The Spread of Protestantism in the 1500's

789 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The impact of the protestant reformation on the lives of the common people of europe 1517-1600

The Spread of Protestantism in the 1500's

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.

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 fear of excommunication. During the sixteenth century excommunication was a serious punishment to be inflicted upon a person. It was almost as bad as being sentenced to death.

The Catholic Church obtained much of its power from its land holdings, political influence over the local governments, and the money gained from the taxes issued over the populace of Europe by the Church. The church's power led them down a spiral of corruption. Martin Luther's reformation movement caught on with the populace of Europe and evolved and spread all across the continent. The reformation forced the church to respond or disintegrate into oblivion in the wake of the reformation. The Catholic Church's response to the reformation was the Council of Trent. The Council of Trent set a clear dividing line between the two factions of Christianity by clearly defining the Catholic Doctrines. Protestantism varied greatly from Catholicism with regards to its doctrines, the way Protestantism spread, and the way that...

... middle of paper ...

...ambitions. The people that Catholicism were the majority of the Catholic clergy, (for obvious reasons), traditionalist, and superstitious people.

After the Reformation the Catholic Church decided that it was in fact time to reform. They made the clergy act more piously and tried to decrease the corruption of the church. Ignatius of Loyola was one of the great Catholic reformers. Ignatius preached the traditions of Catholicism and strict obedience to church authority. Ignatius helped win back many Protestants (Kagen 374).

In conclusion there were many distinct differences between Catholics and Protestantism. The two forms of Christianity appealed to different people in different ways. With Religious fervor behind their respective beliefs, both groups worked with intensity for their causes, which perpetuated both the Protestant and Catholic reformations.

Show More
Related

  • Martin Luther And The Protestant Reformation

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    All of Europe used to be united under one religion, Catholicism. Europe started inching away from Catholicism during the 13th - 15th centuries. The church leaders started to only think about money and the power they held, instead of the real reason they were supposed to be there, God. This caused an uprising of people who no longer wanted to be a part of the Catholic church, nicknamed Protestants because they protested the ways of the catholic church. The Protestant Reformation was caused by corruption in the church, Martin Luther and John Calvin’s ideas, and the clergy and their preachings.

    Read More

  • Reformation and Its Effects on the View of the Devil

    512 Words  | 2 Pages

    fend off the Devil. This meant that Protestants had to invent their own methods of defeating him. I will be a The medieval perspectives were that the Devil could assume a physical form and this concern for

    Read More

  • Differences Between Luther And Calvin

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era. It was important because it divided the continent between catholics and protestants. New ideas were introduced and was the subject of tension between catholics and protestant for the next centuries. On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted on the door of the castle church at Wittenberg his 95 theses, inviting debate on matters of practice and doctrine. Luther's action was not as yet a revolt against the church but a movement for reform within. It was, however, much more than an objection to the money-grabbing and secular policies of the

    Read More

  • Mercantilism In America

    2010 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Protestant Reformation started with Martin Luther he believed that the Catholic church’s bible did not apply to everyone, he did not want anyone to be left out. So he rejected Churches and began gaining followers,these followers believed in the same things as martin. So they all started a new branch of the Christian religion. Eventually even more branches began to spring up so everyone was happy and believed in

    Read More

  • The Hardships Of The Protestant Reformation And The Catholic Reformation

    1708 Words  | 4 Pages

    Having a religion change, many times, takes a toll on those who follow. This would include the hardships of the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Reformation. Religious tensions were spreading throughout Europe, starting from the Protestant Reformation. Some of those who followed the Catholic church began to question how much was true and how many lies they were told to believe in. Many important Leaders of the Reformation stated their opinions about that Catholic church. These opinions would then be evaluated in the Catholic Reformation, The Council of Trent. Beliefs would be revised and practices would be evaluated. The core beliefs would still be Catholic, thus still different from a protestant beliefs. This led to officials of states

    Read More

  • Protestant Reformation Dbq

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Protestant Reformation was a period of time (1500-1700) where there became a change in Western Christendom. This reformation was caused by the resentment from the people because the Catholic Church abusing their powers for political and economic advances. In this time the church was selling pardons for sin and indulgences to forgive sins, decrease days spent in purgatory and save the dead from damnation. The reformation was when people became more aware with the back hand dealings with the church and men like Martin Luther and John Calvin created their own churches to what they believed was not corrupt unlike the church. Unfortunately there many consequences as far at the Roman Catholic church attempting to bring people back to the church,

    Read More

  • Catholic Reformation Dbq

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Reformation occurred all over Western Europe. It was mostly set in Germany where various parts of corruption in the Church happened. Martin Luther started the process of the Reformation, he was German so he understood how the Catholic Church took advantage and didn't think this was fair. The Catholic Reformation took place between 1450-1650 which was the biggest revolution in Germany, although the understanding of Luther's actions weren't taken notice of until he put the 95 Theses on the Church's door. Luther felt that Bishops and Priests didn't understand the bible correctly. Luther wanted the Reformation to help fix this by helping the uneducated and powerless. Some of the movement of this was

