NCCU Life During Reformation Discussion

1. Imagine yourself to be living during the time of The Reformation. It’s obviously a very unsettled time and where you live, what social class you’re in, and what ideas you’ve been exposed to will have a profound impact on how you see yourself and the world around you.

With that in mind, imagine yourself to be one of the following individuals.

– A Catholic priest in the newly formed order of Jesuits, who were the strongest defenders of the Catholic faith in the counter-reformation.

– a Bishop in the newly formed Church of England after it broke from the Catholic Church under Henry VII. This means that you might be somewhat of a moderate, caught between Catholicism and the Calvinist puritans.

– A Calvinist living in Geneva Switzerland. You are a radical puritan who’s interest largely revolve around expunging sin from this world.

– A king in one of the German kingdoms after the Peace of Augsburg. You have to decide whether you will join the Lutheran Protestants or stick with the traditional Catholic Church. Keep in mind there might be issues beyond religion that might influence you.

After you’ve read the section on the reformation in this module’s chapter in your textbook, select one of the characters above and explain what your concerns are? What decisions have you made regarding your leadership? What are your beliefs, both religious and secular?

Once you’ve added your voice here, respond to two of your colleagues posts. Once you’ve posted once, the full discussion will be visible to you. The earlier you post, the easier it will be for you to earn full credit.

After you’ve posted here, move on to Flip Grid and summarize your comments from this discussion.

2.In France there was conflict between the Catholic kings and the protestant minority known as the Hoguenots. In The Netherlands there was a revolt against Philip II of Spain. In England the moderate Anglican Church tried to steer a middle course between puritanism on the one extreme and going back to Catholicism on the other. And in Germany the Peace of Augsburg broke down, resulting in what would be known as the 30 Years War. In short–it was a busy time for wars over religious faith. The human cost of these wars, as you see by the end of the chapter, was extreme.

Yet at the same time we begin to see the growth of more secular forms of government.

As we learned in Module I, Protestantism gave monarchs a chance to grab control and increase their authority by taking powers away from the Church. In France absolutist kings would claim supreme authority over affairs inside the country, claiming that they had Divine Right from God to rule. Yet in Protestant countries like the Dutch Republic (after it broke away from Spain) and inEngland, monarchs also began to carve out new powers for their central governments.

And finally, by the 1600’s we see the growth of science and knowledge of the universe expanding rapidly. And just when you think there was this increase in rational thought and perhaps toleration, we also see a growth in witch hunting and the growth of the slave trade across The Atlantic World.

To make sense of all this, let’s try a little role playing game. Select from one of the following characters and explain your obsession. Try to get in the mind of your character by looking up the historical motivations for pursuing your course of action. After we get moving on several threads, you can respond to your classmates posts with comments of your own. Are their takes on the motivations of each of these people historically acurate? Does it make sense? Have the left some major motivating factors out? Remember to be creative while at the same time being acurate. Let’s have some fun here:

Here are four characters to select from: Two are monarchs, one is anonymous judge, and the last one is perhaps the greatest scientist of this era:

Philip II — Philip was captivated, after the death of his English wife Mary Tudor, by the idea of bringing England back into the Catholic group of nations. What are his plans for The Aramada? Why does he put so many of his eggs in this one basket?

Elizabeth Tudor I of England – Elizabeth wants to build a strong centralized state and to defend against the threat of Spanish invasion. Put yourself in Elizabeth’s shoes and try to imagine her religious perspective. What, if any, side doyou take in the religious conflict in England? How do you defend against The Spanish?

English magistrate/court judge concerned with rumors of witchcraft – Why do you listen to these rumors and take them seriously. It doesn’t seem like generations before you had this problem? What are your concerns and who are you suspecteding of being a witch?

Isaac Newton – nThis great scientist built off of the work of Galileo and a heliocentric/sun-centered universe. How do you see yourself different from him and earlier scientists?