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99-512: One of the most important German humanists was Konrad Celtis (1459–1508). Celtis studied at Cologne and Heidelberg , and later travelled throughout Italy collecting Latin and Greek manuscripts. Heavily influenced by Tacitus , he used the Germania to introduce German history and geography. Eventually he devoted his time to poetry, in which he praised Germany in Latin. Another important figure

198-562: A two-volume printed version of the Vulgata in the early 1450s. High and Low German , Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Czech and Catalan translations of the Bible were published between 1466 and 1492; in France, the Bible's abridged French versions gained popularity. Laypeople who read the Bible could challenge their priests' sermons, as it happened already in 1515. Completed by Jerome (d. 420),

297-567: A "rhetoric of reform". Medieval examples include the Cluniac Reform in the 10th–11th centuries , and the 11th-century Gregorian Reform , both striving against lay influence over church affairs. When demanding a church reform, medieval authors mainly adopted a conservative and utopian approach, expressing their admiration for a previous "golden age" or "apostolic age" when the Church had allegedly been perfect and free of abuses. Both

396-661: A German invention that remained almost a German monopoly for some decades, and was first brought to most of Europe , including France and Italy, by Germans. Printmaking by woodcut and engraving was already more developed in Germany and the Low Countries than elsewhere in Europe, and the Germans took the lead in developing book illustrations, typically of a relatively low artistic standard, but seen all over Europe, with

495-634: A Hussite church hierarchy enabled the Czech aristocrats and urban magistrates to assume control of the Hussite clergy from the 1470s. The radical Hussites set up their own Church known as the Union of Bohemian Brethren . They rejected the separation of clergy and laity, and condemned all forms of violence and oath taking. Marshall writes that the Lollards, Hussites and conciliarist theologians "collectively give

594-406: A clear distinction between the supernatural and the human, Renaissance artists depicted God and the saints in a more human way. The institutional church was the reliable religious authority, through its bishops and priests, transmitting without error both apostolic tradition and the Bible, as interpreted by the decisions of ecumenical councils and by papal authority , through the mechanism of

693-616: A close friend of Luther, had painted a number of "Lutheran altarpieces", mostly showing the Last Supper , some with portraits of the leading Protestant divines as the Twelve Apostles . This phase of Lutheran art was over before 1550, probably under the more fiercely aniconic influence of Calvinism , and religious works for public display virtually ceased to be produced in Protestant areas. Presumably largely because of this,

792-784: A college for poets. His invitation to Vienna came about greatly at the influence of his friend and fellow scholar Johannes Cuspinian . Celtes died in Vienna a few years later of syphilis . According to Richard Unger, Celtes was a large scale book thief who walked around episcopal palaces and monastic libraries stealing books for his emperor and himself. He justified his behaviours on the basis of patriotic intentions, claiming that he only wanted to protect German patrimony from "damaging weather, dust, mold... insects", as well as Italians. Emily Abu writes that Celtis, Peutinger and their emperor took particular interest in cultural legacies that could provide connection between their German Roman Empire and

891-572: A community of believers whose religious ideal—constantly aspired to if seldom attained—was peace and mutual love." The Catholic Church taught that entry into heaven required dying in a state of grace . Based on Christ's parable on the Last Judgement , the Church considered the performance of good works by the faithful, such as feeding the hungry and visiting the sick, as an important condition of salvation. Villagers and urban laypeople were frequently members of confraternities (such as

990-592: A crucial work that marked the start of the Gutenberg Revolution and the age of the printed book in the Western world . Johann Reuchlin was the most important aspect of world culture teaching within Germany at this time. He was a scholar of both Greek and Hebrew. Graduating, then going on to teach at Basel, he was considered extremely intelligent. Yet after leaving Basel, he had to start copying manuscripts and apprenticing within areas of law. However, he

1089-399: A genuine revelation could not challenge traditional religious principles. Apostolic tradition verified religious practices that some Protestant groups say had no explicit Biblical foundations, such as infant baptism . Latin was the language of public worship in most dioceses of Catholic Europe although few laypeople understood Latin. The Eucharist, the central element of liturgy ,

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1188-667: A learned society, based on the Roman academies . The local branch of the society was called Sodalitas Litterarum Vistulana (the "Literary Society on the Vistula River"). In 1490 he once again went through Breslau ( Wrocław ) to Prague , capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia . Hartmann Schedel used Celtis' descriptions of Breslau in the Schedelsche Weltchronik ( Nuremberg Chronicle ). In Hungary, Celtis formed

