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What Caused the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century?
During the 16th century, the Catholic Church was one of the major forces at play. It was present in every aspect of life—cultural, political, and religious. However, the clergy became so materialistic and authoritative that the people began to rise against it. Some of the popes and cardinals were dishonest and led immoral, luxurious lives. It was in this kind of situation that Christians began to demand change from the Church and the clergy. People were angry about many things, and corruption was the burning issue—from this turmoil grew a new movement known as the Protestant Reformation.
The Main Reasons Behind the Protestant Reformation
Portrait of Leo X, Raphael, 1518. Source: Wikimedia Commons/Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
The principal cause of public dissatisfaction with the Catholic Church was the power and greed of the clergy. To get money to support their overblown lifestyles, the cardinals and the clergy were always on the lookout for new opportunities, better offices, and power.
This period also witnessed a series of so-called Renaissance popes such as Pope Leo X and Pope Clement VII, members of the powerful Medici family. These popes led luxurious lives and had extremely hedonistic habits. Such a behavior was not well tolerated by people, especially believers, who tried to live by the Bible and follow the word of God.
The final nail in the coffin for a lot of faithful people was the business of selling indulgences. An indulgence was a pardon for sins the Catholic Church was selling. They were presented as something that would wash away and remove the sins of the person who wished to be clean from before God. In other words, anyone who committed a sin could be absolved by simply buying the indulgence from a priest.
Portrait of Martin Luther, Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1528. Source: Wikimedia Commons/Coburg Fortress, Coburg, Germany
In the 16th century, this practice of selling indulgences became the symbol of the Catholic Church’s corruption and one of the reasons for the protestant movement in Germany led by Martin Luther. Another very present problem in the Church was simony, a practice of selling church offices. In all, immorality was not even veiled, it was quite open and not hidden at all.
The other factors that facilitated the success of the Reformation were the rise of nationalism and political sovereignty. During the late 15th century and early 16th century, many secular kings and rulers aimed to strengthen their power. They backed and encouraged Luther’s movement because it would bring more independence or distance from the papacy’s control. Most importantly, the separation from the Papal States’ influence involved the stripping of the church’s vast lands and stopping the payment of taxes to the Vatican. Hence, it is easy to imagine why European rulers would support a movement that meant more power and more money to them.
Martin Luther and the Beginning of the Protestant Reformation
Portrait of Charles V, formerly attributed to Titian, now attributed to Lambert Sustris, 1548. Source: Wikimedia Commons/Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany
Martin Luther (1483-1546) was a German professor of theology who initiated the Protestant Reformation movement. He was born in Eisleben, a small town in central Germany. He took priesthood and was a part of the Augustinian order, one of the most recognized religious orders in the Catholic Church. He was a devout Christian and was keen on the theological and philosophical concern of the relation between God and man, which the Bible promotes.
Luther began to pay attention to all the inconsistencies between the Holy Scriptures and the state of the Catholic Church and the papacy. His theology aimed to establish a direct connection between believers and God, he never thought it was necessary to have an intermediary between man and the divinity. He was confident Christians can pray directly to God by reading the scripture.
As Luther built his theological system, he argued that the Bible is the only source of reference, not the practice and the culture that the Catholic Church incorporated and developed over the years. Moreover, he started preaching that salvation is not earned by work or, even worse, by paying for it. As a result of his convictions and interpretations of the Scripture, Luther could not even acknowledge and understand the existence of indulgences.
Martin Luther’s Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum (Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences), commonly known as the Ninety-Five Theses, Martin Luther, 1517. Source: Wikimedia Commons/Berlin State Library, Berlin, Germany
Luther’s trouble with the pope and the start of the reformation in Germany began with the protest against selling indulgences in 1517. His protest and demand for changes were voiced in the so-called Ninety-Five Theses, a list of propositions for debate he nailed to the door of the Schlosskirche (Castle Church) in Wittenberg on October 31.
The theses were a direct rebellious postcard to the Church and the public in which Luther stated that the pope had no jurisdiction over Purgatory and that God’s grace and forgiveness could not be purchased but only achieved through faith. His act did not go very well in the Vatican, and Pope Leo X threatened to put an end to Luther’s teachings. When Luther refused it, he was expelled from the Church and declared an outlaw. However, Martin Luther got a safe place and protection from Frederick the Wise, the Elector of Saxony.
