* The Reformation

• The Catholic League

• As the popularity of Protestantism grew in France, many French Catholics grew impatient with the lack of action against what they considered heresy by the Protestants.

• Heresy is the denial of a basic doctrine of Christianity.

• Catholic leaders began to feel threatened by the movements of the Protestants.

• Political-religious groups, known as leagues, organized to confront the Huguenots.

• The Catholic League was a national group that intended to stamp out the spread of Protestantism in France.

• The group was led by the Duke of Guise who also had intentions of taking over the French throne.

• Under Guise's leadership, the League intended to replace King Henry III, the king of France, who was a Protestant. * The Reformation

• Religious Wars in France

• War broke out between the Catholic League and the Huguenots in 1562 and continued until 1598.

• Political unrest between the Huguenots and the powerful Guise family led to the death of many Huguenots, marking the beginning of the Wars of Religion.

• In 1562, the Huguenots were defeated by Guise in the first battle of the war.

• Guise was killed in this battle.

• A treaty was negotiated by Catherine de Medici that allowed Huguenot nobles to worship freely, but peasants could only worship in one town within each district.

• During the wars, Catherine de Medici was the Queen mother and held power during the reign of her sons Francois II, Charles IX and Henry III. * The Reformation

• Religious Wars in France

• The Huguenots were worried Catherine was planning a campaign against them with the Spaniards and attempted to capture King Charles IX.

• They failed, and though another attempt at peace was made, neither side trusted each other.

• The Huguenots faced a defeat in 1569, but began to gain ground with some Protestant nobles in France.

• After this massacre, an edict was issued that granted freedom of worship in France, except in Paris.

• However, Catholics convinced Henry III to repeal this decision, causing another uprising with the Huguenots.

• The power of the Huguenots and the Catholic League grew, leaving Henry III with less power.

• After Henry III was killed, he was succeeded by Henry IV, who was a Protestant. * The Reformation

• Religious Wars in France

• Henry IV fought in the ongoing struggle, but he converted to Catholicism in 1593.

• The Catholic league began to dissolve in 1598 when Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes.

• The edict allowed Huguenots to worship publicly and within the homes of the nobility.

• More specifically, the Edict was made of four basic texts, part of which was based on unsuccessful peace treaties from the wars.

• It also guaranteed safety from the Inquisition for Huguenots who were travelling outside of France.

• The Edict also established that Catholicism was still to be considered the national religion of France. * The Reformation

• Religious Wars in France

• Therefore, Protestants were still required to pay taxes and tithes to the church, and also recognize Catholic holidays.

• Although the edict did not grant total religious freedom, the partial freedom gained was enough to end the wars.

• Bourbon and Francois

• When Charles de Bourbon was 15, he became a French duke. He became very wealthy and enjoyed spending his money. He also enjoyed serving in the French army.

• When Francois I (or Francis I in English) became king in 1515, he appointed Bourbon as the Constable of France, meaning he was the general of the national army.

• Francois and Bourbon wanted to expand French borders, but neither of them had enough money to fund the expeditions. * The Reformation

• Bourbon and Francois

• They began borrowing money, assuming they would be able to pay it back after conquering a rich Italian province called Lombardy.

• The Battle Begins

• Bourbon also used some of his money to hire mercenaries from Germany to fight against the Swiss mercenaries currently fighting for Lombardy.

• Mercenaries are soldiers that are hired to fight rather than being part of a national defense system.

• Mercenaries didn't fight for their nation of origin but instead went where the money was.

• Mercenaries could fight against one country and then fight for them in the future, depending on who hired them.

• The French troops, along with the German mercenaries, led a successful campaign into the Italian province. * The Reformation

• The Battle Begins

• When the forces returned, Bourbon asked the King for funds to pay off his debtors.

• The King, however, didn't have enough money to pay off his own debts.

• Bourbon waited two years and asked for money again.

• Although the King was agreeable, he was in no hurry to comply with Bourbon's request.

• Bourbon finally obtained financial help through his cousin, also named Charles, who was the prince of Austria.

