Q: Critically examine the origins and nature of the German Reformation.

A: In the conventional sense the Reformation that occurred in Europe in the 16th century is understood as a schism within the church with the emergence of distinct Roman Catholic and Protestant Christianity. The movement led to the creation of several radical and moderate folds of independent churches like Lutheran, Calvinist, Anglican etc. However important was religious reform to its core and was its essences, the movement arose from and had its impact on economic, political and social aspects of Europe in the 16th century. In terms of religion, there was a reform of morals and structure of church and society, reinterpretation of Christian spirituality and the reform of its doctrine.

In the common sense understanding, the Reformation is associated with a single event as its beginning, which involved the nailing of 95 Theses on the door a church in Wittenberg in 1517 by Martin Luther, who we will discuss later on. As Luther was a resident of Germany, we see the unfolding of the movement initiated in this nation. He was protesting against the sale of indulgences. But the reformation as we shall see was not just the single act of a man who had a sudden religious revelation. As opined by Pamela Johnston and Bob Scribner, not enough recognition is given to the fat that the Reformation took a long time to establish itself among the German population at large, that it was a long, slow Reformation. We broadly look at the time period between 1517 and the late 16th century as the focus of the Reformation.

In order to understand what the causes that led to the Reformation were or what were the conditions in which the Reformation received a stimulus, we must explore religious, as well as economic, social and political factors. There are various factors put forward by different historians as to what laid the basis for the origins of the Reformation in Germany. For instance, Alister McGrath wrote that the Reformation arose from a complex heterogeneous matrix of social and ideological factors. Peter Chaunu, enlisted three factors which were favourable to the German Reformation which were distance from Rome, widespread literacy and fragmentation of political power.

We must first broadly look at the state of religion in the pre-Reformation period. The Western church which was the Catholic Church gave Europe a religious uniformity, in the absence of a central political authority to stabilize it. The Pope was its head, with a vast amount of wealth and property at his disposal to undertake splendid rituals and to create grand structures in Rome so much so that rulers found it difficult to disobey him.

Though there was a long history of opposition to financial exactions and other infamous activities of the church, in the 14th and 15th centuries the church faced institutional problems because of the failure of papal authority to provide leadership. There was an atmosphere of chaos created by war, epidemic, disease and crop failures which created attributes to the wrath of god the people.

At this point, religion became more mechanical and materialistic. The Popes had developed an elaborate network of control through bureaucrats, lawyers, cardinal etc. There was ecclesiastical corruption and inefficiency and the church couldn’t satisfy people’s longing for personal piety. There was due to open dissatisfaction; complaints were made of sins of flesh and ignorance of priests who kept mistresses, illegitimate kids, ate and drank too much and were viewed as lazy arrogant, and who while promoting poverty and chastity did not follow it themselves.

The papal courts were preoccupied with financial and political matters. The papacy had its own extensive bureaucracy and fiscal system where huge funds were used for crusades, fighting Turks, and the Italian war. They also spent a large chunk on lavish buildings, basilicas, army and a lavish lifestyle. The expense burden was placed on the people and they charged members for services like marriage, baptisms etc. The style of collecting funds led to bitterness, and hostility. Traditional methods of revenue extraction were intensified. Tithe was collected by the clergy along with various subscriptions like First Fruits which were offerings connected with beginning of harvest and Annates which was the first year’s revenue benefice paid to the papal coffers. Papal income was augmented by profits of jurisdiction in the cases referred to Rome. They also earned from laymen with the sale of dispensation for breaches of cannon law, pardons and the sale of post of Cardinals. An institution called sale of indulgences which had been existence earlier gained momentum, which was the sale of indulgences. Indulgence was an important investment for income of the church as it was remission of punishment in purgatory by God and not the church alone. God’s grace was commonly sold through popes’ agents via Albrecht of Brandenburg and banking house of Fuggers. It got official papal approval in 1343 and was popular as people feared purgatory. This was also a huge source of income, as can be exemplified by the sale to the Fuggers who were a leading bank family of Germany, as they retained 50% of proceeds.

