Bethel Bible College

Subject : History of Christianity from the 1st to 18th Century

Topic : Continental Reformation
Submitted by : Van Lian Ceu
Submitted to : N.S.J. Sudhir sir
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Introduction
Reformation may be defined as the religious revolution that took place in the Western
church in the 16th century. The reformation started in Germany that began to influence other
parts of Europe such as Switzerland, France, and Britain, and also among certain groups who
are popularly known as radicals. Thus, it earned reformation of the title continental
reformation that indicates the whole European continent. Its most well-known leaders were
Martin Luther, John Calvin and Zwingli. This reformation became the basis for the founding
of Protestantism.
1. Reformation in Germany
Martin Luther (1483-1546) who broke with Rome over many theological
inconsistencies. In 1505, he joined the Augustinians, the strictest monastery in Erfurt. After
leaving the monastery, Luther went to the University at Wittenberg. And it was where the first
step was taken that was to lead directly to the Protestant Reformation. On October 31, 1517,
Luther arrived outside the doors of the castle church to post a list of 95 criticisms he had
compiled protesting the Church practice of selling indulgences.
a. Indulgences
Selling of indulgences got linked to a misapplication of the principle of praying for
the dead in purgatory. Johann Tetzel, the Dominican who preached indulgences throughout
the diocese of Mainz, had this "advertising jiggle"(As soon as a coin in the coffer clinks, a
soul from purgatory springs). Luther protested this abuse by publishing ninety-five theses. As
a consequence, he was visited by the pope's emissary to stop him from stirring up trouble for
the Church. But Luther's response was no faith in the pope but trusted in the Bible alone.
Luther stubbornly refused to yield and soon published three revolutionary books. These
writings were openly sold all across Germany. Finally, on January 3rd of 1521, Luther was
banished from the Church. The secular ruler of the German States, the Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V sought to punish Luther for the emperor was a strong supporter of the pope.
Charles summoned his representatives from their castles in the farflung states that made up
his vast empire ordering them to come to the German city of Worms.
b. The Diet of Worms
The emperor and his representatives met in the “Imperial Diet.” On April 17th and
18th of 1521, Martin Luther accompanied by his lawyer to take back his unacceptable

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religious views. He replied that it was impossible for him to go against what his conscience
told him was right. The new day the disgusted emperor informed the gathering that he was
ready to take actions against Luther for being "a notorious heretic."
A powerful German lord, Fredrick was a strong supporter of Luther, arranged to have
him "kidnapped" and taken to this castle for his own protection. And while at the castle,
Luther immediately set to work translating the Bible into German. Then, three weeks after
Luther had disappeared from view. "The Edict of Worms," was posted all across Germany. It
commanded the emperor's subjects to crush them, to capture them and take their properties,
unless they had mended their errors and been absolved by the pope.
In Germany the popular response to the "Edict of Worms" was to become a great
turning point in the history of western civilization because most people simply chose to
ignore it. And as a result, it was not long before Lutheranism was adopted as the official
religion in many of the German states. In certain ways Lutheranism was a reformulation of
old Christian beliefs and practices freed from papal control, but wherever the new religion
was adopted, significant political changes followed. German peasants used it as an excuse to
revolt against their rulers, but in 1525, there 100,000 peasants died trying to improve their
impoverished lives. However, the reformation in Germany steady without further
progressing.
2. The Reformation in Switzerland
The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych
Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate, Mark Reust, and the population of Zürich
in the 1520s. It led to significant changes in civil life and state matters in Zürich and spread to
several other cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. Seven cantons remained Catholic, which
led to the Wars of Kappel. After the victory of the Catholic cantons in 1531, they proceeded
to institute Counter-Reformation policies in some regions. The schism and distrust between
the Catholic and the Protestant cantons defined their interior politics and paralysed any
common foreign policy until 18th century. Despite their religious differences and an
exclusively Catholic defence alliance of the seven cantons (Goldener Bund), no other major
armed conflicts directly between the cantons occurred. Soldiers from both sides fought in the
French Wars of Religion.
During the Thirty Years' War, the thirteen cantons managed to maintain their
neutrality because all major powers in Europe depended on Swiss mercenaries and would not
let Switzerland fall into the hands of one of their rivals. The Three Leagues (Drei Bunde) of
the Grisons were not yet a member of the Confederacy but were involved in the war from
1620 onward, which led to their loss of the Valtellina from 1623 to 1639.
3. The Reformation In England
The England Reformation took place in 16th- century and is quite different from
that of continental Europe. The English national feelings of the people were stronger than
those of other nations. Protestantism in England had a political dimension. King Henry VIII
married a Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon. Henry asked his Chancellor Thomas

