Reformation and Society - Heythrop College Resource

Reformation and
society c.1450–c.1600
Theology and Divinity
A. Murphy and O. Rafferty
2010 002D080
This guide was prepared for the University of London International Programmes by:
A. Murphy is an official Fellow of Heythrop College, University of London.
O. Rafferty teaches Church History at Heythrop College, University of London.
This is one of a series of subject guides published by the University. We regret that due
to pressure of work the author is unable to enter into any correspondence relating to, or
arising from, the guide. If you have any comments on this subject guide, favourable or
unfavourable, please use the form at the back of this guide.
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Contents
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction.......................................................................................................1
What is church history?....................................................................................................1
Why study the period 1450–1600? ..................................................................................2
How to start: study strategies ..........................................................................................3
The examination...............................................................................................................4
Essential and further recommended reading....................................................................4
Key introductory textbooks .............................................................................................5
Essential reading...............................................................................................................6
Recommended reading.....................................................................................................6
Further reading.................................................................................................................8
Websites............................................................................................................................9
Chapter 2: Late medieval religion and society ...............................................................11
Essential reading.............................................................................................................11
Recommended reading...................................................................................................11
Further reading...............................................................................................................11
Introduction . ..................................................................................................................12
The pre-Reformation church: a general overview..........................................................12
Church government, the Renaissance papacy and conciliarism ...................................13
The Renaissance papacy (c.1450–1527)..........................................................................14
Movements of reform, especially Christian Humanism.................................................16
Elements of popular belief and devotional practice ......................................................18
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................19
Learning outcomes.........................................................................................................19
Sample examination questions.......................................................................................20
Chapter 3: The German Reformation .............................................................................21
Further reading...............................................................................................................21
Introduction: Germany on the eve of the Reformation..................................................22
Luther’s Reformation (with special reference to the years 1517–25).............................23
The German Peasants’ War and the rural Reformation.................................................24
The urban Reformation...................................................................................................25
The princely Reformation...............................................................................................26
Sample examination questions ......................................................................................28
Chapter 4: The Swiss Reformation ..................................................................................29
Further reading...............................................................................................................29
Introduction.....................................................................................................................30
The Reformation in Zurich (with Zwingli) and in other cities 1518–31.........................30
Characteristics of the early Swiss reformed tradition ...................................................31
Geneva, Calvin and the refugee Reformation 1536–64.................................................32
The spread of the reformed (Calvinist) tradition............................................................32
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Reformation and society
Chapter 5: The radical Reformation or the radicals of the Reformation.....................35

Further reading...............................................................................................................35
Introduction.....................................................................................................................35
Beginnings in Saxony: south/central Germany..............................................................36
The Swiss brethren, persecution, diaspora: south-west German,
Rhineland groups............................................................................................................37
The north-west German and Dutch groups....................................................................37
Chapter 6: The Reformers and their message.................................................................39
Further reading...............................................................................................................39
Introduction.....................................................................................................................39
The major Lutheran, reformed and radical theologians ................................................40
The contribution of women to reforming ideas and pastoral action .............................40
Key topics: scripture, grace, sacraments, church and worship......................................41
Case studies: two Reformation controversies: the use of images
and the Eucharist.............................................................................................................41
Sample examination questions ......................................................................................42
Chapter 7: The English Reformation...............................................................................43
Further reading...............................................................................................................43
Introduction.................................................................................................................... 44
The late medieval church in England.............................................................................45
Henrician or early Reformation in England up to 1547..................................................46
The mid-Tudor reigns: Edward (1547–53) and Mary (1553–58) ....................................47
The later Reformation: Elizabeth I (1558–1603).............................................................48
Learning outcomes ........................................................................................................49
Chapter 8: The Catholic Reformation and Counter-Reformation................................51
Essential reading ............................................................................................................51
Further reading...............................................................................................................51
Introduction: terminology and periodisation..................................................................52
The past as model: reform ideas and efforts before the
Council of Trent c.1512–45 ............................................................................................52
Decades of survival and defence 1540–60: the Council of
Trent 1545–63.................................................................................................................53
Early modern Catholicism: the world of Catholic reform
c.1540–1600 and beyond.................................................................................................54
ii
Contents
Chapter 9: Confessionalisation and social legacies of the Reformations......................57

Essential reading ............................................................................................................57
Further reading ..............................................................................................................57
Introduction . ..................................................................................................................57
Confessionalism..............................................................................................................58
Social welfare and education..........................................................................................58
Women, the family and gender studies .........................................................................59
Toleration and minority groups .....................................................................................60
Culture and the arts.........................................................................................................61
Chapter 10: European Christianity and the non-European,
non-Christian world...........................................................................................................63
Further reading ..............................................................................................................63
Introduction.................................................................................................................... 64
The Iberian church and empires ................................................................................... 64
The Catholic missions in Asia .......................................................................................65
Appendix 1: Sample examination paper..........................................................................67
Appendix 2: Advice on answering examination questions.............................................69
The examination paper...................................................................................................69
Different kinds of questions............................................................................................69
Tackling a sample examination question........................................................................70
What are examiners looking for?...................................................................................70
What are the most common mistakes to be avoided?.....................................................71
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Notes
iv
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 1
Introduction
‘If memory is the thread of personal identity, history is the thread of community identity’
(Lindberg, 1996, p.2).
What is church history?

In our context the word church (from the Latin ecclesia or assembly) refers to the
universal Christian community of believers, existing from its biblical foundations to
the present and spread throughout the world. Christians are the heirs of a great religious
tradition, with its roots in Judaism. In practice, they belong to a number of ‘little’
traditions or ‘churches’, which vary considerably in their expressions of Christian
belief and behaviour. This is related to the culture in which they have taken root. How
these divisions and differences came about is part of the story or history of Christianity
through the generations.
Church history from within or from the outside
It is possible to study church history from within, that is as a believer (or sympathetic
observer), remembering the story of one’s community, judging what may be normative
or ‘heretical’. It is also possible for a believer, or non-believer, to study Christian groups
from the outside, as an aspect of social, political and cultural history; for example, the
social historian is interested in how religion influenced, but was also influenced by,
social forces. Many of us do not become – or remain – religious for purely religious
reasons; economic advantage or political pressure may play its part.
Faith and history
Whether one is primarily a church historian or a historian of Christianity, an adequate
interpretation of any basic aspect of the Church – scripture, forms of worship, patterns
of ministry and organisation – have both a historical and a theological dimension.
For example, the concept of the visible church, its organisation and membership, is
accessible to historical analysis. The concept of the invisible church, as a communion of
true believers (the elect) known only to God, is a theological one. In the past, theology
and the intellectual content of Christianity tended to dominate. Today social and cultural
analysis is the most popular approach. To study one aspect and to neglect the other is an
impoverishment, particularly for a student of theology.
Tradition and change
Most Christian communities have sought to be faithful to their biblical foundations,
but have found themselves having to live out beliefs in new and sometimes challenging
circumstances. Tradition (what has been handed on or remembered) and change
(adapting to the needs of a new age) are constant tensions in the life of all groups and
communities, whether they are consciously aware of it or not. Religion too has adapted
to social needs, and the historian sees patterns of both continuity and of change.
Reformation and renewal
The problem is especially acute when churches see themselves in need of reform.
This is most usually seen in terms of failing to measure up to the ideals of primitive
Christianity and the solution would appear to be to go back to sources and recover
the inspiration of the early Christian experience. But it also may be necessary to look
forward, and to find a fresh way to rearticulate the traditional Christian message for a
new age. However the concept of updating was not one familiar to traditional reformers,
even if it was implicit in what they were trying to do.
1
Respect for other traditions

Reformation scholarship has moved beyond a narrow focus on ‘confessional
historiography’, in which interpretation was tied to the justification of one’s religious
creed and tradition. The new approach is the result of the ecumenical movements of the
twentieth century, in which old, hostile, embattled, sectarian positions are slowly giving
away to mutual respect and dialogue. A study of the history of Christianity also includes
respect for, and understanding of, people of other faiths: such as Jews and Muslims.
History ‘from below’
Church history is receptive to newer approaches in historical writing and in the human and
social sciences. It is no longer restricted to the activities of popes, great religious leaders,
the legislation of Councils or the ideals of a clerical or monastic elite (history from above).
There is a movement away from official, institutional history to a broader history of
religion, piety and the concerns of ordinary lay people. Attention is given to ‘history from
below’: to daily life, changing attitudes to family and kinship, sexuality and the body, to
birth, childhood and death. What is regarded as normal, daily routine is, in fact, a social
construct of shared values and ‘mentalities’ which can and do change. It is within these
changing perspectives that ordinary Christians live their lives and articulate their beliefs.
The shadow-side of history
The ‘new’ church history pays special attention to women’s history, to dissenting or
minority voices within the tradition, and to the ‘shadow-side’ of its story, rather than
its perceived triumphs. These newer perspectives are more enriching, but also more
demanding for the student.
Why study the period 1450–1600?

Many of the points made above are sharply focused in the syllabus for Reformation and
society c.1450–c.1600. It was a period of great cultural and social change, eventually
recognised as marking the shift from late medieval Christendom to early modern
Europe. By 1600 the map of Europe and the culture of its peoples had altered markedly
(though there were obvious continuities). Were these changes the causes or the results of
the religious controversies of the sixteenth century? This is an important and interesting
period for many reasons:
• It begins with a study of the values and ‘mentality’ of late medieval Christendom
against which the Protestant reformers were to react so strongly. This Christian
culture had its strengths and its areas of vulnerability.
• The Protestant Reformers of the sixteenth century were convinced that medieval
Christianity and its institutions (especially the papacy) had come to obscure, not to
mediate, the essentials of Christianity. They came to view the late medieval church as
unreformable and set about restoring primitive Christian practice based on the Scriptures.
Catholics regarded this as a ‘deformation’ of living tradition, not as reformation.
• Though the Protestant Reformation in Germany could be said to have begun with the
Luther affair in 1517, social, political and cultural aspects extended well beyond the
scope of the influence of one or more religious leaders.
• The idea of a single, unified sixteenth-century movement called ‘the Protestant
Reformation’ has been replaced by that of several distinct, but overlapping European
Reformations. This syllabus is structured around five reforming movements:
Lutheran
Reformed or Calvinistic
English
Radical
Catholic Reformation and the Counter-Reformation.
2
By the mid-century Europe was divided into distinct and hostile confessional groups,
each with its own agenda.
• The religious controversies of the sixteenth century lead us to ask exactly what
it was the reformers wanted to reform, raising a number of theological questions
which should be of particular interest to theology students: differing views on the
nature of scripture, authority, grace, worship and pastoral care. To study the roots of
denominational intolerance can promote greater contemporary understanding.
• All five ‘reformations’ imply ‘officialdom’ or the intentional modification of
Christian belief and practice ‘from above’, expressed in official documents and
confessional statements. But the aim of reformation was not the overriding concern
of many ordinary people; and the richness and variety of religious life in the
sixteenth century is revealed also in popular religion, confraternities, overseas
missions and other interests.
How to start: study strategies