The episcopate or higher clergy created problems too. Most cardinals also had high political positions, for example, Cardinal Ximenes in Spain. There was also the practice of pluralism where many offices were held by the same position for maximum revenue. It also led to absenteeism. Thus the standard of the church administration was falling, and it led to an increase in the separation of upper and lower clergy as the latter were poor and from among commoners.

At this time there was a distinct growth in Germany on the eve of the Reformation of popular religion. One form of popular religion was to undertake pilgrimages or make donations. There were efforts to convert abstract views of theologians into concrete social practices. ‘Popular piety’ was tied to traditional ideas of hope, prophecy, the desire to be redeemed, fears of death and ideas of purgatory and eternity. There was also a questioning of dogma, and the doctrines that distorted simplicity of Christian faith.

The path to salvation was seen not through dogma and speculation, but through strict adherence to the moral and ethical conduct of the church. The bible was seen as the true guide to Christian life.

The rise of Humanism in Germany prepared the ground for Luther as the rise of Renaissance Humanism created an intellectual climate and tools of criticism. It raised issues relating to the study man and of original manuscripts. Erfurt University in Germany was one centre for this. Martin Luther’s ideas relating to scholasticism asserted that it made religion too vague and complex. Rudolfo Agricola Conrad Celtis, Ulrich von Hutten, Erasmus of Rotterdam and others were important figures in the Humanist movement, especially the latter who was a major influence on the Reformation. He wanted to make Christianity meaningful for the people, by emphasizing the role of scriptures, and moving away from monopolistic control of theologians. He preached practical piety as a matter of spirit, not unnecessary religious practices. In Germany, the Humanist force directly challenged scholasticism and humanism developed in two ways- towards religious change and even revolution, and development of powerful opposition to Italian influence in Germany. The former provided support for Luther’s reforms and the latter convinced rulers of West Germany that they had ideological justification in severing their ties with the papacy.

Regarding the economic origins of the Reformation, there is a debate whether it was the result of the needs created by “capitalist” or a mercantile advance. The beginning of the Reformation has been interpreted variously, such as by Henri Hauser who said that it took root in areas with victims of violent economic and social dislocation. Thus what characterized the setting for the Reformation, according to some was the rise in prices, fragmentation of rural holdings, rising rents, declining wages and widening gap between the rich and the poor. Elton discusses the economic conditions of the time preceding the age of Reformation such as the decline in population in the late middle ages which led to a decrease in rentals from land and lowering of agrarian production and manufacture. This resentment and discontent of masses due to economic disruption as the basis for the cause of the Reformation taking root was not accepted without qualification as it did not apply to Germany because the German economy was reasonably developed at this time as reiterated by Lawrence Stone. He disagreed with this view as he noted that in Luther’s time, the German towns saw extreme improvements in the standard of living. For instance if we look at Augsburg, a town in Germany, we see that it was very prosperous and flourished as manufacturer of textiles, clothes, shoes, books etc. The Hanse towns in South Germany, too, were developing fast. But on further study we note that this development which took place with capitalist features did have symptoms of economic pressures and disparities which did have a negative impact on certain sections of society.

The benefits of the economy were not evenly distributed. There were a few families which controlled mining of ore and smelting process and exploited poor miners. For example the Fugger family which went from being weavers to banking princes of Europe. They exercised a monopoly in lending activities, too, aside from silver and copper mines. There were also others like the Hochstetters, Welsers etc.

The economic data of this time show that commercial production and rational economic organization replaced the traditional one. The German economy was developing with textile production, glass manufacture, iron and copper smelting etc. There was an intrusion of money and price mechanism into the agrarian economy. This change created personal freedom of the peasants. Thus in Germany in the 14th and15th centuries, emancipation of the peasantry was one occurrence. The peasants who became more free and more prosperous resented the fiscal demands of church. After low levels of population in 15th century there was a change in the 16th century as the population increased in the context of intensification of the money economy. There were still developments in agriculture itself with improvements in methods of farming. This had positive effects, for instance, there was large sale grain production in East Germany. According to Elton, this period was a watershed in agrarian history as there was a greater degree of farming for the market and it saw the feudal age come to an end.

