in a castle, in the heart of germany, in 1521, a monk on the run took refuge. he was in disguiseand using an alias. a few days earlier, the holy roman emperorhad branded him an outlaw, and nowhe could be killed at will. for nearly a year, that monkhid out in this castle while shock wavesfrom his supposed crimes
reverberated throughout europe. his name? martin luther. this is the story of lutherand the reformation. and it's more. it's the story of progress, from medieval darknessto renaissance humanism, and how it's with great struggle that societies earn freedomas they evolve. hi, i'm rick steves.
500 years ago, martin lutherkicked off the reformation. in the next hour, we'll trace the dramatic eventsof this grassroots movement that changedthe course of history. with this upheaval,christianity in western europe was split in two -- betweenprotestants and catholics. this split happenedto a medieval world permeated and stabilized by oneall-encompassing religion. but that world was colliding
with the new ideasof the renaissance. it was rockedby fearless explorers and adventurous thinkers. and one of these great minds belonged to a humble german monknamed martin luther, who could no longer stay silent about the wealth and corruptionof his church. his controversial teachingand preaching brought him into conflictwith the pope
and the holy roman emperor, leading to a bold showdownwatched by all of europe. this courageous stand by one mansparked a century of conflict. it started as a war of words, but eventually spiraledinto actual war, changing europe and christianityforever and contributing to the birthof our modern world. the story of martin luther -- the man who would becomethe most notorious, celebrated,
and provocative figureof his age -- begins here, in the bucolic germancountryside south of berlin. when luther was born inthis house in eisleben in 1483, he entered a worldthat was still medieval. most peoplelived in humble villages. they tilled the fields. they lived their entire livesin a single place, poor and illiterate.
they bowed downto the local duke, who protected themfrom rampaging bandits. and in every town,overseeing it all was the biggest and richeststructure in town -- the church. though most people were poor, luther's father owneda copper mining business, and his songot the best education this remote land could offer. luther's story was set herein rural germany
at the end of the middle ages. but to understandthe reformation, we need to go back 1,000 yearsto far-off rome. when the ancient roman empirefell around the year 500, it created a power vacuum that left europe in relativepoverty and stagnation for 10 centuries --the middle ages. during that difficult time, the roman catholic churchheld europe together.
it provided more than religion. it provided stability. it was the one thingthat united a fractured europe, offering continuity and comfortin a troubled age. echoes of ancient romelived on in the church: roman senators became bishops, the design of their law courts-- called "basilicas" -- became the designof their churches, and the roman emperor(called the "pontifex maximus")
became the christian pope (also calledthe "pontifex maximus"). the church was "roman"because it was ruled from rome, and "catholic" --a word that means "universal." through the middle ages, the church condoned a kind ofinstitutionalized slavery -- that was feudalism. feudal european societywas made of three parts -- the nobilityhad the secular power
and owned most of the land. the church --which was the educated elite -- controlled the word of god, andprovided spiritual blessings. and the downtrodden peasantry --they did all the hard labor. for commoners -- that was90% of the population -- life was pretty miserable. most children diedbefore adulthood. punishments for the poorwere harsh. [ bell ringing ]
the plague, which routinelydevastated towns, killing a thirdof the population, was thought to bethe wrath of god. it was a frightful time. people worked the land, hopingonly to survive the winter. life for the vast majoritywas a dreary existence, tolerable only as a preparationfor heaven. the church offereda glimmer of hope with the promise ofeternal happiness in paradise.
art was considered worthwhileand legitimate only as longas it glorified god. entire communities dedicatedgenerations of their resources to constructing the biggestbuildings of the age: awe-inspiring cathedralslit by splendid stained glass. the church commissionedsociety's greatest art -- statues, pulpits,and altar pieces, all done anonymously. and europe's faithful massespaid the price,
and carried the stone. to this day, all over europe,you can see the legacy of this great medieval"age of faith" -- soaring naves topped withelaborate gothic arches and floodedwith a heavenly light. art was a tool of the church --both to teach, and to terrify. imagine, once a week, illiterate peasantswould walk into a church and be wonder-struckby stained glass,
towering columns,and glittering glories. church art gave them a glimpseof the amazing heaven that would rewardonly the faithful and the terrible hellawaiting those who disobeyed. martin luther lived atthe end of this period, but on the cuspof dramatic change, the dawn of the modern age. in 1501, 18-year-old martinmoved to the city of erfurt, where he attended law school.
even today, this half-timberedmedieval town -- with a shallow rivergurgling through its center -- remains an inviting destination. erfurt's venerable university produced manyillustrious alumni. but a good educationdidn't come easy. medieval studentshad a rough life. they got up at 4:00in the morning to attend mass, ate two simple meals a day,and only took one bath a month.