How to begin
Most students find it helpful to start by gaining a good, general overview of the period
c.1450–c.1600. Browse in the relevant sections of a library or bookshop to get an idea
of the books available; read the introductory overviews suggested in the Essential
reading section; choose one key textbook recommended below (e.g. Cameron or
Lindberg) and get a sense of how the author approaches the period, how it is divided,
key topics, etc.
Habits of study
Choose your own most effective ways of working, either from past experience, or by
experiment. This guide is only an introduction to the subject and cannot substitute for
reading in depth, nor for well-planned and regular habits of study. Six to eight hours
of regular study a week is a minimum. You may take separate notes on each book or
article read, but they need to be incorporated into a single set of notes for each topic or
question. Making a synthesis is important for future revision, as is a good filing system.
The subject guide
The subject guide divides the material in the syllabus into 10 chapters, arranged
chronologically, each covering a major topic or group of related themes. Though all
chapters should be studied initially, in the final examination the choice of questions is
sufficiently wide to allow you to revise only part of the syllabus should you so wish.
To prepare well for the examination you should cover five or six of the 10 chapters
very thoroughly. This means studying all the inter-related topics in these chapters,
not random topics from several chapters. Foundational Chapters 2 and 3 may not be
omitted. If you systematically work through this subject guide doing the assigned
reading and paying careful attention to the instructions on what to look for in your
reading, you will have a comprehensive knowledge of the topic. Furthermore you will
be well prepared for the examination in the Reformation and Society paper.
Use of contemporary material
Make sure you have access to at least one collection of contemporary documents. (See
bibliography below.) There is no substitute for using contemporary sources, written or
visual, to enter into the mentality of the period. For example, contemporary portraits of
Julius II by Raphael or Henry VIII by Holbein were commissioned to project a public
image of the sitter. If you have access to an art gallery, or a museum with relevant
material, it may help the learning process. Sometimes a good TV documentary or film
on the period may be very helpful.
3
A warning about reading material

Because of the considerable revision of traditional accounts of Reformation and
Society c.1450–1600 by contemporary historians, you are advised not to rely on books
or articles written before 1980, unless they are evidently ‘classic’ or breaking new
ground. This does not mean that ‘newest is best’, but that newer ‘revisionist’ approaches
challenge the assumptions, methodology and ways of proceeding familiar to more
traditional historians. You may not be helped by authors (however good) who were
unaware of current scholarship and debates.
The examination
Important: The information and advice given in the following section is based on the
examination structure used at the time this guide was written. However, the University can
alter the format, style or requirements of an examination paper without notice. Because of
this, we strongly advise you to check the instructions on the paper you actually sit.
The final examination consists of a three-hour paper requiring you to answer four
questions from a choice of 12 to 14. Suggestions for possible questions are included
at the end of each chapter of this guide. Keep them in mind while studying, and give
yourself some experience of planning and answering them, timed or otherwise. (Planned
answers are a helpful way of collating material.) Under examination conditions you
will have about 45 minutes for each question. Your answer may average about 1,000
words, though this varies considerably from person to person. Advice on how to answer
examination questions is given in Appendix 2.
Essential and further recommended reading

The bibliography in this subject guide is restricted to books available in English. Further
suggestions for reading are in many of the books listed. ISBN numbers indicate a paperback
edition where this is available. It is important to read widely in order to appreciate fully the
complexity of the upheavals in the Church and European society in the sixteenth century.
Students also need to know something of the background to the Protestant and Catholic
Reformations. The circumstances of students studying for the external BD and the Diploma
in Theology vary widely. Given that access to books can be difficult there now follows a
short list of books which should be regarded as an absolute minimum which you should try
to buy, if possible, and study carefully in order to prepare for the examination in this subject.
In general in the bibliography throughout this student guide an asterisk preceding a title
means that you should make a serious effort to read the text.
Books to buy
For those coming to the subject for the first time and who know little or nothing of the
issues involved start with
*Marshall, P. The Reformation: a very short introduction. (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2009) [ISBN 9780199231317].
*MacCulloch, D. Reformation: Europe’s house divided 1490–1700. (London: Penguin,
2003) [ISBN 9780140285345].
*Rublack, U. The Reformation. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005)
[ISBN 9780521003698].
Having read Marshall then look at the relevant section (i.e. chapters 16–19) in:
*MacCulloch, D. A History of Christianity. (London: Allen Lane, 2009) [ISBN 0713998695
(hbk) or 0141021896 (pbk)].
Here you will find a good summary of all the key events and ideas that we will discuss
in the rest of this subject guide.
4
Reading these works will give you a good basic grasp of all these issues covered in the
syllabus. Of themselves they are not enough for a detailed and comprehensive account
of the Reformation, its antecedents and its implications. They will, nevertheless, give
you a good grounding on which the details will be elaborated as you work through the
Essential and Recommended reading in the rest of this subject guide.
Key introductory textbooks

In addition to the books recommended above you should have at least one basic
textbook, such as Cameron (1991), Lindberg (1996) or Pettegree (2000) to use as a
preliminary narrative guide to the whole subject. Of the reading list that now follows
these works are frequently cited in the essential or recommended reading list at the start
of each chapter or topic.
*Baghi, D. and D.C. Steinmetz The Cambridge companion to Reformation theology.

(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004) [ISBN 0521776627].
*Bossy, J. Christianity in the West 1400–1700. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984)
[ISBN 0192891626 (pbk)].
*Cameron, E. The European Reformation. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991)
[ISBN 0198730934]. An important synthesis which has replaced O. Chadwick The
Reformation. (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968) The Pelican history of the church series,
Vol. 3) [No ISBN].
*Haigh, C. The English reformations: religion, politics and society under the Tudors.
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993) [ISBN 9780198221623].
*Hsia R. Po-Chia (ed.), The Cambridge history of Christianity vol. 6: reform and expansion.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007). This is very expensive well beyond the
pockets of most students. Do try, however, to borrow it from a library.
*Lindberg, C. The European reformations. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996) [ISBN 1557865752].
Good on historiography of the period; includes maps, chronology, genealogies,
bibliography. A good textbook.
*McGrath, A. Reformation thought: an introduction. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999) third edition
[ISBN 0631215212]. Another indispensable guide to the subject, with appendices
designed to meet difficulties students might encounter.
*Mullet, M. Martin Luther. (London: Routledge, 2004) [ISBN 9780415261685].
*Neil, S. (revised by O. Chadwick) A history of Christian missions. (London: Penguin,
1990). [ISBN 9780140137637].
*Pettegree, A. (ed.) The Reformation world. (London; New York: Routledge, 2000)
[ISBN 0415268591 (pbk)]. Key specialist articles covering most of the period. Highly
recommended.
*Wallace, P. G. The long European Reformation. (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004)
[ISBN 0333644514].
*Williams, G. The radical Reformation. (Truman State University Press, 2000) third edition
[ISBN 978094354935].
If you read and seriously study all the above you will be well prepared for the
examination. What now follows is a step-by-step introduction to the areas of study
that you should cover in order to have a comprehensive grasp of all the issues that the
Reformation involves. Work through each of the chapters of this guide and be alert to
suggestions for essential reading. The more you read the better you will understand the
topic and the better prepared you will be for questions in the examination.
5
Essential reading
You are expected to read those books, sections of books or articles that are listed in
Essential reading at the beginning of each chapter or topic. For your convenience, these
are listed collectively here as well. Once again those books marked with an asterisk (*),
are particularly clear and helpful.
*Brady, T.A., H.A. Oberman and J.D. Tracy A handbook of European history 1400–1600.
(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1996) [ISBN 0802841945 Vol. 1 and 0802841953
Vol. 2]. Several articles in both volumes are very useful and are cited later in the relevant
chapters. Now available in paperback.
Corkery, J. and T. Worcester The papacy since 1500: from Italian prince to universal pastor.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010) [ISBN: 9780521509879].
Elton, G.R. (ed.) The new Cambridge modern history. Vol. II: The Reformation 1520–1559.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990) [ISBN 0521345367]. Contains articles
by Cantimori, Hays, Parry, MacGregor, Scribner and Stayer.
Hillerbrand, H.J. (ed.) The Oxford encyclopedia to the Reformation. (New York; Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1996) [ISBN 0195103629 Vol. 1; 0195103637 Vol. 2;
0195103645 Vol. 3; 0195103653 Vol. 4]. An indispensable reference work. Read articles
on Andreas Bodenstein, von Karlstadt, the Catholic Reformation, confraternities,
devotional practices, piety, popular religion [Vol. 1], Humanism, Renaissance,
Reformation Studies, Papacy [Vol. 3], and Melanchthon, von Staupitz, Council of Trent
[Vol. 4].
*Hsia, R. Po-Chia The world of Catholic renewal 1540–1770. (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2005) Second edition [ISBN 0521445965].
*Lindberg, C. (ed.) The Reformation theologians: an introduction to theology in the early
modern period. (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002) [ISBN 0631218394]. Excellent introduction
to the thought of Humanist, Lutheran, Reformed, radical and Catholic theologians. A
good theological guide to the period.
*Marshall, P. Reformation England 1480–1642. (London: Arnold 2003) [ISBN
0340706244]. A recent synthesis which follows the section suggested in the subject
guide. Highly recommended.
Pettegree, A. (ed.) The early Reformation in Europe. (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1992) [ISBN 0521397685]. Articles by Cameron, Pettegree, Gordon and
MacCulloch.
*Rex, R. Henry VIII and the English Reformation. (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006)
second edition [ISBN 9781403992738]. A very good preliminary survey.
*Rosman, D. From Catholic to Protestant: religion and people in Tudor England. (London:
UCL Press, 1996) Introductions to history series [ISBN 185728433X (pbk)].
*Scribner, R.W. The German Reformation. (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1986)
[ISBN 0333363574].
Tracy, J.D. Europe’s reformations 1450–1650. (Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999)
[ISBN 0847688356]. A splendid synthesis of recent scholarship treating this period
thematically: doctrine, politics, society and community, and global perspectives.
Recommended reading
*Burke, P. The Renaissance. (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997) second edition
[ISBN 0333669274].
*Doran, S. Elizabeth I and religion 1558–1603. (London: Routledge, 1993)
[ISBN 0415073529] Chapter 7.
*Doran, S. and C. Durston Princes, pastors and people: the church and religion in England,
1500–1700. (London; New York: Routledge, 2002) second edition [ISBN 0415205786].
An excellent survey, updated.
*Dixon, C. Scott (ed.) The German Reformation: the essential readings. (Oxford: Blackwell,
1999) [ISBN 0631208119]. A selection of key articles by specialist authors.
6
*Dixon, C. Scott The Reformation in Germany. (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002)