1287-652: A map showing roads of the Roman Empire, the Tabula Peutingeriana , or Peutinger Table . Celtes collected numerous Greek and Latin manuscripts in his function as librarian of the imperial library that was founded by Maximilian, and he claimed to have discovered the missing books of Ovid 's Fasti in a letter to the Venetian publisher Aldus Manutius in 1504. The purported new verses had actually been composed by an 11th-century monk and were known to

1386-454: A moral renewal in Florence . He was arrested and executed for heresy , but his meditations remained a popular reading. Historian John Bossy (as summarized by Eamon Duffy) emphasized that "medieval Christianity had been fundamentally concerned with the creation and maintenance of peace in a violent world. “Christianity” in medieval Europe denoted neither an ideology nor an institution, but

1485-549: A persisting Erasmian Reformation . Anglican theologian Alister McGrath explains the term "Reformation" as "an interpretative category—a way of mapping out a slice of history in which certain ideas, attitudes, and values were developed, explored, and applied". The historian Peter Marshall emphasizes that the "call for 'reform' within Christianity is about as old as the religion itself, and in every age there have been urgent attempts to bring it about". Charlemagne employed

1584-505: A protest (or dissent) against the edict of the Diet of Speyer (1529) , were the first individuals to be called Protestants. The edict reversed concessions made to the Lutherans with the approval of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V three years earlier . Europe experienced a period of dreadful calamities from the early 14th century . These culminated in a devastating pandemic known as

1683-719: A religious and political challenge to the papacy and the authority of the Catholic Church . Towards the end of the Renaissance , the Reformation marked the beginning of Protestantism and in turn resulted in a major schism within Western Christianity. It is considered one of the events that signified the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern period in Europe. When

1782-525: A special emphasis on the education of laypeople. A leader of the movement the Dutch Wessel Gansfort (d. 1489) attacked abuses of indulgences. As the manufacturing of paper from rags and the printing machine with movable type were spreading in Europe, books could be bought at a reasonable price from the 15th century . Demand for religious literature was especially high. The German inventor Johannes Gutenberg (d. 1468) first published

1881-610: A theology professor at the University of Wittenberg in Saxony. Born into a middle-class family, Luther entered an Augustinian monastery after a heavy thunderstorm dreadfully reminded him the risk of sudden death and eternal damnation, but his anxiety about his sinfulness did not abate. His studies on the works of the Late Roman theologian Augustine of Hippo (d. 430) convinced him that those whom God chose as his elect received

1980-641: Is most known for his work within Hebrew studies. Unlike some other "thinkers" of this time, Reuchlin submerged himself into this, even creating a guide to preaching within the Hebrew faith. The book, titled De Arte Predicandi (1503), is possibly one of his best-known works from this period. Albrecht Dürer was at the time, and remains, the most famous artist of the German Renaissance. He was famous across Europe, and greatly admired in Italy, where his work

2079-534: Is widely considered the most influential person within the German Renaissance. As a free thinker, humanist, and inventor, Gutenberg also grew up within the Renaissance, but influenced it greatly as well. His best-known invention is the printing press in 1440. Gutenberg's press allowed the humanists, reformists, and others to circulate their ideas. He is also known as the creator of the Gutenberg Bible ,

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2178-527: The Dance of Death relate to the works of the Little Masters , a group of printmakers who specialized in very small and highly detailed engravings for bourgeois collectors, including many erotic subjects. The outstanding achievements of the first half of the 16th century were followed by several decades with a remarkable absence of noteworthy German art, other than accomplished portraits that never rival

2277-630: The Sodalitas Litterarum Hungaria ("Hungarian Literary Society"), later as Sodalitas Litterarum Danubiana to be based in Vienna . He made stops at Regensburg , Passau and Nuremberg (and probably Mainz ). At Heidelberg he founded the Sodalitas Litterarum Rhenana ("Rhineland Literary Society"). Later he went to Lübeck and Ingolstadt . At Ingolstadt, in 1492, he delivered his famous speech to

2376-505: The Age of Exploration , Pope Alexander VI claimed the right to distribute the newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal, and his decision was confirmed in the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494. The Spanish and Portuguese conquests and developing trade networks contributed to the global expansion of Catholicism. The popes were generous patrons of art and architecture. Julius II ordered

2475-621: The Archconfraternity of the Gonfalone ,) mutual-support guilds associated with a saint, or religious fraternities (such as the Third Order of Saint Francis .) The faithful made pilgrimages to saints' shrines , but the proliferation in the saints' number undermined their reputation. Church buildings were richly decorated with paintings, sculptures, and stained glass windows. While Romanesque and Gothic art made

2574-477: The Black Death which hit Europe, killing about one third of the population. Around 1500, the population of Europe was about 60–85 million people—no more than 75 percent of the mid-14th-century demographic maximum. Due to a shortage of workforce, the landlords began to restrict the rights of their tenants which led to rural revolts that often ended with a compromise. The constant fear of unexpected death

