The Reform Of The Western Church

Beginning in the Middle Ages and through the seventeenth centuries, witch trials occurred in Europe. Many people were accused of being witches some of these people were accused of being witches for not following Christian beliefs at that time and others followed witch prosecutions for goods and money. Furthermore, the stereotypes of witches at this period also had a role in causing witch prosecutions. In this essay I argue how these three components led to the death of so-called witches. Firstly, I will discuss how the Catholic Church had an impact on most prosecutions. Secondly, I will explain how social stereotypes of that period have also influenced with the causes of prosecution of many alleged witches. Thirdly, I will discuss how

The Catholic Church during the early 16th Century was rooted throughout Europe. The Church influenced every country and its respective monarchs through the Church’s wealth and power. The Catholic Church placed a tight hold on the general populace with individuals who went against the Church being branded as heretics and excommunicated. The wealth and power of the Church eventually caused the quality of the clergy to deteriorate. Priests became corrupt and subjected to their physical desires. They frequented taverns, gambled and kept mistresses. The reputation of the clergy were horrid as the general populace was relieved that “their priest [kept] a mistress” because it “[secured] their wives from seduction” The knowledge of the clergy degenerated as well as they were no longer required to learn and teach the Holy Scriptures because the Church dictated their actions. The pinnacle of the Church’s corruption was the sale of indulgences. An indulgence was the “extra-sacramental remission of the temporal punishment” sold by priests as a temporary relief from sins. The indulgences were then sold to the general populace for money as the monetization of a priest’s services. Johannes Tetzel was a prominent preacher of indulgences who relied on the money from the sales to subsidize the rebuilding of St. Peter’s basilica in Rome. The corrupt sales did not go unnoticed as Martin Luther, in an effort to stop the corruption of the Church, posted the 95 Theses on the door of a Castle

As the tenth century rolled about, the power of the Roman Catholic Church grew steadily stronger, the church had an argument with the normal Kingdom over who should rule supreme out of the Pope or the King, the church believed that the Pope who is the voice of God on Earth should be the ruler of the world while the peasants thought that the King should, the power struggle eventually ended with the Church coming out as the dominant force in the West. The Church passed a law that stated that everyone (mostly peasants) is forced to pay 10% of their income to the Church. The church had the ability to stop any laws that they did not like or make some new laws that benefited them, they were a very powerful group that could manipulate the peasants and knights in any way they liked, in Church there were photos of people being tortured in hell, this intensified the peoples longing for heaven and therefore extended the power and influence of the church. All Christians were expected to attend the mass and, by the 13th century, were expected to take the Eucharist at least once a year.

Towards the end of the Middle Ages and into the duration of the Renaissance, the Medieval Church’s social and political power dwindled. Centuries prior the Catholic Church gained a surplus of control, largely due to the stability it maintained during the chaotic breakdown of the Western Roman Empire . Yet toward the end of the Middle Ages the Church set in motion factors that would ultimately lead to its downfall as the definitive figure of authority. However, despite political and social controversy surrounding the church, the institutions it established cleared a path for a new way of thinking, shaping society in an enduring way.

‘They were too involved in politics rather than important issues of the Church’ (Green) This is the most important reason why the Church in Europe required reform because had the Church prioritised sorting out abuses within the Church rather than politics, a reform would not have been required at the end of the fifteenth century. A different reason why the Church in Europe needed reform was that members of the nobility, had become higher clergy because it strengthened their position, rather than for religious reasons. ‘Senior clergy were generally outsiders, often nobility imposed upon the diocese by royal parentage…these clergy regarded their spiritual duties as little more than a source of income…’

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

After researching, the Roman Catholic church and the Westeren Orrthodox church facts compile on the the thought that the several splits between the two and attitudes towards each other could not be resolved. Issues arised because of language barrier, opinions, and intolerance. This theisis will explain facts to prove the strong aversion, and ultimately the split.

The Great Schism or The Western Schism was kind of like a separation within the Roman Catholic Church. What happened was, three men/popes all claimed to be the one true pope. It lasted from 1378 to 1417. Many people had doubt about the true authority of the Church because of this, and many people came to preach/debate about it. Though, the schism was ended by the Council of Constance between 1414 and

There are very few things in this world that are for sure. However, one of those

There were two major problems within the Church that weakened it. One, was worldliness and corruption that existed within the Church. Many Catholics felt that the Church had become too corrupt and worldly. The Church officials did not live up to their titles of spiritual leaders. They had vowed to not marry nor have children, but many had broken that vow. Other leaders acted royal-like instead of servants of God. People were worried about the way the Church had raised money, such as indulgences. An indulgence is a way to pay to be released from punishment for their bad acts. It was a way to buy forgiveness for their sins. Later on, they even sold leadership positions, this act was called simony. Second,

The Roman Church dominated the western world from 590-1517. Subject to the Roman Catholic Church were areas of religion, politics, education, philosophy, and art. Biblical doctrines and principles were none existent creating an opportunity for corruption to ensue. This was a dark period for Christianity. Rome’s teachings were created to control and exploit the population. Corruption of the Church in the Middle Ages was caused by neglecting true doctrine and giving place to greed and power.

The Middle ages was a dark time for the church and the communities and people involved in the church. Priest, Popes and even nuns would involve themselves in sexual relationships and do evil things such as simony and selling of indulgences for their own personal wealth. But why didn't anyone stop them, well because during this time period the Church and Pope had served as a there main power in Eastern Europe. Corruption wasn't the only issue that was occurring in the middle ages, there was a plague that the people believed was sent from God in anger. They named it the Black Death or the Black plague, it took millions of lives because of the plagues air-born effects.

To understand how the Christian church filled the vacuum left by the passing of the Roman Empire we must first determine two things; which Christian church filled the void and what were they filling? The Roman Empire provided law and order for the people to follow, this allowed for their economy to be built and their power to grow. Yet, despite its power and prestige the mighty empire fell to an onslaught of barbarians, a people without a kingdom and mostly nomadic farms. Once the empire fell the kings of these tribes took over and began carving out sections of Europe as their own domain. However, doing this requires there to be some type of law, some type of order that allows senseless fighting to stop. This is what the Christian church did, it also begins to shed some light on which church was predominantly in power. The pope and all under him were predominantly the first Christian church to find their way into the various barbaric kingdoms that sprung up in the wake of the Roman Empire 's fall. Despite the church 's connections with the state of Rome it never held the power it would obtain in the Medieval Ages, so when the empire fell the church did not. Instead, it begin to grow. As mentioned in last week’s reading, the christians were not always welcomed in Rome, and some emperors like Nero would outright kill them without too much if any outcry from the Roman people; this was becuase the faith was unknown to the vast majority. Yet, this changes when Emperor Constantine

Lingberg and Duffy have a different look on The Medieval Church in the middle Ages. Unfortunately though, the church is often regarded as the capital of corruption, evil, and worldliness. An overview of the crisis concerned with farming, famine and the Black Death.

Europe’s culture and society went through several major changes from 450 CE- 1550 CE. Religiously, Europe went from being completely dependent on the Catholic church to being split up into different sects. Throughout the Middle Ages the church was a