The beginning of the reformation in Europe. Features of the reform movement in European countries

In addition to economic and national oppression, the preconditions for the Reformation were humanism and the changed intellectual environment in Europe. The critical spirit of the Renaissance allowed us to take a fresh look at all cultural phenomena, including religion. The Renaissance's emphasis on individuality and personal responsibility helped to critically reexamine church structure in a kind of revisionism, and the fashion for ancient manuscripts and primary sources alerted people to the inadequacy of early Christianity and modern church. People with an awakened mind and a worldly outlook became critical of the religious life of their time in the person of the Catholic Church.

Forerunners of the Reformation

John Wycliffe

Economic pressure multiplied by infringement national interests, caused a protest against the Avignon popes in England back in the 14th century. The spokesman for the discontent of the masses then became John Wycliffe, a professor at Oxford University, who proclaimed the need to destroy the entire papal system and secularize the monastic-church land. Wycliffe was disgusted by the "captivity" and schism and after 1379 began to oppose the dogmatism of the Roman Church with revolutionary ideas. In 1379, he attacked the authority of the Pope by expressing in his writings the idea that Christ, and not the Pope, was the head of the church. He argued that the Bible, not the church, is the only authority of the believer and that the church should be modeled on the New Testament. To support his views, Wyclif made the Bible available to the people in their own language. By 1382, the first complete translation of the New Testament into English was completed. Nicholas of Herford completed the translation of most of the Old Testament into English in 1384. Thus, for the first time, the English had the complete text of the Bible in their native language. Wycliffe went even further and in 1382 opposed the dogma of transubstantiation, although the Roman Church believed that the essence of the elements changes while remaining unchanged. external form. Wycliffe argued that the substance of the elements remains unchanged, that Christ is spiritually present during this sacrament and is felt by faith. To accept Wycliffe's view was to admit that the priest is not able to influence the salvation of a person by prohibiting him from receiving the body and blood of Christ at the Eucharist. Although Wycliffe's views were condemned in London and Rome, his teaching on equality in the church was applied to economic life by the peasants and contributed to the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Students from the Czech Republic who studied in England brought his teachings to their homeland, where it became the basis for the ideas of Jan Hus.

The Czech Republic at that time was experiencing the dominance of the German clergy, who sought to acquire plots in the Kuttenber mines. Jan Hus, pastor of Bethlehem Chapel, who studied at the University of Prague and became its rector around 1409, read Wycliffe's writings and absorbed his ideas. Hus's sermons came at a time of rising Czech national consciousness, which opposed the power of the Holy Roman Empire in the Czech Republic. Hus proposed a reform of the church in the Czech Republic, similar to that proclaimed by Wyclif. In an effort to suppress popular discontent, Emperor Sigismund I and Pope Martin V initiated a church council in Constance, at which John Hus and his associate Jerome of Prague were declared heretics and burned at the stake. John Wycliffe was also declared a heretic.

Lutheran Reformation

Reformation in Germany

Beginning of the Reformation in Germany

In Germany, which to the beginning 16th century still remained a politically fragmented state, dissatisfaction with the church was shared by almost all classes: the peasants were ruined by church tithes and posthumous taxes, the products of artisans could not compete with the products of monasteries, which were not taxed, the church expanded its land holdings in the cities, threatening to turn the townspeople into lifelong debtors . All this, as well as the huge amounts of money that the Vatican exported from Germany, and the moral decay of the clergy, served as the reason for the speech of Martin Luther, who October 31 1517 nailed his "95 Theses". In them, the doctor of theology spoke out against the sale of indulgences and the power of the Pope over the remission of sins. In the doctrine he preached, he proclaimed that the church and the clergy are not a mediator between man and God. He declared false the claims of the papal church that it could give people through the sacraments "remission of sins" and "salvation of the soul" due to the special powers from God with which it supposedly was endowed. The main position put forward by Luther was that a person achieves “salvation of the soul” (or “justification”) not through the church and its rituals, but through faith, given to him directly by God.

During this time, Luther had good reason to hope for the realization of his idea of ​​“spiritual rebellion”: imperial rule, contrary to the papal bull of 1520 and the Edict of Worms of 1521, did not prohibit reformist “innovations” completely and irrevocably, transferring the final decision to the future Reichstag or church cathedral. The convened Reichstags postponed consideration of the case until the convening of the church council, only forbidding Luther to print new books.

