Rebecca Welton 11/15/11

Reformation Europe Seminar Paper

The Reformation that spread across Europe from the 1400s into the 1600s changed many things
about the Christian religion as it was previously known. Reformation thinkers like Martin Luther and
John Calvin grew tired of the ideas that the Catholic Church advocated and grew to detest the Church
itself. Out of these discrepancies, Protestantism was formed, and in some ways, the Catholic Church was
also changed. Along with the changes to Christianity that took place, there were changes in literature
and poetry, with some authors continuing to write from a Catholic perspective, others chosing a
Protestant perspective, and still others writing from their own unique perspective.
For the time before the Reformation, during the Middle Ages, perhaps the greatest literary work
concerning religion was Dante Alighieris Divine Comedy. Detailing a Medieval version of hell in which
reside horrible monsters and demons, along with sinners of days gone by, as well as a Purgatory and
Paradise, Dante created the imagery that would become synonymous with original Catholic beliefs,
despite the fact that at times his work contradicted them. In order to look at how the Reformation
possibly could have altered religious literature, a similar piece must be compared with The Divine
Comedy. John Milton, a staunch Protestant, also wrote a religious-themed epic poem entitled Paradise
Lost, which, although it has a different storyline, can be compared with Dantes work, specifically in his
characterizations and the structure of his worlds. Also, his work seemed to support and refute common
beliefs at the same time, similar to Dantes. What about Miltons Protestant beliefs make his work
different than Dantes? How did the Reformation change how biblical figures are presented in
literature? How did the representation of Hell change?
Alice Turner, author of A History of Hell, seems to think that Dantes work can only be read now
from an entertainment perspective, since it is difficult for most ordinary readers to understand many of
his statements about Florentine politics during his lifetime.
1
She also, interestingly, credits Dante with
inadvertently developing the idea of a downward spiral, the structure of hell, now used in modern
language to refer to someone having increasingly poor luck.
2

In order to understand why the Divine Comedy contains the descriptions that it does, one must
first understand the context of religion during the middle ages, when Dante wrote the poem. Though
there are few records remaining of medieval sermons themselves, there are visuals, plays, and poems
that allow us to look into the minds of the preachers as well as the common folk and aristocracy. It is
through these that we can understand where Dante gained some of his inspiration.
Many representations of biblical figures remained unchanged during the Middle Ages; however,
one in particular went through many different changes in appearance until he became the three-headed
weeping beast depicted in the Divine Comedy: Lucifer. Originally in medieval art, Lucifer was depicted as
looking as handsome as any angel, although, due to his fall from heaven, was shown falling upside down
from the heavens.
3
However, this depiction slowly changed into something more beastly in depictions of
him in hell. He was shown as a beast with horns and clawed feet and vicious fangs that gnawed at the
souls of the tormented, but still he appeared vaguely human-like.
4
By the time that Dante would be
looking for inspiration for the Divine Comedy, depictions of Lucifer had essentially become the monster
depicted in the poem. The fallen angel became combined with the ruler of hell to form a new concept of
Satan, now more beast than man, complete with the signature multiple heads and immobile frozen
body seen in Dantes work as described in the passage below.
5

Upon his head, three faces: one in front of hue vermillion, the
other two with his midway each shoulder joind and at the crest; Under

1
Alice Turner The History of Hell, (New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1993), 133.
2
Ibid., 144.
3
Ibid., image plate 3.
4
Ibid., image plate 4.
5
Ibid. image plate 14.
each shot forth two mighty wingsAt six eyes he wept: the tears adown
three chins distilld with bloody foam. At every mouth his teeth a sinner
champd.
6

Aside from a particularly memorable hell with a terrifying ruler, Dantes work featured
Purgatory, which was first recognized with a papal letter written in 1253.
7
Purgatory was described as a
temporary punishment used to cleanse good souls that had committed minor incursions during their
lives, but also served to explain supernatural phenomena, especially ghosts that people strongly
believed in during the medieval period.
8
It was widely believed at one point that most average people
would go to Purgatory, for direct access to heaven was reserved for martyrs and saints. The rise in the
popularity of Purgatory was directly related to the rise in popularity as Mary as an intercessor between a
human soul and Jesus, who serves as a judge.
9
Mary would persuade her son to place a soul in Purgatory
instead of Hell, as well as aid a soul in ascending from Purgatory to Heaven. Due to Purgatorys
importance during the late Middle Ages, it takes up a third of Dantes work, and oddly enough
resembles the world of the living.
Further rounding out the Divine Comedy is the idea of hell providing specific punishments for all
sinners who enter based on the type of sin that they committed, as opposed to the commonly held idea
that sinners are burned in fire. In fact, some basic sins are broken into multiple specific parts with their
own punishments. A good example is the Maleboge, where those who committed fraud are punished
according to the exact type of fraud they committed, with false prophets punished separately from
flatterers. Fire was traditionally used as a punishment, because preachers viewed it as healing for the
soul, since fire can be used to cauterize wounds in the world of the living.
10
However, present in both
the idea of a fiery hell, as well as with Dantes hell, is the theme of repetition. In the classic medieval

