Characteristics of Period from 1521 to 1648.
It is a comparatively easy matter to dispose of the remaining events in this drama in which Luther, the Emperor and the Pope are the main actors; but in what connection, and in how much detail, shall the teacher present the beginnings of the reform movement in other countries, the counter movement in the Catholic Church, and the struggles which arose over questions of religion in every land where Protestantism secured a foothold? The fact that sooner or later the struggle between Catholics and Protestants resolved itself into a civil war of considerable proportions makes it possible to utilize these struggles as the principal unifying element in the treatment of the entire period from 1521 to 1648. This plan differs from the ordinary arrangement of material to be found in the text-book in that it places less stress upon the beginnings of the reform movement outside of Germany, subordinating these details to the wars as the central theme and directing the attention of the student only to such events as help to explain the character of these struggles. The teacher must, however, bear in mind throughout that “the story of no European country or group of countries in this troubled period admits of being told as detached from the contemporary history of its neighbors, allies, or adversaries.”[7] Beyond emphasizing the fact that the revolt spread to other lands, it is a question whether the time is wisely spent in treating in detail the Calvinistic movement emanating from Geneva, or the beginnings of Presbyterianism in Scotland, or the overthrow of Catholicism in England. The one central idea which the student should grasp as a result of his study of the period—an idea which is decidedly within the range of his comprehension and appreciation—is that religion, which had long been a dominant factor in European politics, now lost its power to sway the political destinies of thrones and empires. In fact a new era had dawned in which the Church found itself removed from politics and the world given over to interests of quite a different character. This change may be illustrated further along by the insignificant part taken by the representatives of the Pope in the deliberations concerning the Treaties of Westphalia.
The growth of toleration should also be noted as an important characteristic of this new period. Finally the student’s attention may with profit be directed to the general tendency in these struggles toward the subordination of the higher interests of religion to selfish and dynastic interests. Time and again religion serves merely as a cloak for the concealment of ambitions of the most secular character. The ideals of true religion were perhaps never more perverted from their true ends and made to serve the basest and lowest uses.