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Essay about Martin Luther's Impact on the Catholic Church

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Introduction

Martin Luther was a Monk, Priest and Theologian born in late 1483 in the German town of Eisleben. His father owned a copper mine and had always wished for his son to go into civil service. When Luther was seventeen he arrived at the University of Erfurt. By 1502, Luther had already received his bachelor’s degree and by 1505 he had a Master’s degree. The same year, while returning to University, he was caught in a tremendous thunderstorm. A lightening bolt struck near him and terrified, he cried out, "Help, St. Anne! I'll become a monk!”. Luther lived, and keeping to his promise, he dropped out of university and entered the monastery.

Religious issues the person responded to.

Martin Luther responded to the …show more content…

Despite his situation, he continued to he preach his philosophies and as a result, converted many people from Catholicism to what was now commonly referred to as Protestant. This is known as the Protestant Reformation.

Important Social and Political Issues of the Time

Social

In the 1400s, Europe had been left in devastation from the aftermath of the black plague. This had left Europe in major religious, social and economic upheavals. Orphans, theft, intoxication, prostitution, brutality and misuse of powerful by important figures were very common. Education was unavailable to anyone without enough money to pay for it, creating an extremely large gap and social division between the classes. Church services and the bible were spoken and written in Latin, resulting in the majority of the common people being unable to understand the true meaning behind the words. As People were unable to read the bible, the only way to connect with God was through church services. Priests and Monks had several different jobs and often refused to help peasants when they asked for it, generating mistrust between the clergy and lay people.

Political

Just 30 years before Luther was born, Gutenberg invented the printing press, generating an ability to mass-produce information and documents. Countries such as Spain and Portugal were still in a race to secure more land. The Italian Renaissance had spanned three centuries

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