    Read More

  • The Short-Term and Long-Term Causes of the Protestant Reformation

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    The reformation is generally associated with the publication of Martin Luther ninety five theses. It was his way to show the protest against the “business” made on religious people: the Holy Roman Empire was earning money on selling people indulgences. Martin Luther got the support of German princes, who were on the same side, but with different motives (they wanted to get autonomy). Luther was the great part of reformation, his influence was immediate, and people listened to him. One of the immediate effects of reformation can be observed in the development of that times writers. For example, Francois Rabelais satirized church, writing about their “business” in humorous way. The other writers, like Erasmus wrote more specifically about the pappy and their role in the lives of ordinary Christians. The major short term of reformation was about the informational acknowledgement, Luther told people the truth about the papacy and their actions, and the reaction of people was immediate: the loss of respect to church, papacy. These results were really strong, because people felt that, all the dogmas...

    Read More

  • The Protestant Reformation

    1843 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century is one of the most complex movements in European history since the fall of the Roman Empire. The Reformation truly ends the Middle Ages and begins a new era in the history of Western Civilization. The Reformation ended the religious unity of Europe and ushered in 150 years of religious warfare. By the time the conflicts had ended, the political and social geography in the west had fundamentally changed. The Reformation would have been revolutionary enough of itself, but it coincided in time with the opening of the Western Hemisphere to the Europeans and the development of firearms as effective field weapons. It coincided, too, with the spread of Renaissance ideals from Italy and the first stirrings of the Scientific Revolution. Taken together, these developments transformed Europe.

    Read More

  • Catholic And Protestantism Compare And Contrast

    1336 Words  | 3 Pages

    Catholics and Protestants share a fair amount of fundamental ideas and concepts from the Christian faith, but there are critical differences which continue to make prominent and contrasting differences between their beliefs and practices. Those differences are just as important in defining the religions today as they were during the Protestant Reformation. In the sixteenth century, the Protestant Reformation began and religious leaders such Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and others that protested against some of the practices and abuses of the Catholic Church. The protest is actually what spawned the name of Protestantism; the root of the word is Protestantism is “protest.” The main purpose for the protests was to reform the church from within; they saw a need for reformation to eliminate the blatant corruption and the abusive practices, such as “indulgences.” But as the years passed by, it became abundantly clear that their movement was unable to coexist with the Rome Catholic ideology, so those with Protestant beliefs/views broke away and organized their own church hierarchy and structures, this purge from Catholicism and new

    Read More

  • The Protestant Reformation: A 16th-Century Upheaval

    1989 Words  | 4 Pages

    There were many people and attempts made to change the way the church functioned before the Reformation, but they had always been crushed by the inquisition. There were many factors political, religious, and economic, which had been developing for centuries that would make it possible for the Reformation to come about. There were quite a few practices of the church that were in question at this time. Some of these practices included simony, indulgences, excessive papal wealth, and clerical violations of church and biblical rules of behavior (Fide, Scriptura, Solus, Sola, & Soli, 2014). The one that was the biggest concern to the people looking for church reform, was the selling of pardons from the pope to lessen the time a person’s soul would be in purgatory, these pardons were also called

    Read More

  • Martin Luther Thesis Statement

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    Martin Luther was a representative during the 16th century of a desire widespread of the renewal and reform of the Catholic Church. He launched the Protestant reform a continuation of the medieval religious search.

    Read More

  • Comparing Martin Luther and Jean Calvin

    1850 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...the church. In conclusion, because of the Reformation, churches have greatly changed, and are continuing to change to this day.

    Read More

  • The Reformation and the Church

    1602 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Reformation was a decisive period in the history not only for the Catholic Church, but also for the entire world. The causes of this tumultuous point in history did not burst on the scene all at once, but slowly gained momentum like a boil that slowly festers through time before it finally bursts open. The Reformation of the Church was inevitable because of the abuses which the Church was suffering during this period. At the time of the Reformation, a segment of the Church had drifted away from its mission to bring Christ and salvation to the world. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Church had gradually become weaker because of abusive leadership, philosophical heresy, and a renewal of a form of the Pelagian heresy.

    Read More

  • The Effects of the Reformation on European Life

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although saying this, the Reformation was not just on a Protestant level, it spread and soon became, not just a popular topic for discussion, but a wide-ranged divided religious change that affected every inch of society. This meant that people wanted their own version of change and reform, this lead to a variety of different reforms within this movement. The main bodies that evo... ... middle of paper ... ... the Reformation was ont really just a good thing, I think that it went a bit over the top with the violence, and the destruction of religious imagery by Puritans.

    Read More

More about The Spread of Protestantism in the 1500's

Open Document