on the upside, students weregiven a liter of beer per meal. martin enjoyed his college dayshere in erfurt. like any normal kid, he studiedhard, and he partied hard. as a schoolboy, young martindeveloped his appetite for learning, music,and the bible. a deep thinker and a bigpersonality even at a young age, his friends nicknamed him"the philosopher." and his love of good german beer earned him the title"king of hops."
luther's father had planned thathis son would become a lawyer, but that safe career pathwas suddenly sidetracked by an event that seemed to himlike destiny. in july of 1505,as he was traveling to school, martin was caughtin a violent storm and nearly struck bya bolt of lightning. terrified, he promised thatif he survived the storm, he'd dedicate his life to god. soon after, 21-year-old martin
checked into erfurt'saugustinian monastery, famous for its disciplineand scholarship. the former party boy took a vow of chastity, poverty,and obedience and became a monk. luther set out to becomean a-plus monk. he did everything he couldto please god. he studied ancient greekand hebrew in order to read the earliestmanuscripts of the bible.
he'd spend hours at a timein confession and lie overnight on this tomb,arms outstretched, to meditate on his faith. he was ordained a priest and said his first massin this church. by age 23, martin lutherwas a dedicated priest in the roman catholic church, and on the fast trackto a brilliant career as a professor of theology.
and yet, in spite of all this, he remained tormented byfeelings of unworthiness. he was consumedby a spiritual obsession -- coming to terms withhis relationship as a sinner with a demandingand judgmental god. in 1505 -- the same year that luther enteredthe monastery in germany -- hundreds of miles to the south,in italy, florence was celebratingthe unveiling
of a brand-new symbolof the city -- michelangelo's "david." david also symbolized a new age,known as the renaissance. looking into the confidencein david's face as he sizes up the gianthe's about to kill, the florentines saw optimism,the goodness of creation, and the power of the individualto affect change -- in a word, humanism. that's why the renaissance wasabout more than just pretty art.
it was a revolution of ideas. the renaissance,which means "rebirth," sought to rediscoverwestern civilization's ancient greek and roman roots. and with humanism, the importance of the individualskyrocketed. this "rebirth" opened up a wholenew world of possibility -- in science, politics,and economics. religion was also seenin a new light.
life was suddenly about more than preparingfor the hereafter. artists saw themselvesas an extension of god's creative powers. both in subject matter --like beautiful nude bodies -- and in theme, humanists embracedthe full human experience. rather than just bowing downin church, renaissance artists and thinkers
sought to expressthe glory of humanity -- and in doing so,to glorify god. other big changeswere also percolating. imagine europe's class of 1500. great thinkerslike leonardo da vinci embraced scienceand studied nature. gutenberg's printing pressmade books affordable, allowing knowledgeto spread rapidly. michelangelo was chipping awayat his early masterpieces,
machiavelliwas shaping modern politics, columbusstumbled upon the americas, copernicus was putting the earthin its place, and martin luther, among othercourageous reformers, would soon be questioning1500 years of church tradition. with all this progress, two important movementsin european history were about to intersect: the renaissance and the comingprotestant reformation.
but first, luther had to addresshis inner turmoil, and a life-changing triphelped make that happen. in 1510, seeking a way to help the troubled young monkovercome his demons, brother martin's superiorsat the monastery sent him on a pilgrimage. he walked 700 milesthrough a harsh winter, over the alps,down the spine of italy on a pilgrim's trailjust like this.
his destination -- the hometownof his christian faith, the city of rome. imagine luther, the wearyyet wide-eyed young pilgrim, trekking for weeks and finally cresting this hilland seeing rome. passing through the gatesof the city, he dropped to his knees andsaid, "hail, holy city of rome!" he would have seenmany of the same sights that tourists and pilgrimsenjoy today,
places likethe fabled colosseum, the glorious pantheon -- where pilgrims rememberedearly christian martyrs sent to their deaths, and churches approachedby long stairways, busy with worshippersclimbing on their knees. he marveled atexquisite basilicas, and gazed at castelsant'angelo -- the fortresswhere the pope would take refuge
when the city was under siegein that rough-and-tumble age. luther crossed this bridge,the venerable ponte sant'angelo, to reach the highlightof his pilgrimage -- st. peter's basilica. today's basilica standson the tomb of st. peter -- the spot where,nearly 2,000 years ago, christianity becamesolidly established in europe. it's believed that peter,jesus' right-hand man, was crucified for his beliefs
right hereat a chariot racecourse, which was decoratedby this obelisk. his followers buried his bodyin a humble graveyard on the vatican hill --just over there. for three centuries, christiansworshipped quietly at his grave. in the fourth century, afterchristianity was legalized, a huge church was builtdirectly upon peter's tomb. while today's basilica was builtshortly after luther's visit, stepping into the grand church,
luther would have hadan experience much like pilgrims do now. he'd have seen petereverywhere -- in artwork, his tomb, and in the words that christspoke to his disciple, which gave the popes in rometheir holy authority -- "you are peter, and upon thisrock i will build my church." and, like today's pilgrims, martin luther lined upto kiss the foot --
worn shiny by over 1,000 yearsof veneration -- of this very statue of peter,the first pope. despite all the historyand grandeur, luther was struckby the contradiction between the enormous wealthof the church and the bible's emphasis on simplicity and caringfor the poor. during luther's visit, the bombastic pope julius ii
was in the midstof spending a fortune for an extravagant remodelof his church. in addition,the pope had hired raphael to decoratehis personal living quarters with elaborate frescoes and michelangeloto paint his sanctuary, the sistine chapel. all this was to be financed by money extracted from faithfulparishioners across europe.
