext for arbitrary interference in purely religious and ecclesiastical matters, for appropriating ecclesiastical property and disposing of it at will, and for deciding what faith their subjects should accept. Some followers of Luther went to even greater extremes. The Anabaptists and the “Iconoclasts“ They revealed the most extreme possibilities of the principles defended by Luther, while in the Peasants’ War, the most oppressed elements of German society put the reformist’s doctrine into practice. Ecclesiastical affairs were now reorganized on the basis of the new teachings; From now on the secular power is even more clearly the supreme judge in purely religious questions and completely ignores any independent ecclesiastical authority.

A second center of the Reformation was established by Zwingli in Zurich. Although he differed in many details from Luther, and was much more radical than the latter in his transformation of the ceremonial of the Mass, the purposes of his followers were identical with those of the Lutherans. Political considerations played a great part in the development of Zwinglianism, and the magistracy of Zurich, after a majority of its members had declared themselves in favor of Zwingli, became a zealous protector of the Reformation. Arbitrary decrees were promulgated by the magistrates in relation to ecclesiastical organization; Councilors who remained faithful to the Catholic Faith were expelled from the council, and Catholic services were prohibited in the city. The city and canton of Zurich were reformed by the civil authorities according to Zwingli’s ideas. Other parts of German Switzerland experienced a similar fate. French Switzerland later developed its own peculiar Reformation; This was organized in Geneva by Calvin. Calvinism is different from Lutheranism and Zwinglianism by a more rigid and consistent form of doctrine and by the rigor of its moral precepts, which regulate the entire domestic and public life of citizens. Calvin’s ecclesiastical organization was declared the fundamental law of the Republic of Geneva and the authorities gave their full support to the reformer in the establishment of his new court of ethics. Calvin’s word was the supreme authority and he did not tolerate any contradiction to his visions and standards. Calvinism was introduced into Geneva and the surrounding countryside through violence. Catholic priests were banished and people oppressed and compelled to attend Calvinist sermons.

The origin of the Reformation in England was completely different. Here, the sensual and tyrannical Henry VIII, with the support of Thomas Cranmer, whom the king appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, separated his country from ecclesial unity because the pope, as the true guardian of Divine law, refused to recognize the king’s invalid marriage to Anne Boleyn while his legitimate wife was alive. Leaving obedience to the pope, the despotic monarch constituted himself as the supreme judge even in ecclesiastical matters; the opposition of some good men like Thomas More and John Fisher I end in blood. The king, however, wished to keep both the doctrines of the Church and the ecclesiastical hierarchy intact, and originated a series of doctrines and institutions rejected by Luther and his followers so that they would be strictly prescribed by an Act of Parliament (Six Articles) under penalty of death. In England the civil power also constituted itself the supreme judge in matters of faith, and laid the basis for further arbitrary religious innovations. Under the next sovereign, Edward VI (1547-1553), the Protestant party gained supremacy and thereafter began to promote the Reformation in England according to the principles of Luther, Zwingli and Calvin. Here also force was used to spread the new doctrines. This last effort of the Reformation movement was practically confined to England (see ANGLICANISM).

III. THE METHOD OF DIFFUSION OF THE REFORMATION

The founders and collaborators of the Reformation were not scrupulous when choosing the means for its extension, using any factor that could contribute to their movement.