2673-616: The College of Cardinals developed into the Western Schism (1378-1417) when his opponents declared his election invalid and proclaimed the French Clement VII ( r.  1378–1394 ) pope. Clement returned to Avignon, establishing a rival line of popes who were considered as antipopes by their opponents. When taking sides between the two popes, church leaders mainly accepted the local ruler's decision, which weakened

2772-508: The Empire of Nicaea according to William of Rubruck , but even so, many contemporary scholars believed Celtes and continued to write about the existence of the missing books until well into the 17th century. His epigrams , edited by Kark Hartfelder, were published in Berlin in 1881. Conrad Celtes was more of a free-thinking humanist and placed a higher value on the ancient pagan, rather than

2871-562: The Eucharist , and priestly ordination as the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church . Women were not ordained priests but could live as nuns in convents after taking the three monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience . The authority of the papacy was based on a well-organised system of communication and bureaucracy. The popes claimed the power of binding and loosing that Christ had reportedly granted to Peter

2970-898: The German Renaissance born in Franconia (nowadays part of Bavaria ). He led the theatrical performances at the Viennese court and reformed the syllabi. Celtis is considered by many to be the greatest of German humanists and thus dubbed "the Archhumanist" ( Erzhumanist ). He is also praised as "the greatest lyric genius and certainly the greatest organizer and popularizer of German Humanism". Born at Wipfeld , near Schweinfurt (present-day Lower Franconia ) under his original name Konrad Bickel or Pyckell (modern spelling Pickel ), Celtes left home to avoid being set to his father's trade of vintner , and pursued his studies at

3069-775: The Landshut Residence , Heidelberg Castle , the Augsburg Town Hall as well as the Antiquarium of the Munich Residenz in Munich, the largest Renaissance hall north of the Alps. The Renaissance was largely driven by the renewed interest in classical learning, and was also the result of rapid economic development. At the beginning of the 16th century, Germany (referring to the lands contained within

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3168-470: The Nicene Creed in 325. Its Western text contained a unilateral addition which contributed to the schism between Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy . The Creed contained the dogma of Trinity about one God uniting three equal persons: Father , Son , and Holy Spirit . Church authorities acknowledged that an individual might exceptionally receive direct revelations from God but maintained that

3267-495: The Papal States in Italy, the popes were deeply involved in the power struggles of the peninsula. In this respect, the Renaissance popes were not dissimilar to secular rulers. Pope Alexander VI ( r.  1492–1503 ) appointed his relatives , among them his own illegitimate sons to high offices. Pope Julius II ( r.  1503–1513 ) took up arms to recover papal territories lost during his predecessors' reign. In

3366-608: The University of Cologne (1477–1479; B.A., 1479) and at the University of Heidelberg (M.A., 1485). While at Heidelberg, he received patronage and instruction from Dalberg and Agricola . As customary in those days for humanists, he Latinized his name, to Conradus Celtis. For some time he delivered humanist lectures during his travels to Erfurt , Rostock and Leipzig . His first work was titled Ars versificandi et carminum (The Art of Writing Verses and Poems, 1486). He further undertook lecture tours to Rome, Florence, Bologna and Venice. The elector Frederick of Saxony approached

3465-501: The rediscovery of the Ancient Greek philosopher Plato ( 347/348 BC ). Plato's ideas about an ultimate reality lying beyond visible reality posed a serious challenge to scholastic theologians' rigorous definitions. Textual criticism called into question the reliability of some of the fundamental texts of papal privilege: humanist scholars, like Nicholas of Cusa (d. 1464) proved that one of the basic documents of papal authority,

3564-650: The sacraments and liturgy . Western and Eastern Christians believed that the sacramental bread and wine of the Eucharist changed into the Body and Blood of Christ , though not in outward appearance. This belief, formulated as " transubstantiation ", was declared a Catholic dogma in 1215. From the 12th and 13th centuries, laypeople only received the bread during the Eucharist . The ecumenical councils' decisions were binding to all Catholics. The crucial elements of mainstream Christianity had been first summarised in

3663-474: The "new Hrotsvitha ". While the plague ravaged Ingolstadt, Celtes taught at Heidelberg. By now he was a professor. In 1497 Celtes was called to Vienna by the emperor Maximilian I , who honored him as teacher of the art of poetry and conversation with an imperial Privilegium , the first of its kind. There he lectured on the works of classical writers and in 1502 founded the Collegium Poetarum ,

3762-650: The 16th century in Bavaria and Austria, including Albrecht Altdorfer , Wolf Huber and Augustin Hirschvogel . With Altdorfer in the lead, the school produced the first examples of independent landscape art in the West (nearly 1,000 years after China), in both paintings and prints. Their religious paintings had an expressionist style somewhat similar to Grünewald's. Dürer's pupils Hans Burgkmair and Hans Baldung Grien worked largely in prints, with Baldung developing