• Politics and the Holy Roman Empire

• Charles of Austria was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519.

• Francois was unhappy with this decision and wanted the title for himself. * The Reformation

• Politics and the Holy Roman Empire

• Francois wasn't sure he could trust Bourbon's loyalty, so he asked Bourbon to marry his mother.

• Bourbon refused, and Francois claimed ownership of all of Bourbon's property.

• Bourbon had to go to court to fight for his estate, but meanwhile, Francois continued to petition Bourbon with marriages to women in his family.

• Bourbon became irritated with Francois' behavior and fled to Spain, where his cousin, Charles V, was preparing to invade France.

• Bourbon joined the fight with his German mercenaries.

• Francois was captured, and Bourbon demanded Francois return his land and his money. * The Reformation

• Politics and the Holy Roman Empire

• Francois agreed, but when he was set free, he sold all of Bourbon's land to French aristocracy.

• Bourbon had to ask his cousin for more money, but Charles V was busy with rebellions against his empire.

• Bourbon Attacks Rome

• Charles V made Bourbon the Duke of Milan and provided him with an army of French and German troops.

• However, the mercenaries became angry when they didn't get paid for their service.

• Bourbon began selling his own possessions to pay them.

• He eventually allowed the troops to attack neighboring cities to loot the cities and churches to help pay their salaries.

• Bourbon and his troops decided to attack the city of Rome * The Reformation

• Bourbon Attacks Rome

• Rome was considered sacred by Catholics.

• Because of Rome's holy status, it had little in the area of defense.

• The city was thought to be safe, as few would dare attack a place held in such high regard.

• However, many of Bourbon's troops were Protestants and had no problem attacking the city.

• Bourbon attacked in May of 1527.

• During the attack, Bourbon was killed, but his troops defeated the city.

• The sack lasted a little over a week, but it is thought Rome was in chaos for months.

• The city was looted and many buildings and monuments destroyed. * The Reformation

• Bourbon Attacks Rome

• By the end of the summer, thousands of men, women, and children had either fled or were killed in the attack.

• Many soldiers, both Catholic and Protestant, as well as some locals, participated in the murder and looting.

• After Rome was attacked, the Pope allied with Florence, France, Milan, and Venice, forming the League of Cognac.

• The League hoped to limit the power of Charles V, although it's unclear whether Charles ever actually authorized the attack on Rome.

• However, the League failed to adequately protect the Pope or attack Charles V, so the Pope made peace with Charles.

• The Sack of Rome also had an impact on the Renaissance culture Rome was known for at the time. * The Reformation

• Bourbon Attacks Rome

• After Rome was attacked, many artists and architects fled the city, hoping to find safety elsewhere.

• This event is generally seen to have marked the end of the High Renaissance in Rome.

• The King's Great Matter

• And now, off the continent and back to England.

• In the year 1525, Henry VIII, King of England, was facing a serious problem.

• Despite years of marriage, Henry had been unable to produce a male heir to his throne.

• His first wife, Catherine of Aragon, had only managed to provide him with one surviving daughter, Mary, before she became too old to have further children. * The Reformation

• The King's Great Matter

• Henry's marriage to Catherine had been a matter of state, rather than a matter of the heart.

• Catherine was the daughter of the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, the royal couple who had financed Columbus' expeditions to the New World.

• Their subsequent conquest of much of the Americas was making Spain incredibly rich and powerful.

• Henry VII needed this royal wedding to give the Tudor line some legitimacy and to cement the bond between England and Spain.

• So Henry VII had married Catherine to his eldest son, Arthur.

• Unfortunately, Arthur died soon after their wedding.

• Yet Catherine's royal parents made her not someone to be cast aside lightly. * The Reformation

• The King's Great Matter

• Still needing the alliance with Spain, Henry VII had arranged a second marriage for Catherine with his second son, Henry.

• Essentially, Henry VIII had been compelled to marry the widow of his elder brother for political reasons. Such is the burden of royalty.

• Now Henry chafed under this state marriage.

• Henry set about looking for a new wife, even though he was already married.

