Appendix: the Reformation | 529
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528 | DEFINING MOMENTS Appendix: The Reformation | 529 APPENDIX: THE REFORMATION 1369–1415 Jan Hus (Huss), early reformer, theologian, author of De Ecclesia. Religious thinker in Bohemia (now Czech Republic); started a movement using Wycliffe’s teachings; ordained priest; a professor in Prague; excommunicated four times; his followers were known as Hussites. In 1405, pope Innocent VII effectively placed the entire city of Prague under Key Figures of the Reformation an interdict due to Hus’s teachings and followers. Hus defended his beliefs Key Timeline of the Reformation in 1415 at the Council of Constance, then was tried and burned at stake Bible Translation Timeline as a heretic for his views on the sale of indulgences, and immoralities in the Church—after the pope and emperor had promised him safe conduct. Church Branches and Denominations Timeline The myth is that he said, “In one hundred years, God will raise up a man Arminianism versus Calvinism whose call for reforms cannot be suppressed” (102 years before Luther’s 95 Five Solas of the Reformation Theses); due to his prophecy and his name meaning “goose,” a swan (along Luther’s 95 Theses with Luther’s rose) is a traditional symbol of many Lutheran congregations; Hus was a precursor to the Swiss Reformation led by John Calvin and Ulrich Suggested Resources: The Reformation Zwingli. 1395–1468 Johann Gutenberg (“Beautiful Mountain” born Genfleisch), inventor of the printing press. Key Figures of the Reformation, in Chronological Order Invented printing press with movable type in Mainz, Germany, considered 1320–1384 John Wycliffe, (also Wyclif and Wycliff), morning star of the Reformation, the most important event of the modern world. The first printed book was a priest. Latin Vulgate Bible in 1455; each was colorfully hand-illuminated. Gutenberg Completed the first hand-written English Bible manuscript from the Latin was left in poverty by unscrupulous business associates, but his invention Vulgate in 1384; Oxford scholar, philosophy professor, theologian; opposed was essential to the Reformation. His other trades were blacksmith and non-Biblical Catholic teachings such as transubstantiation. Wycliffe was goldsmith. condemned by the Council of Constance (along with Jan Hus) in 1414–1418 and by pope Gregory XI in 1377; his followers were derisively known as “Lollards”; forty-four years after the death of Wycliffe, pope Martin V ordered that his writings be burned and his bones dug up, burned and scattered in the River Swift. Wycliffe was the precursor to the English Reformation led by William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale. 530 | DEFINING MOMENTS Appendix: The Reformation | 531 1463–1525 Frederick the Wise: Luther’s benefactor. 1472–1553 Lucas Cranach the Elder, appointed court painter by Frederick the Wise. Frederick, a very large man, ruled the Electorate of Saxony from 1486–1525; Famous for portraits of Electors of Saxony and Reformers, though he still As his primary home, he built a residential castle in lieu of a military fortress worked for Catholic clients. Luther’s German translation of the Bible in 1522 in Wittenberg. He protected Luther—who he had never met—for political, included Cranach’s illustrations. He passed his workshop on to his son, not spiritual, reasons, as he sought to weaken the powers of the pope Lucas Cranach the Younger, who became equally famous; world’s largest and the emperor. He earned the moniker, “The Wise,” for his success in collection of their work is in the Dresden State Art Collections; the Museum avoiding military conflict. On his deathbed, he received sacraments, a late of Fine Arts in Leipzig also has an extensive collection. commitment to the Reformation he had contributed to. Upon Frederick’s death in 1525, his brother, John the Steadfast, became 1473–1570 Thomas Wolsey, Lord Chancellor of England, Cardinal: Elector. John was friendly with the Reformers, and led the town of Torgau King Henry VIII’s chief advisor; burns Lutheran books; replaced by Sir to become the political center of the Reformation. In 1526, the League of Thomas Moore in 1529 for failing to get the pope’s approval for Henry’s Torgau was founded. John was followed in 1532 by his eldest son, John annulment from Catherine of Aragon so that Henry could marry Anne Boleyn Frederick the Magnanimous, who completed Hartenfels Castle with its (Moore is later beheaded by Henry for his opposition). incredible staircase, soaring like a spindle without support over two stories. While a supporter of the Reformation, his poor political skills led to the Schmalkaldic War. 1483–1546 Martin Luther: Father of the Reformation. Born and baptized in Eisleben; attended the University in Erfurt from 1501–1505. He called out to St. Anne for help in 1505 when caught in a 1466–1536 Desiderius Erasmus: scholar, priest, theologian, social critic, humanist, severe thunderstorm, and vowed to become a monk. He entered