HUMANISM CHANGING CHRISTENDOM The Reformation and
Counter-Reformation
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THE REFORMATION Reform: To improve or bring changes to make
something better. The Reformation was a movement that attempted to
bring changes to the Roman Catholic Church. The Protestant churches
were born from the Reformation.
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CRITICISM OF THE CHURCH Since the Middle Ages, the Roman
Catholic Church was not following its own rules of conduct. Instead
of honouring their vows of poverty and chastity, the pope and the
bishops were living in luxury.
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HUMANISTS AND THE CHURCH In 1511, Erasmus published Praise of
Folly, a book which criticized the excess of the clergy. The
humanists wanted the Bible to be translated into local languages so
that common people could read it. It was only in Latin before.
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THE BIRTH OF PROTESTANTISM In 1517, the Pope began to sell
indulgences. He told people that they would go right to heaven, if
they gave money. Martin Luther, a German monk, protested against
the selling of indulgences and was excommunicated (banished) from
the Catholic Church. Martin Luther founded the Lutheran
Church.
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PHOTO ANALYSIS
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THE BIRTH OF PROTESTANTISM John Calvin was another reformer. He
placed a lot of importance on knowledge about the human being, as
opposed to just knowledge of God. Calvin believed that being rich
was a blessing from God. He founded the Calvinist Church.
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THE BIRTH OF PROTESTANTISM In 1534, Henry VIII, king of
England, took authority over the pope who refused to allow Henry to
divorce his wife. Henry VIII separated himself from the Catholic
Church, because the Catholic Church did not allow divorce. Henry
VIII started the Anglican Church.
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THE COUNTER-REFORMATION When the leaders of the Catholic Church
saw how successful the Protestant movement was, they decided that
change needed to happen in the Catholic Church. This change is
known as the Counter-Reformation.
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PHOTO ANALYSIS
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THE COUNCIL OF TRENT In 1545, Pope Paul III called an assembly
to meet in the Italian city of Trent. These meeting formed the
basis of the Counter-Reformation. The assembly continued to meet
for 18 years and made some agreements: 1.Parish priests would be
supervised. 2.Priests had to be educated in colleges. 3.An official
Latin Bible was produced. 4.The 13 th Century Inquisition was
strengthened (right to burn heretics). 5.New Catholic orders (i.e.
Jesuits) were established to convert pagans to Catholicism.
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THE EFFECTS OF THE COUNTER- REFORMATION Instead of re-uniting
all Christians (the Catholics and the Protestants), the Council of
Trent made the division between the Catholics and Protestants
final. The Council of Trent revived enthusiasm for the Catholic
Church. Because of the Catholics renewed enthusiasm, the Protestant
Church did not spread as much as it could have.
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THE DIVISION OF CHRISTENDOM The first division that happened in
the Christian Church was in the 11 th century, where the Eastern
Christians split from the Western Christians. The Eastern
Christians became known as the Orthodox Christians and the Western
were known as the Catholics. After the 16 th century Reformation,
the European Christians were divided in 3 different groups:
Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant. These divisions caused a
lot of bloodshed not only between countries, but inside countries
also.
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QUESTIONS 1. What was the Reformation? 2. Why did the
Reformation happen? 3. Could the Reformation have been prevented?
If so, how? If not, why? 4. What was the role of humanism in the
Reformation? 5. Before the Reformation, who held ultimate power? 6.
How was this power broken during the Reformation and who did it go
to? 7. What was the Counter-Reformation? 8. What were the goals of
the Counter-Reformation? 9. Were these goals met? If so, how? If
not, what was established by the Counter-Reformation? 10. Name the
three branches of European Christianity that were established by
the end of the 16 th century. Describe their attitudes towards one
another.