over the centuries,the church, ruled from rome, had grown increasingly corruptand worldly. popes, bishops, and priestslived in luxury while others struggled, tarnishingthe church's reputation. the church hierarchyhad become materialistic and entangled with politics. sins were crimes, and titheswere collected like taxes. popes waged war, and bishopswere treated like royalty --
when one entered the room, you kneltand made a show of humility. the church -- tasked with protecting1500 years of tradition -- had grown conservative, even astimes were changing quickly. while scientistsand progressive thinkers were introducing new ideas, the church,which defended the notion that the worldwas the center of the universe,
fought against these new ideas. and the churchwas the keeper of knowledge. knowledge is power,and in europe, until modern times, church abbey librariesheld most of the books. and locked awayin these libraries were any bookswith threatening ideas -- the "libri prohibiti,"or prohibited books. church leaders were thegate-keepers to this knowledge,
and they alone had the key. back then, access to the biblewas also controlled. it was only available in latin, which only the educated elitesof medieval europe, which was the clergy,could read. for over 1,000 years,mass had been said in latin. priests would interpret the wordof god to the parishioner, who had little choicebut to simply nod in agreement. in rome,luther came face-to-face
with this worldly corruptionat its worst. and one thing he foundparticularly troubling -- the veneration of holy relics. relics were the physical remainsof something holy -- a saint's bone, a piece of thecross, or a drop of holy blood. rome was the richest placein christendom for relics, which helped make itthe ultimate destination for pilgrims. and the pilgrimage trade was abig money-maker for the church.
medieval christiansbelieved they'd go to heaven only if they did more goodthan evil. and most figuredthey'd fall short. so when they died, god would need to purge themof their excess sin. the church called thispurging process "purgatory" and the people thought of itas years of misery. to reduce waiting timein purgatory, the devout accumulatedgood works in this lifetime
by doing penance,and by venerating holy relics. like any devout pilgrim, luther immersed himselfin the holy sights of rome and visited a long listof relics. but he becameincreasingly disenchanted. he wondered if these objectsreally were that important. he observed lots of greedand hedonism, and very little spirituality. it seemed that each spiritualfavor came with a price.
corrupt monks and clergywere abusing both their powers and the trustof their parishioners. and luther bristledat the pope's lavish lifestyle and vanity projects fundedby the sale of indulgences. indulgences worked like this: the saints lived such holy lives that they accumulated a surplusof "heavenly merits." these merits could be earnedor purchased by sinners and then usedas a kind of currency
to buy down the consequencesof their sins. an indulgence came as a letterfrom the pope, a kind of coupongood for less time in purgatory. and they were transferable. an earnest christiancould actually buy credit for his dead loved ones,as well. one day while in rome,luther visited the scala santa (or "holy steps")brought back from the holy land and believed to bethe very steps
from pontius pilate's palace that jesus climbedon the day he was convicted. as roman catholic pilgrimsstill do today, luther joined the crowdand made his way up, saying the lord's prayeron each step. the pilgrim's rewardfor this climb: fewer years in purgatoryfor each of those steps. reaching the top,luther stood up and thought, "who knowsif this is actually true?"
luther had a lot to think aboutas he hiked home. back in germany, he moved to theuniversity town of wittenberg, where he becamea professor of theology. at the time,wittenberg was on the rise. the local ruler,prince frederick the wise, was working to make his capital an intellectualand cultural center. he invited the region'sbest and brightest, from lutherto the painter lucas cranach
to luther's fellow professorand theologian, philip melanchthon. the old center of wittenberglooks much like it did in martin luther's day. stately mansionsstand shoulder to shoulder, and the main square is dominatedby its town hall. wittenberg's church of st. mary is where young lutherpreached hundreds of sermons. as if sorting outthe spiritual confusion
caused by his time in rome, luther struggled publiclythrough his preaching. it was a dilemma. he wanted to be trueboth to his church and to his new understandingof god. things were revving up as it wasbecoming clear to everyone that there were discrepanciesbetween what the bible taught and what the church was doing. luther attractedlarger and larger crowds
as, eventually, bothhis teaching and his writings directly attacked the corruptpractices he'd seen in rome. at the altar today, a paintingshows a charismatic luther preachingwith his hand on the bible, recallinghow he supported his points not by relying onchurch tradition but by quoting directlyfrom the gospel. luther was not the firstto question church practices, nor was this discontentlimited to germany.
