it's autumn 1517 to the great consternation of his bishop and the pope martin luther the young lecturer of the university of wittenberg publishes his 95-point thesis the disputation on the power and efficacy of indulgences is reprinted in thousands of copies and reaches all the major european countries within a year but how did we get here in 1517 the catholic church is still in full control catholic means universal a likely title considering the church's monopoly over the minds and souls of the western world which is certainly universal or is it by the late middle ages the church was in a crisis popes the figureheads of the catholic church were figureheads of corruption they were often no better than worldly princes only caring about wealth and power not shying away from war treachery and torture popes often kept concubines fathered children and some were even open homosexuals cardinals bishops and archbishops were not much better being almost exclusively aristocrats they shared the same outlook as the popes their offices were usually the results of bribes rather than competence or devotion in many cases familial ties played a role the sons of popes becoming cardinals and the sons of cardinals becoming bishops if clever enough one such baron of the church could amass as many officers as he wanted serving as bishop of two three or even more diocese and by service they often meant nothing more than collecting rent from the many offices that they held actual work was done by the humble parish priest or monk most of these men were of peasant stock just as poor and illiterate as their congregation like their superiors they frequently kept concubines fathered children and engaged in petty corruption mass was often nothing more than the priest reciting verses in broken latin that neither he nor his congregation understood much of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century was marked by the avignon captivity of the popes and later the great western schism during this time there were popes and there are anti-popes both claiming sovereignty over the church later during the concilia movement popes battled a plethora of religious councils for supremacy of the church by the time the popes won the credibility and the prestige of the church were long gone with such turmoil in the catholic church it's no wonder that reformation was a centuries-long desire in the late 12th century a reforming heresy arose in lyon the wildensians advocated for a humbler and poorer church questioning many dogmas and religious customs such as the purgatory saints pilgrimages and transubstantiation the church mercilessly persecuted the waldensians and the creed didn't spread very far from its place of origin by 1517 there are only isolated pockets of worshippers another sect the lollards emerged in the late 14th century in england the lollards were the followers of john wycliffe an oxford scholar who translated the bible into english the catholic church had been using the latin bible since the 4th century however a few people in england understood latin wycliffe believed that the prime authority in religious matters should be the bible based on this the lollards condemned the pomp and ceremony as well as the worldliness and corruption of the church similarly to the waldensians they did not believe in transubstantiation or the benefices of saints and pilgrimages initially some members of the nobility were backing the lollards to oppose the king however after the peasant revolt of 1381 that was allegedly inspired by the lollards they were declared heretics and had been persecuted ever since lola tree also didn't spread very far neither did it enjoy a large following the first reforming heresy to succeed was that of the hussites jan house director of the university of prague started preaching in the defense of wycliffe's ideas in 1412 he openly defied the pope over the selling of indulgences in 1414 house was lured to the council of constance to dispute his ideas with the church's representatives in spite of having received safe conduct he was tried as a heretic and burned at the stake his followers quickly organized themselves and vowed to defy the pope when the king of bohemia died and sigismund of luxembourg the king's brother claimed the throne the czech nobility adopted hussite beliefs and turned against him at the urging of the pope europe's monarchs launched five crusades against the hussites all unsuccessful fighting lasted from 1419 to 1434 with the compacts of basil ultar quests the moderate majority of the hussites reached compromise with the catholic church allowing for a moderately reformed czech national church taborites the more radical arm of the hussites lost all power and their members had to go into hiding the renaissance and humanism were the intellectual driving forces behind these refamist movements humanists believe in studying and attempting to emulate the classics of antiquity while italian humanists mostly concern themselves with worldly matters their northern counterparts focus their attention on the most popular classic of the day the bible humanists are captivated by the apostolic church of the early christians but its modesty and piety that stands in stark contrast with the corruption of the 16th century church by careful reform and education the humanists intend to reform the church from within to this end in 1516 erasmus of rotterdam the leading northern humanist translates the new testament from its original greek into latin at first the bible had been translated into vulgate latin in the 4th century this was copied by hand by generations of monks many passages being added others being omitted now with erasmus translation there is finally a standard bible and this time instead of being laboriously copied by monks it is disseminated all throughout europe in printed form in conjunction with humanism capitalism is taking off in northern europe urbanization is the order of the day and with urbanization and printing comes increased literacy not only for the middle classes but also for some members of the urban proletariat and even the peasantry universities spring up left and right from paris to krakow humanist take up increasingly important roles