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The Protestant movement successfully challenged the Roman Catholic Church and triggered changes in all aspects of European life. The weakness of the Church in the late Middle Ages had been amply demonstrated through corrupt popes, schisms, and unresolved doctrinal issues, which made Europeans receptive to a sweeping assault upon religious tradition. In 1517, Martin Luther’s ninety-five theses argued against the sale of indulgences, but he soon moved well past that issue and adopted positions condemned by the Council of Constance a century before. The unrelated controversy over the election of a Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 drew attention away from Luther, and allowed Protestantism to gain an entrenched position within the Holy Roman Empire. Luther was condemned by the Imperial Diet at Worms in 1521, but other reformers immediately arose and substituted their particular interpretations of Scripture for those of Rome. The second half of the sixteenth century was dominated by the religious reformer of Geneva, John Calvin, whose doctrines spread throughout Europe. Secular rulers anxious to gain advantage through this turn of events were soon involved in doctrinal disputes that spilled over onto the battlefield. The Reformation in England was related to the complicated personality and succession problems of Henry VIII. From 1527 to the Act of Supremacy in l534, and through the dissolutions of the monasteries beginning in 1536, England moved into the Protestant fold, which Queen Elizabeth’s 45-year reign made permanent. Despite such enormous setbacks, the Catholic Church responded effectively to the Protestant challenge by encouraging the activities of newly formed Counter-Reformation religious orders and a major church council at Trent. Changes at every level of European life followed in the wake of the religious revolution. Protestants rejected the universalism of the Catholic Church in favor of a more secular individualism, and in doing so influenced the nature of Western life ever since. The doctrines espoused in this religious upheaval caused fundamental changes in the Western view of life, in the development of society, in marriage patterns, religious life, education, and in the position of women in society. Literature of the period reflected the struggle between conflicting religious ideologies. Two of the leading authors of the era, Cervantes and Shakespeare, wrote out of the Catholic and Protestant traditions, respectively. After reading this chapter you should understand:
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