2.2 Reformation

The Protestant Reformation, and the Counter-Reformation, lead to religious wars.

 

Why is religion the first item in the First Amendment to the US Constitution? One motive was the hope of avoiding the long, bitter religious wars that took place in Europe in the two centuries before the American Revolution.    

The Protestant Reformation — from  the 1400s to 1700s — was an outgrowth of the new spirit of the Renaissance and the erosion of the old medieval world view.  All kinds of authorities were questioned, especially the authority of the church.

Even though some rebellions against the church took place before printing, they were usually local and quickly suppressed. That changed with printing.

When Johannes Gutenberg developed moveable type in Germany around  1455,  three people were able to do the work of a thousand monks and nuns.  Within 50 years, hundreds of thousands of books were suddenly available, including Bibles written in national languages rather than Latin.

Since ordinary people could read the Bible and interpret scripture for themselves, without the help of the church, printing amplified the Reformation and helped revolutionize European culture.

Compare the stories of two major historical figures: one active before, and the other after, the advent of the printing press.

Jan Huss (1371-1415), dean of the school of philosophy at the University of Prague, was a martyr to the cause of religious freedom. Outraged at the selling of indulgences, Huss openly debated various claims about the papacy from the pulpit. But he had no way to disseminate his views widely, kicking off the Hussite Rebellion  of 1415. The church found him guilty of heresy and, after tricking him with a false promise of safe passage, executed him in 1415.

Martin Luther (1483-1546), a German priest and philosophy professor,  kicked off the Protestant Reformation when he used the printing press to publish his 98 Theses on Oct. 31, 1517. These were basically a list of demands for church reform. Like Hus, he was outraged at the sale of indulgences. But by this time, thanks to the printing press,  ideas could spread rapidly throughout Europe.

Before the end of 1517, everyone in Europe had heard of Luther’s ideas, and people crowded around local printing shops, waiting for fresh copies of the 95 Theses.

Within a few years, most of Northern Europe, especially Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden and parts of Germany, broke away from the Catholic Church of Rome and adopted Lutheranism or Calvinism.  Henry VIII of England broke away from Rome and created the Church of England in the 1535-1540 period, executing several hundred dissenters and seizing church lands. The king also took over a church-run system of censorship, licensing printers through the Stationers Company and punishing them for religious and political dissent through the Star Chamber and the courts.

 

The church reacted with the Counter-Reformation and the Inquisition, which led to individual persecution and widespread religious warfare in the 1500s-1600s period.

All across Europe, millions of people were imprisoned, executed or killed in the religious wars of the 1500s and 1600s.  The mere possession of a publication on the “List of Prohibited Books” could lead to execution by Church authorities.

In England, the Counter-Reformation came to a head around 1553 when Queen Mary I (“Bloody Mary”), the Catholic queen, took the throne. Hundreds were executed, including the three bishops of Oxford. (Depicted in the engraving to the right)

Later English queens and kings, although proclaiming religious tolerance, continued to repress political speech. One important moment was the Nov. 5, 1605 attempt to blow up the Protestant King and Parliament by Guy Fawkes and other Catholic revolutionaries.

In France, the wars of religion accelerated in the 1500s with the suppression of the Huguenots, culminating in the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre in 1572.   The fighting more or less ended with the Edict of Nantes, issued on April 13, 1598 by Henry IV of France, granting French Protestants (also known as Huguenots) substantial rights in a Catholic nation. The revocation of the edict in 1685 did not lead to more massacres, but did lead to an exodus of French intellectuals and craftsmen   to Holland, England and the Americas.

Many people were persecuted by the church in Italy. One famous philosopher who was burned at the stake in 1600 for his beliefs was Giordano Bruno.  His mistake was  proposing that the earth revolved around the sun, which was really just another star.  Another who was persecuted during this era was  Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642). Galileo was,  an Italian mathematician and a professor at the Universities of Padua and Pisa. He carried out many studies in mathematics and technology involving water pumps, engines, compasses and telescopes and other instruments. Galileo’s astronomical observations convinced him of the truth of Nicholas Copernicus’ heliocentric theory. Between 1612 and 1632 he avoided dangerous confrontation with church authorities, but was finally forced to recant his views publicly under threat of torture.

Germany was torn apart by the Thirty Years War between the Catholic League and the Protestant Union, (1616-1648) and death toll was around 14 million.The fighting and oppression took place on both sides: The historic massacres of the Catholics by Protestants, such as the one led by Oliver Cromwell in Ireland were so well remembered that they continued to spur sporadic religious conflicts in the late 20th century.

In the Netherlands, fighting took place between Protestants and Catholic troops loyal to King Phillip II of Spain.