3861-699: The Alps. A particular form of Renaissance architecture in Germany is the Weser Renaissance , with prominent examples such as the City Hall of Bremen and the Juleum in Helmstedt . In July 1567 the city council of Cologne approved a design in the Renaissance style by Wilhelm Vernukken for a two storied loggia for Cologne City Hall . St Michael in Munich is the largest Renaissance church north of

3960-758: The Alps. It was built by Duke William V of Bavaria between 1583 and 1597 as a spiritual center for the Counter Reformation and was inspired by the Church of il Gesù in Rome. The architect is unknown. Many examples of Brick Renaissance buildings can be found in Hanseatic old towns, such as Stralsund , Wismar , Lübeck , Lüneburg , Friedrichstadt and Stade . Notable German Renaissance architects include Friedrich Sustris , Benedikt Rejt , Abraham van den Blocke , Elias Holl and Hans Krumpper . Born Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden, Johannes Gutenberg

4059-469: The Apostle (d. c. 66), and offered indulgence —the reduction of the penance in both this world and the purgatory—to sinners from an allegedly inexhaustible treasury of merit . The popes also granted dispensations to institutions or individuals, exempting them from certain provisions of canon law (or ecclesiastic law). In 1302, Pope Boniface VIII ( r.  1294–1303 ) declared obedience to

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4158-580: The Christian ideal. His friend Willibald Pirckheimer had blunt discussions with him on that subject. As early as Ode ad Apollinem (1486), he began to style himself as an Apollo-Priest. The most important earthly Phoebus to him was Maximilian, whose symbiotic relationship with the scholar (and thus their double glory) was often reflected in Celtis's literary works. The Celtis-Gymnasium in Schweinfurt

4257-579: The Church and the Fathers , contained all knowledge necessary for salvation. The Reformation in Germanic countries was instigated by Martin Luther, however historians note that many of his ideas were pre-dated by Wycliff, Huss, Erasmus , Zwingli and others, both heretic and orthodox. Pope Leo X ( r.  1513–1521 ) decided to complete the construction of the new St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. As

4356-583: The Eucharist was to be administered sub utraque specie ('in both kinds') to the laity. The most radical Hussites, called Taborites after their new town of Tábor , held their property in common. Their millenarianism shocked the Utraquists who destroyed them in the Battle of Lipany in 1434. By this time, the remaining Catholic communities in Bohemia were almost exclusively German-speaking. The lack of

4455-519: The Gothic tradition of wood carving continued to flourish until the end of the 18th century, adapting to changes in style through the centuries. Veit Stoss (d. 1533), Tilman Riemenschneider (d.1531) and Peter Vischer the Elder (d. 1529) were Dürer's contemporaries, and their long careers covered the transition between the Gothic and Renaissance periods, although their ornament often remained Gothic even after their compositions began to reflect Renaissance principles. Renaissance architecture in Germany

4554-433: The Holy Roman Empire) was one of the most prosperous areas in Europe despite a relatively low level of urbanization compared to Italy or the Netherlands. It benefited from the wealth of certain sectors such as metallurgy, mining, banking and textiles. More importantly, book-printing developed in Germany, and German printers dominated the new book-trade in most other countries until well into the 16th century. The concept of

4653-462: The Northern Renaissance or German Renaissance is somewhat confused by the continuation of the use of elaborate Gothic ornament until well into the 16th century, even in works that are undoubtedly Renaissance in their treatment of the human figure and other respects. Classical ornament had little historical resonance in much of Germany, but in other respects Germany was very quick to follow developments, especially in adopting printing with movable type ,

4752-411: The Reformation era ended is disputed among modern scholars. Prior to Martin Luther and other Protestant Reformers , there were earlier reform movements within Western Christianity. The Protestant Reformation, however, is usually considered to have started on 31 October 1517 with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses , authored by Martin Luther. Over three years later, on 3 January 1521, Luther

4851-441: The Reformation started when the Swiss priest Huldrych Zwingli (d. 1531) first preached against abuses in the Church in 1516. The end date of the Reformation is even more disputed, with 25 September 1555 (when the Peace of Augsburg was accepted), 23 May 1618, and 24 October 1648 (when the Thirty Years' War began and ended, respectively) being the most commonly mentioned terminuses. The Reformation has always been presented as one of

