In 1517, the world changed with Martin Luther’s 95 Theses. With a series of conflicts he had in respect partly to the Doctrine of the Catholic Church, he would plunge Europe into a series of conflicts that would last almost two hundred years when Louis XIV would kick out the Huguenots from France. While it is often called The Age of Religious Warfare, there is far more to the era than just arms and warfare.
Religion is a deeply connected part of Medieval European life and would continue to be a part of European life until the contemporary era. To simply uproot a belief system is not possible without massive social upheavals. As a result of Luther’s protests, a new system of Christian belief pops up to challenge the Catholic Church’s domination of doctrine, nobles see ways of coming out of the rule by Kings and Emperors, and trade shifts away from old lanes. With Martin Luther, we see a new world emerge, from the Medieval to the Early Modern.
So today, we welcome all questions about this era of Confessional Conflict. Questions not just about the wars that occurred but the lives that were affected, the politics that changed, the economics that shifted, things that have major impacts to this day.
For our Dramatis Personae we have:
/u/AskenazeeYankee: I would like to talk about religious minorities, not only Jews, but also the wide variety of non-Catholic Christian sects (in the sociological sense) that flourished between 1517 and 1648. Although it's slightly before the period this AMA focuses upon, I'd also like to talk about the Hussites, because they are pretty important for understanding how Protestantism develops in Bohemia and central Europe more generally. If anyone wants to get deep into the weeds of what might be charitably called "interfaith dialogue" in this era, I can also talk a little bit about 'philo-semitism' in the development of Calvinist theology, Finally, I can talk a bit about religious conflict between Orthodox and Catholics in Poland and the Ukraine. The counter-reformation in Poland and Austria had reverberations farther east than many people realize.
/u/DonaldFDraper: My focus is on France and France’s unique time during this era, moving from Catholic stronghold to tenuous pace right until the expulsion of the Huguenots (French Protestants) in 1689.
/u/ErzherzogKarl: focuses on the Habsburg Monarchy and Central Europe
/u/itsalrightwithme: My focus area of study is the early modern era of Spain, France, the Low Countries and Germany, and more specifically for this AMA the Confessional Conflicts brewing in that era. The resulting wars -- the Thirty Years' War, the Eighty Years' War, the French Wars of Religion, and the Habsburg-Ottoman Wars -- are highly correlated and I am very happy to speak to how they are connected.
/u/WARitter: whose focus is on arms and armor of the era, and would be the best on handling purely military aspects of the era.
/u/RTarcher: English Reformations & Religious Politics
We will take your comments for the next few hours and start ideally around 12:00 GMT (7 AM EST) on the 29th of December.
How did the Orthodox church(es) view the Protestant Reformation? Were there any "protestant" movements against the Orthodox, aka anybody who broke away from the Orthodox church who were inspired by the Reformation in Western and Central Europe?
Is there a "forgotten figure" of this era, someone influential on the development of Protestantism whose name belongs alongside Luther and Calvin, but who has been relegated to secondary status?
How sincere do you think the Habsburg dynasts were in championing their faith? How much did it vary from one ruler to the next within the line?
On military aspects:
What advances in metallurgy advances were made that enabled casting better cannons?
What advances in making gunpowder were made?
What mechanical? advances were made to enable the making of various firing locks and firearm barrels? Was the screw integral to the making of firearms?
How large were various classes of warships in this period? Were they larger than previous times? If yes, what shipbuilding innovations allowed them to be larger?
What was training like for these newly developed professional, standing, national armies?
Hi everyone, thanks for doing this AMA!
I've always been a bit confused about Protestantism in France. Were the French Wars of Religion purely a ploy by the French nobility to counter the increasing strength of the monarchy, or was there some actual religious aspect to it? I never understood how the entire conflict could evaporate because "Paris is worth a mass"
I am generally interested in the changing economics of the time and how it affected cities. Good books to read on the subject would also be appreciated.
On the social aspect: Devastating wars often give rise to anti-war sentiments, and some changes in sociopolitical philosophy as people do some soul-searching on what caused the wars and how to prevent another round of devastation.
There are few wars more devastating than the 16th-17th century religious conflicts. Did it result in any new philosophical outlooks or anti-war sentiments?
This might be too vague a question but what was the main driver between countries embracing the various forms of Protestantism? Mainly thinking what were the various factors that allowed Calvinism to flourish in Scotland etc
Was Henry the VIII's Church of England more attractive to Catholics or Protestants?
Hiya!!! This is kinda broad, but can you talk a little bit about the geographic distribution of the reformation to the degree that such a distribution existed? I was taught Huguenots were generally in the southwest (old Aquitane, Poitiers, etc.); I don't know the HRE as well but I always felt protestants were up north relatively. Were there economic/political/linguistic tensions playing into this too driving the geography?