However, following the movement of a radical burgher group, accompanied by spontaneous protests masses, a performance of imperial knighthood took place in the country. In 1523, part of the knights, led by Ulrich von Hutten and Franz von Sickingen, dissatisfied with their position in the empire, rebelled, proclaiming themselves to be continuers of the cause of the Reformation. Hutten saw the tasks of the movement raised by the Reformation as preparing the entire German people to such a war that will lead to the rise of chivalry and its transformation into the dominant political force in an empire liberated from Roman dominance. Very quickly the knightly uprising was suppressed, but it showed that Luther’s aspirations to come to the Reformation through peaceful means would no longer be realized. Proof of this was the Peasant War that soon broke out, led by Thomas Münzer.

The Peasants' War by Thomas Münzer

The Peasant War was a consequence of the peasant masses interpreting the ideas of the Reformation as a call for social change. In many ways, these sentiments were facilitated by the teachings of Thomas Münzer, who in his sermons called for rebellion and a socio-political revolution. However, the inability of the peasant masses and burghers to unite in a joint struggle led to defeat in the war.

After the Augsburg Reichstag, the Protestant princes began to form a defensive League of Schmalkalden, the inspiration for the creation of which was Philip, Landgrave of Hesse.

Reformation in Germany after Luther's death

Immediately after Luther's death, German Protestants faced a severe test. Having won a number of victories over the Turks and French, Emperor Charles V decided to take up internal affairs. Having concluded an alliance with the pope and William of Bavaria, he sent his troops to the lands of the princes participating in the League of Schmalkalden. As a result of the ensuing Schmalkalden War, the Protestant troops were defeated, in 1547 the emperor’s troops captured Wittenberg, which had been the unofficial capital of the Protestant world for almost 30 years (Luther’s grave was not looted by order of the emperor), and the Elector of Saxony, Johann Friedrich and Landgrave Philip ended up in prison. As a result, at the Reichstag in Augsburg on May 15, 1548, an interim was announced - an agreement between Catholics and Protestants, according to which the Protestants were forced to make significant concessions. However, Karl failed to implement his plan: Protestantism had taken deep roots on German soil and had long been the religion of not only princes and merchants, but also peasants and miners, as a result of which the implementation of interim met stubborn resistance.

Reformation in Denmark and Norway

At the request of King Christian, Melanchthon sent an experienced reformer priest, Johannes Bugenhagen, to Denmark, who led the implementation of the Reformation in the country. As a result, the Reformation in Denmark was guided by German models. According to Danish historians, “Denmark, with the introduction of the Lutheran Church, became churchly on long time German province."

In 1537, by decree of the king, a commission of “learned people” was created to develop a code for the new church, which included Hans Tausen. Luther was familiarized with the drafted code, and with his approval, the new church law was approved in September of the same year.

Reformation in Sweden and Finland

Triumph of Gustav Vas. Woman in a Yellow Dress - Catholic Church

In 1527, at the Västerås Riksdag, the king was proclaimed head of the Church, and the property of the monasteries was confiscated in favor of the crown. The affairs of the Church began to be managed by secular persons appointed by the king.

In 1531, Olaus's brother Lawrence became Archbishop of Sweden. Under his leadership, in 1536, a Church Cathedral, at which Lutheran church books were recognized as binding for all of Sweden. Celibacy was abolished. In 1571, Lavrentiy Petri developed "Swedish Church Rules", which defined organizational structure and the character of the self-governing Swedish Church. Pastors and laity were given the opportunity to choose bishops, but the final approval of candidates became the prerogative of the king.

At the same time, it should be noted that due to the absence of violent confrontation between Roman Catholics and adherents of the Reformation, which took place in the countries of Central Europe, the differences in the external nature of the services of the reformed and Roman Catholic Churches were minimal. Therefore, the Swedish rite is considered to be an example of a high-church tradition in Lutheranism. It is also formally considered that the Church of Sweden has Apostolic Succession, so Lawrence Petri was ordained bishop by Peter Magnusson, Bishop of Westeros, ordained to his rank in Rome.

The Reformation was also carried out in Finland, at that time claimed to be part of the kingdom of Sweden. The first Lutheran bishop in Finland (in Abo) was Mikael Agricola, who compiled the first primer of the Finnish language and translated the New Testament and parts into Finnish Old Testament.