but going up againstthe medieval church had a historyof deadly consequences. two centuries before luther, these evocative and remotecastles in the south of france were destroyedby the medieval church to silence heretical voicesand keep the church united. they were the desperatelast refuge of the cathars, a break-away group of christianswho disobeyed church dictates. after a terrible periodof torture and mass burnings,
the cathars were wiped out. a century after the cathars, jan hus of praguealso confronted the church and met a similar fate. he demandedthat ordinary christians be allowed to take communion with both the breadand the wine, which at the timewas reserved exclusively for the priest.
like luther, hus was a professor who gave controversial sermonsand challenged church authority by translating parts of thebible into the local language. and, also like luther,hus was prepared to die for his convictions. but hus was ahead of his time. lacking luther's advantages -- such as the printing press,to help spread his ideas -- jan hus was declared a hereticand burned at the stake in 1415.
back in wittenberg, just as luther was strugglingwith these contradictions and becomingmore and more skeptical, the pope kicked offa capital campaign to build a glorious newst. peter's church in rome. it would be very expensive, and the german states,more fragmented and therefore easierto take advantage of than other parts of europe,
would foot much of the bill. papal fundraiserscame out in full force. with a fanfare of drummersand trumpeters, the fundraising campaign ofthe zealous priest john tetzel came to luther's neighborhood. they offered lettersof indulgence promising "full forgiveness forall sins, no matter how great, and absolutionfrom all punishments." as these werefully transferable,
indulgences were ideal for bailing loved onesout of purgatory. caring and frightened peasantslined up to buy as tetzel's men sang, "as soonas the coin in the coffer rings, another soul from purgatorysprings." [ coin jingles ] luther, with fresh memories ofthe corruption he saw in rome, was outraged. the bible said nothingabout buying forgiveness.
and it said nothingabout purgatory, either. luther, now brazenlydefying both the pope and over a thousand yearsof church tradition, had become hugely popular. but internally,he was still struggling with feelingsof his own unworthiness. he searched the bible,hungry for an answer. he was desperate to know, how could anyone deserveor earn salvation?
he found his answerin paul's letter to the romans. it read,"the just shall live by faith." with that key phrase,luther discovered what he consideredthe "good news": that salvation is not earnedby doing good works or giving money to the church -- it's a free giftto anyone who believes. realizing this,luther actually wrote, "all at once, i feltthat i had been born again."
re-energized, luther beganshaping a new theology that emphasized a personalrelationship with god. it was each person's faiththat mattered, rather than church rituals. by the fall of 1517,luther was ready to go public. he wrote a treatise,known as his "95 theses," or points for discussion. as any good professor should,he raised some hard questions. for example,point #82 boldly asked,
"if the pope redeems some soulsfor the sake of miserable money to buy a church, why doesn't he empty purgatoryfor the sake of holy love?" it was here,at wittenberg's castle church, where, on october 31, 1517, martin luther camewith his 95 points. according to legend,he nailed the list to the door. it was a kind of communitybulletin board back then. it was written in latin,
and intended onlyfor scholarly debate. but its impact turned outto be far greater. luther's supportersspread his ideas. they were printed up in germanand spread across the land. the issues he called attentionto angered the public. this was a turning point,and now, change was unstoppable. the sale of indulgencesdropped dramatically, and the pope's salesmenwere run out of town as german mobs now chantedslogans like,
"when the coin ringsin the pitcher, the pope becomes even richer." luther's postingof the 95 theses kicked off the reformation. many consider this the mostimportant religious event of the last 1,000 years. and today, 500 years later,reformation sunday is still celebratedin protestant churches each october.