at these universities educating new generations of humanists and reformers in spite of the continuous wars and the church's corruption or perhaps because of it popular versions of piety are more fashionable than ever saints and pilgrimages and popular devotions to mary into the 14 stages of the cross are all the rage all across europe and particularly in the low countries lay people set up religious fraternities they live piously like monks without being ordained themselves they preach and teach doing the church's job but without being in the church one could almost think that the catholic church and its services are not needed anymore this is the world luther was born into in 1483. luther turns out to be a bright young man therefore his middle class parents send him to law school where luther receives a humanist education one fine day while walking home from university luther is almost struck by lightning he interprets this as a message from god and to the consternation of his father decides to become a monk in his novice year he is wracked by doubts about his salvation and becomes profoundly depressed getting to heaven is not a simple thing according to the catholic church first of all one needs to have faith in god second he has to do good works doing good works means doing good deeds living like a pious christian praying and being charitable luther does good works to the extreme and gets even more depressed johann von staupitz his superior convinces him that salvation comes from faith alone at this realization luther snaps out of his depression becomes well adjusted to monkish life later he becomes a lecturer at the newly founded university of wittenberg that is run by his religious order the augustines here he develops his theory of predestination that is based on the letters of paul according to luther's interpretation of paul salvation can only be achieved by faith human effort and free will being completely excluded however if one is saved one will automatically be inclined to do good works therefore good works are the result of salvation not the cause luther begins to teach his theory at wittenberg however he fails to attract significant attention since such theories are quite common nowadays the great sale of indulgences of 1517 will change everything indulgences are a key component in the absolution of sin according to the catholic church to be absolved from sin one has to complete three steps first one has to confess his sin second he has to be sorry and third he has to do penance completing all the steps is very important because otherwise one would end up in purgatory a place almost as bad as hell doing penance in general means doing good works however if your sin is too great or you're just lazy there's a shortcut indulgences are special documents dispensed by the pope which can be used to replace good works their power is derived from the treasure house of merit the treasure house of merit is the collection of all the merit of jesus christ and of the early christians the pope as the head of the catholic church holds the key to this endless amount of merit indulgences have been around for centuries however as the purchasing power of the population had grown so grew the scope and power of indulgences as it happened albrecht of brandenburg the archbishop of magdeburg luther superior had recently obtained another archbishop rick that of the electorate of mainz to pay the bribes that are necessary to buy such a position albrecht took up loans from the footers now he is penniless and unable to pay his debt he asks the pope for a loan however leo proposes something even better he will organize a massive sale of indulgences he will keep half the profit and use it to rebuild saint peter's basilica and albrecht will get the other half to repay his debt the best market for this great sale is germany and the pope sends his best salesman to complete the job johann tetzel bursts on the indulgence market like a storm he claims indulgences sold by him can be used to atone for future sins or for the sins of the deceased these claims are unheard of as indulgences are only supposed to be valid in the here and now for sins already committed and only for those living not for the dead however as long as there is a market for them tetzel is there to satisfy the demand luther takes this for what it is not simply a scam but a grave endangerment of people's souls he formulates his grievances in the 95 point thesis not only denouncing the sale of indulgences but also questioning the pope's right to the treasure house of merit on october 31st 1517 luther sends his disputation to his superior albrecht of brandenburg albrecht immediately sees a problem with it and forwards a copy to the pope leo the tenth is very displeased what is to come if luther questions his right to the treasure house of merit papal power will again be eroded leo must prevent this at all costs his answer is blunt and unprecedented he decrees that the pope is infallible and also that the pope is the highest authority in the church even surpassing the bible as for luther in 1518 the pope dispatches his best theologian to try to convince him of his errors and determine him to recant luther remains recalcitrant and insists he is right about indulgences in 1519 the pope deploys the hardliner johann eck to debate luther in leipzig ekk is determined to incriminate luther so during the three-day public debate he relentlessly questions him on papal superiority by the end he backs luther into a corner luther makes declarations that may well be interpreted as challenging the power of the pope and of the religious councils ek declares luther to be a heretic and a hussite and runs back to the pope with the evidence the pope issues an edict calling on luther to recant his theoretical views within 60 days or else be excommunicated luther will do no such thing he takes the papal bull and publicly burns it thus luther officially becomes a heretic on the 3rd of january 1521. luther has nothing to lose now so he concludes that as long as he is a heretic he might as well formulate his heresy to this end he writes a series of books outlining his views on religion luther reaffirms his belief that salvation can