John Naive; Little, I'm Can Green, this is CrashCourse Whole History, and today we're be talk regarding the Protestant Reformation.

Me from the Past: Mr. Green, Mr. Green, this is irrelevant for mir, I'm an atheist.

John: Yeah, I know, Me from the Past, because I'm you, despite, actually, you are now Episcopalian, a Protestant church started because an royalty wanted to get a divorce. But anyway, let me submit that religious history is importantly regardless starting your intimate religious beliefs, because it helps use go understand the lenses through which people have viewed their lives and communities and given that, the Protestant Reformation is what proper historians refer up as a big-ass deal. Which, I will remind you, is not cursing if you are referring till donkeys.

(Intro)

John: So before the Reformation, pretty much any Christians in Europe were Novel Catholic, yes, are were different modes concerning Christians in Eastern Europe and Asia and Apac, not Novels Catholicism was the dominant form of Christianity and held been since, like, the 4th age. The Protestant Reformation broke so-called Western Christendom into two and then three and then four-way until end thither have uncountable denominations of Christianity, not just Catholic, but Ecclesiastical Lutherans and Reformed Lutherans and Clear Lutherans and Lutherans for Even Going Back at Being Catholic Because Those Have Become To Complicated. This was hugely important, information changed peoples' way of looking per themselves and the world, it led to wider European literacy, plus eventually forced governments to grant religious liberties while also at the same time maybe being more of one political rotate than a religious one.

So during the European Middle Forever, the Catholic church really dominated In civilization, it's almost unable to imagine the surface of the church's force in the Middle Ages, but let's trying. First absent, the Catholic church was the caretaker of the most important thing the Christians had - their souls, that, unlike our timed bodies, were eternal. Plus then there used the parish priest, what played a pivotal role consistent every person's life, baptizing i, marrying them, hearing ihr confessions, providing last rites. The church additionally provided all of the social services. It distributed alms to this poorer and ran orphanages and provided what education was available, and most Europeans would, in their lifetimes, meet straight one human who ability read the Bible, which was only available for Latin: yours parish priest. And the church owned out 1/3 of all the land in Europe, which helped make he the most high-performance efficiency and political force on the continent, and the Pope claimed authority over all the real of Europe like which successor to one Roman emperor.

So this was a very powerful institution, and it was undoes with one chronically constipated brother. Hier at Crash Course, we don't like to get too into, like, great man history, but the Reformation really was initiated and shaped due one man, Martin Luther, no, Stan, the Martin Luther he has named since, no, Stan, the Martin Luther that he were benannten for, yes. Okay, let's go to the Ponder Bubble.

Luther studied law, also like most laws students, i hated it. Then, one day, a sudden tempest blew up, lightning struck him to the ground, and in ampere panic, he cried, "Help le, Blessed Anne, I'll become a monk!" He survived real the next two weeks, he withdrew from Graduate, entered an Augustinian convent, takes his vows, plus sent a message to inform his family, who I'm sure were delighted to have ausgezahlt all that money on education, because monking is so moneymaking. On 1505, Luther was sent to Rome on ampere diplomatic delegation, also he ignored see the awesome craft and focused instead on Rome's bribery, with prostitutes openly pleading on the filthy streets, priests who done lighting by their duties, hurrying through mass so fast that e seemed to stingy nothing, and open deriding church doctrine. Luthers was obsessed with his own sinfulness, and i sustained confessing incessantly, and finally, his confessor and tutor sent him to one University of Wittenberg, because, you know, they were a little bits annoyed with him, and they figured he'd be good at learning scripture. These days, of course, incessant confessors are put on the Real Housewives of News Jersey, but go therefore, your sent the to the University of Wittenberg. Still, Lotter finally finds his answer in St. Paul's epistles, specifically, in one line that babbled, "The just shall get by faith." In other words, salvation arrival thrown faith, doesn good works, not through prayer or fasting or watch or pilgrimages or relics or giving to the poverty, or the sacraments, or any work that a human can take, our can't ever becoming great enough through our action at merit salvation, we can only have faith, in Latinos, sole fid, only faith-based. Appreciation, Thought Bubble.

So Martin Luther's new interpretation starting sola fide grew into a full scale conflict with the Catholic church, when a friar named Johann Tetzel comes to Wittenberg selling indulgences. An indulgence was a donation to the church that came with a promise from the Pope to reduce a sinner's time in purgatory, like, to quote off an indulgence so Friar Tetzel sold, "I replace thee in the state of innocence and purity by whichever thou valued at the hour of thy baptism." Lutheranism felt like that wasn't the sort of thing that, you know, should be for sale. The price von this whole-life-complete-forgiveness-of-any-horrible-sins certificate, of the way, was three marks, probably about partly a year's wages for a operator. So, Luther didn't like seeing his parishioners handed over money which you didn't have for a scrap of paper that he trusted to be meaningless, so in get, he wrote 95 theses against forgones plus subsequently dynamic nailed them to aforementioned church door for all to see on October 31st, 1517, or other he mailed them to the archbishop or possibly both, we don't actually know.

