In 1517 a monk named Martin
Luther from
Wittenburg in Germany began
to criticise the power and corruption of the Pope and the Catholic
church. He attacked the Pope for pardoning people's sins in exchange
for money. Luther thought that it was immoral for the Pope's agents
(pardoners) to travel all over Europe selling these letters of indulgence.
Luther also criticised
the Pope for not allowing the Bible to be translated into other languages.
Luther argued that as the vast majority of people could not read Latin
they had to rely on what the priest told them was in the Bible.
Luther was very angry that
Pope Leo X was raising money in this way.
He believed that it was wrong for people to be able to buy forgiveness
for sins they had committed. Luther decided to write down his views
on the subject. He then nailed the paper to the door of the church
in Wittenberg.
Luther's views on the
Church were not new. In the 14th century, John
Wycliffe and
his Lollard followers had said similar things in England. However,
with the help of the English monarchy, the Lollard movement had been
crushed by the Pope and the Catholic church.
Pope Leo
X now ordered Luther to stop stirring up trouble. This attempt
to keep Luther quiet had the opposite effect. Luther now started issuing
statements about other issues. For example, at that time people believed
that the Pope was infallible (incapable of error). However, Luther
was convinced that Leo X was wrong to sell indulgences. Therefore,
Luther argued, the Pope could not possibly be infallible.
If the Pope could be wrong
about indulgences, Luther argued he could be wrong about other things.
For hundreds of years popes had only allowed bibles to be printed
in Latin or Greek. Luther pointed out that only a minority of people
in Germany could read these languages. Therefore to find out what
was in the Bible they had to rely on priests who could read and speak
Latin or Greek. Luther, on the other hand, wanted people to read the
Bible for themselves.
In 1521 orders were given
for Luther to be arrested. However, Luther had many supporters in
Germany and some of these people helped to save his life by hiding
him in a castle. While Luther was there he translated the Bible into
German. It was not long
before copies of Luther's Bible were being
read by people all over Germany.
Martin
Luther was more
successful than John
Wycliffe in gaining
support for reforming the Church. His supporters, because they were
protesting against the way
the Church was governed, became known as Protestants. Luther's ideas
also spread to other countries. Gradually large numbers of people
living in England, the Netherlands (today called Holland and Belgium),
Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries began to call themselves
Lutherans or Protestants. Protestants were no longer willing to accept
the authority of the Pope. They argued that people needed to read
the Bible if they wanted to find out how God wanted them to behave.
Henry
VIII initially disagreed with Luther's views. Henry feared that
criticism of the Church might encourage people to criticise the monarchy.
At the time, it was believed that Wycliffe's attacks on the Pope had
been partly responsible for the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. In
1521 Henry wrote a book attacking Luther's views on the Church. The
Pope was so pleased with Henry's loyalty that he gave him the title
'Defender of the Faith'.
Henry's opinions about
the power of the Pope changed after he was denied permission to divorce
Catherine of Aragon. In 1534, Henry made
himself head of the Church in England in place of the Pope. Although
Henry continued to persecute English Protestants, he was now also
hostile to those who remained loyal to the Pope.
Henry
VIII was particularly worried that he did not have the full support
of the monks and nuns in England. In 1535 Henry began arresting monks
for high treason. As a warning to others, five monks were publicly
tortured before being beheaded. Later that year others were executed,
together with several nuns.
In 1536 Henry gave permission
for an English translation of the Bible to be published in
England. He also ordered
that a copy of this Bible should be placed in every church in his
kingdom. Henry still considered himself to be a Catholic, but by taking
this action, he began to move the Church in the direction of Protestantism.
(1)
Law passed by Parliament (1535)
If any person... by writing, printing, preaching, or teaching....
maintain or defend the power of the Bishop of Rome, by some called
the Pope... he shall be punished.
(2)
R. Holinshed, Chronicles (1587)
On the nineteenth June, 1535...three monks were hanged, drawn
and quartered... for denying the King to be Head of the Church.
(3)
Thomas Muntzer was a German supporter of Martin Luther. In 1525 he
led a Peasants' Revolt in Saxony. Before he was executed, Muntzer
explained his religious views.
The worst
of all the ills on Earth is that no-one wants to concern themselves
with the poor. The rich do as they wish... Our lords and princes encourage
theft and robbery. The fish in the water, the birds in the sky, and
the vegetation on the land all have to be theirs... They... preach
to the poor: "God has commanded that thou shalt not steal".
Thus, when the poor man takes even the slightest thing he has to hang.
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