Daily Life During The Reformation

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Authors: James M. Anderson

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DAILY LIFE DURING
THE REFORMATION

 

JAMES M. ANDERSON

 

 

CONTENTS

 

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chronology of Events

Historical Overview of the Reformation

The Setting

The Catholic Church

Witches, Magic, and Superstition

Spread of the Reformation

Holy Roman Empire

England and Scotland

France

Netherlands

The Family

Leisure and the Arts

Clothing and Fashion

The Military

Medicine

Education

Food

Travel

Thirty Years’ War

Catholic
Perspective and Counter-Reformation

Glossary

 

 

PREFACE

 

Dramatic
changes and profound upheaval affecting all aspects of society took place in
Europe during the sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth centuries. This
was the time of the transition from medieval society to early modern times—a
period of discovery and colonization of new continents, new trade routes, wars
with the Turkish Empire, and internal and territorial conflicts. It was also an
age of forced migration, rampaging mercenary armies, the flowering of the
Renaissance and of Humanistic philosophy. Printing presses disseminated new
ideas and partisan propaganda to all levels of society along with the
shattering social discord of the Protestant Reformation.

Issuing forth in Germany, the Reformation spread throughout
Europe as men and women were affected in their relationships with one another
and their perception of God, religion, and nature.

Impacted to a greater or lesser degree by this movement,
all the countries of Europe underwent turbulent times. Least affected were
Spain and Italy—remaining staunchly Catholic—while most Germanic- speaking
regions (Germany, Holland, England, and Scandinavia) opted for the Reformed
Church. Still others, such as France, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech lands,
and Poland, went through periods of turmoil, some more than others, before the
religious issues were settled.

During the centuries leading up to the Protestant
Reformation there were unsuccessful attempts to extirpate Church corruption and
to restore the doctrines and practices to conform to the Bible. This inspired
further efforts that called for a return to a simple, unpretentious, purer
religious body as it had been in the beginning. These reformers and their
followers were devout Catholics who found fault with what they considered the
specious doctrines and malpractices within the Roman Church, and with the
wealth, arrogance, and vanity rampant among high-ranking clerics.

Sixteenth-century reformers asserted that the way to serve
God was through freedom from the unnatural limitations imposed by the
asceticism and restraints of the Catholic Church. This philosophy, splitting
the Church, caused many to reject the ancient and medieval conceptions of
Christianity.

Those who left the Catholic Church came to be known as
Protestants (protesters), a term that went under many names: Huguenots in
France, Lutherans in Germany, Calvinists in Switzerland, Puritans in England,
and Anabaptists in various other places. This movement, a schism in the
Catholic church, fractured Christian unity, inflaming widespread conflicts for
over a century.

Religious intolerance accompanied the split in western
Christendom, justified by both Catholic and Protestant supporters. Protestant
leaders claimed they were restoring the pure faith as found in the Bible. For
them, the pope was the devil incarnate. For Catholics, reformers were heretics
inspired by satanic forces.

Economic, social, and political change, along with bloody
religious confrontations, endured until the Peace of Westphalia at the
conclusion of the Thirty Years, War in 1648.

The nineteen chapters that follow present an account of the
religious furor that engulfed Europe. While numerous books deal with the
Reformation, few focus on the circumstances of ordinary people caught up in the
often bitter disputes and angry confusion that ruled their actions. Included
for further reference are a chronological list of events, a glossary of terms
and three appendices comprising the holy sacraments that provoked major
contention within the Catholic Church, as well as a list of monarchs and popes
mentioned in the book along with their dates, and the text of a document
embodying the hopes and aspirations of the German peasants.

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 

I would like to acknowledge the following
friends, family, and colleagues for their expertise, assistance, and
hospitality.

Dorothy Beaver, McGill-Queens University
Press

Anja Brandenburger

Richard Dalon

Dr. Patrick Francois University of British
Columbia

Dr. and Mrs. Stanley Goldstein, Sion,
Switzerland

Dr. Isabelle Graessle, Director, Museum of
the Reformation, Geneva

Dr. and Mrs. Risto Harma

Barbara Hodgins

Dr. Ulla Johansen

Katherine Kalsbeek, Rare Books Library,
University of British

Columbia

Jill and Paul Killinger

Dr. and Mme Jean Larroque, Anglet

Fernando and Maribel Lopez

Dr. Bernard Mohan

Snra. Concepcion Ocampos Fuentes, Prado
Museum, Madrid

Snra. Isabel Ortega, Biblioteca Nacional,
Madrid

Joanne Pisano, McGill-Queens University
Press

Michel Queyrane

Dr. Richard Ring

Dr. Rodney Roche

Dr. Jurgen Untermann

Jennifer Wentworth, University of Toronto,
Reference Section, Robarts Library

Special thanks go to my daughter, Dr. Siwan Anderson, of
the University of British Columbia, for much time spent on bringing her father
up-to-date with Internet usage.