[ISBN 0631202536].
Duffy, E. Fires of faith: Catholic England under Mary Tudor. (London and New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2009).
Edwards, J. The Jews in Christian Europe 1400–1700. (London: Routledge, 1988)
[ISBN 0415062136].
*Greengrass, M. The Longman companion to the European Reformation c.1500–1618.
(London; New York: Longman, 1998) [ISBN 0582061741]. A mini-encyclopedia guide
to information about the period, with documents.
Hsia, R. Po-Chia Social discipline in the Reformation: Central Europe 1550–1750. (London:
Routledge, 1989) [ISBN 0415011493]. Excellent synthesis of recent scholarship, with
bibliography.
*Hsia, R. Po-Chia (ed.) A companion to the Reformation world. (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003).
Recent essays by leading international scholars.
Johnson, P. (edited by M. Walsh) The papacy. (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1997)
[ISBN 0297835599].
*Johnston, P. and B. Scribner The Reformation in Germany and Switzerland. (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1993) [ISBN 0521406072]. Documents and commentary.
Jones, M.D.W. The Counter Reformation: religion and society in early modern Europe.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995) Topics in history series [ISBN
0521439930]. With documents.
Luebke, D.M. (ed.) The Counter-Reformation: the essential readings. (Oxford: Blackwell
1999) [ISBN 0631211047]. Key articles by specialists.
Maltby, W.S. (ed.) Reformation Europe: a guide to research II. (St Louis: Center for
Reformation Research, 1992) [ISBN 091034504X].
Marshall, P. (ed.) The impact of the English Reformation. (London: Arnold, 1997) Arnold
Readers in history series [ISBN 0340677090 (pbk)]. Key articles by Harper-Bill, Davies,
Brigden and Dickens reprinted.
McConica, J.D. Erasmus. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991). [ISBN 019287599X].
The best short, clear, yet scholarly guide.
MacCulloch, D. Tudor church militant: Edward VI and the Protestant Reformation.
(London: Penguin, 1999) [ISBN 0140285334]. Deals with both Edward’s reign and its
consequences for the subsequent progress of the Reformation in England.
McGrath, A. A life of Calvin. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1990) [ISBN 0631163980].
McManners, J. (ed.) The Oxford illustrated history of Christianity. (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1992) [ISBN 0192852590] pp.233–66. Excellent introduction to the
whole course.
O’Malley J. (ed.) Catholicism in early modern history: a Guide to Research. (St. Louis:
Center for Reformation Research, 1988) [ISBN 0910345023]. Articles by Alberigo,
Bayley, Burke and Grendler.
O’Malley, J. Trent and all that: renaming Catholicism in the early modern period.
(Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press, 2000) [ISBN 0674000870].
Ozment, S. (ed.) Reformation Europe: a guide to research. (St Louis: Center for
Reformation Research, 1982) [ISBN 0910345015].
Scribner, B. R. Porter and M. Teich (eds) The Reformation in national context. (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1994) [ISBN 0521409608]. Articles by Bergsma,
Collinson, Greengrass, Goodacre, Greyerz and Scribner.
Wiesner, M.E. Gender, church and state in early modern Germany. (London and New York:
Longman, 1998) [ISBN 0582292824]. A splendid introductory essay on women and
religion in the sixteenth century is followed by more detailed attention to women in
Germany.
7
Further reading
You are not expected to read everything listed in the Further reading lists in each
chapter; these books are there to give you a wider range of choice, to allow for
availability or so that you can pursue your particular interests.
Collected studies of reformers: documents
Englander, D. et al. Culture and belief in Europe 1450–1600. (Oxford: Blackwell in
association with the Open University, 1990) [ISBN 0631169911]. An anthology of
sources and documents.
Lindberg, C. (ed.) The European reformations sourcebook. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999)
[ISBN 0631213627]. Companion volume to his 1996 textbook cited above.
Naphy W.G. (ed.) Documents on the continental Reformation. (Basingstoke: Macmillan,
1996) [ISBN 0333628608].
Several publishers have produced inexpensive short study guides, which often contain
documents:
• Cambridge University Press: Cambridge topics in history series
• Longman: Seminar studies in history series
• Macmillan: Studies in European history series
(These will be recommended in the relevant chapters of this subject guide and are
usually available in large bookshops.)
History, historiography, interpretation
Revisionism, or the radical re-evaluation of former historical ‘certainties’, is a critical
element in the study of the period 1450–1600. If you have not studied history recently,
it may be worth spending time reading up on recent debates concerning the nature
of history and historical writing, especially in relation to post-modernist views. It is
important to distinguish between the past (what actually happened) and history (how
historians have come to reconstruct the past), though we often use these two words
interchangeably. A historian (or historiographer) can never fully recover the past as it
actually was; he or she can only gain a partial and limited view. On the other hand some
historians have argued that the historian is better placed to judge the ‘facts’ of history
and their significance than the participants in the events of the historical past. Equally
it is true that, the sources selected and interpreted are filtered through the historian’s
own prejudices and understanding. Historians also attend to an analysis of historical
‘representation’: for example, how women, children or the ethnic ‘other’ were portrayed
in a dominant culture or discourse. An understanding of historiography, or the differing
interpretations of the sixteenth century Reformations down the centuries to the present,
is implicit in most contemporary writing.
Arnold, J. History: a very short introduction. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)
[ISBN 019285352X].
Burke, P. (ed.) New perspectives in historical writing. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000)
second edition [ISBN 074561982X]. Excellent introduction to revisionist history and
includes chapters on history from below, women’s history, etc.
Dixon, C. Scott ‘Narratives of the German Reformation’ in his (ed.) The German
Reformation: the essential readings. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999) [ISBN 0631208119]
pp.1–32.
Lindberg, C. ‘History, historiography and interpretations of the Reformation’ in Lindberg
(1996) pp.1–23.
8
Note that E.H. Carr What is history? (1963) and G.R. Elton The practice of history
(1969), though still popular and readily available, do not address the questions raised
by recent scholarship. Some works of an older vintage such as H. Butterfield The Whig
interpretation of history. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1931) and
R.G. Collingwood The idea of history. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946) are classics
which can still be read with profit.
Websites
• www.historytoday.com
This is the website of the magazine History Today and is a leading website for history
students and researchers. Articles from back numbers of the magazine are available. The
‘related links section’ offers links to other history sites. The text of articles from History
Today can be accessed via the Online Library.
• www.biography.com
Offers biographical references and video suggestions.
• www.francisfrith.co.uk
History in photographs.
• www.thehistorychannel.com
Search by key word, timeline or subject.
• www.history.ac.uk
The website for the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) University of London.
9
Notes
10
Chapter 2: Late medieval religion and society
Chapter 2
Late medieval religion and society

‘By definition the Reformation was an internal transformation, not an external assault; the
division of a unit, not a conquest. The state of the late-medieval western church therefore
needs some consideration as a prelude to the onset of Reformation’ (Swanson in Pettegree,
2000, p.9).
Essential reading
Cameron, E. The European Reformation. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991)
[ISBN 0198730934] pp.9–93.
Recommended reading
Collinson, P. ‘The late medieval church and its Reformation’ in McManners, J. (ed.) The
Oxford illustrated history of Christianity. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992)
[ISBN 0192852590] pp.233–66. Excellent introduction to the whole subject.
Lindberg, C. ‘The late Middle Ages: threshold and foothold of the reformations’ in his The
European reformations. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996) [ISBN 1557865752] pp.24–55.
McGrath, A. ‘Late medieval religion’ in his Reformation thought: an introduction. (Oxford:
Blackwell, 1993) third edition [ISBN 0631215212] pp.27–39. An overview.
Swanson, R.N. ‘The Pre-Reformation church’ in A. Pettegree (ed.) The Reformation
world. (London; New York: Routledge, 2000) [ISBN 0415268591] pp.9–30. Excellent
overview.
Further reading
Bossy, J. ‘Traditional Christianity’ in his Christianity in the West 1400–1700. (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1984) [ISBN 0192891626] pp.1–87.
Duffy, E. The stripping of the altars. (New Haven; London: Yale, 1992) [ISBN
0300053428]. In Part 1, the author argues for the vitality of late medieval parish life in
England and the – for him sad – disruption of the Reformation.
Fletcher, S. The Longman companion to Renaissance Europe 1390–1530. (Harlow: Pearson,
2000) [ISBN 0582298822]. A mini-reference book. See section 25:21 on church/
authority, and 25:23 on Humanism.
McGrath, A. The intellectual origins of the European Reformation. (Oxford: Blackwell,
1987) [ISBN 0631151443] especially pp.70–93.
Oakley, F. The Western church in the later Middle Ages. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press,
1985) [ISBN 0801493471]. Helpful sections on the institutional church, currents of piety
and spirituality, reform movements, etc.
Oberman, H.A. The harvest of medieval theology. reprinted (Baker Academic, 2001)
[978081020377] Still holds its own as an introduction to the state of Catholic theology
on the eve of the Reformation and in particular offers insight into the work of Gabriel
Biel whose work greatly influenced Luther.
Swanson, R.N. Religion and devotion in Europe c.1215–c.1515. (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1995) [ISBN 0521379504]. The best one-volume survey of the subject
in English. Good summary and conclusion on pp.311–24.
Van Engen, J. ‘The church in the fifteenth century’ in T.A. Brady et al. (eds) A handbook
of European history 1400–1600. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1996) Vol. 1
[ISBN 0802841945] pp.305–30.
11
Introduction
This chapter is longer and more complex than those which follow because recent
scholarship has considerably revised traditional views on late medieval religion and
society and these must be well understood before moving on to the sixteenth-century
reformations.
An older historical view of the late medieval church regarded it as almost entirely
corrupt and degenerate, and as ripe for reform. As a result of re-examining records
of pastoral visitations, sermons, wills and other contemporary sources, contemporary
historians have come to doubt this thesis.
Late medieval religion seems to have met the needs of most ordinary Christians. The
institutional church, including the papacy, was more problematic. Its main critics were
pre-Reformation Christian humanists.
The medieval world of shared values was beginning to dissolve for reasons other than
religious ones. The desire for renewal and reform was also a desire for change and
updating to meet the expectations of a new age.
In order to understand some of the reasons why the sixteenth-century Protestant
Reformers came to question and reject the religious culture of late medieval
Christianity, we must pay considerable attention to the period c.1450–c.1500. For the
sake of convenience, we will view late medieval Christendom in the context of four
aspects of the church, with a concluding section:
• The pre-Reformation church: a general overview (before we consider specific topics).
• Church government, the Renaissance papacy and conciliarism.
• Movements of reform/Christian Humanism.
• Elements of popular belief and devotional practice.
• Conclusion. From this vast panorama, you have to make some judgement as to the
vitality or otherwise of late medieval religion, in all these four areas. Do you think
anyone around 1500 ad could have foreseen the religious troubles ahead? What were
the strengths and the vulnerabilities of this religious society?
The pre-Reformation church: a general overview

Begin by reading one good account, such as Swanson or Cameron (see the reading lists
above). Aim to understand the main contours of the late medieval Catholic world, its
ecclesiastical structures at all levels (papacy, national churches, local level), the vitality
(or otherwise) of its theology, the place of religious orders and forms of structured life
(such as confraternities and guilds), its beliefs and practices, its critics and, therefore, its
areas of vulnerability. Then make clear notes about these issues.
It is useful to think of late medieval society as a religious culture, with many modes of
religious experience – mystical, liturgical, monastic – that were oriented towards the
differing needs of Christians. Late medieval society was a deeply religious one, though
it cannot be denied that dissent, unbelief and scepticism existed. Baptism into the
Christian faith marked entry into both the church as well as full membership of society.
The sacraments, from baptism to the last rites, fulfilled the function of rites of passage
in the social body of believers. The faithful (or baptised) were distinguished from the
unfaithful (heretics, dissenters, public sinners) and the infidel (Jews, and Muslims.).
There is much to be said for the view that late medieval piety and devotion distanced
itself from an overly academic scholastic theology. However, you should be aware that
devotional practice contained and nourished much implicit theology. Many humanists
12
were concerned about the divorce between head (theology) and heart (devotion) in
Christian practice. They felt that, though scholastic theology was good for clarifying
truth and argument, it failed to touch the heart and thus move people to conversion. On
the other hand, scholastic theology has had a bad press. The richness and variety of late
medieval scholasticism has begun to be re-evaluated. Many of the early reformers (e.g.
Erasmus, Luther, Calvin) were formed by scholasticism, even if they came to reject
its theological method. It is important that you distinguish between academic debates
(among orthodox theologians) and the issues raised by later medieval heresies and
heretics (e.g. Jan Hus (d.1415), the Waldensians, the Lollards).
Activity
In the course of your reading, ask yourself some of the key questions that have been raised
above:
• Was the late medieval Church corrupt and ‘ripe for reform’? What were its strengths
and its weaknesses?
• How much weight should we give to the fifteenth-century literature that criticised
religious abuses and failings?
• To what extent did ordinary Christians lack instruction in their faith or imbibe it with
their culture?
• To what extent did the clergy or church met the pastoral needs of the laity?
• What was the importance of various forms of structured life, such as religious orders,
confraternities and guilds?
• What were currents of theology and dissent from orthodox theology?
Church government, the Renaissance papacy and

conciliarism
Now that you have made some notes on – and hopefully come to some broad
understanding of – the shape of the pre-Reformation church, you must now undertake
a more specialised study, with a view to answering questions on one or more topics
(of which this is the first). Try to gain a sense of the complexity of administering and
governing the church in western Christendom in the late Middle Ages.
Church government
Central government
The highest authority in the late medieval church resided with the pope and the Curia
(the civil service and centralised bureaucracy in Rome). But the medieval papacy had
been weakened by its enforced residence in Avignon between 1307 and 1377, and by
the Great Schism and its aftermath (1378–1449), when there were two, sometimes three,
claimants for the papal office. A theory gained ground that in the event of a serious
crisis involving the credibility of the pope, a general or universal council of all the
bishops of the church (not just those who lived in Rome) should be convened to solve it.
The Great Schism ended because a general council convened at Constance (1414–18),
to enable the election of Martin V (1417–31), a candidate acceptable to all sides. It
was understandable that some came to hold the opinion that the highest authority in
the church was a general council, not the pope, and not only in a time of crisis. This
theory became known as conciliarism, and caused several popes to be wary of calling
a council to settle outstanding questions, such as the reform of the church. Though the
papacy returned to in Rome in 1424, papal authority under Martin V was shaken by the
claims of Conciliarism following Constance.
13
The national level

Inevitably tensions arose between the central government in Rome and rulers in the
emerging nation states, in whose territories bishops were appointed to dioceses. The
church was a territorial church: this meant that it was financially dependent on the
revenues it gained from the lands it owned. For example, the Archbishop of Canterbury
was the spiritual head and, in one sense, the representative of the pope in England, but
he was also the temporal administrator of much church property and land, in the realm
of England, subject to the king, and he was financially dependent on the revenues he
gained from these estates. The church at all levels was a rich and powerful network
of institutions (including monasteries and religious houses) which required astute and
careful administration, and expertise in both civil and canon (or church) law. It was not
possible to separate the spiritual and temporal aims of church officials and their power
and wealth was often resented by lay people. However anti-clericalism tended to be
sporadic, rather than endemic, and should not be exaggerated.
The local level: diocese and parish
Many – though not all – bishops were appointed because they were able lawyers and
administrators, rather than for their pastoral abilities. Despite this, most visitation
records usually indicate a good level of pastoral concern. In your reading, pay special
attention to the benefice system, the level of education given to the lower clergy, and the
quality of parish life.
The Renaissance papacy (c.1450–1527)

‘The positive assessment of the Renaissance popes as patrons of learning and the arts
seems secure; the negative criticism of them for their worldliness has been somewhat
qualified; but their rehabilitation as religious leaders is still very debatable.’
(O’Malley, 1997, p.140)
Essential reading
Duffy, E. Saints and sinners: a history of the popes. (New Haven; London: Yale University
Press, 2006) third edition [ISBN 0300115970] pp.177–207.
O’Malley, J.W. ‘The Renaissance papacy’ in M. Walsh (ed.) The papacy. (London:
Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1997) [ISBN 0297835599] pp.104–40.
Recommended reading
Corkery, J. and Worcester, T. The papacy since 1500: From Italian prince to universal
pastor. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010). The early chapters only are
relevant.
Gordon, B. ‘Conciliarism in late medieval Europe’ in A. Pettegree (ed.) The Reformation
world. (London; New York: Routledge, 2000) [ISBN 0415268591] pp.31–50.
Hillerbrand, H.J. (ed.) The Oxford encyclopedia to the Reformation. (New York; Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1996) [ISBN 0195103645 Vol. 3]. Look up Papacy (3:
pp.203–07).
Further reading
Jedin, H. (ed.) History of the church. (London: Burns and Oates, 1980) [ISBN 0860120864
Vol. 4 and 0860120872 Vol. 5]. The chapters by K.A. Fink, E. Iserloh and H. Jedin on
the papacy are highly recommended.
Prodi, P. The papal prince, one body and two souls: the papal monarch in early modern
Europe. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987) [ISBN 0521322596]. Though
more concerned with the sixteenth century, the author engages with the tension between
the spiritual and temporal role of the papacy. Excellent.
Stinger, C. The Renaissance in Rome. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985)
[ISBN 0253350026].
14
Shaw, C. Julius II: the warrior pope. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1993) [ISBN 0631167382].
Tanner, N. The councils of the church: a short history. (New York: Herder, 2001)
[ISBN 0824519043].
The Renaissance papacy (c.1443–1527) became the particular target of Protestant

Reformers.
After the final move back to Rome under Pope Eugenius IV(c.1443), the Renaissance
popes sought to formulate an ideological defence of their spiritual and temporal
authority, and to make the newly restored Rome a fitting city for the head of
Christendom. The popes undertook a vast programme of rebuilding and of patronage
of the arts. Rome came to rival, even to surpass, Florence as the centre of the Italian
Renaissance. Inevitably the role of the pope as a temporal ruler of the papal states
conflicted with his role as spiritual pastor. Stories of the Renaissance popes as worldly,
corrupt and immoral may have been exaggerated, though the career of Alexander VI and
his Borgia relations is colourful by any standards.
Closely linked with the Renaissance papacy was the question of the reform of the
Church in ‘head and members’, a phrase taken from a 1415 decree of the Council of
Constance: (1414–18) suggesting that reform must be from the top downwards and
should begin with the papacy itself. But in a crisis, such as a schism or deep scandal,
who or what would be the highest authority in the church: pope or general council?
Papal authority was challenged by conciliar theories and papal theologians, and canon
lawyers engaged in an ideological defence of papal spiritual and temporal authority.
These are the issues that recent scholarship is concerned with:
• theories of papal authority: papal supremacy, high papalism, conciliarism
• acknowledging the role of the Renaissance popes as patrons of the arts
• awareness of the fiscal constraints of the papal Curia
• deferred reforms of papacy and Curia; institutional rigidity, spiritual ideal of the
pastor versus political pragmatism of the papal prince
• reasons for the ineffectiveness of the Fifth Lateran Council (1512–17)
• an older perception that a worldly Renaissance papacy came to be replaced by a
reformed papacy devoted to the saving of souls (c.1537) does not take into account
the essential continuity of papal government, institutions and ideology.
Activity
Try to see the Portrait of Julius II by Raphael in the National Gallery, London (if this
isn’t possible, you can look at it online at www.nationalgallery.co.uk/collections/default_
online.htm).
1. What was the significance of Renaissance portrait painting as a means of projecting
an image or ideal of spiritual or temporal leadership? Illustrate with reference to
Raphael’s portrait of Julius II.
Julius II was Pope from 1503–13. Also known as the warrior pope, he was a patron
of both Michelangelo and Raphael. The picture can be dated because Julius grew
a beard to mourn a military defeat in battle between June 1511–March 1512. Any
critical art commentary on this portrait, or other papal portraits, indicates how official
Renaissance painting was a public relations exercise and showed the sitter as he
wished to be remembered: evidently Pope Julius II wanted to be remembered as both
as a warrior and priest.
15
Activity
above:
• ‘An understanding of Renaissance Rome (c.1450–1517) explains why Luther’s
criticisms in the early years of the Reformation fell upon deaf ears’? Discuss.
• Why were many Christians repelled by, rather than attracted to, the highly visible
Renaissance papal monarchy and Court, which saw itself at the centre of Christian
civilisation?
• How and why have some scholars come to see the Renaissance papacy and its
centralised government as the prototype of the modern nation state?
• In what ways did late medieval conciliarism influence the thought of sixteenth-century
reformers?
Movements of reform, especially Christian

Humanism
Essential reading
*Hillerbrand (1996) [ISBN 0195103637 Vol. 2; 0195103645 Vol. 3]. Look up: Humanism
(2: 264–71); Renaissance (3: pp.418–21).
Recommended reading
Burke, P. The Renaissance. (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997) second edition [ISBN
0333669274]. Only a small pamphlet, but a splendid introduction to the wider topic of
the Renaissance. Buy if possible.
Cameron (1991) pp.38–47.
Kraye, J. (ed.) The Cambridge companion to the Renaissance. (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1996). [ISBN 9780521436243]. Covers most aspects of humanism
including humanists and the bible.
McGrath, A. ‘Humanism and the Reformation ‘ in McGrath (1993) pp.40–66.
Rex, R. ‘Humanism’ in Pettegree (2000) pp.51–70.
Further reading
Brady, T.A., H.A. Oberman and J.D. Tracy (eds) A handbook of European history
1400–1600. (Grand Rapids: Michigan: Eerdmans, 1996) Vol 2 [ISBN 0802841953].
Three articles: G. Strauss ‘Ideas of reformatio and renovatio from the Middle Ages
to the Reformation’ pp.1–30; E. Rummel ‘Voices of reform from Hus to Erasmus’,
pp.61–92; R.G. Witt ‘The Humanist Movement’, pp.93–125.
Kristeller, P.O. ‘Humanism’ in C.B. Schmitt, et al. (eds.) The Cambridge history
of Renaissance Philosophy. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988)
[ISBN 0521251044] pp.113–37.
McConica, J. Erasmus. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991) [ISBN 019287599X].
Best short study available.
Nauert, C.G. Humanism and the culture of Renaissance Europe. (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1995) New Approaches to history series [ISBN 0521407249].
Porter, R. and M. Teich The Renaissance in national context. (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1992) [ISBN 0521369703]. Excellent study of the distinct but related
forms ‘renaissance’ took in the countries of Europe. A preparation for the differing
shapes of ‘reformation’ in each country.
There were many currents of reform in the late medieval church and it is important to
acknowledge that these have often been overshadowed by Christian humanism. Also
recognise that the indications of a strong desire for reform did not necessarily mean that
16
the church was more corrupt or in greater need of reform than it was in other periods
of history. An era of relatively greater peace and prosperity led to greater pastoral
expectations and a desire, not so much for reform as for a more vital and relevant
Christianity.
As we have already seen, following the scandal of the Great Schism, the decree of the
Council of Constance (1415) wanted ‘reformation in head and members’. In addition,
many major figures of the fifteenth century called for reform, including Nicholas of
Cusa (c.1400–64), Savonarola (1452–98) and Cardinal Ximenes de Cisneros (1436–
1517), who founded the University of Alcalà and held pastoral synods to implement
reform in Spain. His work influenced the convening and course of the Fifth Lateran
Council (1512–17). However, his suggestions were not followed up. At the time of the
closure of this Council, there was a lack of awareness of the impending storm.
1
The modern word Christian Humanists1 were to profoundly influence both the Protestant and Catholic
‘humanism’, first coined in
1808 by a German scholar,
Reformations of the sixteenth century. Most humanists were believing Christians and
was derived from a similar many were committed to the reform of Christendom.
word humanista (Italian
umanista) used in the fifteenth Scholars have come to accept the thesis that humanists were primarily interested in
and sixteenth centuries education and in the art of speaking and writing well (rhetoric) in order to influence
for professional university
teachers of the five humanities public discourse (see Kristeller, 1988). Many certainly came to hold influential positions
or liberal arts: grammar, at court and in society. Christian humanists wanted to return to biblical theology, and
rhetoric, poetry, history,
ethics. The term ‘humanist’ rejected scholastic theology. They came to doubt the accuracy of the Latin Vulgate
came to be applied to many or the official version of the Bible, translated by St Jerome, and many were prepared
of their students who chose
careers outside the university
to learn Greek and Hebrew in order to be able to produce more accurate translations.
setting. Humanist biblical scholarship profoundly influenced the course of the reform
movements and its educational ideals were adopted by Catholics and Protestants alike.
It is important to see Erasmus of Rotterdam, acknowledged as ‘Prince of Humanists’, in
relation to other leading humanist scholars, such as:
• the French circle at Meaux and Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples
• the Italian spirituali around Juan de Valdes
• the German circles at Heidelberg and Nuremberg
• the English circles at Cambridge and London (Thomas More, John Colet, John
Fisher).
Some worked for the papal curia (Girolamo, Alexander), others were anti-papal (Ulrich
von Hutten). Marguerite d’Angouleme and Vittoria Colunna were significant woman
humanists. Humanists formed a network of friends who frequently corresponded with
each other. They took part on both sides of the Protestant/Catholic debates.
In the course of your reading, ask yourself some of the key questions that have been
raised above:
• Were educated humanists too critical of popular religious belief and practice?
• Did their rhetoric of urgent reform shape our traditional view of the late medieval
church as decadent?
• Has humanist reform overshadowed other late medieval currents of reform?
• Why did lay humanists find that neither popular piety nor scholastic theology met
their needs?
• To what extent did they influence the sixteenth century reformations?
17
Elements of popular belief and devotional practice

Essential reading
Scribner, R.W ‘Elements of popular belief’ in T.A. Brady et al. (eds) A handbook of
European history 1400–1600 (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1996) [ISBN
0802841945 Vol. 1] pp.231–58. If this is not available, find other articles or books by
Scribner on same subject.
Further reading
Hillerbrand (1996) [ISBN 0195103629 Vol. 1]. Look up: Confraternities (I: pp.406–08),
Devotional practices (I: pp.476–78), Piety (3: pp.266–70), Popular religion (3: pp.295–
315).
Swanson (1995). More comprehensive than Scribner, but also highly recommended. First
and last chapters provide excellent summaries. Both Scribner and Swanson have further
bibliographies.
How Christian was late medieval Europe?

In this guide, we are considering western and mid-European Christendom, usually
excluding eastern Christendom. The term ‘Christendom’ came to mean a society of
the baptised into which you were born. As we have already noted above, baptism was
the key to citizenship and full participation in society. Unbaptised medieval Jews and
Muslims stood apart. Towards those of non-Christian faiths, there were periods of both
tolerance and intolerance (see Swanson, 1995, pp.257–308, on inclusion and exclusion).
The enemy within was the heretic, the dissenter from orthodox faith. You must balance
recognition of these broad, universal factors, by being aware of huge regional variations.
Scholars are critical of any myth of a ‘golden age of Christianity’, which is usually
applied to the high Middle Ages. Some have questioned the supposition that medieval
culture was essentially Christian. They argue that scholars have relied too much on the
views of a small, educated, clerical elite, and that the great mass of medieval people
lived in a ‘folklore-culture’, more akin to magic than faith. In reaction to the nineteenth-
century romantic myth of the Christian Middle Ages, scholars like Jean Delumeau,
Keith Thomas, Carlo Ginsberg and others have argued that people in the Middle Ages
were at best only superficially ‘Christianised’ and that Christian faith and practice took
hold only in the sixteenth century as a result of the pastoral efforts of both Protestant
and Catholic reformers. Jacques Le Goff went so far as to argue that towards 1500,
Europe was still a virtually mission territory.
Most recent research suggests that the religion of the peoples of late medieval Europe
was neither a ‘mythical golden age’ of Christianity nor a mythical age of Indo-
European folk religion. Belief in magic and superstition coexisted with orthodox
beliefs in sacraments and rituals. Certainly some pagan elements survived in medieval
Christianity. Sometimes pagan festivals were ‘taken over’ by the Church (e.g. Yuletide,
Mayday), sometimes they were eradicated. Late medieval religion was an important
part of late medieval culture, and discussion has moved from ‘popular religion’ to
the ‘religious culture’ in which Christianity took root. The spread of the parish and
parish church as a local focus for Christian life and practice throughout Europe was a
considerable achievement. From the eleventh and twelfth centuries onwards baptisms,
marriages and burials took place in or near the parish. Gathering for Mass, baptisms or
burials had a social as well as a religious significance.
Recent research has come to focus not only on orthodox belief and practice (what
we ought to think and do), but what ordinary people actually believed and practised,
or the religion of the laity as distinct from that of clergy, friars, monks and nuns.
When the sixteenth-century reformers set out to simplify and purify the church, late
18
medieval devotion (pilgrimages, relics prayers for the dead, cult of saints) was their
specific target. By the late sixteenth century, the reformers had challenged the medieval
preference for devotional acts (good works), substituting sound religious knowledge
through catechetical programmes. Was this a loss or a gain? Contemporary sociologists
and anthropologists are less dismissive of popular religion and its rituals than many
traditional historians and theologians of the Reformation period.
Activity
above:
• What do you understand by popular religion? Was there a split between popular and
elitist religion?
• How Christian was late medieval Christianity?
• How did Christians respond to the non-Christian or the unorthodox (heretic) in their
midst?
• What was the social role of ritual and sacrament in late medieval religion?
• What could be the ‘abuse’ or downside of ritualistic practice?
• What do you understand by late medieval society as a visual and tactile culture?
• Are we influenced by our own post-Christian, largely secular society?
Conclusion
By the end of this chapter you should have a clearer idea of the state of the late
medieval church on the eve of the Reformation (c.1500 or even 1517). Ask yourself if
you agree or disagree with Swanson’s conclusion:
‘…does that mean that “the Reformation” was unforeseeable in 1515? Probably. Does it
mean that pre-Reformation religion was in fact vital and progressing (whatever progress
is) rather than decadent and ready to fall? Almost certainly. However the reformist
pressures within the late medieval church should not be understated. They were clearly
strong. The fifth Lateran Council of 1512–17 was meant to accommodate them but in the
end failed. Those reformist pressures were not ‘Protestant’ but catholic, and no matter
how different its appearance, the church which grew out of them would have been by
definition as catholic as the one it replaced. But the Reformations got in the way, and we
will never know what would have happened without them.’ (1995, p.342).
Learning outcomes
By the end of this chapter and after undertaking some of the readings, you should be able
to:
• explain the differences between an older and a newer evaluation of the late medieval
church
• describe the importance of religion in late medieval society
• list the areas of vulnerability and of strength in the pre-Reformation church
• state the strengths and weaknesses of the Renaissance papacy
• outline the main humanist criticisms of the medieval church
• account for recent scholarly interest in popular religion ‘from below’.
19
Sample examination questions

1. Discuss some of the reasons why contemporary historians have re-examined and
come to doubt an older view of the late medieval Church as ‘at worst corrupt, and at
best ineffective’.
2. Why did the piety and devotion of late medieval religion become an easy target for
reform-minded critics?
3. Was the Renaissance papacy a help or hindrance to reform and renewal in the church?
4. ‘Of the many tributaries which contributed to the flow of the Reformation, by far the
most important was Renaissance Humanism’ (McGrath). Discuss.
5. Were the sixteenth-century Reformations foreseeable events in 1500 or even at the
close of the fifth Lateran Council in 1517?
20
Chapter 3: The German Reformation
Chapter 3
The German Reformation

‘From the very beginning, the German Reformation was not…a clear, pure invigorating
stream from which one only had to drink to take refreshment, but a heady brew containing
many compounds whose effects on those who imbibed it were not always calculable’
(Scribner, 1994, p.4).
Essential reading
If you find it helpful to start with a textbook or overview account, then use one or more
of the following books:
Cameron, E. The European Reformation. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991) [ISBN

