Essential Question
Why did Western Christianity divide in the sixteenth century, and what did that division mean for the Church and the world?
This week the student studies the fracturing of Western Christianity: Luther's 95 Theses (1517), the real causes (clerical abuses, the printing press, German politics), the spread of reform through Calvin, Zwingli, and Henry VIII, and the resulting wars of religion. The aim is a fair, factual, charitable account that explains what Protestants believed and why, while remaining grounded in the Catholic faith. The week also opens the Lenten season and introduces a balanced argumentative essay.
Liturgical note: Lent likely begins this week (Ash Wednesday). Lent is the Church's forty-day season of repentance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in preparation for Easter. The week's themes of conscience, reform, and the wounds of a divided Church fit the penitential mood; pray for Christian unity (John 17:21).
Threads at a Glance
Luther and the 95 Theses (1517); causes (abuses, printing, politics); Calvin and Zwingli; the English break under Henry VIII; the wars of religion and the fracturing of Christendom
A House Divided: The Road to Disunion
Martin Luther (a fair, factual treatment)
Religious Europe after the Reformation; draw the Catholic/Protestant divide around 1600
The Reformation and art — northern iconoclasm vs. Catholic imagery; Albrecht Durer; Lucas Cranach the Elder
The Lutheran chorale and the congregational hymn; how the Reformation reshaped Western music
Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher (martyrs of conscience under Henry VIII)
Integrity (a rightly formed conscience — 'the King's good servant, but God's first')
YOUCAT — the 6th and 9th Commandments: love, chastity, and purity of heart (age-appropriate)
Common usage errors I — homophones and confusables (their/there/they're, etc.)
Persuasive/argument — a balanced essay on a contested historical question
Weekly Writing Assignment
Choose ONE contested question from the Reformation, for example: 'Was the Reformation primarily about religious truth or about politics and money?' or 'Could the division of Christendom have been avoided?' Write a balanced essay that (1) states your claim, (2) fairly explains the strongest case on the OTHER side, (3) gives your reasons with evidence, and (4) answers the opposing view charitably.
The Week
Close the Week
Add each date to your running timeline notebook — one color for World History, another for US History.
Unit Reading · Renaissance, Exploration & Reformation
by E. L. Konigsburg
A witty, surprising novel that imagines the friendship between Leonardo da Vinci, his mischievous servant boy Salai, and the duchess Beatrice — and the mystery behind the Mona Lisa's smile.
by Robert Bolt
The acclaimed play about St. Thomas More, who would not betray his conscience even when the king demanded it — and paid with his life. A gripping portrait of integrity in the storm of the Reformation.
by Louis de Wohl
A sweeping novel of St. Francis Xavier, the friend of St. Ignatius who carried the Gospel across the seas to India and Japan during the Catholic Reformation. Adventure and holiness on a global stage.
by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's most famous play: two teenagers from feuding families fall headlong in love, with tragic results. The classic introduction to Shakespeare for ninth graders, full of dazzling language about love, family, and rash choices. (Mature themes — young love and the lovers' suicides — make for rich discussion with a parent.)
by Miguel de Cervantes
An old gentleman reads so many tales of chivalry that he sets off to be a knight himself — tilting at windmills with his loyal squire Sancho Panza. The first modern novel: hilarious, tender, and wise. Best met in a good abridgment at this age. On the Cardinal Newman Society reading list.
by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño
The true-life story of Juan de Pareja, an enslaved man in the household of the great Spanish painter Velázquez, who secretly learns to paint and eventually wins his freedom and friendship. A quiet, beautiful novel about art, dignity, and faith. Listed on the Cardinal Newman Society reading list.