The Motives Behind And The Impact Of The Start Of The Protestant Reformation

The 16th century was an era dominated by religious conflict which spanned over 100 years in several different states across Western Europe to answer what seemed was an issue in religion – a spiritual need. This age was known as the European Reformation, an emergence of a breakaway group: the Protestants. The reformation was a reaction to the culmination of centuries of Catholic corruption which by the 16th century was widespread across most of Western Europe where there was one faith, with the spiritual head of the Church being the Pope, who, alongside Catholicism ceased to meet spiritual need. The reformation served many different purposes within each country that undertook the religious change. For England political motives, rather than spiritual, were highly significant, whereas Germany, the issue of spiritual need was the main motive and the reformation was built on largely religious foundations. Overall, for most states the main motive for establishing the European Reformation was to answer a spiritual need, with a definitive change in religion from 1500 to 1610.

In the beginning of the 16th century, the reformation in Germany was motivated by spiritual need, where Martin Luther influenced a new faith to focus on devotion to God alone to fulfil ultimate spirituality. In 1517, 31st October, Luther kick-started what became known as the European Reformation by nailing his 95 Theses to the chapel door at Wittenberg. The 95 Theses highly emphasised spiritual needs that Catholicism was not providing and outlined his objections, such as the selling of indulgences and reprieves from penance. Source one – Martin Luther’s Conversion; this source was written by Martin Luther in the later years of the reformation, reflecting on his conversion to Protestantism, answering his spiritual need. This source has validity because it outlines the key doctrines of Protestantism and how they met his spiritual need that Catholicism didn’t. Luther discovers the doctrine of faith alone, wherein the justice of god helps you to lead a life of grace – not through buying an indulgence, or taking part in the Eucharist. Catholics used indulgences to repent for sin but this was corrupt and strayed away from God and living by faith to be just, thus Luther found scripture alone met his spiritual need – not the practise of Catholicism. Once Luther discovered what scripture truly taught, and not what was said in the Catholic Mass, he felt reborn and saw the importance to meet and answer spiritual need. This source is further valuable as Luther translated the bible into the vernacular so it was more accessible for people to answer their spiritual need, which is evidence for people wanting reform and a new faith. Luther in this source states that “God justifies us by faith” which became a key doctrine of Protestantism that spread all over Europe which shows there was also widespread support for a new faith that could answer spiritual needs that Catholicism didn’t. 

There is very little limitation to this source as it is valuable in outlining why Luther criticised Catholicism, but Luther in his younger years was heavily influenced by Nominalists who questioned the existence of the universe and everything in it so perhaps his critics of the Church came from influence in his earlier years. But overall this source is highly valuable as it shows how Catholicism did not meet Luther’s spiritual need but scripture alone did. (End of source). Indulgences were morally corrupt, and for Luther he thought the Catholic Church had become too unethical to provide a guidance for the people to answer their spiritual need. Lutheranism promotes for individuals to seek salvation through scripture alone without relying on priests. Source two - Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, a section on indulgences; this source is valuable in showing that Germany’s main motive for establishing the reformation was answering a spiritual need. There is validity as the source uses a formal tone and with the use of imperative language shows Luther is serious about making changes to religion to answer a spiritual need. This source also has value in showing that the reformation was driven by spiritual need as thesis no.36 states any religious soul who truly wants to repent can do so without indulgences, and for Luther this was through entirely faith alone, furthermore indulgences abused the system of the church by bypassing the sacrament of penance, by which you could also repent of sin. 

