Week 13: Confessionalization

Europe’s Reformations

Confessionalization

The process by which states and communities enforced religious uniformity and conformity to a particular confession of faith imposed on the populace through a union of church and state. But did it work?

Imposing Distinctions.

Confessions of Faith.

• Lutheran: Augsburg Confession (1530), Formula of Concord (1577).
  • Accepted by Lutheran princes of the Holy Roman Empire.
  • Theses and antitheses.
• Reformed: Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
  • Questions and Answers.
• Council of Trent (1545-1563)
  • Reformulated Catholic doctrine in response to the Protestant Reformation.

• Augsburg Confession: 28 articles, 21 of which are accepted by the Catholic Church. (7 abuses the reformers wanted to reform).
• Formula of Concord (1577)
  • Designed in the HRE Palitanate (first to accept Calvinism).
  • Designed to counteract the Catholic teaching.
  • Written in a question and answer format.
  • Meant to do 3 things;
    • 1. Create a fixed form and model of doctrine.
    • 2. Instruct the youth of the church.
    • 3. Combat teaching form Catholics and Lutherans.
  • Based on scripture. When Frederick leader of Palitanate was brought to account for disobeying the Peace of Augsburg, he claimed that the Heidelberg Catechism was based on scripture and not reformed teaching.
  • Widely accepted thereafter.
• All three were specifically designed to emphasize the differences between the confessions.
• Council of Trent reinforced doctrines specifically targeted by reformers.
• Formula of Concord was organized as a set of theses and antitheses that explicitly laid out what they believed and what they rejected.

Example: The Book of Concord.

On Free Will

Antithesis: “Also, when the following expressions are employed without explanation, namely, that the will of man before, in, and after conversion resists the Holy Ghost, and that the Holy Ghost is given to those who resist Him intentionally and persistently; for, as Augustine says, in conversion God makes willing persons out of the unwilling and dwells in the willing.”

Educational Institutions.

• Catholic, Jesuit Schools.
  • A core part of the Catholic Reformation.
• Calvinist Academies.
  • Theological Academy of Geneva (1559).
  • University of Leiden (1575), Amsterdam (1632) Utrecht (1636).
  • Public Education
• Lutheran Universities.
  • Wittenberg (1502), Jena (1558), Helmstedt (1576).

• Jesuit schools were designed to educate the youth in Catholic doctrine and to counteract Protestant teachings
• Theological Academy of Geneva was designed to train ministers in Calvinist doctrine and to spread the Reformed faith.
• Calvin was in favor of universal eduction.
  • Netherlands 1586, Calvinist synod of The Hague decreed free public schools in villages.
  • Scotland 1560, John Knox (disciple of Calvin) tried to create free schools in every parish, but nobles prevented it.
  • New Calvinist universities:
• Lutheran universities:
  • Wittenberg (1502), Jena (1558), Helmstedt (1576).

Imposing Uniformity.

Cuius regio, eius religio.

• Convert to the prince’s religion or leave.
• Limitations.
• Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685).

Success and Failure in Spanish Lands

• Spain already in process of confessionalization before the Reformation.
  • Moriscos, Conversos, & Inquisition.
• Problems in the Netherlads due to confessional methods.
  • Dutch Revolt (1568-1648).

Imposing Conformity.

Methods of Enforcement.

• Consistory.
  • Focused on Disciplining the population.
• Lutheran Visitations.
  • Pastors Visited and inquired the beliefs of parishioners.
  • New Laws to align with the confessions.
• The Inquisition.
• Public Shaming.

• Consistory: A church court that was responsible for enforcing religious discipline and conformity within a community. It was often used in Protestant regions to ensure that the population adhered to the official confession of faith.
• Lutheran Visitations: A method used by Lutheran authorities to visit parishes and inquire about the beliefs and practices of the parishioners. This was done to ensure that they were following the teachings of the Lutheran confession and to identify any deviations from it.

Successes

• Europeans becoming more civil.
• Religious diversity slowly declined
• but not entirely.

Limitations.

• Transition from oral society to print culture.
  • Most people not literate.
• Menocchio, a miller from Friuli, Italy (1583-1599).
  • An epidimec, a bull, and an investigation

• Menocchio:
  • A miller from Friuli, Italy who was tried by the Inquisition for his unorthodox beliefs.
  • Believed humans were made like worms out of cheese
  • Brought up by the inquisition three times for his beliefs.
  • Finally burned at the stake.
• Epidemic broke out in Wurttemburg in 18th century.
• Some residents buried a bull alive at the cross roads outside the town.
• Local authorities investigated this act of superstition.
• Goal:
  • who did it?
  • Did they believe the sacrifice would stop the epidemic?
  • Interrogated many villagers.
  • Investigators never found the Truth of the situation.
  • Issue of different ideas of the world.
  • The authorities were seeking a truth the villagers did not have.
  • The villagers did not bury the bull due to any systematic belief.
  • They really did not come to a decision at all (the villagers).
  • The idea was broached at a meeting of the village council, then did nothing.
  • Then it was brought up again by the same man who questioned if it could work.
  • authorities only gained “facts” of actions not beliefs.
  • One person grabbed the rope and another got the bull. others watched on. Others brought stones to kill the bull once it was in the hole.
    • Even though the idea was that it was a live bull that was buried in the other village.
  • Difference between knowledge as based on Abstract belief and knowledge based on experience.

Limitations of Confessionalization.

• Confessionalization was a goal.
• But how did people actually adopt the confessions?