The Reformation/Kingdoms/Wars
The English Reformation
The King’s Affair Henry VIII
• Henry was married to Catherine of Aragon (through a peace
agreement between the two countries) – by 1527 they had one daughter Mary but no son.
– Henry felt his marriage was cursed by God because Catherine
had been his brother’s wife.
– Henry was in love with Anne Boleyn, Henry asked the Pope to
annul his marriage to Catherine.
•
Henry’s new advisors Crammer and Cromwell were
Lutherans and they convinced him to declare the
King Supreme in English spiritual affairs and give
himself a divorce.
•
England quit sending money to Rome
•
The Act of Succession made Anne Boleyn’s children
legitimate heirs to the throne of England.
•
When Thomas More and John Fisher refused to
C. Henry’s wives
1. Catherine of Aragon - divorced - one child - Mary
2. Anne Boleyn - executed - one child - Elizabeth
3. Jane Seymour – One son Edward VI (she died in childbirth)
4. Anne of Cleves - divorced - no children
5. Catherine Howard - executed - no children
6. Catherine Parr - survived Henry
Changing Gov. from Catholicism to Protestant
•
Nationalization of the church – Anglican Church of England.
•
Everyone was forced to become Anglican.
•
Loyalty to the Catholic Church in Ireland was very strong.
•
When the Irish revolted the English took their property and
Protestant Reformation under Edward VI
• Edward became king at age 10
• Henry VIII’s Six Articles and laws against heresy were
repealed, clerical marriages were allowed, and communion with the cup was allowed.
• 1549 Act of Uniformity imposed the Book of Common Prayer
on all English Church’s
• Moderate Protestant doctrine – justification by faith and the
History of Religion in England
• Henry VIII starts Catholic become Protestant
• Edward VI Protestant
• Mary I (daughter of Henry VIII and
Catherine of Aragon) succeeds Edward and she is Catholic and turns England back to a Catholic nation.
– She marries her cousin Philip II of Spain.
– She executes hundreds of Protestants
Elizabeth I
Has everyone go back to being Protestant
–
Compromises with the Catholics.
–
Declares herself the head of the
Anglican Church of England.
–
Fought off her cousin Mary Queen
of Scots (Catholic)
–
England reaches its height of power throughout
Puritans
•
Wanted a pure church free from Catholic
ceremony
•
They did not like the idea that the Queen was the
head of the church
•
They worked with Parliament to create a national
Revolt in the Netherlands (a.k.a Dutch)
• Netherlands was the richest area that Philip controlled.
• Cardinal Granvelle wanted to break down all local autonomy and
create a centralized government (Catholic)
• Problem: merchants of Antwerp were Calvinists, they were led by
Count of Egmont and William Prince of Orange.
• Granvelle tried to force tight controls and convert the
Netherlands back to a Catholic state.
The Compromise
•
Philip II insists on the decrees of the Council of Trent to
be enforced in the Netherland
•
Louis of Nassau led the opposition
•
The Compromise: a solemn pledge to resist the decrees
of Trent and the Inquisition by all Protestants
•
Louis called on French Huguenots and German Lutherans
•
Philip sent the Duke of Alba to suppress the
revolt
•
Several thousand heretics, Calvinists were
publicly executed by Alba
•
Philip forced the people to pay for the revolt
Resistance
•
William organized Calvinists in Holland, Zeeland, and
Utrecht to help free The Netherlands from Spain
•
“Sea Beggars” – Spanish exiles and criminals
captured Brill and other seaports and spread the
resistance southward.
•
The Dutch opened the dikes and flooded their own
•
The Spanish mercenaries killed 7,000 people, the
event is known as the Spanish Fury.
•
10 Catholic provinces and 7 large Protestant
provinces joined together to drive the Spanish out of
The Netherlands. This is known as the Pacification of
Ghent
•
Don John led the Spanish troops and was defeated
•
Perpetual Edict – removal of all Spanish troops from
English Problems with Spain War in the Netherlands
• Spain – King Philip II sent troops in to
put down the Protestant rebellions in the Netherlands
• Queen Elizabeth of England supported
the Protestant Dutch.
• English sea captains called Seadogs
Invading England
• Philip prepared a huge Armada – fleet-
to invade England.