luther was expert at pr,and his timing was ideal. while he was a great writer, he also had the bestpolitical cartoonist in the land as a friend and took full advantage ofthe new-fangled printing press. thanks to the printing press,his many sermons and essays could be quickly and cheaplymass-produced as booklets. his writing was witty, concise,and often in the local dialect. his pamphletswere instant bestsellers --
nicknamed "flugschriften,"or "writings that fly," because they spreadlike a flock of birds to every corner of europe. in today's terms,his ideas went viral. and that political cartoonist? that was lucas cranach. cranach painted many portraitsof luther and his family, and illustrated luther's books. knowing many of his followerswere illiterate,
luther used cranachto illustrate his points. and cranach did so vividly. book covers showed priestsas bumbling animals, even the pope as a donkey. luther's bold ideas resonatedwith the masses: "christ is foundnot in the bones of saints but in your love for each other, in the sacraments,and in the holy words." "god's forgivenesscannot be purchased
like a sack of potatoes. the pope needs moreprayer than money." meanwhile,the news of luther's theology, attacks on the church, andgrowing popularity reached rome. the new pope, leo x,called luther a heretic and sent him a papal bullthreatening excommunication. this formal documentgave luther 60 days to recant or be kicked out of the church. luther,not cowed by the pope's bull,
responded with a flurryof new pamphlets, further challengingchurch practices. things escalated. in a legendary tit-for-tat, the pope orderedthe burning of luther's books, and lutherburned the papal bull. the more the churchopposed luther, the bolder luther became. the two most powerful leadersin europe back then
were the pope, based in rome, whose empirespanned much of europe. the pope was furious. and the emperor, charles v,being a devout catholic, wanted to support his pope. the emperor could havecrushed luther easily. but charleshad a bigger problem. the turks were threateningeurope from the east, closing in on vienna.
much of charles' empirewas made of german states, so to defend europe,he needed german support. knowing martin lutherhad powerful german friends, the emperor had to dealwith luther cautiously. he agreedto give luther a hearing and summoned himto the imperial diet -- that's likea congressional hearing -- in the city of wormson the rhine river. the holy roman emperor himselftraveled to worms to arbitrate.
luther's challengeto rome's authority was cheered by germans. traveling to worms,luther was greeted with a hero's welcomeat each stop. pamphlets showed him with a halo accompanied by a dove,symbol of the holy spirit. it's said that in one town,60 horsemen escorted luther to a church so packed withpeople eager to hear him preach that the balcony groanedand nearly collapsed.
imagine the showdown at worms -- papal representatives, princes,imperial troops, all power-dressing. the emperor himself,sitting high on his throne. the crowds craningto see the action. in the center of the room,martin luther stood alone beside a table stacked with his rabble-rousingbooks and pamphlets. the prosecutor insistedluther was a heretic.
summing up his case, he asked, "who are you to go against1500 years of church doctrine?" he demanded that lutherrenounce his writings. luther would not budge. perhaps as never beforein european history, one ordinary person stood up toauthority for what he believed. he said:"unless you can convince me by scriptureor by clear reasoning, i am bound by my beliefs.
i cannot and i will not recant. may god help me. amen." luther was declared a heretic and left wormsessentially an outlaw. now "outside" the protectionof the law, luther could be capturedand killed by anyone. on his way home to wittenberg, he was kidnappedand dropped out of sight. many thoughtluther had been killed.
in fact,luther had been kidnapped but by friendsfor his own safety. he was given refugein the wartburg castle by his benefactor,prince frederick the wise. luther grew a beard and passed himself off asa simple knight -- junker george. he spent the next yearin hiding -- waiting, planning, and wonderingwhat would come next. this was luther's room.
restless and lonelyin the castle, he fell into depression. throughout his life,he had struggled with what he saw as his personal warwith satan. luther would say, "whenever the devilharasses you, seek out the company of friends, drink more, joke,and make merry." alone at wartburg,he fought his depression
by studying and writing. and it was here that he employedhis favorite weapon -- the printed word. believing that everyone shouldbe able to read the word of god, luther began the daunting --and dangerous -- task of translating the new testament from the original ancient greekinto german. he used simplified language,as he said, like a mothertalking to her children.
just as the king james versionof the bible did for english, luther's translationhelped to establish a standard german languagethat's used to this day. luther's translationbrought the bible to the masses. the printing press made it morereadily available and affordable to the public. and german literacy ratesskyrocketed. as germans read the biblefor the first time, they found -- as luther had --no mention of indulgences,
purgatory, or even a pope. this further fanned the firesof reform. luther was becoming the hero and figureheadof a growing revolution. the epic showdownat the diet of worms inspired others to action. before long, across the land, monks and nunsleft their monasteries, priests got married,
and peasants were actuallychallenging the feudal system. things went beyondluther's intentions of reforming the church. the reformation was unleashing a grassroots socialand political rebellion, and it spread like fire. the changesspilled beyond religion. in 1524, germany's peasants, emboldened by luther's bravechallenge to the status quo,
rose up,attacking their feudal masters with hoes and pitchforks. they misinterpreted luther'scalls for freedom of religion to mean freedom fromtheir feudal lords, as well. luther, who was only concerned with issues of faithand the church, was horrified that his ideascould be misused to spark such a social revolt. he actually condonedthe nobles' brutal crackdown
as they killed thousandsof peasants to restore order. but it was clear, the wheels ofrevolution he'd set in motion could not be stopped. martin luther's reformsunleashed turmoil far beyond his intent. eventually lutherleft his wartburg castle refuge and returned home,here to wittenberg. he surrounded himselfwith a theological think tank and worked to rein inthe extremism
now rampaging through the land and to give directionto the reformation and to what was becomingthe "lutheran" church. the reformation movementspread far beyond germany in the early 1500s. luther, while pivotal,was only one of many christian leadersstruggling to reform the church. in switzerland, a land with deep rootsin democracy and free thinking,
ulrich zwingli also challengedthe authority of rome. from his pulpit in zã¼rich, herailed against church corruption and any practices thatweren't specificallymentioned in the bible. his mission -- to place a bible,written in everyday german -- into the hands of every person. zwingli's ideas reached eachof switzerland's remote cantons, and his theology gavethe famously independent and yet-to-be-united swisssomething in common. in nearby geneva,in this church,
a frenchman named john calvinalso preached reform. like luther,calvin was convinced that salvationwas by god's grace. but calvin emphasizedpredestination, the notion that god had alreadydecided who was saved. calvinism, which evolvedinto presbyterianism, spread to france,the netherlands, and beyond. protestant ideas spread quicklythrough scandinavia, thanks to its rulers.