0198730934] pp.99–110, 111–34.
Recommended reading
Lindberg, C. The European reformations. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996) [ISBN 1557865752]
pp.56–90, 91–10.
*Scribner, R.W. and C. Scott Dixon The German Reformation. Second edition (Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) [ISBN 0333665287] Short and clear; gives a summary of the
topics for study throughout this chapter.
Scribner, B. ‘Germany’ in B. Scribner, R. Porter, and M. Teich (eds) The Reformation in
national context. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994) [ISBN 0521409608]
pp.4–29. Indispensable overview article on the German context of the Reformation
movements.
Further reading
There is vast reading on the German Reformation, much of it still very usable. But
for up-to-date articles and books that summarise contemporary debates and recent
scholarship, the following are highly recommended. The articles are usually by experts
on their own subject, and summarise longer books.
Brady, T., H.A. Oberman, J.D. Tracy (eds) A handbook of European history 1400–1600.
(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1996) [ISBN 0802841953] Vol. 2. Read these key
articles:
• M. Brecht ‘Luther’s Reformation’ pp.128–60.
• P. Blickle ‘The Popular Reformation’ pp.161–92.
• B. Hamm ‘The urban Reformation in the Holy Roman Empire’ pp.193–228.
*Dixon, C. Scott (ed.) The German Reformation: the essential readings. (Oxford: Blackwell,
1999) [ISBN 0631208119]. A collection of articles on key topics in one volume, with
commentary. Highly recommended.
*Dixon, C. Scott The Reformation in Germany. (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002) [ISBN
0631202536]. A companion volume to the one cited above, but here Dixon writes his
own narrative of the German Reformation.
*Pettegree, A. (ed.) The Reformation world. (London; New York: Routledge, 2000) [ISBN
0415268591]. Read these key articles:
• C. Truman ‘Luther and the Reformation in Germany’ pp.73–96.
• D. Bagchi ‘Luther’s Catholic Opponents’ pp.97–108.
• A. Pettegree ‘Books, Pamphlets, and Polemic’ pp.109–26.
• J.M. Stayer ‘The German Peasants’ War and the Rural Reformation’ pp.127–45.
• C. Scott Dixon ‘The princely Reformation in Germany’ pp.146–67.
21
Collections of documents
Johnston, P. and B. Scribner The Reformation in Germany and Switzerland. (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1993) Documents and commentary [ISBN 0521406072].
Leach, K. The German Reformation. (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1991) [ISBN 0333485629].
Documents and Debates series.
Naphy, W.G. (ed.) Documents on the continental Reformation. (Houndmills: Macmillan,
1996) [ISBN 0333628608].
Introduction: Germany on the eve of the

Reformation
In Germany, the Reformation (a seventeenth-century term) was the result of a long,
interactive process between reformers, people and secular authority. It lasted for most
of the sixteenth century and beyond. From the sixteenth century to the present, there
have been differing narratives about or interpretations of the German Reformation
(see Dixon, 1999, Introduction). Traditional accounts have tended to emphasise the
importance of Luther and his theology, at the expense of:
• the national and social location of the German Reformation
• its reception/adaptation at popular level
• the importance of more radical reformers
• the long-term difficulties of setting up a new church and ‘institutionalising’
reforming ideals.
Important questions to ask yourself are: why was it in Germany that the Reformation
first took off – was Germany particularly receptive to reforming ideas? (see Scribner,
1994). Bear in mind that there was no single entity called Germany, instead there
existed a ‘union’ of German-speaking territories of the Holy Roman Empire; although
the Emperor had status, there were no significant institutions of power to control
the fragmented policies of the princes and civic authorities. Where a prince or city
supported reforming ideas, they could not be repressed. For example, Luther’s particular
gifts as a reformer were facilitated by support from his prince (Friedrich III ‘the Wise’
the Elector of Saxony), from the town council of Wittenberg, as well as by the speedy
publication of his writings from the printing presses of urban centres. Other factors to
take into account when answering these questions include: Germany’s developed urban
life, the vitality of its intellectual life, at universities and among humanists, and the
extent of religious and social dissent.
The story of Luther’s protest in 1517 and the events leading to his break with Rome in
1521 are important. But there were other currents of reform: Zwingli’s reform at Zurich
in 1522 began more or less independently of Luther and influenced south German
reform movements (see Chapter 4). Other important ‘magisterial’ or mainstream
German theologians to consider include Melanchthon (1497–1560) and Martin Bucer
(1491–1551). Finally, the radical reformers, including Andreas von Karlstadt and
Thomas Muntzer, are no longer seen as marginal to the Reformation narrative, but
should be given serious attention (see Chapter 5).
This chapter has been divided into the following four sections:
1. Luther’s Reformation.
2. The German Peasants’ War and the rural Reformation.
3. The urban Reformation.
4. The princely Reformation.
22
Luther’s Reformation (with special reference to

the years 1517–25)
Essential reading
Brecht, M. ‘Luther’s Reformation’ in T.A. Brady et al. (1995) pp.128–60.
Recommended reading
Greengrass, M. ‘The Luther affair’ in his Longman companion to the European Reformation
c.1500–1618. (London: Longman, 1998) [ISBN 0582061741] pp.43–58. Facts and
chronology.
Hendrix, H. ‘Martin Luther, reformer’ in Hsia (2007) pp.3–19. This briefly covers the
essentials.
Johnston, P. and B. Scribner ‘The Luther affair’ in Johnston and Scribner (1993) pp.11–29. A
helpful and challenging set of documents with questions.
Pettegree (2000) contains two key articles:
• C. Truman ‘Luther and the Reformation in Germany’ pp.73–96
• D. Bagchi ‘Luther’s Catholic opponents’ pp.97–108.
Further reading
Dixon (2002) pp.20–33.
Lohse, B. Martin Luther: an introduction to his life and work. (Edinburgh: T & T Clark,
1987) [ISBN 0567093573]. An outstanding study.
McKim, D.K. (ed.) The Cambridge companion to Martin Luther. (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2003) [ISBN 0521016738]. Key summative articles on Luther by
specialists in both Luther’s theology and place in history. Excellent and accessible.
Mullett, M.A. Luther. (London; New York: Routledge, 1986) Lancaster Pamphlet series;
second edition [ISBN 041509329]. Excellent short overview.
Mullett, M.A. Luther. (London; New York: Routledge, 2004) [ISBN 9780415261685].
Tarr, R. and K. Randall Luther and the German Reformation. Third edition (London: Hodder
Education, 2008).
A good point to begin might be to read one biography of Luther. If possible, read
Lohse’s, which is a good and scholarly treatment of Luther, although Mullett’s 1986
study provides a clear, short introduction. Luther’s early life has been well researched,
while his middle and later years have received less attention. A more rounded account
is, again, provided by Mullett in his 2004 work.
Between 1517 and 1521, Luther turned his personal protest into public debate, was
excommunicated and broke with Rome. From then on, Luther was seen by Catholics as
a condemned heretic. Almost immediately after his break with Rome, Luther became
involved with three major issues:
1. trying to establish his own reforms at Wittenberg and elsewhere
2. his continuing battle with the papacy and Catholic authorities
3. his developing battles with his ‘false brethren’ of the radical wing of the
Reformation.
When you consider the events of these years, it is important for you to be aware of
newer scholarly perspectives and questions, such as:
• the reasons that made sixteenth-century Germany particularly receptive to Luther’s
teaching
• the role played by other reformers
23
• the years in which Luther gradually shaped his Reformation decisions

• the way Rome perceived his pastoral concerns.
For a more detailed treatment of his key theological ideas, see Chapter 6.
Activity
Ask yourself the following questions:

• What was at the core of Luther’s attack on indulgences and a ‘good works’ ethic?
• Why was the papacy so slow to see the potential danger that Luther posed to its
authority?
• Who were Luther’s supporters? Who were his opponents, both theologically and
politically?
• Could these difficulties have been resolved by dialogue rather than by confrontation?
• What were the long-term effects of Luther’s appeal to a general council (1521)?
The German Peasants’ War and the rural

Reformation
Essential reading
Cameron (1991) pp.199–209.
Blickle, P. ‘The popular Reformation’ in T.A. Brady et al. (1996) pp.161–192.
Stayer, J.M. ‘The German Peasants’ War and the rural Reformation’ in Pettegree (2000)
pp.127–45.
MacCulloch (2003) ‘Europe’s greatest rebellion’ p.158ff.
Further reading
Brady, T.A. ‘The Reformation of the common man 1521–1524’ in Dixon (1999) pp.91–132.
Dixon (2002) pp.59–87.
Wallace (2004) pp.86–93.
Goertz, H.J. Profiles of radical reformers: biographical sketches from Thomas Münzter to
Pararelsus. (Scottdale: Herald Press, 1982) Chapter 5.
Some writers (e.g. Blickle, 1996) deal with both rural and urban Reformations under the
rubric of the ‘popular Reformation c.1521–25’ and, indeed, you may get questions on
this topic. Clearly it would be inaccurate to make too sharp a distinction between town
and country, as the one influenced the other.
However, we have chosen to follow those who, for clarity and convenience, deal with
the urban and rural reformations separately and beyond 1525. This section will cover
the rural Reformation, which antedated and outlasted the German Peasants’ War of
1524–26.
Luther had difficulties with those more radical reformers who considered his reforms
did not go far enough. (See Chapter 5 where radical reformers are discussed.) The
appeal to the ‘common man’ of his teaching on the Freedom of the Christian (1520)
and the strength of the early evangelical movements often outran Luther’s politically
conservative agenda. Luther never intended the spiritual freedom of the Christian
to justify political rebellion. It is important for you to pay particular attention to
the German Peasants’ War because it seemed to link religious reform with political
rebellion. Luther denounced the aims of the leaders of the uprising and distanced
himself from the more popular movements of reform.
24
Initially, Luther’s message was attractive to many because:

• It promised renewal through the recovery of the ‘pure’ word of God (Gospel).
• It appealed to the ‘common man’ by stressing the dignity of the ‘priesthood of the
laity’.
• It stressed the dignity of the life of a simple lay Christian and the value of the
fulfilment of duty in worldly affairs (the calling).
• It was critical of the power, privilege and wealth of clerics.
• The tract on the ‘Freedom of the Christian’ (1520) seemed to hold out the promise of
political and social freedom, a way to solve the many ills of contemporary society.
The urban Reformation

Essential reading
Cameron, E. ‘Self-governing towns and cities’ in Cameron (1991) pp.210–66.
Scribner (1986) pp.25–34.
Recommended reading
Pettegree, A. ‘Books, pamphlets, and polemic’ in Pettegree (2000) pp.109–26.
Further reading
Dixon (2002) pp.97–114.
Eisenstein, E. The printing revolution in early modern Europe. (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1983) [ISBN 0521258568].
Hamm, B. ‘The urban Reformation in the Holy Roman Empire’ in T.A. Brady et al. (eds)
A handbook of European history 1400–1600. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1995)
[ISBN 0802841953] pp.193–228.
Moeller, B. ‘What was preached in German towns in the early Reformation’ in C. Dixon
Scott (ed.) The German Reformation: the essential readings. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999)
[ISBN 0631208119] pp.33–52.
Pettegree, A. (ed.) The reformation of the parishes: the ministry and the Reformation in town
and country. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1993) [ISBN 0719040051].
Self-governing towns and cities

