Conclusion

The propaganda during the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation frequently reflected the growing literacy that was helped by the invention of the printing press. Many of the articles of propaganda could be understood without the text that accompanied the picture, although the words did contribute to the meaning, which showed that the reading proficiency was not absolute. This kind of propaganda only slandered the other side, mostly through shameful associations and satire,  like the two pictures below. The printing press also facilitated the mass production of simple propaganda.

Pope as the devil

Peasants farting at pope

The Scientific Revolution did not have a significant effect on a large portion of the people, as shown through the fascination of monsters and the mystical (The Origin of the Pope, The Monster of Ravenna). Loyalties to the family and to the church were extremely important, based on the negatives shown in Luther’s Game of Heresy.

 

Bibliography

Cardari, Valentina. “Propaganda through Architecture during the Counter Reformation.” Academia.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 June 2012.

Garcia-Ontiveros, Dunia. “Treasures from the London Library: Visual propaganda during the Reformation.” History Today 9 Feb. 2011. Web. 13 June 2012.

Herman, Edward S., and Noam Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent. New Yorks: Pantheon Books, 1988. Print.

Luther’s Game of Heresy. Engraven Reformation, Belfast. Web. 13 June 2012.

Scribner, Bob. “Popular Propaganda for the German Reformation.” History Today 1 Oct. 1982: 10-15. History Reference Center. Web. 6 June 2012.

Pope’s Influences in the Counter-Revolution

The pope had much more money than the protesting Protestants, and so he could afford more elegant and subtle propaganda. Rather than directly slandering the protestors, the Counter-Reformation would more frequently include displays of wealth and power from the Catholic Church.

The pope commissioned many new churches to be built and got the best artists of the day to decorate them. He created new holidays, extravagant parades, and flamboyant architecture in the Baroque style.

Farnese Coat of Arms

Not all of these displays from the pope would be strictly related to Catholicism. This shows the keys that signify the pope (to the left of the shield) as well as the lilies that are the symbol of the Farnese family (to the right of the keys), to which Pope Paul II belonged. He combined displaying the power the pope with the power of his family.

Family values were emphasized in the Counter-Revolution, which was also shown in Luther’s Game of Heresy. Some of the fumes coming up from the pot that the devil and Luther are brewing together are named unchastity, scandal, fleshy freedom, and disloyalty. The disloyalty could be seen as a sin against the family unit or to the church.

Luther’s Game of Heresy

Luther’s Game of Heresy

This picture shows Luther stirring a pot with the Devil. The intent here is very similar to Reformation propaganda, going the other way. Now the church is associating the Devil with Luther instead of Luther associating the Devil with the church. The flames coming out of the pot are labeled with falsehood, unbelief, pride, envy, scandal, disobedience, contempt, haughtiness, lies, heresy, blasphemy, unchastity, fleshly freedom, disorder, and disloyalty.

Many of these concepts, like blasphemy and disloyalty, are meant to enforce the church’s supreme position of power over the protestors and assert that the Catholic Church is still the true church. This shows the conflicting beliefs that many people felt during that time, with two religions vying for power. While it is unlikely that the propaganda caused the confusion, it most certainly contributed. The conflict between the Protestant church and the Catholic church condensed into the Thirty Year’s War in 1618.

The figure on the upper right is saying: ‘I shall apply myself to piping Luther’s false teaching. This I will praise, thereby tearing Scripture apart.’ This is interesting because the Scripture (the Bible) is one of the main preachings of Luther, so the message that the woodcut is conveying is that by preaching for the Bible, Luther will actually go against it.

Similarly to the other pieces of propaganda shown so far, this doesn’t rely on the words to get its meaning across, but they do add to it. The main idea that Luther works with the Devil can be seen clearly through the picture, which shows that although literacy was increasing, many people still couldn’t read. Literature of any kind was uncommon at that time, so having text easily available to the common person increased the literacy rate.

Depiction of the Papacy (part 2)

Depiction of the Papacy

The picture on the right with the monster of Ravenna show a less scientific and logical approach to life, demonstrating that the rationality behind the Scientific Revolution had not spread all the way through Europe. Here’s a closeup of the picture on the right:

The Papal Ass

The fancy castle in the background with the pope’s flag connects the monster to the church. The rumour of this beast’s creation was that it was found near Rome. Monsters like these were believed to be cohorts with the Devil, and having it near the pope showed his association with evil.

Depiction of the Papacy (part 1)

Depiction of the Papacy

The picture on the left is dubbed “The Origin of the Pope.”  Here’s a closeup:

The Origin of the Pope

The figure to the left that looks like it’s trying to squash a mess of people is actually a she-devil giving birth to a bunch of cardinals and other religious figures. While there are words on the page, the meaning is still clear. Three hags are shown nursing the pope, identified by his hat. A more educated person would be able to tell from the text that the three witches were actually the three Greek Furies from Hades, but that wasn’t crucial to the point that the pope and all other people like him had evil origins.

By not relying exclusively on words to get the meaning across, the creator shows the spreading use of the printing press and the increasing literacy that it provided, although the majority could still not read. The use of the Greek Furies appeals to the more educated viewer, showing that people were paying attention to classical roots.

The Monster of Ravenna

The Monster of Ravenna

Meet the monster of Ravenna. This  beast was said to be born of a nun and a friar, which showed the supposed corruption of the church. Many Europeans during this time loved the display of monsters, which explained many other Protestant pieces of propaganda.

The abomination of the monster of Ravenna was supposed to show that God was against the current church, a theme carried on with other monstrous propaganda.

This shows a lack of logical influence from the Scientific Revolution, as it makes little genetic sense for two humans to have a child with a dragon leg. Or an eye on its knee. Or wings.

Background

What was the connection between the propaganda of the German reformation (1517) as well as the Counter-Reformation (1545) and the culture of that time? It showed a strong sense of morality, religious confusion (which led to the 30 Year’s War) and a use of pictures over words.

The Protestant Reformation was started when the German monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of a church. Luther believed that the church’s saints, rituals, relics, priests, holy sites, doctrines, especially indulgences, and many other ornaments, were unnecessary. He believed that all a person needed for salvation was sola fide (faith alone) and sola scriptura (word alone, meaning the Bible).

The invention of the printing press in the 1450s by Johannes Gutenberg assisted greatly in the spread of Luther’s protest, as it was easy to mass produce his book, Against the Papacy Founded by the Devil and the many propaganda pictures that he used.

The pope wasn’t happy with the slander that Luther was saying. In the Council of Trent in 1545, the Counter-Reformation was born. It resulted in the creation of new branches of Catholicism, like the Jesuits and Calvinism, as well banned books, more art in churches, regular goings to church on Sundays, and a bigger crackdown on the Protestant reformation.