Reformation, Religious Wars, and Mechanical Philosophy: Ancient Regimes

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Reformation and Religious Wars

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The reformations of the sixteenth century challenged the ideals of many religious institutions, but they also contested political institutions as well. This could be due to the fact that most politics were tied in some way to religion, but it could also be the way in which the reformations challenged the unquestionable authority of the Catholic Church, that led to questioning the system of governance as well. The reformation opposed traditional views of politics in Europe by challenging the ideas of body politics and the natural law that governed the land.

Body politics was brought into question during the reformation as the king was no longer seen as the unquestionable head of the nation that would make all of the decisions for it. The nobles grew tired of being the “arms” of the nation. They saw the ability to gain political power within their grasp. This power came with a weakening of the monarch’s power by gaining the loyalties of the commoners directly under them by defending the religion of choice in their own domain. This form of taking sides would eventually lead to the formation of the Lutheran Defensive league, which would cause the Catholic side to become fearful of a militant Protestant force. All of this cause and effect nature of politics began with a small opening for power to be gained after the reformations of Luther caused Frederick III to intervene when the Catholic Church began to become offended. This began the break in the traditional thoughts of body politics as the main way of governance of nations, which then led to the idea that civil war and uprisings were no longer only subject to rights claimed under the body politics system. Hans von Grimmelshausen in The Adventures of a Simpleton wrote a semi-autobiographical account of the wars of religion in Germany. Within this book, Grimmelshausen wrote many times about local lords and nobles, but not once about the Emperor of Germany even in passing. Local loyalties were prevalent in his account, not national, which demonstrates the breaking of the traditional political thought of body politics from popular thought.

The reformation also brought into question the ideals of the “natural law” that governed the lands of Europe. This natural law stated that the hierarchies that were in place across Europe such as that of the sovereigns over their subjects were as natural as a father being in control of his children.

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