Reformation

The term ‘reformation’ stands for the ideas about the renewal of Christian religion that arose at the start of the 16th century. These ideas were expressed through the actions that were taken, by various people throughout Europe, to bring about changes in the Christian Church.

Why a Reformation?

Throughout the Middle Ages every aspect of life was connected to the church. The church was the biggest landowner, the church managed schools and hospitals, and the Pope had a lot of political and economic power. The religious reforms that were proposed at the start of the 16th century were not entirely new. In the late Middle Ages there had been several attempts to reform the Church. These reforms mostly focussed on the teachings and doctrine of the Church and often came from only one group of people. What was different at the start of the 16th century was that, in all layers of society, people were dissatisfied with the Church. The intellectuals, Luther, Erasmus, Calvin, Zwingli and others, mostly had theological reforms in mind. The other social groups wanted to see changes in the morals of the clergy and the administration of the Church.

Martin Luther

Someone who gave voice to his ideas about what was wrong with the Church was Martin Luther. Luther was a professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg in Germany. In 1517 he published his 95 theses. These were arguments against the selling of indulgences. This selling had almost become a common practice in the Church and the Church made a lot of money with it.

Luther’s basic ideas were sola fide and sola scriptura. Only through faith can someone be saved, not by paying indulgences. And sola scriptura; the Bible was the only religious authority, not the Pope. Because Luther argued that the Pope should not have so much power and authority he was excommunicated by the pope, and the break with Rome was evident. Luther’s theology became the basic ideas of Protestantism. Although later, ‘protestant’ became a more general term that indicated everything non-Catholic.

Impact

Although the Reformation was in the first place a German happening, it had a great impact in other parts of Europe. Luther’s writings were known and read all over Europe. The Swiss Reformation was initiated by Zwingli and later continued by Calvin. Luther was very influential in Scandinavia and the Netherlands and in these countries, groups of reform came into being. England had its own reformation caused by the personal quarrel of the English king with the Pope. So, within half a century a large part of northern Europe had broken with the Catholic Church. However, this also caused the multiple religious wars that were fought throughout the 16th century.