sam-reformation

[sam-reformation]

Basilica of St. Servatius/Church of St. John

The building on the left is the Basilica of St. Servatius and the red one on the right is the Church of St. John. The reason I chose these is because of the stark contrast between the two and the fact that St. Servatius' is Catholic and St. John's is protestant and they are right next to each other. These are in the city of Maastricht, Netherlands.

St. John's was original built as the baptistry for St. Servatius but after Maastricht was taken by Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands. The official church of the Netherlands was the Dutch Reformed Church. After the Dutch Reformed Church was established as the official religion, all Catholic churches in the land conquered by the Netherlands was turned to Dutch Reformed. However, it was agreed that in Maastricht only the smaller Cathedrals would be given to the protestants. However, they out grew them pretty quick and later on, two more were given to the protestants, one of which being St. John's. So these two buildings are symbolic of the Reformation in Maastricht as Catholicism was still allowed but had to live in the midst of the Protestants.

What surprised me was how St. John's was so different from St. Servatius'. Clearly it is red and cathes the eye more so than the normal stone used for St. Servatius'. It almost serves as a juxtaposition as to say that one is Catholic and one is protestatant and the ycould not be more different. It seems somewhat symbolic as to separate the two and to say, they may both be Christian churches but do not fall under the same category.

[sam-reformation]

St. Paul's Cathedral

This is St. Paul's Cathedral located in London, England. I picked it because it is such an impressive building. We unfortunately were unable to go inside but the outside was very impressive. The dome sort of reminds me of the US Capitol Building, I know this is much older.

This building hold some interesting significance in the Reformation. During the beginning of the Reformation, the churchyard served for many theological debates between those seeking reform and the more conservative wanting things to remain the same. In response to the emergence of Martin Luther, a Cardinal who was Lord Chancellor and the leading advisor to King Henry VIII, with the pope's representative and many others, spoke to a crowd of around 30,000 people denouncing Martin Luther. What is interesting about this is that not long after this, England splits from the Catholic Church because of the pope not allowing King Henry VII to divorce his wife. Those leading St. Paul's acknowledged him as their spiritual leader rather than the Pope. It is interesting how not long before this, the pope's advisor was present in a demonstration openly against protestantism and then soon after, this church along with the King are protestants. Relics were taken and Henry VIII was unhappy with the excess of reform happening. At heart he was essentially Catholic but he did not want to be under the pope. Part of his attempt to curb this was outlawing the growing group of Anabaptists. There were trails held in St. Paul's for several of these Anabaptists. So he did not want to be under the pope nor did he want radical reform. He attempted to reestablish the old way of the church under his new church. This succeeded in ways and failed in others. But in the midst of all this change and reform and changes back, St. Paul's was a center for these changes and a good example of the back and forth between what the king wanted.

Something that surprised me was the size of it. I know, this is not the largest cathedral by any means but we had to walk around it to get to another side of it and it seemed to take forever. The dome was huge, the gardens were beautiful. It is truly amazing how grand they could construct building so long ago that can last for hundreds of years.

[sam-reformation]

Westminster Abbey

This is Westminster Abbey in London, England. I chose this because I was told it had many people buried there, many of whom were of great importance. With that, its ties to the reformation are extreme.

In 1534, King Henry VIII wanted a divorce from his wife but the pope would not allow him to because it was against the Catholic beliefs. Henry VIII did not like this answer so he split off and began the Anglican church. No longer would England answer to the pope but rather to the King. With the Act of Supremacy in the same year, it was declared that the King was the head of the Church of England, not the Pope. He seized all Catholic churches in England and made them Anglican. Westminster was one of these of course. It was where all the monarchs were crowned starting in 1066. This was one of the pinnacles of protestantism in England during this time. England had been Catholic for hundreds of years before this point and it was a very prominent nation with great power and wealth. This was a big deal. Losing England was a loss of funds and punch to the gut. The Catholics' reputation had been slowly waning especially with the emergence of the reformation. When England broke off, it did not exactly help their power struggle. England was now independent of the pope and this Abbey was a symbol of that shift. England would not remain this way and it would go through many changes over the next several years, but this was a sign to the pope that his power only extended as much as his subjects wanted it to.