• He found one in the lovely Anne Boleyn, the sister of one of Catherine's ladies in waiting.

• Though it is tempting to judge Henry for this behavior, it is important to remember that England had only just emerged from nearly a century of civil war.

• The War of the Roses was, first and foremost, a war of succession. * The Reformation

• The King's Great Matter

• To keep his kingdom from falling apart all over again, Henry needed an heir now, and it was clear that Catherine was not going to provide one for him.

• So Henry attempted to have his marriage to Catherine annulled. However, the only person with the authority to annul a royal wedding was the Pope himself.

• Unfortunately for Henry, the Pope was a bit preoccupied at the moment, having been effectively imprisoned by the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, who just happened to be Catherine's nephew - and who obviously did not want to see his aunt cast aside.

• The Pope found himself torn between the will of two powerful monarchs: Henry VIII of England and Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire.

• So, the Pope did what authorities tend to do when caught between a rock and a hard place; he let someone else make the decision. * The Reformation

• The King's Great Matter

• The Pope delegated his authority on the matter to a pair of cardinals, including Henry's own Chancellor, Thomas Wolsey.

• Wolsey tried to get Henry the annulment he wanted, but Charles V had the Pope in the palm of his hand, and Charles did not want that annulment to happen.

• Henry blamed Wolsey for the failure and relieved him of office, replacing him with someone he thought would prove more compliant: Thomas More.

• Thomas More

• More was a great theologian of his time; he had written several papers attacking the Protestant reformation and defending the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.

• More was also an accomplished author. * The Reformation

• Thomas More

• More was a great theologian of his time; he had written several papers attacking the Protestant reformation and defending the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.

• More was also an accomplished author.

• His greatest work, Utopia, a work of fiction about a fabulous kingdom of tolerance and communal property, had made More famous in his own time.

• Most importantly to Henry, though, More was someone he considered a close ally, who would get things done for him.

• More had already helped Henry deal with religious matters before. His work on Henry's decree condemning Lutheranism had earned Henry great respect among Catholics, earning him the title 'Defender of the Faith.' , a title by the way that English monarchs to this day still carry.

• Henry likely thought More would prove just as helpful in his struggle against the faith of the Catholic Church. * The Reformation

• Thomas More

• And at the outset, it seemed like More was going to live up to the king's expectations.

• With More breathing down their necks, the theologians of Oxford and Cambridge ruled that Henry's marriage to Catherine was null and void.

• Catherine was exiled from court, and Anne Boleyn took her place as the new Queen of England.

• All of this was done without the approval of the Pope in Rome.

• Though More had worked to make this transition possible, the precedent it set weighed heavily on his conscience.

• More worried that Henry would continue to challenge the authority of the Pope. * The Reformation

• Thomas More

• It was perhaps for this reason that More refused to attend Anne's coronation, opening a rift between him and Henry that would only grow wider as the king continued to undermine the authority of the Pope

• The First Succession Act

• In 1533, a pregnant Anne Boleyn seemed about to fulfill her marital role.

• Yet, Henry's hopes were dashed when Anne produced a daughter, Elizabeth.

• Henry was furious and refused to attend Elizabeth's christening.

• However, Anne's fertility had been demonstrated, and she persuaded Henry that a son would soon follow.

• The next year, Henry pressured Parliament into passing the First Succession Act. This act did several things: * The Reformation

• The First Succession Act

• It officially declared that the marriage between Henry and Catherine was null and void.

• It disinherited Henry's daughter by Catherine, Mary, and proclaimed any children of Anne as next in the line of succession.

• It also required an oath of every citizen to respect the line of succession as written in the act.

• And, just in case Rome hadn't gotten the point, the act explicitly denied the power of 'any foreign authority, prince or potentate.'

• This was too much for poor Thomas More, who refused to take the oath and was locked in the Tower of London for his troubles.

• Parliament passed several more acts, challenging the Pope's authority and eventually breaking away from the Church altogether, which we will get to, but for the purpose of this lesson, it is enough to know that Henry refused to let the Church get between him and his quest for an heir.