The Reformation rattled the unity of the Catholic Religion in Western Europe an led to the diversity of the Church. This religious disturbance consequently led to the establishment of national Protestant churches. The Protestant Reformation, sometimes falsely referred to as the Protestant Revolution, was brought forth due to political and economic factors because at the time the Roman Church controlled close to everything. When speaking of the Reformation it is extremely important to speak of political and economic factors and powers because without them the Protestants would not have survived. Political affairs, before the Reformation, were usually handled by the Catholic Church. Not only was the Catholic Church Western Europe’s Religion
The Protestant Reformation led to dramatic changes within Christianity. In 1517, Martin Luther and a large number of people in Western Europe began to question and eventually reject many key aspects of older theology. There were a significant number of people who had already started discrediting some Roman Catholic practices and beliefs, but they were unable to intimidate the full system. The Roman Catholics responded by establishing the Inquisition to get rid of people with heretical beliefs.
To begin, the Protestant Reformation began in reaction to the Catholic Church’s rather corrupt practices. Prior to the Reformation, the only major Christian denomination in Western Europe at the time was Catholicism, headed by the Pope in Rome. Through many acts of violence such as the formation of the Spanish Inquisition and the slaughter of the Cathars, amongst others, Europe’s Monarchs had wiped out and suppressed any form of religious competition. With the Catholic Church holding a tight stranglehold over Europe, Catholicism was the only option. This allowed
The protestant reformation was a significant turning point during the 16th century that completely revolutionized the Roman Catholic Church. The “reformation” was launched in 1517 when a German monk by the name of Martin Luther posted his “95 Theses” on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg. The main ideas of this publication was that selling and buying indulgences was wrong and that the pope has no power over purgatory. These 95 revolutionary opinions formed the basis for the protestant reformation which revolutionized western civilization over the next three centuries. Although most people believe these reforms only affected religion, the reformation also impacted political life. Politics played an enormous role in the reformation due to the fact that political rulers wanted to extend their power and control using the church. Throughout the course of the protestant reformation, political authorities such as Emperor Charles V and Henry
The Protestant Reformation (1517 to 1648) was a time when the Catholic Church was very corrupt and and Martin Luther wanted to break away from Catholicism. It started in the Medieval Times when indulgences* were prominent in churches. The Printing Press and Martin Luther 95 Thesis contributed with the Protestant Reformation in many ways including, It made information more accessible, wake up call to the people.
Let us now examine the time of the Reformation, beginning proper in 1519 with Luther’s quarrels with the Roman Catholic church and ending in the eighteenth century with Wesleyanism, the reformation of theology that occurred within the Church of England.
The universities of Europe had a major impact on the start and spread of the Catholic Reformation. Both Source B and Source D agree that universities played a major role in the start of the Protestant Reformation and in the further spreading of the Reformation by allowing it to be taught. Both sources, however vary slightly on how they believe universities of Europe contributed to the Reformation. They both agree that the universities and how they responded were directly influential, however they disagree slightly on in what way it influenced the rise of the Reformation.
3. The Catholic Reformation was started before the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. Unlike the leaders in the Protestant movement, many stayed with the Catholic Church and tried to reform it within. These reforms challenged every level of the Church.
1) The Protestant Reformation Produces Puritanism a) 1517 - Friar Martin Luther nailed protest on Catholic door of Wittenberg’s cathedral i) he said that the Bible is the only truth of God’s words ii) he started the Protestant Reformation b) Reformation bloomed in Geneva by John Geneva i) He elaborated on Luther’s ideas that affected the future men and women in New England and American settlers c) 1536 - Calvin wrote basic doctrine in Latin tome, named Institutes of the Christian Religion i) He said that God is all mighty, and humans are sinful ii) your fate is chosen by him and you cannot do anything to change it d)
The views that came out of the Protestant Reformation had a tremendous shaping power in Western Culture. Each person being able to read the scriptures for themselves created a yearning to be free from the controlling influence of Church and State. The impact this had on America was individualism, the idea that each individual has intrinsic worth and value. The colonist grew weary with England’s long distance, biased rule and a desire for the freedom to govern themselves blossomed. We enjoy that sense of individualistic patriotism even today. Bible verses such as “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17, ESV) and “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John
The Protestant Reformation was not the only thing that impacted the colonization of America. Henry VIII had supported Cabot in his explorations after rejecting Christopher Columbus. Cabot was one of the first to discover the American mainland.
I think that a Protestant Reformation would have occurred even if Martin Luther had not taken the prominent role. First, there were many other supporters of the belief that the church’s authority was misguided besides MartinLuther. Although Luther began the Reformation, there were many other prominent figures that expressed their opinions before Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door. John Wyclif and Jan Hus stressed the Bible's authority over the clergy, and they translated the Bible into common vernacular so the people could read it and interpret it for themselves. Additionally, significant writers such as Thomas More and Desiderus Erasmus, who wrote Utopia and The Praise of Folly, respectively, vocally criticized the church. These
The Reformation of Europe refers to the major religious changes that swept across all of Europe during the early 1500s, transforming the way of worship, society, politics and basic cultural patterns. One key point of the Reformation of Europe was the Protestant Reformation, which began in 1517 with Martin Luther's critique of doctrinal principles and church actions in Germany and that led to the creation of new official churches. These churches being the Lutheran, the Reformed or Calvinist, and the Anglican. The Reformation of Europe brought on changes such as woman’s rights, the printing culture and The Reformation changed the role of women all throughout Europe. The Protestantism church got rid of nunneries and converts, women that had once
The Reformation had an impact on Europe by allowing its citizens to have the ability to learn the Bible on their own, as well as, enabling government to free itself from Catholic rule. The Protestant Reformation was a movement against the unruly ways of the Catholic Church and the ways that they were abusing the people under their influence. According to Luther, he wanted the Catholic Church to change their ways and freeze all actions that obtained money for abolishment of sins (Luther, 2011). Martin Luther also saw, after a visit to Rome, that the clergy had too much power and should relinquish some of that power to help the people.
The Protestant Reformation was a European movement in the 16th century that directed to reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Protestants no longer acknowledged the authority of the church, and individual Protestant religious groups did not acknowledge the authority of any other groups. This led to New World settlement as an escape from persecutions by Catholics or other protestants. England became directly involved in the Protestant Reformation when King Henry VIII declared himself Pope of a new church in 1534 known as the Church of England or Anglican Church. King Henry’s declaration was that he wanted to divorce his wife after she could not birth a male heir.
The protestant reformation happened at the moment that it did because the Catholic Church was very a powerful force in Europe. It controlled people lives both spiritually and temporally. The church had so much power that it maintained political control over a large portion of Italy. The fact that the church held so much control over countries and governments became a point of contention among European countries such as the Holy Roman Empire, Italian city-states outside of Rome, England, France and Spain. The power of the rulers of these areas had greatly increased in the 14th century and they were eager to take the chances offered by a Reformation to weaken the grip of the Catholic Church in Europe and also to develop their own powers across the European continent. For quite some time the Catholic Church had been an institution rampant with internal struggles. Such as the Avignon Papacy from 1309 to 1377 when seven popes opted to live in Avignon, France and not reside in Rome which was and is the traditional home of the Papacy. The Pope and other high ranking church officials often lived opulent lifestyles rather than a more austere lifestyle that should befit a spiritual leader. Many church leaders and Popes maintained political powers. They led armies, waged wars and made many political decisions. Church offices were sold, and many Popes and bishops practiced nepotism to fill church offices. With all of these worldly issues for the Pope