History Notes General History III: 1400–1650 (Renaissance, Recovery and Reform) Notes
These notes provide comprehensive cover of the General III Preliminary paper. They were the sole resource that I used for my preliminary examination revision, in which I achieved a mark of 69%. They include a wealth of specific and detailed examples spanning across the whole of Europe, as well as discussion of a broad range of historiography, making them a complete resource for studying for the prelim in General III. They are often structured around key questions, meaning that they also come in u...
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GIII Revision Notes.
Reformation.
1. How much did the Reformation change among lay people?
The Ref was, to an extent, a popular movement.
Ref was “a gloriously disorderly popular movement” (P Marshall). E.g. figure of Karsthans (cocky Lutheran peasant) pop in pamphlets.
G Parker argues that mid-C16th to mid-C17th, the Reformers themselves believed that they had failed.
Talks of “a broader framework of failure” (Parker) as a backdrop to small successes.
However, many contemporary Catholics (e.g. Ignatius Loyola) felt the opposite.
Diff in diff areas: “the Ref was an urban event” (A G Dickens).
Supported by G Strauss’ study of visitation records (reports e.g. first one not until 1527-8, Luther wrote of ‘lamentable wretchedness’ in Saxony).
Not all visitation records –ve, e.g. James Kittelson – ‘report from Strasbourg’ shows “an enviably pious pop” (G Parker).
Reformist ideals did spread more easily in towns.
“Germany was a land of towns” (A Pettegree) - ^polit literacy, debate, reading.
V. Denmark: only 2 towns of approx. 8000 inhabs (Malmø and Copenhagen).
V. Eng: next biggest after LDN = Norwich, Bristol. Around 10,000 inhabs = same as 14 towns in Germ SW.
Pettegree uses this to explain success of Ref in N’lands (35% in towns).
Different political situations also contributed to this.
E.g. became part of German nationalism.
Acknowledged by Luther: ‘To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation’ (1520) – attack on papacy.
“The nasty side of German nationalism was an intense Italo-phobia” (P Marshall).
Reichstag complained about papal abuses e.g. list of 102 at Worms.
E.g. in France “the ambiguous signals emanating from the court created a decade of confusion” (Pettegree) mid-1530s (Francis I oppressed).
E.g. Charles I took successful action v Ref in N’lands.
E.g. Eastern Habsburg lands: powerful estates evang as wanted to distance from Cath monarch.
“The position of the authorities… was particularly important” (K Maag).
More access to relig texts:
E.g. fgn priests arriving in Eng 1554 found vernac bibles in almost every parish Church.
Better-informed clergy.
E.g. ‘The Visitors’ Instructions to the Pastors in Electoral Saxony’ (1528) released to please visitation record takers.
Clergy started to aim sermons etc. at true learned believers e.g. one in parish nr Dordrecht devoted weekday sermons for five months to expounding book of Haggai 1584-5.
Clerical status declined w/ Ref – lost tax exemptions, special ecclesiastical courts in most places.
E.g. Saxony: stipend of most pastors in yr after Ref reduced to that of day labourer.
War disrupted religious practice and could contrib to the Ref.
E.g. Dutch Revolt – aimed at clergy.
E.g. Army of Flanders hanged Calvinist ministers and elders.
E.g. German Peasants’ War – Ref “provided the common man with a new vocab and basis of action” (A Pettegree).
Reformist ideals did, to an extent, enter popular culture, with songs, plays.
E.g. ‘The Gude and Godlie Ballatis’, Scot, 1567.
E.g. 1523 citizens of Berne, Switzerland watched play mocking Cath view of death.
E.g. Die Totenfresser opened with sacristan meditating and saying ‘I like dead people better than fighting or screwing’.
“made full use of all available channels of communication” (Parker).
Education was used well.
E.g. 1536 Castellino da Castello est ‘School of Christian doctrine, Milan.
E.g. Jesuits opened first school 1548 at Messina.
E Duffy argues that historians who viewed the pre-Ref Church as in a v bad state were affected by their personal religious bias.
E.g. A G Dickens (Prot).
Paternal g’father – Anglican Churchwarden.
Maternal – Primitive Methodist local preacher.
Others saw it in too positive a light, like Aidan Gasquet (“inaccuracy grew on him like a crust” [George Gordon Coulton]).
E.g. Thomas More praises laity’s interest in letters to Martin Dorp, 1485-1525.
2. Why was there so much discussion of the need for religious reform?
Could say key reasons = Luther, Printing, Humanism, Clerical Abuses.
“The call for ‘reform’ within Christianity is about as old as the religion itself” (P Marshall).
E.g. ‘C10th Ref’ in Eng Church: ^Benedictine monasticism.
Printing press used well by Reformers to spread ideas:
E.g. in Hungary first Cath press est 1578 compared to sev Prot presses already in op.
Reading also went along w/ Prot focus on individuality.
“A religion of the book needs books” (D MacCulloch).
Luther’s German New testament 253 editions 1522-1546.
10,000 copies Luther’s ‘Shorter Catechism’ (1529) printed before 1563.
500,000 copies Luther’s German Bible pub’d 1534-1574.
Was profitable e.g. Big Bible in Eng, 1537 cost 6s 8d to make and sold for 10s-13s 4d.
E.g. fgn countries produced own Reformist texts.
E.g. French ‘Livre de la subjection des christiens’ largely derived from ‘Liberty of a Christian Man’, similarly Dutch evang writing.
Primus Truber invented first written form of Slovene to communicate and convert.
A Pettegree talks of “the great age… of the Flugschriften [pamphlets transmitting info about church controvs]” in Germany.
E.g. in Germany, >60 cities involved by 1500. 390 editions of work pub’d 1523 alone, compared to 85 1520-46 in N’lands.
Complex:...
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These notes provide comprehensive cover of the General III Preliminary paper. They were the sole resource that I used for my preliminary examination revision, in which I achieved a mark of 69%. They include a wealth of specific and detailed examples spanning across the whole of Europe, as well as discussion of a broad range of historiography, making them a complete resource for studying for the prelim in General III. They are often structured around key questions, meaning that they also come in u...
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