Still in the countryside, despite agricultural productivity, one saw attempts by lords to reimpose feudal dues which was disliked by peasants and was the cause of several rebellions and revolts. The Catholic Church still owned portion of land and the clergy played the role of landlord, fuelling a spirit of revolt among peasants. For example the most fertile region of Rhine was called the ‘Priest’s Road’ as the bishops were its virtual rulers.

In these economic conditions the nobles were more dependant on territorial princes of Germany whose authority was steadily increasing. Exploitation of surplus labour by landlord aggravated poverty. The agrarian economy was connected with other governing classes which sought material foundation in landed property, rents and labor services. All this accentuated the receptiveness to the more disciplined and rational appeals of Martin Luther and Calvin.

If we focus on the social aspects of the origins of the movement, alternately, Marx and Engels suggest that the rise of the bourgeoisie was revolutionary in nature and represented the challenge of a new class to the feudal order. Their acclimatization as a class was the result of the Reformation. This played a major role in constituting the social base of the Reformation according to them. The functionaries of administration which couldn’t be provided by the nobility or peasantry were supplied by the bourgeoisie. The stratum of intellectuals and officials grew constituting the urban middle classes consisting of sons of nobles etc. They were lawyer, bankers etc. The increasingly well-educated middle sectors of Northern Germany, namely the educated community and city dwellers would turn to Luther’s rethinking of religion to conceptualize their discontent according to the cultural medium of the era.

There was also a new merchant class in the context of the developing economy that were affected and affronted by the stance, of the Catholic Church against usury and other business practices. Marx called this class town-bred, mercantile, sober and industrious. They also detested the opposition to slavery and wanted to run business without institutional barriers of outmoded cultural traditions. They complained of money going to Rome. Artisans and peasants were also affected by low wages and high prices and rising taxes. The Reformation was seen as a manifestation of their economic interests embedded in a new attitude. This middle class thus saw a chance to free itself from the shackles of old religious practice.

G.R. Elton says this view is not wholly correct as the in16th century European social hierarchy, the position of nobles was an exalted one. The rise of the bourgeoisie should mean growth of towns when actually they were on decline according to him so it can’t be linked with social revolution headed by the middle class. The wealth of merchants was rising but it was still not as great as that of the nobles. It is thus the view of some that the reformist leaders appealed to the princes, nobility and the city councils rather than the bourgeoisie who took advantage by seizing church property and power.

In this context we can also look at relationship of Protestantism with political authority which was constituted by these upper classes. The political developments of the later middle ages saw a decrease in the institutional power of the church and its pretensions. There were frequent instances of criticism of the church control by those in power such as in the 14th century, William of Occam, criticized papal claim to temporal dominion. Marsiglio of Padua wanted to exclude the clergy from all but purely spiritual functions.

Germany at this time was not a united entity; it was rather in the form of several states ruled by different princes. German princes taking advantage of the weakened Holy Roman Empire and its temporal head developed their own autonomy achieving virtual independence in many ways. The stronger national monarchies which had come into being at that time sought to control more and more the church in their territory., while expropriating official church property and overseeing the dissolution of monasteries in order to meet the needs of these newly rising nation states. This resulted in the growth of a new political consciousness, and thus was created an ideal field for religious dissent which prepared the ground for Reformation in Germany. Politically, it inherited anti-papal sympathies from the medieval struggles of the pope and emperor. It was only natural that princes and rulers of fragmented Germany, should see religious wars as political weapons to extend their territory at the expense of neighbours and their power at the expense of the emperor. There is a strand of thinking which emphasizes that the princes acquired wealth by seizing church property and imposing new taxes. As these nations were antagonistic to the state church, the anti–Roman feeling in Germany lent support to the Lutheran Reformation.,

Also, in the 16th century because of the printing press there was a multiplication of copies containing ideas that promoted Reformation, and of the bible. This facilitated the spread of ideas of religious reformers. Martin Luther’s books were popular in England, for instance. At the time of Luther’s death there were a million copies of bible. A lot of propaganda literature was circulated including tracts, pamphlets, translations, pictures, cartoons etc.

