It began as an argument over theology. It turned into a revolution that would touch every aspect our lives, from the bedroom to the boardroom.
The birth of Protestantism in the 16th century marked the beginning of a whole new form of Christianity. And it unleashed a wave of social, cultural, political and economic change that transformed the Western world.
The Protestant Revolution, a documentary series on VisionTV, reveals the far-reaching consequences of this religious upheaval.
The Protestant Revolution was produced by Glasgow-based IWC Media Limited and Toronto-based Cream Productions Inc. for BBC4 and VisionTV. The series is written and presented by historian, journalist and broadcaster Tristram Hunt.
By the early 1500s, the Catholic Church was at the height of its power. But many in Europe had grown hostile to the authority of the Papacy and sought to reform Catholicism. Among them: Martin Luther, an obscure German monk.
Passionate and stubborn, Luther publicly challenged many of the doctrines and practices of the Church, not least the sale of “afterlife insurance” in the form of letters of indulgence. When he nailed his famous Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church in 1517, Luther sparked a movement whose impact would exceed his wildest expectations.
The Protestant Reformation was founded on a revolutionary egalitarian belief that every individual has a direct relationship with God, and the right to choose whether to obey God’s will or resist authority. Protestantism liberated God from the grip of the Church and brought the holy into the everyday world: to the home and workplace, the market and the city street.
In the decades after Martin Luther made his stand, religious dissent triggered political revolution. Protestantism unleashed a continuing cycle of rebellion and reaction that gripped Europe and would eventually cross the Atlantic Ocean, giving rise to the American Revolution.
The Protestant challenge to authority would make itself felt in many other spheres as well. Protestantism exalted marriage and family life, and changed attitudes toward sexuality. It fostered a revolution in art, led to the birth of the modern novel, and ushered in a new scientific age. It helped to launch the industrial revolution, and shaped modern ideas about work and business. We live today in the world that Protestantism made.
The Protestant Revolution was filmed on location in the UK, Europe, the U.S. and Canada.
Alan Clements of IWC Media and David W. Brady of Cream Productions are the Executive Producers. Joseph Maxwell and Ashley Gething from IWC and Christopher Rowley from Cream are the directors. Alberta Nokes is the Executive Producer for VisionTV.
About Tristram Hunt
Dr Tristram Hunt lectures on Modern British History at Queen Mary College, University of London. He was formerly an associate fellow at the Centre for History and Economics, King’s College, Cambridge. He read history at Trinity College, Cambridge and the University of Chicago.
His published works include Building Jerusalem: The Rise and Fall of the Victorian City.
Dr. Hunt wrote and presented a series on the English Civil War for Open University/BBC Two, and made the case for Isaac Newton in the landmark BBC series Great Britons. He also appeared with Prunella Scales in Queen Victoria – The World's Most Photographed on BBC Two.
Part One: The Politics of Belief
Monday, Oct. 27, 10 pm ET/7 pm PT
The history of the Protestant Revolution is one of conflict, challenge and rebellion. In the first episode of this four-part series, historian Tristram Hunt explains how a breakaway form of Christianity came to shape the politics of the modern world. From Europe’s peasant revolt of the 16th century to the English Civil War, Protestantism unleashed a cycle of political revolution and counter-revolution. The aftershocks of the Reformation continue to this day, giving rise to a powerful American Evangelical movement and helping to shape the foreign policy of U.S. President George W. Bush.
Part Two: The Godly Family
Monday, Nov. 3, 10 pm ET/7 pm PT
The Protestant Revolution transformed our ideas about love and sex, home life, and the relationship between men and women. In the second episode of this four-part series, historian Tristram Hunt reveals how Protestantism replaced the Catholic veneration of celibacy with a devotion to family life. (The once-austere Martin Luther himself became, in later life, “a jolly family man.”) The Reformation fostered a new understanding of sex as a natural desire, and of marriage as a spiritual and emotional meeting of minds. It also set the stage for the women’s liberation and gay rights movements, which in turn sparked today’s Christian Evangelical campaign to restore traditional “family values.”
Part Three: A Reformation of the Mind
Monday, Nov. 10, 10 pm ET/7 pm PT
The legacy of Protestantism has profoundly influenced our cultural life. In the third episode of this four-part series, historian Tristram Hunt explains how a religious reformation five centuries ago has shaped Western literature, art and science. In 16th century Britain, radical Protestants stripped artworks from churches and monasteries – an act of calculated desecration worthy of the Taliban. But Protestantism’s emphasis on the individual and its commitment to interrogating the world around us led also to a revolution in the visual arts, as painters and sculptors sought inspiration in everyday existence, and was integral to the birth of the novel as a literary form. This same spirit of inquiry informed scientific explorers, too, from Isaac Newton to Charles Darwin. The inevitable result, however, was the spread of secularism – a movement that many contemporary Christian Evangelicals fiercely resist.
Part Four: No Rest for the Wicked
Monday, Nov. 17, 10 pm ET/7 pm PT
Capitalism may appear to be a secular phenomenon, but its roots lie in Protestantism. In the final episode of this four-part series, historian Tristram Hunt explains how a religion of denial, abstinence and thrift created a culture of conspicuous consumption that has conquered the world. To those who followed the harsh, uncompromising faith of 16th century theologian John Calvin, worldly wealth was a rare sign of God’s favour. By the 17th century, the Puritans had emerged as an elite entrepreneurial class, and they brought their work ethic when they emigrated to America to build a Christian utopia. This exaltation of wealth creation had a dark side, finding culmination in the slave trade and the discontents of the industrial revolution. But Protestant ethics also gave rise to countervailing social reforms. And those same values underpin the 21st century opposition to capitalism’s relentless advance. Five centuries after Martin Luther, the opposing legacies of Protestantism continue to battle it out.
