HST 122 -- Catholic Reformation,
Counter-Reformation
and Religious Wars
I. The Catholic Reformation
-- Case Study: Ignatius Loyola and the Jesuits
1. Spanish noble; trained for a life of military service
2. injured in battle; while recovering, read religious works
3. then decided to turn to a life of spirituality
4. studied theology; went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem
5. became a priest
6. formed a brotherhood of priests
- took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience
7. in 1540, the pope approved this brotherhood as a new religious
order -- the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits
8. Loyola brought his military upbringing into his religious life
9. Jesuits were soldiers of the church
10. main goal: confront non-believers and convert them
11. confronted Protestants in Europe and non-Christians
across the globe
12. the Jesuits also represent the beginnings of the Counter Reformation
- one of the first aggressive responses to Protestantism
Discussion of DOC 3: Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises
- What exactly is Ignatius Loyola saying in each of these rules?
- Which aspects of Luther's ideas is he responding to?
II. The Counter-Reformation
-- Council of Trent (1545-63) [Map]
1. attended mainly by Italians (who supported the pope)
2. supported certain reforms
- e.g., set up rules for dealing with priests so that
they would be better educated and better preachers
3. set up the Index; listed and banned all heretical books
4. said the Church was right and Protestants were wrong
- no compromise; war if necessary
III. Europe in the mid 16th century [MAP] [MAP]
A. Catholic: Spain, Italy, Ireland
Lutheran: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, parts of Germany
Calvinist: Scotland, part of Low Countries, parts of France
Anglican: England
B. Peace of Augsburg (1555)
1. formally acknowledged the Lutheran church in the
Holy Roman Empire
2. individual princes could choose the religion of their states
IV. The French Wars of Religion
A. spread of Calvinism
B. French monarchs during the 16th century (Genealogy)
Francis I (1515-47)
Henry II (1547-59), m. Catherine de Medici
Francis II (1559-60), m. Mary, Queen of Scots
Charles IX (1560-74), only 10 years old in 1560
Henry III (1574-89)
Henry IV (1589-1610), first Bourbon King
C. Guise family
1. staunchly Catholic family
2. came to power during reign of Francis II (influence of
Mary, Queen of Scots) [Marie de Guise]
3. immediately set out to squash the Protestants
4. captured the Protestant Duc de Condé and
sentenced him to death
5. fell from power when Francis II died
D. the rule of Catherine de Medici
1. Charles IX only 10 years old when he took the throne
2. Catherine becomes regent of France
3. she wanted to calm the situation, but it was too late
4. Duc de Condé was freed; he and other Protestants began
forming armies; so did the Catholics
5. civil war broke out in 1562
6. Duc de Guise murdered by a Protestant fanatic in 1563
- this assured more war
7. Catherine arranged marriage of her Catholic daughter
to the Protestant Henry of Navarre (Paris, 1572) [Map]
8. Catholics didn't want a truce
9. St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (24 August 1572)
- Catholics killed about 3000 Protestants in Paris
and about 10,000 more in the countryside
10. Henry of Navarre and other Protestant leaders
managed to escape; used the massacre as a rallying cry
for the Protestants to fight on
E. Henry IV (French monarchy family tree)
1. Catherine de Medici and last living son die in 1589
2. Henry of Navarre next in line; but he's Protestant
3. Catholics won't take a Protestant king
4. "Paris is worth a mass"; Henry converts to Catholicism
and becomes King Henry IV
5. issues the Edict of Nantes (1598) = toleration for
Protestants
V. The Thirty Years' War (1618-48)
A. Ferdinand II -- new Holy Roman Emperor
1. devout Catholic
2. determined to get rid of Protestantism
3. began to rescind toleration of Protestants
4. Bohemia; mostly Protestant; very unhappy [MAP]
5. Defenestration of Prague (1618); beginning of 30 Years' War
B. Stage one
1. huge imperial force assembled-- about 125,000 troops
2. Bohemia crushed
3. Protestants banded together, but couldn't defeat such
a huge force
4. emperor had complete control
5. he issued the Edict of Restitution (1629)
a. outlawed Calvinism
b. Lutheran princes had to return Church lands
C. Stage two
1. Protestants look to Sweden for help
2. while Gustavus Adolphus is gathering troops, imperial
forces attacked Magdeburg; killed perhaps 30,000
3. this forced thousands of Protestants to join Gustavus Adolphus
4. he assembled a force of 140,000 troops
5. immediately defeated the imperial forces in a series
of battles
6. Gustavus Adolphus killed in battle; his army stayed
7. by 1635, there is a stalemate
8. Germany had been decimated; 1/3 of population killed
D. Stage three
1. France and Spain kept fighting for another 13 years
2. by 1648, everyone is exhausted from fighting
3. Peace of Westphalia (1648)
- nothing had really changed; still plenty of Protestants