Lesson 3: The Protestant Reformation

*Reformation*

a sixteenth-century religious movement marked ultimately by rejection or modification of some Roman Catholic doctrine and practice and establishment of the Protestant churches

*Geneva*

Swiss city-state which became a Calvinist theocracy in the 1500s; today a major city in Switzerland

*predestination*

Calvinist belief that God long ago determined who would gain salvation

*Charles V*

Charles V (1500-1558) was the Holy Roman emperor during the time of Martin Luther's Reformation efforts. His immense empire included large areas of Europe. A staunch Catholic, he rejected Luther's doctrines. The Protestant upheaval, along with political pressures, led Charles to voluntarily give up his throne. He divided the empire between his son and his brother. Charles entered a Catholic monastery, where he remained until his death.

*John Calvin*

John Calvin (1509-1564) was a French theologian and lawyer. Influenced by the humanist philosophy of Erasmus, Calvin became involved with the Protestant movement while a student at the University of Paris. He later moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where he set up a theocracy and wrote Institutes of the Christian Religion. Calvin's interpretation of Christian doctrine is called Calvinism.

*Martin Luther*

Martin Luther (1483-1546) was a German monk and theologian who was the catalyst of the Protestant Reformation. Trained to become a lawyer, he changed his path, joined a strict order of Roman Catholic monks, and studied theology. Seeking to reform abuses within the Church, Luther challenged Church teachings with his 95 Theses. This led to his excommunication and the development of Lutheranism, the first of several Protestant sects.

*Wittenberg*

a city in northern Germany, where Luther drew up his 95 theses

*theocracy*

a government run by religious power

*Protestant*

a member of one of the Christian churches that separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the sixteenth century

*diet*

assembly or legislature

*indulgence*

in the Roman Catholic Church, pardon for sins committed during a person's lifetime