king christian iii of denmark had actually been presentat the diet of worms and was inspired byluther's brave stand. he returned home to copenhagento establish lutheranism as denmark's state religion. the swedish king, gustav vasa, took a shrewdpolitical approach. he used the reformation to make a clean breakwith roman catholic rule,
nationalize church holdings, and consolidate powerfor himself, thus becoming the "father"of the modern state of sweden. in england, king henry viiialso broke with the pope in rome but for selfishas well as political reasons. he createdthe church of england, with himself at its head. he dissolved the monasticorders, destroyed their abbeys, and appropriated the catholicchurch's vast land holdings.
when catholics rose upagainst him, henry had the ringleadershung, drawn, and quartered. and his actions left henry not only much richerand more powerful but freeto divorce his barren wife and marryhis fertile young mistress. in scotland, john knox preachedat the main church in edinburgh, where he founded a separateprotestant denomination, austerescottish presbyterianism.
knox insisted that every personbe able to read the word of god for themselves, which resulted in scotlanddeveloping an education system centuries ahead of its time. not all reformersbroke from the church. the priest and philosophererasmus of rotterdam admired luther's ideas on the importance of faithover good deeds. like luther,he openly questioned the church.
but he proposed sweeping reformsfrom within. erasmus remained a priest andnever left the catholic church. a spanish soldiernamed ignatius of loyola had a spiritual conversion and spent a decade wanderingeurope on a pilgrimage. he eventually formedthe jesuits, a religious order whose mission was to be the intellectualwarriors of the church, battling both corruptionwithin the church
and heresy outside the church. during the early 1500s, new ideas were cross-pollinatingthroughout europe. protestant reformers,catholic reformers, humanists, and scientists wereall reading each other's words. it was an excitingand confusing time. two powerfulcultural movements -- the reformationand the renaissance -- were rushing togetherin a swirl of currents
as history flowed on. all across europe, the momentumseemed in favor of reformers. but the spreadof the reformation didn't happenwithout chaos and conflict. in many areas,there were violent uprisings. from holland to switzerland, protestant extremistsvandalized catholic churches. they attacked whatthey considered symbolsof idol worship, forbidden by theirinterpretation of the bible.
these iconoclasts,as they were called, shattered stained-glass windows, they lopped off the stone headsof saints, and stripped gold-leaf angelsfrom the walls. when catholic cathedralsbecame protestant churches, interiors were made simple, with dazzling imagesreplaced by plain walls, pipe organs, and pulpits. [ organ plays ]
for example, the biggest churchin switzerland, the lausanne cathedral, was originally catholicand dedicated to mary. but when the reformation hit,swiss reformers purged it, whitewashingcolorfully frescoed walls, trashing stained-glass windows, and smashing statuesof mary and the saints. today, the church remains cleanof images and dominatedby its extravagant pipe organ.
another exampleis the once catholic, now protestant main churchof haarlem, in holland. while now whitewashedin the protestant fashion, the pillars revealthe decorative original frescoes that were covered up. the many gilded chapelsdedicated to various saints were removed. the towering pipe organis a reminder that, for protestants,
music became more importantthan the visual arts. and pulpitsbecame a prominent feature because ofthe protestant emphasis of bringing the word of goddirectly to the peoplein their own language. in territorieswhere protestants dominated, catholics survivedbut went underground, forced to practice their faithin hidden churches. in generally protestantamsterdam, for example, this catholic churchkept a low profile,
disguised as a townhouse. persecution of catholics, alongwith the rise of protestantism, was turning catholics intoa minority in northern europe. by the mid 1500s,the roman church employed a strategy for stemmingthe tide of reformation. the vatican fought backwith the counter-reformation, an attempt to put what wasthe universal catholic church back together. on one hand, the church worked
to reformits internal corruption and reach outto alienated members -- and on the other hand, thechurch resorted to propaganda, intimidation,and outright force. art became a propaganda tool. extravagant counter-reformationart and architecture was designedto inspire the masses. catholic churches dazzled with gold leafand ornate decorations,
offering a glimpse of the heaven that awaited thosewho remained faithful. counter-reformation artists painted radiant,soft-focus marys, sentimentallywrapping everything in warm colors and gentle light. this bubbly baroque style of artfeatured large canvases... bright colors... rippling motion...
