(1079-1142)

Eldest son of a minor noble of Brittany. Gave up inheritance rights to younger brothers, roamed France to sit at the feet of the great masters. Lectured in Paris. Wrote Sic et Non. A couple quotes:

"By doubting we come to inquiry, and by inquiry we arrive at the truth."

And...

"Faith has no merit with God when it is not the testimony of divine authority that leads us to it, but the evidence of human reason."

At the age of 36, Abelard was a leading intellectual in Paris when he began an illicit love affair with one of his students, 17-year-old Heloise. The affair produced a child, Astrolabe. Heloise refused to marry Peter because she knew how precious his genius was and she feared their marriage would hinder his career. Subsequently, Heloise entered a convent but her uncle accused Abelard of denying his responsiblity. Heloise's uncle hired men who attacked Abelard and castrated

(1509-1564)

John Calvin (aka. Jean Cauvin) played an important role in the Protestant Reformation—perhaps second only to Martin Luther in importance.

Calvin wrote the deeply influential Institutes of the Christian Religion (published in 1536, see also the Britannica summary), developed the "presbyterian" model of church government, and has been called the "organizer of Protestantism" because of his pastoral work organizing churches in Strassburg and Geneva.

He was born on July 10, 1509 in the city of Noyon in Picardy, France (where his childhood home is now a museum), was raised with children of the aristocracy, adopted the Latin "Calvin" as a young scholar. His father was the Bishop's secretary serving the cathedral in Noyon, and he ensured that Calvin was well educated. At age 14, Calvin enrolled at the University of Paris and later attended the College de Montaigu there. Calvin studied theology and in the

In 1521 Martin Luther stood before the Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms. In that same year Ignatius Loyala entered convalescence from an injury and soon had a spiritual conversion of sorts. Loyola subsequently formed the Society of Jesus, the greatest single force in Catholicism's campaign to recapture the spiritual domains seized by Protestantism.

While the Catholic Church did not immediately respond to the Protestant challenge, when it finally did it called upon its spiritual warriors, the Jesuits. It convened a new, militant council; and it reformed the machinery of the papal office. Faced by the rebellion of almost half of Europe, Catholicism rolled back the tide of Protestantism until by the end of the sixteenth century Protestantism was limited roughly to the northern third of Europe, as it is today.

Some historians have interpreted the Catholic Reformation as a counterattack against Protestantism; others have described

Catholic and Anglican priests, as well as early Protestant ministers, undertook vows of celibacy in the belief that they must follow in the footsteps of Christ, who was celibate, and avoid marriage at all costs, abstaining from any sexual relationships while serving God as a minister. Sexual drives were widely seen as evidence of man's fallen state, and were thus sinful. Finally, in 1522, Martin Luther took himself a wife and transformed the image of ministry — the married pastor living like any other man with his own family.

[tags]BlogRodent, Celibacy, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Martin-Luther[/tags]

After Martin Luther burned Pope Leo X's papal bull condemning him as a heretic he was excommunicated in January of 1521. Subsequently, Emperor Charles V, who was under oath to defend the church and remove heresy from the empire, summoned Luther to the imperial Diet (assembly) meeting at Worms to give an account of his writings. Before the assembly Luther once again insisted that only Biblical authority would sway him. Charles V declared Luther an outlaw and gave him 21 days safe passage to Saxon before the sentence fell. Fortunately Luther was saved from arrest and death by the prince of Saxony, Duke Frederick the Wise.

[tags]BlogRodent, Charles-V, church-history, ChurchRodent, Diet-of-Worms, Frederick-the-Wise, history, Martin-Luther[/tags]

A theologian contemporary of Martin Luther. He held an 18-day debate with Luther in 1519 at Leipzig where Luther said "A council may sometimes err. Neither the church nor the pope can establish articles of faith. These must come from Scripture." Eck moved to have Luther declared a heretic.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, John-Eck, Martin-Luther[/tags]

(1483-1546)

The most prominent leader of the Protestant Reformation, who was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic church because of his persistent efforts to change some of he church's doctrines and customs. He taught that the Bible alone, apart from church tradition, had authority to declare what was to be believed. In salvation Luther stressed justification by faith alone, apart from the works of law.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Martin-Luther, Reformation[/tags]

After 1530, the emperor, Charles V, made clear his intention to crush the growing heresy initiated by Martin Luther. In defense, the Lutheran princes banded together in 1531 in the Schmalkald League, and between 1546 and 1555 a sporadic civil war raged. The combatants reached a compromise in the Peace of Augsburg (1555), which allowed each prince to decide the religion of his subjects, forbade all sects of Protestantism other than Lutheranism, and ordered all Catholic bishops to give up their property if they turned Lutheran.

[tags]BlogRodent, Charles-V, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Lutheranism, Martin-Luther, Peace-of-Augsburg, Protestantism, Schmalkald-League[/tags]

In 1525 Martin Luther took a wife, a former nun, Katherine von Gora. A new image of the ministry appeared in western Christianity — the married pastor living like any other man with his own family

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Katherine-Von-Bora, Martin-Luther[/tags]