only be achieved through faith in the humanist tradition he denies transubstantiation transubstantiation refers to the miracle of the mass when according to the catholic church christ's body and blood turns into bread and wine luther believes in consubstantiation meaning christ's body and blood is present during the mass but it does not turn into bread and wine from this luther deduces that clergy have no divine powers therefore they should also not have special status within society instead of a rigid church hierarchy luther believes in the priesthood of all believers he insists that everyone should read and interpret the bible not just the priests most importantly he states that the bible and not the pope is the supreme authority in religion by now luther's works are widely circulated with every major town having a printing press books are usually reprinted this allows printed material to spread like wildfire after the leipzig debate luther's ideas began to garner nationwide fame to stop this once and for all luther is summoned to the imperial diet of 1521 to be held at firms with the newly crowned emperor charles v and all the princes of the realm in attendance to ensure he gets a fair hearing and doesn't end up burned at the stake he is given safe conduct by the emperor on his way there he is cheered and celebrated by large and enthusiastic crowds luther never intended to start a heresy however to his surprise he discovers he did just that and was quite successful at it to say the least at worms he's confronted by his arch enemy ek he's ordered to recant all his heretical views to everyone's dismay luther decides to listen to his conscience and refuse to disavow anything he had said or written in response the emperor issues the edict of firms condemning luther and all those who aid him or follow him as heretics of the highest order practically a death sentence luther still has two days worth of safe conduct however after that he is fair game as an infamous outlaw he may be killed or captured by anyone looking for a rich reward with this premise luther sets out for wittenberg and the certainty of uncertainty awaiting him there with his days numbered he can only trust in god as unpredictable as god's ways are it's 1521. luther is traveling home from the diet of worms he's just been declared an outlaw and a dangerous heretic his days are numbered predictably he is set upon by armed men he is held at gunpoint and kidnapped the twist is that the kidnappers are working for his prince frederick iii elector of saxony frederick is far from being a lutheran however he'll not miss out on such a good chance to oppose the emperor like all princes of the realm he has a deep disdain for the all-powerful habsburg the holy roman empire is a collection of around 300 de facto independent states and statelets the most important principalities are the electorates of brandenburg saxony and the palatinate as well as hesse and bavaria there are also extensive ecclesiastical states particularly in the west the most important ones being the electorates of trier mainz and cologne germany is a priest-ridden and fragmented place since the emperor is merely a figurehead all the church lands are given directly from rome therefore all the money collected from germany flows to rome frederick would like to see the emperor even more powerless and the church a lot poorer with his wealth and his power thus increased if he could become the head of the church within his own realm he and not rome would dispose over the church's income simply put frederick sees luther as a useful pawn in his dynastic plans after whisking him away he hides luther at vat bird castle all the while pleading ignorance about his whereabouts luther keeps busy while at wartburg he translates the new testament into german so that every man can read and interpret the bible he also establishes that confession should be a private affair without a priest and that vows of celibacy and those made to religious orders are invalid and may be broken at will hearing this monks and nuns escape their monasteries and nunneries and become new converts to lutheranism while luther is away his colleague andreas karlstadt implements his reforming ideas in wittenberg after christmas three strange men appear in wittenberg the zvika prophets have the curious custom of only baptizing adults this custom is quite unnerving since all christendom agrees that one should be baptized shortly after birth never to be re-baptized again additionally these anabaptists believe that revelation from the holy spirit is the supreme authority not the bible they are also millenarians believing the end times are near when only those chosen by christ will get resurrected these chosen ones will then live for a thousand years in the kingdom of god when luther hears of this he rushes back to wittenberg and puts an end to the nonsense he is horrified by the recent developments as his intentions were for a slow and controlled evolution instead of a fast and out of control revolution to luther's surprise he soon discovers that people do have free will france von sikkingen the most colourful character in germany is one of many who intend to use luther's ideas to further their own goals as a petty prince sicking had to look out for himself gaining fame in the emperor's service as well as infamy when he invaded most of his neighbours he is typical of the nightly class the nightly class are remnant of feudalism they're quickly losing their power to the more adaptive city-dwelling middle class they also feel oppressed by the princes who are encroaching on their territory and they are jealous of the vast amount of wealth and land the church controls similarly to frederick sickenking intends to justify his politics with lutheranism in 1522 he gathers a large army of knights and claims to act in the emperor's name while charles v is away in spain the knights formulate several demands they want the abolition of princely power and the creation of a centralized monarchy where all men of noble birth would be equal more importantly they want to secularize church property using lutheran arguments to add weight to their word the knights attacked the archbishopric of trier the