Main Factors in the Origins of Reformation - Essay Example

The Main Factors in the Origins of the Reformation Table of Contents Introduction The Protestant Reformation was a profound social and religious movement that had lasting repercussions not only in the church, but also in many of the conceptions and interpretations of the modern world. Generally attributed to Martin Luther, who is said to have pinned his 95 thesis on the door of the Wittenberg Castle in the early sixteenth century, the reformation actually had several roots. Some of these stretching back hundreds of years to when the absolute dictates of the church, and the general population’s devout belief in its goodness, began to be questioned. While some causes for doubt where natural processes quite beyond the scope or prevention of the church of the times, such as in the case of the Black Death and subsequent plagues that periodically decimated the European population, others were undoubtedly the result of greed and bids for power, such as could be seen in the Western Schism. Finally, social changes ranged far out of the control of the church through a variety of factors. A growth in the population leading up to the reformation, coupled with significant changes in economic structures as agrarian workers moved to towns and villages began to produce a more literary public. This was encouraged by the invention of the printing press that made the production of books faster and more economical and thus making them more accessible to a wider audience. This, in turn, promoted the spread of Humanitarian ideas throughout the general public following a period of church failures. Thus, while it can be argued that Martin Luther was the biggest catalyst for change, he was heavily assisted by a variety of factors that came together at just the right time and place for his words to have maximum impact. The Black Death 1347-1350 The Black Death was the first of several waves of plague that would periodically decimate and terrorize the European population until a probable cause was finally identified. In this, the first of the plagues, the populace was more than terrified at the horrible curse that had been brought upon them, striking seemingly at random and completely unstoppable. Those suffering the illness might not know they’d contracted it for up to seven days and then would experience headaches, nausea, aching joints, swelling of the lymph nodes, high fevers and vomiting. Reports indicate as much as a third of all Europeans died of the disease and the mortality rate for those contracting it was reportedly as high as 75 percent (Luftus et al, 1999). In the face of this devastating and mysterious illness that looked so much like other more minor complaints yet proved so utterly fatal, the Christian church was called upon to stop the death tolls and ease people’s suffering. Appeals for aid went unanswered despite promises to the contrary. Holy relics had no effect on the progression of the disease and rituals did nothing to stop its progress. While churchmen assured villagers that the plague was God’s will, the cause for it and the victims it claimed were not so easily explained. Frightened churchmen, equally as astounded as the villagers themselves, shut up their churches and fled to the country (Luftus et al, 1999). Through such unfulfilled promises, lack of care and want of answers, the church lost a great deal of the authority and leadership it had once held over the people and the people, for their part, began to question whether the church should truly be held in the esteem it had been thus far. It didn’t seem to have any better sway over disaster than they did and when times got hard, it fell to the individuals to pray for themselves when the clergymen abandoned their flocks. The Western Schism 1378-1417 The Western Schism refers to a period of time in which there were actually two Holy Catholic Popes in existence at the same time. It revealed to the populace the extreme degree to which the church was influenced by and conversant in politics as well as again bringing into question whether the church should have the prestige and influence it enjoyed as the representatives of God for the people. Briefly, the situation arose because Pope Gregory XI determined to re-establish the holy see in Rome whence it originated from its then-current location in Avignon, where it had been for approximately 100 years. Upon his death, everything proceeded normally, with the election of Bartolomeo Prignano, later called Urban VI, to the papacy in Rome and full approbation of the French cardinals. However, “he showed himself whimsical, haughty, suspicious, and sometimes choleric in his relations with the cardinals who had elected him. Too obvious roughness and blamable extravagances seemed to show that his unexpected election had altered his character” (Salembier, 1912). It was in an effort to unseat Urban VI that the cardinals then endorsed the election of Robert of Geneva, later Clement VII in Avignon. While the world divided in their support of Rome or Avignon, the Popes were succeeded by Boniface IX in Rome and Benedict XIII in Avignon. “Unfortunately the rival popes launched excommunication against each other; they created numerous cardinals to make up for the defections and sent them throughout Christendom to defend their cause, spread their influence, and win adherents” (Salembier, 1912). This only served to further undermine the church by taking its internal struggles out to the general populace, reinforcing growing beliefs that the church was as interested in political power and material gain as the crown and little to no concern for the common people or spiritual matters they were supposed to be guarding. Although the matter was settled relatively peacefully when Charles VI released his people from obedience to Benedict, he not only ended the schism in favor of Rome, but he provided the first official sanction for the people to ignore the dictates handed down by the church and the permission to question their own beliefs. The Peasant’s War Throughout the 1400s and 1500s, there had been a series of revolts between the German peasants of the countryside and the landowners and business owners of the towns and cities. A great many of these revolts can be seen to have been incited by severe economic and political concerns, but the religious upheaval of the Reformation provided an impetus for stronger efforts in the early 1500s. As they became more and more aware of the criticisms of the church brought forward by Martin Luther and others, the peasants became convinced that their concerns regarding these other issues had true merit and would be divinely upheld. While most of their concerns lay outside the church, the idea that religious matters played at least some part is evident in the demands they brought forward. “A program called the Twelve Articles of the Peasantry listed among the demands liberty to choose their own pastors, relief from the lesser tithes, abolition of serfdom, the right to fish and hunt, restoration of inclosed common lands, abolition of death duties, impartiality of the courts, and restriction of the demands of landlords to their just feudal dues” (“Peasant’s War”, 2003). Unfortunately, the peasants were cruelly defeated, estimates hold that as many as 100,000 peasants were killed during the revolt of 1525-1526, without winning many concessions to their demands and severely discouraging any further attempts at improvement. However, the ideas that had been planted regarding religious matters could not so easily be crushed out and more and more individuals began to seriously consider the words of the Humanists. Population growth / Economic change As the population began reasserting itself following the plagues, the semi-subsistent agrarian lifestyle of the past was no longer sufficient to sustain the population. Land became more expensive, peasants were required to pay larger rents and other duties and many began moving into the towns and villages to pursue crafts or trades that would cater to the growing consumer market. According to Immanuel Wallerstein (1980), those individuals who determined to stay on the land and pay higher rents could only do so by switching their farming techniques from one of subsistence to one of specialized farming that would produce higher profit crops for less effort. This contributed to the growth of towns as a means of trading among various growers just as much as the development of handcraft industries and the beginnings of a middle class. Thus, while the population began to expand, the demographics started shifting to a more social, more innovative culture that had a stronger tendency to share ideas, discuss issues and examine beliefs across a broad range of the population that was also seeing an increase in prosperity and individual concern. The seeds of capitalism were planted needing only the justification for full-fledged pursuit of personal wealth. The Literary Renaissance / Invention of the Printing Press With the greater intermingling of society as the towns grew and business began operating more with a dependence upon written communication as a matter of course, more and more people were beginning to read and to appreciate various forms of literature, such as the production of plays as a means of entertainment and moral reinforcement. The predominant guiding principle for the creation of new literature was to re-create or mirror what was observed in human behavior and this concept extended naturally to commentary upon the church and state. The demand for books was high, but the cost of producing them was equally high until the middle of the 15th century and the production of the printing press. By creating metal blocks that contained a single letter each, Johannes Gutenberg was able to create movable type and print multiple copies of complete pages of text in a fraction of the time it used to take to hand-copy or block print with less waste and expense. In keeping with the emerging Humanist ideals that rejected the spoutings of the Catholic church in all its ineptitude and a dependence on the Bible itself as the only true authority, one of the earliest projects for the printing press was a large-scale printing of the Gutenberg Bible that was available for sale to any who could afford it, “the equivalent of three years’ pay for the average clerk” (Kreis, 2004). As the reformation moved forward, translations of the Bible into the various vernacular languages of the European continent and Great Britain and their distribution among the populace was only possible through this earth-shaking invention. Humanism Throughout this entire period, Humanism as an ideology was being developed and promoted through a variety of thinkers. “Renaissance Humanists placed great emphasis upon the dignity of man and upon the expanded possibility of human life in this world” (“General Characteristics”, 2000). The values of this movement held that men should be involved in the world they lived in. “Individual achievement, breadth of knowledge and personal aspirations (as personified by Dr. Faustus) were valued” (“General Characteristics”, 2000). Proponents of the freedom of thought this approach suggested included those primarily credited with driving the Reformation to this day. These include Desiderius Erasmus, Martin Luther and John Calvin among others. Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) was a humanist and theologian working from within the ranks of the ecclesiasts. His criticism of the Church of Rome was a call for reform of the ills he had noticed, reminding his fellow churchmen of the original purpose for the call. His reform ideas were not designed to create schism, but were instead measures he intended should be taken quietly within the halls of the church itself. As such, his approach was not from the angry, resentful masses working against the church itself, nor was it against any specific doctrine that he found fault with. Instead, he urged for a sincere approach to study and religion based on sound principles and a desire for righteousness. “The chief evil of the day, he says, is formalism, a respect for traditions, a regard for what other people think essential, but never a thought of what the true teaching of Christ may be” (“Erasmus”, 2003). Although he professed he was not working against the church itself, many of these ideas can be seen as direct attacks upon the more stringent practices of the Roman Catholic Church and particularly against any impression of an empty activity. Perhaps his most influential work in terms of helping to instigate the Reformation was his careful translations of the books of the New Testament. “It was the first attempt on the part of a competent and liberal-minded scholar to ascertain what the writers of the New Testament had actually said” (“Erasmus”, 2003). It was from this book that Martin Luther transcribed the Bible into German to make it available to the laypersons of the country just as it was this book that was used by William Tyndale for translation into English for the first time in 1526. Presuming that this book had a profound impact upon the start of the Reformation is also based upon the fact that the outbreak of the Lutheran movement took place less than a year after the publication of this book. “It made the issue between European society and the Roman Church system so clear that no man could quite escape the summons to range himself on one side or the other of the great debate” (“Erasmus”, 2003). Despite the fact that Erasmus was sympathetic to the primary criticisms Martin Luther made of the Catholic Church in his 95 theses, Erasmus nevertheless refused to take sides on the issue that he had helped bring forward. “In all his criticism of clerical follies and abuses he had always carefully hedged himself about with protests that he was not attacking church institutions themselves and had no enmity toward the persons of churchmen” (“Erasmus”, 2003). Not able to completely align himself with either side of the issue, he was eventually ostracized by both, severely disappointing Luther who felt that he was avoiding his responsibility and arousing the suspicions of Rome brought on by his publications. “When Erasmus was charged – and very justly – with having ‘laid the egg that Luther hatched’, he half admitted the truth of the charge, but said he ‘had expected quite another kind of a bird!’” (“Erasmus”, 2003). Luther The most recognized figure of the Protestant Reformation is that of Martin Luther (1483-1546), although this was not necessarily what the humble monk envisioned when he posted his 95 theses in 1517. His early life was spent in preparation for a career in law, but his adolescence gave him a jolt of divine inspiration when he was struck by a bolt of lightening and he turned to a life of serving God. Reports indicate he was a very devout monk, pious and humble, devoted to discovering God. However, upon his travels within his educational capacity, he discovered several instances of fellow churchmen whose religious fervor that struck him as being more self-serving and cynical than truly devout as they should be. It wasn’t until 1517 that Luther is said to have done anything public or definite about his general concern regarding the church, though. A highly charged bartering process was revealed in the purchase of the archbishopric of Mainz by Albert of Hohenzollern who remained too young for a bishop yet already held two bishoprics elsewhere. As part of the arrangement, Pope Leo X imposed an 8 year indulgence on Albert’s territories, squeezing the people out of their money to benefit Albert personally as well as to help build the basilica at St. Peter’s. It was this action that incensed Luther to take action and publish his now-famous theses, which spoke out against the practice of indulgences and, in the process, presented an alternative way of thinking (Kreis, 2006). Indulgences were typically sold as a means of getting money out of the populace by promising a straight trip to heaven upon death regardless of a particular sin, what would today be called a ‘get out of jail free’ card. “The system was permitted by the Church (since 1215) but had been abused by the clergy and their agents such as Tetzel” (Kreis, 2006). In addition to selling people out of their sins, the indulgences that were being offered in Luther’s time were also promising to release already deceased relatives from purgatory the moment the money clinked in the bottom of the churchman’s bucket. Luther saw the practice correctly as being little more than a means of churchmen lining their own pockets at the expense of the spiritual fears and concerns of a believing and vulnerable public. Luther’s attack of the indulgences went far beyond a mere criticism of a specific practice, though. His means of refuting the practice was to call on the people to reflect upon their need for intermediary forces that would practice such corrupt means of taking advantage. The only solution to removing this stain from their lives was to convene with God directly on their own behalf. “By attacking the issue of the indulgences, Luther