1. FACTORS LEADING TO THE REFORMATION & THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION - Humanism & the Catholic Church

Christian humanism
1. Humanists wanted to make the Catholic faith/Church stronger & purer so that it would be closer to the New Testament
  1. Attempt to reform Church; -return to simplictity of the first Christians -Contrasted with the time cause of the Churches wealth, luxury & greed for money - Not new (Devotio Moderna group had begun in the 14th century)
  2. Word of God in the Bible was how Christians should behave/live
  3. Look critically at the text of the Bible to see what it truly meant (Return to the sources - 'ad fonts!')
  4. Education was what could cause change - children sent to humanist schools
  5. Disapproved of superstition (miracle working images/relics of saints)
  6. Christians should be in the world & not out of it (attacked monastic life - it did not give extra holiness)
2. ERASMUS
  1. Popular humanist - Kings, princes, churchmen wanted his service
  2. Sympathetic to some of Luther's aims - pleas for tolerance was ignored
  3. Vast knowledge of classical literature & writings of the early Church
  4. Spread humanist message through a pure style & used irony to show the Churches failings
  5. 1467-1536
  6. WORK OF ERASMUS
    1. ADAGES (1500)
      1. Aim of Erasmus: Make classical learning open to a wider public
      2. 800 adages (sayings) in Latin/Greek were explained
        4000 more adages added
      3. Public who could read could access these classical literature without reading whole books & could read out the adages to their friends to impress them
    2. HANDBOOK OF A CHRISTIAN SOLDIER (1503)
      1. Main purpose: Restore the Catholic Church to imitate the life that Christ has in the Gospels (aim of Christian Humanism)
      2. 'to set down a kind of summary of a guide to living, so that, equipped with it you may gain a mind worthy of Christ'
      3. J.McConica says it had a revolutionary impact as it went against the teachings of the Church at the time
        Christian must aim for a perfection in Christ
        Being a priest, taking vows, guidance of a priest was not special because the person who had this handbook - it could be used as their guide
        'Charity does not consist in many visits to the Churches...Charity is to love your neighbour' - handbook of a Christian Soldier
      4. Popular - Translated into 11 languages (huge influence on reading public)
    3. PRAISE OF FOLLY (1511)
      1. Most famous work - instant success
      2. Sarcastic humour turns serious & dark - bitter/intense attack on the standards of the members of the Church
        Attack on monks
        Attack on Cardinals as they were too interested in making money
        Didn't spare the Popes that claimed to be representatives of Christ on Church
    4. NEW TESTAMENT IN GREEK (1516)
      1. Erasmus wanted to get behind the Vulgate bible and see what it truly meant (ad fontes)
      2. New Testament he made was not perfect but it was the first time it was in greek - avaliable to the public
      3. Pure style & differed from the Vulgate; e.g. in the Vulgate Bible John the Baptist tells his listeners 'to do penance' & Erasmus translated this to 'change your mind' - this means not to do something but having an inner change of heart
        Aim to weaken church because it undermined the authority it was based on
      4. MIstakes had developed over the centuaries abour the Vulgate bible - Origanal was Moses face shining, but over time it changed to Moses with horns- replicated in paintings
      5. Second edition of New Testament by Erasmus (1519) openily criticised the the traditional methods of the 'schoolman'
        Sold over 3000 copies
        Erasmus wanted it to be avaliable to al, 'even the lowliest of women'
    5. FREEDOM OF THE WILL (1524)
      1. Humainst teaching of free will is that we could choose our own destiny
      2. Goes against the protestant view that was spread by Martin Luther
        Luther retailiated - suggested there was no place for Erasmus's views in the divisons occurring in the Church
THE LINKS BETWEEN HUMANISM & THE REFORMATION
1. Wanted a restored simple faith based on scriptures
2. Erasmus' New Testament directly undermined the authority of the Church by criticising the texts it had relied on
  1. Erasmus & other humanists educated Europe to laugh at the failings of the Church
  2. Great influence on Protestant Church reformers such as Zwingli
  3. Made the Popes represntative comment in 1519 - 'Erasmus laid the egg which Luther hatched'
  4. Luther used some of the humanist biblical criticisms
3. Erasmus was obiedient to the Catholic Church
  1. Did not attack key teachings
  2. Criticisms always carefully phrased
  3. So even though he criticised the failings of the Church he never said that the papacy was not in the scriptures & should therefore be abolished like the Protestant reformers would do
  4. New Testament was dedicated to Pope Leo X, who replied with a flattered letter & told him to carry on with his studies
4. Euan Cameron comments on how the humanists did not want to lead a popular movement
5. Pure Latin style meant nothing to the peasents who could not read
  1. Humanists had impact on only the well-educated which were a tiny minority

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1. FACTORS LEADING TO THE REFORMATION & THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION - Humanism & the Catholic Church

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