Prior to 1550, the European continent was dominated by Catholicism and had been for centuries. However, Protestantism first introduced by Martin Luther had begun to make inroads in the Holy Roman Empire and Nordic countries. Despite the growing popularity of these new religions, the majority of monarchs saw religious diversity as a weakness. Instead, most rulers pursued Religious uniformity to ensure political stability and strength. Examples of monarchs attempting to achieve religious university abound from Charles V in the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, to Rome, and to England. Charles V launched military campaigns to weed out Lutheranism and employed the Spanish Inquisition to target members of other faiths. The Pope in the Papal States would …show more content…
During the period between 1550 and 1648, the view of the Holy Roman Empire, France, and the Spanish Netherlands shifted to perceive religious diversity as a strength and not as a weakness. Following the bloody civil war between Charles V and the Schmalkaldick league, the Peace of Augsburg took the first steps to reestablishing domestic stability. The contract specified in Document 4 illustrates the town council in Saxony mandating the cooperation of Lutheranism and Catholicism with the Catholic church allowing Lutheran priests to perform sermons in the upper balcony. The system helps to ensure domestic stability which goes in sharp contrast to the war under Charles V for religious uniformity. Therefore, Document 4 illustrates that the city council believed that there could be political stability with religious diversity. The Holy Roman Empire continued the trend towards tolerance after the 30 Years War. The Peace of Westphalia establishes the idea of freedom of religion for all citizens (Document 7). The peace comes after a decades long conflict that decimated as much as 30% of the population. The Peace of Westphalia …show more content…
Sebastian Castellio best shows this perception in Document 1. The French Theologian paints a direct correlation between the lack of stability of a territory with the advent of differing religions or denominations (Document 1). Castellio’s point of view most likely stems from his experiences as a French Protestant and how his views led to his exile from France and how two religions resulted in a civil war in France. Spain under Philip II also maintained the importance of religious uniformity for political stability and strength. Pere Oroming’s painting of the expulsion of the Moriscos clearly illustrates this concept (Document 6). The painting depicts a sharp contrast between the dark, tumultuous sea with the Moriscos and the strong, imposing castle of the Spanish. The point of the painting is to represent the idea that Spain is more stable as a result of religious uniformity. England also continued to rely on religious uniformity as a source of stability under Queen Elizabeth I. The Act of Uniformity mandated the attendance of religion in the nation and created punishments for failure to appear loyal to the Anglican church. The move is not surprising considering the tumultuous state that England had been under from the previous rulers: Mary, Edward, and Henry VIII that all sought to create new religions. However, rather
To historians, the “Thirty Year War can also be seen, at least in its initial stages, as round three in the series of religious wars that resulted from the Reformation. Round one had ended with Peace of Augsburgy in 1555, and round two with Henry IV of France allowing French Protestants limited freedom of worship…”(Hanks, 321). Throughout Mr. Robisheaux’s book, he shined a light on the impact the war had on small towns, such as the Langenburg village. The impact on Anna Schmieg’s life can be seen through how the Lutheran Church handled her case and how her upbringing affected the case as well. As the fear of the unknown impacted the spread of fear of witchcraft in the countryside of Germany, the impact of the church can be seen through the rebuilding process of church authority in the communities.
At the year 1524, Martin Luther, a significant figure in the Reformation and the founder of Lutheranism, had just finished hiding in Frederick the Wise’s Saxony castle after the Edict of Worms declared that he was an “outlaw” of the Holy Roman Empire. Luther’s action that led up to this event was the publication of the 95 Theses in 1517, which denounced indulgences and attacked the corruption of the papacy. Luther was able to remain hidden due to the extreme decentralization of the Holy Roman Empire. Emperor Charles V could not devote much of his attention to Luther, as he was controlling Spain, The Holy Roman Empire, and the New World.
Document one was created by a famous Christian John Edwards. John states that God will judge every human, and no one can be saved from hell if they are a sinner. Not even a miracle wouldn’t be able to save you because God has to exact his justice. Document one displays the Christian faith. This shows that the Christian God has to exact His judgement on sinful people.
