Was the Protestant Reformation a Rejection or Embracement of the Secular Spirit of the Renaissance?

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of the Renaissance, it would be the core beliefs of his religious sect—which would eventually be called Protestantism—that would most clearly embrace the secular ideas of the Renaissance. Luther stated that religious institutions should remain subordinate to the state. The idea of separation of church and state embraced the secular spirit of the Renaissance. The secular power of a state trumping the religious power of the Church was a new topic only introduced during the Renaissance. Luther also believed that God wanted humans to enjoy their sexuality, so long as it did not need to immorality. This concurred with the secular Renaissance view that sexuality and the form of the body was to be admired. Luther cast off classic Catholic dogma by stating women were important parts of the Christian religion. This paralleled the increased privileges that women received during the Renaissance. Luther further defied Catholic customs by narrowing the Seven Sacraments to two, namely baptism and communion. This supported the Renaissance’s secular view on life in that some of the strict religious rules were now cast aside. To summarize, the Lutheran Reformation embraced the secular spirit of the Italian Renaissance by defying the Church and its traditions that went against Renaissance secularism.

While the Lutheran Reformation fully embraced the spirit of the Renaissance, the Anglican Reformation would both reject and embrace the secular spirit of the Renaissance. The Anglican Renaissance was started by Henry VIII, who sought a divorce from his wife, Catherine of Aragon because she bore him no male heir. Henry VIII sent Cardinal Thomas Wolsey to secure an annulment from Pope Leo X. However, the pope could not grant an annulment as he was a political prisoner of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Catherine’s nephew. In response, Henry VIII fired Wolsey and instead hired Thomas Cromwell, who was put in charge of securing the annulment. Without the pope’s approval for an annulment, Henry VIII sought greater control of the Anglican Church. By establishing himself as a Church authoritative figure, Henry VIII would be able to give himself the annulment he wanted. Monarchial control of the Church reflected the secularism of the Renaissance. While during the Middle Ages, the Church was the ruling organization and religious piety was the only way of life. During the Renaissance, however, the focus was no longer on religion. The secular spirit sidelined religion, establishing it as something to be ruled over, not to rule. Power over the Church became all the more important when Anne Boleyn was introduced. Anne Boleyn was secretly wed to Henry VIII while he was still married to Catherine. To clear Henry VIII of any religious crimes, Parliament granted him an annulment. Henry VIII’s questionable moral conduct again reflects the secular spirit of the Renaissance. Church doctrine was not persistently in the minds of people of the Renaissance as it was during the Middle Ages. Similarly, Henry VIII certainly did not have religious rules in mind when he married Anne Boleyn. To further separate the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church, Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy. This law appointed the English monarch as the Supreme Head of the Anglican Church, rather than the pope. Later on, Henry VIII would seize monastic lands, selling it for the national treasury. Henry VIII’s actions demonstrated the secular spirit of the Renaissance. Rulers were no longer bound by the laws of religions in their decisions. Rather, monarchs based their actions on what was best for the kingdom and themselves. However, Henry VIII did not entirely abandon the traditional Catholic religion. He still retained Catholicism as the official theology of the Anglican Church. Nevertheless, Henry VIII still kept his own interests a priority. Anyone who refused to acknowledge him as the head of the Anglican Church was executed. He also crushed the Pilgrimage of Grace, a rebellion against Henry VIII’s divergence with the Roman Catholic Church. Henry VIII rejected secularism by retaining religious inclination, however, his prioritization of state over Church also proved an embracement of secularism. Henry VIII’s son, Edward VI would continue his father’s legacy of religious change. Under Edward VI, Parliament passed the Act of Uniformity, forcing all subjects follow The Book of Common Prayer, a book dedicated to Calvinist Protestantism. Although Protestantism, in general, supported the secularism of the Renaissance, the Act of Uniformity should not be wholly classified as such. The strict, puritanical Calvinist religion and the establishment of a national religion distinctly contrasted the religious laxity and humanistic attitude that characterized Renaissance secularism. Thus, Edward VI’s actions proved to be a rejection of the Italian Renaissance’s secular spirit. While Edward VI rejected the secular spirit of the Renaissance by establishing Protestantism, his successor Mary I would reject secularism through the reestablishment of Catholicism. Mary I, a devout Catholic, repealed the Act of Uniformity and restored Catholicism as the official religion of England. She also restored the religious crime of heresy. All those found guilty of blaspheming the Church were charged with heresy and burned at the stake. By bringing back the religious extremism last seen during the Middle Ages, Mary I most definitely rejected the secular spirit of the Renaissance. Through her harsh and bloody regime, Mary I crushed free thought and religious tolerance, two of the major tenets in Renaissance secularism. In contrast to Edward VI and Mary I, the next English monarch Elizabeth I would adopt a much more placid approach. Elizabeth I returned England to Protestantism. However, her religious laws were much more conservative than those of her predecessors. She introduced a moderate version of The Book of the Common Prayer. Moreover, Elizabeth I eliminated religious extremism. Punishment for not attending church and diverting from religious principles were not severe as they were previously. Elizabeth I also made no attempt to purge England of Catholics. By introducing a relatively conservative national religion, Elizabeth I embraced the secularism of the Italian Renaissance. The Anglican Reformation had many faces, some of them rejecting and some of them embracing the secular spirit of the Italian Renaissance. Henry VIII would reject Catholic authority, thereby embracing secularism. However, his maintenance of Catholic theology showed that he did not entirely embrace secularism. Edward VI and Mary I would both establish national religion, from which there was no divergence, and reject secularism. Finally, Elizabeth I also established a national religion. However, her moderate polices on religion ultimately showed that she still embraced the secular spirit of the Renaissance.

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