Reformation Europe Trivia Quiz

Answer: predestination

Eternal reward and punishment is the result of predestination. The Reformers taught that the good works of Catholicism were idolatrous, for they encouraged people to believe that they merited salvation.

Answer: indulgence

A practice that many Renaissance Humanists found objectionable was the use of indulgences as a source for church income.

Answer: Pope Leo X

Upon the death of Pope Julius II, Giovanni de' Medici, from that wealthy and most prestigious family of Florence, followed him as Pope Leo X.

Answer: absenteeism

Absenteeism was common, for the bishop of a town frequently made his residence at the royal court or lived on a family estate. A vicar served in his stead, but church revenues were transferred to the bishop.

Answer: Anglican Church

The Church of England had no Protestant doctrines until after the death of Henry VIII, who had kept the church Catholic. The Church of England is often referred to as the Anglican church.

Answer: penance

To receive absolution for sin, a penance was required similar to a fine in civil court. Acts of penance in early Christianity included making a long pilgrimage or fasting on bread and water for a time. Eventually purchased indulgences become the substitute for a deed of penance.

Answer: line of demarcation

Within a year after Christopher Columbus' voyage, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain requested the pope to draw a line of demarcation to separate Spanish colonial territories from those of Portugal.

Answer: Juan Sebatian de Elcano

Magellan set out to reach the Spice Islands of south-east Asia and claim them for Spain. In 1519 he left Europe, sailed across the Atlantic, and headed southward along the South American coast. Despite the loss of two ships, he persuaded his crew to sail through the strait at the tip of South America that still bears his name. For three months he was at sea before striking Guam. Ten days later he reached the Philippines.

While there he took sides in a local dispute on Cebu Island and was killed.

His lieutenant, Juan Sebastian de Elcano, took charge of the sole remaining ship and guided it back to Spain where it arrived in September 1522. Only 35 men returned safely.

Answer: pluralism

Because the moral tone in Rome was so lax, it is not surprising that throughout Europe bishops imitated the popes in pursuing wealth and prestige. Pluralism, the practice of church leaders holding two or more bishoprics in order to collect additional funds, was common. (Simony refers to the purchase of offices in the church - something that happened at that time).

Answer: gentry

Both Lutheran and Calvinist missionaries brought the Reformation to Poland. The gentry, the small landowners, embraced Calvinism for political and economic as well as religious reasons. The word 'magnates' is widely used for the higher aristocracy of Poland, Hungary and the Czech lands.

Answer: Pope Alexander VI

In the early 16th century many Catholics were disillusioned with papal leadership. Under Pope Alexander VI, born Rodrigo Borgia, the papacy was little more than a Spanish preserve, filled with the pope's children, his relatives, and friends.

Answer: Wittenberg

Luther began his higher education as a law student at the University of Erfurt, but unexpectedly, and to the deep chagrin of his father, he announced his intention to join the Augustinian Canons, who served as the university's faculty. The Augustinians were delighted to receive him, and within two years he was ordained. Luther's superiors subsequently appointed him to teach at the University of Wittenberg.

Answer: faith alone was sufficient for justification

While lecturing on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, Luther found a solution to his fears (that he could never reach the perfection he sought in his own life) in the verse "... he shall gain life who is justified through faith."

Answer: faith must precede baptism

'Anabaptist' means one who 'rebaptizes'. One thing all Anabaptists agreed upon was that only adults, once they had faith, should be baptized. Furthermore, people who had received baptism as infants had to receive the sacrament again. Today Anabaptists survive as Mennonites, Hutterites, and Amish Christians.

Answer: predestination

Calvin stressed that God is completely transcendent, in control of all that happens in the universe. A person is predestined either to act correctly or not because of what God has already decided. Luther's religion was too much centered on a human decision to profess faith to suit Calvin.

Answer: Thomas Wolsey

Henry thought that maybe the reason he had been unable to produce a male heir was due to the circumstance that he had married his brother's wife (Catherine and Henry's brother, Arthur, had not however consummated their marriage). He petitioned the pope to annul his marriage to Catherine which would permit him to marry Anne Boleyn, a lady of the court.

The king appointed his chancellor, Thomas Wolsey, to persuade the pope of his opinion.

Answer: 3 - 2 daughters and 1 son

By the time Henry VIII appealed for an annulment in 1527, he and Catherine of Aragon had been married for 20 years. Five children had been born, but only one daughter, Mary Tudor, survived infancy. In 1532 the king secretly married the pregnant Anne Boleyn after his newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, annulled his marriage to Catherine.

The child born to Henry and Anne was a girl whom they named Elizabeth. They hoped a second pregnancy would bear a son. In 1537 Henry finally acquired the son he had been waiting for with his third wife, Jane Seymour.

Answer: Angela Merici

Catholicism benefited from the organization of several new religious orders in the early 16th century. Angela Merici, an Italian woman, formed the Ursulines, a group of nuns dedicated to teaching in schools for girls.

Answer: The Peace of Augsburg

Clashes between the Habsburgs and the Lutheran princes continued long after Luther's death. Nevertheless, in 1555 Ferdinand of Austria, brother of Charles V and his representative in Germany, and the Lutheran princes agreed upon a truce, known as the Peace of Augsburg. Its major provision ordered that the prince of a territory should decide the religion of his subjects.

Answer: Huguenots

Calvinism rather than Lutheranism proved more attractive to those Frenchmen who did accept the Reform. They were called Huguenots and numbered less than 10% of the population. Most were of urban middle class background, similar to the Genevan citizens who were Calvin's most loyal followers.