CHAPTER 16 The Age of the Reformation (1517-a.1600) For she word of God cannot be rectived and honored by any wort, br by fath sone mid —Martin Luther, On Christian Liberty 1m conformity to the clear doctrine of the Seriprore, we assert that by an eternal and immutable counsel, God has once for all Setermined both whom he would admit to salvation and whom he would condemn to destruction. .. . In the elect, we consider calling as an evidence of election, and justification as another token of its manifestation, el chey arrive in glory, which consi tutes is completion. Joho Calvin, Istintes Ui Preceding chapters have described the unfol ture which marked the transition from the Mi em world. It became apparent that this culture, known a5 the Renaissance, was almost as peculiarly an echo of the past as a herald of the fature, Much of its literature, art, and philosophy, and all of its superstitions, had roots that were deeply buried in classical antiquity or in the fabulous centuries of the Middle Ages. Even its humanism breathed veneration for the past. Only in science and politics and in the vigorous assertion of the right of the individual to pursue his own quest for freedom and dignity was there much that ‘was really new. But the Renaissance in its later stages was accompa- nied by the growth of another movement, the Reformation, which somewhat more accurately foreshadowed the modern age, This movement included two principal phases: the Protestant Revolu- tion, which broke out in 1517 and resulted in the secession of most of northern Europe from the Roman faith; and the Catholic Refor- of a marvelous cul- le Ages to the mod- mation, which reached its height about 1560. Although the latter is 459IME AOE OF TON (5170 1 pe ol the not called a revolution, it really was such in nearly every sense of the term; for it effected a profound alteration of some of the notable features of late medieval Catholicism. In a number of ways the Renaissance and the Reformation were y related. Both were products of that powerful current of in- alism which wrought such havoc to the established order in the fourteenth and fifeeenth centuries. Each had a similar back- ‘ground of economic causes in the growth of capitalism and in the Fise of a bourgeois society. Both partook of the character of a recur to original sources: in the one case, to the literary and artistic achievements of the Greeks and Romans; in the other, to the Scrip- tures and the doctrines of the Church Fathers. But in spite of these important resemblances, itis misleading to think of the Reformation, as merely the religious aspect of the Renaissance. The guiding prin- ciples of the ewo movements had comparatively little in common. he The essence of the Renaissance was devotic natural, with religion relegated to a subordinate place. The s the Reformation was otherworldliness and contempt for the things of this life as inferior to the spiritual. In the mind of the humanist, man's nacure was generally considered good; in the view of the Re- former it was unspeakably corrupt and depraved. The leaders of the Renaissance believed in urbanity and tolerance; the followers of Lather and Calvin emphasized faith and conformity. While both the Renaissance and the Reformation aimed at a recovery of the past, they were really oriented in different directions. The past the humanists strove to revive was Greek and Roman antiquity, though a few were concemed with the original Gospels as sources of an un- spoiled religion The Reformers, by contrast, were interested chiey in a rerurn co the teachings of St. Pan! and St. Augustine Here would be found, they maintained, the doctrines of true Chris- or reasons such as these i seems justifiable to conclade thatthe Reformation was not really a part of the Renaissance movement. In actual fact, it represented a much sharper break with the civilization of the later Middle Ages than ever did the movement led by the hu- ‘manists, The radical Reformers would have nothing to do with the basie theories and practices of thirteenth-century Christianity. Even the simple religion of love and selflessness for the betterment ‘of man, as taught by Se. Francis of Assisi, appeared to repel them almost as much as the mysteries of the sacramental theory or the bombastic claims of Innocent III to spiritual and temporal power. In the main, the religious results of this clash with medieval Christian- ity have endured to this day. Moreover, the Reformation was mately bound up with certain political trends which have pe throughout the modem era. National consciousness, as we shall see, was one of the principal causes of the Protestant Revolution. While ‘the human + 454 iis crue that several of the humanists wrote under the influence of national pride, perhaps the majority were swayed by alvogether Tiferenc consdcrauons, Many were scornfl of polis, being inter ested solely in man as an individual; others, the great Erasmus mong them, were thoroughly international in their outlook, But the Protestant Reformers could scarcely have guined much of a hear~ ing if ehey had not associated their cause with the powerful ground- swell of national resentment in northern Europe against an eccle- a system that had come to be recognized 3s largely Taian Character, For this reason as well a5 for the reasons mentioned previously, it would seem not unwarranted to regard the Reforma- Fon asa gateway to the modem world. And when we speak of the Renaissance in religion, we should think, not of the Reformation, por of the so-alled Cristian Renaissance, initiated by the Brethren of the Common Life and carried to its highese fulfillment in the teachings of Sir Thomas More and Erasmus. The common assump- tion that Luther hatched the eg which Erasmus had lid is trae only ina very limited sense. The bird which Luther hatched belonged t0 a much tougher and wilder breed than any that could have descended from the Prince of the Humanists. si 1. THE PROTESTANT REVOLUTION “The Protestant Revolution sprang from a multiplicity of causes, ‘most of them closely related ro the political and economic condi- tions of the age. Nothing could be more inaccurate than to think of the revolt against Rome a exclusively a religious movement, though less religious ideas occupied a large place in the mind of nth-century man, But without the basic political changes in northern Europe and the growth of new economic interests, Roman Catholicism would probably have undergone no more than a gradual evolution, perhaps in line with the teachings of the Christian Renais- igious causes were the most obvious I be appropriate to consider them first. ity of Luther's early followers the movement he launched was chiefly a rebellion against abuses in the Catholic Church. That such abuses existed no careful historian would deny, regardless us affiliations. For example, many of the Roman clergy wei ignorant. Some, having obtained ions through irregular means, were unable to understand of the Mass they were required to celebrate. Further, ives. While some e Popes and bishops wer agnificence, the ly priests occasionally sought to eke cut the incomes from their parishes by keeping taverns, gaming houses, or other establishments for profit. Not only did some monks habitually ignore their vows of ferent members of the secular clergy sur- ‘THe PROTESTANT REVOWTION The mahpciy tenes of the Protestant Religious the Cathe Chorcha ¥ He aot oF innocent VIII, who reigned about twenty-five years before swe mount bepnig ofthe Prosar Revalocon war kanes ey relic had been an important element i Catholic worhip. Ke was be-_W8 orev ‘TON (1517-<0. ight illegitimate children, several of them born before his election lieved that objects used by the Christ, the Virgin, or the saints pos- 100 to che papacy. There were numerous evils also in connection with sessed a miraculous healing the ale al reaious GEieis ond ehjenarlais Aa in die cal of wit touched them or came int via " civil postions ofices in the Church during the Renaissance period belief should open the way for innum: ae ‘were commonly 901d to the highest badder. ed hat Pope peasants could be eal convinced that almost any ancient spinner tem Leo X enjoyed an income of more than a million dollars a year from of wood was a fragment of the true cross. And there was evidently "1" the edie OF mare\ than deo occlesastical Offces) This|ehuse. we ho dearth of relic mongers quick to take advantage of such credu~ rendered more serious by the fact that che men who bough these lity. The results were fantaste. According to Erastus, the churches positions were under a strong temptation to make up for their in ‘Europe contained enovgh wood of the true cross to build a ship. vestment by levying high fees for ther services. The sale of dspen- 1No fewer than five shinbones of the ass on which Jesus rode to sations was a second malodorous form of ecclesia graft. A dis Jerusalem were on exhibition in different places, to say nothing of pensetion may be defined as an exemption from a law of the Church ‘owelve heads of John the Baptist. Martin Luther declared ina fr from some vow previously taken. On the eve of the Reformation pamphlet lampooning his enemy, the Archbishop of Maing, chat the the dispensations most commonly sold were exemptions from fast latter claimed to possess “a whole pound of the wind that blew for ing and from the marriage laws of the Church. BY way of illustra- Elijah in the cave on Mount Horeb and two feathers and an egg of Sion, firs cousin would be permitted to marry forthe payment of the Holy Ghost."* fee of one ducat; for closer degrees of relationship—for example Modern historians agree, however, that abuses in the Catholic > thar of uncle and niece—the fee might be as much as thirty times Chareh were not the prit 3s cause of the Protestant Revo- that amount, depending upon ability to pay. lution. Te was medieval Ci the abuses therein, 10. bw nat the But the abuses which seemed to arouse the most ardent pressure which the Reformers obj just before the revolt rian avast for reform were fail tia eoperetioce eae broke out, conditions had begun to improve. Many pious Catholics The sale eration of relies. An indulgence is a remission ofall or of part of the themselves had started an agitation for reform, which in time would nddlowen temporal punishment due to sin--that is, of the punishment in this probably have eliminated most of the glaring evils in the system. But life and in purgatory, siything to do with 38 0 often happens in the case of revolutions, the improvement had punishment in bell. The theory upon which the indulgence ress is te, Other forces more irresistible in character had been the famous doctrine of the Treasure of Merit developed by Scholas gathering momentum. Conspicuous among these was the tic theologians in the thireenth cencury. According fo this docerine, ction against late medieval theology, with its elaborate Jesus and the stints, by reason of their “superfivous” virtues on fin the necessity of good works to sup- earch (eco ved ea eres GE rier fia hesveal Tis evceal consti plement faith, and its doctrine of divine authority in the hands of rues a treasure of grace upor the Pope can“@raw for the the priests benefit of ordinary mortals. O: indolgences were From preceding chapters the reader will recall that two different ork payable] tae a systems of theology had developed within the medieval Church? ig a renee aca ce ‘The first was formulated mainly by followers of St. Augustine in the The duh be their insatiable greed for revenue, who first embarked upon the sale carly Middle Ages, on the basis of teachings in the Pauline Epistles. tees te di- of indulgences as 2 profitable business. The methods they employed ' It was predicated on the assumption of an omnipotent God, who {ev snore Foe fa em Sea seat Te IRE een eee sees the whole drama of the universe in the twinkling of an eye. Not “|, "ss. exh beaisel ecg (comciaina basic Ae eal aur iet che Pgh even a sparrow falls to the ground except in accordance with the yum” in Augsburg had charge of the sale of indulgences for : divine decree. Human nature is hopelessly depraved, and itis there- permission to pocket one-third of the proceeds. Naturally, fore as impossible for man to perform good works as for thistles to ‘motive dominated the business—to raise as much money as possible. bring forth figs. Man is absolutely dependent upon God, not only ‘Asa consequence, the agents of the bankers deluded ignorant people for grace to keep him from sin but also for his fate after death. Only into believing that the indulgences were passports to heaven. By the those mortals can be saved whom God for reasons of His own has sixteenth century the nefarious trafic had assumed the proportions predestined to inherit eternal life. Such in its barest outlines was the sg, Meza sandal : For centuries before the Reformation the veneration of sacred Ss a Mace ee Tt te A «chapter on Eatly Medieval Earope and The Laer Middle Ages: Religiovs and Intellectual Developments. ae?