• In 1588 the Armada sailed with more
than 130 ships, 25,000 men, and 2,400 pieces of artillery.
• The English ships were smaller and
faster and could outmaneuver the Spanish.
• A savage storm called the “English
Wind” came up and scattered the
Spanish ships. Over 1/3 never made it back to Spain
Scotland
• King James V and his daughter Mary Queen of Scots were strong
Catholics.
• The Scottish nobles were supported by John Knox.
• Knox was determined to structure the Scottish church after the model
of Geneva.
• To end papal authority and rule by bishops.
• Governance by presbyters or councils of ministers = The Presbyterian
French Religious Wars
• French protestant’s were known as Huguenots
• A second crack down on Huguenots came as a result of Protestant
literature that was circulated throughout Paris.
– It was anti-Catholic
– John Calvin and other Protestants were forced into exile.
– Edit of Fontainebleau – subjected Huguenots to the Inquisition. – Edit of Chateaubriand established new methods of Inquisition
Appeal of Calvinism
• In 1561 more than 2,000 Huguenot congregations existed in
France.
• They made up 1/15th of the population, they lived in two main
areas of France: Dauphine and Languedoc.
• More than 2/5’s of the French aristocracy were Huguenots.
• Calvinist Theodore Beza was able to convert Jeanne d’ Albert
who was the mother of the future French King Henry IV
• Calvinism gave political resistance justification and inspiration
Catherine de Medicis and the Guises
• She ruled over her 3 sons (Kings of France)
• When Francis II died, her younger son Charles IX became King
• She tried to reconcile the Protestant and Catholic factions
• She issued the January Edict which granted Protestants freedom
to worship publicly outside of town
• The Guises surprised the Protestants while they were worshiping
and killed 63.
•
When the Protestants gained to much power,
Queen Catherine turned and asked the Guises
for help
–
The Protestants began to influence King Charles IX
of France to help the Protestants of The
Netherlands to break away from Philip II of Spain.
–
Catherine knew this would throw Spain and
St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
•
Henry of Navarre (IV) married Charles IX’ sister
Marguerite of Valois.
•
Intended to reconcile Huguenots and Catholics.
•
St. Bartholomew’s Day, August 24, 1572 3,000
Henry III and Henry IV against the Catholic League
•
Day of the Barricades – surprise attack by Henry III against the
Catholic League led by the Guises.
•
Henry III plotted the assassination of the Duke and Cardinal of
Guise.
•
The Catholic League, under the leadership of another Guise
brother reacted with another massacre of Huguenots.
•
As both Henry III and Henry IV plotted to recapture Paris, a
End of the Religious Wars in France
•
Henry IV was very popular with the French
people and they supported him and his right to
rule.
•
Henry IV wanted peace, whatever the cost
–
Only July 25, 1593 he renounced his Protestant faith
in favor of the majority religion of his country.
–
His fellow Huguenots were horrified
–
The French who were tired of religious wars rallied to
Edict of Nantes (knot)
•
Proclaimed a formal religious settlement
•
1598 the Treaty of Vervins ended hostilities
between France and Spain.
•
The Edict recognized and sanctioned minority
religious rights for Huguenots
–
Freedom of public worship and right of assembly
Continuing Superstition
• Many Europeans remained preoccupied with sin, death and the devil
• Witch-hunts and panic
– Between the years1400 and 1700 courts sentenced an estimated
70,000 to 100,000 people to death for harmful magic and witchcraft.
– Witches were said to attend mass meetings known as sabbats to
which they were believed to fly.
– They were accused of sexual orgies with the devil. They were
Village Origins of Witchcraft
•
Villagers feared “cunning folk” who used magical
means to help people cope.
•
Possession of magical powers was once an
important position within the town.
•
Many saw it as a way to defy urban Christian
Who were the Witches?
• 80% were women, most single and aged over 40.
• Inspired by male hatred and sexual fear of strong women, witch-hunts
were a conspiracy of males against females.
• Three groups of women drew the witch-hunters attention:
– Widows – who lived alone and would strike out against others.
–
Midwives whose work made them unpopular when
mothers and newborns died during childbirth.
End of Witch-hunts
•
Scientific proof
–
Made it harder to believe that thoughts and words
on the lips could alter physical things.
–
Witches would, in their last confessions, say they