siege of trier ends five days later when sickening runs out of gunpowder soon philip of hesse and the elector palatine comes to the archbishop's aid and easily crush the rebellious knights sickening dies fighting and the knights are a coherent force no more luther strongly disapproves of the knight's interpretation of his doctrine however the night's revolt was just the beginning peasants are the largest class within society they enjoy increasing wealth and mobility with serfdom being almost abolished as princes are centralizing their rule these meager gains of the peasantry are in danger again the proletariat of the cities have similar qualms they feel they are being held back by the rigid guild system implemented by the oligarchy of the cities in the autumn of 1524 in the south of germany a group of peasants are ordered by their lady to collect snail shells the peasants refuse and tell her that those days are over the rebellion quickly spreads throughout swabia rebellious peasants and urban poor take over memingen where their representatives meet to formulate a list of grievances in the 12 articles the peasants demand the abolition of serfdom the abolition of the church tithe and the death tax an end to the enclosure of common land the right to hunt and fish lower rents and the right of communities to elect church officials to underline their points the peasants begin to rob murder and rape the rebellion extending all the way north into throwing gear and south into the swiss lands in tyrol by the next year the ransacking of castles and monasteries by mobs is nothing new this time however the peasants have an ideology they are doing exactly what youth had told them to they read the bible and interpreted it to the best of their knowledge in their reading the bible says the meek will inherit the earth consequently taxes and social classes should be abolished printing is extensively used by the rebels circulating tens of thousands of pamphlets filled with inflammatory propaganda their spiritual leader is thomas munso a radical reformer associated with the trick-out prophets munster is also a millenarian he believes the apocalypse is near he will lead the righteous to victory luther is outraged that his ideas of reforming the church are being used as arguments for a rebellion and mob rule he strongly condemns the rebels in several pamphlets calling on the princes to put them down like rabid dogs initially the princes were caught off guard however by early 1525 they begin to mobilize their forces since the emperor is in spain and his armies are on campaign in italy it is left to the swabian league a coalition of southern german states to put down the rebellion in april league armies defeat a large peasant army at lightheim near augsburg in may they crush a peasant army at frankenhausen muntzer is captured tortured and executed simultaneously other league armies annihilate a group of burblingen fighting continues for a while but the resistance of the peasants is already broken they never managed to unite their forces they had been defeated in every battle and the cities closed their gates when they saw the tide turn repression is brutal with at least a hundred thousand peasants killed social mobility is finished and the princes have confirmed that they are the true rulers in their land by this time several princely states and imperial cities had adopted lutheranism as a consequence of the peasants war luther decides that reforming the church from the bottom up is undesirable instead of preaching to the masses he starts to preach to the princes two of his most important converts are philip of hesse and john of saxony they are the champions of lutheranism at the diet of spire in 1526 the emperor is represented by his brother the archduke ferdinand ferdinand comes to the table with a very bad hand the turks have just defeated the kingdom of hungary at mohat killing the young king louis ii this vacated both the thrones of bohemia and hungary with ferdinand having the best claim bohemia is added to the empire without a hitch however in hungary charles and ferdinand have to contend with the anti-habsburg faction on one part and the ottomans on the other in italy imperial forces are still engaged against france venice florence and the pope in the war of the league of cognac thus ferdinand has to give concessions to the lutherans in order to obtain their help and cooperation the edict of worms is temporarily suspended and it's left up to the princes to choose the religion of their provinces therefore princes become the effective heads of their churches establishing the curious regio as religio principle meaning he who rules the land chooses the religion while lutherans are being burned at the stake in habsburg lands more and more german states become lutheran prussia anzbak brunswick hesse saxony silesia the cities of nuremberg strasbourg augsburg frankfurt lubeck bremen and hamburg could become lutheran luther doesn't take a direct part in the process of reformation as he believes worldly authorities such as princes or city oligarchs should decide thus church and state are no longer separate printers pamphletes and the young graduates of the university of wittenberg provide the foot soldiers for the reformation luther continues his writing and serves his advisor for several protestant princes lutheranism also spreads beyond germany in 1527 gustav vassa initiates the swedish reformation lutheran is had already developed roots in sweden the new testament had been translated into swedish in 1526 and olaus petri a wittenberg educated theologian is advising the king sweden had just gained independence from the kalmar union a personal union of scandinavian countries headed by the danish king during the kalmar union power shifted from the monarch to the nobility in the clergy gustav the first a shrewd politician clearly sees lutheranism's advantages in building a strong centralized monarchy therefore in 1527 at the assembly of the estates he proposes to make himself the head of the church to confiscate all clerical assets to subject clergy to secular law and to declare the bible the supreme authority in matters of religion the estates approve his proposal and lutheranism