The Social and Cultural Impact of the Protestant Reformation

Education and schools

One of the important cultural achievements of the Reformation was the
implementation of many of the educational reforms of humanism into the new Protestant
schools and universities. Protestant reformers in Germany, France and England such as
Luther and Melanchthon implemented curriculum reforms, which encouraged the careful
study of history, poetry and other humanist disciplines. At the University of Wittenberg,
Luther and Melanchthon also pressed for universal compulsory education so that both boys
and girls could reach vernacular literacy in the Bible. In Geneva, John Calvin and his
successor Theodore Beza founded the Genevan Academy which later evolved into the
University of Geneva which trained Calvinist ministers and pursued ideals similar to those
set forth by Luther and Melanchthon. Calvinist refugees trained in the academy carried
Protestant educational reforms to France, Scotland, England and the New World. Through
such efforts, a working knowledge of Greek and Hebrew become commonplace in
educated circles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Humanist culture and learning
remained indebted to the Reformation. Protestant schools and universities consolidated
and preserved for the modern world many of the basic pedagogical achievements of
humanism.

Praecepter Germaniae
Philip Melanchthon was the 'Praecepter Germaniae' or 'Teacher of Germany'. He
was one of Luther's staunchest supporters. He supported the use of public funds to
establish schools. He divided his students into three classes or divisions that were based
on their age or capabilities. Gymnasium, or secondary school, was introduced in Germany.
There, liberal arts and religion were taught in Greek and Latin.

The Genevan Academy

Founded in 1599, it was organized in two parts: the' private school' was divided into
7 classes for younger people who were being taught Latin and Greek grammar, literature,
and logic. In the 'public school', students were taught philosophy, Hebrew, Greek, and
theology (that was the most important, you know). The Academy became a university that
trained ministers to spread the Calvinist view of the Gospel.
Criticism of the New Schools
Straight forward historical study began to replace lectures, and new students did not
want to read the new ideas. Erasmus believed that learning that took place during the
Reformation threatened liberal arts and good learning. Overall, some scholars thought that
the humanist program was narrowed when the Reformationists began to take the
educational systems over. Teachers began having less freedoms in teaching because they
had to follow so many different sets of rules and creeds.

Impact on popular culture

Protestants brought on the downfall of the Saints, which led to less holidays and less
religious ceremonies. Some of the hardcore Protestants, such as the Puritans, tried to ban
forms of entertainment and celebration so that they may be replaced by religious studies.
Calvinists tried to ban drinking in taverns, dancing, and giving presents on Christmas.
These failed in places though, because people liked presents and beer just too damn
much.
Sex and marriage
Luther claimed that there should be "more use of sexual intercourse to avoid sin"
Calvin said that every man should" abstain from marriage only so long as he is fit to
observe celibacy. If his power to tame lust fails him, then he must marry." The Catholics
and the Protestants still believed that not having any sex is the surest way to achieve
holiness, and one should only have sex as a last resort... and only if it was used for
reproduction

Conception of family
The traditional western European family had features that we today would see as
cold and unloving. When children were between the ages of eight and thirteen, parents
sent them out of their homes into apprenticeships, off to school, or into employment in the
homes and businesses of relatives, friends or strangers. This practice forced the children to
make their way in the world, and to support themselves. Also, the emotional ties between
spouses were not as strong as we see today. Widowers and widows often married again
within a few months of their spouse’s deaths and marriages with extreme disparity in age
such as very old husbands and very young wives, suggests the partnership was built on
little affection.

Marriage changes between 1500 and 1800

Protestants placed the family at the center of human life and stressed "mutual love
between a man and his wife". According to Luther, the wife was viewed as obedient to her
husband and expected to bear his children. The wife was also removed from the traditional
roll of controlling the household religion, and proclaimed the father as 'ruler of the home'.
Women had the authority to divorce and remarry in good conscience. Couples began
marrying later in age so that they had a better chance of supporting their children
appropriately. This led to premarital sex a whole lot of bastard children being born.

Arranged marriages
Marriages tended to be "arranged" because parents met and discussed the terms of
the marriage before the prospective bride and groom entered into the discussions. By the
fifteenth century, it was not unusual for the two people to have known each other in
advance and to have had a prior relationship. Also it was becoming apparent that,
emotional feelings between the individuals were increasingly respected by parents. A
forced marriage was invalid and the best marriages were desired by both parties and
supported by their families.

Birth control
Artificial birth control such as sponges soaked in acidic liquids, and coitus interrupts
were early birth control measures of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, but these were
not very effective. Additionally, the church firmly opposed them for both historical and moral
reasons; they felt that the natural end of sex should be only the birth of children and their
godly rearing within the bounds of holy matrimony and the community of the church.

Family size
The western European family was conjugal, or nuclear; that is, it consisted of a
father, a mother, and two to four children who survived into adulthood. This nuclear family
lived with a larger household, consisting of in-laws servants, laborers, and boarders. The
average husband and wife had seven or eight children - a birth about every two years. Of
these, however, an estimated one third died by age five, and one half by their teens. Almost
every family at all social levels, experienced infant mortality and the death of a child.

Wet nursing
The Church declared that husbands were forbidden to have sexual relations with
their wives if they were nursing, so it was not uncommon for women to hire nurses to
'suckle' their babies for up to a year and a half. This was popular amongst the upper class
women as having a 'wet nurse' was a status symbol. The men also liked the idea because it
meant they could have sex with their wives a whole bunch and maybe even get a male heir.
Having a “wet nurse” increased infant mortality because the babies were exposed to
strange milk and diseases.