Introduction of the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire began in earnest in 1299 in the river valley of Sakarya, upon the death of Ertugrul.  Osman, his beloved politically inclined son established the Ottoman Empire by creating a confederation of the Turkish tribes connected by their shared Islamic faith and urgent passion to spread their religious beliefs. He declared himself the first Sultan.  He was the beginning of the driving force that lasted for six centuries.  During their reign of dominance, they began with the severely weakened Sultanate of Selijuq run by Persians of Anatolia and equated with the downfall of the Byzantine Empire.  The Ottoman Empire was so powerfully organized in its attacks and methodology of control that it singlehandedly changed the power of a singular Christian European society to an Islamic direction.  Charles Darwin so aptly stated,” Remember what risks the nations of Europe ran, not so many centuries ago of being overwhelmed by the Turks.”

The Ottoman Empire was one of the most populous and longest empires known in our history.  It was purely encouraged by Islam and Islamic institutions. At the height of its power, it contained 29 provinces and controlled territory in Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa.

The Ottoman Empire’s jurisdiction permitted the unification of culturally and religiously different groups.  Their system was broken into three court categories; Muslims, non Muslims with appointed Christians and Jewish, and the trade court.  They also accepted the religious law over their peoples, entailing Judaism, Sharia, and Canon which was the Christian law.  All of this was regulated by the administrative Kanun law system by the Turks.  Of course, the Ottoman laws favored Muslims.  Christians and Jews were not treated the same and considered beneath them.  They had the right to worship but also had to pay higher taxes than Muslims.  One of the greatest horrific atrocities was the mass murder in the hundreds of thousands of Christian Armenians during the decline of the Ottoman Empire.  Elliot Engel quotes, “On the eve of World War I, an estimated two million Armenians lived in the Ottoman Empire. Well over one million were deported and hundreds of thousands simply killed.”

Lutheranism 2

Why Did Lutheranism Appeal to the Princes?

Martin Luther was a Saxon monk who had very set ideas against the Papacy.  Quite simply, he rejected the authority of the pope and insisted the Bible was the sole truth to follow.  He was a charismatic, powerful speaker who was passionate in his beliefs, and authored his publications of his sermons primarily to the universities and then the masses.  His viewpoint realistically demonstrated the controlling and corrupt power of the Catholic Church such as selling indulgences for profit and no serious repentance as one example.  His appeal was so strong, it didn’t take much for the people to agree there was mass corruption in the Church and they were fed up with the excessive fees thrust upon them.  To reach as many people as he could with his message, he wrote his pamphlets and sermons in the local German dialect so that even the simplest could understand.  He also put great emphasis on the fact the Church’s motivation towards the Germans was to exploit and use them rather than save them.  Of course, the German princes realized at once by following Lutheranism they could have absolute power over their own people and territories.

Long before Martin Luther came around, the princes had been trying to establish independence from the Church and have more power in their favor.  They had already lost quite a bit of respect for the authority of the Papacy due to a series of weak popes and didn’t want to continue paying taxes to them. When Lutheranism came about, it was hugely appealing to the Germans because he preached the Spanish and French controlled the Catholic Church and its corruption, leaving the Germans out of any decision making and forced to pay taxes to them.  However, by following his theory on religion, they had a powerful voice. When the princes converted to Lutheranism, they now had more authority over their own territories giving them more liberties and power over their civilians.

The converted Lutheran princes no longer had to send revenue as a tribute to Rome, therefore they didn’t have to collect Church fees from their citizens. This increased the wealth of their kingdoms as they could conserve the money for better usage instead of sending it for taxes to Rome. Furthermore, Lutheranism allowed the princes to confiscate monasteries which automatically increased their power, wealth, and land.  This was due to the huge amounts of money saved that were being spent on these communities.

From a religious point of view, the princes devoutly believed Martin Luther’s educated theory that a great number of the Catholic Church’s beliefs were incorrect.  One example, Luther believed God’s grace would be won by faith; while the Church felt it could only be won by good work.  In the 59 Theses, he also wrote, “Jesus is the only true head of the Church, not the pope.” The other significant point was that ‘indulgences are sinful and do not buy the way into heaven but simply provide revenue for the Church.’  These points had such a profound impact on people that many Catholics who had blindly believed their entire lives the teachings of the Church; converted to Lutheranism in an effort to save their souls and continue their journey to heaven.  The princes and the masses genuinely believed Lutheranism was the only way to save their souls.

The converted Lutheran princes empowered their political freedom.  They could now appoint their own ministers – thus ending the power struggles with the local bishops.  As fighting for authority ended, this gave the princes more power.

During the 1525 Peasant uprising, Luther was mortified.  He believed in the doctrine of two governments; our spiritual souls managed by the Holy Spirit under Christ, and the laws of worldly government that pertain to our life on earth.  In this case, the princes were the worldly government. Martin Luther supported the princes by quoting the Bible’s New Testament stating “God expects Christians to obey their princes obsolete.”  In their uprising against the princes, Luther accused them of three serious charges; they violated their oath of loyalty to their rulers, they robbed, destroyed, and murdered like animals, and were subject to death in this life and the hereafter, and finally they committed their crimes using Christ’s name; thereby blatantly defaming God.  He was outraged and felt the devil had taken hold of them.  From the peasants’ perspective, using violence against the aristocracy was their way of getting noticed in their efforts for a fairer share of the kingdoms profits.  They were sick and tired of the constant struggle of poverty.

In conclusion, Martin Luther had no idea how widespread his puritan philosophy would spread.  Even the Roman Catholic Church didn’t take his sermons seriously until it was too late.  By the time they decided to act upon it, his Lutheranism begun in Germany had spread to other countries as well.  The once powerful Church was steeped in corruption by its administration.  In the end, people had a choice of remaining a Catholic or relocating to an area where they practiced being a Lutheran or Protestant.  People were more independent of their knowledge of the Bible and came to their own conclusions in their translations of the Holy Book.  The money that used to go to the Church, the Lutherans could now use that money for their own territories.