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Wolsey to arrange for the annulment of his marriage to declare it invalid. Cardinal Wolsey
failed in this, as the annulment had to come from the Pope, Clement VII; Clement was afraid
to make an enemy of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles of Spain by humiliating his aunt.
Henry then took the “Reformation Parliament” and passed the king was the only supreme
head on earth of the Church of England. This ended the Pope's jurisdiction in England. By
then, Thomas Cranmer had become Archbishop of Canterbury, and Primate of the Church of
England. Cranmer declared Henry's marriage to Catherine annulled and married him to Anne
Boleyn in 1533.
Henry began the Reformation in England; yet he clung to most of the Roman
Catholic practices. He put an end to the monasteries and took over their land. In 1547 his son,
Edward VI succeeded him, meanwhile the Church of England accepted many Calvinistic
ideas. After his death in 1553, his half-sister Mary restore the Catholic Church. During the
reign of 'Bloody Mary', nearly 300 Protestant leaders martyred. In 1558, Elizabeth, her half-
sister, the Protestant daughter succeeded her. The Reformation received its final form in
England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603). Elizabeth established the
ascendancy of Anglicanism, Besides the Anglican established church there were the
Calvinistic Nonconformists, who preferred a Presbyterian popular organisation to the
Episcopal hierarchy. Like the Catholics, they were much oppressed by the rulers of England.
4. The Reformation In Scotland
The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Scotland broke away from the
Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider
European Protestant Reformation in 16th century. From the first half of the 16th century,
Scottish scholars and religious leaders were influenced by the teachings of the Protestant
reformer, Martin Luther. In 1560, a group of Scottish nobles known as the Lords of the
Congregation gained control of government. Under their guidance, the Scottish Reformation
Parliament passed legislation that established a Protestant creed, and rejected Papal
supremacy, although these were only formally ratified by James VI and I in 1567. Directed by
John Knox, the new Church of Scotland adopted a Presbyterian structure and largely
Calvinist doctrine. The Reformation resulted in major changes in Scottish education, art and
religious practice. The kirk itself became the subject of national pride, and many Scots saw
their country as a new Israel.
5. The Reformation In France
During the early part of the Reformation, Protestant movements made slow progress
in France. Before Martin Luther had emerged as a reformer in Germany, French humanists
had created much interest in biblical studies and had aroused a concern for a purer type of
Christianity. Margaret of Angouleme became the centre of a humanistic group known as the
group of Meaux, which created great interest in reform. Its members contributed much by
their writings to biblical and theological studies Several members of the group left it and
became Protestants. The Reformation movement then gained rapidly in France until 1562,
when a long series of civil wars began in France and the Huguenots (French Protestants)

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alternately gained and lost. During this period of strife the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's
Day occurred (1572), and several thousand Huguenots were murdered.
Peace was restored when the Huguenot leader, Henry of Navarre, became king of
France (1589-1610) and accepted Roman Catholicism. This satisfied the Roman Catholics,
and Henry in 1598 promulgated the Edict of Nantes. Protestants again suffered persecutions
before and after this act, more than 250,000 Huguenots fled to Germany, Holland, England,
Switzerland, and America. Those who remained in France persisted as a virtual underground
movement and did not regain their full rights until the French Revolution in 1789.
6. The Radical of the Reformation
The Radical Reformation was a 16th century Christian movement that began in
Germany and Switzerland as a response to the perceived corruption of the Catholic Church
and the Protestant movement. The movement's goal was to recreate the Church of the New
Testament by the apostolic model and removing the heritage of previous centuries. Radical
reformers, also known as Anabaptists, rejected both the Roman Catholic tradition and the
Protestant alternatives, believing they represented truer forms of Christianity. Radical
reformers were considered more extreme than other Protestant reformers in their beliefs and
actions. They challenged Roman Catholic doctrine and authority, as well as the authority of
other Protestant reformers like Calvin, Luther, and Zwingli. They also worked to adapt the
Church to the New Testament, rebelled against secular society, and embraced pacifism.
Mostly the radical reformation took place in Rhineland, Holland and Switzerland.
a. Anabaptists
The members of little groups came to be known generally as Anabaptists, because
several articulate leaders agreed in denouncing the baptism of infants. It covered a multitude
of different opinions. They found their most fertile soil in the cities of Switzerland, the
Rhineland, and Holland because their enemies condemned them all. They believed that the
true Church was called out of the world and therefore most of them repudiated the idea that
the magistrate should uphold the true Church. The so-called Anabaptist Confession of
Schleitheim (1527), the document nearest to a confession agreed by the early Anabaptists,
proclaimed adult baptism and separation from the world, including everything popish, and
from attendance at parish churches and taverns. It condemned the use of force, or going to
law. The outside world eyed Anabaptists with horror. John of Batenburg considered baptism
unimportant he was known as an Anabaptist. With such associates were the peaceful
Anabaptists ruined in public opinion.
b. Munster
At the end of 1533 the Anabaptist group at Munster in Westphalia, under the
leadership of Bernard Rothmann, gained control of the city council. Early in 1534 a Dutch
prophet and ex-innkeeper named John of Leyden appeared in Munster, was proclaimed King
of New Zion by Bishop of munster. Laws were decreed to establish community of goods, and
the Old Testament was adduced to permit polygamy. Bernard Rothmann took nine wives,
issued a public incitement to world rebellion. An ex-soldier named John of Geelen slipped