4950-513: The Vulgate contained the Septuagint version of the Old Testament . The systematic study of Biblical manuscripts revealed that Jerome had sometimes misinterpreted his sources of translation. A series of Latin-Greek editions of the New Testament was completed by the Dutch humanist Erasmus (d. 1536). These new Latin translations challenged the scriptural proof texts for some Catholic dogmas. After Arianism —a Christological doctrine condemned as heresy at ecumenical councils—disappeared in

5049-431: The absent priests' deputies were often poorly educated and underpaid. The clergy consisted of two major groups, the regular clergy and the secular clergy . Regular clerics lived under a monastic rule within the framework of a religious order ; secular clerics were responsible for pastoral care. The Church was a hierarchical organisation. The pope was elected by high-ranking clergymen, the cardinals , and assisted by

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5148-467: The achievement of Holbein or Dürer. The next significant German artists worked in the rather artificial style of Northern Mannerism , which they had to learn in Italy or Flanders. Hans von Aachen and the Netherlandish Bartholomeus Spranger were the leading painters at the Imperial courts in Vienna and Prague, and the productive Netherlandish Sadeler family of engravers spread out across Germany, among other counties. In Catholic parts of South Germany

5247-429: The allegedly 4th-century Donation of Constantine was a medieval forgery. New religious movements promoted the deeper involvement of laity in religious practices. The Brethren of the Common Life dissuaded their members' priestly ordination and often placed their houses under the protection of urban authorities. They were closely associated with the devotio moderna , a new method of Catholic spirituality with

5346-406: The ancient Roman imperium. In the case of the Peutinger map (mentioned below), both Celtis and Peutinger made sure that any record of where Celtis found it as well as clues to the map's first three centuries were erased. Conrad Celtes' teachings had lasting effects, particularly in the fields of classical languages and history . He brought systematic methods to the teaching of Latin and furthered

5445-535: The campaign, applied unusually aggressive marketing methods. A slogan attributed to him famously claimed that "As soon as the coin into the box rings, a soul from purgatory to heaven springs". Frederick the Wise , Prince-elector of Saxony ( r.  1486–1525 ) forbade the campaign because the Sacrosanctis suspended the sale of previous indulgences, depriving him of revenues that he had spent on his collection of relics . The campaign's vulgarity shocked many serious-minded believers, among them Martin Luther,

5544-479: The clerics' monopoly of public ministry, and allowed all trained members of their community, men and women alike, to preach. The Western Schism reinforced a general desire for church reform. The Oxford theologian John Wycliffe (d. 1384) was one of the most radical critics. He attacked pilgrimages, the veneration of saints, and the doctrine of transubstantiation. He regarded the Church as an exclusive community of those chosen by God to salvation, and argued that

5643-470: The demolition of the ruined 4th-century St. Peter's Basilica in preparation for the building of a new Renaissance basilica . The necessity of a church reform in capite et membris ('in head and limbs') was frequently discussed at the ecumenical councils from the late 13th century . However, most stakeholders—popes, prelates and kings—preferred the status quo because they did not want to lose privileges or revenues. The system of papal dispensations

5742-533: The development of German art had virtually ceased by about 1550, but in the preceding decades German artists had been very fertile in developing alternative subjects to replace the gap in their order books. Cranach, apart from portraits, developed a format of thin vertical portraits of provocative nudes, given classical or Biblical titles. Lying somewhat outside these developments is Matthias Grünewald , who left very few works, but whose masterpiece, his Isenheim Altarpiece (completed 1515), has been widely regarded as

5841-480: The divine offer of grace (by acquiring merit .) In contrast, Duns Scotus (d. 1308) and Gregory of Rimini (d. 1358) argued that an individual's choice could not influence God's decision; Rimini also asserted that God predestined the fate of both the saved and the damned. Justification before God and the timing of grace was also the subject of controversy. Many theologians such as Scotus, Ockham, and Gabriel Biel (d. 1495) taught that God established rules how

5940-526: The ecclesiastic leaders also functioned as local secular princes, such as the prince-bishops in Kingdom of Germany and the English County Palatine of Durham , and the Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights in their Baltic Ordensstaat . Other prelates might be regents or the power behind the throne. Believers were expected to pay the tithe (one tenth of their income) to the Church. Pluralism—the practice of holding multiple Church offices (or benefices )—was not unusual. This led to non-residence, and

6039-547: The emperor Frederick III , who named Conrad Celtes Poet Laureate (Honored Poet) upon his return. At this great imperial ceremonial gathering in Nuremberg , Celtes was at the same time presented with a doctoral degree . Celtes again made a lecturing tour throughout the empire. In 1489–1491, he stayed in Kraków where he studied mathematics, astronomy and the natural sciences at the Jagiellonian University (at which he enrolled in 1489), and befriended many other humanists such as Lorenz Rabe and Bonacursius . He also founded

