CHAPTER NINETEEN


STUDY QUESTIONS
  1. "Just when Europe was expanding it was also dividing." Explain this statement. Why did the rupture of European unity not prevent the extension of European power and influence?
  2. What is meant by referring to Europe as a "Community of Christendom"?
  3. Explain the reasons for European voyages of discovery.
  4. What were the major results of European expansion and colonization?
  5. What were the causes of the dramatic decline in native population in the Spanish colonies?
  6. Among the causes of the Protestant Reformation, abuses within the Roman Catholic Church were one important factor. What were some of the characteristic abuses on the eve of the Lutheran upheaval?
  7. "Luther preferred a rigorously Augustinian system of theology to a medieval Thomistic one." Explain the terms "Augustinian" and "Thomistic."
  8. How did Luther's private objections to Church practices turn into a public cause?
  9. Explain why German political authorities supported Luther's cause and why their support was essential to its success.
  10. What were the important changes that Luther brought about in the Church in Germany?
  11. If their political objectives were similar to those of the German princes, why did the kings of Spain and France not likewise break with the Catholic Church?
  12. How did King Henry VIII's marital difficulties lead to a break with Rome? What elements of Catholicism did Henry retain in the Church of England?
  13. Why did Henry VIII's break with Rome have the support of so many people in England?
  14. Trace the fortunes of Catholicism and Protestantism in England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I.
  15. What is meant by the Elizabethan compromise?
  16. What were the chief emphases in the creed of the Anabaptists? Why were they almost entirely suppressed?
  17. How did Calvin's religious ideas differ from those of Luther? Is it possible to say that one was more medieval in his outlook? (In answering this question, be sure to explain how you are interpreting the word "medieval.")
  18. Describe the work and the importance of the Council of Trent.
  19. How did the Jesuits differ from previous monastic orders? Why was their organization so peculiarly fit to serve the Catholic Reformation?
  20. What was the relationship of the Protestant Reformation to the Renaissance? What were the differences between the two movements?
  21. Point out the effects of the Protestant Reformation upon the following:
      a) the theory and practice of state sovereignty
      b) the growth of nationalism
      c) the position of women in European society
  22. Compare and contrast the effects of the Catholic Reformation (Counter-Reformation) in these same respects.
PROBLEMS
  1. Explore how Spanish and Portuguese colonization in the Americas differed from later colonization by the British.
  2. How can you explain the ability of the conquistadors Cort‚s and Pizarro to conquer the Aztec and Inca empires with such a relatively small number of soldiers?
  3. Study the administration and economy of the Spanish colonies in the Americas. How did the Spanish combine elements of despotism and paternalism?
  4. Assess the role of the Catholic Church both in Spain's subjugation of indigenous American populations and in efforts to protect them from exploitation.
  5. How did Lutheranism penetrate Scandinavia?
  6. How did the Jesuits go about reconverting much of central Europe to Roman Catholicism?
  7. In order to further your understanding of the Reformation, investigate any of the following:
      --Martin Luther and the German Bible
      --John Calvin's rule in Geneva
      --Henry VIII and the confiscation of monastic lands
      --The career of Ignatius Loyola
      --The Anabaptists
      --The career of Zwingli
      --The role of the Jesuits in South American colonies
  8. Explain the conflict between the Augustinian and Scholastic systems of theology. What was the significance of this conflict?
  9. How did capitalism relate to the Protestant Reformation? You may wish to consult R. H. Tawney's Religion and the Rise of Capitalism.
  10. What relationship can you show between the Lutheran movement and the later history of Germany?
  11. Read Luther's Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation. What sorts of arguments does he use in urging resistance to the papacy?
  12. To what extent was the Catholic Reformation a Counter-Reformation?
  13. Make an argument for or against the proposition that the Reformation was a great milestone on the road of progress.
  14. What is the justification for considering European overseas expansion and the Protestant Reformation as related movements in spite of the fundamental difference between them?


ResourceResearchReference

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REVIEW: World Civilizations
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