Catholic Counter Reformation

Bartolomo de Las Casas

I decided to read Bartolomo de Las Casas’ response to the treatment and destruction of the Indians instead of The Council of Trent and The Jesuits.  I chose to write my blog on this subject because I thought it was more interesting due to the fact we not only begin to see the Catholic conquest of the New World but we also see the ways in which the Catholics tried to convert the Indians.   Bartolomo de Las Casas’ thinking was unusual for this time as well as for his stature as a Dominican friar.   He believed the way in which the Spaniards went about forcing conversion on the Indians was cruel, appalling and definitely not necessary.  He actually believed that they were too brutal and needed to be stopped.  He tried to appeal to the King of Spain to stop the violence but the King did nothing to further prevent these attacks.

What is fascinating is that the Counter Reformation bought about many acts of violence, which lead to continuous bloodshed on those who were not Catholic.  Although many of the attacks were against the Protestants, we begin to see with the exploration of the New World came even more violent acts against pagans, especially towards the Indians. 

I believe that the treatment and conversion of the Indians was far worse than the Protestants for several reasons: one, they were considered uneducated savages, so the Spaniards treated them as such; two, the Spaniards believed that they had to save their souls by any means, even torture, and three, and most importantly, the rate at which the Spaniards slaughtered the Indians was unfathomable.

De Las Casas’ response was remarkable because instead of condemning the Indians for not converting, he condemned the souls of the Spaniards for using such tactics to convert the Indians.  He became a sympathizer to the plights of the Indians and then became a crusader for Indians’ rights.  One thing that really caught my attention while reading his account is that one Indian who the Spanish tried to convert said that he’d rather go to hell than be converted so that he wouldn’t be in heaven where the Spaniards were.  That is how terrible the Spaniards were to the Indians.  For someone to wish this really says something about the ways in which the Spaniards treated the Indians. 

 

Thomas Muntzer and the Peasant’s War

Müntzer and the Peasant's War 

Vs.

  Martin Luther

Thomas Müntzer, 1488-1525, who at one time was a Catholic priest and then a follower of Martin Luther, became in his own right a German Reformation leader. Müntzer, although a follower of Luther, would become one of his greatest adversaries due to his role as one of the leaders of the Peasants’ War, 1524.  The question is what then did Müntzer do to challenge Luther’s ideologies?  It was a culmination of things.  First, the printing press made scripture more readily available, therefore people read and began to question their existence.  Secondly, Luther’s ideologies, which promoted equality of men, led to a questioning of livelihood, and lastly, and most important, Thomas Müntzer combined these two elements to unite the peasants and encourage a revolt. 

During the reformation in Germany Thomas Müntzer began to lead the peasants to revolt against the lords and nobles of the land. Müntzer felt that the lords of the land had no right to enslave the peasants.  The peasants, with the aid of Müntzer, would use scripture to back up their claims that the overlords of the land could no longer enslave them.  At first, Luther sided with the peasants and believed that their demands should be treated seriously, saying that what the peasants demanded was justified.  It wasn’t until the revolt became violent when the overlords denied and ignored the serfs’ pleas.  Also, what really set Luther apart from Müntzer was the fact Müntzer felt that it was his, as well as the peasants’, duty to punish the faithless or ‘godless’ and continue the revolt until he achieved his goals, regardless of the bloodshed and violence.

Luther became weary of Müntzer, claiming that the peasants and Müntzer only used scripture towards their own worldly desires instead of God’s will.  Luther also became sickened by the violence that the peasants were inflicting and spreading throughout the lands.  What also further angered Luther was the Twelve Articles of the Peasants, which used spirituality and scripture to justify the peasant wars.  As a result of the continued violence Luther ordered that by any means, even violence, the revolt be put down. Müntzer always sided with the revolt and fueled the flames by telling the peasants it was their God given right to be treated fairly, and must attain that by using any means. 

Eventually, without powerful alliances and support the peasant revolt was put down.  Over one hundred thousand peasants were killed, their homes and lands were taken away, and the overlord further increased their taxes.  What is interesting about this whole thing is that Müntzer and Luther, although members of the same church, have completely different ideals of how scripture was to be used and interpreted.  Luther despised the violence of the peasants, and Müntzer promoted it.  In the end, lives were lost and the revolt left the church tarnished.