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6138-449: The faithful could gain divine grace. Other theologians such as Rimini, and Hugolino of Orvieto (d. 1374) proposed that no one could deserve divine favour without God's direct intercession. Western Christianity displayed a remarkable unity. This was the outcome of the Gregorian Reform that established papal supremacy over the Catholic Church , and achieved the legal separation of the Catholic clergy from laity . Clerical celibacy

6237-412: The greatest German Renaissance painting since it was restored to critical attention in the 19th century. It is an intensely emotional work that continues the German Gothic tradition of unrestrained gesture and expression, using Renaissance compositional principles, but all in that most Gothic of forms, the multi-winged triptych . The Danube School is the name of a circle of artists of the first third of

6336-471: The issues that would soon come to the fore. A new intellectual movement known as Humanism emerged in the Late Middle Ages . The Humanists' slogan ad fontes ! ('back to the sources!') demonstrated their enthusiasm for Classical texts and textual criticism . The rise of the Ottoman Empire led to the mass immigration of Byzantine scholars to Western Europe, and many of them brought manuscripts previously unknown to western scholarship. This led to

6435-435: The large-scale cosmographic and cartographic project Germania Illustrata , of which the core — among them the treatise Germania generalis , four books of love elegies, and De origine, situ, moribus et institutis Norimbergae libellus ("On the origins, site, habits and institutions of Nuremberg") — was published under the title Quatuor libri amorum secundum quatuor latera germanie in Nuremberg (1502). In 1493, he discovered

6534-442: The late 7th century , no major disputes menaced the theological unity of the Western Church. Religious enthusiasts could organise their followers into nonconformist groups but they disbanded after their founder died. The Waldensians were a notable exception. Due to their efficient organisation, they survived not only the death of their founder Peter Waldo (d. c. 1205), but also a series of anti-heretic crusades . They rejected

6633-526: The lie to any suggestion that torpor and complacency were the hallmarks of religious life in the century before Martin Luther." Historians customarily refer to Wycliffe and Hus as "Forerunners of the Reformation". The two reformers' emphasis on the Bible is often regarded as an early example of one of the basic principles of the Reformation—the idea sola scriptura ('by the Scriptures alone'), although prominent scholastic theologians were also convinced that Scripture, interpreted reasonably and in accord with

6732-453: The most crucial episodes of the early modern period, or even regarded as the event separating the modern era from the Middle Ages . The term Protestant, though initially purely political in nature, later acquired a broader sense, referring to a member of any Western church that subscribed to the main Reformation (or anti-Catholic ) principles . Six princes of the Holy Roman Empire and rulers of fourteen Imperial Free Cities , who issued

6831-602: The papacy as a precondition for salvation . A year later, French troops arrested him, and in 1309, the seat of the papacy was transferred from the chaotic Rome to Avignon . During the period of the Avignon Papacy , the popes assumed control of the appointment of all senior Catholic clerics. The appointees had to pay fees and other contributions to the Roman Curia. The idea that Rome was the legitimate center of Catholicism never ceased, with Pope Gregory XI ( r.  1370–1378 ) returning to Rome. However, conflict between his successor Urban VII ( r.  1378–1389 ) and

6930-434: The popes owed obedience to the ecumenical councils . This idea known as conciliarism was condemned by Pope Pius II ( r.  1458–1467 ) in a papal bull , but ecclesiastic and secular leaders often referred to it during their conflicts with the papacy. Relationships between the papacy and powerful Catholic rulers were regulated in special agreements known as concordats , limiting papal authority. As princes of

7029-458: The professional staff of the Roman Curia . Secular clerics were organised into territorial units known as dioceses , each ruled by a bishop or archbishop . Each diocese was divided into parishes headed by parish priests who administered most sacraments to the faithful. These were sacred rites thought to transfer divine grace to humankind. The Council of Florence declared baptism , confirmation , marriage , extreme unction , penance ,

7128-526: The resistance of autonomous institutions such as cathedral chapters . Neither could they exercise authority over non-resident clerics who had received their benefice from the papacy. On the eve of the Reformation, the Fifth Council of the Lateran was the last occasion when efforts to introduce a far-reaching reform from above could have achieved but it was dissolved in 1517 without making decisions on

7227-405: The sale of certificates of indulgences had been a well-established method of papal fund raising, he announced new indulgences in the papal bull Sacrosanctis in 1515. On the advice of the banker Jakob Fugger (d. 1525), he appointed the pluralist prelate Albert of Brandenburg (d. 1545) to supervise the sale campaign in Germany. The Dominican friar Johann Tetzel (d. 1519), a leading figure in

7326-618: The start of the German Renaissance in visual art, which for the next forty years replaced the Netherlands and France as the area producing the greatest innovation in Northern European art. Dürer supported Martin Luther but continued to create Madonnas and other Catholic imagery, and paint portraits of leaders on both sides of the emerging split of the Protestant Reformation . Dürer died in 1528, before it

7425-674: The starting and ending date of the Reformation have always been debated. The most commonly used starting date is 31 October 1517—the day when the German theologian Martin Luther (d. 1546) allegedly nailed up a copy of his disputation paper on indulgences and papal power known as the Ninety-five Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg in Electoral Saxony . Calvinist historians often propose that

7524-493: The state could seize the corrupt clerics' endowments. Known as Lollards , Wycliffe's followers rejected clerical celibacy and the grant of indulgences. The Parliament of England passed a law against heretics , but Lollard communities survived the purges. Wycliffe's theology had a marked impact on the Prague academic Jan Hus (d. 1415). He delivered popular sermons against the clerics' wealth and temporal powers, for which he

7623-488: The students there, in which he called on Germans to rival Italians in learning and letters. This would later become an extremely popular address in sixteenth-century German nationalistic sentiment. In 1494, Celtes rediscovered Hrosvitha's works written in Latin in the monastery of St. Emmeram in Regensburg. His friend Willibald Pickheimer introduce him to Abbess Caritas Pickheimer . He wrote her in Latin and called her

7722-486: The study of the classics . He was also the first to teach the history of the world as a whole. Celtes was the first early modern humanist who introduced the term " topography " as a critical appraisal of the Ptolemaic dichotomy between cosmography and chorography , which was becoming insufficient to reflect the rapidly changing contours of Europe. He was the foremost cartographic writer in German lands. He worked on

7821-534: The supranational character of the Catholic Church. In 1409, cardinals from both sides elected a new pope at the Council of Pisa but his two rivals refused to resign. More prudent preparations paved the way for the Council of Constance . Here, one of the three popes resigned, his two rivals were deposed, and the newly elected Martin V ( r.  1417–1431 ) was acknowledged as the legitimate pope throughout Catholic Europe. The Council of Constance declared that

7920-473: The time. After completing his apprenticeship in 1490, Dürer travelled in Germany for four years, and Italy for a few months, before establishing his own workshop in Nuremberg. He rapidly became famous all over Europe for his energetic and balanced woodcuts and engravings, while also painting. Though retaining a distinctively German style, his work shows strong Italian influence, and is often taken to represent

8019-709: The topical subject matter of witches in a number of enigmatic prints. Hans Holbein the Elder and his brother Sigismund Holbein painted religious works in the late Gothic style. Hans the Elder was a pioneer and leader in the transformation of German art from the Gothic to the Renaissance style. His son, Hans Holbein the Younger was an important painter of portraits and a few religious works, working mainly in England and Switzerland. Holbein's well known series of small woodcuts on

8118-606: The vernacular. The initial movement in Germany diversified, and nearby other reformers such as Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin with different theologies arose. In general, the Reformers argued that salvation in Christianity was a completed status based on faith in Jesus alone and not a process that could involve good works , as in the Catholic view. Protestantism also introduced new ecclesiology . The Counter-Reformation

8217-565: The woodblocks often being lent to printers of editions in other cities or languages. The greatest artist of the German Renaissance, Albrecht Dürer , began his career as an apprentice to a leading workshop in Nuremberg, that of Michael Wolgemut , who had largely abandoned his painting to exploit the new medium. Dürer worked on the most extravagantly illustrated book of the period, the Nuremberg Chronicle , published by his godfather Anton Koberger , Europe's largest printer-publisher at

8316-590: The writings of Hroswitha of Gandersheim in the monastery of St. Emmaram. He then stole the manuscript and had it mass-printed across the Empire in 1501. Also in 1501, he received a privilege from the Imperial Aulic Council for the printing of his edition of her dramas. This was one of the earliest recorded privileges regarding copyrights granted by the Imperial government. Celtes also discovered

8415-507: Was Johann Reuchlin (1455–1522) who studied in various places in Italy and later taught Greek. He studied the Hebrew language , aiming to purify Christianity, but encountered resistance from the church. The most significant German Renaissance artist is Albrecht Dürer especially known for his printmaking in woodcut and engraving , which spread all over Europe, drawings, and painted portraits. Important architecture of this period includes

8514-547: Was excommunicated by Pope Leo X . On 25 May 1521, at the Diet of Worms , Luther was condemned by the Holy Roman Empire , which officially banned citizens from defending or propagating Luther's ideas. Luther survived after being declared an outlaw due to the protection of Elector Frederick the Wise . The spread of Gutenberg's printing press provided the means for the rapid dissemination of religious materials in