Thus Luther was making the point that indulgences are not needed and suggests they only have a monetary purpose with a very limited spiritual aspect, whereas faith alone has. Thesis no.37 has value too, the blessing of Christ could be ‘granted him by God’ and not indulgences. This is what Lutheranism offered people through sola fide and sola scriptura – this was answering spiritual need as you were closer to God. Yet this is also limited because the 95 theses was published in 1517(the beginning of the European reformation) wherein Catholicism was the dominating religion and this was only one man’s view of Catholicism at the time. But while Luther was the first in his generation to question Catholicism, his reforming ideas were based solely on answering a spiritual need - in which during the reformation his views spread beyond one man. (End of source). By 1524, there was continuity of being driven by spiritual need as Luther’s translation of the New Testament became widely read across Germany – it was more accessible for the average peasant to get in touch with religion as it was crucial to understand God to answer a spiritual need for yourself. Large parts of Northern and Southern Germany had become protestant – and the German Princes were attracted to reform for a number of reasons. Philip of Hesse converted to Lutheranism in 1524, (a genuine conversion experience), and helped to suppress the peasant’s war, which gave him more of a political role. Thus for him, Lutheranism enhanced his status, but he still answered his spiritual need by becoming a Protestant. 

Also for spiritual reasons, but linked with economic factors, Ulrich von Huttenis took to Lutheranism as he had qualms with the corruptness of the Catholic Church such as the papal exploitation of German Land. He saw the pope to be taking gold and silver from Germany and then spreading the wealth between his family to live in luxury – instead of having a humble, simple life living by the words of God. Many reformers also condemned the confessional, because it was oppressive and burdensome to consciences. Luther, in order to answer spiritual need, decided to teach confession not as the pope’s theologians do but rather to use confession in order to hear the comfort in the words of God and develop faith in the forgiveness of sin. With Lutheranism you have to acknowledge your guilt rather than simply state it – creating closeness to sola scriptura for spiritual need purposes. Thirty years later after Luther published his 95 Theses, the Peace of Augsburg was signed in 1555 giving Lutheranism equal religious rights further enabling the religion to answer any spiritual needs of the state. Where, in the 1520’s there were qualms with the emergence of Lutheranism, such as Albrecht Brandenburg, who was an enemy of the 95 Theses and a cardinal who financed his ventures as a ’patron of the arts’ through the mass selling of indulgences – by the later 16th century the opposition had subsided and Lutheranism was another religion alongside Catholicism in western Europe. For Germany, their main motive for establishing the reformation was to answer a spiritual need; and for without Luther, we can be certain that there would be no reformation. 

France’s role in the reformation came about two decades after the German reformation. France was motivated by fairly political influences and it wasn’t until the very late 16th century did religion become a motive in establishing the reformation to answer a spiritual need. It appeared the unitary nature of the French state made it very difficult for Protestantism to gain recognition. Initially tolerance was shown towards the Protestants, because France had witnessed the events that shaped the German reformation and did not want to spark rebellions such as the Peasants Rebellion. Thus the King, Francis, promoted reform because it benefitted his position with the people, he did not answer any spiritual need. Toleration was limited, Francis was a Catholic King by tradition, and in 1534 the Affair of the Placards saw the denouncement of Catholic Mass. Source three – the message of the Placards; This source is a piece of French anti-Catholic propaganda, and it is valuable in showing that the French protestants motive in the reformation was to answer a spiritual need, as protestant leaders such as Antoine Marcourt and Guillaume Farel felt Catholicism did not answer their spiritual needs. The source is also valuable in conveying that France was motivated by spiritual need because the message states that Catholicism diverts and misleads people – many reformers and Protestants took the view that the lavish interior distracted you from praying to God directly, instead Catholics worshipped relics with no sole focus on God thus limiting spirituality and people’s spiritual need. 

The source also denounces the Catholic Eucharist, this is valuable because many found this did not answer spiritual need as they did not believe in the concept of transubstantiation, and both Lutherans and Calvinists dismissed the Eucharist. There are limitations to the source as it is a piece of propaganda, it therefore takes an extreme view and could perhaps be exaggerated as the publisher, Antoine Marcourt, was an extreme Protestant pastor. As a reforming protestant, this was created to be an attack on the Catholic conceptions of the Eucharist and Marcourt produced a provocative title for the Placards using strong negative language such as “horrific, great and unbearable” to describe the mass and the Eucharist. However, overall the value of this source outweighs the limitations. The placards were released in 1534, very early into the French reformation which suggests there was already reformers looking to answer spiritual need by questioning the corruptness of the Catholic Church. (End of source). Mass was very restricting in regards to providing a spiritual need, scripture could only be understood if you read or spoke Latin, thus, rural peasants who made up most of the population in France was out of touch with God and his works. The Affair of the Placards was a religious movement to answer a spiritual need of having a want to understand scripture and service. 

