Causes Of The Protestant Reformation

In 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on a Church in Germany and began a change Europe. Many people second guessed how the Catholic Church was practicing religious teachings and this grew in Germany. After years of battling for religious reforms, a new religion was formed named Lutheranism. Between 1524 and 1526, German peasants began to revolt the Holy Roman Empire. The peasant revolts were caused by greed and wanting to get rid of serfdom and corrupt leaders in the Holy Roman Empire, and both positive and negative responses were seen. Most positive responses were seen by peasants while most negative responses were shown by some religious leaders and Holy Roman Empire leaders.

The reformation was a drastic event in the early modern period that launched Europe into a massive conflict of widespread violence, through both political and religious factors. The political scene had remained very much the same before the beginning of the reformation in 1517, with many philosophers sharing similar ideas on how to handle the issues of sovereignty and private property. Religion was a long debated factor before the reformation however was brought inadvertently to the forefront of most political works in the early years of the Protestant Reformation. This event completely changed the way in which philosophers constructed their political discourse as seen with More and Martin Luther, who although despite being placed on

Lorenz Fries stresses this anger in his report to the Archbishop of Wurzburg, as he describes the wealth’s inability to share their profits and income with the poor (Doc 8). The peasants believe they are entitled to a share of wealth because all are considered to be brothers in the public eye of God. Considering Fries’s report is secret, it most likely states his candid opinions (Pov3). Although economic oppression is a crucial factor in pushing the revolt, Protestant influence is responsible for the revolt as well.

The difference between a political and a church official was small to none, even when it came to the pope. They were both treated and viewed the same. Through the use of the commoners money, the self-glorification of the princes, bishops, and priests was seen (Document 1). And many people had no faith in the government at all but rather the Bible itself (Document 8). This political confusion led to riots and several deaths. In Document 6, Luthe says that the religious transformation must first occur within the peasants themselves, before any other course of action is acted upon. This shows his disapproval of the peasants’ course of action towards the princes. The Reformation also contributed to patriotic feelings throughout Germany. All in all the Reformation influences political aspects.

The Protestant Reformation was a major 16th century European movement aimed initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation in western and central Europe officially began in 1517 with Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. This was a debate over the Christian religion. At the time there was a difference in power. Roman Catholicism stands with the Pope as central and appointed by God. Luther’s arguments referred to a direct relationship with God and using the local vernacular to speak to the people. Luther’s arguments remove the absolute power from the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church in general. The revenue from the taxes paid to the Church would be reduced with Luther’s ideas, in part because of

There are approximately eight hundred million Protestant Christians currently in the world with it being the second largest Christian domination (Fairchild). However, there are over a billion followers of the Roman Catholic faith and it currently stands as the Christian domination with the most followers (Fairchild). If it were not for the German monk, Martin Luther, most Christians would have been Roman Catholic in the present. Martin Luther is famous for “95 Theses” that critiqued the practices and beliefs of the Catholic Church and it was written on Halloween Day, 1517 (Ellis and Esler 423-427). Other people agreed with him and shared their perceptions, which led to the birth of the Protestant Reformation (Ellis and Esler 423-427). In the documents written by people who either supported or were against the Protestant Reformation, the main idea of them is that the Catholic Church supported the idea of paying indulgences and competing with others for power.

This document is written by peasants hence the encouragement for the revolt, although Lotzer might be saying this so that we may be the leader of this revolt and he is a craftsman so this might get more people to notice his craft, he then gains more money. Document 8 is the complete opposite perspective of the peasants gaining power and the revolt. Lorenz Fries is a catholic archbishop and the revolts are driven out of Luther’s doctrines. He said that the peasants are troublesome and the revolt should be stopped, but he most likely said this to get people to turn their backs on Lutheranism and accept Catholicism. Although his report is a secret one so he probably wrote it secretly so that he would not be killed or hurt by the peasant’s rebellion. In document 9, Caspar Nutzel, a noble, says that the peasants were blinded and they have gotten too strong. This document is also a response in that people have allowed the revolts to happen and the peasants have gone too far. Though this document should be approached with caution because he uses some absolute language in the regard to how the peasants act, and Nutzel might be stating this to keep his job as town councilor.

Between 1524 and 1526, Europe is coming out of the Renaissance and entering a stage of religious reformation.  Many theologians have protested the Catholic Church and have decided to break away from it.  The new religions formed inspired many different peoples and resonated with them.  The peasant revolts in the German states was caused by the peasants’ new sense of faith in the new protestant religion of Lutheranism and the reformers boldness to break away.  This lead to a very negative response by their German leaders.

