Protestant Reformation Dbq

In the 16th century, Europe was a very busy place. After being in the dark ages for so long, a light had finally shone, and ideas that had been lost in the past for finally making their way back again. Europe was going to be a changed place, for so many different reasons. Although there were many of these big changes were taking place, the Protestant Reformation is the most influential one for it impacted everyone living in Europe, not just some.

In the 1500’s the church of England had become corrupted. The pope was abusing his power and the people had to pay for it. The Pope had political power like control over armies and could wage war as well. Simony and nepotism were a common occurrence. In this time, religion was so huge, and so was the power behind it. The Pope singlehandedly had all of it, and used that to make the impact on Europe that he did. Perhaps one of the most controversial things Pope Leo X had done was sell indulgences. Indulgences were a trade off common people would make with the Pope, donations to the church for less time in

These changes were only made after the ways of the church of the church had been brought to attention by Martin Luther, the German monk. He had attached a list of complainants, called the 95 thesis, to the church door, and world spread from there. He criticized the use of indulgences, and the teachings of the church. He felt that faith was the only way to heaven, and the bible was the only the reliable source of God. Although Luther was excommunicated from the church, a new branch of Christianity had formed from it, Lutheranism, which is still around today. Even though it happened more than 500 years ago, a simple list made by a monk that wasn’t even fully intended to make it to the public eye is still preached today. This is just another example of the huge amount of power behind