The Causes Of The Protestant Reformation

saw crusading as a means for obtaining new lands and riches and the clergy found a

James Delaney said “a major influence on social, moral, and political life at the time was the church.” (Delaney). This quote relates to the time

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

During the 1500s, the citizens of England were overcome with multiple transitions of religion due to their monarch. The first notable instance of religious alteration was when Henry the VIII took the throne. During his reign, he ruled the Act of Supremacy, which separated England from the Catholic Church, and so Henry VIII established the Church of England, of which he was the leader of. This individual action indirectly prompted many other spiritual changes that would take place in England during the years to come, led by his successors. Even if his ruling may have ultimately been positive, it is utterly clear that at the time, Henry VIII's reformation was motivated purely by his selfish desires for a male heir. This was very dissimilar to Martin Luther's reformation, which was led by Luther's faith and loyalty to god. Though the two men both transformed the perception of religion in Europe drastically, the advancements were made for vastly different reasons. (#8)

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

Economic depression hit England in the the late 1500s caused many people to lose their homes. Along with the fact that only eldest sons were able to inherit

Just after Henry VII came to power, he called all the lords that helped him win the battle against Richard III to the tower of London, where he lived. The

the King was giving more and more taxes to the civilians. The people involved in this event were

King Henry VIII was an important figure in helping to kick start the Reformation in England, even though it was not his intent. His break with the Papacy and his constantly changing ideas on how the new Church of England should be run gave the Protestants the foothold they needed to gain popularity in Europe. Although his intentions were purely politically motivated, he started a change in the way the layman viewed the church and how it should be run.

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

The reformation began because of the corruption in the Catholic Church and the enormous amount of power the church had over Europe. During the sixteenth century the Catholic Church had tremendous sovereignty over the population of Europe. It was almost impossible to fight the Catholic Church because of the

Have you ever wonder how life would be if you had absolute control over everything and everyone? Imagine if you could make someone do anything you wanted without questioning it? This existed between the 17th and the 18th century when the Kings and Queens had complete control over everything. They had all the power and could do anything they wanted. The rulers and their subjects view the proper role of an absolute monarch differently but at the end of the day it all affected everyone socially, politically, and economically.

they were attached to the centre of power, because they influenced the king more than

Christians during the medieval time period were one of the most dominate people of all they controlled the minds of every men and women whether they were of high value or low their minds were in their hands. In An Article C N Truemen states that the people believed in a god, a devil and that heaven and hell existed. The people were taught that the only way to get to heaven was to go to an catholic church, that the people believed that if the pope pointed at them and said you’re not going to heaven then you’re not going. This is a great example to show how the churches had a great amount of control when it came down to the society. The Christians also controlled the minds by owning and making the peasants work upon their lands with no pay. The Christians have so much control over the minds of the people that they even have the peasants of the wealth working on their land for no pay when they could be working on their own land and making money. Another reason why the church had so much control over the minds of the people was by their wealth. C N Trueman also states that the churches didn’t have to pay taxes and the peasants paid them in whatever food or money that they had. The

religious life. These people were doing something that almost no one else could do at the