was really attacking the entire theology and structure of the Church. By making salvation dependent on the individual’s faith, Luther abolished the need for sacraments as well as a clergy to administer them. For Luther, faith alone, without the necessity of good works, would bring salvation” (Kreis, 2006). This line of reasoning gained him many followers as the rich identified a means of achieving spiritual salvation without handing their estates over to the church and the poor found a means of retaining some semblance of dignity and respect regardless of what they could pay the church in their simple faith. Whereas religion before had always been about the group body of the Church and congregation, Luther introduced an individual element that would have profound implications for future generations. Calvin John Calvin (1509-1564) undoubtedly started his career as a Lutheran, following the writings of Martin Luther and expanding upon his ideas. However, the degree to which Calvin pursued his own thoughts marks him out as unique and often gains him the distinction of leading the second wave of the Reformation. Building on Luther’s concepts, Calvin extended the idea of predestination to suggest that man was “a helpless being before an all-powerful God. He concluded that there was no such thing as free will, that man was predestined for either Heaven or Hell. Man can do nothing to alter his fate” (Kreis, 2006). To understand the difference between the two philosophies, it is helpful to understand the type of ideal society Calvin created in Geneva as the primary religious leader in that city for a short span of time. Calvin’s philosophy as it was demonstrated in Geneva gave rise to the Protestant Work Ethic that has had such a profound impact upon the development of entire countries such as the United States and economic systems, such as capitalism. Under this system, the people of Geneva were instructed to get out of bed early, work hard throughout the daylight hours and be thrifty at all times. More than simply abstaining from worldly pleasures, the ideal Genevan Calvinist would avoid excessive abuses of time or resources in order to accomplish a task and would not desire extravagant luxury items or consumer goods. Constantly concerned to uphold good morals and high ideals of righteousness, Calvin’s Genevans were expected to remain sober and serious a good deal of the time. The example set, while devoid of fun, laughter or enjoyment of life in any of its aspects, nevertheless had some outcomes that fostered its continuation well into the future. “Of course, we wake up early, work at your calling, are thrifty, sober and abstain from frivolity, there is an unintended consequence. That consequence was the acquisition of wealth” (Kreis, 2006). Here, finally, was the justification that had long been sought behind the capitalist system that had been developing as a result of the demographic and economic changes that had been occurring in the countrysides and towns. He provided the rationalization needed “by arguing that certain men are imbued with the spirit of acquisition, the correct spirit. That spirit has often been called the Protestant Work Ethic. In other words, the ethic says to work hard, save what you have made, and reinvest any profit in order to increase wealth” (Kreis, 2006). Conclusion Martin Luther managed to be in the right place at the right time with just the right words to touch off rising resentments, concerns and public observations regarding the corrupted and cynical aspects of the church. During this period in history, the church was seen to have turned its back on the common people in favor of money and power even as the common people were struggling to meet rising costs of living, changing world economies and different means of subsistence. These doubts were fostered by natural conditions such as earlier outbreaks of plague in which the church was seen to be as helpless and perhaps more cowardly than the average citizen as well as by internal politics within the church itself that were deliberately aired before the public as a means of garnering support for one greedy Pope or another. Although others had come before and others would come after, Martin Luther’s placement in the center of this continent-wide debate ensured his identification as the touchstone of the revolution, introducing new perspectives on old problems that opened up entirely new vistas to explore as the concept of individual devotion became widespread. References “Erasmus.” (2003). English Bible History. Available 19 May 2007 from “General Characteristics of the Renaissance.” (17 August 2000). Renaissance. Brooklyn College. Available 19 May 2007 from Kreis, Steven. (13 May 2004). “The Printing Press.” The History Guide. Available 19 May 2007 from < http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/press.html> Kreis, Steven. (11 October 2006). “The Protestant Reformation.” The History Guide. Available 19 May 2007 from Loftus, Melissa; Sherman, Alex; Quan, Ashley; Griffin, Mieko. (1999). “Black Death.” Insecta Inspecta World. Available 19 May 2007 from < http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/fleas/bdeath/index.html> “Peasant’s War.” (2003). Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th Ed. Available 19 May 2007 from Salembier, Louis. (1912). “Western Schism.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. XIII. Judy Levandoski (Trans.). New York: Robert Appleton Company. Available 19 May 2007 from New Advent Wallerstein, Immanuel. (1980). The Modern World System I: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World Economy in the Sixteenth Century. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Read More