TLC2: A Dropped Pen

[Jasen777]

Prologue

July 2, 1505 - Erfurt

"Come back Martin, you've dropped your pen," his teacher called out to him.

Martin had been about to exit the building, but he turned around and walked back towards his teacher. He was glad his teacher called him; his father would be most upset if he lost any more pens. "Thanks," he mumbled as he picked the pen up. His teacher might know law, but he was a bit of a dodder. He didn't really want to get trapped into a conversation with the old man, listening to him read from books for lectures was bad enough…

It was 20 minutes before Martin could break away from his teacher. Martin still did not care much for the man as a teacher. He had to admit though that he was a nice guy. It was unfortunate that he had taken his wife's death so harshly.

So it was that Martin was just opening the door when the large lighting strike hit. "St. Anne!" Martin exclaimed. It was probably the largest lighting strike he had ever seen. If he hadn't dropped his pen he might have been right under that strike. He had experience doubts, but this had to be Providence. He was now certain that he was meant to be a lawyer.

[Jasen777]

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[Jasen777]

Religious Turmoil in 16th Century Europe


The Great Peasant Revolt and Thomas Muntzer

The background against which the revolt occurred was an ever increasing squeezing of the peasantry by both the secular and scared rulers. So much land had been declared noble possessions that many peasants had no place where they could legally gather wood or fish. Church officials often charged peasants for their services and sold indulgences at rates that they really couldn't afford. Even given all this, the peasant revolts may have remained small and scattered where it not for the presence of Thomas Muntzer.

Thomas Muntzer was a priest at Braunschweig in Thuringia. He came to strongly identify with the peasant's grievances and his message, that all things should be held in common for the benefit of all, was just the message the peasants wanted to hear. His famous pamphlet, All in Common, was spread widely throughout the Holy Roman Empire.

Muntzer was an extreme anti-cleric, denouncing the clergy for their moral laxity, spiritual impotence, and their oppression of the common people. Another of his famous works, Of the Priesthood of all Believers, amounted to a rejection of the whole administrative structure of the church. He stressed that every believer had the right to administer the sacraments, or even to preach if the were called by God - no appointment by man was needed.

Fanned by Muntzer's ideas, by 1522 large revolts were present not only in Thuringia, but Saxony, Hesse, Palatinate, and Swabia as well. Emperor Charles V, who was facing a French incursion into Italy and a major threat from the Ottomans, was initially unable to respond to the revolt.

By 1523, the peasants had defeated several small imperial forces and had begun to organize a system based on Muntzer's ideas of common holdings. Muntzer was heavily involved in this process, and emerged as the de facto leader of the movement. It was at this time that he popularized the idea of continual revelation, that God's revelation was not complete in the Bible nor handled by Church tradition, but that God speaks new truths to modern apostles.

Historians like to speculate what would have happened had the peasants been allowed to form a lasting government, but it was not to be. Still unable to bring most of his main force to bear, Charles IV nevertheless was able to raise an army of 20,000 consisting in large part of Swiss mercenaries. The army plundered it's way through the empire, as mercenary armies often did, and initially ran in to little in the way of resistance.

Muntzer was working to form a true army to oppose them, but the peasants were poorly armed and still poorly organized. He did manage to meet the mercenary army with a significant force (reported by temporary accounts at 50,000, although that is likely 3 or 4 times the true number) outside of Braunschweig on May 8, 1524. In the resulting battle, Muntzer was killed and the peasant army was dispersed, with the well-trained mercenary army taking few causalities. This ended the Great Revolt, although small disturbances would continue for some time. All told, an estimated 150,000 people died in the four-year conflagration.



Switzerland and a Precursor to Reformism

Before the disturbance to the north was put down, a new one just getting started in Switzerland. It was launched in 1523 when Ulrich Zwingli convinced the Zurich town council to adopt his proto-reformation views. Some point to an influence from Muntzer in his ideas, but this has now been largely discredited. In any case, Zwingli was a much more consistent theologian than Muntzer, and was not at all as radical socially.