The insight of my editor, Mariah Gumpert, as to what makes
a good, readable text, has been invaluable. My heartfelt thanks go to her.

Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to Sherry Anderson for
untold hours spent working side by side with me on this manuscript. Her
persistent questioning was not always appreciated, but usually justified.

 

 

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

 

1483

Birth of Martin
Luther, Eisleben, Saxony.

1498

Savonarola burned
at the stake in Florence, for heresy.

1505

Luther enters
Augustinian monastery in Erfurt.

1509

John Calvin is
born in Picardy. Henry VIII becomes king of England.

1512

Luther awarded
doctorate degree at Wittenberg.

1515

Francois I
becomes king of France.

1517

Luther nails his
95 theses on the church door at Wittenberg.

1519

Ulrich Zwingli
initiates the Swiss Reformation in Zurich. Charles I of Spain succeeds
Maximilian as Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V.

1520

Papal bull gives
Luther 60 days to recant. Luther burns papal bull.

1521

Diet of Worms.
Luther is excommunicated by the pope and made an outlaw by Charles V. War
breaks out between Charles V and Francois I. First Protestant Communion
celebrated at Wittenberg.

1522

Luther introduces
German liturgy in Wittenberg.

1524

Erasmus publishes
On Freedom of the Will. Beginning of Peasant Wars in southern Germany.
Failure of Nurrnberg Diet to condemn Luther as ordered in Edict of Worms.

1525

Start of
Anabaptist movement in Zurich. Luther marries Katherine von Bora. Francois I
defeated by Charles V at Pavia. Death of Elector Frederick the Wise. Council
of Nurrnberg accepted Luther’s reforms. Scottish parliament bans Lutheranism.

1526

Tyndale completes
printing of the English version of the New Testament. Burning of Lutheran
books presided over by Cardinal Wolsey. First Diet of Speyer.

1527

Second war
between Charles V and Francois I.

Imperial troops
sack Rome. Zwingli’s views on the Lord’s Supper challenged by Luther. First
Protestant university founded in Marburg. Paracelsus lectures on his new
medicine at the University of Basel.

1528

Reformation
established in Bern.

1529

Reformation
officially established in Basel. Luther’s followers are first called
Protestants at second Diet of Speyer and death penalty for Anabaptists is
restored. Tyrolean Anabaptists flee homeland for Moravia. Turks besiege
Vienna.

1530

Lutheran doctrine
(the Augsburg Confession) set out by Melanchthon at Diet of Augsburg, called
by Charles V. First translation of Bible into French by Jacques Lefevre
d’Etaples. Protestants form Schmalkaldic League against Emperor Charles V.

1531

Zwingli killed in
battle against the Catholic League.

1532

Resignation of
Sir Thomas More over Henry VIII’s divorce.

1532

English clergy
bow to the will of Henry VIII. Calvin begins Protestant movement in France.
Religious toleration guaranteed by Diet of Regensburg and Peace of Nurrnberg.

1533

Thomas Cranmer
becomes Archbishop of Canterbury and ends celibacy among Anglican clerics.
Ulrich von Hutter joins Moravian church that becomes known as Hutterites.
Henry VIII is excommunicated by Pope Clement VII for marrying Anne Boleyn.

1534

Act of Supremacy:
Henry VIII declared supreme head of Church of England. Protestant placard
campaign in Paris. Treaty of Augsburg allies Francois I with the Protestant
princes against Charles V. Luther completes translation of Bible into German.
Ignatius Loyola founds Society of Jesus. Strassburg expels Anabaptists.

1535

Tyndale arrested
in Antwerp and imprisoned near Brussels. Sections of the Old Testament not
completed by Tyndale translated by Myles Coverdale who also publishes the
first entire Bible in English—the Coverdale Bible. Thomas More beheaded.
Uprising of Anabaptists at Munster squashed. Emperor forms Catholic Defense
League.

1536

Anne Boleyn
beheaded. Dissolution of English monasteries begins. William Tyndale is
martyred for heresy.

1537

Denmark and
Norway become Lutheran. Erasmus dies. Birth of Edward VI.

1538

French Protestant
church founded at Strassburg.

1540

Pope recognizes
Society of Jesus (Jesuits).

1541

John Calvin
establishes theocracy in Geneva.

1542

Inquisition in Rome
initiated by Pope Paul III.

1543

Francois I
attacks Charles V in Netherlands and northern Spain. Luther writes On the
Jews and Their Lies. Copernicus proves the earth revolves around the sun.

1544

Francois I
promises his support to Charles V against the Protestants.

1545

Council of Trent
to reform Catholic Church, begins. Protestants massacred in 22 French towns.

