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Home , Holy Orders, Papal supremacy

Prepared by dr. Deepak k. nair

In conventional sense the Reformation implies the schism or division within the Roman which under functioned under the in Europe for centuries. After the break from the Roman , there arose a separate sect called Protestant . Several other radical and moderate folds within Christianity emerged thereafter such as Lutherans, Calvinists, Anabaptists, Anglicans, and Presbyterians etc. Although the Reformation primarily originated against the ill practices and corruption of the Roman Catholic Church, it was rooted in the complex matrix of historical, political, social and economic context.

The Catholic Church acted as a strong bond by providing religious uniformity to numerous feudal units and in the absence of political unity helped in the stabilization of social relations. The head of the Catholic Church was Pope who owned vast amount of wealth and property. He made all the ecclesiastical appointments throughout Europe. He lived in and had an elaborate hierarchical establishment, magnificent cathedrals. He had control over education and charity. He had his own army and sent ambassadors distant states. The Pope interfered in the internal, political and financial matters of the rulers who found it difficult to disobey his edicts.

In the 14th and 15th centuries the Catholic Church faced institutional problems which were marked by increasing ecclesiastical corruption and inefficiency. People were distressed because of wars, epidemics, diseases and crop failures. For such chaos they had the only explanation that it was because of the wrath of God. At this time of heightened religious sensibilities, they turned to the Church for spiritual solution but the Papal authority failed to provide spiritual leadership.

Church’s financial burden on common people

Because of the changing economic conditions and the feudal crisis the Church was preoccupied with handling financial and political matters. The common people had to bear the burden of the increasing expenses of the Church. The Church adopted various ways to exact money from people. It charged for various services such as marriage, , confessions, and burials. The appeal against the had to pass through Rome which involved heavy legal expenditure. It was the style of collecting funds which created bitterness and hostility against the Church and provided the immediate background to the Reformation.

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The Papacy had its own extensive bureaucratic structure and fiscal system. Church required huge funds for against the Turks. During Renaissance art and architecture was also patronized by the Church and they needed funds for maintaining the lavish basilicas and buildings constructed during renaissance. They also needed huge funds to maintain a vast bureaucracy and army and to pay for the luxurious lifestyle of the Church officials.

For all such growing expenses, the traditional methods of collecting revenue were intensified. The collected tithe from the population which was about a tenth of their income. They also had to pay to the Church for wedding ceremonies, baptism for the children etc. The Pope received various subscriptions from churches in far-flung areas which included Tenths (One tenth part of the income to be sent to the Pope), First Fruits (Offering from the beginning of the harvest), Annates (the first year’s revenue benefits), and ’s pence (a yearly tax of penny on every household).

Corrupt Practices of the Church

The Church was increasingly marked by corruption which was responsible for the disconnect between the Church and the ordinary people. There was a practice of Simony under which the Church offices were put up for sale. If someone wanted to become a he had to pay a huge amount. Nepotism became very common and the Church offices were given to one’s family members. People were getting Church offices not due to merit but because of who they knew. Absenteeism was another problem. The Church officials tried to accumulate as many Church offices they could to enhance their revenue. This led to absenteeism because one person could not perform the duties of so many posts. So when people went to the Church they did not find any priest. Sometimes Church office holders delegated their duties to undeserving who were not educated properly and they had little knowledge or interest in performing these duties.

Separation between the upper and lower

The higher officials such as cardinals, , and came from the , looked for church positions and amassed huge wealth. The lower clergies ( priests) remained poor. Their way to promotion was also blocked. There was a growing social discontent among the lower clergies and it was directed against the avarice and rapacity, ignorance and poor

2 quality of clergy and priests. There was also a demand for reforms from women who devoted their life to God but could not be ordained.

Sale of Indulgences

The most controversial of all subscription was the sale of indulgences. It began as a gift of money or donation as an expression of thanks for forgiveness but later it became an important instrument of income for the church. Initially it meant relaxation of the punishment by the Church if someone commits a moral . Later it became a remission of punishment in the purgatory by not only the Church but the God himself. Purgatory in is the place where after death people are tormented in order to purify their souls for the they had committed. People feared the purgatory very much hence indulgences became popular. They bought indulgences not only for their own preservation from divine punishment but also for others. The indulgences guaranteed the buyer that they would not be punished in the purgatory. The Church commercially sold God’s grace in the form of indulgences via Pope’s agents via Albrecht of Brandenburg and the banking house of Fuggers.

Thus in 1500 the Catholic Church seemed very corrupt and worldly and many earnest Christians by seeking and rediscovering an older, simpler and purer method of worship. The problems enumerated above led to anti-clericalism and there was resentment against the sacramental and juridical powers of the clergy. All this led to a desire to return to a simpler and a more personal religion.