In the mid-sixteenth century, religious reformation was a frontrunner in the Germanic states with Luther and his 95 theses, along with the Diet of Worms. All of this reformation and change sparked a peasantry uprising against the German aristocracy, including the land-owning nobility and the German Princes. The tension between the oppressed peasants and powerful Germanic aristocracy created a lower class backlash that caused aggressive Aristocratic response, tabulating another blow for the peasantry and their newfound Lutheran ideals.

The German Peasants’ War of 1525 has been seen as both the last great medieval peasant revolt and as the first modern revolution. For more than 150 years the War has been the topic of ongoing historical debate. Indeed, it has always been a subject of contention among historians who seek to determine its relation to the Reformation. While most Reformation scholars have arrived at a consensus as to the series of events that transpired during the war, there has not been such agreement regarding the perplexing inner dynamic of the uprising. Set against the backdrops of both the German revolutions of 1848 and the political developments that characterized 1970s Germany, this debate has seen engagement from the historians Friedrich Engels and Max Steinmetz, who provide a Marxist interpretation that attempts to depict the war as the “high point of the early bourgeois revolution”, locating it within a German revolutionary tradition by citing the socioeconomic tensions that arose through the peasants’ oppressive relationship with the feudal lordship of their rural communities. Departing from the Marxist interpretation, Günther Franz has entered into the debate, defining the revolt as a “political revolution of the German peasant estate” that was made possible by the Reformation. Although he acknowledges the troubling nature of the evident economic difficulties, Franz understands the war as a response to the changing political structure of 16th century Germany. Submitting his own

The period immediately following the Protestant reformation and the Catholic counter reformation, was full of conflict and war. The entire continent of Europe and all of it's classes of society were affected by the destruction and flaring tempers of the period. In the Netherlands, the Protestants and the Catholics were at eachother’s throats. In France it was the Guise family versus the Bourbons. In Bohemia, the religious and political structures caused total havoc for over thirty years; and in England, the Presbyterians thought that the English Anglican Church too closely resembled the Roman Catholic Church. Religion was the major cause of the widespread

During the Baroque period, religion, politics and socioeconomic were influenced by the Reformation and Counter-Reformation movements. The reformation revolution took place at the Western Church and was led by Martin Luther during the 16th century (1517). The revolution resulted in the founding of Protestantism, which is today one of the major branches of Christianity. During the revolution, chaos aroused between the Catholic and the Protestant church because the Protestants are against some practices of the Catholic Church like the selling of indulgences and relics. The Reformation forced the masses to create a choice of religion ‒ to be Catholic or to be Protestant. It was a choice that had to be made and there were no alternatives. The revolutionaries noticed the corruption and the misused authority of the leaders of the church and they believed that things had to be changed and be put back in the proper order of the bible.

What happens when people start to break away from the entity that bound an entire civilization together for over a thousand years? How does one go from unparalleled devotion to God to the exploration of what man could do? From absolute acceptance to intense scrutiny? Sheeple to independent thinkers? Like all revolutions preceding it, the Protestant Reformation did not happen overnight. Catholics had begun to lose faith in the once infallible Church ever since the Great Schism, when there were two popes, each declaring that the other was the antichrist. Two things in particular can be identified as the final catalyst: a new philosophy and simple disgust. The expanding influence of humanism and the corruption of the Catholic Church

Luther’s reformation, which led to the German Peasant’s War and Luther’s 95 theses, sparked a lot of division in the Holy Roman Empire. The German Peasant’s war started because peasants wrongly assumed that Luther would be on their side. When Luther said that “A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none,” a group of peasants, who were very tired or their working and living conditions, decided to rebel. Many peasants and allies revolted, and over 100,000 of them were slaughtered. This led to division between the peasants and common people. Another example of Luther’s reformation causing division in the Holy Roman Empire was Luther’s 95 theses. Luther wrote 95 theses opposing indulgences sold by the church. His theses explained

The revolts were caused by a series of factors including religion, starvation and taxation, and feudalism. Religion played a serious factor in the revolts against in the German States. The people of Germany were, originally, under the rule of the Roman Catholic Church. In this time, the church was held above everything and the people were supposed to put their faith before themselves. In the Enlightenment, when Martin Luther came with his Protestant religion, people started to question whether or not they should be oppressed by the Catholic religion or believe in a new one that is centered around individual faith (Peasants war, n.d). According to Leonhard von Eck, “this rebellion has been undertaken to repress the princes and the nobility and has its ultimate source in Lutheran teachings” (von Eck, 1525). Additionally,