becomes the official state religion of sweden and by default of finland then in personal union with sweden lutheranism had also come to denmark it was already adopted in the south in the lands ruled by the crown prince christian and tolerated in the rest of the country when king frederick the first dies in 1533 the nobility in the clergy side the christian's younger brother a civil war ensues however when the rebels ask lubeck for help popular opinion turns against them christian iii is victorious and in 1536 lutheranism becomes the state religion of denmark similarly to gustav vassar the king uses religion to strengthen himself confiscating clerical estates and arresting bishops and nobles who opposed him later lutheranism would be spread to the kings of the domains norway iceland and greenland simultaneously lutheranism spreads to france unlike lesser kings france's monarch already had the right to name bishops and tax the church therefore francis the first is no particular reason to reform the church however being an avid humanist he has a natural curiosity and tolerance to new ideas the downfall of this nascent protestantism comes in 1534 when radicals nailed an anti-catholic pamphlet to the door of the king's bedchamber francis sees this as a personal affront and starts to persecute protestants many flee others go underground waiting for more favorable conditions across the channel the exact opposite happens king henry viii is a staunch conservative who hates luther but he has a major problem his wife catherine of aragon hasn't given him a male heir and she was already over 40. therefore in 1527 he requested a divorce from the pope catherine however is charles viii's aunt and after the sack of rome pope clement vii is in the emperor's pocket henry's request is refused so the king decides to follow the protestant example and break from rome he achieves this in 1534 and subsequently starts to confiscate church property in 1536 a pro-catholic rebellion breaks out in the law the pilgrimage of grace convinces henry that further religious reform is not needed since all he wanted to do was to become the head of the church he considers the english reformation done meanwhile germany prepares for the imperial diet of 1529 to be held in spire ferdinand has a much stronger hand than three years earlier imperial armies are once again victorious in italy and francis the first seems finally ready to make peace ferdinand declares that all heretical activities must be suspended until the proper church council is convened and all property and offices of the catholic church should be restored this is unacceptable to the lutherans therefore they leave the diet in protest this is where the name protestant comes from a few months later fortunes turn the ottomans have attacked again and are besieging vienna charles v decides to convene another diet the next year where he would attend in person his plan is to hammer out some sort of compromise so that the resources of the holy roman empire could be used to fight the turk instead of being wasted on internal squabbles the protestants also come with compromise in mind philip merlangton luther's colleague jeffsy augsburg confession a document detailing what lutheran convictions are and defending them based on the bible even though the augsburg confession was intended to be a rather conciliatory document charles still judges it excessive nevertheless he proposes that the catholic prince's write a refutation six weeks later the refutation is published and charles realizes that compromise between catholics and protestants is impossible the augsburg diet ends in a stalemate charles is unable to take action against the protestants as france allies was the ottomans and attacks against the empire continue from the east the west and the mediterranean in 1532 as the ottomans approached vienna once again ferdinand is forced to grant religious peace to the lutherans in return for their help nevertheless the lutheran princes see the writing on the wall they are safe for now but what about later to guard themselves against catholic aggression the protestants formed the schmalkaldic league in 1531 with the leadership of philip of hesse and frederick of saxony the league grows powerful even concluding an alliance with denmark lutheranism now has a sure footing in the holy roman empire however events elsewhere will overtake lutheranism in scope and determination it's 1519. holdrick spingley starts his job as a priest in zurich zurich is already leaning towards church reform said sphingley is the perfect man for the job sphingoli was born in the canton of saint garland and is the same age as luther like luther he was educated at a humanist university in basel in 1506 he became a priest in 1513 he joined a swiss army and participated in the battle of navara returning home he started reading humanists particularly erasmus by the time he assumes his position in zurich he's already aware of luther's teachings his doctrine will be a mixture of lutheranism and erasmian humanism like erasmus swingly believes that the ideal world would be wrong resembling the apostolic church of the early christians as portrayed in the bible a world based on simplicity and piety and nothing else but unlike luther stringly is a practical man he believes there should be absolutely no separation between church and state stingley is primarily interested in civic reform he believes religious and secular authorities should work hand in hand non-equal footing to conduct civic reforms that would be informed by the bible spingley's first open conflict with the church arises in 1522 when he organizes a barbecue during lent he argues that the concept of lent is not in the bible therefore it's irrelevant later swingly and a few other priests cause controversy again when they marry their concubines in a very public ceremony swingly again argues that priestly celibacy is not in the bible therefore it's unnecessary eager to resolve the conflict in 1523 the city authorities call a debate between sphingli and catholic representatives sphingley wins the debate and henceforth he will decide the future of zurich's church and the city's policies he begins with the abolishing of the