Religious Reform in 16th-Century Europe

Unit 3: Religious Reform and Spanish Hegemony

Corrupt Practices in the Church

• Indulgences were bought and sold.
• Clergy did not live humbly.
• Clergy did not honor their religious vows (for example: living with women, drinking, going to taverns) and they were not able to give proper spiritual guidance to their parishioners.
• They engaged in corrupt practices.

Impact of Indulgences on the Church's Spiritual Authority

Sins could be pardoned in exchange for money given to the Church. For Catholics, this was a way of becoming more spiritually and morally relaxed, as they no longer feared going to Hell.

The Protestant Reformation

Martin Luther then developed his own doctrine based on individual Christianity:

• Salvation through faith: In order to save your soul, you only needed to have a very strong faith, so the Church's involvement was not required.
• Free interpretation of the Bible: Anyone could interpret the Bible's message, so the Church's interpretation of it was not the only one.
• Reformation of the sacraments: Lutheran doctrine included only two sacraments: Baptism and the Eucharist.
• Universal priesthood: Lutherans rejected the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and the authority of the Pope. Protestant pastors replaced priests, but they did not have to be celibate.
• Religious orders were prohibited, as was the worship of images of the Virgin Mary and saints.

Catholic Counter-Reformation

The Catholic Church tried to stop the spread of the Protestant Reformation by carrying out an internal reform, called the Counter-Reformation.

The Council of Trent was held. The main agreements reached were:

• The Church's hierarchical structure was reaffirmed.
• The Vulgate Bible was the only valid version.
• The seven sacraments and worship of the Virgin Mary and saints were maintained.
• Priests and the main clergy needed to have better discipline and training.

In order to consolidate the work of the Council, the Inquisition was strengthened and a list of prohibited books was introduced. In addition, the Society of Jesus was created by Ignacio de Loyola to promote Catholicism.