Page 16 - History of Christianity II- Textbook

Lutheranism well established in Germany, c. 1550-59

In 1546, as Luther lay on his deathbed, both he and his allies were primarily concerned
with Roman Catholic opposition.

After Luther’s death the movement he began came increasingly under attack from
external threats and internal division that nearly spelled the end of it completely. It
would take almost 30 years for it to recapture its vitality and cohesion. Meanwhile the
followers of Calvin grew into an international Protestant movement, overshadowing
Luther’s. Why?
When Luther was laid to rest in the Castle Church of Wittenberg in the winter of 1546, there was no
clear successor to step into his place. He was, as the men who eulogized him noted, a colossus, a
modern-day Elijah, the successor to Old Testament prophets, and the fulfillment of a fateful prophecy
given by Jan Hus at his martyrdom that someone would rise up a century later to vanquish papal
idolatry. Not an easy act to follow.

Philip Melanchthon was Luther’s most gifted theological ally and a skilled teacher whose students were
often devoted to him, but not the kind of man to lead movements. Almost 20 years before Luther’s
death, when called upon to quickly write what has come to be called the Augsburg Confession, he had
been equal to the task.

When Emperor Charles V attacked pro-Lutheran principalities in the Holy Roman Empire in the late
1540s, Melanchthon attempted to steer Luther’s movement through the violent storm. As the emperor
pledged to wipe Luther and his followers from the map and from history, Melanchthon defended the
Lutheran cause again.

That final peace between the Holy Roman Emperor and his Protestant princes was approved in 1555, at
another diet held in Augsburg. The so-called Peace of Augsburg established that whoever ruled a
particular imperial jurisdiction (or state) would determine its religious disposition. If you lived in Saxony
and your lord was Lutheran, you were a Lutheran and Lutheranism was the official religion of the entire
duchy. If you lived in a Roman Catholic region like Bavaria, you were Roman Catholic. The official
designation of this was cuius regio, eius religio—”whose reign, his religion.”
(https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/from-luther-to-the-lutherans)

So those who lived in Germany all became Lutherans because the lord was a Lutheran.

Elizabethan Settlement, 1559

The Elizabethan Religious Settlement, which was made during the reign
of Elizabeth I, was a response to the religious divisions in England during
the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey, and Mary I. This
response, described as "The Revolution of 1559", was set out in two acts
of parliament. The two acts re-established the Church of England’s
independence from Rome with Elizabeth given the title, “Supreme
Governor of the Church of England.” Anglicanism, as a result, became
the official Church of England.

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