Week 35 – Louis of Bavaria, Protestant Reformation and centralization in Spain

How were the ideas of Marsilius of Padua evident in Louis of Bavaria’s conflict with Pope John XII?

Louis started using the papal’s crusade funds for himself. He acted more powerful than he actually was; he even dissolved the marriage of Margaret of Carinthia, which didn’t make her family very happy. Long story short, Pope Clement VI took this opportunity to take Louis down for good.

What can we say about the condition of the Catholic Church on the eve of the Protestant Reformation?

People slowly stopped going to the Church regularly, they didn’t attend Masses and most of the religious practices declined. There was a great attraction to more dramatic aspects of religion, some of the famous preachers were: St. John Capistrano, St. Vincent Ferrer and St. Bernardino of Siena.

Pilgrimages were popular again, mostly pilgrimages of the Holy Land and Rome. There was a focus on death, astrology, people exaggerated devotion to the saints…

There were also no seminaries, which were trainings for future clergy men.

Discuss the three key developments in the process of political centralization in Spain.

In 1479 the Castila and Aragon crowns were united due to Isabella and Ferdinand’s marriage. They frequently demanded reform of the apacy and took little account of the pope.

Both of them were also determined to revive the reconquista and take over Granada. This attack went from 1481 to 1491. The real siege began in 1491. Granada capitulated the same year.

Following this event was Spanish Inquisition. There was a concern about Jews and Muslims whose conversions to Catholicism did not appear sincere. The rulers wanted religious uniformity, that would make Spain easier to rule. In 1492, decisions was made that all unconverted Jews were to e expelled from Spain. Over 200,000 Jews were affected by this, making their way to Portugal, southern France, the Balkans and north Africa. As if this wasn’t enough, there were also limitations on what they could take with them.

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