wild emotions... grand themes... and holy saints. it appealed to the senses. and was popular with bothpeasants and nobles alike. it made heavenly visions real,and stirred the emotions. this baroque styleremained popular in catholic parts of europefor generations. the church's propaganda art
could intimidateas well as inspire. worshippers saw imagesof god-fearing catholics burning protestant pamphlets, of defenders of the church stepping on snakesrepresenting heretics, and angry angel babies tearingout pages of lutheran teaching. and the counter-reformationrelied on an institution dating back to earlier times:the inquisition. it emanated from spain at theimposing palace of el escorial.
this full-scale,church-run legal system brought protestants, jews,and nonconforming catholics before its courts on theslightest evidence of "heresy." those convictedwould be punished, tortured,and, in many cases, executed. the protestants responded with anti-catholic propagandaof their own. in this painting, hanging in luther'shometown church in wittenberg,
the reformers tend tothe "garden of the lord." luther rakes, and hisintellectual sidekick, melanchthon,pulls water from the well, symbolizing how the reformerswent back to the original source to translate the bible. meanwhile,the pope and his people trash all their carefulspiritual gardening. even though jesushas given the pope a reward, the pope keeps his handoutstretched, asking for more.
looking on,the reformers pray reverently. other art was shockingly direct. in this etching, protestants portray the popeas satan himself. the whole era was intolerantto the extreme. everyone was convincedtheir vision of god was the one and only way. and luther was as conflictedand intolerant as his age. he came down hardon the roman church,
on protestants who disagreed,and particularly hard on jews. luther was intolerant of jews. he was angered thatthey wouldn't convert, which drove him,in his later years, to writehateful anti-jewish essays. this prejudice was consistentwith his general intolerance, as when he supported the killingof so many rampaging peasants who were threateningthe social order. and it was only a matter of time
before this kind of bitter warof ideas would flare up into actual war. the reformationand counter-reformation unleashed pent-up frustrations that transformed europeinto a battlefield for the next 100 years. the wars may have been called"religious wars," but for the princes who ruledthe many little german states, breaking with rome --as with most religious wars --
was also about power,money, and land. many german princes --like luther's supporter frederick the wiseat wittenberg -- saw the roman churchas an obstacle to greater power. and, at great peril, many optedto split from the roman church to support luther,even if that meant war. for a german prince, there were three big reasonsto break from rome: first, by opposing the pope,
princes could rulewithout meddling bishops, who were above secular laws. second,princes could hold onto tithes formerly sent to rome -- and a hugedrain on their economies. and third, the biggest landownerin their realm was the church, and by joining forceswith the protestants, princes could confiscatechurch lands. the strife martin lutherhad unwittingly unleashed led to a chaotic series of wars
that would lastmore than a century. throughout the 1500s, europe's princes and kingsjockeyed for power, using religion as their excuse. it culminatedin a bloody free-for-all, called the "thirty years' war,"that raged from 1618 to 1648. while the warinvolved many countries, it was foughtmainly on german soil. much of the battle gear,ramparts,
and folkloric reenactmentstourists see today in germany dates from this war. casualties were devastating, as a third of all germanswere killed. on the catholic side, the pope was supported bythe powerful holy roman emperor. the emperorhad europe's leading army, and was more than willingto march into germany and put down protestants.
as these wars, with a mix ofpolitical and religious agendas, raged across europe, princes grabbed for power while the peopleviolently sorted out their deep-seatedreligious frustrations. after literallymillions of deaths, the devastationof entire regions, and widespread economic ruin, all involved were exhausted.
in 1648,a treaty was finally signed. the result?not religious freedom. but now the leadersof each country were free to decideif their subjects would be roman catholic christianor protestant christian. western europewas effectively divided between a catholic southand a protestant north, a line that roughly survivesto this day. europe had split into two camps.