1546

Death of Martin
Luther.

1547

Henry VIII dies
and is succeeded by Edward VI. Henri II becomes king of France. Schmalkaldic
League defeated by imperial forces.

1548

First Huguenot
congregation established at Canterbury.

1549

In England
uniform Protestant service introduced using the Book of Common Prayer.
Renewed war between England and France.

1552

Henri II of
France begins war again against Charles V.

1553

Death of Edward
VI. Mary becomes Queen of England and restores the Catholic faith. Execution
in Geneva of Servetus, Spanish theologian and physician, as a heretic.

1554

Cardinal Pole
(Mary’s Archbishop of Canterbury) attempts to reestablish monasticism in
England but fails when most monks, nuns, and friars reject the practice of
celibacy.

1555

Charles V signs
Peace of Augsburg that says each German prince may determine the religious
affiliation of the territory he governs. First Protestant Church in Paris.

1556

Charles V
abdicates and his brother Ferdinand becomes Holy Roman Emperor. Habsburgs
split into Austrian and Spanish branches. Felipe II succeeds to throne of
Spain and takes control of Flanders. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer is put to
death by burning.

1557

Geneva New
Testament published.

1558

Accession of
Elizabeth I who restores Protestantism in England.

1559

Holding of first
national synod of the Reformed Churches of France. Accession of Francois II
of France. John Knox leads Reformation in Scotland.

1560

Conspiracy of
Amboise. Failure of Protestants’ attempt to kidnap the king of France.
Publication of Geneva Bible (both Old and New Testaments). First Bible
printed with verse divisions.

1561

Property of
anyone in France who attends any public religious service other than Roman
Catholic will now be seized and the owner imprisoned, as ordered by Royal
Edict. Mary Stuart becomes queen of Scotland.

1562

New religion
recognized as legal in France by Royal edict of Saint-Germain. Massacre of
Protestants at Vassy by the duke of Guise sparks off first civil war in
France that would continue intermittently until 1598.

1563

Assassination of
the duke of Guise. Establishment of the Anglican Church completed by the
Thirty-Nine Articles.

1564

John Calvin dies
in Geneva. The term “Puritan” first used.

1566

War between Spain
and Protestant United Provinces.

1567

Mary, Queen of
Scots forced to abdicate and thrown into prison. Spanish army under the duke
of Alba moves into Netherlands to suppress revolt.

1568

Escape to England
of Mary, Queen of Scots who then is imprisoned by Elizabeth I. War between
Netherlands and Spain begins.

1569

Death of Conde. Peace
of St. Germain terminates third war of religion in France.

1572

Henri of Navarre
and Marguerite of Valois married. St. Bartholomew’s Day. Admiral Coligny
murdered. Fourth Civil War begins in France.

1574

Death of Charles
IX. Accession of Henri III. Truce with Huguenots in France.

1576

Formation of the
Catholic League under the Guise faction. Fifth French civil war ended.
Spanish sack Antwerp.

1577

Alliance between
England and Netherlands.

1579

Southern
Netherlands united by Union of Utrecht under duke of Parma, governor for
Felipe II.

1581

Oath of
Abjuration: Independence from Spain proclaimed by the United Provinces.

1584

Assassination of
William of Orange. Death of duke of Anjou. Henri of Navarre now heir to the
French throne. Cardinal de Bourbon proclaimed heir apparent by duke of Guise.
The Guises and Felipe II sign Treaty of Joinville.

1585

Henri III
capitulates to the Catholic League and the Guises. Treaty of Nemours. Start
of the War of the Three Henri’s. England sends aid to Netherlands rebelling
against Spanish rule; Commencement of Anglo-Spanish War.

1586

Mary, Queen of
Scots involved in conspiracy against Elizabeth I.

1587

Mary, Queen of
Scots executed.

1588

Day of the
Barricades. Spanish Armada attacks England. Both the duke of Guise and the
Cardinal of Guise killed at Blois.

1589

Henri III slain.
Henri of Navarre becomes Henri IV of France. Death of Catherine de Medici.

1590

Battle of Ivry.
Siege of Paris.

1593

Henri IV becomes
Roman Catholic.

1594

Crowning of Henri
IV at Chartres.

1595

France declares
war on Spain.

1598

Peace of Vervins.
Death of Felipe II. French Protestants awarded civil and religious freedom by
Edict of Nantes. End of Franco-Spanish War.

1601

Elizabethan Poor
Law orders the parishes to provide for the needy.

1604

James I outlaws
Jesuits; peace made between England and Spain.

1607

Proposals for
confederation between England and Scotland rejected by Parliament.

1608

Johannes
Lippershey invents telescope.

1609

Kepler
Astronomica Nova. Twelve Years’ Truce in the ’Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648)
agreed to by The Netherlands and Spain.

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