The Political Context of the Reformation
The Protestant Reformation and the Rise of Nationalism
While previous attempts to reform the Medieval Church failed as they were squelched by the Inquisition, such was not the case with the Protestant Reformation. No, the reformers did not succeed to reform the Church of Rome. But there emerged from this important event a vibrant spiritual movement that reformed Christianity itself. Indeed, it was a rather orchestrated point in history under the superintendence of God.
To the Protestant believer, events surrounding the Protestant Reformation were heading toward a single event – the recovery of the old time gospel lost under the shadow of darkness caused by the departure of the Medieval Church from the biblical faith. This also proved to be the key that unlocked the door toward the inauguration of the modern world in such a way that would never have been accomplished single-handedly by the intellectual forces of the Renaissance.
What follows is a summary presentation of the context of the Protestant Reformation as an attempt to summon the witness of history to illustrate the fact that it was indeed a product of Divine Providence. This survey begins with the political context of the Reformation in mind followed by the social, intellectual and global contexts in subsequent articles.
A Context of Political Instability
As church history professor David Calhoun observes, the political context of the Reformation basically revolved around Saxony in Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, France, England and Italy.
- Saxony – It all started in Saxony, a small but important kingdom in Germany, which at that point in time was a rather divided country. The kingdom was ruled by an elector, Frederick the Wise, the founder of the then new University of Wittenberg, where Martin Luther was professor of theology.
- The Holy Roman Empire – Saxony, however, was part of a larger political unit called the Holy Roman Empire subject to an elected ruler whose election was for the most part controlled by a German house called the House of Hapsburg. The Holy Roman Emperor at the time was Charles V (elected in 1519) whose rule not only covered the territory of the empire but also the hereditary territories of Hapsburg, the Netherlands and Spain.
- Spain – Of all the territories under the emperor's rule, Spain was what he called his home. Spain had just been united at this time by the marriage of the emperor's grandparents, Ferdinand and Isabella who drove the Muslims out and expelled the Jews, who also enforced the Inquisition, thus making the country the strongest Roman Catholic territory in Europe. So much so that Ferdinand and Isabella as well as their descendants were said to be more Roman Catholic than the pope himself.
- France – Between Spain and the Holy Roman Empire was another important kingdom called France. Already centralized and unified, France was ruled by Francis I, who became king in 1515. Although himself a Roman Catholic, he was a thorn in the side to both the Holy Roman emperor and the Pope Leo X.
- England – England was then recovering from a century of war with France, followed by 30 more years of civil war (known in English history as the War of Roses). The country was finally united by Henry VII of the House of Tudor. His son, Henry VIII became the king of England in 1509 who was a key figure in the history of English Reformation.
- Italy – Italy at this point was divided into 5 different major regions (Venice, Milan, Florence, the Papal States, and Naples) caught in a somewhat unending conflict with each other. Italy also suffered from repeated invasions by France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire.
While the pope had spiritual jurisdiction in practically all of Christendom, excepting those places where the Greek Orthodox Church was the dominant faith, he had temporal control over part of central Italy. Leo X, who was the pope at this time, was one of the so-called Renaissance Six (i.e., popes who reigned starting with Sixtus IV in 1471 to Clement VII in 1534) who according to historian Barbara Tuchman "possessed no sense of spiritual mission, provided no meaningful religious guidance, performed no moral service for the Christian world."
The Rise of the Spirit of Nationalism
Until this time, people would identify themselves as citizens of Christendom. But a new phenomenon was on the rise - nationalism, animating the series of events in political territories mentioned above. People then started to appreciate their national identity signaling the eventual break of nation-states with the Church of Rome that eventually led to the establishment of autonomous national churches under the banner of Protestantism.
Sources:
- Calhoun, David. "Reformation and Modern Church History." Covenant Theological Seminary.
- "Reform and Renewal in the Christian Church." McKay, John P., Bennett D. Hill and John Bucker. A History of Western Society Volume 1. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991.
- Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation (4-Volume Set). Oxford University Press, 1996.
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