Key
Red – Critical information, must be copied EXACTLY
Purple – Great for studying, probably on a test
Green – Doesn’t need to be written down, but good to know
Part 1: The Reformation (or as I like to call it, the RAFFORMATION)
During the Renaissance, the church was under extraordinary corruption. They would do messed up things, like torturing people who didn’t follow them, to completely lieing to its followers.
Reading led people to realize that the church might not know everything. The behavior of some priests during The Black Death gave people doubt about the church. A new thing called Humanism, eventually led to new ideas about the importance of every individual, not just a group of people. The invention of the printing press by Johann G. made books and documents more available to people, and easier to copy down than writing by hand more copies. It also allowed writers to produce writing in the vernacular, or in the native language of the population, not just latin.
Christianity
Means to be someone who believes in Jesus as savior or follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.
- Teachings: The church seemed to be going against its teachings. They were enforcing useless and pointless laws. For example, all church activities were to be done in Latin, even if people didn’t understand it. Ridiculous, right?
- Behavior: The church wanted to force everyone to follow them. In Spain, the church had kicked out all non-christians, took their stuff, and tortured and attacked all people non christian. Last but not least, they would also put people to death and sent death threats.
The Inquisition
The Inquisition was a court set in place for religious crimes (for example, the corrupt catholic church’s actions). They said they were trying to ‘save’ people from going against the church, but really, they just wanted power as well. People were tortured until they gave in. But if they never gave in, you were to be BURNED at the stake.
Money
Pope Leo X spent tons and TONS of the church’s money on his own entertainment. He always threw parties, he was a happy guy. They came up with new ways to make money from people like letting people pay to become priests. Which meant, no paying taxes except to the church, and all you got to do, is pay a certain amount to become a priest.
INDULGENCES
Indulgences were passes to shorten the time sent in purgatory before heaven, washed away sins so this could be done. Basically they were selling tickets to heaven. But sadly, these tickets did nothing to help your time getting to heaven, they are just slips of paper. Which is were the great Martin Luther comes into play.
MARTIN LUTHER
When he was just a boy, his parents wanted him to become a lawyer. Thing is, he never became a lawyer. He had gotten lost in a bad storm one day. During that storm, he could only think of one thing to do. So, he stopped got onto his knees and prayed to God to save him. He promised at that moment that if he lives he will serve as a priest. Which is exactly what he did. Whenever he sinned, he wanted to go to confession over and over again. But somehow, he felt the confession wasn’t working, and that only God could forgive a humans sins. He eventually went to Rome and talked to the Pope about his feelings. He began to believe the church couldn’t provide salvation. He saw other priests acting sinfully, and from this brought him to doubt the church’s teaching. He tried to solve the problems of the Catholic church, but nothing seemed to work. Eventually, Luther’s ideas blossomed into what is now, the Lutherin church. He had said that Grace meant Godly love and that it was to be given freely to the people. He disagreed with Indulgences because God can forgive sins, not man. To Luther, the bible was the only source of God’s thoughts. If something wasn’t in the Bible, it shouldn’t be in the church.
Luther’s Challenge
Luther nailed 95 arguments to the door of the local Church for ALL to see. He also had translated the Bible to german, the language of the commoners. He believed Indulgences don’t work; just a piece of paper telling everyone lies. Luther was excommunicated after he refused to take back his statements. His ideas later rapidly spread throughout Europe despite the church’s response. So, the church then made some changes.
This began the rise of the Protestant churches. –> protested of the Catholic church
Lutheran —> Germany
Anglicans —> England
Calvanists —> France
Church Changes:
a. No more selling Indulgences
b. Priests must live near their church and people
c. No more paying to become a priest
THE COUNCIL OF TRENT
Luther had excommunicated after he refused to take back his statements. His ideas had spread rapidly, and millions converted to Protestantism. He was a hero to some, a criminal to others. Thus, the council of trent had been born. The Council of Trent was a group of bishops gathered to make some changes to the Catholic church. This is the council that created the church changes (as seen in the list above).
Downfall #1: The Black Death
The Black Death was a deadly plague that spread across Europe from 1346-1352. It was caused by a form of bacteria, and appears in 3 forms:
1. Pneumonic: Attack of the lungs
2. Septicemic: Appearance in the blood stream
3. Bubonic: causes buboes all over the body
The disease had originated in mongolia and spread to the Black Sea along the silk road. Bacteria was carried by fleas who lived on black rats. It first appeared in sicily and eventually spread. Italian merchant ships brought rats back with them to Europe along with trade goods. Sadly, people were ignorant of its cause, they had blamed the stars, God’s wrath, and the Jews. They tried ineffective cures such as pomanders, flagellation, and repentance of sins. The Black Death had killed 1/3 of the European population. This forced farmers to diversify their crops. Peasants revolted and demanded more freedom. Working class had moved to cities for better wages, which reduced the power of the feudal lords. All of this causing Feudalism to collapse.
Downfall #2: The Hundred Years War
This war began in 1337 AD. French King Charles IV died in 1328 with no male heir to his throne. Eventually, two men attempted to claim his vacant throne
1. Edward III of England, son-in-law of Charles IV
2. Philip of Valois, nephew of Charles
English armies started to attack the French. Then Longbows were created, eliminating advantages of armor. Cannons could be used to blast holes in castles. Monarchs (kings/queens) used armies recruited from the common people.
To be continued on Part 2
History Plus 