The failure of Papal Church led to a craving for a purposeful religion and ideas of definite . There was a distinct growth of popular religion in and other centres in Europe under which there were efforts to convert the abstract views of theologians into concrete social practices. One common form of piety was to undertake pilgrimages to holy centres. The was regarded as the true guide to Christian life.

Before , there were other individual attempts for reforms by John Wycliff (1320- 84) in England and John Hus (1374-1415) in Bohemia. Their followers were known as respectively Lollards and Hussites. Wycliffe stressed on the role of faith which was considered as a free gift of God to everyone. According to him, it did not require to participate in the rituals and of the Church. The Lollards failed to get the support of the gentry and it

3 remained confined to the small academic of Oxford University where Wycliff taught. John Hus in Bohemia denied Papal supremacy. Since no one could question the Church at that time, he was declared heretic by the Pope and was burnt alive in 1415.

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Among the Reformation leaders Martin Luther was the most influential figure. He was a and professor of Theology at the University of Wittenberg. He showed keen interest in education, languages and had a good knowledge of History. As a monk his primary concern was focused on the assurance of salvation. Advocated by the traditional Church were adherence to the sacraments, and buying of indulgences. These could not satisfy Luther and he nailed his Ninety Five Thesis on the Church door of Wittenberg to challenge the sale of indulgences as a means of seeking God’s forgiveness. In his pamphlet ‘An Appeal to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation’ he appealed to the Emperor Charles V and other rulers of Germany to resist Papal claims to spiritual supremacy over the temporal. He rejected the claim that the Pope was the sole institution to interpret scriptures and only he could summon a general council. The Pope excommunicated him from the Church by issuing the Bull but Luther publicly burnt it. He published a series of pamphlets in which he openly condemned the Pope and his whole organization.

Luther wrote ‘The Freedom of the Christian Man’ in 1520 in which he advocated true spiritual freedom through faith in Christ. He was outlawed by the Holy Roman Emperor in Germany and was under death sentence for his whole life. He was given protection by the King Frederick of Saxony who hid him in one of his castles. While in hiding Luther translated the into German. His followers were known as Lutherans.

Luther’s Reformation began with the question of what an individual must do to save himself. He developed his doctrine of justification by faith. According to him, when the sinner realized his need for God’s grace he called upon God to bestow it and God was under obligation to grant it. He criticized the sale of indulgences saying that God’s grace could not be sold or bought. Traditionally, there were seven sacraments of the Catholic Church—Baptism, the , marriage, , , holy orders and extreme unction. In his pamphlet ‘A Prelude Concerning the Babylonian Captivity of the Church’, Luther reduced them to just two- baptism

4 and Eucharist. He criticized the doctrine of transubstantiation and said that in the name of miracle the priests collected money from the innocent people.

Luther’s religion was given an organizational structure and for his followers- the Lutherans believed in the supremacy of faith which destroyed the exclusive position of priests. Luther argued for the common priesthood for all. In other words he declared that each Christian was to be his own priest. For him external order of the Church was of secondary importance. He abolished the hierarchy of Church officials from Pope to priests. Luther made Christianity simpler and made it confined to the basic teachings of the Bible and scriptures were to be the sole authoritative source of Christian dogma. He abolished monasteries and celibacy by the priests.

Luther’s was supported by various rulers in Germany because they resented the Papal interference in their internal matters. It was adopted as the state religion by Philip of Hesse and was subsequently supported by rulers of Brunswick, Wurttenberg, Brandenberg and the imperial cities of Strasberg, Augsberg and Nuremberg. Luther’s ideas also appealed to the middle orders in the towns such as small merchants, tradesmen, and artisans. The printing press played a very important role in spreading Luther’s ideas.

Luther’s views spread in Western Europe rapidly due to the printing press and many protestant leaders rose under its influence.

Ulrich Zwingli

In Switzerland Ulrich Zwingly (1484-1531) who was a contemporary of Luther carried out religious reforms in the Swiss confederation of Zurich. He was a humanist and greatly inspired by Erasmus. His reformation was based on humanism. He studied Bible in depth and questioned some of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Zwingly stressed upon the corporate nature of the Church which believed that clergy and laymen formed a ‘holy community’. He opposed celibacy and set an example by himself getting married. The Council of Zurich stopped exacting fees for baptism, Eucharist, and burial. Under this reformed religion Clergy was to preach only from scriptures and original Bible was to be read in the Church. The images and relics were removed from the Church, were discontinued and use of candles and

5 holy water was abandoned. He also protested against local sale of indulgences and Pope’s authority, the doctrine of purgatory.

