Introduction for Chapter 13

13. Reformations and Religious Wars, 1500–1600

>What were the causes and consequences of religious division in sixteenth-century Europe? Chapter 13 examines the religious conflicts and divisions of the sixteenth century. Calls for reform of the Christian Church began very early in its history and continued all the way through the fifteenth century. Throughout this long history, a diverse group of reformers, many of whom were members of the clergy, argued that the church had become too worldly, had lost sight of its original mission, or had allowed Christian teachings to be corrupted. What was new in the sixteenth century was the breadth of acceptance and the ultimate impact of the calls for reform. This acceptance was due not only to religious issues and problems within the church, but also to political and social factors. In 1500, there was one Christian Church in western Europe to which all Christians at least nominally belonged. One hundred years later there were many, a situation that continues today.

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Religious Violence in Urban Life. This 1590 painting shows Catholic military forces, including friars in their robes, processing through one of the many towns affected by the French religious wars that followed the Reformation. (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Valenciennes, France/Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library)

>What were the central ideas of the early reformers?

>How did politics in Germany shape the course of the Reformation?

>How did Protestant ideas and institutions spread beyond German-speaking lands?

>What reforms did the Catholic Church make?

>What were the causes and consequences of religious violence?

1517 1542
Martin Luther writes “Ninety-five Theses on the Power of Indulgences” Pope Paul III establishes the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition
1521 1545–1563
Diet of Worms Council of Trent
1521–1559 1553–1558
Habsburg-Valois wars Reign of Mary Tudor and temporary restoration of Catholicism in England
1525 1555
German Peasants’ War Peace of Augsburg; official recognition of Lutheranism
1526 1558–1603
Turkish victory at Mohács, which allows spread of Protestantism in Hungary Reign of Elizabeth in England
1530s 1560–1660
Henry VIII ends the authority of the pope in England Height of the European witch-hunt
1535 1568–1578
Angela Merici establishes the Ursulines as first women’s teaching order Civil war in the Netherlands
1536 1572
John Calvin publishes The Institutes of the Christian Religion Saint Bartholomew’s Day massacre
1540 1588
Papal approval of Society of Jesus (Jesuits) England defeats Spanish Armada
1598
Edict of Nantes
Table 13.1: > CHAPTER CHRONOLOGY