Early Reformation Notes

! Background ! University of Wittenberg ! Great magnates of German states have more independence from the Holy Roman ! ! ! ! ! Emperor Luther was in eastern Germany Saxony -- electoral part and ducal part Central and eastern Europe -- generally elected monarchy Elector of Saxony is based in Wittenberg ! Wittenberg becomes a very important centre of Lutheranism ~ Founded in 1502 -- very new university ~ Not many old universities at this time -- oldest are Cologne and Leipzig ~ New university that has suddenly appeared ~ Luther is not well respected ~ Theses should not be expected to have much of a hearing ! Getting new ideas taken up depends on context ~ e.g. Kant in 18th century -- Russian context ! ! Luther comes from artisan/peasant stock ! ! ! ! ! ~ Not a well--to--do background Does not embrace humanist values of manners ~ Sees this as paganism Melanchthon influences Luther => learns Greek ~ Prior to then he used the normal Vulgate Burnt pagan books e.g. Aristotle ~ Luther disconnected Aristotle from the Church ~ Melanchthon's influence => Aristotle returns Only wants to keep the Bible -- very radical ! Conversion experience was very important ! Began as a totally devout monk ! ~ Has an existential crisis ~ Is desperate to be saved -- thought this was a small group ~ Had to do good works ~ Still convinced that he is sinful ! 1514--5 begins lecturing at Wittenberg ! During the lecture series he has a sudden realisation that whatever we do we can never reconcile ourselves with God because we are fallen people ~ Even is we do things consistent with God's will we are still sinning -- we are being selfish ~ Can't work just for the love of God ~ Different from the Renaissance -- most negative view of human beings anyone has ever had ! Way out in the atonement of Christ ~ Our insufficiency can be accounted for  ~ Have to have faith in the atoning powers of Christ ! Yet not everyone is saved -- have to accept it and hope ~ Faith is a gift given by God ! ! Reads Paul's Epistle to the Romans -- basis for sola fide ~ Jews could not fulfil laws ~ Christ offers human beings a way out -- releases them from the need to obey these rules ~ Everything the Church is demanding of us is wrong ~ The Church has distorted the Christian message ! ! Tetzel in Ducal Saxony -- infuriates Luther ~ Clearest example of what is wrong with the Church ~ Tetzel was a Dominican -- Luther was a Augustinian ~ Hates him anyway => not unusual to be against him ! Different orders try to promote ideas at the expense of others ! Tetzel competes with the Elector of Saxony ~ Relics in Wittenberg -- Frederick collected them ~ The economy of Wittenberg is greatly dependent upon pilgrims -- Tetzel threatens this ~ Luther is backed by the Elector -- common enemy ! ! Luther obtains the support of significant lay and religious figures ~ Sees him as just in attacking certain aspects of Catholicism e.g. Erasmus From the beginning he works within an important context ! ! The Reaction to Luther's Theology The situation by 1521 ! Luther has made his theology clear ! Brought his ideas together in Loci Communes (1521) -- written by Philip Melanchthon, Luther's close supporter in Wittenberg ~ Sola scriptura ~ Sola fide ~ Rejection of the sacraments except the Eucharist and baptism ~ Rejection of transubstantiation ! ! 1520 -- Leo X condemned 41 of the 95 theses as heretical ! ! ! ! ! ! ~ Formalised in a Papal Bull -- Luther was openly defiant by putting it on a bonfire 1521 -- Luther was summoned to the Diet of Worms ~ Headed by Charles V -- Charles is only 21 and is inexperienced ~ Luther has protection -- Charles V guarantees him safe conduct Decides to stick with his theology at the Diet => condemned as a heretic and an outlaw Elector Frederick stages a kidnap of Luther => Wartburg Castle ~ Kept at the castle for a year to allow the issue to die down => becomes very depressed and spends the time translating the Bible from Latin to German A. G. Dickens -- 'The mass sale of the vernacular scriptures proved the most irrevocable act of the Reformation' At the time of this Bible's production, Cardinal Aleander said that 90% of Germany supported Luther -- exaggeration but shows that he is gaining support ! The German Reformation -- R. W. Scribner and C. Scott Dixon (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) pp. 1--88 Some Reformation Myths ! Teleological viewpoint -- Luther's ideals mean that the Reformation is is in existence => merely need to get people 'won over to it' (Bernd Moeller) ~ Popular support for the 'Reformation' -- yet it was a long term thing ! Search for beginnings of 'modernisation' ! Term 'Reformation' did not appear until the 17th century ! Latin word reformatio -- 3 uses ~ New legal code ~ Restructuring of a university study curriculum (used by Luther) ~ Religious -- internal reform of the church ! Popular belief -- reformatio would occur with a decisive intervention of God ~ Would be announced by a holy man or prophet sent by God -- Luther ! Polycentric religious reform ! Religion and Reform ! What was the 'state of religion' before Luther? ~ Profound religious malaise -- 15th century critical literature, low church attendance and lack of education ~ Strong sense of devotion to the church and a powerful revival of piety at least 2 generations before -- mysticism, asceticism, lay piety e.g. Devotio moderna, lay confraternities and new religious cults such as those of St Anne or the Rosary ~ Issue of rural areas -- less relevant ~ Problem was not too little religion but too much -- spiritual burden ~ Luther ~ Hardly Christian at all -- low levels of practice and poor understanding of the fundamentals of Christian belief ~ Thin veneer over pagan beliefs ! Johan Huizinga (1924) -- late medieval religion had a decayed sensibility => religious was a matter of sense impressions and emotions ! 'Inadequate' religion -- not true inward piety ! ! Yet should look at different experiences without too many value judgements -- Natalie Davis, Euan Cameron and William A. Christian ! Beliefs ~ Providence -- natural world reliant on God ~ Saints etc. -- could pass on powers to places and things ~ Church tried to claim a monopoly and condemned 'superstition' ~ Primary role of preparing people for 'salvation' => sacraments ~ Blessings instead of magic ~ Sacramentals were more important than sacraments -- more common in day to day use => blessings and exorcisms ! Issue of clergy charging for sacred services ! Increased 'professionalisation' of clergy ! Injustice of having those in the 'religious life' being saved -- not seen to behave well ! Private and group devotions ! ! Luther -- central perception that salvation had been achieved once and for all by Christ's ! ! ! ! ! death => was therefore unconditional ~ Freedom to religious belief Scepticism about transubstantiation ~ Influenced by nominalism -- late medieval philosophy which denied the reality of universals, emphasised mysteriousness of God and placed great weight on the powers of human reason Oberman -- nominalism employed a rational skepticism about the power of magic ~ Destroyed belief in sacramentals and even in the sacraments Max Weber -- the 'disenchantment of the world' ~ Removal of all intermediate causes between God and the laws of nature Luther and many of his followers still continued to believe in the Devil, demons and angels, ghosts etc. ! Imminence of the Last Days or the 'great change' ! Shared popular belief in the Antichrist ! Paradox that God was so absolute that sacraments were useless and blasphemous yet the Devil still seemed to have power of the world and magic still appeared possible ! Limited impact of Reformation ideas, especially in the countryside -- could be due to magical perceptions of the world ! Luther was not the only such thinker -- Lutheranism can be said to have been very limited in impact ! The Reformation as an Evangelical Movement ! Religious enthusiasm -- Germany in early 1520s ~ Biblical revival ~ Religious revival -- work of the Holy Spirit Drew on anticlericalism -- priests as 'enemies of the Gospel' ! ~ Each Christian was free to find salvation ! Early capitalism and social conflict -- Bible was used as an ethical standard ~ Clergy caused social grievances -- economic privileges Evangelical -- attack on state of church and society, new way to salvation and how to ! improve life in this world ! Idealised image of the lay Christian -- the 'common man' ~ Karsthans, the 'evangelical peasant' -- no female ideals ! ! Speed -- work of God => printing ! ! ! ! ~ New reading public Yet literacy was very low in 16th century Germany -- only 4--5% ~ No more than 400k in total population of ~ 16 million 1517--20 -- 300k copies of Luther's writings were published => every reader could own at least one copy Oral communication -- preaching revival even before Luther => lay--funded Many from Franciscans and augustinians -- strong traditions of popular vernacular preaching 

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