  1. The denunciation of real and alleged abuses in ecclesial life was – especially at the beginning – one of the main methods used by the reformers to promote their designs. By these means they won over many who were dissatisfied with existing conditions and were ready to support any movement that promised change. But it was especially the explicit hatred of Rome and the members of the hierarchy, nourished by the incessantly repeated and rarely justifiable complaints about abuses, that most efficiently supported the Reformers, who very soon violently attacked papal authority, recognizing in it the supreme defender of the Catholic Faith. Hence, a multitude of lampoons, often of the most vulgar, against the pope, the bishops and, in general, against all the representatives of ecclesiastical authority. These pamphlets were circulated everywhere among the people and, with that, respect for authority was even more violently weakened. Painters prepared insolent and degrading caricatures of the pope, clergy and monks to illustrate the text of the hostile pamphlets. Fought with all possible weapons – even the most reprehensible – this war against the representatives of the Church, as the alleged causes of all ecclesial abuses, prepared the way for the reception of the Reformation. The distinction between temporary and amendable abuses and fundamental supernatural Christian truths was no longer maintained; Along with the abuses, important ecclesiastical institutions, which rested on a Divine foundation, were simultaneously abolished.
  2. They also took advantage of the divisions existing in many places between civil and ecclesiastical authorities. The development of the State – in its modern form – among the Christian peoples of the West, gave rise to many disputes between the clergy and the laity, between bishops and cities, between monasteries and territorial lords. When the reformers took away from the clergy all authority, especially all influence in public affairs, they enabled the princes and municipal authorities to end that long pending contest for their own advantage, by arbitrarily ascribing to themselves all the disputed rights, abolishing the hierarchy whose rights they usurped, and then establishing by their own authority an entirely new ecclesial organization. The Reformed clergy then possessed, from the beginning, only those rights which the civil authorities were pleased to assign to them. Consequently, the national Reformed Churches were completely subordinated to civil authority, and the Reformers, who had charged the civil power with the actual execution of their principles, now had no means of freeing themselves from that servitude.
  3. Over the centuries an immense number of foundations had been made for religious, charitable and educational purposes, and had been provided with rich material resources. Churches, monasteries, hospitals and schools often had large incomes and extensive possessions, which aroused the envy of secular governors. The Reformation allowed them to secularize this vast ecclesiastical wealth, since the leaders of the Reformation constantly decried the centralization of such wealth in the hands of the clergy. The princes and municipal authorities were then invited to divide the ecclesiastical property, and to use it for their own purposes. The ecclesiastical principalities, which were entrusted to the tenants only as ecclesiastical persons for administration and usufruct, were, despite the law in force, by the exclusion of the tenants, transformed into secular principalities. Thus the Reformers succeeded in depriving the Church of the temporal wealth provided for its many needs and diverting the same for their own benefit.
  4. Human emotions, to which the Reformers appealed in the most diverse ways, were another means of expansion of the Reformation. The very ideas that these innovators defended – Christian freedom, license of thought, the right and ability of each individual to find his or her own faith in the Bible and other similar principles – were very seductive to many. The abolition of religious institutions that acted as a check on the sinful nature (confession, penance, fasting, abstinence, promises) attracted the lustful and frivolous. The war against religious orders, against virginity and celibacy, against the practices of a higher Christian life, won over to the Reformation a large number of those who, without a real vocation, had assumed religious life for purely human and worldly reasons, and who desired to be freed from obligations in relation to God, which had become costly, and to be free to satisfy their sensual appetites. They could do it in the easiest way, once the confiscation of the property of the Churches and monasteries made it possible to provide the material advancement of those who were previously monks and nuns and of the priests who apostatized. In the innumerable writings and pamphlets addressed to the people, the Reformers made this their frequent endeavor to excite the lowest human instincts. Against the Pope, the Roman Curia and the bishops, priests, monks and nuns who had remained faithful to their Catholic convictions, the most incredible pamphlets and defamatory writings were disseminated. In extremely vulgar language, Catholic doctrines and institutions were deformed and ridiculed. Among the poorest, most illiterate, and abandoned elements of the population, the baser passions and instincts were stimulated and pressed into the service of the Reformation.
  5. At first, many bishops demonstrated great apathy in relation to the Reformers, not giving any importance to the new movement; Thus, the leaders of the movement were given more time to expand their doctrines. Even later, many worldly-inclined bishops, while remaining faithful to the Church, were very lax in combating heresy and in employing appropriate means to prevent its further advance. The same must be said of the parish clergy, who were largely ignorant and indifferent, and looked on in vain at the abandonment of the people. The Reformers, on the other hand, demonstrated greater zeal for their cause. Leaving no means unused, by word or pen, by constant interaction with like-minded people, by popular eloquence, in the employment of which the leaders of the Reformation were especially skilful, through popular sermons and writings that appealed to the weaknesses of the popular character, through the incitement of the fanaticism of the masses, in short, through an intelligent and zealous utilization of every opportunity and opening presented to them, they proved their ardor for expansion of its doctrines. Meanwhile, they proceeded with great cunning, pretending to adhere strictly to the essential truths of the Catholic Faith, retaining at first many of the external ceremonies of Catholic worship, and declaring their intention to abolish only those things supported by human invention, thus seeking to deceive the people as to the true purposes of their activity. They did indeed find many pious and zealous opponents among the best of the regular and secular clergy, but the great need, especially at the beginning, was a universally organized and systematically conducted resistance against this false reform.
  6. Many new institutions introduced by the Reformers favored the multitude – e.g. e.g. the reception of the chalice by all people, the use of the vernacular language in divine service, the popular religious hymns used during services, the reading of the Bible, the denial of the essential differences between the clergy and the laity. In that category must be included doctrines that had great attraction for many – for example, justification by faith alone without reference to good works; the rejection of freedom of will, which offered an excuse for moral lapses; the personal certainty of salvation in faith (subjective confidence in the merits of Christ), the universal priesthood, which seemed to give everyone a direct share in priestly functions and ecclesiastical administration.
  7. Finally, one of the main means used to promote the expansion of the Reformation was the use of violence by princes and municipal authorities. Princes who remained Catholic were expelled and replaced by adherents of the new doctrine, and people were compelled to attend the new services. The faithful adhered to the Church were persecuted in various ways and the civil authorities saw to it that the faith of the descendants of those who had strongly opposed the Reformation was gradually destroyed. In many places people were separated from the Church with brutal violence; In any place, to deceive people, the artifice used was to retain the Catholic rite out of circulation for a long time, prescribing for the reformed clergy the ecclesiastical vestments of the Catholic cult. The History of the Reformation shows incontestably that civil power was the main factor in its expansion in all lands and that, ultimately, it was not religious interests but dynastic, political and social interests that were decisive. Add to this the fact that the princes and municipal magistrates who had joined the Reformers grossly tyrannized the consciences of their subjects and citizens. Everyone must accept the religion prescribed by the civil regulator. The principle “Cuius regio, illius et religio” (Subjects must submit to the choice of religion of the head of the territory) is a fruit of the Reformation and was put into practice by it and its adherents wherever they possessed the necessary strength.

IV. THE DIFFUSION OF THE REFORMATION IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES

Germany and German Switzerland

The Reformation was inaugurated in Germany when Luther He posted his celebrated theses on the church door in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Luther was protected from the consequences of papal excommunication and imperial ban by the Elector Frederick of Saxony, his territorial sovereign. While outwardly adopting a neutral attitude, he later encouraged the formation of Lutheran communities within his domains, after Luther had returned to Wittenberg and resumed leadership of the reform movement there, in opposition to the Anabaptists. It was Luther who introduced arbitrary regulations for Divine worship and religious functions; According to these, Lutheran communities were established, where an organized heretical body opposed the Catholic Church. Among the other German princes who readily associated themselves with Luther and supported his efforts were:

  • John of Saxony (Frederick’s brother);
  • Grand-Master Albet of Prussia, who converted the lands of his order into a secular duchy, becoming its hereditary lord by accepting Lutheranism;
  • Dukes Henry and Albert of Mecklenburg;
  • Earl Albert of Mansfield;
  • Count Edzard, of East Friesland;
  • Landgrave Philip of Hesse, who declared himself definitively in favor of the Reformation after 1524.