The new king Charles IX issued an edict that gave Protestants the right to gather and hold services. Yet, this is noble involvement, not a religious group who made a change to answer spiritual need – which suggests the reformations’ motives in France were controlled by higher powers. The king provided an edict, yet it was not an answer to spiritual need. Another edict, a peace compromise, thirty years later allowed Protestants freedom of worship. This shows the importance of political figures in the reformation in France and that the reformation was still very much in control of the nobility. The heir to the throne however was a Huguenot leader, Henry Navarre whom had to convert to Catholicism to please the nobles – many of whom were still traditionally catholic. Again suggesting the reformation was still motivated by political needs rather than spiritual needs. As once a Protestant Henry helped provide spiritual need by having complete toleration of any form of Protestantism in France – guaranteed by the Edict of Nantes in 1598, yet this came decades after the idea of reform came to France which shows the religious change in France did not come easy but was finally accepted alongside the continuation of the practise of Catholicism. In the 1530’s France was wholly dominated by catholic noble interference but half a century later Protestant communities including Calvinists and Huguenots had been established. The main motive in France was not solely religious as there was mass political and noble influence interfering answering a spiritual need.

At the beginning of the Scottish reformation it seemed there was a more of a political motive than a need for a spiritual one, again similar to the situation in France there is a change in motive wherein answering a spiritual need becomes more important by the early 17th century. Inevitably, as most of Western Europe became involved in the reformation, Lutheran books started to enter Scotland, whom was a Catholic nation. Although the idea of reform was in the air as Catholicism it seemed, was not always up-to-date with the needs of a nation, it was only a tiny minority who actually favoured Protestantism. The appearing divide of religion in Scotland became not just a matter of religious denomination but one of international politics. Foreign relations caused a threat to Protestants in Scotland, while England had broken from Rome and was now a Protestant state, France was still as a majority Catholic. For Protestants this brought the fear of a far more serious French-led inquisition to root out any possible heretics while trying to answer their spiritual need. But in May 1559, Iconoclasm swept the nation. In St Andrews the Lords of the Congregation stripped the altars, smashed the icons and whitewashed the walls stamping out any signs of Catholicism. 

Protestants viewed the lavish interiors as a distraction because it meant you were praying to images and icons, not God directly, through either faith alone or scripture alone. And the lavish interior was a reflection of the gross corrupt wealth of the church which also took away from the sole importance of the divine God himself – not providing a full spiritual experience or need. As well as the nobility, the preacher John Knox also defended Protestantism and his preaching was so forceful that Mary De Guise was forced to flee in 1559 – he was one of the first Protestant leaders to use the blunt language of rebellion in his coerces with higher powers. Knox’s preaching was inspiring to those answering a spiritual need and he became minister at St Andrews. The people in St Andrews had been convinced by Knox’s preaching and had taken all the icons and images out of the church to push out the distraction of Catholicism to embrace a spiritual need. 1560 was the key year in the First Scottish Reformation. The Scottish Parliament passed laws getting rid of the mass, again viewing it as very restrictive to the lower class and also denounced the Pope’s power in Scotland. Knox wrote important documents such as the Scots Confession of Faith, which explained what the church believed – the Scottish people now had Protestant doctrines to expand their religion and spirituality. The Scottish reformation was able to see a change of religion in just over twenty years, with little opposition and foreign involvement. Although answering a spiritual need may not have been their first motive in 1540’s, reformers were still able to successfully change the states religion and denounce the corrupt systems of Catholicism by 1560. Scotland was another country who when establishing the reformation had ended with their motive as answering a spiritual need.