The Reformation as an ‘urban event’ (A.G. Dickens) has been a most fruitful area
of recent research. Reformation found its most ready support in towns, especially
among the imperial cities. It was easier to hear about, or receive propaganda about,
the Reformation in a city environment. The support of the civic authorities was also
crucial. It is important for you to note, however, that ‘no more than one in 10, and more
commonly one in 20 of the people lived enclosed within the walls of a corporate town’
(Cameron). In the cases of Wittenburg, Zurich and Geneva, the religious aspirations of
the reformers meshed, up to a point, with the socio-political aims of the civic authorities.
Most scholars emphasise the wide geographical spread and local variations of cities
and towns in Germany and Switzerland at the time of the Reformation. Some 65 were
‘free imperial cities’, allowed by the emperor to elect their own magistrates; others were
under the direct jurisdiction of the local territorial prince.
Despite local variation, certain key stages marked the progress of reform in most cities:
• In most cities, new reforming ideas were often introduced because of the keen
interest of a significant minority.
• These ideas were promoted by pamphlet and tract reading, preaching, persuasion and
encouragement. The chances of success were increased if an outstanding reformer
came to the city, or if many of the established clergy were won over to reform.
25
• At some stage words about reform were translated into deeds of reform: deliberate
parodying of the old religion, profanation of statues, destruction of images, abolition
of monasteries, demonstrations, etc.
• City councils were called in to arbitrate between reformers and Catholics. The
councils either adopted reform rapidly or, negotiated a settlement or, in some
instances, used compulsion to bring about authorised change.
• The formal adoption of reform meant demolishing the old order and constructing the
new. This was sometimes successful, but sometimes short-lived.
It is also possible to chart the sociology of the Reformation in a particular city by asking
questions which are not specifically religious:
• Which sections of the urban populations were likely to be most receptive or most
resistant to reform?
• Who benefited financially by a change from a Catholic to a Protestant stance?
• What roles were played by the preacher (regular or itinerant), by disaffected clergy,
by the presence of a university in a town?
• How important was the local printing press, and books and pamphlets in
communicating reforming ideas?
The princely Reformation

Essential reading
MacCulloch (2003) pp.162–212.
Recommended reading
Cameron, E. ‘Principalities and kingdoms’ in Cameron (1991) pp.267–92. Also read
pp.293–318 on motives for establishing the Reformation.
Dixon, C. Scott ‘The princely Reformation in Germany’ in Pettegree (2000) pp.146–68.
Scribner, R.W. ‘Politics and the Reformation’ in Scribner (1996) pp.35–44.
Further reading
Dixon, C. Scott ‘Political culture and the German Reformation’ in Dixon (2002) pp.97–140.
An overview of politics at local and national level.
In this section we will examine more closely how the reformed churches were
established in relation to politics and lay patronage at both local and territorial levels.
In order to become ‘established’, the leaders of the Reformation had to ‘affiliate’
themselves to a particular social unit or group. In the early days of Luther’s reform, his
ideas were taken up by Germany’s petty nobility and by various communal movements.
The events of the Peasants’ War ended this ‘affiliation’.
By far the most successful alliance was that between the reformers and the city
magistrates. But these civic authorities were constantly looking over their shoulders
to assess the attitude of their political overlords – prince or king – who also had a
significant role to play in allowing or resisting reform in their territory. There was
conflict at all levels between the older established clergy and the new reformed clergy.
Crisis, survival and compromise in politics
From the Augsburg Confession (1530) to the Peace of Augsburg (1555), the narrative of
German politics is very complex; however, it is no longer necessary to have a detailed
knowledge of political and military moves.
26
Make sure that you understand why the Schmalkalden (Protestant) league was formed,
and how political calculation entered into the choice of state or city religion. The
attempts at conciliation (or compromise) between Catholic and Protestant theologians
are also significant.
The settlement of the Peace of Augsburg declared that sovereign princes and lords
could choose to follow either the Augsburg Confession or Catholicism and require their
subjects to follow their choice. This settlement was summarised in the formula cuis
regio eius religio. This arrangement did not, however, include the Calvinists and the
tension to which this neglect gave rise would explode into a full scale European war
in the early decades of the following century. Meanwhile those who were not able to
conform had to emigrate. Radical or non-conformist groups were not recognised.
Finally, consider the problem of ‘obeying lawful authority’ in such a context. Those
who objected to authority on religious grounds had several options, ranging from non-
resistance and passive disobedience to open rebellion. Reformation political thought
– still very much influenced by medieval ideas – is a fascinating part of Reformation
history. Luther’s doctrine of the ‘two regiments’ (secular and religious authority), both
derived from God, was to be very influential, and later developed into the separation
between the powers of church and state.
Politics has always been an arena for persuasion, pressure, compromise, coalition
or rebellion. The politics of the Reformation is no exception. On this aspect, you
are recommended to read Cameron’s excellent synthesis (1991), but there are other
accounts of this complex subject. It is important for you not to get lost in too much
political detail, especially of Germany between 1531 and 1555. The key topics, taken
from Cameron, should help you to see the broad essentials.
Activity
Use these questions to guide your reading:

• Why is it hard to analyse and understand how the Reformation meshed with the
interests of princes and kings?
• In what sense can the Reformation be seen as an essentially political phenomenon?
• What were the reasons for the success or failure of reforming ideals in the differing
territories?
• How important was Luther’s doctrine of the two kingdoms or the separation of secular
and religious authority?
• At the territorial/imperial level what was were the consequences of
the Diet of Worms (1521)
the Confession of Augsburg (1530)?
• How significant was the Peace of Augsburg (1555) and its compromise solution: cuius
regio, eius religio (that the religion of a principality was settled according to the faith
of its prince)?
27
Learning outcomes
By the end of this chapter and after undertaking some of the readings, you should be able to:
• explain why Germany c.1517 was likely to be receptive to religious reform and
change
• outline the core reasons for Luther’s protest in 1517 and the slow stages of his break
with Rome (1517–21)
• discuss why the evangelical message of the reformers was attractive to many ordinary
people
• describe how Luther’s original insights spilled over into different kinds of reform
movements, which slipped beyond the ‘control’ of mainline reformers (1521–25)
• explain why the Reformation may still be regarded as a mainly urban event
• explain why the communal, popular reception of the Reformation gave way to what
historians have called ‘the princes’ Reformation’.

1. What were the political, cultural and religious preconditions within which the
Reformation movements in Germany unfolded after 1517?
2. What were the stages in the conflict between Martin Luther and the papacy between
1517–21?
3. Comment upon the role of Thomas Müntzer and the Radicals in the Peasants’ War of
1524–25?
4. Why did the reformers’ message have a particularly strong appeal in German cities
and towns between 1521–30? Illustrate your answer with reference to at least two
urban areas.
5. What do you understand by the princes’ Reformation?
6. What was the significance of printing for the spread of Reformation ideas?
7. Why were the reformers divided over the question of the right of resistance to
emperor or prince?
28
Chapter 4: The Swiss Reformation
Chapter 4
The Swiss Reformation

‘The Christian man is nothing else but a faithful and good citizen and the Christian city
nothing other than the Christian Church’ (Zwingli).
Essential reading
McCulloch, (2003) pp.237–52.
Pettegree, A. (ed.) The Reformation world. (London; New York: Routledge, 2000) [ISBN
0415268591]. Read the articles by M. Taplin, pp.169–89, and W.G. Naphy, pp.309–22.
Recommended reading
Gordon, B. ‘Switzerland’ in A. Pettegree (ed.) The early Reformation in Europe.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992) [ISBN 0521397685] pp.70–93.
Greengrass, M. The Longman companion to the European Reformation c.1500–1618.
(London; New York: Longman, 1998) [ISBN 0582061741] pp.92–100 (Zurich);
pp.171–85 (Geneva).
Johnston, P. and B. Scribner The Reformation in Germany and Switzerland. (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1993) [ISBN 0521406072]. Documents and commentary.
Chapters 3 and 8.
Lindberg, C. The European reformations. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996) [ISBN 1557865752]
pp.168–98, 249–74.
Von Greyerz, K. ‘Switzerland’ in B. Scribner et al. (eds) The Reformation in national
context. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994) [ISBN 0521409608] pp.30–46.
Wallace (2004), pp.93–96.
Further reading
General and early Swiss Reformation
Gabler, U. Huldrych Zwingli: his life and work. (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1986) Translated
by Ruth C.L. Gritsch [ISBN 0567094499].
George, T. ‘Something bold for God: H. Zwingli’ in his Theology of the reformers.
(Leicester: Apollos, 1989) [ISBN 0851117600] pp.108–62.
McGrath, A. Reformation thought: an introduction. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999) third
expanded edition [ISBN 0631215212] Chapters 6, 8 and 9.
Geneva and Calvin

Bouwsma, W. John Calvin: a sixteenth-century portrait. (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1988) [ISBN 0195043944].
Ganoczy, A. The young Calvin. (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988) [ISBN 0567094863].
George, T. ‘Glory unto God: John Calvin’ in Theology of the reformers (1989) pp.163–251.
Kingdom, R.W. ‘International Calvinism’ in T.A. Brady et al. (eds) A handbook of European
history 1400–1600. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1995) [ISBN 0802841943 Vol. 2]
pp.229–48.
McGrath, A. A life of Calvin. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1990) [ISBN 0631163980].
Parker, T.H.L. Calvin: an introduction to his thought. (London: G. Chapman, 1995)
[ISBN 0225665433].
Pettegree, A., A. Duke and G. Lewis Calvinism in Europe 1540–1620. (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1994) [ISBN 0521574528]. Read in conjunction with
documents below.
29
Prestwich, M. (ed.) International Calvinism 1541–1715. (Oxford: Oxford University Press,