Meanwhile in several imperial cities of Germany the reform movement was initiated by followers of Luther – especially in Ulm, Augsburg, Nuremberg, Nördlingen, Strasbourg, Konstanz, Mainz, Erfurt, Zwickau, Magdeburg, Frankfort-on-the-Main and Bremen. The Lutheran princes formed the Alliance of Torgau on May 4, 1526, for their common defense. Through their appearance at the Diet of Seller in 1526, they secured the adoption of the resolution that, in relation to the Edict of Worms, against Luther and his erroneous doctrines, each should adopt such an attitude that he could answer before God and the emperor. The freedom to introduce the Reformation in their territories was then conferred on the territorial leaders. The Catholic states were discouraged, while the Lutheran princes became even more extravagant with their demands. Even the entirely moderate decrees of the Diet of Speyer (1529) outlined a protest by the Lutherans and the Reformed states.

The negotiations at the Diet of Augsburg (1530), in which the states that rejected the Catholic faith elaborated their creed (the Augsburg Confession), showed that the restoration of religious unity would not be effected. The Reformation spread more and more, with both Lutheranism and Zwinglianism being introduced into other German territories. Together with the principalities and cities mentioned above, by 1530 it had made its way to the principalities of Bayreuth, Ansbach, Anhalt and Brunswick-Lunenburg and in the following few years to Pomerania, Jülich-Cleve and Wurtemberg. In Silesia and the duchy of Liegnitz the Reformation also made great advances. In 1531, the Schmalkaldic League, an offensive and defensive alliance was consolidated between the Protestant princes and the cities. Especially after its renewal (1535), this League was joined by other cities and princes who had joined the Reformation, for example, Count Palatine Rupert of Zweibrücken, Count William of Nassau, the cities of Augsburg, Kempten, Hamburg and others. New negotiations and discussions between the religious parties were instituted with a view to ending the schism, but without success. Among the methods adopted by Protestants in the expansion of the Reformation, force was increasingly used freely. The Diocese of Namburg-Zeitz having become vacant, the Elector Frederick of Saxony forcibly installed the Lutheran preacher Nicholas Amsdorf in the see (instead of the provost of the cathedral, Julius von Pflug, chosen by the chapter) and himself assumed the secular government. Duke Henry of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel was exiled in 1542, and the Reformation was introduced into his dominions by force. In Cologne even, the Reformation was almost established by force. Some ecclesiastical princes were proven criminals, without taking measures against the innovations that spread daily in the expanding circles. In Pfalz-Neuburg and in the states of Halberstadt, Halle, etc., the Reformation found entry. The collapse of the Schmalkaldic League (1547) somewhat stalled the progress of the Reformation: Julius von Pflug settled in the diocese of Naumburg, Duke Henry of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel regained his lands and Hermann von Wied had to abdicate the Diocese of Cologne, where the Catholic faith was then maintained.

The formula of union established by the Diet of Augsburg in 1547-48 (the Interim of Augsburg) was not successful in its purposes, despite having been introduced in many Protestant territories. Meanwhile, the betrayal of Prince Maurice of Saxony, who made a secret treaty with Henry II of France, an enemy of Germany, and formed a Confederation with the Protestant princes William of Hesse, John Albert of Mecklenburg, and Albert of Brandenburg, to make war on the emperor and his empire, broke the emperor’s power. At Charles’s suggestion, King Ferdinand convened the Diet of Augsburg in 1555, at which, after long negotiations, the pact known as the Religious Peace of Augsburg was concluded. This pact contained the following provisions in its twenty-two paragraphs:

  • between the Catholic imperial states and those of the Augsburg Confession (the Zwinglians were not considered in the treaty) peace and harmony should be observed;
  • No state of the empire should compel another state in its dominions to change its religion, nor should it wage war against them in the name of religion;
  • If an ecclesiastical dignitary assumes the Augsburg Confession, he would lose all his ecclesiastical dignity with all offices and emoluments attached to it, without loss, however, of his honor and private possessions. The Lutheran states protested against this ecclesiastical provision;
  • those who held the Augsburg Confession should be left in possession of all ecclesiastical property they had had since the beginning of the Reformation; after 1555 no party should take anything from the others;
  • Until the conclusion of peace between the contending religious bodies – to be carried out at the next Diet of Regensburg – the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic hierarchy was suspended in the territories of the Augsburg Confession;
  • If any dispute arises between the parties in relation to rights or lands, an attempt should first be made to resolve the disputes by arbitration;
  • no imperial state could protect the subjects of another state from the authorities;
  • every citizen of the Empire had the right to choose any of the two recognized religions and to practice it in another territory without loss of rights, honor and property (without prejudice, however, to the rights of the territorial lord over his peasantry);
  • This peace should include the free knights and free cities of the Empire and the imperial courts had to be guided exactly by its provisions;
  • vows could be administered either in the name of God or His Holy Gospel.

By means of this peace, the religious schism in the German Empire was definitively established; From now on the Catholic and Protestant states are opposing camps. Almost all of Germany, from the border with Holland in the west to the border with Poland in the east, the territory of the Teutonic Order in Prussia, Central Germany with the exception of most of the western portion, and (in South Germany) Wurtemburg, Ansbach, Pfalz-Zwebrucken, and other small dominions, with numerous free cities, had embraced the Lutheran Reformation. On the other hand, in the south and southeast, which remained predominantly Catholic, he found more or less numerous followers. Calvinism also spread quite widely.

But the Peace of Augsburg failed to ensure the harmony that was expected. Contrary to its express provisions, a number of ecclesiastical principalities (2 archbishoprics, 12 bishoprics and numerous abbeys) were reformed and secularized before the beginning of the 17th century. The Catholic League was formed for the protection of Catholic interests and to counterbalance the Protestant Union. The Thirty Years’ War soon ensued, a most disastrous struggle for Germany, since it left the country to its enemies to the west and north, and destroyed the power, wealth and influence of the German Empire. The Peace of Westphalia, concluded in 1648 with France in Munster and with Sweden in Osnabruck, definitively confirmed the status of the religious schism in Germany, placed the Calvinists and the Reformed in the same condition as the Lutherans and immediately granted to the states subordinate to the emperor the right to introduce the Reformation. From now on, territorial sovereigns could compel their subjects to adopt a particular religion, subject to the recognition of the independence of those who, in 1624, enjoyed the right to hold their own religious services. State Absolutism in religious matters had now reached its greatest development in Germany.