Thanks for doing this AMA!
During the Thirty Year's War, how much did faith influence the leadership of the warring states in their decisions to go to war compared to worldly things such as power/money/influence?
What did the Ottoman Empire do during the Thirty Year's War, assuming they wanted to take advantage of the weakened Habsburgs?
3a) Were there any interesting/noteworthy christian groups apart from the Catholics/Lutherans/Calvinists during this time period in Central Europe?
3b) On a related note, how did non-christian religions and their followers fare during the Thirty Year's War in Central Europe?
Thanks for doing this, esteemed panelists. Most of what I know about this era is half-remembered Western Civ, so basically nothing. But coming from that:
La France
I know that Huguenots gained the right to practice their religion in designated places within France. What kind of limits did they face outside them? Were they expected to go to Mass if they traveled? Was there any effort to control their movement? Or is it more a matter of they're still left alone but forbidden to preach?
Prussia
How was the Teutonic Knighthood's transition into Prussia politically managed? Is it just an issue of the leadership issuing a declaration or did they have to deal with significant domestic opposition?
Poland & Ukraine
I vaguely recall a textbook mentioning that Poland almost went Protestant but Catholicism managed to hold on. How true is that and, if so, how did Rome make its comeback?
Separately, I remember something about a Ukrainian group switching from Orthodoxy to Catholicsm or some sort of kinda-Orthodox-but-acknowledges-Rome. How did that happen and was there any major fallout from it?
Do we know what the 'public reaction' was in France to joining the 30 years war on what was more or less the protestant side?
How much was Elizabethan England involved in religious wars on the continent? What were Elizabeth's goals and was she able to achieve them?
Also during this time was there any attempts in the Church to try and mend the Schism with Orthodoxy?
I've heard much about the impact of confessional wars on the German population. What impact did it have on the ordenary people from the other nations involved? I'm especially interested in Sweden.
Did the rest of Europe known about the proto-communist movement by Anabaptists in Muenster, Germany? Did it influence other anti private property movements throughout the continent?
Why was the German aristocracy willing to defend Martin Luther against the Catholic Church, whereas others that had lashed out against it throughout Europe previously faced execution?
Is it fair to say Martin Luther's severe antisemitism made things significantly worse for European Jews? Or were his beliefs simply a reflection of the general gentile culture at the time?
Thank you all for doing this ;)
One of the things that astound me the most when about England is how quickly the shift from Catholic to Protestant seems to be.
As far as I can tell the country was firmly Catholic around 1520 but in the book Witchfinders by Malcolm Gaskill set in the 1640's the country is firmly protestant.
How did the switch happen so fast and how well was it accepted by the population?
From what I can gather, the switch mostly happened because king Henry VIII wanted a quick way to divorce from his wife and the Catholic church didn't comply. How was it explained to the people at that time?
And lastly, any good books on the reformations from the perspective of the commoners?
Again, many thanks for doing this ;)
If this AMA is still open, I'd like to ask questions relating to the historical background of fiction that's set during this period. I hope that's fine!
Did any of the religious minorities develop their own styles of jewellery and if so what?
What was the reaction to Luther's later antisemitism among the other Reformers and Catholic leadership at the time?
On a microlevel how did people react to ones neighbor converting from Catholic to Protestant.
When reading it often seems like shifts in religion is done in groups. But how did the groundwork for Protestant missionary work look like?
Did people open up their own p. Churches or vandalize c. Churches?
What were the arguments heard that would sway common folk their long old religious ways?
What would you consider the major protestant military and political powers of this period?
Maybe a bit too late to ask questions, but one thing I've been wondering for a while is how exactly so many people converted to Protestantism and Calvinism so quickly? Especially among the nobility, what would their motivation be to convert to a "heretical" religion? Simply faith in the new beliefs? Was there a "trickle down" in conversions, as in nobles converted -> burghers converted -> peasants converted? Or was it less linear than that?
Unitarianism started popping up in Eastern Europe during this time, right? What were the bigger Protestant leaders' opinions on Unitarianism? Did it go further from Catholicism than Protestant leaders were comfortable with?
How did the pre-Luther Protestant groups survive? What influence did they have on Luther? Are there any extant churches descended from them besides the Moravian Church?
Dang, so sad that I missed this. I even had it on my "to do" list and everything.
If anyone sees this...
I have always been of two minds about Luther. Was he caving to the secular rulers to whom he owed his protection (and that of his newly forming Church) or was he truly supportive of secular authority? I am speaking about his Two Kingdoms doctrine, his work on the Peasant's Revolt, etc.