Changes

==Background==

It has been widely stated that Italian society in the Renaissance was largely secular. This has been challenged by Burckhardt among others <ref> Burckhardt, Jakob. The civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (London, Penguin, 1992), p. 34</ref>. The elite was largely secular and the humanist class of scholars was more interested in the classics than the bible. However, the majority of the country was religious. Italians went to mass and took part in religious festivals. The morals and the beliefs of the population were very much influenced by the Catholic Church<ref> Payton James. Getting the Reformation Wrong: Correcting Some Misunderstandings (IVP, 2010), p. 79</ref>. This is remarkable given the corruption and the decadence of the Papacy. The Pope was a powerful secular ruler and controlled much of central Italy. They often appeared to be more interested in their secular power than their role as the Head of the Church. Julius II was more interested in wars than religion. Then there was the corruption of the Popes, best illustrated in the reign of Pope Alexander IV. Many Italians, such as Machiavelli had long been disenchanted with the Papacy and blamed it for the divisions in Italy and for the various invasions since 1494<ref> Machiavelli, N. The Prince (London, Penguin, 1999), pp 15-16</ref>. The clergy and the monastic orders all had become corrupt and worldly. The monks were accused of being lazy and more interested in a life of ease that the souls of the people. Now the reports of clerical corruption were probably exaggerated, especially by humanist writers but there is no doubt to believe that the Church in Italy was corrupt and not providing for the spiritual welfare of the people. Many Italians had long been worried by the failings of the Church and they were especially concerned that the corrupt clergy could not help them achieve salvation and save their ‘immortal souls’ <ref>Patrick, James. Renaissance and Reformation (New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2007), p. 89</ref>. There was a long history in Italy of ‘heresy’. Many Italians especially, in the Northern Cities had joined groups that were not happy with the Catholic Church and had developed their own doctrines and practices. They had all being suppressed. In the 1490s, Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498), a Friar launched a religious revival in Florence. This included the famous ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’. Savonarola was soon so influential that he was able to expel the de Medici and establish a theocracy in Florence. Later Savonarola was burned at the stake. In the early days of the Protestant Reformation, many expected that Italy would reject the Catholic Church. Yet this did not prove to be the case <ref>Weinstein, Donald "Savonarola the Rise and Fall of a Renaissance Prophet" (New Haven, 2011), pp 45-134</ref>.

==Italian Reformation==

In the 1520s, there were the first reports of Lutherans as they were known in Italy. They were influenced by the works of Luther and they were sympathetic to his aims. The all believed that the Church was in need of Reform and challenged the authority of the Pope. The individuals were all influenced by humanism and sought a more personal relationship with God, in order to secure salvation. Many of the early ‘Protestants’ at first did not seek to set up another church, rather they sought to reform the Church. When it became apparent that the Catholic Church was not willing to engage in meaningful reforms they increasingly sought separation from the Church<ref> Caponetto, Salvatore. The Protestant Reformation in Sixteenth-Century Italy, Anne C. Tedeschi (Thomas Jefferson University Press, Kirksville, 1999), p. 56</ref>. Some Italian humanists translated some of the works of Luther and they were transmitted in clandestine networks. There were soon small groups of Lutherans in many Northern Italian cities, especially in the North. A small group of intellectuals also was later discovered to be in Naples. The Reformation became more radical and many new groups emerged. These included the Calvinists and Anabaptists. The influence of these doctrines was mainly among the upper class. There were many communities of foreign traders in the Italian cities and especially in Venice. It seems that there was a large community of Anabaptists and Lutherans in Venice. Later a group who adhered to Nontrinitarians grew and gained a following among the educated<ref> Caponetto, p. 134</ref>. It appears that many foreign Protestants, especially French Huguenots fled to the cities of Italy to escape persecution at home. According to one Pope, groups of Protestants had been active in many areas of Italy. However, the influence of Protestantism was confined to small groups and not many common people outside urban areas accepted the movement or its doctrines. Indeed by 1600 there was no Protestant presence in Italy apart from some foreign mercenaries, diplomats and traders and the Catholic Church was actually stronger than in 1500. Many Italian Protestant had been forced into exile and they contributed greatly to the Reformation in Eastern Europe<ref> Caponetto, p. 134</ref>.