Reformation in the Baltics

The Reformation in the Baltics began with the lands of the Teutonic Order. In 1511, Albrecht of Brandenburg was chosen as his grandmaster. He tried to pursue a policy independent of Poland, as a result of which in 1519 the Poles devastated all of Prussia. Then Albrecht decided to take advantage of the spread of the Reformation in Prussia, in 1525 he secularized the order and received it from the Polish king as a duchy. The German emperor deposed Albrecht, the pope excommunicated him from the church, but Albrecht did not give up his cause.

Reformation processes affected the lands of the Livonian Confederation quite early. Already in the 1520s, Luther's students Johann Bugenhagen, Andreas Knopcken and Sylvester Tegetmeyer performed here. The reformer of Dorpat was Melchior Hoffman. Their sermons found a lively response among both the nobles and the burghers and urban poor. As a result, in 1523-1524. The main Catholic churches in Tallinn and Riga were destroyed and the Catholic clergy expelled. Parts of the Bible were translated into Latvian by Nikolaus Ramm. In 1539, Riga became part of the Protestant cities. The Landtag in Valmiera in 1554 proclaimed freedom of faith, which actually meant the victory of Lutheranism. But the triumph of one or another creed in various parts the former Livonian Confederation was largely determined by who they began to belong to after the Livonian War.

Anabaptists

After the defeat in the Peasant War, the Anabaptists did not show themselves openly for a long time. Nevertheless, their teaching spread quite successfully, and not only among peasants and artisans. In the early 30s, a large number of them were in West Germany.

John of Leiden at the baptism of girls

Calvinist Reformation

Reformation in Switzerland

A situation similar to the German one also developed in Switzerland, where the authority of the Catholic Church fell due to abuse, debauchery and ignorance of the clergy. The monopoly position of the church in the field of ideology here was also undermined by the successes of secular education and humanism. However, here in Switzerland, purely political ones were added to the ideological prerequisites: the local burghers sought to turn a confederation of cantons independent from each other into a federation, secularize church lands, and prohibit military mercenaryism, which diverted workers from production.

However, such sentiments prevailed only in the so-called urban cantons of the country, where capitalist relations had already emerged. The more conservative forest cantons maintained friendly relations with the Catholic monarchies of Europe, whose armies they supplied with mercenaries.

The close connection between political and ideological protest gave rise to the Reformation movement in Switzerland, the most prominent representatives which they performed, performed in remembrance of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. While Luther made an alliance with the princes, Zwingli was a supporter of republicanism, an exposer of the tyranny of monarchs and princes.

Zwingli's ideas became widespread in Switzerland during his lifetime, but after the death of the reformer they were gradually supplanted by Calvinism and other movements of Protestantism.

The core tenet of the teachings of John Calvin was the doctrine of “universal predestination,” according to which God destined each person for his fate: for some, eternal damnation and sorrow, for others, the chosen ones, eternal salvation and bliss. A person is not given the opportunity to change his fate; he can only believe in his chosenness, applying all his hard work and energy to achieve success in worldly life. Calvin affirmed the spiritual nature of the sacrament and believed that only the elect receive God's grace during its celebration.

Calvin's ideas spread to Switzerland and beyond, serving as the basis for the Reformation in England and the Dutch Revolution.

Reformation in Scotland

In Scotland, the initial manifestation of Luther's ideas was brutally suppressed: Parliament tried to ban the distribution of his books. However, this attempt was largely unsuccessful. And only the decisive influence political factor(Scottish lords hoped to get rid of French influence by supporting English Protestantism) legitimized the Reformation.

Reformation in the Netherlands

The main premises of the Reformation in the Netherlands were determined as in other European countries, a combination of socio-economic, political, cultural changes with increasing different layers society's dissatisfaction with the Catholic Church - its privileges, wealth, extortions, ignorance and immorality of the clergy. Important role Opposition to the policies pursued by the government, which brutally persecuted dissenters, even to the point of equating heretical views with a crime against the state, also played a role in the spread of reformation ideas.

J. Lefebvre d'Etaplemes and G. Brisonnet (bishop of Meaux). In the 20-30s of the 16th century, Lutheranism and Anabaptism became widespread among wealthy townspeople and the plebeian masses. A new rise of the reformation movement, but in the form of Calvinism, dates back to the 40-50s.

Calvinism was in France the ideological banner of both the social protest of the plebeians and the emerging bourgeoisie against feudal exploitation, and the opposition of the reactionary-separatist feudal aristocracy to the growing royal absolutism; the latter, to strengthen his power in France, used not the Reformation, but Catholicism, while at the same time asserting the independence of the French Catholic Church from the papal throne (royal Gallicanism). Opposition of various strata to absolutism resulted in the so-called Wars of Religion, which ended in the victory of royal absolutism and Catholicism.