Germany at this time was comprised of many small self-governing states. The rulers of these regions were glad to use the Reformation movement in order to free themselves from the power of the pope and become more affluent. Thanks to Martin Luther and the Reformation, their efforts were successful, leading to the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. This peace treaty was between Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, and the German rulers, and gave the princes of the German states the freedom to choose between Catholicism and Lutheranism. In the following year, the new practice began to spread like wildfire through the German areas.
The Reformation Spreads: John Calvin in Switzerland
Portrait of John Calvin, anonymous, circa 1550. Source: Wikimedia Commons/Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht, Netherlands
John Calvin (1509-1564) was one of the most well-known Protestant leaders. He spread his authority and doctrine especially in Switzerland. He was born in France but was later compelled to flee to Switzerland because of religious persecution. He was very inspired by Martin Luther and discovered a new life and vocation in Basel, where he also worked and wrote some of his most important theological productions.
In particular, Calvin wrote about the doctrines of Protestantism, criticizing some practices of the Catholic Church. He ultimately ended up in Geneva, where he became one of the most influential religious people, contributing to creating a rigorous Protestant religious and political environment. Under his rule, Geneva became one of the first cities governed by Protestants according to a rigid set of moral rules and religious regulations.
Like Martin Luther, John Calvin demanded the reform of the church, and his preaching led to a new religious movement under the umbrella of Protestantism: Calvinism. In his view, religion was based on God’s supreme authority over humanity’s whole existence. According to his interpretation of the Holy Book, God chose some individuals for salvation while others were destined for Hell.
Also, like Luther, Calvin believed that the Bible was the ultimate way to approach religion and be closer to God. For him, the man-God relationship was a personal one. Calvin was a little more rigorous than Luther, and his doctrines did not permit some Roman Catholic practices, such as the adoration of images. He preached and practiced ultimate morality and discipline.
Calvin’s teachings spread widely throughout central Europe but were most prominent in Switzerland. His views about the Bible and morality attracted people who wished to lead a more austere lifestyle and rejected the Catholic Church.
The Consequences and Aftermath of the Protestant Reformation
The Ratification of the Spanish-Dutch Treaty of Munster, Gerard ter Borch, 1648. Source: Wikimedia Commons/Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
While the Reformation began with Martin Luther and his act of turning against the Pope, it flourished due to the work of individuals like John Calvin. Before the appearance of those who wanted changes in the Church and in the behavior of the clergy, the Catholic Church had the last word about how and under what conditions people would be able to communicate with God.
In particular, the Church claimed that it was the only institution that could provide for the believers’ fate after death, ensuring that they would enter into the Kingdom of God. The emergence of Protestant thinkers and theologians made people develop a personal relationship with God, ultimately leading to the division and separation of some states from the Catholic Church.
The Reformation also resulted in the religious wars in the 16th and 17th centuries, including the French Wars of Religion (1562-1598) and the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). Of course, these wars were not only religious; they had political aspects and many more factors behind them. However, rulers used religious reasons and conflicts to usurp power and authority in their territories and liberate themselves from the papacy’s grip.
Because of intense persecution and armed clashes, Protestants sought refuge under monarchs in Scandinavia, some states in Germany, Switzerland, Scotland, the Netherlands, and North America. Protestants were among the early settlers in the New World, and that is why the religious profile of the US looks the way it does today.
Death of King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden at the battle of Lutzen, Carl Wahlbom, 1855. Source: Wikimedia Commons/Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden
While the struggle for the recognition of religious freedom was long, it was eventually successful in creating a more tolerant religious climate. The Protestant Reformation called out the misdeeds of the Catholic Church and grew popular by focusing on a person’s relationship with God. It also led to the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church’s response to the movement. The Counter-Reformation was an attempt that was somewhat effective in introducing some changes in the Catholic Church, such as reducing corruption and increasing religious virtues among clergy.
There were numerous root causes of the Protestant Reformation—religious, political, and economic. The Reformation had a significant impact on society, ultimately making the world more accepting of other points of view. As the Reformation movement developed and evolved, denominations appeared, resulting in the formation of branches such as Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism, Anabaptism, and Evangelicalism.
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