The Reformation in Europe

Concubines, drunkenness, gambling, illiteracy, clerical pluralism and absenteeism are just a few of the characteristics that pertain to a 16th century Roman Catholic Church priest. Upset by these actions and seeking a reform to the Catholic Church, Martin Luther, a German priest, appealed to the pope. He was ignored, thus motivating him to write the 95 theses, a document that described how the Roman Catholic Church’s selling of indulgences undermined the sacrament of penance. This propelled what would later on be called, the Reformation, a movement to reform the Catholic Church in Western Europe. This movement spread throughout all Europe, some monarchies welcomed it, converting their territories to Protestantism or one of its several branches while others rejected it and worked against the Reformation due to political, economical or social reasons. The monarchies of England, Holland and Germany were decisively in favor of a reformation to the Catholic Church. Other monarchies, like the French, and Italian opposed this, remaining attached to their Roman Catholic history and roots.

In 1519, Luther published his 95 Theses; they were spread throughout Germany, which produced protests against the religious misdeeds of the Roman Church. Luther was called to defend his viewpoints in Leipzig in 1519. He vigorously defended his ideas and hence, the Reformation was born in Germany. The Reformation was welcomed in Germany because Luther made Germans aware that the selling of indulgences on behalf of the church was just a deceiving way of the Pope raising the money that was needed to build the St. Peter’s Basilica. Since the 15th century, the German government had expressed their disagreement on giving the clergy privileges and immunities. This upset the people because even though they did not have to pay taxes or comply with civic duties, the clergy owned most of the taxable properties. Rejecting Roman Catholic Church would mean that Catholic possessions, such as lands would have to be removed from the clergy, and most German Princes were attracted to this outcome. Many princes used this religious issue, to break free politically from Charles V, who happened to be a firm Catholic believer.

A few years after the Reformation had begun, in 1534, King Henry VIII requested Pope Clement VII to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The pope denied Henry’s request but he was impatient to divorce Catherine and marry his new love, Ann Boleyn, with the hopes that she would bear him a male child. When Henry VIII was denied his request several times, he fired his closest advisor, and replaced him with Cranmer and Cromwell. These new advisors were both receptive of Luther’s new ideas, which is why they advised him to break off the English Church from the Roman Church and instead of having the pope as head of the church, he, the King, would be the new head of the Church. In 1529, the Parliament began to debate this matter and in 1534, with the Act in Restraint of Appeals, the clergy of England officially recognized Henry as the head of the Church. Later on in 1534, with the Supremacy Act, he was given complete control of the clergy. Henry set up the Anglican Church as the State Church of England and between the years 1535 and 1539, Henry dissolved the English monasteries to keep their wealth, ending 900 years of English monastic life.

The monarchy in France did not welcome the Reformation. After succeeding his father, King Francis I led his army into Italy in 1515, achieving victory in Marignano. This resulted in a treaty with Rome called the Concordat of Bologna. This treaty gave Francis I most control over the Catholic Church in France and made him the head of the church. Francis I had so many rights in contrast to the church that the reformers’ ideas of did not appeal to him. Lutheranism became a major concern in France while King Francis I was occupied with Italy. He had no interest in persecuting the reformers in France because that would show signs of cooperation with Rome. He chose not to persecute them because he was allying with Protestants in Germany and it wouldn’t help his new alliance. However, this did not mean he admired or sympathized Reformers. Lutheranism was forbidden in France in 1525 by a papal and royal decree. Again in 1533, and in 1540 Francis issued decrees forbidding Reformist doctrines. Finally in 1547 he created the chambre ardents to pursue heretics and France remained a Catholic nation.

Just like in France, the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor were in total opposition of the Reformation. The Reformation did not affect Italy as much as other nations because the only protestant groups lived in communities that were located in remote mountain areas. Luther’s texts were written in German; therefore the church censorship had a strong effect. In 1519, Martin Luther was called to a public debate with John Eck at Leipzig. Luther denied papal authority, this