8613-465: Was a Protestant Reformer who criticized church practices such as selling indulgences, against which he published in his Ninety-Five Theses of 1517. Luther also translated the Bible into German, making the Christian scriptures more accessible to the general population and inspiring the standardization of the German language. Paracelsus (1493-1541) Paracelsus

8712-528: Was a principal obstacle to the implementation of reform measures, as the Holy See regularly granted immunities to those who did not want to execute them. Within regular clergy, the so-called " congregations of strict observance" spread. These were monastic communities that returned to the strict interpretation of their order's rule. Reformist bishops tried to discipline their clergy through regular canonical visitations but their attempts mainly failed due to

8811-598: Was also celebrated in Latin. Catholics regarded the Vulgate as the Bible's authentic Latin translation. Commentators applied several methods of interpretations to resolve contradictions between Bible texts. In the universities, scholastic theology held sway. Legitimate debates among scholastic theologians were not uncommon. Predestination —God's decision about an individual's fate in afterlife—was frequently discussed. Ockhamist theologians taught that God destined to salvation those about whom foreknew that they would accept

8910-462: Was also growing, and witch-hunts intensified. From the end of the 15th century , a new, sexually transmitted infection spread in Europe. This was syphilis that destroyed its victims' looks with ulcers and scabs before killing them. Along with the French invasion of Italy , the syphilis gave the background to the success of the charismatic preacher Girolamo Savonarola (d. 1498) who called for

9009-500: Was an important philosopher, physician, chemist, alchemist, theologian and scientist of the German Renaissance . His works were accepted worldwide and paved the way for Modern Science, especially chemistry and medicine. Conrad Celtes Conrad Celtes ( German : Konrad Celtes ; Latin : Conradus Celtis (Protucius) ; 1 February 1459 – 4 February 1508) was a German Renaissance humanist scholar and poet of

9108-406: Was clear that the split of the Reformation had become permanent, but his pupils of the following generation were unable to avoid taking sides. Most leading German artists became Protestants, but this deprived them of painting most religious works, previously the mainstay of artists' revenue. Martin Luther had objected to much Catholic imagery, but not to imagery itself, and Lucas Cranach the Elder ,

9207-642: Was inspired first by German philosophers and artists such as Albrecht Dürer and Johannes Reuchlin who visited Italy. Important early examples of this period are especially the Landshut Residence , the Castle in Heidelberg , Johannisburg Palace in Aschaffenburg , Schloss Weilburg , the City Hall and Fugger Houses in Augsburg and St. Michael in Munich , the largest Renaissance church north of

9306-581: Was mainly known through his prints . He successfully integrated an elaborate Northern style with Renaissance harmony and monumentality. Among his best known works are Melencolia I , the Four Horsemen from his woodcut Apocalypse series, and Knight, Death, and the Devil . Other significant artists were Lucas Cranach the Elder , the Danube School and the Little Masters . Martin Luther

9405-408: Was mirrored by popular artistic motifs, such as the allegory of danse macabre ('dance of death'). The fear also contributed to the growing popularity of Masses for the dead . Already detectable among early Christians , these ceremonies indicated a widespread belief in purgatory —a transitory state for souls that needed purification before entering heaven . Fear of malevolent magical practice

9504-601: Was named after Conrad Celtis. Protestant Reformation Electors of Saxony Holy Roman Emperors Building Literature Theater Liturgies Hymnals Monuments Calendrical commemoration The Reformation , also known as the Protestant Reformation and the European Reformation , was a major theological movement or period or series of events in Western Christianity in 16th-century Northwestern Europe that posed

9603-487: Was reinforced through the prohibition of clerical marriage ; ecclesiastical courts were granted exclusive jurisdiction over clerics, and also over matrimonial causes. Priests were ordained by bishops in accordance with the principle of apostolic succession —a claim to the uninterrupted transmission of their consecrating power from Christ's Apostles through generations of bishops. Bishops, abbots , abbesses , and other prelates might possess remarkable wealth. Some of

9702-594: Was summoned to the Council of Constance. Although the German king Sigismund of Luxemburg ( r.  1410–1437 ) had granted him safe conduct, Hus was sentenced to death for heresy and burned at the stake on 6 July 1415. His execution led to a nationwide religious movement in Bohemia , and the papacy called for a series of crusades against Hus's followers. The moderate Hussites , mainly Czech aristocrats and academics, were known as Utraquists for they taught that

9801-771: Was the Catholic reform efforts initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation and its causes. In the 16th-century context, the term mainly covers four major movements: Lutheranism , Calvinism , the Radical Reformation , and the Catholic Reformation . Historian John Bossy criticized the term Reformation for "wrongly implying that bad religion was giving way to good," but also because it has "little application to actual social behaviour and little or no sensitivity to thought, feeling or culture." Some historians have also suggested

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