Secularism: The Renaissance to the
Enlightenment
Secularization
- the separation of church and state
- From the Renaissance until the Enlightenment
secularization has been a major movement in Europe
The Leaders of the Reformation
- Martin Luther started the Reformation when he nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany and since the printing press has been invented his ideas were able to be spread all throughout Europe
- Next came John Calvin who was very popular in Switzerland
- There were many other protestant reformers such as, Zwingli and John Knox, but Calvin and Luther are the most important
The Council of Trent
- The Catholic Church was sick of the abuse from the protestant reformers so they came up with the Council of Trent
- Three sessions over 18 years were held to see how the Catholic Church would deal with the Reformation expansion
- The council addresses many reforms
- The selling of church offices and other religious goods
- Bishops were forced to move to their dioceses
- The strength of authority of local bishops
- New rules for bishops
- Better education, more strictly celibate
The council reaffirmed these ideas
- Traditional education
- Good works in salvation
- Authority of tradition
- Seven Sacraments
- Transubstantiation
- Witholding of the Eucharist cup to the laity
- Clergical celibacy, purgatory, the veneration of Saints, and the selling of indulgence
Although other groups criticized and reformed themselves, the Catholic church had a reformation of its own, looking to reform Christian doctrine Martin Luther
Government
- Throughout Europe there were many different religious thoughts
- Many countries became Protestant because of the Reformation and others remained Catholic
- A good example of the Church reigning over the government is England from 1509-47
- King Henry VIII wanted a divorce from his first wife Catherine, but since she was married to his brother and the Pope gave Henry permission to marry her he couldn't give him a divorce
- So, Henry's advisors suggest Henry to sever ties with Rome and give himself a divorce by declaring himself King supreme in English Spiritual affairs
Other European Countries
- Most other European countries had secular issues
- Especially, France, The German Provinces, the Netherlands, Spain, etc.
- These new religions began to create issues all over Europe
- For example if you didn't believe in whatever religion the king wants you could be imprisoned, or even killed
- Plus many alliances were created and they are what led to the Holy Wars
Bibliography
www.allaboutrenaissancefaires.com
www.brysons.net/miltonweb/refoutline.html
http://faculty.ucc.edu/egh-damerow/theenlightenment
http://history.hanover.edu/courses
The Enlightenment
- Late 1600's-1700's
- Begins in France then spreads
The Renaissance
- 1400's - 1500's
- Began in Italy, then spread to the rest of Europe
Government and the Church
- During the Renaissance many countries had Christendoms, or the ruler being the head of state and the Pope being the spiritual head
- The government and the church coexisted, but they were always in conflict because the church claimed to own everyone's soul, even the emperor's, so as a result they had supremcy over the state as well as the administration of the Catholic Church
- This struggle for power allowed Italian towns to expand and become independent, but the Pope's interest was only in the Papal states, to gain back power he lost during the Great Schism
The Great Schism
- The Great Schism (1378-1417) was when three people wanted to be Pope and after a long struggle Martin V was chosen because he did not support a strong political influence for the church
New ways of Thinking
- Humanism- the philosophy that humans are rational beings
- Humanists described the human control over events instead of the divine control of events
- The thinking that politic should be free from any relationship to religion continued to grow
- 1516 Sir Thomas Moore writes Utopia which shows a perfect society in which show the church and state coexisting
The Enlightenment is the time after the Scientific Revolution when people begin to think differently about government
- The Enligtenment is the time when people believed that modern science and our understanding of the social world can help us improve the living conditions of the planet
- Enlightenment thinkers believe war, poverty, and injustice aren't God given punishments, but bad management
- They believed governments could be reformed or overthrown, disease could be fought with medicine, and social problems could be fixed with reason
Philosophes
- Philosophes were French Enlightenment thinkers
- There were many philosophes, the most important were:
- Voltaire- freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and secularism
- Rousseau- general will of the people
- Montisquieu- three branches of government, checks-n-balances
- Locke- natural rights, people rule
- Hobbes- strong monarchy, no rights
End of Government and Church conflicts
- The Enlightenment shows the end of conflict between religion and government
- It's after the Scientific Revolution that people begin to think logically
- They finally realize that killing over religious beliefs is ridiculous and that peope should get to believe in whatever they want
Government in the Enlightenment
- Most governments were monarchies, but with enlightenment ideals, like freedom of religion
- Most governments were officially secularized and they've stayed that way since Voltaire-
Raphael, School of Athens
The Reformation
- 1500's-1600's
- Began in Germany and quickly spread through the rest of Europe
Map of Europe
during the
Reformation.