1985) [ISBN 0198219334].
Steinmetz, D.C. Calvin in context. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995)
[ISBN 0195091655].
Collections of documents
Duke, A., A.G. Lewis and A. Pettegree Calvinism in Europe 1540–1610: a collection of
documents. (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992) [ISBN 071903552X].
Introduction
The Swiss reformed churches provided an alternative to Luther’s challenge to Rome.
In the sixteenth century, Switzerland was an undefined area that corresponds roughly
to the present-day state. The independent Swiss Confederation was much smaller. It
won its independence from the Hapsburg Emperor in 1499, and by 1513 numbered 13
core cantons with several other associate members. The Reformation movements in
Switzerland took place against the background of this hard-won independence, and a
capacity to unite despite cultural and linguistic differences.
When the outer, German-speaking canton of Zurich led the Reformation in 1522,
followed by Berne and Basle, the inner cantons, with their strongly Catholic loyalties,
formed an opposition group. It was clear that the Reformation threatened the unity and
political survival of the Confederation.
Confrontation between the Catholic and Protestant cantons (in 1529 and 1531) led to
peace settlements and agreements, including that of confessional parity. Thus, in the
interests of political survival, a major confessional conflict was avoided. In effect this
‘truce’ restricted the further religious expansion of either confession as well as the
further political expansion of the Confederation, since any new member would upset
the balance of power. The exception was Geneva, a French-speaking associate member
of the Confederation, where the coming of Calvin and the ‘refugee Reformation’ from
France (1536–41) was to prove the most successful of the Reform movements.
The mainline or ‘magisterial’ reformers were challenged by more radical reformers,
especially over the role of civic authority. We will consider the radicals considered here
briefly and in more depth in Chapter 5.
I have divided the material on the Reformation in Switzerland into four topics:
1. The Reformation in Zurich (with Zwingli) and in other cities 1518–31.
2. Characteristics of the early Swiss Reformed tradition.
3. Geneva, Calvin and the refugee Reformation 1536–64.
4. The spread of the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition.
The Reformation in Zurich (with Zwingli) and in

other cities 1518–31
That the Swiss Reformation took the form that it did was due largely to the influence of
Huldrych Zwingli (1483–1531).
Zwingli was ordained a Catholic priest in 1506 and was appointed people’s preacher in
the principal church in Zurich in 1518, where he remained until his death. Independently
of Luther, and influenced by humanism and local Swiss issues, he launched his
reforming ideas, against:
• indulgences
• the practice of fasting and abstinence from meat
• clerical celibacy
30
• the Mass
• the use of images.
His use of sermons and public debates in 1522–23 were decisive in helping to form
and communicate his ideas. For him, ‘reformation’ meant the present reform of the
community or congregation, rather than the future salvation of the individual. The
agents of reform were the magistrates or civic authorities.
By 1522 he had resigned his stipendiary post as priest and was appointed preacher
by the city council. The year 1525 saw a much milder version of the Peasants’ War in
Switzerland and the stirrings of Swiss Anabaptism in Zurich. In 1529, an attempt was
made by the Colloquy of Marburg to solve the differences between Luther and Zwingli,
especially over the Eucharist.
The Reformation in Zurich needed allies and had sympathisers, especially in St Gall,
Berne and Basle. This university town was a centre of humanism and home to Erasmus
for many years. Most of the clergy had done part of their studies there and the resultant
network of humanist friends provided one influential strand in the Reformation
movements.
Zwingli died at the battle of Kappel in 1531, which ended with a negotiated peace and
so also the first phase of reform in Switzerland.
Activity
You should aim to answer to following key questions:

• How far did events in Germany influence events in Zurich and the opposite?
• How did Zwingli’s reforms come to be accepted by so many citizens so quickly?
• Why was the matter of adult (re)baptism, advocated by the radicals, so threatening to
church and social order?
• Why was Zwingli opposed to the use of mercenaries, and why were the radicals
opposed to any form of military service?
Characteristics of the early Swiss reformed

tradition
This is a short, but necessary, topic for you to study. Early Swiss reformers had much
in common with Luther, and German-speaking Zurich greatly influenced the south-
German Reformation movements. However, there were marked differences, which later
developed into confessional differences, between the Lutheran and the Swiss Reformed
Churches. When you consider the essential reading, try to identify the distinctive
characteristics of the Swiss Reformers. These include:
• the stubborn independence of both the cantons and the communities that formed them
• their long-term ability to find a way of living with confessional disagreement
• the weakness of the Diet and the lack of strong central institutions
• the varying models of reform in towns and cities (which were small communities by
our standards)
• the importance of other magisterial reformers, such as Bullinger, Oecolampadius at
Basle; Bucer at Strasbourg
• the Swiss reformers’ reasons for thinking that Luther had not gone far enough in his
reforms
• why the revolutionary aims of the radical reformers were a particular threat to civic
order.
31
Geneva, Calvin and the refugee Reformation

1536–64
There is so much material on Calvin and the Calvinistic tradition that you must be
selective in your reading. Make sure you use documents when working on this section.
Read, especially, R.M. Kingdon ‘The Calvinist reformation in Geneva’ in Po-Chia Hsia
(2007) pp.90–103; Lindberg (1996) pp.249–73; Greengrass (1998) pp.171–85;
Johnston and Scribner (1993) pp.134–53. McGrath (1990) is an excellent overview
of the symbiotic relationship between Geneva and Calvin. Supplement this later with
Bouwsma (1988), MacCulloch, (2003) pp.237–52 and Collison (2003) pp.73–82.
First make sure you acquire an understanding of Geneva before Calvin’s arrival in 1536
and Calvin before his arrival in Geneva (see McGrath). Then acquire an overview of the
abortive attempt at reform in 1536, Calvin’s formative period in Strasbourg with Bucer
(1536–41) and his return to Geneva in 1541.
From this time until his death, Calvin and the civic authorities worked out ways
of collaborating (which had moments of acute difficulty, such as the public
excommunication and execution of Servetus). At the same time, and with civic consent,
Calvin set about his reform of the Church via the Ecclesiastical Ordinances (1541),
securing good church order and discipline.
This ‘godly community’ had to be provided with sound doctrine and patterns of
worship. This was done in the form of Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion,
which were revised several times. His theological Academy attracted many students
from abroad, not least John Knox from Scotland, who returned to promote Swiss
reforming ideas in their own countries. By the time of Calvin’s death in 1564, Geneva
had become a highly regarded centre of the Swiss Reformed tradition.
Activity
As you work through this section, ask yourself the following questions:
• How did Calvin persuade the civic authorities in Geneva that it was to their mutual
benefit to pursue the reforms he proposed?
• Can the highly disciplined approach of Calvin to church order be reconciled with
Luther’s understanding of the freedom of the Christian who lives by the gospel
message?
• Why did the notion of a ‘godly community’, and the use of the consistory, appeal to
so many?
• What were the distinctive ideas of Calvin’s theology (see McGrath, 1993; George,
1989 and Bagchi and Steinmetz 2004, pp.113–29)?
The spread of the reformed (Calvinist) tradition

Recommended reading
*Lindberg (1996) pp.275–98 (France) and pp.298–308 (Netherlands).
Greengrass (1998) pp.183–85.
Scribner et al. (1994). Read these three articles (with bibliographies):
• M. Greengrass ‘France’, pp.47–66
• W. Bergsma ‘The Low Countries’, pp.67–79
• J. Goodare ‘Scotland’, pp.95–110; MacCulloch (2003) pp.378 ff.
32
Further reading
Greengrass, M. The French Reformation. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1987) [ISBN 0631145168].
A useful pamphlet.
Calvin was himself a refugee from persecution in France and as a result, he incorporated
the theme of ‘exile’ into his theology. This was attractive to the many refugee groups
and congregations across Europe, exiled because of their Protestant beliefs. Calvin
took an interest in the survival and life of these communities (or ‘foyers’) in France,
Germany, the Netherlands and England, which were to become the first Reformed
or Calvinist churches in Europe outside Geneva (see Greengrass, 1998, pp.183–85).
As with Luther, the ‘reformed religion’ adopted by Calvin differed from the later
‘Calvinism’ of his successors.
Some syllabuses often devote a whole section to the Reformations in France, Scotland
and the Netherlands. Our present syllabus does not do so, but takes up the story of the
Reformation in these countries from the point where it becomes markedly involved
with the Reformed (Calvinistic) tradition. You could leave out this section, or you
could decide to specialise in one country: for example, the Huguenot/French Protestant
tradition, or the Presbyterian tradition in Scotland. Your recommended reading includes
plenty of material on both these countries as well as on the Netherlands.
What is essential is that you grasp the extraordinary attraction of Calvin’s Genevan
experiment in wider Europe, and the way its theological ideas (faith) and ecclesiastical
order (discipline) were replicated in other local communities that had very different
socio-political contexts. The Genevan Academy drew scholars from abroad, who went
home inspired to carry out reforms on Genevan lines.
Ultimately, when Calvinism was transported to the new world, it became the largest of
the reform traditions, far more widespread and influential than the Lutheran tradition.
However, be wary of giving too much attention to Calvin/Geneva in its sixteenth-
century context and neglecting other aspects of reform.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this chapter and after doing the recommended reading, you should be able
to:
• outline the context of the Swiss Reformation, which shaped its very special
characteristics
• discuss the importance of Zwingli’s leadership in the first phase of the Swiss
Reformation
• explain how and why Zwingli’s reforming ideas differed from – and went beyond –
those of Luther
• state why Luther and Zwingli disagreed over their respective beliefs in the Eucharist
• discuss why the revolutionary ideals of the radicals were seen as subversive of civic
order
• outline why Calvin, a Frenchman, came to be accepted by the civic authorities of
Geneva
• discuss the balance struck between church order and civic authority in Geneva
• outline the importance of the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of 1541
• explain the attraction of Calvin’s articulation of Faith (system of theology) and order
(system of Church discipline).
33

Answer either:
1a. ‘The protracted historical evolution of the Swiss Confederation provides many
essential clues to explain the course of the Reformation in Switzerland’ (Gordon).
Discuss.
or
1b. What were the origins and the distinctive characteristics of the Swiss Reformation
movements between 1519 and 1531?
2. Has the importance and influence of Zwingli been overshadowed by Luther and
Calvin?
3. ‘To speak of Calvin is to speak of Geneva. Calvin would shape and be shaped by
Geneva. The interaction of this man and his adopted city is one of the great symbiotic
relationships of history’ (A. McGrath). Discuss.
4. Why was Calvin’s Genevan experiment so attractive and so easily replicated
throughout Europe?
5. Calvin’s Geneva has been referred to as the ‘New Rome of the Reformation’. Is this
an implied criticism, a compliment or a reasonable comparison to make?
34

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Reformation and

A. Murphy and O. Rafferty

Published by: University of London Press

Chapter 5: The radical Reformation or the radicals of the Reformation.....................35

Chapter 9: Confessionalisation and social legacies of the Reformations......................57

What is church history?

Respect for other traditions

Why study the period 1450–1600?

How to start: study strategies

A warning about reading material

Essential and further recommended reading

Key introductory textbooks

*Baghi, D. and D.C. Steinmetz The Cambridge companion to Reformation theology.

*Dixon, C. Scott The Reformation in Germany. (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002)

Late medieval religion and society

The pre-Reformation church: a general overview

Church government, the Renaissance papacy and

The national level

The Renaissance papacy (c.1450–1527)

The Renaissance papacy (c.1443–1527) became the particular target of Protestant

Movements of reform, especially Christian

Elements of popular belief and devotional practice

How Christian was late medieval Europe?

Sample examination questions

The German Reformation

Cameron, E. The European Reformation. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991) [ISBN

Introduction: Germany on the eve of the

Luther’s Reformation (with special reference to

• the years in which Luther gradually shaped his Reformation decisions

Ask yourself the following questions:

The German Peasants’ War and the rural

Initially, Luther’s message was attractive to many because:

The urban Reformation

Self-governing towns and cities

The princely Reformation

Use these questions to guide your reading:

Sample examination questions

The Swiss Reformation

Geneva and Calvin

Prestwich, M. (ed.) International Calvinism 1541–1715. (Oxford: Oxford University Press,

The Reformation in Zurich (with Zwingli) and in

You should aim to answer to following key questions:

Characteristics of the early Swiss reformed

Geneva, Calvin and the refugee Reformation

The spread of the reformed (Calvinist) tradition

Sample examination questions

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