In German Switzerland, a similar course was charted. After Zurich had accepted and forcefully introduced the Reformation, Basel followed suit. In Basel, John Oecolampadius and Wolfgand Capito associated themselves with Zwingli, spread his teachings and won a victory for the new faith. The Catholic members of the Great Council were expelled. Similar results followed in Appenzell, near Rhodes, Schaffhausen and Glarus. After long hesitation, the Reformation was also accepted in Bern, where a Carthusian apostate, Frank Kolb, with Johann and Berthold Haller, preached Zwinglianism; all monasteries were suppressed, and great violence was exercised to force the penetration of Zwinglianism into the people of the territory. St. Gallen, where Joachim Valdianus preached, and a large portion of Graubunden also adopted the innovations. Throughout the empire, Zwinglianism was a great rival to Lutheranism, to the point that a violent conflict began between the two confessions, despite constant negotiations for union. The attempts did not tend to want to end the unfortunate religious division in Switzerland. In May 1526, a great religious dispute was held in Baden, the Catholics being represented by Eck, Johann Faber and Murner and the Reformed by Ecolampadio and Berthold Haller. The result was favorable to the Catholics; most of the state representatives present declared themselves against the Reformation, and the writings of Luther and Zwingli were banned. This aroused the opposition of the Reformed states. In 1527, Zurich formed an alliance with Constance; Basel, Bern; and other Reformed states joined the Confederacy in 1528. In self-defense, the Catholic states formed an alliance in 1529, for the protection of the true faith within their territories. In the resulting war, the Catholic states won a victory at Kappel, with Zwingli being mortally wounded on the battlefield. Peace was granted to Zurich and Berne, with the condition that no place should disturb another in the name of religion and that Catholic services should be freely maintained in the common territories. The Catholic Faith was reestablished in certain districts of Glarus and Appenzell; St. Gall Abbey It was restored for the abbot, even though the city remained Reformed. However, in Zurich, Basel, Bern and Schaffhausen, the Catholics were unable to secure their rights. The Swiss Reformers soon composed formal statements of their beliefs; It is especially worth mentioning the First Helvetic Confession (Confessio Helvetica I), composed by Bullinger, Myconius, Grynaeus and others (1536), and the Second confession composed by Bullinger in 1564 (Confessio Helvetica II): the latter was adopted in most of the Reformed territories of the Zwinglian model.

The Northern Kingdoms: Denmark, Norway and Sweden

The Lutheran Reformation soon found an entrance into Denmark, Norway (then united with Denmark) and Sweden. Its introduction was due primarily to royal influence. King Christian II of Denmark (1513-1514) welcomed the Reformation as a means of weakening the nobility and especially the clergy (who owned extensive estates) thereby extending the power of the throne. His first attempt to spread the teachings of Master Martin Luther in 1520 had little success: the barons and prelates soon deposed him for tyranny and elected in his place his uncle, Duke Frederick of Schleswig and Holstein. He, who was a secret follower of Lutheranism, deceived the bishops and the nobility and at his coronation, swore to maintain the Catholic Religion. Sitting on the throne, however, he favored the Reformers, especially the preacher Hans Tausen. At the Diet of Odensée, in 1527, he granted religious freedom to the Reformers, allowed the clergy to marry, and reserved confirmation of all episcopal appointments for the king. Lutheranism spread by violent means and faithful adherents of the Catholic Church were oppressed. His son, Christian III, whom he had already “reformed” Holstein, sent to prison the Danish bishops who protested against his succession and cut off support for the barons. With the exception of Bishop Ronow of Roskilde, who died in prison (1544), all the bishops agreed to resign and refrain from opposing the new doctrine, after which they were released and their property restored. All priests who opposed the Reformation were expelled, the monasteries suppressed, and the Reformation introduced everywhere by force. In 1537, Luther’s companion Johann Bugenhagen (Pomeranus) was called from Wittenberg to Denmark to establish the Reformation according to Luther’s ideas. At the Diet of Copenhagen in 1546, the last rights of the Catholics were eliminated; They were denied the right of inheritance and eligibility to any office, and Catholic priests were prohibited from residing in the country under penalty of death.

In Norway, Bishop Olaus of Trondhjem apostatized to Lutheranism but was forced to leave the country, as a collaborator of the deposed king, Christian II. With the protection of the Danish nobility, Christian III forcibly introduced the Reformation in Norway. Iceland was more resistant to royal absolutism and religious innovations. The intrepid bishop of Holum, Jon Arason, was beheaded and the Reformation spread rapidly after 1551. Some external aspects of the Catholic period were maintained – the title of the bishop and for some places the liturgical vestments and forms of worship.

Also in Sweden the Reformation was introduced for political reasons by the secular governor. Gustavus Vasa, who had been given to Christian III of Denmark in 1520 as a hostage and who had escaped to Lubeck, there became familiar with Lutheran teaching and recognized the services it could render him. Returning to Sweden, he became the first imperial chancellor and, after being elected King at the deposition of Christian II of Denmark, attempted to convert Sweden into a hereditary monarchy, but had to surrender in the face of opposition from the clergy and nobility. The Reformation helped him carry out his desire, although its introduction was difficult due to the great fidelity of the people to the Catholic Faith. He appointed two Swedes to high positions, the brothers Olaf and Lorenzo Peterson, who had studied in Wittenberg and had accepted Luther’s teaching; one was appointed court chaplain in Stockholm and the other a professor in Uppsala. Both worked secretly for the expansion of Lutheranism and won many adherents, including Archdeacon Lorenzo Anderson, who was later appointed chancellor by the king. In his relations with Pope Hadrian VI and his legates, the king simulated the greatest fidelity to the Church, while giving increasing support to religious innovations. The Dominicans, who offered great opposition to his designs, were banished from the kingdom, and the bishops who offered resistance were subjected to all kinds of oppression. After a religious dispute at the University of Uppsala, the king awarded victory to Olaf Peterson and proceeded to Lutheranize the University, confiscate ecclesiastical property, and employ all means to compel the clergy to accept the new doctrine. A popular rebellion gave him the opportunity to accuse the Catholic bishops of high treason and, in 1527, the Archbishop of Uppsala and the Bishop of Westraes were executed. Many ecclesiastics yielded to the king’s wishes; others resisted and had to endure violent persecution, with heroic resistance being offered by the nuns of Wadstena. After the Diet of Westraes, in 1527, great concessions were made to the king out of fear of possible subjection to Denmark, especially the right of confiscation of ecclesiastical property, of ecclesiastical appointments and depositions, etc. Some of the nobles were later conquered to the king’s side, when it was established that it was optional to take back all property donated to the Church by an ancestor since 1453. Clerical celibacy was abolished and the vernacular language introduced in the Divine service. The king established himself as the supreme authority in religious matters and separated the country from Catholic unity. The Synod of Orebro (1529) completed the Reformation, although most of the external rites, images in the Churches, liturgical vestments and the titles of archbishop and bishop were maintained. Later (1544), Gustavus Vasa made the title of the hereditary throne for his family. The numerous uprisings directed against him and his innovations were quelled with bloody violence. In a later period, other great religious disputes arose, of the same political nature.

Calvinism also spread to some places and Eric XIV (1560-68) worked to promote that expansion. However, he was dethroned by the nobility due to his tyranny and his brother John III (1568-1592) was named king. John III restored the Catholic Faith and attempted to restore the land to the unity of the Church. But with the death of his first wife, the zealous Catholic Princess Catherine, his ardor declined in the face of numerous difficulties, and his second wife favored Lutheranism. With the death of John, his son Sigismund, then king of Poland and strongly Catholic in feeling, became king of Sweden. However, his uncle, Duke Charles, the chancellor of the kingdom, gave energetic support to the Reformation, and the Augsburg Confession was introduced at the National Synod of Uppsala in 1593. Sigismund found himself powerless against the chancellor and the Swedish nobility; Finally (1600) he was deposed by the “true doctrine” as an apostate and Charles was named king. Gustavus Adolphus (1611-1632), son of Charles, used the Reformation to increase the power of Sweden in his campaigns. The Reformation was then successfully strengthened throughout Sweden.

France and French Switzerland

In certain humanist circles in France, a movement favorable to the Reformation arose at an early date. The center of that movement was Meaux, where Bishop Guillaume Briconnet favored humanist and mystical ideas, and where Professor Lefèvre de Etaples, G. Farel and J. de Clerc, who were humanists with Lutheran tendencies, taught. However, the Court, the university and Parliament opposed the religious innovations and the Lutheran community of Meaux was dissolved. Most important centers of the Reformation were found to the south, where the Waldenses had prepared the ground. Here there were public riots in which images of Christ and saints were destroyed. Parliaments in most cases took strong measures against innovators, although in certain places the latter found protectors – especially Margaret of Valois, sister of King Francis I and wife of Henry of Albret, King of Navarre. The leaders of the Reformation in Germany sought to triumph over King Francis I, who for political reasons was an ally of the German Protestant Princes; The king, however, remained faithful to the Church and suppressed reform movements throughout his lands. In the southeastern districts, especially in Provence and Dauphine, contributors to the new doctrines increased through the efforts of Reformers from Sweden and Strasbourg, until finally the desecration and pillage of churches led the king to take strong measures against them. After Calvinism had established itself in Geneva, its influence grew rapidly in French Reformed circles. Calvin appeared in Paris as a defender of the new religious movement in 1533, dedicated his “Institutiones Christianae Religionis” to the French king in 1536, and left for Geneva in the same year. Expelled from Geneva, he returned in 1541 and began the final establishment of his religious organization there. Geneva, with its academy inaugurated by Calvin, was a leading center of the Reformation and mainly affected France. Pierre le Clerc established the first Calvinist community in Paris; Other communities were established in Lyons, Orléans, Angers and Rousen, the repressive measures proved to have little support. Bishop Jacques Spifamius of Nevers converted to Calvinism and, in 1559, Paris witnessed the assembly of a general synod of French Reformers, which adopted a Calvinist creed and introduced the Swiss Presbyterian constitution for Reformed communities. Due to the support of the Waldenses, the dissemination of Reformation literature from Geneva, Basel and Strasbourg, and the constant influx of preachers from those cities, adherents to the Reformation increased in France. With the death of King Henry II (1559), the Calvinist Huguenots aspired to take advantage of the weakness of the government to increase their power. The Queen-Dowager, Catherine de’ Medici, was an ambitious strategist, and followed a policy of temporary service. Political aspirations soon became intertwined with the religious movement, which assumed greater proportions and greater importance. In opposition to the ruling line and the powerful and zealous Catholic dukes of Guise, the princes of the Bourbon dynasty became the protectors of the Calvinists; these were Antonio de Vendôme, King of Navarre, and his brothers, especially Louis de Condé. They were joined by Constable Montmorency, Admiral Coligny and his brother Andelot, and Cardinal Odet de Châtillon, bishop of Beauvais.