mass unlike luther he doesn't believe in either transubstantiation or consubstantiation claiming that the body and blood of christ is not present in any form in bread and wine from now on communion will only be had four times a year and church service will focus solely on preaching he also orders the removal of statues paintings and stained glass windows since these weren't in the bible either therefore according to stringly they constitute idolatry church property is seized and swingly opens a school to train missionaries and manufacture pamphlets he exports his ideas far and wide and soon the more urbanized northern cantons join zurich in adopting zvinglianism this is too much for the more rural and more conservative cantons in the south to the urging of johann eck luther's old nemesis five catholic cantons form an alliance to protect themselves from zwingli's as a consequence zwingli and his followers become alarmed and form an even larger protestant alliance to protect themselves from catholics in response the catholic league concludes an alliance with ferdinand sphinglians see this alliance as a declaration of war both sides mobilize however war is averted when cena might prevail to strengthen his alliance swingly appeals to the lutheran princes of germany for help philip of hesse is eager to form an alliance with the swiss therefore in 1529 he organizes a meeting between luther and springly springly had been conversing with luther for a while however the two men don't think very highly of each other luther brings a list of 15 principles finley must agree to springly agrees to 14 points but he disputes the last point consubstantiation luther believes that the spirit of jesus christ is present in bread and wine in the form of consubstantiation sphingli insists this is nonsense the negotiations break down on this one issue and that sphinglians are left to face the catholics alone sphingli tries to plead his case to france and then to the emperor the diet of augsburg but nobody gives him much thought he becomes even more radicalized and urges his allies to attack the catholics eventually a blockade is imposed against the catholic cantons however all this does is anger them even more in 1531 the catholics decide to attack this catches the protestants by surprise and they fail to mobilize effectively zurich's forces are outnumbered three to one however stringly is undeterred he dons his armor and fights in the front ranks as his army is routed he himself falls with his death swiss protestants are left without a leader however protestantism is already strong enough to survive peace is concluded with the catholics and the north of switzerland becomes a bastion of protestantism but sphinglians weren't the only protestants in the swiss confederacy with swingley's rise there came the anabaptists of zurich like their german counterparts these anabaptists believe in adult baptism and reject infant baptism they are even more radical in their desire to return to the apostolic church unlike sphingley they outright reject the state seeing it as evil they refuse to pay taxes refuse to serve in the army they don't have priests and they isolate themselves and the rest of the community understandably springly doesn't take kindly to the anabaptists in 1526 they are given an ultimatum either stop add or baptism or die after swingling shows them that he means business by drowning a few heretics the anabaptists flee zurich due to their unconventional beliefs both catholics and protestants persecute them wherever they go a group winds up in moravia under the leadership of jakob hutter who advocates communal ownership of goods a primitive form of communism hutter is eventually burned as a heretic however his followers will become the ancestors of the hutterites eventually ending up in the new world another group seeks refuge in the netherlands their leader is melchior hoffman a visionary millenarian he believes the second coming of christ is near and it will happen in strasbourg hoffman goes to strasbourg where he is promptly arrested one of his lieutenants jan matas becomes the man in charge mathis also has a vision he claims the second coming will happen in munster therefore in 1534 mathis and his followers go there and through an audacious coup take over the city adult baptism is immediately introduced and those who refuse are driven out munster's expelled bishop soon gathers reinforcements helped by the princes who are anxious to avoid under the peasant war as the bishop lays siege to the city matais introduces communism and later polygamy after a year munster succumbs and the anabaptists are massacred to the last man the anabaptists still in the netherlands reform themselves under the leadership of menos simmons they denounce all violence and survive in the netherlands at the fringes of society their descendants will become the amish and the mennonites another group influenced by the anabaptists are the unitarians their ideas are very similar to the aryan christians of the 5th century and the gnostic movements of the high middle ages they reject the trinity of the father son and the holy spirit and insist that god alone is divine and jesus was a mere person they are also persecuted and finally end up in poland and transylvania where religious tolerance is already the norm later these denominations will spawn numerous offshoots ending up in england and from there in the new world shortly after swingly's death the swiss confederacy again becomes the center of the reformation with john calvin calvin was born in 1509 in piketty a full 26 years after luther in his youth he studies law and comes under the influence of the humanists and protestants of paris his awakening and conversion is a slow process but by the mid-1530s he considers himself a protestant in 1534 francis the first starts persecuting protestants therefore in 1535 calvin flees to basil here he continues his religious studies and starts to formulate his beliefs in his book the institutions of the christian religion calvin agrees with luther on most issues however on the question of the lord's supper he shares finley's view he is also stricture on predestination claiming that god has already decided not just