John Calvin

John Calvin (1509-64) of belonged to the second generation of reformers. He is regarded as the most influential reformer due to his powerful impact on different parts of Europe. He was forced to leave France because of the religious prosecution of carried out by the rulers. Later he moved to Geneva in Switzerland and made it the chief centre of international Protestantism. He was greatly influenced by Erasmus but later from a mild humanist he became a radical reformer.

He shared the belief with Luther that salvation could only be achieved by faith alone and supported the doctrine of direct communication of man with God. He described God as omnipotent and believed that man belongs to God and it is man’s duty to himself to God. He also believed that the path to salvation was set forth in the scriptures and sacraments were merely external signs of faith. According to him the key to salvation was the Bible. His followers were assured of their possible salvation by three presumptive tests prescribed by Calvin: an open profession of faith, a decent and godly life, and participation in the sacraments of baptism and communion. His rituals were even simpler than Lutherans and the worship consisted of preaching, praying and psalm singing. Like Luther he also retained only two sacraments- baptism and the Eucharist.

He also reformed the church structure and discipline. The most important element of Calvin’s social thought was the doctrine of predestination. Like Luther and Zwingly, Calvin argued that salvation comes from God’s grace but he also believed that God predetermined each individual’s salvation or damnation even before his birth. For him, salvation was predetermined irrespective of man’s merits or demerits.

Calvin played an active role in spreading his teachings to France, the Netherlands, and other parts of Europe. The Reformation in France was carried out by Protestants known as Huguenots. However, the attitude of French rulers towards Reformation was always hostile who feared a civil war. Protestants were strong in the south and west of France whereas Catholics were strong in the northern parts of France and in Paris. The bitterness between the Catholics and Huguenots was such that they both raised their armies and fought the Wars of Religion. These

6 civil conflicts ended with the (1598) which promised religious freedom to the Protestants without losing their political rights. French Protestants always remained a minority.

English Reformation

Historians hold two divergent views related to the . One view holds that the English Reformation came from above and changes were enforced by deliberate governmental action beginning with Henry VIII’s action. The other view suggests that the Reformation had religious rather than political roots and arose from below.

From the time of John Wycliff and his followers Lollards a movement of religious and social dissent had begun. They criticized the doctrine of transubstantiation as blind faith. A tradition of and anticlericalism developed in England. The spread of Christian humanism created an environment of academic criticism. Bishop Miles translated scriptures into English and also wrote Utopia during this time.

There were important political factors which brought about the English Reformation under the leadership of the King Henry VIII with the help of the Parliament. It is ironical that he was the same ruler who was a strong critic of Martin Luther’s reforms. He also wrote the work ‘Defense of the Seven Sacraments’ which earned him the title, ‘Defender of the Faith’. However, ultimately Henry VIII’s personal problems with the Roman Catholic Church grew larger. Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife Spanish princess Catherine but Pope could not grant it as divorce was not allowed in the Catholic Church. Through a subservient Parliament also called the Reformation Parliament which sat from 1529 to1534, he broke all relations with the Pope. The Parliament passed several acts against the Papal authority by picking up all the unpopular abuses of the church such as mortuary and succession fees, pluralism and absenteeism etc.

By the Act of Annates the English Church was prohibited from sending any part of their income to the Pope. And the Act of Appeal removed the English Church from the jurisdiction of the Papal courts. In 1534 Henry declared himself the supreme head of the English Church with Parliament’s approval. In 1536 and 1539 all the monasteries were dissolved and their property was seized. This property was distributed or sold to Henry’s loyal supporters who belonged lesser nobility and landed gentry. By this Henry VIII turned the Reformation into a national movement by involving Parliament and the gentry.

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Henry’s Reformation began for personal reasons and in no way was Protestant as all the Catholic doctrines were retained but he denied Papal supremacy. He even persecuted both Protestants and Catholics who refused too recognize Henry’s Supremacy. However, Protestantism made good progress under Edward VI (1547-53). Protestant Cranmer drew up the and imposed the Forty Two Articles of Religion. Under Mary Tudor the English Reformation received a major setback and Catholic religion was restored. When Elizabeth (1558-1603) began her reign there were threats of religious wars in England. By her religious settlement in 1559 Elizabeth established the Anglican Church in England. It was a middle approach bordering conservative Protestantism. The Book of Common Prayer was adopted again and Forty-two Articles of Religion were replaced by Thirty-nine Articles by eliminating controversial doctrines. The celibacy of the clergy was rejected and two sacraments of baptism and Eucharist were retained.

In Scotland, Reformation was led by Patrick Hamilton, George Wishart and most importantly John Knox who was most influential. The protestant religion in Scotland was called which was very similar to . Apart from the Protestant Reformation in different parts of Europe numerous small groups emerged which advocated radical reforms. These radical Protestant groups included Anabaptists, Spiritualists, Antitrinitarians etc.