on one side wasthe roman catholic church -- those christianswho still recognized the pope. on the other sidewere the protestants, or protesting christians. of course, both catholicsand protestants are christians. but they have different stylesand take different approaches. for catholics, church ritualsand an ordained clergy are essential intermediariesbetween a worshipper and god. they venerate saintsand the virgin mary,
and confess their sinsto a priest. catholics accept precedents established throughthe centuries by the church, and follow the spiritualleadership of the pope in rome. and they maintaina time-honored element of elaborate ritualand mysticism that enrichestheir religious experience. for protestants,worship style became different. they purged their churchesof holy relics,
dispensedwith many of the rituals, and reduced the formal roleof ordained clergy. rather than appealing to saintsand mary, protestants emphasize theirdirect relationship with god through bible studyand personal prayer. luther rejected five of the catholic church'sseven sacraments. he kept only holy communionand baptism. the lutheran movement introducedtwo essential changes --
they believe, first, salvationis a gift from god. it's a matter of faith.you can't earn it. and second, the bible is the only sourceof religious authority. after sparkingsuch sweeping changes, luther, in his later years, settled into a quiet lifeas a respected professor. but his lifewas never without surprises. one of the first things he didshocked everybody --
he got married! 42-year-old martin luther,a former monk, married 26-year-oldkatherine von bora, a former nun. martin and katie went onto have six children and raise four orphans. katie, who ran the huge and busyluther household, was a welcome partnerin luther's circle. luther wrote,"marriage is a better school
for the characterthan any monastery, for it's here that your sharpcorners are rubbed off." luther usedhis dining room table to host an ongoing socialand intellectual jam session. it was where his students,houseguests, and fellow reformers gathered, drinking katie's homebrewed beer and eating the luthersalmost out of house and home. they'd spend long hours
discussing and debatingreligious issues and applying their ideasconcretely to everyday life. luther's followershung on his every word. his students took notes. and this anthology,which was printed in 1567, is called "table talk." it collects over 6,000 entries, from profound to vulgarand offensive to silly. "he who does not love wine,women, and song
remains a foolhis whole life long." "what lies they tellabout relics! how is it that 18 apostlesare buried in germany when christ had only 12?" "god writes the gospelnot in the bible alone but on the trees and flowersand clouds and stars." luther remained a complex man. he continued to strugglewith depression. he could be crude, bombastic,and even bigoted --
riddled with contradictions. and he certainlyenjoyed his beer. although he did warn, "it's better to thinkof church in the ale house than to think of the ale housein church." luther's earthy lifestylereflects some of the spirit of what becamethe lutheran church, ideas which, back then,were quite radical. he affirmed dimensionsof everyday life,
such as marriageand the joy of sex, as good and important, providedthey were carried out in faith. and pastors were free to marry. there was nothing in the biblethat said they couldn't. luther believed in whathe called the "priesthoodof all believers." whether a schoolteacher,farmer, or a gardener, he believedall are equally capable of understanding god's word and can receive salvationwithout the help ofintermediaries.
because literacy was crucialto reading the bible, luther lobbied germany's nobles to provide schoolsfor all boys and girls. and luther loved music, whichhe figured the devil hated. in perhapshis deepest depression, luther wrote one ofchristendom's greatest hymns, "a mighty fortress." he composed many other hymns that put the basic elementsof christian worship into song.
to this day, protestant churchesare particularly alive with great organsand choral music. luther, who believed,"he who sings prays double," would have enjoyed the singing of the visitingdresden boys' choir as they performed in hishometown church in wittenberg. luther died in 1546 at age 62. a massive funeral processionaccompanied his body to the castle churchin wittenberg,
where he's buried. to this day,pilgrims bring flowers. [ choir singing ] after luther's death, untilthe dawn of the 20th century, the reformationhelped open the way for fundamental changesin western society. with a less controlling roleof the church in everyday life, secular forceswere free to flourish. secular thinking,including science, would thrive.
literacy increased across europe as people had the freedomto read the bible. free-market capitalism thrivedin northern europe, fueled bythe protestant work ethic. nonreligious, secular artswere able to flourish. and, eventually,a democratic spirit was kindled as people were emboldenedto stand up to power, and there wasa greater separation between church and state.
for most of the 500 yearssince the reformation, relations between catholics andprotestants have been troubled. but there was one lessoneurope learned the hard way: tolerance. and in our lifetime,huge strides have been made. more than ever, protestants andcatholics are coming together, and see themselves merelyas different expressions of the same faith. the reformation was more thana religious event.
it was part of the societalweave we call progress. and progresscomes out of struggle -- religious freedom grew out ofthe protestant reformation, political freedom came out ofthe french revolution, and personal freedom is the cryof the civil rights movement in our age. it's all hard-earned.it's not always pretty. but it is worth the trouble. martin luther wasa pivotal character in history
who stood upfor what he believed. the reformation he unleashed helped createa more tolerant society that eventuallyallowed diversity in how people striveto better understand god. i'm rick steves.thanks for joining us.