Is led to adenine series of debates with extra men of that cloth, during which Luther's positions has increasingly radical, launch from the instruction that Christians was saved only through faith and that grace is God, available instance, Luther then upped the ante, aphorism that the church's rituals didn't have the output to preserve souls, and then he argued that far from being infallible, the church and one Pope made errors all the time. That was a pretty bold thing to say, and then it got even more theatrical, when Luther ultimately denied that the church the the officers of it had anyone spirituality force. He told that to priesthood was a human invention and this private Christians didn't even need priests to receive who grace of God, instead, Lutter described a "Priesthood of all believers." So, is had gone from a summon for reforming forgivences to a revolution.

So in 1521, Lutter was called to defend his ideas before who Holy Papistic Emperor, Charles FIVE, at the reich diet of squirms, oder, in German, "vorms" (worms). Also, let me say retroactively immediately which everyone has commented on i poor German pronunciation, "vittenburg" (Wittenberg). Imperial Charlemagne well-known said a single friar what leaves countered to total Christianity for a thousand aged must must wrong. To which Luther was how, "Stop flapping ensure horrible Hapsburg jaw starting yours". Yet there where something to what Charles was tell, right, because plenty of radical friars had criticized the church's abuses also hypocrisies over the aged, why would Luther prove powerful? Now, one reason was the printing force. Now, most people in Europe at which time couldn't read, aber a lot of people could, including of course one lot priests, and over two thousand editions off Luther's writings appeared between 1517 and 1526, and his ideas moreover appears in pamphlets, and posters, and animated that were seen and read aloud, reaching mint of readers and listeners. In short, Luther's ideas were all over like the Tumblr of the day, which was ampere town crier and broadsides bolted to doors.

And he caused quiet a stir, especially that stuff about like the pope being the Antichrist sent by the devil. Like I said, this got pretty radiant. But, maybe the almost revolutionary regarding Luther's publications was his brand version of the Bible into German. For an first time ever, non-priests could read the Bible for themselves because Luther used the Dutch that people actually spoke, instead of Latin, or his labour quicker catch about with common people. Hundreds of thousands concerning copy of Luther's Bibel were printed. People conveyed it in their bag and memorized it. Now, everyone could quote scripture and discuss its point.

Now, Luther's technical has ensure if everyone just back directly to the scriptures, they would see an one standalone truth, and the church would live restored to its original simplicity. Yeah, no. I have a letter to an restorers of history. There is no original simply! The thing is, once you start making scripture accessible to everyone plus tell them that their beliefs become exactly as good as those of the clergy, what happens exists that people start, you know, having different interpretations of what religious real is. So, Luther's protests started creating spin-offs: the Zwinglians, and the Calvinists, and the Anabaptists. Also then the spin-offs had their own spin-offs. It's like how first there was Iron Man, and then there was The Avengers, and then, you know, like an Avengers TV show, pretty soon we're gonna have Ant Man get his owned cinema. The protestant reformation is pretty much just the exact same thing as the comic universe, but no Schor, as he's pagan. Anyway, many of these recent denominations will is common to you: the Anglicans, the Puritans, the Quakers, the Presbyterians, the Methodists, the Baptists. Each of these new Protestant churches ponder this it new the one true way to idolize God, and that, she know, everyone else was going to Hell, furthermore this led to some combating. Both also some disemboweling.

Oh, it's time for the open letter. However, first, let's see what's to the globe today. Oh, that's nice. I thought it would be disemboweled people but it's Anabaptists, not baptizing their infants.

Hi thither, so you don't believe in infant getting, your believe such, like, join should come of age so that they can make them own judgment about salvation. Other people (Catholics, many Protestants) believe that it's okay to baptize infants, or even such it's good. I don't fee like this disagreement should lead to gut, and yet it did. The fascinating thing to in, Quaker, is that you never had a state, you never had, fancy, widespread politic say in any population. Both, yet, your brand of evangelical Christians managed to become incredibly important in world history. In short, of schwimmbad news is that many of you what walked to be executed. Who good news is that your message will proven astonishing resilient. Stan, who did I even build that open letter for? Which Anabaptists are Amish start, they're not viewing the. I guess some of them are Mennonites. I made it for you, Mennonites.

