Mercy College

Nader M Fares
European History Since
1500 (HIST-102-MTA 5)
Section Instructor:
Alozie Wachuku

[ History of Protestant
Reformation]
The article talks about the main historical events and characters that led to
the protestant reformation

History of Protestant Reformation

Indulgence Definition in catholic theology
An indulgence, in Roman Catholic theology, is the full or partial remission of temporal
punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by
the church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution. The belief is that
indulgences draw on the storehouse of merit acquired by Jesus' sacrifice and the virtues
and penances of the saints. They are granted for specific good works and prayers.
Indulgences replaced the severe penances of the early church. More exactly, they
replaced the shortening of those penances that was allowed at the intercession of those
imprisoned and those awaiting martyrdom for the faith.

The Rise of The Sale of Indulgences

In the days of Pope Leo X (1513-21), Albrecht of Brandenburg (Hohenzollern) Germany
(1490 -1545) became bishop of Magdeburg in 1513 and Archbishop of Mainz in 1514.
Albrecht at the time was only 24 years of age, way below the prescribed age for a bishop.
A papal dispensation was required, along with a large payment, to acquire the high
ecclesiastical offices. (This practice of selling a church office is called simony, and
originates from Acts 8:18-24.) Needing 24,000 ducats to pay Pope Leo X in exchange for
the title of Archbishop of Mainz, Albrecht borrowed the money from a south German
banking house (The Fuggers), and then set about to pay back the loan. To raise the
necessary funds, In 1516 Archbishop Albrecht promoted the sale of indulgences for the
rebuilding of St. Peter's in Rome. Half the collected funds went to Rome for the building
of St. Peter's and half went into Albrecht's pocket. Johann Tetzel, a Dominican monk
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employed by Albrecht who sold these indulgences in Germany, was selected as the most
efficient salesman; he was appointed general sub-commissioner for indulgences, and was
accompanied by a clerk of the Fuggers from whom Albrecht had borrowed the money to
pay his first fruits.
It was said that as Tetzel entered a town, a messenger went before him, announcing: The
grace of God and of the holy father is at your gates. And the people welcomed the
blasphemous pretender as if he were God Himself come down from heaven to them. The
infamous traffic was set up in the church, and Tetzel, ascending the pulpit, extolled the
indulgences as the most precious gift of God. He declared that by virtue of his certificates
of pardon all the sins which the purchaser should afterward desire to commit would be
forgiven him, and that not even repentance is necessary.More than this, he assured his
hearers that the indulgences had power to save not only the living but the dead; that the
very moment the money should clink against the bottom of his chest, the soul in whose
behalf it had been paid would escape from purgatory and make its way to heaven.

Protesting Against The Sale of Indulgences and The Protestant

Reformation
1. Martin Luther (1483 -1546)
It was while Tetzel was preaching at Jterbog, a small town outside of Saxony, not far
from Wittenberg (where the indulgences were not allowed to be preached and where
Martin Luther served as a priest for Wittenburg's Castle Church), that moved Luther to
protest against indulgences nailing the ninety-five theses on indulgences on the castle
church door at Wittenberg, 31 October, 1517.
The debate of the ninety-five theses became public when someone reprinted his ideas in

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a pamphlet which was eventually distributed throughout Germany.

Luther's dissent against papal authority received support from German nobles who had
their own grievances. In particular, German nobles resented how the Church spent
revenue collected from German Catholics, and the fact that they had less rights than other
nobles (particularly in France) nobles to appoint local Church officials. Although Luther
was excommunicated for heresy at the Diet of Worms in January 1521, Frederick the
Wise allowed Luther to hide at Wartburg Castle, where he used the time to translate the
New Testament into German.
Meanwhile, as the noble protest spread, Lutheranism became more secure, and other
groups began to propose their own religious reforms. By 1535, nobles in a large area in
Germany, plus the kings of Denmark and Sweden, had declared themselves to be
Lutherans.
2. Huldrych Zwingli (1484 1531)
Was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging
Swiss
patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system, he attended the
University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly centre of humanism. He
continued his studies while he served as a pastor in Glarus and later in Einsiedeln where
he was influenced by the writings of Erasmus.
In 1519, Zwingli became the pastor of the Grossmnster in Zrich where he began to
preach ideas on reforming the Catholic Church. In his first public controversy in 1522, he
attacked the custom of fasting during Lent. In his publications, he noted corruption in the
ecclesiastical hierarchy, promoted clerical marriage, and attacked the use of images in
places of worship. In 1525, Zwingli introduced a new communion liturgy to replace the
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mass. Zwingli also clashed with the radical wing of the Reformation, the Anabaptists
(who believed that only adults had the free will to truly understand and accept baptism
and therefore had to be re baptized), which resulted in their persecution.
The Reformation spread to other parts of the Swiss Confederation, but several cantons
resisted, preferring to remain Catholic. Zwingli formed an alliance of Reformed cantons
which divided the Confederation along religious lines. In 1529, a war between the two
sides was averted at the last moment. Meanwhile, Zwinglis ideas came to the attention of
Martin Luther and other reformers. They met at the Marburg Colloquy and although they
agreed on many points of doctrine, they could not reach an accord on the doctrine of the
presence of Christ in the Eucharist (holy communion).
In 1531 Zwinglis alliance applied an unsuccessful food blockade on the Catholic
cantons. The cantons responded with an attack at a moment when Zrich was badly
prepared. Zwingli was killed in battle at the age of 47. His legacy lives on in the
confessions, liturgy, and church orders of the Reformed churches of today.
3. John Calvin (1509-1564)
Was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He
was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called
Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he suddenly broke from the Roman
Catholic Church in the 1520s. After religious tensions provoked a violent uprising against
Protestants in France, Calvin fled to Basel, Switzerland, where in 1536 he published the
first edition of his seminal work Institutes of the Christian Religion.
Calvin was invited by William Farel to help reform the church in Geneva. The city
council resisted the implementation of Calvin and Farel's ideas, and both men were

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expelled. At the invitation of Martin Bucer, Calvin proceeded to Strasbourg, where he

became the minister of a church of French refugees. He continued to support the reform
movement in Geneva, and was eventually invited back to lead its church. Following his
return, he introduced new forms of church government and liturgy, despite the opposition
of several powerful families in the city who tried to curb his authority. During this period,
Michael Servetus, a Spaniard known for his heretical views, arrived in Geneva. He was
denounced by Calvin and executed by the city council. Following an influx of supportive
refugees and new elections to the city council, Calvin's opponents were forced out.
Calvin spent his final years promoting the Reformation both in Geneva and throughout
Europe.
Calvin was a tireless polemic and apologetic writer who generated much controversy. He
also exchanged cordial and supportive letters with many reformers including Philipp
Melanchthon and Heinrich Bullinger. In addition to the Institutes, he wrote commentaries
on most books of the Bible as well as theological treatises and confessional documents,
and he regularly gave sermons throughout the week in Geneva. Calvin was influenced by

the Augustinian tradition, which led him to expound the doctrine of predestination and
the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation.
Calvin's writing and preaching provided the seeds for the branch of theology that bears
his name. The Presbyterian and other Reformed churches, which look to Calvin as a chief
expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world. Calvin's thought exerted
considerable influence over major religious figures and entire religious movements, such
as Puritanism, and his ideas have been cited as contributing to the rise of capitalism,

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individualism, and representative democracy in the West.

In Sum, Sale of indulgences was the issue that laid the groundwork for the Protestant
Reformation in Europe which was mainly raised by Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli and
John Calvin.

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References

1. The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, A Concise History, Volume II: Since
1340 by Lynn Hunt (Author), Thomas R. Martin
2. www.aloha.net
2. www.newadvent.org
3. www.wcupa.edu
4. www.biblelight.net
5. www.catholic.org/encyclopedia

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