6
Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy, 141.
7
Alice Turner The History of Hell., 127.
8
Ibid., 128.
9
Ibid., 129.
10
John Casey, After Lives: A Guide to Heaven, Hell and Purgatory (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 162.
version of hell, sinners are repeatedly burned, which was seen as a proper punishment for the evil deeds
they had committed in life.
11
In Dantes hell, sinners must essentially eternally act out their sin in a
macabre sort of play. For example, the violent sinners fight continuously in a river of boiling blood, with
the level of the blood increasing with the level of their sin.
12
The punishment grotesquely fits the crime,
as not only do these souls come face to face with the amount of blood they spilled in life, but their
continuous fighting through it mirrors their continuous battles during their lifetime. In a sense, the
repeated action is done to convince the soul of its evil deeds and make it realize what it had done in life.
Interestingly enough, unlike the classic Catholic hell, Dantes hell punishes traitors most severely
of all. Encased in ice and watched over by Lucifer, who is also encased up to his waist in his own frozen
tears of remorse for his rebellion, these men and women remain for eternity, contemplating the deeds
they committed in life. However, in the classic version of hell, it is heretics that are punished most
severely, for their fires burn hotter, brighter, and longer than others, constantly surrounding them.
13

Perhaps it was Dantes interest in the dramas of history that led him to this conclusion, or perhaps it was
because Lucifer himself was a traitor, and, as he was since convoluted with Satan, it was only proper to
make treachery the worst sin of all. Perhaps it had to do with the political unrest during Dantes life in
Florence, and his frustration over it. Still, as a reference to traditional Catholicism, heretics are still
burned, but are only located in the sixth circle of Hell, above the circle of Violence, the Maleboge where
the fraudulent reside, and far above Lake Cocytus where the traitors freeze.
Dantes Divine Comedy itself is a long and detailed poem split into three parts: the Inferno,
Purgatorio, and Paradiso, each representing a different location of the Catholic afterlife. The poet
travels through each of these locations, exploring them in great detail. Throughout his journey, he is

11
Ibid.
12
Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy, 52.
13
Casey, After Lives, 164.
assisted by many guides including Roman poet Virgil and Beatrice, a young girl that he fell for who died
at a young age.
Along the way he encounters several famous historical and mythological figures that are located
in each of the three afterlives. Despite some of these figures having very dark pasts, or being deeply
dissimilar to the poet, he still empathizes with them, particularly the tragic souls of the Inferno.
14
For
example, he compares doomed lovers Francesca and Paolo, who are continuously blown away from one
another by the strong winds of the cyclones in the second circle, to turtle doves struggling to find their
way back to their nest.
15
In fact, Francescas tragic story so moves the poet that he faints to the ground
with sorrow. His pity mirrors the pity that Mary takes on souls when she serves as their intercessor,
however unlike the Holy Mother, Dante is powerless and cannot aid these tortured spirits. Also
interesting is the general willingness of the monsters and inhabitants of hell to share their stories with
the poet, as well as aid him on his journey. This may be because the souls feel comfortable lamenting to
him, especially those that knew the poet in life.
Dantes Purgatory, in fact, is a composition of many existing ideas about Purgatory along with
some of his own original ideas. For instance, rather than being located near hell as in traditional Catholic
beliefs, Dantes Purgatory is at the top of a very tall mountain that souls will climb in order to ascend
into heaven.
16
Following in the tradition of Thomas Aquinas, the ill deeds committed by souls in
Purgatory are countered by their opposite actions or behaviors.
17
For example, wrath is countered with
gentleness, and gluttony is healed by fasting. The poet himself is healed of his sins in Purgatory,
particularly of his sin of pride; the sin that Dante admits is his greatest.
18
At the top of the mountain of
Purgatory an earthly sort of paradise exists where souls await to enter Heaven, or reside happily as they