Notwithstanding the anti-clerical laws, Calvinism was making constant progress in the South of France, when on January 7, 1562, the queen-dowager, regent in the name of the little Charles IX, promulgated an edict of tolerance, allowing the Huguenots the free practice of their religion outside the states and without weapons, but prohibiting all interference and acts of violence against Catholic institutions, and ordering the restitution of all Churches and all property ecclesiastical authority taken from the Catholics. Becoming only more audacious, the Calvinists committed, especially in the South, revolts and acts of violence against Catholics, leading to the death of Catholic priests even in the suburbs of Paris. The incident at Vassy, ​​in Champagne, on March 1, 1562, in which the retinue of the Duke of Guise came into conflict with the Huguenots, inaugurated the first civil and religious war in France. Although this ended with the defeat of the Huguenots, it caused great losses for the Catholics in France. Relics of saints They were burned and looted, magnificent churches reduced to rubble, and numerous priests murdered. The Edict of Amboise granted new favors to Calvinist nobles, although the previous edict of tolerance was withdrawn. Five more civil wars followed, during which the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre (August 24, 1572) occurred. It was not until the extinction of the Valois dynasty with Henry III (1589) and with the accession to the throne of Henry of Navarre (who embraced Catholicism in 1593) of the Bourbon dynasty, that the religious wars reached their end with the Edict of Nantes (April 13, 1598); This conferred on the Calvinists not only total religious freedom and admission to all public offices, but even a privileged position in the State. Increasing difficulties of a political nature arose and Cardinal Richelieu planned to put an end to the influential position of the Huguenots. The capture of their main fortress, La Rochelle (October 28, 1628), finally broke the power of the French Calvinists as a political entity. Later, many of its members returned to Catholicism, although there were still numerous adherents of Calvinism in France.

Italy and Spain

Although isolated followers of the Reformation appeared in both lands, no solid or extensive organization appeared. Here and there in Italy influential individuals (e.g. Vitoria Colonna and her circle) favored the Reformation movement, but wanted it to occur within the Church and not as a rebellion against it. Few Italians embraced Lutheranism or Calvinism (for example, Juan Valdez, secretary to the Viceroy of Naples). In the cities of Turin, Pavia, Venice, Ferrara (where Duchess Renata favored the Reformation) and Florence adherents to the German and Swiss Reformers could be found, although not as extreme as their prototypes. The most prominent had to leave the country – Pietro Paolo Vergerio, who then fled to Sweden and then to Wittenberg; Bernardino Ochino, who fled to Geneva and was later a professor at Oxford; Petrus Martyr Vermigli, who fled to Zurich and was subsequently active in Oxford, Strasbourg and again in Zurich. By the vigorous inauguration of true ecclesiastical reform in the spirit of the Council of Trent, through the activity of numerous holy men (such as St. Charles Borromeo and Philip Neri), through the vigilance of the bishops and the diligence of the Inquisition, the Reformation was excluded from Italy. In some circles rationalist and anti-Trinitarian tendencies were revealed and Italy was the birthplace of 2 heretics: Lelio Sozzini and his nephew Fausto Sozzini, the founders of the Socinianism.

The course of events was the same in Spain as in Italy. Despite some attempts to disseminate anti-ecclesiastical writings in the country, the Reformation did not achieve any success, thanks to the zeal of public and ecclesiastical authorities in counterattacking its efforts. The few Spaniards who accepted the new doctrines were incapable of developing any reforming activity in their land, and lived abroad –p. e.g. Francisco Enzinas (Dryander), who made a translation of the Bible for Spaniards; Juan Diaz, Gonsalvo Montano, Miguel Servetus, who was condemned by Calvin in Geneva for his doctrine against the Trinity and burned on the stake.

Hungary and Transylvania

The Reformation was spread in Hungary by Hungarians who had studied in Wittenberg and who had embraced Lutheranism there. In 1525, strict laws were decreed against adherents of heretical doctrines, but its membership continued to grow, especially among the nobility, who wished to confiscate ecclesiastical property, and in the free cities of the kingdom. The Turkish conquests and victories and the war between Ferdinand of Austria and Juan Zapolya favored the Reformers. Joining the Lutherans were later the followers of Zwingli and Calvin in the country. Five Lutheran states in Upper Hungary accepted the Augsburg Confession. However, Calvinism gradually gained predominance, although domestic disputes between the reforming sects by no means ceased. In Transylvania, merchants from Hermannstadt, who had become familiar with Luther’s heresy in Peipzig, expanded the Reformation after 1521. Despite the persecution of the Reformers, a Lutheran school was started in Hermannstadt and the nobility was determined to use the Reformation as a means of confiscating the property of the clergy. In 1529, the regular orders and the most vigorous fighters of the Church were removed from the state. In Kronstadt, the Lutheran preacher Johann Honter obtained dominion in 1534, the Mass and the Divine service organized according to the Lutheran model being abolished. At a synod in 1544, the Saxon nation in Transylvania decided in favor of the Augsburg Confession, while the rural Magyars accepted Calvinism. At the Diet of Klausenburg, in 1556, general religious freedom was conferred and ecclesiastical property confiscated for the defense of the country and for the erection of Lutheran schools. Far-reaching divisions prevailed among the collaborators of the Reformation. In addition to the Lutherans, there were Unitarians (Socinians) and Anabaptists, and each of these sects waged war against the others. A Catholic minority survived among the Greek Wallachians.

Poland, Livonia and Courland

The Poles learned about the Reformation through some students from Wittenberg and through the Bohemian and Moravian Brotherhood. Archbishop Laski of Gnesen and King Sigismund I (1501-1548) strongly opposed the spread of heretical doctrines. Still, the Reformation collaborators were successful in gaining recruits at the University of Cracow, at Posen, and at Dantzig. From Dantzig the Reformation spread to Thorn and Elbing and certain nobles supported the new doctrines. Under the government of the weak Sigismund II (1548-1572) there were in Poland, in addition to Lutherans and Bohemian Fraternities, Zwinglians, Calvinists and Socinians. Prince Radziwill and John Laski supported Calvinism and the Bible was translated into Polish according to the vision of that party in 1563. Despite the efforts of the Papal Nuncio, Aloisius Lipomano (1556-1568) the free practice of religion was secretly conferred in the aforementioned three cities and the nobility was allowed to have secret religious services in their homes. The different sects of the Reformation fought against each other, the formula of faith introduced at the General Synod of Sandomir in 1570 by the Reformed, the Lutherans, and the Bohemian Brotherhood did not produce any unity. In 1573, the heretical parties secured the religious peace of Warsaw, which conferred equal rights on Catholics and “Dissenters,” and established a permanent peace between the two parties. By the zealous inauguration of the true ecclesiastical reform, the diligent activity of the papal legates and able bishops, and the labor of the Jesuits, any progress of the reform was prevented.

