World Civilizations: Pages 386-387

Political Consolidation of the Lutheran Reformation

By 1530, it was clear that the Reformation was not going to just go away but it was a very long time before everyone accepted it. However, because it was so successful in the Holy Roman Empire, other Protestant organizations in other parts of Europe started to develop as well.

Expansion of the Reformation

In the 1530s, German Lutherans formed consistories – these were groups of clergy (churchmen) and ordinary people who could make laws for the new Protestant churches. Philip Malanchthon (1497-1560) was a man who worked with Luther and he was the leader of these consistories. They brought in reforms that started to give primary education to everyone. There were also schools for girls. They changed what was usually taught in schools and brought in humanist ideas and also gave everyone lessons in the new Protestant religion.

The Reformation developed in other countries, too. In Denmark, Lutheranism soon became the official religion. In Sweden, King Gustav made Lutheranism the country's official religion in 1527.In Poland, Lutherans, Calvinists and others were able to follow their religious beliefs. Because there was no one strong government in Poland, lots of religions were able to exist together at the same time.

Reaction against Protestants: The 'Interim'

The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, tried to get Protestants and Catholics to compromise on the way they thought about religion. This didn't work and so in 1547 armies in to Germany to crush a Protestant organization called the Schmalkaldic League. The Emperor put puppet rulers in Saxony and Hesse. They had to do exactly what he said. Charles v also said brought in a law called the Augsburg Interim. This law said that all Protestants had to change back to being Catholics again. However, it was too late. The Protestant religion had grown enough and was too strong to be stopped by the emperor's soldiers. The emperor was forced to stop fighting the Protestants.

In 1555, the Peace of Augsburg was signed. This agreement said that each ruler could choose the religion of their land. Lutherans were allowed to keep all Catholic church lands that they had taken before 1552. If people didn't like the religion their ruler had chosen, they were allowed to move to another area.

The Peace of Augsburg said that Calvinism was not a proper form of Christianity. The Calvinists were determined to be able to worship and pray publicly. They also wanted to make society live by their religious rules. They organized national revolutions in northern Europe.