Reformation in England

The Reformation in England, unlike other countries, was carried out “from above”, at the behest of the monarch Henry VIII, who thus tried to break with the pope and the Vatican, as well as strengthen his absolute power. Under Elizabeth I, the final edition of the Anglican Creed (the so-called “39 Articles”) was compiled. The “39 Articles” also recognized Protestant dogmas about justification by faith, Holy Scripture as the only source of faith and the Catholic dogma about the only saving power of the church (with some reservations). The church became national and became an important support of absolutism, it was headed by the king, and the clergy was subordinate to him as part of the state apparatus of the absolutist monarchy. The service was held on English. The teaching of the Catholic Church on indulgences, on the veneration of icons and relics was rejected, and the number of holidays was reduced. At the same time, the sacraments of baptism and communion were recognized, and the church hierarchy, as well as the liturgy and pomp of worship characteristic of the Catholic Church. Tithes were still collected, which began to go to the king and the new owners of the monastery lands.

Russia and the Reformation

There was no Reformation as such in Russia. However, due to close contacts with the states of Central Europe, as well as military clashes, masters began to appear in Russia, as well as prisoners of war, who were allowed to practice their faith by the Russian tsars.

The most massive resettlement occurred during the Livonian War, during which not only artisans, but even hierarchs of the Lutheran Church found themselves deep into the Russian Kingdom. So in the city, the Finnish reformer Mikael Agricola, the bishop of the city of Abo, traveled to Moscow as part of an embassy. In the poetic “Exposition on Luthors” by the Moscow scribe Ivan Nasedka, who relied on the experience of the polemical writings of the Ukrainian Zacharia Kopystensky. A number of researchers associate the activities of Peter I in transforming the Russian Empire with Protestant influence. Orthodox Church(abolition of the patriarchate with the subordination of the church to secular power, restrictions on monasticism).

However, very exotic personalities were periodically classified as Lutherans in Russia. The Old Believer book “Russian Grapes” tells about a certain Vavil, famous for his ascetic deeds and burned in 1666: “Byash... of the foreign race, Luthor faith, artistic teachings, all the artistic sciences passed... in the more glorious Academy of Paris, studying for a long time, languages but by many... good and well-versed verbs.”

Counter-Reformation, then internally these were processes that can be called reformation in the Catholic Church itself. Paul IV (a member of the commission of Paul III) expelled from Rome 113 bishops who illegally left their dioceses, under him hundreds of monks were sent back to their monasteries. Even cardinals suspected of immorality were persecuted.

In addition, a new type of monastic orders were established - the Theatines, Capuchins, Ursulines and Jesuits. The latter began actively promoting Catholicism both in Protestant countries and in territories where there had previously been no Christian missionaries at all. Upon entering the order, the Jesuit swore an oath not only to the general, but also to the pope himself. Largely thanks to the activities of the Jesuits, it was possible to return the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to the Catholic Church.

Results of the Reformation

The results of the reform movement cannot be characterized unambiguously. On the one hand, the Catholic world, which united all peoples Western Europe under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, ceased to exist. United catholic church was replaced by a multitude of national churches, which were often dependent on secular rulers, whereas previously the clergy could appeal to the pope as an arbiter. On the other hand, national churches contributed to the growth of the national consciousness of the peoples of Europe. At the same time, the cultural and educational level of residents has significantly increased Northern Europe, which before that was like the outskirts Christendom- the need to study the Bible led to the growth of both primary educational institutions(mainly in the form of parochial schools) and higher education, which was reflected in the creation of universities to train personnel of national churches. For some languages, writing was specially developed in order to be able to publish the Bible in them.

The proclamation of spiritual equality stimulated the development of ideas about political equality. Thus, in countries where the majority were Reformed, the laity were given greater opportunities in governing the church, and citizens - in governing the state.

The main achievement of the Reformation was that it significantly contributed to the change of old feudal economic relations to new capitalist ones. The desire for economy, for the development of industry, for the abandonment of expensive entertainment (as well as expensive religious services) contributed to the accumulation of capital, which was invested in trade and production. As a result, Protestant states began to get ahead in economic development Catholic and Orthodox. Even the Protestant ethic itself contributed to the development of the economy.