14
Ibid., 150.
15
Dante, 23.
16
Ibid., 145.
17
Casey, 237.
18
Dante, 183.
did once on earth. It is a beautiful place with many animals, plants, waterfalls, and kind-hearted
occupants. This is very different from the traditional Catholic idea of Purgatory, where souls are
cleansed of their sins by fire. In fact, there is only one area in Purgatory where fire is employed; to
combat the sin of lust. The earthly paradise is where Dante meets Beatrice again, as she descends from
heaven to scold him for his sins. Eventually, with the help of other beings residing in this earthly
paradise, she cleanses Dante of all his sins so that he may enter Heaven with her and view its
otherworldly splendor.
In stark contrast to Dantes vivid descriptions in Purgatorio and Inferno, his Paradiso, or Heaven
seems rather dull and unexciting as the landscape is very simple. It consists of a series of floating orbs,
representations of the planets, with each progressing one receiving more holy light.
19
Interesting about
the orbs is that they mirror Dantes concept of the universe, with the earth being the furthest away from
Gods holy light eventually progressing through the planet-like orbs until one reaches the empyrean
where God resides.
20
Although the souls in each of the orbs are content, they wish to become closer to
the holy light of God, and also long to be reunited with their body during the Resurrection, for a soul
without a body is only half complete.
21
In each orb however, the souls whirl about in a form of dance,
an expression of the joy that they feel through Gods love and bestowment of knowledge and, in that
respect, an expression of their contentment.
22
In tune once again with the classic idea of Heaven, the
souls closest to God are more radiant than others, and, as Beatrice approaches her sphere, she too
glows more brightly. The idea of Gods power represented as light is a very old traditional idea passed
down in Christianity since its beginning.
23


19
Ibid., 285.
20
Casey, 282.
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid., 284.
23
Ibid., 283.
Overall, Dantes Divine Comedy contains many aspects of classical Catholic Christianity, as well
as some original creative ideas from the poet himself. His model of the three afterlives is deeply inspired
by tradition, with the addition of Purgatory actually coming into play as he was writing his epic. Another
current idea from the middle ages was a monstrous Lucifer, who was combined with Satan to reside in
the final circle of Dantes hell, both a ruler and a prisoner. However, along with traditional ideas, Dante
came up with a few on his own. The Inferno has levels pertaining to specific sins with very specific
punishments for each sin, as opposed to being an intense fire where people burn for eternity. Instead of
being a fiery pit where souls are cleansed before ascending to Heaven, Purgatory in fact employs the
opposite of a sin to heal the soul, and contains an earthly paradise. Heaven is very unique, being based
on Dantes concept of how the universe is structured, with beings residing in planetary spheres that
revolve around Gods light. By combining his own original ideas and experiences with classic tradition,
Dante created an epic that would become synonymous with medieval Christianity.
Over four hundred years later, another writer chose to come up with a religiously themed poem
in several parts. However, this poem was very different from the Divine Comedy. Writing towards the
end of the Reformation, John Miltons work is strongly influenced not only by the ideas brought forth
during the conflict, but also by the conflict between Catholicism, Calvinism, Lutheranism, Anglicanism,
and many other religions that were developed between the 1500s and late 1600s.
24
Milton himself was
an Anglican with leanings toward Puritanism, although some critics went so far to refer to him as the
Puritan poet.
25
However, upon closer examination of his major work Paradise Lost, it is clear that
Milton may be speaking out against his own beliefs, likely beginning his eventual transition to a more
independent form of thought, neither Anglican nor Calvinist in nature.
26


24
Turner, History of Hell, 178.
25
Ibid.
26
Ibid, 179.
In terms of research on Paradise Lost and how the Reformation affects it, there are some
discrepancies. Alice Turner mentions that, as critics did during the time Milton was writing, some
historians are tempted to refer to Milton as Puritan or even Calvinist in his thinking and writing style.
She disagrees with this and states, the entire concern of Paradise Lost is to confute predestination
and demonstrate the freedom of will.
27
She then says that it is Miltons intention to make a religious
interpretation of his work difficult to undertake by concealing his own opinion whilst writing, as many
other popular writers began to do during the Reformation.
28

Before an analysis of Paradise Lost can be conducted, the state of the Church of England during
the Reformation must be studied in order to provide a background for the poem. Before Milton was
born, Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne. Rising to power after the sudden death of her sister Mary in
1558, one of Elizabeths first actions was to bring the Church of England under her command.
29
In order
to keep religious and government officers in check, Elizabeth had them swearing an oath of loyalty to
her as not only ruler of the kingdom of England, but also as the leader of the Anglican Church.
30

Following this, Elizabeth issued two more acts. The Act of Uniformity would create a standard for
worship in England. The Book of Common Prayer, instituted by Edward VI, became the standard for all
churches under Elizabeths control, with every churchs events and services to be conducted as specified
in the book.
31
Should a priest choose not to follow this law, he would not only lose the profit from his
promotions, but would also face imprisonment for up to a year based on the number of violations and
severity of the offenses.
32
The Elizabethan Injunctions were a series of rules detailing not only proper
behavior for church officials, but also how worshippers are to act when in church, how often they should

