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The Catholic Response to the Protestant Reformation

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The Catholic Response to the Protestant Reformation PART OF A GREATER TRADITION The practice of recording the lives and deaths of saints was not original to the Reformation. In fact, it had long been a part of the Christian tradition, where the main figure of Jesus Christ was often considered to be the ultimate martyr himself. Throughout the middle ages, some of the most popular books were those of Saints’ Lives, which contained many stories of early Christians in the first, second, and third centuries who had been persecuted by the Romans. Saints’ Lives were an especially popular phenomenon in England: one of the most famous authors was Aelfric, who ran the Church in England in the eleventh century. Another was Bede, the first English historian, who wrote the Life of Cuthbert in the seventh century. An entire genre of CATHOLIC PRACTICES PROTESTANT VIOLATIONS Saints’ Lives in Middle English popped up between the times of the Norman Invasion and the Reformation. ARGUMENT The Catholic church under Pope Leo X In Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, he denied There were a few important distinctions between Medieval Saint’s Lives and post-Reformation Using the Theatrum Crudelitatum, Catholics from the sold “indulgences,” which lessened the idea that salvation could be martyrologies, however. First, some of the older authors like Aelfric would actually avoid the more gruesome th 16 century responded to pressures from the rising Protestant one’s punishment for sin. purchased. details of a story in order to focus on the religious piety of the saints. Clearly, this was not the case movement with the familiar rhetoric of martyrdom. The in Crudelitatum. Secondly, pre-Reformation Catholics differentiated between Martyrs and Confessors: contents of this book indicate the turmoil of the Protestant martyrs were those who died for the faith, and confessors were the holiest of people whose stories deserved Reformation and highlight the intense doctrinal differences Biblical texts were read only by church Protestants believed the Bible should telling just because they were a good example. Post-Reformation, those became conflated. Lastly, the Old between Christian faiths as well their cultural similarities and Fathers of English Catholicism had written in the vernacular in order to reach more people. After the differences. clergy, and only in Latin. Catholics not be available in one’s native language versed in Latin relied on images and and that scripture (rather than clergy) Reformation, the Catholic Church buckled down on its use of Latin in all religious texts, even the popular icons (i.e. stained glass) to understand. should be the foundation of religious ones. experience. Literacy grew. IN THE BOOK The Catholic church created and Protestantism introduced an Q: Who was the author? maintained a ”monopoly” on Christian alternative path to salvation. The A: Richard Rowlands. Richard was a writer, an salvation in the western hemisphere. individual’s personal relationship with engraver as well as a connoisseur of books. God was emphasized. Q: Why was the book written in Latin? A: The book was written in Ecclesiastical Latin which Good works paved the way to heaven. Good works were obsolete– was the liturgical language at the time for the Confession, penance, and fulfillment of Protestants held that only faith in Roman Catholic Church. religious rites and rituals called Christ could redeem a soul from eternal “sacraments” granted observant souls damnation. Salvation was granted to all grace. who believed. Q: Is this book in its original form? A: Mostly. The 50 blank pages at the end of the book indicate that it has been re-bound. The book as Artwork, expensive furnishings, Protestants rejected the worship of well has been rebound. elaborate woodwork, and stained glass relics and the elaborate displays adorned ornate Catholic cathedrals. present in cathedrals. Churches were Title Page. Image courtesy of USU Special Collections and Archives. Q: How are the pages marked? They honored God, informed stripped bare of color and symbolism. Protestants shoot a Catholic mounted upon a crucifix. churchgoers, and demonstrated the Church became less of a visual A: The book has page numbers as well as folio Image courtesy of USU Special Collections. immense wealth of the church. experience, especially as more people numbers written inside. Judging by this, we can infer gained literacy. that the book was written when society society was transitioning numbering each folio, to the BACKGROUND numbering pages in the modern manner. During the 15th century, the Renaissance resulted in new forms of religious theology all across Europe. These theologies later fueled the Protestant Reformation when opposition in doctrine led many to break away from the Catholic Church. Both sides persecuted each other to buttress their argument that the other was wrong. Our book focuses on the response of the ART AND Catholic Church when Protestants began to massacre Catholic clergy. SYMBOLISM The art is propaganda to show the atrocities, but also (and arguably more importantly) to show the devotion of the victims/martyrs. Must have “patient A Catholic’s entrails are burned. Image courtesy of USU Special Collections. CITATIONS endurance of suffering” while showing “gratitude to Becker, Sascha O., Steven Pfaff, and Jared Rubin. 2016. "Causes and consequences of the Protestant God” (so the praying with calm demeanors). Reformation." Explorations In Economic History 62, 1-25. ScienceDirect, EBSCOhost (accessed March 28, 2018). de Hamel, Christopher. “ 5 The European Medieval Book." In The Oxford Companion to the Book. : Oxford University Press, Showing any sign of despair, suffering, or complaint Vivian Gates 2010. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198606536.001.0001/acref-9780198606536-e-0005. Dixon, C. Scott. 2017. "Luther's Ninety-Five Theses and the Origins of the Reformation Narrative." English Historical shows a deficient love of God. This imagery also Review 132, no. 156: 533-569. Humanities International Complete, EBSCOhost(accessed March 28, 2018). Frankie Urrutia-Smith Gregory, Brad S. Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, connects them to the official martyrs of the past in 1999. Valiunas, Algis. 2017. "MARTIN LUTHERS REFORMATION." Claremont Review of Books, 2017. 64. Academic the eyes of any who would see the depictions, as Jake Mohr OneFile, EBSCOhost (accessed March 28, 2018). those would be completely familiar images to both Winstead, Karen A. "Medieval Saints’ Lives." In The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. : Oxford University Press, 2006. Derek Reese http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195169218.001.0001/acref-9780195169218-e-0312. Catholic and Protestant. Ryan Nunn Images courtesy of USU Special Collections..
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