Forgotten Reformers: Martin Bucer

Most reformers are notable for their activities in just one city. For instance, Calvin in Geneva, or Zwingli in Zurich. But Martin Bucer -- aka Martin Butzer, or Martin Bucerus -- had a major impact on the reformation in two different countries: France and England.

When the Reformation started, Martin Bucer was attending theology school at the University of Heidelberg. In 1518, Martin Luther came to Heidelberg for the Heidelberg Disputation, an event in which Luther debated theology with local Catholic monks. Bucer was in the audience for the Heidelberg Disputation and found himself agreeing with Luther.

However, Bucer did not think that Luther's views were incompatible with Catholicism. While Luther and Karlstadt left the church and renounced their vows, Bucer remained a Catholic priest for a number of years.

However, Bucer finally left the Catholic Church in 1521, when religious authorities tried to prosecute the humanist scholar Johan Reuchlin, whom Bucer admired. Reuchlin is perhaps most notable as the teacher of another great reformer, Philipp Melancthon.

At this time, Bucer became associated with Franz von Sickingen, a German knight. Sickingen sympathized with the protestants and used his wealth and power to protect Bucer, Luther and other reformers. However, 1523, Franz von Sickingen became the leader of the Knight's Revolt, an unsuccessful rebellion of knights against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

With his primary benefactor wanted for treason, Bucer had to get out of Germany. So he went to Strasbourg, which was then a free imperial city.

The citizens of Strasbourg accepted Bucer and let him lead their reformation. Under his leadership, services were simplified, religious images were destroyed, and leading Catholics were expelled.

During this time, Bucer tried his hand at diplomacy and sought to unite the Lutheran churches of Germany with the Calvinist churches of Switzerland into a single Protestant church. The sticking point in these talks was always the doctrine of the Real Presence -- which Lutherans accepted and Calvinists rejected. All of these talks failed. As for Bucer's own views, they were closer to the Calvinists, despite his early influence by Luther.

In 1549, Bucer's time in Strasbourg ran out. Charles V conquered the city, imposed Catholicism, and expelled the Protestant reformers.

Bucer was given refuge in England, where radical Protestants were quickly gaining power under Edward VI. Archbishop Thomas Cramner invited Bucer to become a professor at Cambridge. While in England, Bucer influenced the Book of Common Prayer of 1552, the most radically Protestant prayer book in the history of the English church.

Bucer died in England, two years before Edward VI did. When Queen Mary restored Catholicism, she ordered Bucer's body to be dug up and burned.

War of the Quadruple Alliance

Everyone knows about the War of the Spanish Succession, the 1701-1714 conflict that ended with the Treaty of Utrecht, one of the most famous treaties of all time.

But did you know that there was a direct sequel? There was, and it's called the War of the Quadruple Alliance. It lasted from 1717 to 1720.

Under the Treaty of Utrecht, the House of Bourbon, under the new Spanish king Philip V, was allowed to keep Spain, but at the cost of giving up a lot of formerly territory, including wide swaths of Italy. The War of the Quadruple Alliance was an attempt by Philip V to regain this land.

The war was planned by Philip V's chief minister, Cardinal Alberoni. Under Alberoni's plan, Spain invaded and occupied Sardinia and Sicily.

Britain and France allied to oppose these invasions. Austria, whose interests in Italy were clearly threatened, did not immediately intervene due to being at war with the Ottoman Empire, but after ending that war in the 1718 Treaty of Passarowitz they joined the anti-Spanish alliance. The Netherlands also joined, forming the war's eponymous four-country coalition.

Cardinal Alberoni, knowing that four was greater than one, attempted to de-stabilize Spain's rivals using intrigue. Alberoni attempted to finance a new Jacobite rising in Britain (which had just recently been rocked by "The Fifteen", the appropriately-named Jacobite uprising of 1715), and Alberoni also supported the Cellamare Conspiracy, which attempted to assassinate the regent of France. (Louis XIV had died in 1715 and left a 5 year old son, so killing the regent would leave France without a capable ruler). Both of these failed.

Alberoni's military campaigns also failed. The allies destroyed the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape Passaro, defeated the Spanish on land at the Battle of Milazzo, and even temporarily captured the Spanish towns of Vigo (in Spain) and Pensacola (in Florida).

The war was ended by the Treaty of the Hague, which mostly returned Europe to the status quo ante. The most notable provision of the treaty was that Sicily was given to Austria. The House of Savoy, which had been given Sicily under the Treaty of Utrecht, was given Sardinia instead. From here, they would eventually unify Italy.

As for Cardinal Alberoni, he was expelled from Spain and banned from ever returning.