who goes to heaven but also who goes to hell there is no way to influence the outcome or to know who is selected for what however calvin assumes that those who are chosen for heaven will live pious and successful lives little does calvin know but this feature will make his teachings very attractive to the virtue signaling middle class in 1536 calvin is on his way to strasbourg however he makes a detour to geneva where a fellow reformer william pharrell is working as a pastor calvin is also hired and the two men begin to reform geneva here calvin's real nature comes out like swingly calvin is mainly concerned with ethics rather than theology he is also a civic reformer and believes that church and state should work hand in hand to bring about a total reform society that will be strictly based on the bible this is much to the displeasure of the nobles and merchants of the city as they see it as an attack on their liberties in 1538 calvin and pharrell are asked to leave geneva calvin receives an invitation from martin buser the reformer of strasbourg strasbourg was one of the first cities to adopt lutheranism and brucer its leader and civic reformer is an excellent role model for calvin in 1541 the citizens of geneva have a change of heart and ask calvin to come back calvin agrees on the condition that they will let him do the necessary reforms calvin puts the greatest emphasis on religious education especially of the young he establishes four groups of church officials pastors to preach doctors to instruct believers in the faith elders to provide discipline and deacons to administer to the poor he introduces the consistory a religious court made up for pastors and lay people he also bans paintings sculptures music dancing swearing and theater however he does allow usury provided the interest is fair pubs are only allowed to function if scripture is read aloud to the patrons calvin's detractors try to resist but this is an uphill battle calvin wins argument after argument and when protestant refugees arrive from france the balance of power shifts in calvin's favor by 1555 his power is unchallenged under his leadership geneva becomes the most pious most industrious and most orderly city in europe all who visit geneva are amazed missionaries rage far and wide and calvin's pamphlets are being read out all across europe the middle and upper classes find it particularly attractive seeing it as a more potent and more fashionable form of protestantism many who are already open to lutheranism soon become calvinists the south west of france and the low countries soon become bastions of calvinism in these places calvinism becomes even more politicized than lutheranism in france the southern aristocrats see calvinism as a counterweight to the centralizing policy of the monarchy in the low countries it becomes a vehicle for the province's quest for autonomy and later independence as the counter-reformation kicks into high gear calvinism and catholicism are on a crash course many fear that war cannot be averted it's the 1530s while calvin is working on his theory in germany there's a sort of cold war the religious peace of 1532 is holding but just barely the emperor is just as eager to crush the rebellious protestant princes but for now he is still embroiled in a vicious war on three fronts with the ottomans and the french he absolutely needs the help of the princes therefore he must accommodate even the most bellicose ones john frederick the first elector of saxony and philip of hesse are on a war path they have a long-standing feud with duke henry of brunswick wolfenbootle the last catholic prince in the north in 1541 when the duke attacks the protestant city of goslar the two princes mobilize against him and occupy his dukedom church property is seized and the dukedom is forcibly converted to protestantism the emperor tries to help henry however at this time he can barely spare any resources so henry's defeated again and imprisoned but not everyone is as eager about punishing the duke and forcefully converting catholics the southern states and the cities of the schmalkardic league see this is a foolhardy gamble that will surely result in the ruin of the protestant cause instead of strengthening the league this show of force weakens it and divides it meanwhile fortune is turning for charles in 1544 he makes peace with france and a few years later with the ottomans now he can finally focus all his power and energy on his german subjects who are in open rebellion but even though charles is acting in the name of catholicism he cannot count on the support of catholic princes who are just as skeptical of imperial power the most charles can get is their neutrality therefore he must gather his own habsburg forces from all across the empire this however will take time the league's plan hinges precisely on this fact they can mobilize and concentrate their forces faster therefore they can attack preemptively and defeat the emperor's forces one by one in 1546 they go on the attack catching the emperor by surprise and forcing him to retreat sound next they strike into tyrol but due to john frederick's ineptitude they failed to prevent italian reinforcements from linking up with the emperor this is when the emperor strikes back he has an ace up his sleeves decades ago saxony had been split between two lines of the same dynasty the ernestine line represented by john frederick rules the electorate of saxony and his cousin maurice of saxony of the albertine line rules the dukedom of saxony maurice is a protestant and a member of the league however charles had already bought his favor promising a rich reward if he turns against his own side just as league forces almost grasp victory in the south maurice and archduke ferdinand launched an attack in the north john frederick has no choice but to take his forces north to defend his lands charles immediately seizes the opportunity and moves to pacify the south his forces are led by the duke of alba the best general of his time the southern protestants who are already reluctant participants in the war quickly yield before the imperial army meanwhile john frederick successfully defends his lands and gather reinforcements however he has to