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out of the city, on the night of 10 May 1535 with a band of some thirty men attacked the city
hall of Amsterdam during a municipal banquet, and the burgomaster and several citizens were
killed. At last, on 25 June 1535, the gates of Munster were opened by sane men within the
walls, and the bishop's army entered the city. The cages where corpses of Anabaptist leaders
were hung are still hanging on the tower of St Lambert's Church.
At Zurich early in 1525 an ex-priest in the group named George Blaurock made a
profession of faith and was baptized by Conrad Grebel, were travelling round the country,
baptizing men and women in streams, and holding simple services in houses or in fields. In
1526 the city council of Zurich ordered that all Anabaptists should be drowned. One of the
Anabaptists, Felix Manz, was tied to a hurdle and thrown into the river. Blaurock was
whipped through the streets and expelled from the country. He moved into the Tyrol but was
captured and burnt in 1529.
c. The Hutterites
From 1526 a little group, established itself in Moravia. After schisms and painful
vicinitudes, one of the divisions maintained itself peacefully as the Hutterite Brothers, from
1556 to 1620.Jacob Hutter was executed in 1536, but stamped his particular group with the
conviction based upon the community of goods was the practice of true Christians. They
gathered the community into a 'brother-house" the Bruderhof at Nikolsburg. The profit
motive was excluded for the individual, but not for the community. “Private property,”
affirms an early Hutterite document (1545), is the greatest enemy of love, and the true
Christian must render up his will and become free from property if he would be a disciple. It
was a principle that all materials should be used on the premises. In the time of peace
between 1564 and 1619 the Hutterites of Moravia became celebrated, for they could
manufacture the best objects at doctors, clock-makers, copyists, cutlers, designers of
furniture, above all of maiolica. Their bath-houses were frequented by Catholic noblemen,
their services demanded to manage farms or breweries or saw-mills.
The outbreak of the Thirty Years War ended their age of peace and plenty. In 1620
imperial troops sacked Nikolsburg, and in 1621 the government persuaded the bishop, to
disclose one store of their 'treasure' (which they buried in the ground), the capital of their
working community, much magnified by popular legend and slander. In 1622 they were
expelled from Moravia, and a remnant fled eastward.
d. The Mennonites
Community of goods despite Munster and the Hutterites, was found only among
scattered groups of Anabaptists, and elsewhere came rapidly to be interpreted, in the orthodox
manner, as “bearing one another's burden’s”. For a time, however, there were other unique
customs: The ultimate conviction of the movement was its belief in the pure congregation, the
society of saints, the congregation of the truly converted, drawn from the world, and drawn
not merely as individuals but as a society. This was the root of the attack upon infant baptism
and upon churches estabished by law.

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 A Swiss tract of 1527 asserts that the believer must divorce the unbelieving partner,
A second source of agony was the excommunication. Menno Simons (died 1561), the chief of
the Anabaptist leaders in Holland, adopted it 1530s. In 1556 a member of the Emden
congregation named Rutgers was excommunicated. His wife believed that she ought not to
shun her husband, and was herself excommunicated. The ensuing controversy, whether or no
she was rightly excommunicated, split the Mennonite movement for a time. The severe
decision was condemned by a conference of south-German Anabaptists at Strasbourg in
1557, and Menno Simons, who at first objected to the ban, appears to have been won, till near
his end, for rigidity. In north Germany and Holland the movement split into a liberal and a
rigid wing.
e. The Davidists or Jorists Movement
Joris David was a painter and a member of the Anabaptist movement who founded
the Davidists, or Jorists movement. In 1543 Joris, accompanied by some of his followers, fled
to Basel, there he took the name Jan van Brugge (John of Bruges). After his death
controversy arose in his sect between those who wished to dissolve the movement in the
wake of his abdication and those who persisted in their belief that he was the third David. In
1559, three years after his death he was tried and condemned posthumously as a heretic. His
body was then exhumed and burned at the stake. Repeated heresy trials of his followers
caused the sect to die out by the end of the century.
f. The Waterlanders
By contrast the liberal wing of the Waterlanders were able to adapt themselves more
freely to the society in which they lived. Founded upon tolerance, they rapidly began to
modify the early rigidity in several directions. Despite the pacifist principle, never
abandoned. They raised and presented a large sum of money to William of Orange in his
camp at Roermond (1572). By 1581 they were permitting their members to hold office, at
least minor office, under the government. They denounced marriage with non- Mennonites.
By 1620 they are said to have allowed Calvinists to join them without being baptized. They
slowly replaced silent prayer with prayer by a minister, and began to sing psalms. The Dutch
states treated them well, exempting their alms-houses and orphanages from taxation, allowing
them to affirm instead of taking oaths, and to commute their military service for money
payments. In consequence members of these little God-fearing sober groups established
themselves in Dutch life, as bankers, merchants, scholars, painters. They had outlived the
memory of Munster.
g. The Socinians
Upon the fringe of Anabaptist movement there sprang up a group variously as in
1534 using the whose bond of union was known Socinians, Arians (on Unitarians. At
Lausanne Vired drafted an orthodox confession without words Trinity, person, substance.
Most Anabaptists stood upan the side of ancient orthodoxy. The Spaniard Michael Servetus
adopted anti-Trinitarian thought. H believe in a doctrine of the Trinity to the tragic end of his
life. While he opposed Trinity and the practice of infant baptism, he was discovered and