27
Ibid., 178.
28
Ibid.
29
Dennis R. Janz, (Elizabeth Is Act of Supremacy 1559), A Reformation Reader (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008),
362.
30
Ibid., 363.
31
Dennis R. Janz, (Elizabeth Is Act of Uniformity 1559), A Reformation Reader (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008),
364.
32
Ibid., 365.
attend church, and penalties for failing to abide by the set of rules.
33
The final and most important
religious doctrine created by Elizabeth was the Thirty-nine Articles, which essentially broke up the
proper faith of the Anglican Church into Thirty-nine pieces, each one dealing with a specific topic such as
Article 3 which verifies that Christ did indeed descend into Hell, and Article 22, which refuted the
existence of Purgatory for it is not contained within the scripture and, as Elizabeth stated, is repugnant
to God.
34

With Queen Elizabeths death in 1603, James VI, the son of Mary Queen of Scots, rose to
power.
35
In spite of his Calvinist upbringing, the new king chose to continue many of Elizabeths policies
rather than continue to reform the church to a purer form.
36
Under Jamess rule, there was a break in
the Calvinist tradition with the development of the Arminians. Unlike Calvinists, who strongly believed in
predestination, the Arminians instead advocated the idea that anyone would be offered salvation by
God, essentially the complete opposite of predestination.
37
Many Calvinists including James himself
continued using the predestination model, however, Jamess son Charles I, would further the influence
of Arminian ideas.
38

Charles Is rule was a complete disaster. Not only did his religious regime anger many citizens,
but his increased spending of Parliaments money on war and his dismissals of their grievances lead to
Civil War.
39
Eventually due to all the chaos that he had caused, Charles was executed, and there was an
attempt to set up a theocracy similar to Calvins in Geneva.
40
This was unsuccessful, however, due to
Englands vast size and diversity. Charles II re-instated the rules of the church as they were under

33
Dennis R. Janz, (The Elizabethan Injunctions 1559), A Reformation Reader (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008),
365.
34
Ibid., 372.
35
Peter Wallace, The Long European Reformation, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 136.
36
Ibid.
37
Ibid., 137.
38
Ibid.
39
Ibid., 138.
40
Ibid., 187.
Elizabeth I, and created the Clarendon Codes between 1661 and 1665.
41
These codes required that those
that chose not to attend the kings church would have to register their places of worship. Many people,
including the Quakers, refused to abide by this policy and spent time in jail due to their commonly held
secret gatherings.
42

Milton, who was born in 1608, not only had the events taking place prior to his birth to influence
his work, but also the many political power struggles that took place during his life time, including a civil
war. He was strongly influenced by the turmoil it seems, because Milton actually seems to argue against
many Calvinist ideas, despite his upbringing. The most notable aspect of Calvinism that Milton
challenges is that of predestination. For example, Lucifer is not predestined to fail as in earlier Christian
models, but actually chose to rebel against God and become ruler of Hell.
43
Hell itself goes against this
model of predestination as well, for, although it is pre-designed, Lucifer and his rebel angels were not
doomed to occupy it and become transformed into demons by its influence.
44
In an even more unusual
case, unlike in the classic Catholic tradition where he is completely blind to the treachery of Satan in
serpent form, Adam as well is able to choose his own destiny.
45
He spends time contemplating the
consequences of his actions before his love for Eve persuades him to taste of the forbidden fruit. In fact,
the only character who remains bound by fate is Eve, although one could theorize that she did indeed
have the choice of whether to take the fruit or not, despite being under Satans spell of flattery and
deceit.
46

In spite of some scholars, as mentioned by Turner, referring to Milton as a Puritan Poet
perhaps the only action that is Puritan in nature is the rapid building up of hell by Lucifer, who is not

41
Ibid., 189.
42
Ibid.
43
John Milton, Paradise Lost, 5.
44
Ibid., 7.
45
Ibid., 153.
46
Turner, 178.
going to let his punishment of being thrown into Hell ruin his cheery spirits.
47
This is reflected in a
famous quote made by a defiant Lucifer, Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven.
48
This action
is somewhat of a twisted, hellish version of the actions of the actual Puritans, who sailed to the New
World in order to build a home for themselves where their ideas would be the law of the land. Also
similar to the Puritans is the Stygian council, a group of the senior devils who meet to discuss their plans
for hell, especially how it will interact with humans. This is eerily similar to how English settlements
would discuss how their people would interact with the Native American inhabitants.
49
The Demons also
engage in oddly humanlike activities such as games, music, and exploring their new surroundings. This
might be to make them more relatable to the readers, or to create a twisted parody of Puritanical
society.
50