send part of his army into bohemia to block maurice in ferdinand meanwhile alba martin's north unopposed his army already outnumbers john fredericks by two to one on the 23rd of april 1547 he stealthily crosses the river elbe and utterly crushes the protestants john frederick is captured and the league falls apart philip of hesse quickly surrenders and is also imprisoned seemingly the protestants are finished however as soon as the emperor turns his back resistance continues to simmer now centered around magdeburg charles wants to end the war at all costs so he proposes a compromise the augsburg interim of 1548 gives a little and takes a little leaving both catholics and protestants unsatisfied the protestants form a new league and secretly agree with the french to attack the emperor from two sides the unlikely leader of this new league is none other than maurice of saxony even though the emperor made him the elector of saxony he is still unsatisfied he is a german first and a subject of the emperor second in the autumn of 1551 the french attack along the rhine and in spring 1552 the prince's launch an attack against tyrol charles is desperate to avoid another war on two fronts so he's forced to give the protestants a better deal in 1555 the piece of augsburg is proclaimed reinstating the curious regio aeos religio principle meaning the protestant princes are free to choose the religion of their states this freedom however only refers to lutherans calvinists are not included and may be persecuted as heretics this aspect is most unfortunate as calvinism had just begun its meteoric rise all across europe and within the empire while all this was going on catholics were not sitting still the preoccupation with church reform is not exclusive to protestants the first pope to seriously consider internal reform is adrian vi adrian is dutch and thus is far removed from italian dynastic politics that prevented reform during the reign of leo the 10th his papacy however is short-lived lasting from 1522 to 1523 adrian's reign is again followed by 11 years of ineffective popes preoccupied with italian affairs in 1534 however the reformer paul iii is elected and his papal sea will last for 15 years giving him ample time to launch a vigorous reaction to protestantism paul recognizes that such things as simony absenteeism pluralism nepotism and the mass sales of indulgences cannot continue therefore these aspects are purged from the church paul also recognises the importance of education not just for the higher echelons of the clergy but also for the humble parish priest who up until now was barely literate to make sure that his reforms will continue after his death paul only appoints fellow reformers to the college of cardinals his biggest achievement however is the council of trent convened in 1545. this grand council of bishops cardinals and religious scholars from all across europe last for 18 years and will prove to be a milestone of catholicism the council affirms that the bible is not the only authority in religion but in fact authority is shared between the pope the religious councils various catholic traditions and the bible also they recognize that the 5th century latin translation of the bible is the official one they reaffirm the seven sacraments of the church and that salvation can be achieved through faith and good works they stand by the elaborate ceremonies of the church as these are done to celebrate the glory of god the council also stands by the concept of transubstantiation meaning members of the clergy do have special powers and therefore they should have a special status within society all these assertions and reassertions are very important to strengthen the base and show a united front to the protestants and also to those who are wavering parallel to the council of trent a new religious order is being set up ignatius of loyola establishes the militant order of the society of jesus otherwise known as the jesuits had been a soldier fighting in the emperor's service after he was wounded he was due to a monastery where he had a vision of god that lasted for eight days awakened to his new purpose loyola writes the spiritual exercises a self-help book focusing on meditation and developing a deep religious calling loyola soon gathers a country of loyal followers and in 1540 paul iii grants him permission to establish a religious order the jesuits proved to be a nemesis to the protestants they recognized that protestantism grew out of the universities therefore they placed an even greater emphasis on education jesuits are like soldiers armed with the most up-to-date knowledge and the best debating skills they are often the bridge between church and state most catholic princes having a jesuit advisor or two in catholic countries cults of inquisition are set up and an index of forbidden books is published making sure that all future heresy is nipped in the bud protestantism is finally contained and will not spread any further than it already did but by the 1550s with the rise of calvinism europe is already a powder keg waiting to explode it is true that even in catholic france and the habsburg netherlands there is a sort of accommodation with protestantism but this does not mean religious tolerance catholics lutherans and calvinists all live in their designated enclaves with rare exceptions like transylvania or poland confessionalism becomes the norm this means that in lutheran states one must agree with the points laid out in the augsburg confession in catholic countries one must conform to the decisions of the council of trent and in calvinist lands one must agree to the confessions of faith of calvin and various other calvinist scholars in the holy roman empire the peace of augsburg will hold until 1618. however in france in the low countries calvin has thrown a collision course with catholics the french wars of religion and the dutch revolt will be followed by the bloodiest period of european history the 30 years war [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] thank you for watching please like share and subscribe it helps with the algorithm check out my patreon if you want to help me on this journey links down below [Music] do [Music] you