Topic 3.3

📍Topic 3.3 Empires: Belief Systems

📖 AMSCO p.167 - p.176

Main Idea

Key Timeline

Image Courtesy of Siya

Things to Know

Protestant Reformation

• The Roman Catholic Church was subject to corruption as it grew internationally, and reformation efforts were in vain. ⛪
• Babylonian Captivity: Papacy (office of a pope) was located in France rather than Rome, which gave the French more authority over it. New rulers confiscated Catholic monasteries and established new churches.
• The Church also suffered from the Black Death
• Lutheranism:
  • Martin Luther was a monk in Wittenburg, Germany who objected church practices like indulgences & simony and nailed his 95 Theses to church doors.
  • After Luther was ex-communicated by Pope Leo X, there was a major split in the Roman Catholic Church and Holy Roman Empire.
  • Luther also taught women that they could have as much access to God as men could, which increased female literacy rates.
• Calvinism:
  • John Calvin was a French theologian who broke away from the Catholic Church around 1530. He reformed a religious community in Switzerland, and had followers in France who referred to themselves as Huguenots.
  • The elect (predestined to go to heaven) ran the community and focused on simplicity and plain living.
  • Offshoots of Calvinism include the Puritans and the reformed Church of Scotland.
  • Calvinism founded the “Protestant work ethic”, which is the idea that hard work leads to prosperity, and this will help one be recognized by God.
• Anglicanism:
  • Henry VII wanted to annul his marriage because his wife did not birth a son, but the pope declined over the fear of Charle V’s reaction (emperor).
  • Henry set himself as the head of the Anglican Church, which was free of control by the pope of Rome.

The Orthodox Church and Reforms in Russia

• The Orthodox Church was a unifying force between the tsar and the people of Russia.
• Peter the Great used his authority to abolish the patriarch and establish the Holy Synod in its place.
• These changes were not welcomed by many peasants or Old Believers. ❌

Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reformation

• The Roman Catholic Church led a counter-reformation against the Protestant attacks by using three strategies:
  • Increasing the use of Inquisition.
  • Sending Jesuits on missionary activities throughout the Spanish Empire, Japan, and India.
  • Council of Trent: corrected the worst abuses of the Church and marked Protestant copies of the Bible as prohibited books.
• Counter-reformation was successful as Catholicism remained popular in Western Europe and later in Spanish, French, and Portuguese colonies.
• Charles V stepped down as the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire because he couldn’t stop the spread of Lutheranism. However, his son, Philip II, took over and sent Catholic crusades to the Netherlands.
• Philip II’s Spanish Armada was defeated when he tried to take over England.

Wars of Religion

• Peace of Augsburg gave each German state a choice as to whether its ruler was Catholic or Lutheran, and the churches and inhabitants had to follow the state religion or move to another state.
• France:
  • Catholics and Huguenots fought for half a century ⚔
  • In 1598, King Henry VI converted to a Catholic and signed the Edict of Nantes in order to unify France by allowing the Huguenots to practice their religion.
  • King Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685 which caused skilled French craftsmen to leave, taking their skill and technique with them.
• Thirty Years’ War:
  • This happened during the years of 1618-1648
  • Religious conflict within the Holy Roman Empire turned into general conflict with European powers, which caused famine, starvation, and disease.
  • Led to the creation of the Peace of Westphalia which stated that the areas in Holy Roman Empire could select Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, or Calvinism.
  • Effects of Westphalia: gave the countries more autonomy, states of Prussia and Austria developed a strong military to fend for themselves.

Islamic Religious Schisms

• Ottoman Empire:
  • After taking over Byzantine in 1493, the emperor was replaced with a sultan and the Justinian Law was replaced with shariah.
• The Safavids:
  • Shi’a Islam was a unifying force within the Safavid Empire.
  • The Safavids denied legitimacy to Sunnis which caused conflict with the Ottomans.
• Mughal Toleration and Prosperity:
  • Akbar gave money and land to both Hindus and Muslims, gave money to build a Catholic church in India, and provided land grants for Sikhs. 👑
  • Akbar tried to ease tensions between Muslims and Hindus by marrying Hindu wives, freeing Hindus from the jizya (tax paid by non-Muslims), and allowing Hindus positions of zamindars (landowners).
  • Akbar’s failures: failed to stop child marriage and sati (suicide of widows and failed to convert Hindus and Muslims to his religion of Din-i Ilahi.

Scientific Revolution

• Early 1600s: science spread as the Renaissance ideas and discoveries spread.
• Francis Bacon founded the idea of empiricism, which challenged traditional ideas that had been accepted for centuries with no evidence. 🔬
• Scientific thinking advanced through the establishment of the Royal Academy of Science in France and England.
• Sir Isaac Newton published a work in 1687 that led to a new vision of the world.

Terms to Remember