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Compare And Contrast The Catholic Church Reformation

Satisfactory Essays

Miles Berman
Ms. Spivak
AP Euro, Period 1
September 29, 2017

LEQ

In 15th century Europe, the Catholic Church was the most powerful group in society and politics. They were able to control taxes, jobs, and more due to the fact that they claimed to have the power to make anyone's life miserable and send them to hell after death. As the church began abusing its powers more, though, some people wanted to make a change and take matters into their own hands, creating a period of religious reformation. In the sixteenth century this religious reform helped end the Catholic Church’s control over Europe. There were new ways of practicing religions, different rules and laws, and even new religions all together. During this period, two of the most arguably iconic figures in religious change were Martin Luther in the German states and King Henry VIII in England. They were people who wanted to make a difference in religions and shared very similar, but mostly different beliefs.

Luther and Calvin, along with most other reformers, all wanted change for the somewhat same reason. They hated the power that the church had over everyone and felt people should be able to make their own decisions. Both of them faced troubles with the restrictions put on the life of people and wanted to make it fair. Comparatively, the two both took …show more content…

Luther was unhappy with the church’s sale of indulgences and the mistreatment of Catholics. On the other hand, Henry was married and trying to have a son who would be next in line for the throne. In the marriage, only daughters were born, so Henry wanted a divorce. He was upset with his wife and thought she was incapable of producing a male, so he asked the Pope Clement for a divorce. When the pope refused, and after multiple attempts, he passed the Act of Supremacy in 1534, making him the supreme head of the church, allowing him to grant his own

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