Religious Tolerance In The 16th And 17th Century Europe

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 second sentence of the statement, “Those who wish to practice their religioun freely were able

did not stand with the church were not looked at as ethical people. In the sense that they could not

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

Religious tolerance varied in the two regions based off the main religion that was shared between the settlers. Both regions had a few similarities when dealing with religion. The New England and Chesapeake settlements had established churches and taxed settlers in order to support the church. Each region also experienced the Great Awakening which created a lasting effect on both the colonies and colonist lives. Most of the New England colonies practiced Congregational religion, another category of Puritans, and anyone who didn't was either non-affiliated or Anglican. The Anglican religion was dominant in the Chesapeake regions. While the Chesapeake colonies had a degree of religious tolerance, the New England colonies provided almost little

wanted to get away from Great Britain to purify their faith and religion, they didn’t agree

freedom of speech and thoughts,they did not like that there was one main “God” and everyone

The significant reasons for instituting religious tolerance was that Catholics and Protestants followed the first colonists to American. There were many religious conflicts between the beliefs of the Catholics and the Protestants. Lord Baltimore created a Toleration Act of 1649, attempt to reduce conflicts among the two religious groups. The Toleration Act of 1649 made it a crime to restrict the religious rights of Christians and was the first law supporting religious tolerance passed in the English colonies. Maryland set up this law to show that all Christians could live together in peace that was unknown in England. The Toleration Act did not stop all religious conflict, but it helped show that the government some religious freedom and protected

During the 1500’s a movement away from traditional Catholicism started to take hold. The most notable figure during this time was Martin Luther. He had ideals that, at the time, were extremely radical. As Gerald Strauss put it, “His doctrine of the two realms- the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the world, derived directly from Augustine – entailed the strictest segregation of things spiritual and things material” (22). He did not believe that the people of the church had any right to control the population at large. He believed that they were meant to be spiritual guides, not rulers, and that they wielded way too much control over the common people. One of the most radical things that he did, which was also the most influential

Martin Luther and Jean Calvin were the two of the most influential reformers during the Protestant Reformation. Luther began the Protestant Reformation by nailing his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Chapel in 1517 in response to the corruption and abuses of the Catholic Church. In Switzerland, Calvin also had new ideas about religion, the main being predestination (the belief that people's fates (whether they go to Heaven or Hell) are predetermined when they are born). Their reforms and ideas definitely laid the foundation for capitalism, free government/democracy, religious tolerance, and individualism, but I do not believe that the reformers (people like Luther and Calvin) had the direct intention of doing these things.

By wanting to convert others to a certain religion, people had a reason to

1. "So now they and their church found it necessary to deny any other sect its freedom, lest their

During sixteenth century Europe a wave of religious dissatisfaction swept the European continent. There were cries for the restructuring of the Catholic Church. These cries grew into more than just a simple remodeling of the Catholic faith they grew into the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther is credited for the reformation movement against the Catholic Church that began in 1517.

Religion experienced a lot of progress and transformation throughout the Middle Ages. Christianity held consistent popularity and other religions such as Islam were on the rise in participation. After the fall of Rome, there was no unified state or government in Europe and the Catholic Church used that opportunity to become a large powerhouse. The Roman Empire had effectively split into three different worlds: Muslim, Byzantine, and western European. Various Kings, Queens, and other leaders looked to the Catholic church for power and protection in exchange for alliances. Meanwhile, the Islamic religion was growing in wealth, power, and people. With the prophet Muhammad’s death in 632, Muslim groups took under large parts of land and united them under a single caliph. The Byzantines were still operating from Constantinople, just under a smaller rule and rural life assumed greater importance in the backbone of their society. Religion was largely involved in the Middle Ages’ art and architecture. Massive Cathedrals were built and even books were a work of art before the invention of the printing press. In addition, their economy was directly affected by religious activity such as missions and conquests. Overall, the general trends marking the progress religion in the Middle Ages are inclusion of everyone, a building of a community, and the opportunity of becoming equals with other practitioners.

Clark, Anna. The Struggle for the Breeches: Gender and the Making of the British Working