Thus, by 1600 new religious pattern became fairly stable. In southern Europe—Spain, Portugal, , South Germany, and Austrian Habsberg lands remained Catholic. In Northern France and also Catholicism persisted. In northern Europe—Scandinavia, North Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland became Protestant Lutheran, Calvinist and Anglican.

Catholic or Counter Reformation

The Catholic Church had always faced criticism of its institutional degeneration and corruption. There were some efforts also to reform the Roman Catholic Church such as a wide ranging reorganization of the church order by Jimenaz de Cisneros in Spain. But continuous serious efforts to reform the church from within could only begin by the beginning of the 16th century. With the success of Protestant Reformation it seemed in the 1530s that Europe may turn

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Protestant. The Catholic Church became conscious of its disintegration and took immediate action to reform itself.

There were two aspects of Catholic revival in the 16th century. The first was internal reforms to eliminate the well-known abuses which had given rise to the Protestant movement. These internal reforms for spiritual revival or institutional improvement came to be known as the ‘Catholic Reformation’. The second aspect is reflected in the militant character which was adopted not only to recover the lost grounds but also succeeded in revitalizing the Catholic religion. This was known as the ‘Counter Reformation’.

For internal reforms the was convened thrice in 1545-47, 1551-52, 1562-63. The Bull summoning the council outlined three aims: (i) to end religious schism (ii) reform the church and (iii) call the reunited church to a crusade against the infidel. Among these only the second was achieved. The first Council meeting in 1545-47 wanted to secure Catholicism in areas where Protestantism was not yet strongly established. Some of the reforms are enlisted below:

 The monetary indulgences were banned.  Fresh attention was given to the education of the clergy and a close examination of the duties and responsibilities of bishops  Major tenets of medieval Catholic belief that had been disputed or challenged by the Protestants were now sharply defined: - Salvation was not by faith alone but with the combination of faith and work. - The source of authority was not only the Bible but also the translation of the Bible as interpreted by the Church and the traditions preserved by the Church. - The authority of the bishops within their was expanded but now they were more explicitly under control of the Papal authority. - Moral reforms were agreed upon and provisions were made for establishing for the training of priests in every diocese.

The process of revival and inner regeneration gained momentum in the 16th century through the works of religious orders and individuals. There were numerous new orders in Italy such as the

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Capuchins, the Barnabites, the Ursulines and the Oratory of Divine Love etc. In Spain St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) led the Catholic Reformation. He established the Society of (1534) and its members were known as Jesuits. His vigorous leadership provided a strong foundation to the Catholic Reformation. He was greatly influenced by the religious fervor of native Spain and was also touched by mystical as well as humanist influences. He suggested that in order to reach God, spiritual exercises were needed to train and discipline of the human will.

The Jesuit order worked in two spheres: (i) With rulers as their confessors and diplomats and exercised great influence over them. (ii) They emphasized on educational reforms by establishing new school and universities to train elite young men who would be dedicated to the faith. They were successful in creating some of the finest primary and secondary schools in Europe.

The Jesuits played an important role in re-establishing Papal supremacy and the Catholic religion. The best known book of Counter Reformation was ‘the Summary of Christian Doctrine’ by a Jesuit . The Jesuit membership rose rapidly from 1000 at the time of Loyola’s death in 1556 to 16000 in about fifty years later. They launched missions outside Europe to carry out the policy of converting local populations. Missions in Japan, China and India during the 16th century adopted a more patient approach and preached by adopting the local culture of people. The Catholic missionaries were very effective particularly in Americas where Spain and Portugal had vast colonies.

Among the numerous new orders created in Italy, the most noteworthy was the Capuchin. It stressed the importance of poverty and austerity and tried to make the church relevant to the common people. They laid emphasis on humanity and charity.

Before the council of Trent a liberal section of Catholics tried to reach doctrinal compromise to win back the Lutherans. When these attempts failed, the Catholic reformation adopted the militant nature and became coercive. The medieval was revived in Spain, the Netherlands and Italy. The inquisition had the right to imprison before trial, interrogate in private, use torture. If the guilt was proved the inquisition might impose canonical punishments or confiscate goods or they might hand over the accused to the secular authorities who would inflict death penalty. Stringent measures were taken against heretics. was wiped out

10 from Italy. Strict control was applied on the publication of religious and secular literature from the printing presses. In 1559 Pope Paul IV published an Index of Prohibited Books to prevent Catholics from reading it. It was followed by another index in 1564 in which Luther, Calvin and Rabelias were all banned.

Catholic Reformation succeeded partially as in France the Wars of Religion ended in a form of religious toleration, while the Netherlands was divided into two states- a Calvinist north and a Catholic south. In England and Scotland the Catholic movement failed. However, the Catholic countries of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria and Ireland remained firm in their allegiance to Catholicism.

Prepared by dr. Deepak k. nair

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