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condemned by the Inquisition as a horetic. He escaped from the prisons at Lyons, and Hed to
Paris and died insane.
h. Rakow and Sozzini
A church called the Minor Reformed Church of Poland came into existence,
professing Anabaptist principles and holding anti-Trinitarian doctrine at Vilna in Lithuania
and Rakow, Rakow collected the radicals from other Polish estates, refugees Moravia and
Germany, one or two Polish nobles. After a few years the citizens of Rakow wanted to turn
the town into Hutterite Bruderhod. They encouraged the freedom of serts and community of
goods.
The Italian Sozzini was journeyed into Poland and remained there from 1580 till
his death (1604). His teaching despite the anti-Trinitarian conviction. In 1605, three of
Sozzini's disciples published Rakovian Catechism at Rakow which became for the Socinians.
The Socinians did not live unmolested. The safety of the Socinians depended upon the
weakness the Catholic crown of the of Poland. In 1640 The Catholic Bishop of Cracow laid a
foundation of new Catholic church. Thus, the centre of Unitarian thought passed from
Poland to the more radical among the Dutch Mennonites. But in England, Holland and
Germany of the seventieth century the name and work of Sozzini were by no mean to be
forgotten.
i.New Movement In New England
In New England the radical movement took a new form. The country was planted
by a mixture of trading settlements. The settlement intended to reproduce the Church of
England across the Atlantic. In 1620 The Mayflower sailed and began the settlement at
Plymouth. Again in 1628 there was at Massachusetts at Massachusetts Bay, and was taken
over by John Winthrop. Many of these were friends of the Church of England. They tried to
practise the ideals of contemporary English Puritans. They refused to use the Prayer Book
and established the moral discipline, not exercised the Presbyterian pattern. but through the
governing court.
In 1635, The Connecticut was founded by like-minded persons. Maryland was
another community which aimed at toleration. Meanwhile the King of England and his
Parliament fell to blows and the anarchy of war afforded new occasions to the left wing of the
Reformation. Modern Congregationalism descends from a harmony of ordinary English
puritanism, moulded in the unique conditions of Massachusetts with a few of the more radical
ideals of the early independent and then carried back into the open opportunity of England in
the age of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658).

Conclusion
The movement of political and religious instability took place in many places in
Europe, such as Germany under the leadership of Martin Luther, France under the role of
John Calvin, Switzerland under Zwingli and John Knox in Scotland. They led the people with

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different aspect which they were understanding in the Bible. And it was full with non-logical
argumentations and wars (or) condemnations. The reformation may be quite misleading. It is
a new religious revival and attempt to give man an assurance in the presence of God and
motivation in the moral life. How far it succeeded no one can ever tell. But the reformation
give the Christian consciousness to European countries . The continental reformation is one
of those periodic renewal in 16th century.
On the other hand was the radical reformation.The incident took place in Rhineland,
Holland and Switzerland. It was composed by marginal intellectuals who wandered all over
Europe. And it did not want to keep anything of Catholic Church by opposing their practices.
It’s purpose was only to keep apostolic model to recreate the Church of the New Testament
by eradicating the heritage of past centuries. However, the attempt to reform was not
completely success.

Bibliography

Chadwick Owen. The Pelican History of the Church: 3. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd,
1961.
Haokip Thongkhosei. M. ed. History of Christianity.India: Bishop Rt. Rev. Paothang Haokip,
2017.
K. M. George K. M. Development of Christianity through the centuries.India: C.S.S.
Bookshop, 2005.