Oddly enough, in hell the evil sinner does not live on in torment, but the locale instead simply
serves as a home for Lucifer, the Stygian court, and the fallen angels. This is a stark difference from
traditional depictions of hell; a place where the sinful go to be punished for their deeds. According to
Milton, the body and the soul are directly related, an idea that goes against Catholic conventions, in
which the body is sinful and the soul is pure.
51
Because of their direct relation, Milton suggests that an
individual, who sins in both their soul and body, would die in both soul and body.
52
This may possibly
related to the Protestant idea of soul sleep, in which the soul remains in the body until Judgment Day
when it will either enter heaven or hell.
After studying both Dante and Miltons work in depth, comparisons can be drawn and
differences can be observed. Firstly, there are distinct similarities between The Divine Comedy and

47
Ibid., 180.
48
Milton, 8.
49
Turner, 181.
50
Ibid.
51
Edward Fudge, The Fire that Consumes: A Biblical and Historical Study of the Doctrine of Final Punishment,
(Eugene: Cascade Books, 2011), 330.
52
Ibid.
Paradise Lost. Both deal with biblical subject matter and are structured in the form of a poem with many
distinct segments and locations. In fact, both Dantes hell and Miltons hell can be structured into maps,
with each having unique zones of their own. They even have areas that are exactly the same, including
the Phlegethon, Acheron, Styx, and Cocytus bodies of water, a vast desert, and a frozen inhospitable
wasteland. As in The Divine Comedy there are also nine gates of hell in Paradise Lost. In a sense, the
Garden of Eden and the top of Mount Purgatory can be compared as well, as both are lush earthly
paradises. Another similarity is the lack of predestination. People in the Inferno ended up there because
of their actions, not because God decided that they wouldnt be saved, and similarly in Paradise Lost,
just about every key figure seems to be in control of their own fate.
The differences between Paradise Lost and Dantes Inferno, aside from plot-related distinctions,
unsurprisingly reflect the changes made to religion during the Reformation. For example, Miltons
cosmic structure lacks a Purgatory, for Queen Elizabeth declared it to be blasphemous before he was
even born. Also, unlike Dantes hell where countless souls are being punished for their ill deeds, Milton
believed that the soul dies along with the body, and so hell is devoid of souls, at least until Judgment
Day. Instead of being represented as circles of hell where tortures take place, the seven deadly sins in
Miltons work make up the Stygian Council, with each demon representing a specific sin. Lucifer himself
represents pride.
Perhaps the character with the greatest distinction between the two works is Lucifer, who in
Dantes work is a sullen beast frozen in his own tears as he devours sinners, is a rebellious, optimistic
and vain demon in Paradise Lost, despite changing from his original beautiful angelic form, as Beelzebub
points out:
If thou beest he; but O how falln! How changed! From him,
who in the happy realms of light clothed with transcendent brightness
didst outshine myriads through bright.
53

In Paradise Lost, God is shown to be a judgmental deity rather than the loving light-emitting
deity seen in Dantes work. This is likely because most of Miltons poem is told from the perspective of
Lucifer, who sees God as an overbearing hierophant.
Historiographically speaking, I can say that I agree with Alice Turner, my main resource on most
issues, save for the idea that Dante is no longer read for his political statements. In fact, it is the political
and social statements, as well as glimpses into how Dante was feeling during the many upheavals in
Florence that make the poem interesting to me. After all, he took the time to include them, therefore
they must have been important. I also disagree with her statement that Milton is difficult to analyze
from a religious perspective, since that is the main purpose of my paper. I feel as if he was inspired by
his changing faith, and thus sought to challenge his old faith possibly in an attempt to distance himself
from it.
Due to the Reformation, Christianity branched off into many different forms, including several
forms of Protestantism that opposed traditional Catholic beliefs. Influenced by religious changes
occurring during their lifetimes, as well as their religious background, both Dante Alighieri and John
Milton wrote epic poems with fantastically descriptive imagery, both of which offered the authors own
ideas about religion along with traditional ideas. Indeed, the Reformation did change how hell,
purgatory, heaven, and biblical figures are depicted, as well as the lessons taught in the poems.
Regardless of their basis, opposition, or influence, however, both the Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost
stand as amazing historical examples of religiously-themed literature and are still enjoyed by a wide
audience to this very day that is captivated by not only the subject matter but the brilliant poetic
elements contained in both.

53
Milton, 6.