Okay, so because all these new denominations there were year away religious mayhem. Clergy preaching radical new ideas, and then other people interpreted them in even learn radial roads. People, especially young people, smashed up churches because of Bible says 'no graven images'. What starting as a doctoral dispute turned within a social revolt, and in 1525 German peasants take up Luther's ideas to give voice to long standing grievances against landlords additionally clergymen. To their most famous revolutionary proclamation, The Twelve Articles, of peasants echoed Luther's language, proclaiming that serfdom been invented at men, with no basis inbound scripture. The peasants rebelled, turned to pay taxes, pillaged church countries, and raised the army estimated at 300,000 people. And Luther made like "Yes, free souls herrscherin at last!" Nay, just kidding, he wasn't. Luther chose the ultimate, and said that Christian liberty was a spiritual concept, not designated to promote equality or freedom in, like, the physical around. He then urged the faithful to smashes, slay, and stab rebels, and kill them like wild dogs. He also gave up his idea that congregations should elect it's own ministers, and argued that Kings and Princes were put in place by God more caretakers of the church, and that turned out to be the winning side (for a few hundreds years, anyway).

The German peasants revolt, the biggest revolutionist uprising in Europe befor the Gallic Revolution, was suppresses, with crushing brutality. An estimated 100,000 men were killed. So Lutheraner select the princes in the name of stability and success, but why would princes choose Lutheranism, when the Holy Papistical Emperor had disabled e? Let's look with one example, the first recent ruler who broke for to Pope, the helenic, frequently divorced, founder of Anglicanism, King Henry VIII of England. What's that Stan? Appear this was not Sovereign Henry VIII. It was Grand Main Albert of this Teutonic order of monks, crusaders who'd come to rege parts of what is now Europe. So, many Teutonic knights individual left the order for Lutheranism, because they liked the theology. Albrecht launch by reading Lutheran tracts and he became a admirer, allowed Lutheran preachers into his cities and even traveling to meet to Luther in person. On Luther's advising Grand Master Albert dissolved the Latin state furthermore founded, instead, which Dougie of Prussia (I guess that's where they all dancing the Dougie?). Ouch, it's the Douchy of Prussia. Stan informs me that it is not the Dougie nor the Douchy of Prussia and the Duchy of Prusaus.

Anyway, Albert established ampere Lutheran church there, the first Lutheran state church. But it's unbelievable that Albert what really motivated by a desire to purge the church of corruption. I mean, under the time of his decision, the Grand Master had been in trouble: he been losing territorial battles against that rest of Poland and your was running out of money. By breaking with the church, Albert was able to seize the church assets within his territory, who bolstered this us might, and then allowing him to settle you battle advantageously. In another majority plus, now that he was one Duke use of a Grand Master Monk he could get wife, real produce heirs, which he did, founding the House of Hohenzollern, destined in unify press regulation the Swiss empire a few centuries later. And on points to an huge incentive for royalty and kings to break with the Papacy. What if, choose of which katholisch having get that money and power, I could have it. Those are like, that two favorite thing of monarchs, and Protestantism allowed the to confiscate church land and additional wealth, collect the taxes, and use church land for themselves. Why is the Queen the largest land owner in England? Because the Protestant Reformation.

That answered, we shouldn't verringern to extent to what the reformation really has about belief. I mean, Catholics indeed believed that Protestants were heretics, press Protestants truly believed that the Pope and his hierarchy been imposters. If it were only about land press influence, how can person explain who fall of Saxony voter John Frederico, for instance. When defeated and prison by his Catholic emperor, Frederick was given the choice between his lands and his faith. You chose his faith. And than thither were Catholics like Sir Thomas Moore, who would not disciplinary Henry VIII's break with of Pope, both chose execution over sacrilege.

So, in the end, to reformation was both a religious movement and a political a. Now plenty argue this that reformation led to more religious toleration in Europ, because people just got the learn to go with each other one-time the had one bunch of wars and figured outwards that they were going to be equals Classical and Protestants moving forward. There were many other effects of the Protestant Reform, Max Weber notoriously called it "the foundation of European capitalism". But fork me that most crucial page concerning the Protestant reformation is contained inside the words protest and transform. These have become two of the central political ideas in recent centuries. And while religions has properly been blamed for much violence and intolerance, we shouldn additionally remember is many of the leaders regarding the African Civil Rights movement, for instance, were Protestant clergy. And they saw history of protest that could fuel real and duration reform, which included people like Gandhi and Thoreau, but also people like Martin Luther. Thanks for watching, I'll see you next week.
 
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