Orange had
betrayed the Spanish king and the Catholic religion. Felipe had declared
William an outlaw and pledged a reward of 25,000 crowns for his assassination.
Gerard decided to collect it. William was shot down on the stairway of his own
house after a meeting with Gerard, but his son Maurice continued the warfare
until his death in 1625. Finally in 1648, the Eighty Years’ War of attrition
ended, and the Netherlands received unconditional independence at the Treaty of
Westphalia. Belgium remained under foreign rule until 1831.
NORTHERN EUROPE
While the Protestant Reformation was felt across all of
Europe, the movement was strongest in the north. After some years of turmoil in
the sixteenth century, all of Scandinavia ultimately became Protestant, as the
kings of Denmark (who also ruled Norway and Iceland) and Sweden (who also ruled
Finland) adopted the principles of the Reformation.
To a large degree, the reform movement introduced in
Denmark was through the work of Hans Tausen, a disenchanted monk and a student
of Luther. There is little doubt that the Danes were ready for a change.
Imprisoned by his order, people came to his cell in droves to listen to him
preach, and when he won over the prior of the monastery to his views and was
released, there were few churches of significant size to hold the crowds. He
addressed the people in the market place from a church tower.
When the Franciscans refused to allow him to preach in
their more ample church, a mob broke in by force. A compromise was arranged
whereby friars were to preach in the morning and Tausen in the afternoon. The
bishop, unhappy with these proceedings, sent armed men to the church to arrest
Tausen. The parishioners, who had carried their weapons with them, drove off
the bishop’s men.
In October 1526, King Frederick I took Hans Tausen under
his protection, appointed him his chaplain, and charged him to continue to
preach the gospel to the citizens of Viborg who were made responsible for his
safety.
On the death of his benefactor, Frederick I, Bishop Ronnow
of Copenhagen wanted him banished. The people took up arms against the bishop
and would have killed him but for Tausen’s intervention. The bishop rescinded
his accusation, allowing Tausen to preach. Christian III, son of the dead king,
an open reformist, won an ensuing civil war and the crown in 1537.
In Sweden and Finland, the Reformation was spearheaded by
the Swedish King, Gustav Vasa, in 1523. When the pope remonstrated over
Gustav’s interference in Swedish church affairs, the official connection
between Sweden and the papacy was severed. The crown confiscated Church
property, and from then on the clergy were subject to civil law, and all
ecclesiastical appointments required royal approval. Official sanction was
given to Lutheranism that was to be taught in the schools and preached in the
churches.
SOUTHERN EUROPE
Spain, Portugal, and Italy remained predominantly Catholic.
In a country such as Spain, a united state under a strong Catholic monarch, and
a powerful Inquisition supported by the people, such religious transformation
could not have arisen. As soon as a spark glimmered, it was quickly extinguished.
Subjected to the will of the Inquisition, the few
Protestants in Spain were forced to live precariously, for even having visited
a Protestant country was enough to put one under suspicion of apostasy. Even
foreigners had to go before the inquisitors for the slightest infringement of
the rules such as failing to remove one’s hat when the bishop’s carriage passed
by. There had been a few defections in Spain, but the Inquisition maintained
tight control over all religious activity, and heretics were summarily burned
at the stake. With inquisitorial police everywhere and neighbors ready to
denounce one another for any suspicious behavior, Protestantism remained
confined to a few very secret worshippers.
Portugal, under Spanish domination for much of the
betrayed the Spanish king and the Catholic religion. Felipe had declared
William an outlaw and pledged a reward of 25,000 crowns for his assassination.
Gerard decided to collect it. William was shot down on the stairway of his own
house after a meeting with Gerard, but his son Maurice continued the warfare
until his death in 1625. Finally in 1648, the Eighty Years’ War of attrition
ended, and the Netherlands received unconditional independence at the Treaty of
Westphalia. Belgium remained under foreign rule until 1831.
NORTHERN EUROPE
While the Protestant Reformation was felt across all of
Europe, the movement was strongest in the north. After some years of turmoil in
the sixteenth century, all of Scandinavia ultimately became Protestant, as the
kings of Denmark (who also ruled Norway and Iceland) and Sweden (who also ruled
Finland) adopted the principles of the Reformation.
To a large degree, the reform movement introduced in
Denmark was through the work of Hans Tausen, a disenchanted monk and a student
of Luther. There is little doubt that the Danes were ready for a change.
Imprisoned by his order, people came to his cell in droves to listen to him
preach, and when he won over the prior of the monastery to his views and was
released, there were few churches of significant size to hold the crowds. He
addressed the people in the market place from a church tower.
When the Franciscans refused to allow him to preach in
their more ample church, a mob broke in by force. A compromise was arranged
whereby friars were to preach in the morning and Tausen in the afternoon. The
bishop, unhappy with these proceedings, sent armed men to the church to arrest
Tausen. The parishioners, who had carried their weapons with them, drove off
the bishop’s men.
In October 1526, King Frederick I took Hans Tausen under
his protection, appointed him his chaplain, and charged him to continue to
preach the gospel to the citizens of Viborg who were made responsible for his
safety.
On the death of his benefactor, Frederick I, Bishop Ronnow
of Copenhagen wanted him banished. The people took up arms against the bishop
and would have killed him but for Tausen’s intervention. The bishop rescinded
his accusation, allowing Tausen to preach. Christian III, son of the dead king,
an open reformist, won an ensuing civil war and the crown in 1537.
In Sweden and Finland, the Reformation was spearheaded by
the Swedish King, Gustav Vasa, in 1523. When the pope remonstrated over
Gustav’s interference in Swedish church affairs, the official connection
between Sweden and the papacy was severed. The crown confiscated Church
property, and from then on the clergy were subject to civil law, and all
ecclesiastical appointments required royal approval. Official sanction was
given to Lutheranism that was to be taught in the schools and preached in the
churches.
SOUTHERN EUROPE
Spain, Portugal, and Italy remained predominantly Catholic.
In a country such as Spain, a united state under a strong Catholic monarch, and
a powerful Inquisition supported by the people, such religious transformation
could not have arisen. As soon as a spark glimmered, it was quickly extinguished.
Subjected to the will of the Inquisition, the few
Protestants in Spain were forced to live precariously, for even having visited
a Protestant country was enough to put one under suspicion of apostasy. Even
foreigners had to go before the inquisitors for the slightest infringement of
the rules such as failing to remove one’s hat when the bishop’s carriage passed
by. There had been a few defections in Spain, but the Inquisition maintained
tight control over all religious activity, and heretics were summarily burned
at the stake. With inquisitorial police everywhere and neighbors ready to
denounce one another for any suspicious behavior, Protestantism remained
confined to a few very secret worshippers.
Portugal, under Spanish domination for much of the
Similar Books