Even before the period of the Reformation, attempts were made to reform the church from within. Alister E. McGrath talks of crisis a century before the Reformation, of authority in the Christian world as a result of attempts to enforce orthodoxy, and greater centralization of papal authority. This stir in the church was because of mainly two trends- the ‘Great Schism’ or the division of the Western church from the Eastern one and the demand for church reform. There was a debate generated on whether power should be in general councils or pope. This manifested in the Counciliar Movement in Pisa and Constance. Dickens discussed Humanism and pamphleteers in terms of their role in the nationalism in Germany. These encouraged anti-Italian and anti-papal sentiments and served as new weapons to an old campaign angst church as we know that, anti papal prejudices against empire and popes were there since 11th and 12th centuries. The Lupord Bishop of Bamberg wanted to see the German empire independent of control of papal authority. Gregor Reisch, who was patriotic, thought that there should be no papal power and levied charges of corruption and exploitation against the papacy.

There were individual attempts for reform too, such as that of John Wycliffe and John Hus whose followers were Lollards and Hussites respectively. The first was in England which called for simple biblical egalitarianism and for disendowment of church but it was confined to the small academic world of Oxford University. Hus conceived the church in community terms, and a utopian religious society. All these formed the background to the Reformation, as though not as effective, they certainly did influence the growth of Reformation in Europe.

Another development which influenced Luther was Milleniarism which was an antecedent to Reformation. It was the belief that when in the future the world will come to an end, Christ and his saints shall reign for a thousand years on earth. Medieval reformers said that Christ would condemn rich and establish a new world for the poor. This influenced Luther to a great extent.

We now look at the course which the Reformation took with special emphasis on its ‘leader’. As Elton put it, the Reformation was no more the work of one many than any such upheaval can ever be; but without Luther there would still have been no reformation. Martin Luther, the chief architect of the German Reformation, hailed from a peasant background. His father raised their status to that of the lower bourgeoisie and he thus received a good education. While studying law, he developed strong religious inclinations, and in 1505 he decided to become a monk, entering the monastic order in Erfurt. He served as a Professor of Theology, in the University of Wittenberg. He took keen interest in education with a flair for languages and history. His primary concern was with the assurance of salvation.

In 1517, Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar and papal commissioner for indulgences, was sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic Church to sell indulgences to raise money to rebuild St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In response, Luther nailed his Ninety Five Thesis on the church door at Wittenberg, directly challenging the sale of indulgences as means of seeking god’s forgiveness. One of these, no. 79 went like so- ‘It is blasphemy to say that the insignia of the cross with the papal arms are of equal value to the cross on which Christ died.’

This move attracted the attention of all of Europe and is usually understood to mark the beginning of the Reformation. It certainly was the starting of the reforming activities of Martin Luther. This initial act was not aimed against the main fabric of the church but rather it was a criticism. After theological development over a subsequent period of three years he finally rejected the claim that the pope was the sole ‘institution’ to interpret the religious scriptures.

If we take a look at his beliefs, we see that Luther talked of a doctrine of justification by faith. This is exemplified by his own words-“…as the soul needs only the word of God for its life and righteousness, so it is justified by faith alone and not by any works….” According to him, the pope had misunderstood the gospel and true essence of Christianity with practices like sale of indulgences. In order to enter a relationship with God, the sinner when he realized the need for God’s grace, had to leave it all upon God to bestow it; it wasn’t something that could be bought or sold. Luther criticized the views of the Catholic church on ‘sacraments’ which were seven in all- baptism, the Eucharist, marriage, penance, confirmation, holy orders and extreme unction. Luther reduced them to two – baptism and Eucharist.

The importance attributed to priests wasn’t appreciated. For him these priests were against the scriptures. Luther’s supporters oversaw the destruction of exclusive position of priests and their mystical functions. Elton talks of how the whole concept of special priesthood was blamed by Luther for keeping God’s message from the Christian people, and assigned to the clergy only the function of informing man of his way to God by preaching the Word. Christianity was seen as an inward faith and there was an abolishing of hierarchy of church officials. Christianity was made simpler based on a basic teaching, of the bible and scriptures. He wrote:-

“A Christian is the most entirely free lord of all

Subject to none

A Christian man is the most entirely dutiful servant

Of all, subject to everybody”

Religious service was seen as a communal action. The symbol of participation was the hymn and he published an evangelical hymn book. He was also in support of abolishing monasteries.

