Europe’s 16th Century Religious and Economic Transformation

Posted on Nov 5, 2025 in History

The Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a religious movement that began in the first half of the 16th century. It sparked the division of the Christian church and led to the founding of Protestant churches.

Causes of the Reformation

  • Poor training of the lower clergy: The church hierarchy did not prioritize the training of its priests, and many behaved inappropriately.
  • Corruption of the higher clergy: Most high-ranking church officials held their positions for personal gain, disrespecting established customs and morals.
  • The Church’s wealth: The higher clergy lived in luxury, as the Church possessed extensive lands and heavily taxed the common people.
  • Sale of ecclesiastical positions (Simony): These positions, which provided an income and economic rights, were often bought and sold.
  • The sale of indulgences: When the Church needed money, it sold indulgences, which offered believers forgiveness for their sins.

Luther’s Break from Rome

In 1517, Martin Luther criticized the sale of indulgences and other corrupt practices of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, marking the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. His core tenets included:

  • The free interpretation of the Bible by individuals.
  • The belief that forgiveness and salvation depend on faith and God’s will, not on good deeds performed in life.
  • The rejection of the veneration of the Virgin Mary, saints, and holy relics, as well as most sacraments, except for baptism and the Eucharist.
  • Opposition to the Church owning property, supporting the idea that nobles should take over its possessions.

The Spread of the Reformation

Lutheranism spread rapidly across northern Europe, and other reform movements emerged.

  • Calvinism: John Calvin, a French theologian, spread a form of Protestantism from Geneva, Switzerland. His theology was based on predestination, the belief that people were destined for salvation or damnation from birth. Calvinism spread across Switzerland, England, and France.
  • Anglicanism: The English Reformation began when King Henry VIII sought to divorce Catherine of Aragon. When the Pope refused, he broke with the Catholic Church, and the Act of Supremacy was passed in 1534, making the monarch the head of the Church of England.

Religious Wars and the Counter-Reformation

Religious Wars

In 1521, the Church excommunicated Luther and attempted to prosecute him for heresy. Charles I, King of Spain and grandson of the Catholic Monarchs, was appointed Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 (as Charles V). Various meetings, such as the Diet of Worms, took place, but no agreement was reached. Catholics referred to Lutherans as Protestants, while they called themselves the Reformed. Protestant German princes supported Luther and formed an alliance called the Schmalkaldic League. Finally, the Peace of Augsburg was signed in 1555, under which the emperor granted Protestant princes religious freedom.

The Counter-Reformation

The Counter-Reformation was a religious, intellectual, and political movement led by the Catholic Church against the Protestant Reformation. The Council of Trent, held between 1545 and 1563, established the Catholic Church’s course of action in three main areas:

Clarification of Teachings

The dogmas and principles that Protestants had rejected were reaffirmed. These included the importance of good deeds for salvation, the seven sacraments, the Pope’s supreme authority, the veneration of the Virgin Mary and saints, and the necessity of priests to interpret the Bible.

Internal Reform

Measures were taken to resolve internal corruption. Seminaries and universities were founded to improve priest training, bishops were more strictly controlled, the sale of indulgences was prohibited, and religious orders were reformed. The Society of Jesus (Jesuits), founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1534, gained importance and became the main group responsible for spreading the teachings of the Counter-Reformation.

Repression of Protestantism

Followers of Protestantism were considered heretics. The Inquisition was reinforced, and an Index of Forbidden Books, which opposed the Catholic faith, was published. As a result, the Catholics maintained their power over southern and central Europe.

Economy and Society in the 16th Century

The European economy prospered, partly due to the riches obtained from the Americas, especially silver and gold.

The Mercantilist System

Monarchs intervened in the economy, implementing the mercantilist system. Under this system, monarchs sought to help the economy prosper by increasing the amount of precious metals in their treasury and protecting national industries by taxing imported products.

The Spanish Economy

The port of Seville monopolized trade with the American colonies through the Casa de Contratación. Consequently, the population increased and cities grew. To protect ships from pirate attacks, King Philip II organized a fleet system so voyages between the Americas and Seville could be made in groups escorted by warships. The arrival of precious metals affected the Spanish Monarchy in several ways:

  • It enabled the kings to finance numerous wars throughout Europe, meaning most of this wealth ended up outside the Iberian Peninsula.
  • The influx of metals enriched the nobility, who used silver and gold to buy luxury products but did not invest in production. This led to the impoverishment of the majority of the population.
  • The craft industry grew due to demand from American territories. However, a rise in prices made Spanish products more expensive, making it cheaper to buy them from abroad.
  • With more resources, monarchs began expensive projects. When these resources ran out, they resorted to increasing taxes on peasants and the bourgeoisie, as the privileged estates (nobility and the Church) were exempt.
  • The economy remained based on agriculture, making the majority of the population extremely vulnerable during bad harvests.

At the end of the 16th century, the Spanish economy went into decline. Only small local craft industries survived. Major industries, like the Castilian wool and the Crown of Aragón’s textile industries, could not compete with foreign producers. This fall in production also affected trade. The economic decline deeply affected society, increasing the number of people who had to beg to survive or join the clergy to escape poverty.

Baroque Religious Sculpture

The faces of sculptures became more expressive, reflecting the dramatic situations in biblical passages. The main works in this style were religious images, often created as painted wooden carvings and altarpieces (sculptures or paintings that decorated the altar).

  • Alonso Berruguete: An influential artist who produced works such as The Sacrifice of Isaac and The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian.