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Challenges to Spiritual Authority at the End of the Middle Ages
The Middle Ages provided many foundations to the Reformation of
the 16th century. During the time, the church provided order, stability, and a
framework for the medieval world. The most essential foundation of medieval
life was salvation - and the ultimate life goal of all people was to obtain
salvation. As people lost faith in the church and its ability to provide
salvation, the church began to lose its hold on the populace.
Plague
As explained earlier, the plague contributed to the people's
loss of faith in the church. However, some more ardent believers would have
regarded such a plague as being sent from God to punish the world for its sins.
The church of the day would have played upon such a notion so as to encourage
more ardent belief and to attack any dissenters.
Heretical Movements and
People
A number of movements and people challenged the authority of the
church during the end of the Middle Ages.
Free Spirits
The free spirits believed the church was not meeting the
spiritual needs of the people, and advocated mysticism, or the belief that God and humans are of the
same essence.
John Wycliffe (1328–1384)
John Wycliffe, an English priest and professor at Oxford,
founded the Lollard movement. The Lollards argued that salvation didn't have to
come through the pope, and that the king was superior to and more important
than the pope and religion. He said that Bible reading and prayer were
important to religion, not the interpretation by priests. He was one of the
first to set out to translate the Bible into a vernacular language rather than using the Latin Vulgate. He also objected to the extreme wealth of
the church and clergy.
Jan Hus (1369-1415) in
Bohemia
Jan Hus, by forming the Hussites, attempted to bring about reforms like those attempted by
Wycliff in England. Hus was a priest in Bohemia when he learned of Wycliff's teachings. While the people
around him thought them heretical and forbade them, Jan thought they had a
right to be taught. Through his various disagreements and dealings, Hus came to
think the church corrupt, and left his native land to pen On the Church, a work which criticized the manner in which
it was run. His teachings appealed to the masses, and he developed a group of
followers known as Hussites. In 1413, Hus was invited to a council
designed to reform the church, but when he arrived he was arrested for his
views. The following trial was in many ways just a formality, as he was guilty
the moment he stepped in. Hus was burned at the stake on July 6, 1415.
Corruption in the Church
The vast corruption in the church also led many to doubt and
question its authority. The excess wealth of clergy and the frequency of
clergymen having mistresses and illegitimate children was a major concern. The
people also questioned the church's sale of indulgences, or receiving payment
to forgive people of their sins; nepotism; simony, or the sale of church
office; pluralism, or holding multiple church offices; and the extreme luxury
of cathedrals.
The Great Schism
Allegiances during the Great Schism of 1378.
In 1305, the King of France invited the Pope to move the
headquarters of the Church away from Rome, a city plagued by warring local
factions, to Avignon in the Rhone Valley. After Pope Gregory XI's return of the
papacy to Rome in 1377, elections were convened for a new Pope. The citizens of
Rome, demanding the election of an Italian Pope, forced the Cardinals to elect
Urban VI. Dissenting French Cardinals reconvened in Avignon and on their own
elected their own pope, Clement VII. The French popes of the Great Schism,
referred to by historians as antipopes, held papal power in some
regions of Europe, and for 39 years there were two Popes. In an attempt to
reconcile this Schism, Conciliarists held a conference at Pisa to elect a new
Pope, but could not depose either of the two in power, resulting in a threefold
split in the papacy. Not willing to give up, the Pisan convention elected yet
another Pope, to the same result.
Finally the Council of Constance (1414-1418) stepped in and
called for the abdication of the three popes in power. With the support of the
Holy Roman Emperor, the three popes were deposed and Martin V was elected as a
single pope, ending the Great Schism. The Council of Constance also took action
against John Wycliffe and John Huss, two reformers within the Catholic Church.
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