Martin Luther's Reformation in Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The setting of Victor Hugo's novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the fifteenth century, the transitional period between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance/Reformation era. This era ushers in the period known as the modern age and historical events are chronicled through Hugo's novel. Hugo sets The Hunchback of Notre Dame at the decline of feudalism and the infancy of absolutism through Louis XI (Spider King), the rise of a urban middle class and the beginnings of commerce as it is known today. Primarily this novel satirizes the Catholic Church's absolute power -- its abuses, and its excesses. Students will discover how Hugo's satire operates to show the Catholic Church's abuse of power during the late Middle Ages and the early Reformation in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

A lesson plan for grades 9–10 English Language Arts and Social Studies

By Nancy Webber

Learn more

• The Middle Ages: Religion Use this site for more information on how the church affected the life of people in the Middle Ages. This site also contains a photograph of Notre Dame Cathedral.

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Related topics

• Learn more about 95 Theses, Catholic Church, Catholicism, Christianity, Europe, Martin Luther, Reformation, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo, history, language arts, persuasion, religion, social studies, and world history.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• create a chart, which compares Martin Luther’s “95 Theses” to satirical elements of the medieval church in Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
• collect print evidence from contemporary news articles which demonstrates at least one way in which modern society reflects the concerns of both Hugo and Luther.
• write a personal response about contemporary abuse of power in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1-2 weeks

Pre-activities

• Class reading of Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• Study of the Middle Ages
• Study of Martin Luther and the Reformation

Activities

Lesson #1

1. The primary activity of this lesson is for students to research from two primary sources:
• Martin Luther’s “Justification of Faith” belief as stated in his postings of The 95 Theses.
• Martin Luther’s response to Pope Leo X at the Diet of Worms in 1521.

From these primary sources, students will list all the elements of theology that Martin Luther found wrong with the Catholic Church. Access to these primary sources is easy to find. Most resource books of world history reading contain at least one of these sources.

Web sites where these documents can be found are:

• Selected Works of Martin Luther 1483 - 1546
• General Survey of Luther’s Writings: The 95 Theses
• Martin Luther’s Eight Statements On Justifying Faith
2. Students must be familiar with Martin Luther’s “Justification of Faith” - his belief that salvation is personal and not linked to the rituals of the Catholic Church. The basis of Luther’s beliefs can be found in The Bible, in Romans, Chapter 10.
3. Working in groups with these primary source documents and information found in their world history text, have students list Luther’s criticisms of the Catholic Church. Students will discover that Luther cited the following Catholic practices as corrupt and abusive:
• Indulgences
• Sacrament of Penance
• The existence of purgatory
• The authority of the Pope
• The authority of Priests
• Source of salvation
• Sacraments of the Catholic Church
• Wealth of the Catholic Church
• Latin service
• Latin Bibles
• Abusive practices of the church (such as the Inquisition and practices of torture)
• Governing power of the church
• Church interpretation of scripture
4. Use the Collaboration Rubric to assess group work.

Lesson #2

See attachment: Critic

Lesson #3

1. Students will collect and bring to class recent newspapers and reliable periodicals or magazines (”Time” and “Newsweek”). Students will find examples of news articles that demonstrate abuse of power in local, national, or international news. Using the list of Luther’s complaints, students will identify current event articles that demonstrate contemporary misuse of power. These articles must illustrate a “modern version” of one or more of Luther’s complaints.
2. For example: Since paying indulgences involved the levying of payment to the church to secure forgiveness for a sin and therefore secure a seat in heaven, a modern day version would be articles that focus on kickbacks, misuse of political campaign contributions, or sexual harassment.
3. Conclude research findings by conducting a seminar to discuss connections students have made between modern day corruption and those chronicled by Hugo and Luther.

Lesson #4

Writing Assignment

1. Read examples of effective editorials and through class discussion create a class list of what makes persuasive writing effective. Students then cross-reference this list against the rubric and discuss the differences. The teacher should facilitate coming to consensus on a class-designed rubric.
2. Using your research findings about a modern day example of misuse of power, write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper in which you:
• outline the details of the issue
• make a stance on the issue
• offer a solution or conclusion to the problem
3. An optional extension of this activity would be to compare the Italian humanist Petrarch’s criticism of the Catholic Church 200 years earlier than Luther. Many of Luther’s criticisms mirror those of Petrarch. Petrarch reproaches the excess wealth of the church and its clergy. His “Papal Court at Avignon” can be found in Readings in World History, page 106 or online. Students should compare his observations with the imagery found in Victor Hugo’s novel.

Assessment

Lesson #1

Collaboration Rubric

Lesson #2

see attachment chart

Lesson #3

Holistic assessment on a scale of 1 to 4:

4 = insightful and relevant comments contributed during seminar
3 = meaningful and relevant comments contributed during seminar
2 = contributions facilitated to the overall seminar, but some comments may have been limited in relevance
1 = limited comments made and/or limited relevance of comments to the overall spirit of the seminar

Lesson #4

Class designed rubric cross referenced with the online rubric.

Supplemental information

Comments

For teachers wanting a deeper in-depth study of this time period, we offer the following optional/supplemental activities:

1. A study of gothic vs. Romanesque architecture using Notre Dame as the focal point of the study.
2. A study of the importance of the printing press to the Reformation. Read the passages in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Book V, Chapter 2, This Will Kill That) that refers to the printing press. Have students use their text to research the connection of the printing press to the Reformation. Finally, from A&E series of the 100 most influential people of the millennium, show students the #1 person whose invention has most influenced history - Gutenberg and his printing press. Note: the Charles Laughton film version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) directed by William Dieterle features the issues centered around the printing press, especially in the opening scene of the film.
3. What influence did other reformers have before Martin Luther? Have students create a chart showing the country, criticism and results of the following reformers: John Wycliff, John Huss and Erasmus. Have students define and explain characters of reform (ie: Gringoire, and members of the Court of Miracles)
4. The Catholic Church was the center of life of every person in the Middle Ages. The church cared for the sick, fed the poor, and kept records of birth, death and marriage. Their libraries were the centers of learning and many universities today emerged from the Middle Ages. Additionally, their courts of law dictated beliefs and behavior. Compare the historic role of the church with the roles found in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
5. The Catholic Church’s hierarchy consisted of many layers: pope, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, nuns and monks. Identify this hierarchy in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
6. The Catholic Church’s response to the Reformation was the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Identify Ignatiius Loyola and his Society of Jesus (Jesuits). What was their response to Martin Luther? How would Loyola respond if he encountered Claude Frollo in Paris?
7. Compare and contrast Martin Luther’s stand against Pope Leo X at the Diet of Worms to the stand Quasimodo and Gringoire and Esmeralda took against Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
8. The king of France was Louis XI in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Historically, he was known as the “Spider King.” Have students research the political reasons for this name. Under feudalism, the lords of the estates held all power, but as feudalism declined, Louis brought the nobles under his control. This “Spider King” can be seen as the first absolute monarch. Students can then compare the monarchy of Louis XI to the monarch described in Machiavelli’s The Prince. Machiavelli is the first handbook for politicians and teaches that a leader can and must do anything to remain in power. Does the “Spider King” fit this new politician that Machiavelli describes during the Italian Renaissance?

   Machiavelli’s The Prince. We suggest you access chapters 14, 17 and 18.