In Livonia and Courland, territories of the Teutonic Order, the course of the Reformation was the same as in the other territory of the Order, Prussia. Commander Gothard Kettler of Courland adhered to the Augsburg Confession and made his land a hereditary secular duchy, tributary to Poland. In Livonia, Commander Walter of Plettenberg strove to strengthen Lutheranism, which had been accepted in Riga, Dorpat and Reval since 1523, hoping thus to become independent of the Archbishop of Riga. When Margrave William of Brandenburg became Archbishop of Riga in 1539, Lutheranism quickly achieved an exclusive position in Livonia.

Holland

During the reign of Charles V, the seventeen provinces of Holland remained totally immune to the contamination of the new doctrine. Several followers of Luther had in fact appeared there, and were determined to disseminate Lutheran writings and doctrines. However, Charles V issued strict edicts against the Lutherans and against the printing and dissemination of the Reformer’s writings. The excesses of the Anabaptists evoked the suppression of their movement by force and, until 1555, the Reformation found few roots in the country. In that year, Charles V granted Holland to his son, Philip II, who resided in the country until 1559. During that period Calvinism made rapid advances, especially in the northern provinces. Many of the great nobles and the very impoverished lower nobility used the Reformation to incite the freedom-loving people against the administration of the king, the Spanish officers and troops, and the severity of the government. Discontent continued to grow, mainly due to the severe orders of the Duke of Alva and the bloody persecution led by him. William of Orange-Nassau, governor of the Province of Holland, intended, for political reasons, to secure victory for Calvinism, and he triumphed in many of the northern districts. He then put himself at the head of the rebellion against Spanish rule. In the resulting war, the northern provinces (Niederlande) achieved their independence, after which Calvinism gained predominance in them. In 1581, all public exercise of the Catholic Faith was prohibited. The “Belgian Confession” of 1562 already had a Calvinist foundation; By the synods of Dodrecht in 1574 and 1618, Calvinism received a fixed form. The country’s Catholics (about two-fifths of the population) were subjected to violent suppression. Violent conflicts arose among the Calvinists of Holland concerning the doctrine of predestination.

England and Scotland

The Reformation received its final form in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603). Based on the liturgy established by the “Book of Common Prayer” under Edward VI (1547-1543) and the confession of the Forty-two Articles composed by Archbishop Cranmer and Bishop Ridley in 1552, and after the Queen Mary (1553-1558) had failed to restore his country to union with Rome and to the Catholic Faith, the predominance of Anglicanism was established in England by Elizabeth. The Forty-two Articles were revised and, like the Thirty-nine Articles of the Anglican Church, became in 1562 the norm of their religious creed. The ecclesiastical supremacy of the queen was recognized, an oath to that effect (Oath of Supremacy) was required under penalty of loss of office and property. Several prelates and universities offered resistance, which was suppressed by force. The majority of the lower clergy took the oath, which was required with increasing severity of all members of the House of Commons, of all ecclesiastics, lawyers and professors. On the external side, much of the old form of Catholic worship was maintained. After the failure of the movement for Mary Stuart of Scotland, who had escaped to England in 1568, the oppression of English Catholics continued with increasing violence. In addition to the Established Anglican Church there were in England the non-conformist Calvinists, who opposed a popular Presbyterian organization to the episcopal hierarchy; Like the Catholics, they were very oppressed by the rulers of England.

In Scotland the social and political situation gave a great impetus to the Reformation, helped by the ignorance and rudeness of the clergy (largely the result of constant feuds). The nobility used the Reformation as a weapon in their war against the royal house, which was supported by the high clergy. Already under James V (1524-1542) collaborators of Lutheran doctrines (for example, Patrick Hamilton, Henry Forest and Alexander Seton, the king’s confessor, became Reformers. The first two were executed, while the last fled to the Continent). However, heretical doctrines continued to find new adherents. With the death of James V, his daughter and heir was barely 8 years old. The office of regent fell to James Hamilton, who, despite previously having Protestant sentiments, returned to the Catholic Church and supported Archbishop David Beaton in his vigorous measures against the innovators. After the execution of the Reformer George Wishart, Protestants formed a conspiracy against the archbishop, attacking him in his castle in 1545 and leading to his death. The rebels (including John Knox), accompanied by 140 nobles, then fortified in the castle. Knox went to Geneva in 1546, embracing Calvinism there, and from 1555 he was the leader of the Reformation in Scotland, where he gained dominance in the form of Calvinism. The political confusion prevailing in Scotland with the death of James V facilitated the introduction of the Reformation.

V. DIFFERENT FORMS OF THE REFORMATION

The fundamental forms of the Reformation were Lutheranism, Zwinglianism, Calvinism and Anglicanism. Within each of these branches, however, conflicts arose as a consequence of the diverse points of view of individual representatives. Through negotiations, compromises and union formulas, the establishment of unity was sought, but almost always without lasting success. The entire Reformation, backed by human authority, presented from the beginning, in the face of the Catholic union of faith, an aspect of unhappy dissension. In addition to these main branches, numerous other forms appeared that deviated from the essential points and gradually led to the countless divisions of Protestantism. The main of these forms will be briefly reviewed (for any treatment see the separate articles).