Luther produces several works in his career as a reformer. For instance, he had published his German translation of the New Testament in 1522 which was done when he was in hiding, and he and his collaborators completed the translation of the Old Testament in 1534, when the whole Bible was published. His translation of the Bible into the language of the people (instead of Latin) made it more accessible, causing a tremendous impact on the church and on German culture. It fostered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the translation into English of the King James Bible. Translations of the New Testament destroyed historical foundations of priestly authority. The study of antiquity which was also at the core of his ideas, harked back to the past in which religion was viewed as being of a purer form.When in 1518 he was summoned by the Holy Roman emperor, he followed it by publishing three treaties. Luther’s writings circulated widely, reaching France, England, and Italy as early as 1519. Students thronged to Wittenberg to hear Luther speak The 95 Theses were quickly translated from Latin into German, printed, and widely copied, making the controversy one of the first in history to be aided by the printing press. Within two weeks, copies of the theses had spread throughout Germany; within two months throughout Europe

In the1520s, the followers of Luther separated themselves from the Catholics and engaged in acts like attacks on mass, breaking of images. Luther wrote, “…so that one instructs and enlightens the conscience that it is idolatry to pray to images or to rely on them, because one should trust in Christ alone.’ Church resources were confiscated and courts at three levels were established to oversee morals, uniformity of doctrine and government. In this manner, by 1542 the Protestants formed an organized religion. Initially he didn’t see them as forming an opposition to Rome but over time realized that he and his followers had their own organization. All over Germany, a distinctive theology, constitution and pattern of worship took over. The Prince of Saxony established institution called visitation, which dealt with the morality of the clergy. The 1530s and 40s saw the consolidation League of Schmalkalden which was set up in 1531. It was a defensive alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire. The parish system was reorganised.

The commoners in the towns and the countryside saw Luther as a holy man who spoke the truth about deception and revealed to them the light of the Gospel. Some even saw him as a prophet sent from God, almost a living saint. His appeal cut across social classes and supporters included the working class, cloth workers, shoemakers, peasantry and the nobility.

His support base even included people in power, as t this time in the 1520s, Albrecht of Hohenzollern joined them. The 1525 trek into the Lutheran side by him shocked the world as he dissolved the Order, secularized its lands, and as a vassal of the king of Poland, became the first German Duke of Prussia. Thus Luther’s Protestantism saw success as a state religion on many occasions as it was adopted by people like Philip of Hesse. Martin Luther had a healthy respect for the magistrate. The liaison between Protestant reformers and political authorities resulted in development of national churches. It subsequently appealed to the rulers of Brunswick, Wurttenberg and imperial cities Strasberg, Augsburg, Brandenburg. In 1534, the Duchy of Württemberg also took to Luther’s preaching, which served as a blow to Hapsburg prestige.

One aspect which merits discussion when analyzing the Reformation was the Great Peasants War of 1525 in Upper Swabia. There had been revolts by the peasantry on a smaller scale since the 15th century. In 1525, 40, 000 peasants joined by townspeople, low paid miners and others initiated a revolt known as the Great Peasants’ War. It was not a coordinated effort, and had several leaders like Thomas Munzer. The movement lasted for a brief period in its fight against feudal lords and church exploitation. Their ‘Twelve Articles’ program which was the major manifesto of the rebels throughout Germany, didn’t seek to destroy the feudal system, nor a division of estate lands among peasants. There was justification of the rebellion on the basis of precedents drawn from biblical and classical sources. There was an emphasis on communal government and the need for rulers to act in the partial interest of brotherly love.

Marxist historians suggest that this was an expression of socio-economic conflict and formed an early phase of bourgeoisie revolution, while the Reformation was an ideological expression of it. Peter Blickle talked how of there was an attempt to overcome the crisis of feudalism through revolutionary reshaping of social and seigniorial relations. The social aims of ‘brotherly love’ failed as they were incompatible with the Reformation.

Luther didn’t want to lose the support of the nobility, which were threatened by peasants; he thus attacked rebellious peasants. He, according to Pamela Johnston and Bob Scribner, was against ‘reform from below’. When addressing Johann Ruhel, councillor of the counts of Mansfeld, Luther says, “they borrow the authority of the divine word and gospel to cover up their great sins, and thus disgrace and slander god’s name.”