a monastery teacher. in 1505 and was ordained in 1507 in Erfurt. Luther visited Rome in 1509; he Educated at Cambridge; published Greek-Latin Parallel New Testament—an became disillusioned and sermonized against the selling of indulgences, instant best-seller—in 1516 in Basel, Switzerland. Sourced directly from the posting his 95 Theses to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenbergb, more reliable, original Greek New Testament rather than from the corrupt, Germany on October 31, 1517. He defended his position to Augustinians in inaccurate Latin Vulgate (translated later into German by Luther). The Heidelberg and met with cardinal Cajetan from Rome in Augsburg in 1518. Roman church continued to threaten to kill anyone who read Scripture in any In 1520, Luther burned the papal bull threatening his excommunication if he language other than Latin, even though the originals were written in Hebrew did not recant. and Greek. He remained a Roman Catholic, recognized the pope’s authority Luther was many things: law student, monk, theology professor; taught and kept his distance from Luther and Melanchthon. Erasmus died in Basel. grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, Scriptures alone, glory of God alone; Johann Froben, who had taken possession of the Amberbach printing authored first common German Bible; translated Erasmus’s New Testament establishment, agreed with Erasmus to print his Latin translation in return into German in 1522 and the entire Bible in the 1530s. Following the Diet for Erasmus’s editorial work on the Greek text. The texts were to be printed of Worms in 1521, Luther was excommunicated by pope Leo X and exiled. side by side in a single volume. It required a great deal of courage to print a Luther was hidden in Wartburg Castle by Frederick the Wise after a fake Latin translation that was not the Vulgate, since the Vulgate translation was kidnapping. then considered nearly infallible. Protected by Frederick the Wise, he preached from the New Testament in the Block Cloister in Wittenberg, wrote many hymns including “A Mighty Fortress” (1527), and wrote against Jews in 1538. Luther married Katherine von Bora in 1525 at the age of 42, putting the seal of approval on clerical marriage. Luther died on a trip to Eisleben and is buried in Castle Church in Wittenberg where he nailed the 95 Theses years earlier. 532 | DEFINING MOMENTS Appendix: The Reformation | 533 1484–1531 Ulrich Zwingli, Father of the Swiss Reformation 1491–1547 Henry VIII, king of England, 1509–1547 (From 1542 also king of Ireland). Zwingli, who was born in Wildhaus, believed in simple theology based on Inherited the throne in 1509 at age eighteen, second in the Tudor dynasty. literal, explicit Biblical beliefs and practices. As an ordained priest, he Henry formed the (Anglican) Church of England and named himself its head denounced music, paintings, and sculptures in church, opposed Luther’s when the pope refused his annulment from Catherine of Aragon to marry his belief in transubstantiation in the Lord’s Supper and never reconciled those mistress, Anne Boleyn. He broke relations with the Roman church in 1529 differences with Luther. Like Luther, he preached sermons from the New and pressured the clergy to submit to the king (not the pope) as supreme Testament. spiritual authority in 1532. Switzerland was not a country but a confederation of thirteen city-states Henry married the already pregnant Anne Boleyn and crowned her queen (cantons), the most powerful being his home canton of Zürich. In 1519, after his marriage to Catherine was voided in 1533; neither Catherine nor Zwingli used his most powerful ecclesiastical position in the city, that of Anne produced a male heir. Henry executed two of his six wives (including “People’s Priest,” in order to encourage dissent. In 1523 Zürich became Anne); dissolved hundreds of nunneries and monasteries in 1536; named the first Protestant state outside of Germany after he took on the city himself Head of the Irish Church in 1541. Henry was succeeded by Edward council, arguing his own sixty-seven-point thesis and replacing the mass VI (who died six years later and was succeeded by Mary I, known as Bloody with a simple service. Zwingli was killed in the Swiss civil war that he had Mary). encouraged, to force the remaining cantons to accept Protestants. 1488–1569 Myles Coverdale, Printer of the First Complete English Bible. Disciple of Tyndale, Coverdale finished translating the Old Testament (using Luther’s German text) into English and printed first complete English Bible, the Coverdale Bible, in 1535. He published the “Great Bible” for Thomas Cranmer and Henry VIII in 1539 and dedicated it to Henry and his ex-wife Anne Boleyn; fled to the Church at Geneva with John Foxe in 1554. 1489–1556 Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury. Named Archbishop in 1533 as a married man (so Anglican clergy were no longer required to be celibate, similar to the effect of Luther’s 1525 marriage in Germany).