Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction to the second edition
- Chapter I The age of the Reformation
- Chapter II Economic change
- Chapter III The reformation movements in Germany
- Chapter IV The Reformation in Zurich, Strassburg and Geneva
- Chapter V The Anabaptists and the sects
- Chapter VI The Reformation in Scandinavia and the Baltic
- Chapter VII Politics and the institutionalisation of reform in Germany
- Chapter VIII Poland, Bohemia and Hungary
- Chapter IX The Reformation in France, 1515–1559
- Chapter X The Reformation in England
- Chapter XI Italy and the papacy
- Chapter XII The new orders
- Chapter XIII The empire of Charles V in Europe
- Chapter XIV The Habsburg–Valois wars
- Chapter XV Intellectual tendencies
- Chapter XVI Schools and universities
- Chapter XVII Constitutional development and political thought in western Europe
- Chapter XVIII Constitutional development and political thought in the Holy Roman Empire
- Chapter XIX Constitutional development and political thought in eastern Europe
- Chapter XX Armies, navies and the art of war
- Chapter XXI The Ottoman empire 1520–1566
- Chapter XXII Russia, 1462–1584
- Chapter XXIII The New World, 1521–1580
- Chapter XXIV Europe and the East
- Index
Chapter VI - The Reformation in Scandinavia and the Baltic
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
- Frontmatter
- Introduction to the second edition
- Chapter I The age of the Reformation
- Chapter II Economic change
- Chapter III The reformation movements in Germany
- Chapter IV The Reformation in Zurich, Strassburg and Geneva
- Chapter V The Anabaptists and the sects
- Chapter VI The Reformation in Scandinavia and the Baltic
- Chapter VII Politics and the institutionalisation of reform in Germany
- Chapter VIII Poland, Bohemia and Hungary
- Chapter IX The Reformation in France, 1515–1559
- Chapter X The Reformation in England
- Chapter XI Italy and the papacy
- Chapter XII The new orders
- Chapter XIII The empire of Charles V in Europe
- Chapter XIV The Habsburg–Valois wars
- Chapter XV Intellectual tendencies
- Chapter XVI Schools and universities
- Chapter XVII Constitutional development and political thought in western Europe
- Chapter XVIII Constitutional development and political thought in the Holy Roman Empire
- Chapter XIX Constitutional development and political thought in eastern Europe
- Chapter XX Armies, navies and the art of war
- Chapter XXI The Ottoman empire 1520–1566
- Chapter XXII Russia, 1462–1584
- Chapter XXIII The New World, 1521–1580
- Chapter XXIV Europe and the East
- Index
Summary
In the early 1520s the Reformation took root in Denmark and quickly spread over a wide area. As in Germany, the ground had been prepared beforehand. There were many signs in the later middle ages of an increasing need for religion among the people, as well as numerous complaints that the church was on the decline and willing to abuse its power. With few exceptions the bishops were inadequate for their tasks – noble landowners without any real sense of the religious needs of the age. Bishoprics and greater benefices were reserved for the aristocracy, which meant that the higher clerics were closely bound to the nobility and the gap between them and the parish priests was wide. Humanism was widespread among the clergy, many of whom had studied at foreign universities.
One of the most important representatives of this biblically based humanism and of the movement for Catholic reform was the Carmelite friar Paulus Helie who in 1520 became the head of the order’s new foundation in Copenhagen, while at the same time lecturing on the Bible at the university. His ideas rested on the Bible which he interpreted according to the Fathers of the church. He violently attacked the worldliness of the clergy and the customs and superstitions fostered by the church, but although he had originally hailed Luther as a welcome ally, he completely rejected him when he realised that the Lutheran movement was leading to a break with the church, for ‘abuse does not abolish use’. Though consistent, Helie’s standpoint was untenable.
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- Information
- The New Cambridge Modern History , pp. 144 - 171Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1990