If we look at opposition to him in terms of the response of the church and also that of Charles V, the Holy Roman emperor, we see there were several obstacles placed before him through instrument called Diets. As mentioned he was summoned in 1518. In 1520-21, the pope issued a bull of excommunication unless he recanted 41 sentences drawn from his writings, including the 95 Theses, within 60 days. Luther publicly burnt the papal bull and published a series of pamphlets in which the pope and the whole organization was openly condemned because he wanted to cleanse it of 500 years of papal rule. On 18th of April, 1521, the Holy Roman emperor asked Luther to appear before the Diet at Worms to face trial for his actions. This was a general assembly of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire that took place in Worms, a town on the Rhine , presided over by Charles V. He said, “If I recant these, it will only add strength to such tyranny…”The Edict of Worms served as the legal basis for treatment of Reformation till the Peace of Augsburg. Luther refused to recant his position and was outlawed by highest civil auth in Germany with a sentence of death. He was shielded by the Elector of Saxony, Prince Frederick III who personally didn’t like papal interference. Carter Lindberg discusses the various Diets that were held to address this issue. Augsburg thus served as an important centre for reform and politics colliding. The 1523 Diet of Nuremberg made the demand for one the essence of the German Catholics’ position while that of 1524 asked for a National Council for Germany alone. There was also the Diet of Spayer in 1526 which took place in a landscape of changing religious loyalties. In 1529, the Diet of Augsburg and Augsburg Confession took place. In the 8 years between the Diet of worms and The Diet of Speyer in 1529, Protestantism grew from a theological and spiritual protest into organized churches. A brief conflict between 1546 and 1547 between the forces of Charles V and the princes of the Schmalkaldic League took place. After this, there was the Peace of Augsburg which addressed the concern of both Catholics and Protestants by guaranteeing personal religious choice. It was a compromise settlement in which the princes were given the right to determine the subjects’ faith. The Protestants did not fair well and it ended with the Peace of Augsburg of 1555.

Despite the actions taken against him, Luther escaped the fate of previous religious rebels because of reasons like the pope Leo X being busy with the crusades against the Turks and the emperor Maximilian being busy with succession issues. Also the nobility in Germany accepted his position. The Humanist chancellor George Spalatin, supported him at court.

The Reformation was a significant turning point in not just the history of religion in Europe and the world but also in shaping economic, political and social aspects too. The Reformation led to a series of religious wars that culminated in the Thirty Years’ War, which devastated much of Germany, killing between 25% and 40% of its population. There were other results as well.

The most immediate impact was the division of Europe into two religious communities. . Religion now became a personal choice with a sense of private judgment.

The Catholic Church made serious moves to reforming itself as seen in The Council of Trent which did try to address some of the abuses of the church in the Counter-Reformation, calling for a more effective, educated, and involved clergy. The Church tries to restore strength by taking a determined stand against heresy.

There are intense debates on the connection between Protestantism and capitalism. An important figure here was Max Weber, who argued that Protestantism evolved an ethic which laid the basis for and stimulated capitalist mode of economy. This was further debated by R.H. Tawney who said that Protestantism and capitalism influenced and encourage each other simultaneously. Maurice Dobb, subscribing to a Marxist framework criticized much of the work done by Weber.

In terms of social impact, Protestants led to the rise of many social classes, and gave those emerging a religious foundation like the bourgeois and middle classes

We thus see that the Reformation was not merely a religious event in the history of the Europe but took on economic, political and social importance as well in terms of what led to its origins, determined its course and was expressed in its impact.

Bibliography

  1. The New Cambridge Modern History, Volume II: The Reformation- G.R. Elton
  2. The Reformation in Germany and Switzerland-Pamela Johnston and Bob Scribner
  3. The European Reformations– Carter Lindberg
  4. The Reformation– G.R. Elton
  5. Europe in Transition: From Feudalism to Industrialization– Arvnd Sinha
  6. Rise of the Modern West– Meenaxi Phookan
  7. The German Reformation: The Essential Readings-C. Scott Dixon (ed.):
    • Introduction: narratives of the German Reformation– C. Scott Dixon