Church Architecture - The Reformation and Its Influence On Church Architecture

The Reformation and Its Influence On Church Architecture

In the early 16th century Martin Luther and the Reformation brought a period of radical change to church design. Prior to the Reformation, translations of the Bible into local languages were rare and illicit; in the West the authorised version was in Latin, the language of worship, scholarship and the law courts. Comparatively few works of literature were written in the vernacular until the advent of printing in the fifteenth century. Nevertheless, the denial of the right to produce Bibles in local languages was an instrument of control both papal and by princes so that access to the word became a hallmark of Reformation thinking and preaching more prominent. Pulpits had always been a feature of Western churches (and had been much prized by the friars) but they now came to replace the altar as the primary focus. In England stone altars were removed (and trashed) and replaced by a single wood table. However, while the birth of Protestantism led to massive changes in the way that Christianity was practiced (and hence the design of churches), Catholic churches retained an emphasis on the symbolic.

According to Duncan Stroik, late in the Reformation period, there was a shift across all denominations to an emphasis on "full and active participation". In the Roman Catholic Church this was achieved through an emphasis on "emotional exuberance", which meant that even those members of the congregation who were unfamiliar with the ceremony could still be deeply moved. With the onset late 16th century, exquisite marble statues adorned the churches, and gold fittings combined with superb stained glass windows in a celebration of the faith. In contrast, in Protestant churches the altar and tabernacle were often removed, and a communion table and pulpit replaced the altar. Despite the apparent disparity, both denominations sought to provide for fundamentally the same purpose: to allow the worshippers to feel close to God.