Something that surprised me was the overly ornate graves and the reverence given to earthly men, seemingly more so than that given to Christ. It was difficult to find any religious semblance among the graves. And to see the graves of Charles Darwin and Steven Hawkins was surprising as they were non-believers. It was honestly somewhat of a confusing building to me. If I had not known, and if I had not heard the prayer given, I would not have been sure if it was still a religious establishment.

[sam-reformation]

John Knox House

This is the John Knox house in Edinburgh, Scotland. The house where John Knox, allegedly, lived at one time. I chose this because John Knox was a key figure in our class and in the Reformation and we travelled in Scotland for our free travel so it was the perfect opportunity to stop by. This house would not be of much importance without the name attached to it.

John Knox was a student of St. Andrews. He had been exposed to protestantism as the Reformation was active during his formative years and he had people who helped influence his beliefs. He went into hiding for a bit but when St Andrew's castle was overthrown by protestants, he joined them as their preacher openly preaching against the Catholic Church. The Castle was taken back and they were all arrested and made galley slaves. This punishment did not soften Knox's resolve but he became more passionate in his beliefs. He eventually returned to Scotland and despite pushback he preached his message and he gained quite a following. He highly contributed to the reformation of Scotland which ultimately led to the no longer being under the Pope, no longer having mass, and reforming doctrine. Many of his thoughts aligned with his friend, John Calvin whom he met in Geneva. He was also the founder of the Presbyterian church. He also worked to make an English translation of the Geneva Bible. John Knox may have some questionable doctrinal beliefs but his passion and work for what he thought was right is admirable. Regardless of the pressure the Church put on him, he did not waver but pushed against his adversaries to progress the kingdom of God. I wish there were more of that passion today, even in myself. John Knox lived his last days in Edinburg serving at the St Giles' Cathedral.

What surprised me was the simplicity of the house. We did not go in but from the outside it did not look like anything too special. Maybe it was for that time, I'm not sure. But it seemed to show less care for earthly pride and more humility which counteracted the very wealthy Catholic Church at the time.

[sam-reformation]

Aix-la-Chapelle Cathedral

This is the Aix-la-Chapelle Cathedral in Aachen, Germany. I chose this site because it was one of the first places we went and because it has a really interesting history. It was started by Charlemagne who was a significant figure before the Reformation during the middle ages.

This was significant during the reformation because around 1524 protestantism began being preached here by Albrecht von Muenster. He was of course not permitted to preached his heretical ideas and put down rather quickly. However, this did not stop protestantism from spreading in Aachen. A group started to grow and forced an election of a protestant head magistrate and they openly defied the Holy Roman Emperor of the time, Charles V, who was devout Catholic, devoted to defending and preserving Catholicism. A Catholic overlord was placed in charge later and the Protestants were smushed and the Catholics were given rights back. The protestants rose again and pushed the Catholic leaders out again. The conflict continued with and the main protestants of these rebellions were tried and exiled or banished. Charlemagne was the first person to ever be named a Holy Roman Emperor. While taht title changed greatly over the years, Charlemagne built the Cathedral during his rule and Aachen was Catholic since Charlemagne because he was such a devout Christian. The Holy Roman Empire was Catholic and protestantism was knocking at the door as an unwanted guest. In order to preserve what they had always known, they pushed back against it. In order to maintain order, unity, and power, they pushed against it.

What shocked me about this place was how different parts of the building were added on, and the different styles of architecture seen throughout. You can see the distinctive styles from the outside. This was also one of the first Cathedrals we went in and it was amazing. The amount of talent required to build such a structure so long ago makes one wonder why buildings like this are not still built. The detail is incredible. However, It also saddens my heart a bit. It screams of materialism and mixed priorities. I do not see a building that was a place for Christians to congregate but a building where wealth was flexed.