Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/354

Rh 336 REFORMATION from that professed by a neighbouring potentate, the carrying out of such a law could scarcely fail to generate or intensify feelings of aversion and enmity between their respective subjects, while its complete failure as a means of bringing about unanimity is shown in the rise of those numerous controversies which afterwards enabled the ad- herents of Romanism to launch so effective a taunt against the principles of Protestantism. Among these controversies were those of the Majorists (1551-1562), whose founder, Georg Major of Wittenberg, maintained the doctrine of the necessity of good works to salvation ; of the Syner- gists (1555-1567), who held that men could not be saved unless the operations of the divine grace were seconded by the spiritual efforts of the individual soul ; of the fol- lowers of Osiander (1549-1567), who supported a modified theory of the doctrine of justification; of the Crypto- Calvinists (1552-1574), who, led by Peucerus, the son-in- law of Melanchthon, maintained against Flacius Illyricus a theory of predestination differing from the Lutheran doctrine. In this last instance the feelings of enmity engendered by the controversy rose to such a pitch that the elector of Saxony was induced to send the leading Philippists to prison, while Flacius and his party celebrated the victory which they held to be theirs by a solemn service of thanksgiving and a commemorative medal. In the year 1580 an endeavour was made to bring about a reconciliation of the various contending parties by drawing up the celebrated Formula of Concord, but the design was attended with but little success. In the midst of this theological ferment, however, the divines of the university of Helmstadt, in the earlier part of the 1 7th century, were honourably distinguished by their systematic endeavours to allay the strife ; and the career of Georg Calixtus, while affording a remarkable illustration of a gloomy chap- ter in the history of Protestantism, may be cited as a proof that a faithful adherence to the principles of the Reforma- tion was not incompatible with a regard for the right of private judgment and intellectual freedom. Reforma- In the Scandinavian kingdoms the Reformation was in materially assisted by political motives ; the introduction of Lutheranism into Denmark by King Christian II. in 1520 was to a great extent the result of his desire to raise the lower classes with a view to the corresponding depression of the nobility and the more powerful eccle- siastics of the realm. He sanctioned the marriage of the clergy and caused the New Testament to be translated into Danish. These measures, however, owing in no slight degree to the motives by which they were held to be inspired, involved him in a struggle with his subjects which eventually led to his deposition and to his passing the rest of his life in exile. But the new doctrines con- tinued to be effectively preached by John Tausen, who had been among Luther's pupils at Wittenberg ; and the principles of the Reformation spread rapidly in Schleswig and Holstein. On the accession of Christian's successor, Christian III. (his cousin), the movement acquired fresh strength. The new monarch had been a witness of Luther's heroic conduct at Worms and had conceived the warmest admiration for the character of the great Reformer, and through his efforts the tenets of the Reformation were adopted in 1536, at a diet held at Copenhagen, as the religion of the state. In the following year the move- ment extended to Norway and shortly after that to Ice- land. In Sweden the Reformation was established concur- rently with the political revolution which placed Gustavus Vasa on the throne. It was, however, only too apparent that the patriot king was largely influenced by the expect- ation of replenishing his exhausted exchequer from the revenues of the church, and, as in Germany and in Eng- land, the assent of the nobility was gained by their admission to a considerable share in the confiscated pro- perty. Among the powerful cities which represented the great Hanseatic confederacy, again, the acceptance of Lutheran doctrine turned largely on the keen commercial rivalry that then existed between that confederacy and Holland, and on the contests between the privileged and the unprivileged classes in the towns. In the prosecution of the former struggle the burghers of Liibeck appealed for assistance to Denmark, and, failing to gain the aid they sought, proceeded to organize an alliance with the object of restoring Christian II. to his throne ; at the same time, with the view of outbidding their opponents in popularity, they unwisely proclaimed revolutionary principles scarcely less subversive than those of Miinzer. In the civil war that ensued Christian III. ultimately triumphed over his enemies, and Wullenwever, the leader of the fanatical party, suffered death upon the scaffold. The Reformation was now firmly established, but in, conjunction with the mon- archy reinforced by the power of the nobility, while the ecclesiastical constitution was remodelled ; and in the year 1539, at the diet of Odense, the new faith was proclaimed as the religion of the land. In Bohemia the Hussite movement (see Huss and Bolie HUSSITES) must be held to have become almost absorbed in the broader current of Lutheranism, although the Calix- tines (or moderate Utraquists) and the Taborites (or ex- treme party) long continued to differ on questions of disci- pline. In the earlier part of the 17th century, however, the trained activity and energy of the Jesuits led to the almost entire expulsion of both parties, and Protestantism as a professed creed nearly ceased to survive. In Poland Protestantism prevailed before the first Polf quarter of the 16th century closed. In Dantzic, Elbing, and Thorn it was established by overwhelming majorities. By the Pax Dissidentium, however, with a view to averting contests such as those that disturbed the peace of other lands, the principle of universal toleration was enunciated; and the duke of Anjou (afterwards Henry III. of France), on being elected to the vacant throne of Poland in 1573, notwithstanding his own attachment to Catholicism, found himself compelled to swear that he would strictly protect the adherents of the opposed faith from persecution and aggression. But here again the influence of the Jesuits ultimately proved victorious. The nobles were gained over by their arts, and Catholicism reasserted its ascendency. In the Netherlands, where the free spirit of the great mercantile communities was in singular harmony with the movement, the progress was still more rapid. The details of the heroic struggle waged against Charles V. and Philip II. must be regarded as belonging rather to secular than to theological history ; but it is to be noted, alike to the honour of the people and of the house of Orange, that the enact- ment of the principle of religious toleration followed upon the fierce and intolerant persecution to which the country had so long been exposed. Although the majority of the inhabitants professed the tenets of Calvinism, the Arminian party succeeded in bringing about a union of church and state, which, however, left the other communions almost entirely unrestricted in their religious freedom. The fol- lowers of Gomarus, indeed, early in the 17th century, seemed at one time likely to place this freedom in danger, not only by their assertion of more rigid Calvinistic doctrine, but also by their demand that the church should be con- stituted independent of the state. But eventually (see Motley, Hist, of the United Netherlands, c. Hi.) the party that favoured religious toleration triumphed; and the Dutch republic long continued to be an asylum for those whom the ascendency of the contrary principle in other lands drove into exile. The church organization was modelled on the political organization of the provinces, each province