Zwingli viewed the Catholic Church as having been corrupted by tradition. He believed that anything that the Church did that was not supported by scripture should be ended. To this end he lead Zurich in stripping churches of icons and finery, promoting the marriage of clergy, and ensuring that priests were educated and of high moral character. Theologically, he opposed the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, teaching instead that the bread and wine at mass were only symbolic of the body and blood of Christ. He also oversaw the city takeover of church property and social work, and began the practice in paying the priests from the city's coffers.

Zurich sent priests to convert other Swiss cities to the views of Zwingli, and was successful in the case of Mulhouse and Berne. Other areas refused, perhaps associating these reforms with the peasant revolts to the north. This was a mistake as they were nothing alike; indeed, there are signs that Zurich clamped down harshly on a pro-Muntzer movement. Another factor may have been that Zwingli taught strongly against the mercenary practice, something that several of the Swiss cantons were economically depended upon. These factors lead to the Swiss Religious War of 1528.

The immediate cause of the war was the execution of a Zurich priest in the Canton of Unterwalden, leading to a declaration of war by Zurich, Mulhouse, and Berne. The other cantons took little time in deciding in favor of Unterwalden. The 3-city alliance was initially successful, winning the First Battle of Lake Lucerne over the army of Unterwalden. However, two days later (April 7), while they were still regrouping, they were attacked by the combined armies of Uri, Schwyz, Lucerne, and Zug, and were utterly defeated in the Second Battle of Lake Lucerne. Among the causalities was Zwingli himself, who died the next day. As part of the peace settlement, Zurich, Mulhouse, and Berne had to reverse their religious reforms, and thus Catholicism triumphed among the Swiss.

[Jasen777]

Apostolicism: Sweden and England break from Catholicism

Sweden was a newly formed country, having won its independence from Denmark in 1523. The leadership of Gustav the Great was crucial in this achievement. Upon this victory, Gustav asked for Pope Clement's consent to replace Trolle as the archbishop of Sweden, since he had been heavily involved with the Danes. The Pope refused to do so however, which put Gustav in a tight spot.

An ecclesiastical tug of war broke out, as the Gustav and several of the individual bishops sought to hamper Trolle's influence. This continued for several years, until the arrival of Hans Meier from the HRE in 1527. Meier had been a follower of Muntzer and was an outspoken proponent of continual revelation, although he had come to the opinion that Muntzer's "All in Common" ideas were unworkable. Gustav was intrigued by the idea of continual revelation, and Meier became one of his close advisers. Shortly thereafter, Gustav announced that Meier had received a new revelation from God, that the Bishop of Rome should no longer have the power to appoint archbishops that were objectionable to sovereign secular powers. He then moved to make a man loyal to him the archbishop.

This move, along with the general resentment of their economic burden, lead to scattered peasant revolts throughout the country. These remained small and uncoordinated however. Many seemed to not care about Gustav's ousting of the Pope's influence in Sweden, or even his seizure of church property. The seized property was used to pay off Sweden's debt, and therefore allowed Gustav to slightly ease the economic burden on the peasantry (at least temporarily). Catholic doctrine and practice, outside the rights of the Pope, went unchanged.

The Pope was upset with this turn of events, and encouraged Denmark's King Frederick to invade Sweden. A Denmark army invaded Sweden in 1531, but was soundly defeated by Gustav's army. The result was so devastating to Denmark's army that Frederick was forced to cede the province of Bohuslan to Sweden. The province was of strategic value because it allowed Sweden direct access to the North Sea, thus circumventing Danish taxation of the North Sea to Baltic trade route.

England

England and the Papacy had a long history of conflict that provides the background for the importation of Apostolicism. The final straw was King Henry VIII's desire to secure a divorce from his marriage with Catherine of Aragon. It is commonly held by historians today that Henry wanted the divorce because Catherine had not provided him with an heir.

Henry sought the approval of Pope Clement for an annulment. However, this was seen as being against church law (since Catherine had been married to Henry's brother the marriage needed special permission to be allowed in the first place). In addition, Catherine was the Aunt of the Emperor Charles V who had recently sacked Rome and imprisoned the Pope for a time.

King Henry still had no approval by 1529, and was now willing to look at other options. A few of his advisors then suggested they follow the example of Sweden. Henry seized upon this, and declared that he had had a revelation that his current marriage was immoral and needed to be ended. Parliament gave consent, and Henry was shortly after wed to the Lady Anne Boleyn. This marriage met with more success for Henry, as Anne soon gave birth to a son, Edward. She went on to have two more children who survived infancy, Elizabeth and John.

