Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/790

 REFORMATION

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REFORMATION

gary accepted the Augsburg Confession. Calvinism, however, gradually won the upper hand, although the domestic disputes between the reforming sects by no means ceased.

In Transylvania merchants from Hermannstadt, who had become acquainted with Luther's heresy at Leipzig, spread the Reformation after 1521. Not- withstanding the persecution of the Reformers, a Lutheran school was started at Hermannstadt, and the nobility endeavoured to use the Reformation as a means of confiscating the property of the clergy. In 1529 the regular orders and the most vigorous champions of the Church were driven from the town. At Ivronstadt the Lutheran preaclier Jphann Honter gained the ascendancy in 1534, the Mass being abol- ished and Divine service organized after the Lutheran model. At a SATiod held m 1544 the Saxon nation in Transylvania decided in favour of the Augsburg Con- fession, while the rural Mag\-ars accepted Calvinism. At the Diet of Klausenburg in 1556 general religious freedom was granted, and the ecclesiastical property confiscated for the defence of the country and the erection of Lutheran schools. Among the supporters of the Reformation far-reaching divisions prevailed. Besides the Lutherans, there were L'nitarians (Socin- ians) and Anabaptists, and each of these sects waged war against the others. A Cathohc minority sur- vived among the Greek Walachians.

F. Polarjd, Livoniu, and Courland. — Poland learned of the Reformation first through some young students from Wittenberg and through the Bohemian and Moravian Brethren. .Archbishop Laski of Gnesen and King Sigismund I (1501— 4S) energetically opposed the spread of heretical doctrines. However, the sup- porters of the Reformation succeeded in winning recruits at the University of Cracow, at Posen, and at Dantzig. From Dantzig the Reformation spread to Thorn and Elbing, and certain nobles favoured the new doctrines. Under the rule of the weak Sigis- mund II (1548-72) there were in Poland, besides the Lutherans and the Bohemian Brethren, Zwinghans, Calvinists, and Socinians. Prince Radziwill and John Laski favoured Cahdnism, and the Bible was translated into Polish in accordance with the \'iews of this party in 1563. Despite the efforts of the papal nuncio, Aloisius Lippomano (1556-5S) free prac- tice of religion was secretly granted in the above- mentioned three cities, and the nobility were allowed to hold private religious services in their houses. The different Reformed sects fought among one another, the formula of faith introduced at the General Synocl of Sandomir in 1570 by the Reformed, the Lutherans, and the Bohemian Brethren producing no unity. In 1573 the heretical parties secured the religious peace of Warsaw, which granted equal rights to Catholics and "Dissidents", and established permanent peace between the two sections. By the zealous inaugura- tion of true ecclesiastical reform, the diligent activity of the papal legates and able bishops, and the labours of the Jesuits, further progress of the Reformation was prevented.

In Livonia and Courland, the territories of the Teutonic Order, the course of the Reformation was the same as in the other territory of the order, Prussia. Commander Gotthard Kettler of Courland embraced the Augsburg Confession, and converted the land into a secular hereditarj- duchy, tributary- to Poland. In Livonia Commander Walter of Pletten- berg strove to foster Lutheranism, which had been accepted at Riga, Dorpat, and Reval since 1523, hoping thus to make himself independent of the .\rch- bishop of Riga. ^NTien Margrave William of Bran- denburg became Archbishop of Riga in 1539, Luther- ism rapidly obtained exclusive sway in Livonia.

G. Netherlands. — During the reign of Charles V the seventix-n provinces of the Netherlands remained fairly immune from the infection of the new doctrine.

Several followers of Luther had indeed appeared there, and endeavoured to disseminate the Lutheran writings and doctrines. Charles V, however, issued strict edicts against the Lutherans and against the printing and spreading of the writings of the Reformer. The excesses of the Anabaptists evoked the forcible suppression of their movement, and mitQ 1555 the Reformation found little root in the country. In this year Charles V granted the Netherlands to his son Philip II, who resided in the countrj- until 1559. During this period Calvinism made rapid strides, especially in the northern provinces. ^Iany of the great nobles and the much impoverished lower nobihty used the Reformation to incite the liberty-loving people against the king's administration, the Spanish officials and troops, and the strictness of the govern- ment. Disaffection continued to increase, owing chiefly to the severe ordinances of the Duke of Alva and the bloody persecution conducted by him. Wil- liam of Orange-Nassau, governor of the Pro-\-ince of Holland, aimed for political reasons at securing the victon,- for Calvinism, and succeeded in several of the northern districts. He then placed himself at the head of the rebelUon against the Spanish rule. In the ensuing war the northern provinces {Xieder- lande) asserted their independence, whereupon Cal- ^Tnism gained in them the ascendancy. In 1581 everj- public exercise of the Cathohc Faith was for- bidden. The "Belgian Confession" of 1562 had abeady a Calvinistic foundation; by the sjTiods of Dordrecht in 1574 and 1618 Calvinism received a fixed form. The Catholics of the countrj' (about two-fifths of the population) were subjected to violent suppression. Among the Calvinists of Holland vio- lent confhcts arose concerning the doctrine of pre- destination.

H. England and Scotland. — The Reformation re- ceived its final form in England during the reign of Queen EUzabeth (1558-1603). On the basis of the hturgj- established in the "Book of Common Prayer" under Edward VI (1547-53) and the confession of Forty-two Articles composed by Archbishop Cranmer and Bishop Ridley in 1552, and after Queen Mary ( 1 553-58) had failed to restore her count ry to union with Rome and the Cathohc Faith, the ascendancy of Anglicanism was established in England bj' Elizabeth. The Forty-two Articles were revised, and, as the Thirty-nine Articles of the Anglican Church, became in 1562 the norm of its religious creed. The eccle- siastical supremacy of the queen was recognized, an oath to this effect (Oath of Supremacy) being required under penalty of removal from office and loss of property. Several prelates and the universities offered resistance, which was overcome by force. The major- ity of the lower clergj' took the oath, which was de- manded with ever-increasing severity from all mem- bers of the House of Commons, all ecclesiastics, bar- risters, and teachers. In externals much of the old Catholic form of worship was retained. After the failure of the movement in favour of Marj- Stuart of Scotland, who had fled to England in 1568, the op- pression of the English Catholics was continued with increasing violence. Besides the Anglican Estab- lished Church there were in England the Calvinistic Nonconformists, who opposed a presbj-terian popular organization to the episcopal hierarchy; like the Catholics, they were much oppressed by the rulers of England.

In Scotland the social and pohtical situation gave a great impetus to the Reformation, aided by the ignorance and rudeness of the clerg>- (to a great ex- tent the result of the constant feuds). The nobihty used the Reformation as a weapon in their war against the royal house, which was .supported by the higher clergj'. .\lready under James V (1524- 42) supporters of the Lutheran doctrines (e. g. Patrick Hamilton, Henry Forest, and Alexander