  • The Anabaptists, who appeared in Germany and German Switzerland soon after the appearance of Luther and Zwingli, aspired to return to their conception of the Church of Apostolic times. They denied the validity of infant Baptism, saw the Holy Eucharist merely as a memorial ceremony, and desired to restore the Kingdom of God according to their own heretical and mystical perspectives. Although attacked by the other Reformers, they gained collaborators in many lands. The Mennonites also came from them, founded by Menno Simonis (+ 1561).
  • The Schwenkfeldians were founded by Kaspar of Schwenkfeld, court chancellor of Duke Frederick of Liegnitz. He first associated himself with Luther, but in 1525 he opposed the latter in his Christology, as well as in his conception of the Eucharist and in his doctrine of justification. Attacked by the German reformers, his followers were only able to form a few communities. The Schwenkfeldians still exist in North America.
  • Sebastian Franck (1499-1542), a spiritualistic pure, rejected all external forms of ecclesiastical organization and favored a spiritual and invisible Church. He refrained from founding a separate community and only sought to spread his ideas.
  • The Socinians and other Anti-Trinitarians. Some individual members of the early Reformers attacked the fundamental doctrine of Holy Trinity, especially the Spaniard Michael Servetus, whose writing, “De Trinitatis erroribus,” printed in 1531, was burned by Calvin in Geneva in 1553. The main founders of anti-Trinitarianism were Lelio Sozzini, professor of jurisprudence in Siena, and his nephew, Fausto Sozzini. Compelled to abandon their land, they remained in various parts and founded special communities Socinianas. Faustus spread his doctrine especially in Poland and Transylvania.
  • Valentine Weigel (1533-1588) and Jacob Böhme (+ 1624), a shoemaker from Gorlitz, represented a pantheism mystical, teaching that the external revelation of God in the Bible could be recognized only through an internal light. Both found numerous disciples. Böhme’s followers were later named after Rosenkreuzer, because it was openly assumed that they were under the direction of a hidden guide named Rozenkreuz.
  • The Pietists in Germany had Philip Jacob Spener (1635-1705) as their leader. Pietism was primarily a reaction against unsuccessful Lutheran orthodoxy and considered religion primarily a thing of the heart.
  • Communities of Inspiration originated in Germany during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by various apocalyptic visionaries. They considered that the Kingdom of the Holy Spirit had already arrived, and they believed in a universal gift of prophecy and the millennium. Among the founders of such visionary societies were Johann Wilhelm Petersen (+1727), superintendent in Luneberg, and Johann Konrad Duppel (b. 1734), a physicist in Leiden.
  • The Herrnhuter were founded by Count Nicholas of Zinzendorf (b. 1700; + 1760). On the Hutberg, as it was known, he established the community of Herrnhut, which consisted of a Bohemian Brotherhood and Protestants, with a special constitution. The focus was on the doctrine of Redemption and strict morality was inculcated. This community of Brothers spread to many lands.
  • The Quakers were founded by John George Fox of Drayton in Leicestershire (1624-1691). He supported a visionary spiritualism, and found in the soul of every man a portion of Divine intelligence. All were capable of preaching, according to what was prompted by the spirit. The moral precepts of that sect were very strict.
  • The Methodists were founded by John Wesley. In 1729, Wesley instituted, with his brother Charles and his friends Morgan and Kirkham, an association at Oxford for the cultivation of ascetic and religious life, and from that society Methodism developed.
  • The Baptists originated in England in 1608. They held that Baptism was necessary only for adults, assumed Calvinism in its essential points, and applied the Sabbath to Saturdays and not to Saturdays. Sundays.
  • The Swedenborgians are named after their founder Emmanuel Swedenborg (+1772), son of a Swedish Protestant bishop. Believing in his power to communicate with the spirit world and that he had Divine revelations, he proceeded based on the latter to found a community with a special liturgy, the “New Jerusalem.” He won numerous followers and his community expanded to many lands.
  • The Irvingites are named after their founder, Edward Irving, a native of Scotland and since 1822 a preacher in a Protestant chapel in London.
  • The Mormons were founded by Joseph Smith, who made his appearance with supposed revelations in 1822.

In addition to those better-known secondary branches of the Reformation movement, there are many different denominations; The evolution of new forms since the Reformation has always continued, and must always continue, since subjective arbitrariness was made a principle by the heretical teaching of the sixteenth century.

VI. RESULTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE REFORMATION

The Reformation destroyed the unity of faith and ecclesiastical organization of the Christian peoples of Europe, separated many millions from the true Catholic Church, and removed them from the largest portion of the healthy means of cultivating and maintaining supernatural life. Incalculable damage was thus wrought from a religious point of view. The fundamental false doctrine of justification by faith alone taught by the Reformers produced a regrettable superficiality in religious life. The zeal for good works disappeared, the asceticism that the Church had practiced since its foundation was eliminated, charitable and ecclesiastical purposes were no longer properly cultivated, supernatural interests were relegated to the background, and naturalistic aspirations to the purely mundane spread everywhere. The denial of the Divine institution of the authority of the Church, as regards both doctrine and ecclesiastical government, quite opened the door to all eccentricity, gave rise to the endless division into sects and the never-ending disputes characteristic of Protestantism, and could not but lead to the complete lack of faith which necessarily follows from Protestant principles; There was not even a trace of real freedom of belief among the Reformers of the sixteenth century; on the contrary, the greatest tyranny in matters of conscience was shown by the representatives of the Reformation. The most fatal Caesaropapism was then fueled, since the Reformation recognized secular authorities as supreme also in religious matters. Thus various Protestant “national Churches” emerged from the very beginning, which are entirely discordant with the Christian universalism of the Catholic Church and depend – their faith as well as their organization – on the will of the secular ruler. In this way, the Reformation was a major factor in the evolution of royal absolutism. In all the lands it found income, the Reformation was the cause of indescribable suffering among the people; It caused civil wars that lasted decades with all their horrors and devastations; people were oppressed and enslaved; countless art treasures and priceless manuscripts were destroyed; among the members of the same land and race the seed of discord was sown. Germany in particular, the original home of the Reformation, was reduced to a state of pathetic calamity by the Thirty Years’ War, and the German Empire was thereby dislodged from the leading position it had occupied for years in Europe. Only gradually and due to forces that did not derive essentially from the Reformation, but were conditioned by other historical factors, were the social wounds healed, but religious corrosion still continues despite the sincere religious feelings that characterized many individual followers of the Reformation at all times.

Author: J. P. KIRSHC

Source: Catholic Encyclopedia