This break from Rome continued, in culminated in the Act of Supremacy of 1532. It provided that England and England's Church had no ruler other than the King of England. This effectively blocked the Pope's influence in the country. As was the case with Sweden, little in the way of doctrine or practice of the church was changed, other than the idea of Apostolicism.

[Jasen777]

The Advent of Reformism and John Calvin

John Calvin had previously been expelled from France, but he found a welcome at the University of Paris when he returned in 1533. He was quickly tabbed to teach theology, and it was during this time that the doctrines of Reformism were first clearly expressed.

It's unclear how familiar Calvin was with Zwingli, Hus, and other proto-reformed figures, but he certainly shared some of their views. The authority of scripture was held prominent in Calvin's thinking, and he clearly defended the Zwinglian idea of the Lord's Supper as symbolic. He taught that the church needed reform, and controversially, that reform may have to be imposed by secular authorities since the church had become so corrupt.

Calvin of course was the great theologian of Reformism. His work, "On Religion," is still used as a standard text in many Reformed schools today. It was a systematic theology more consistent and elaborate than anything that had come before. Other than the previously mentioned position on biblical authority and the Lord's Supper, Calvin's chief contribution to theology was likely his advocacy of predestination. He taught that God had chosen the elect for salvation before time, to suggest otherwise would deny salvation by grace through faith or God's sovereignty.

Due to printing presses, Calvin's work was spread widely throughout France, and indeed beyond the country as well. At first his views were largely limited to the universities, but they gradually spread to the populace, especially in the larger cities. A turning point came in 1539, when King Francis became interested in Reformed ideas. The result would be years of warfare.

[Jasen777]

A Summary of European Religious Wars 1540 - 1565

French Conflicts of Religion - Francis' promotion of Reformism lead to a revolt of the southern nobility in 1540. The revolt was crushed at the Battle of Guise. In 1546 Francis moved to make reformism the established religion and himself the head of the French Church. This lead to scattered revolts, all of which were short lived. In 1550, some of the nobility led another revolt, this time with the aide of an imperial Hapsburg army. It's defeat a mere 12 miles outside Paris marked the last organized resistance to Reformism in France. These events lead to the settling of Guiana in South America by French Catholics.

Wars of Netherlandian Independence - Reformism had been spreading into the Netherlands since it became popular in France. Religion combined with repressed Netherlandian nationalism in 1551 causing a revolt against Haspurbg rule. It saw a war of seige and counter seige that lasted for 6 years before the 8 northern counties were granted their independce. William, the Count of Nassau-Dilenburg, was crowned William I, King of the Netherlands.

The Death of William I in 1559 sparked an attempt by Phillip II of Spain to regain the northern counties. He armies enjoyed some initial success, but the tide turned against them when his German allies were distracted by events closer to home and France and England (which had gradually rejected Apostolicism for Reformism under Edwards VI) entered the war in support of the Netherlands. The war continued until 1565 when Spanish finance reached a breaking point. The concluding Treaty of Utrecht saw the southern counties added to the Kingdom of Netherlands, and the Bishopric of Liege ceeded to France. Seperately, England gave Calais to France in exchange for a small payment and the renouncing of French land claims in North America (which at this point was unsettled by either French or English).

War of Swedish Ascendancy - Sometimes grouped with the 2nd War of Netherlandian Independence as the Great Religious War. Muntzerian revolts broke out in Germany in 1560, which the Princes found difficult to fully suppress, as the Ottomans were once again pressing on the eastern borders. They asked the Danish Monarch, Christian IV, to intervene on their behalf. He did, and his army was able to help the princes restore order.

Gustav the Great of Sweden saw a big chance and pounced, seizing Denmark's eastern provinces and invading Norway as well. After a combined Anglo-Swedish fleet destroyed Denmark's navy, Copenhagen was put at risk and a Swedish army was landed in Holstein. The Swedish army defeated the Denmark army returning from Germany, and Christian IV had to sue for peace. Sweden gained Denmark's two remaining eastern provinces, and acquired Norway as a vassal state. England gained the Faeroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland.

[Rhysz]

Great timeline! Keep The Dutch strong mate ^^