This faithfulness to his king directly correlates to his and the other Spanish settlers’ goal to help strengthen their mother country economically and government with their rivalry with the other European countries. The leaders of Spain, along with Britain and France, were all a part of a global power struggle. By the late 1700s, the different European leaders all heard about the steady flow of money and treasures which were coming from North America. These powers soon entered into a struggle to impose their supremacy on colonies and trade routes. So, many people had the same mindset as Fernando de Rivera y Moncada where he wanted to rebuild the Catholic Spanish Population which was greatly decreased after English Protestants began to colonize North
Jeramie Jones Dr. Hermann History 101 Right before the 16th century, there were huge changes in the way people started to think. One major movement that influenced this was the wave of humanist thought, which understood the importance of the study of classical text to emphasize a larger value of the individual, to which the Protestant Reformation owed a lot to. This basis of thought is a huge reason people began to critique the teachings of, and even question the theological foundation of the Catholic Church. The main reason for which religion was so divisive in the 16th century was that people finally began to think for themselves. Despite Roman Catholicism being the dominant in Europe all before the 16th century, a new wave of Protestantism
The Jews of the Second Temple period, occurring between 538 BCE and 70 BC, were exposed to many outside cultures that threatened their existence as a political, spiritual, and peaceful people. Politically, the Jews were governed against their will by many foreign leaders such as the Roman monarch Herod Agrippa and the Greek king Antiochus. Spiritually, the Jews were deprived of many of their religious traditions and pushed towards alien beliefs and practices. The Jews who had tried beforehand to be a peaceful people, now had to resort to fighting and revolting to live in harmony. The responses of Jews in these various generations were dependent on whether they had a strong and courageous leader who led them through these challenging times
Religion and its various ideologies played a key role in advancing the authority of the Ottoman and Catholic Europe; it also influenced the way they confronted outside powers and people from other religions. The Ottomans where an Islamic ruled empire which brought about a certain ideology that gave them the God given rights to the earth. Catholic Europe also had this ideology from where God gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven and endowed upon them earth as well (Matt 16: 19). The catholic church in Europe seemed to have their hands in the cookie jar of European Medieval Government and some what controlled the kings and nobles.
Barbara Diefendorf's book, The Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre is a window into the struggle of religion and secular power during the Protestant Reformation. Beyond the social elitism, mob mentality is an ever-present force that is ignited during the Religious Wars. Differences in religion are a contributor to factional tensions. Manipulation by religious leaders and misunderstanding between the two religious sects’ practices create this religious tension. Although Protestants and Catholics share the core teachings of Christianity, a struggle for secular power, feelings of tribalism, and conflicting religious ideals not only solidify the schism between these two sects of Christianity, but escalated these tensions to bloodshed.
Prior to the 16th century all of Europe was Catholic. Because of the Protestant Reformation during the 16th, 17th, and 18th century, more religious minorities came about throughout Europe. This led to the French Wars of religion and to the topic of religious toleration, how much religious freedom the religious minorities should have. Some people had arguments and performed practices, both for and against religious toleration, some did it for personal gain and others for the concern of society.
This is extremely evident in Europe following the protestant reformation that had divided all of the continent. In England at this time most of the Catholics has been either rooted out or oppressed and the protestant remained unchallenged. This however didn’t mean that there was religious stability during Charles reign. Even before Charles came into power James had never liked the Protestants and had warned his son about them in the Basilikon Doron. Puritans were the purist faction of the protestant faith and did not like things like the cross at baptism, bowing at the name of Jesus, may festivities, and sports on the Sabbath.
The Spanish Inquisition The word "Inquisition" refers to the tribunal court system used by the Catholic Church to suppress and punish the heretics. All people who were considered against catholic teachings were called heretics. The Spanish Inquisition was the prosecuting, trying and killing of all heretics. Clergymen from the Catholics Church went around and persecuted anybody that questioned the Church´s teachings or was any other religion.
Introduction During the 1400’s, Spain was divided and was in a state of violence and rioting. At the time, religion and belief in the Catholic Church seemed to be the only thing that could bring the country together as one, even though the church was weak and corrupt due to previous years of violence it prevailed over politics as most of the population was Christian. The Queen and King of Spain saw this as a chance to unify their country and set about making reforms to the church.
Various religions have made a great turning point on European history. One of the most notable figures of European history, a German theologian and religious reformer named Martin Luther, had so much passion about his faith of God. This man leaves a mark on European history for having the courage to lead a revolution against the Catholic Church. He felt that the Catholic Church’s practices were impractical. Martin Luther made a great, positive impact as a religious leader during the Protestant Reformation by his successful achievements as a theologian, starting and spreading the Protestant Reformation to many parts in Europe, and creating his own Lutheran Church.
In most cases, the Catholic Church was indeed incharge. Lutheranism wanted to be the new ones in charge since they believed the Catholics were wrong in their teachings. But, they refused to let go of their powers and dominance of all the citizens in the community. This caused the divisions with European Christians and Lutheranism and Calvinism/Anglicanism. Luther thought the Catholic Church and their popes were out of hand and should not control the people as much as they did.
Louis revoked Edict of Nantes causing protestant churches and schools to close Fought many wars 1. Absolutism in Western Europe Cont. Spain While France’s Absolutist society was developing, Spain’s was declining