Module Number  EUO7

Date: 10 oCTOBER 2004

Title: PROTESTANT REFORMATION

Introduction:

The Reformation of the sixteenth century was, in many ways, a watershed in the religious and political history of Europe. The medieval concept of “Christendom” which saw all European peoples united in one faith and symbolically under the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, gave way to a variously divided Europe that no longer aspired to be in unity. The Reformation, which had its beginning in Martin Luther’s protest against thought and practice of the Roman Catholic Church,  was a religious and theological reform movement that eventually led to divorce from the Catholic Church and formally established Protestant churches (Lutheran, Calvinist, Anglican) throughout Europe.

This formal success of the Reformation movement had as its driving dynamic a new vision of the Christian religion, but was aided by a variety of other factors, such as the heterogeneity of the Holy Roman Empire, the independence of the Imperial Free Cities, etc.

The dynamic progress of the Reformation as well as the convergence of extraneous factors is well illustrated by the following maps.

In Section 1 we examine the structure of the Holy Roman Empire. The Empire was characterized by a unique governmental structure, where central authority (the emperor) was fairly weak and real power was exercised by the territorial rulers who in turn ruled either secular or ecclesiastical territories.

In Section 2 we consider the expansion of Protestantism. The Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century was both a theological controversy and the governmental decision to retain the Catholic Church as the official religion or introduce the new Protestant faith. In the Holy Roman Empire, which was largely contiguous with what is generally known as Germany, this determination was made by a large number of individual rulers, in contrast to places like France or England, where the determination of the king settled matters for the entire country.

In Section 3, the focus is on rise and expansion of universities, both Catholic and Protestant, during the 15th and 16th centuries. In sequence, these maps demonstrate the significant expansion if higher learning in Europe from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century.

In Section 4 we turn to the role of the Jesuits (the “Society of Jesus”) in what is called the Catholic Counter-reformation. The Society of Jesus, founded in 1540,  quickly proved to be the most dynamic force in the Catholic Church for education and combating the Protestant heresy. This Protestant threat was taken seriously and the involvement of Jesuits throughout Europe may be taken as an indicator of the regained vitality of the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century.  

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Legend/key/instructions to artist.  Steve, the maps in this sections should be use the  tab/ button arrangements as they are not chronological

Frame No EU07_1a

Caption: The Larger Territories of the Empire

Use map EU07_1b Delete the unbroken black lines. Green lines denote boundary of Holy Roman Empire; brown black lines are rivers.  How do you want to color the other areas within the Empire that were not ecclesiasctial?

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The Empire was also comprised of territories ruled by secular rulers – dukes, landgraves, etc. These territories differed in size and, therefore, political importance and power. This map depicts the larger of these secular territories.   

 

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Caption: The Ecclesiastical Territories of the Empire

Use Map inventory number(s): EU07_1a.jpg. Delete the unbroken black lines. Green lines denote boundary of Holy Roman Empire; brown black lines are rivers.  How do you want to color the other areas within the Empire that were not ecclesiasctial?

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The Empire also included a number of towns and cities that had the designation “imperial free cities” because they were subject not to the territorial rulers in whose territory they were located but to the emperor. Again, these cities differed in importance and power. Some, such as Nuremberg, were in fact city-states with jurisdiction also in the neighboring countryside.

 

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Caption: The Imperial Free Cities

Use Map inventory (EU07_1c) number(s): Delete the (weaker) unbroken lines, retain the (strong) black line (border of the empire). The circles can be solidly colored.

Text:
The Empire also included a number of towns and cities that had the designation “imperial free cities” because they were subject not to the territorial rulers in whose territory they were located but to the emperor. Again, these cities differed in importance and power. Some, such as Nuremberg, were in fact city-states with jurisdiction also in the neighboring countryside.

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Section Title: EU07_2: The expansion of Protestantism in the holy roman (german) empire

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Caption: Formal Introduction of Protestantism to 1530 (excluding free cities)

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The several maps show the expansion of this governmental introduction of the Reformation. While this governmental action must not be equated with majority popular support for religious change, some rough conclusions can nonetheless be drawn.

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Caption: Formal Introduction of Protestantism to 1555

Use Map inventory number(s):EU07_2b.jpg  Again, delete black unbroken lines; retain the strong black lines. The circles should be solid color.

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The year 1555 marked an incisive fissure in the formal adoption of Protestant rites in that the so-called Peace of Augsburg, promulgated that year by the Imperial Diet meeting in that city stipulated the official recognition of Lutheranism.


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Caption: Formal Introduction of Protestantism to 1570

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The legal freedom to introduce Protestantism led to a new (and final) wave of formal acceptance of Protestantism.

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Section Title: EU07_3: The Rise of Universities

Frame No EU07_3a:

Caption: Universities established between 1200 and 1400

Use Map inventory number(s):EU07_3a.jpg In this map, the national boundaries are denoted in lighter lines; they should be deleted. The stronger unbroken lines denote rivers and should be retained.

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After the initial wave of university foundations in the Middle Ages, there was a new wave of new universities in the fifteenth century, all of them - since theology and philosophy were the most important subjects taught - established with papal license. The several maps show intriguing geographic dimension of the proliferation of these institutions of higher learning, particularly in central and northern Europe. The maps show for the sixteenth century establishment of Protestant universities (without papal license) and the additional foundation of Catholic universities during that century.  

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Caption: Universities established between 1400 and 1500

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The fifteenth century brought a stunning increase in university foundations. Their geographic distribution suggests judgments about the centers of learning and education in late medieval Europe.

Frame No EU07_3c

Caption: Universities established by Protestants in the sixteenth century

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Text:

The Protestant Reformation may be said to have been a university movement in that most of the Protestant reformers were university faculty. The course of the Reformation movement brought the establishment of many new Protestant universities, mainly to assure the proper supply of clergy. Their geographic distribution also allows judgments about the spread of Protestantism in Europe.

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Caption: Universities established by Catholics in the sixteenth century

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Catholicism responded to the challenge of the Protestant Reformation by establishing new universities, much for the same reason, as did the Protestants. Geographically, these new Catholic universities were concentrated in Southern Europe.

Section Title: the expansion of the society of jesus (jesuits)

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Caption: Jesuit stations to 1540 -1556

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The sequence of maps shows the spread of residences and colleges (schools) operated by Jesuits from its establishment as an order to 1615. The concentration of houses in Southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal) is significant; it demonstrates nicely the sources of Catholic renewal. Later maps show the expansion throughout Europe, in particular the concentration of Jesuit establishments in Belgium. This in part explained by the concerns to find a Catholic presence in that country.

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Caption: Jesuit stations to 1557 - 1580

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The first generation of Jesuit activity brought a dramatic expansion throughout Catholic Europe.

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Caption: Jesuit stations to 1615

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By the early seventeenth century, Jesuit stations had increase dramatically, expressing the vitality of the Catholic Church in dealing with the challenge of the Protestant Reformation.

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Summary: