Protestant Empire: Religion and the Making of the British Atlantic World

Chapter Two. Reformation and the Politicization of Religious Expansion

two Reformation and the Politicization of Religious Expansion The sixteenth century witnessed two developments of enormous signi ficance to religion in the British Atlantic world. The Spanish and (later) the Portuguese, having begun to conquer large stretches of the Western Hemisphere, launched a massive effort to convert the native peoples of the Americas to Roman Catholicism. At the same time, England and Scotland joined the Protestant Reformation that was circulating through much of northern Europe, removing their churches from the Catholic community they had been part of for centuries. Scotland and England each moved independently to impose a version of Protestantism on their national churches, and England pulled Wales, although not Ireland, in its wake. Protestant Reformation not only undercut the common religious ground in Europe but also reduced the areas of intersection that Christians shared with peoples elsewhere in the Atlantic world. With so many Europeans rejecting the Catholic faith, Iberian (Spanish and Portuguese) Catholics understood their campaigns to convert Americans as an opportunity to replenish a church that had been ravished by attrition caused by the Reformation. When they later undertook their own missions among the Indians, English Protestants would understand their efforts in a similar way, as an effort to reverse the Iberian work of transplanting Catholicism , and to bring to the Americans their own version of Christianity. Expansion thus extended European religious battles of the sixteenth century into another hemisphere. For both Catholics in Spain and Portugal and for those 34 chapter 2 who promoted a Protestant agenda in Europe, evangelism and religious polarization marked the sixteenth century. By disrupting the long-established religious patterns of English, Scottish, and Welsh people, the Reformation thrust them all into a new world. Prior to the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, western Europe had been united in its allegiance to Roman Catholicism. While political leaders differed on many matters and engaged in wars against their coreligionists , they all adhered to the same variant of Christianity: the Roman Catholic Church, headquartered in Rome and organized under the authority of the pope. Other Christians, especially those who belonged to various Eastern Orthodox churches, did not reside in western Europe in noticeable numbers . Catholicism was an ancient and venerable institution, with an elaborate hierarchy that included some of the most powerful men in Europe and a reach into every village throughout the land. As adherents of Catholicism, believers attended Mass, participated in a number of church rituals known as sacraments, and looked to the church for guidance about their obligations and hopes for salvation. Catholics believed that the way to salvation—an eternal life spent in heaven rather than in the torments of hell—lay with the church. It structured ritual observance, explained the human condition, and shaped the believers’ relationship to God. Every community had at least one priest, and larger towns or cities had religious houses of monks or nuns who took vows to devote their lives to God. Some of these people lived cloistered from the world, engaging in a life dedicated to prayer. Others served the larger community with acts of charity or other contributions. Of the seven sacraments, six of them commonly ordered the life of the laity. Baptism brought the infant into the church, whereas Confirmation marked full membership for the young person who had by that age some knowledge of the faith; Holy Eucharist gave an opportunity to participate in the mystical body of Christ by eating bread that had been transformed into his body; Confession to a priest allowed forgiveness of sins; Marriage bound believers into an indissoluble union said to last into the next life; and Extreme Unction prepared the individual’s soul for an impending death. The seventh sacrament was offered only to those who became priests, whether a parish priest or a member of a religious order. The sacraments brought individual believers into active participation in the life of the church on a regular basis as well as ensuring that all of life’s major transitions would be overseen by the religious representatives in the local community. Beginning in the second decade of the sixteenth century, the Reforma- Reformation 35 tion split western Christendom into Roman Catholic and Protestant camps. The split arose from within the church, as disgruntled members attempted to reform it. Martin Luther, a monk living in the German state of Saxony, proposed changes that would curb abuses and make the church more accessible...