Protestant Reformation Problems

The problems the church contributed to the Protestant Reformation were the selling of indulgences and abuse of the church and clergy. The sale of indulgences particularly were attacked by communities and rulers, especially when the sale of indulgences were for the benefits of the church, such as raising money to build a new St. Peter’s basilica in Rome. This financial abuse of the church brought about protests from many communities around Europe. Martin Luther’s famous Ninety-Five Theses was an argument against the sale of indulgences. Church law granted the clergy immunity from taxes, civic duty, and jurisdiction of civil courts. Simony, the buying of ecclesiastical privileges, was another abuse of clerical powers. As quoted in the textbook, “Rare was the late medieval German town that did not have complaints about the maladministration,

concubinage, and financial greed of its clergy - especially the higher clergy.” (323) This shows how bad the church’s abuse was. The church was unable to suppress the dissent as earlier because the population was now more educated and more informed of what was going on. Pamphlets were available, providing information. People were able to journey around more, spreading information around. The laity had higher literacy rates, being more educated, and with the breakdown of the church’s network because of the forming Protestant movement, the unity of the religion wasn’t as strong as before.
Both Luther and Zwingli opposed the sale of indulgences and religious superstition, like clerical celibacy, fasting, pilgrimages, purgatory, and certain sacraments.

A difference between their teachings, however, were on how they viewed the Eucharist. Luther believed that the bread and wine were the literal body and blood of Christ, whereas Zwingli saw them as a spiritual conception. Calvin and Luther both saw scripture, not hierarchy, as the basic authority for the Christians. They believed in the use of the local language in religious services and studies. They differed on their view of the Eucharist as well. Calvin insisted that communion provided the way for faith to awaken, not the bread and wine. Another issue came up between the two. Luther believed that separation between state and church was possible, but Calvin desired a theocracy, so that no state could claim church power. These differences separated the Protestant movement politically and theologically, and different affiliations formed, hindering the movement with its different ideas, eventually leading to half of the converted going back to the Catholic

teachings.
Reformation began in Germany because of its lack of political unity to enforce national reforms. This lack of unity limited papal authority and taxation on a national scale. As bitterness against the clerical immunities and abuses spread throughout the German towns and cities, a national opposition against Rome formed. This led to the solid foundation for Luther’s protests and theology. Italy was the country of origin for Catholicism, which solidifies its authority there. In Spain, there was the legacy of Ferdinand and Isabella’s reign of Catholic teachings and the Inquisition. Its firm and strong, single, Catholic government did not allow the Protestant ideas to take root in Spain. France’s king exercised his authority through his lord and barons, and religious confusion was bad, and so was not tolerated in the country. France has been closely associated with Italy, especially when looking during the Renaissance, so the seed of religious reformation would have fallen on rocky soil. France, however, was close to accepting the teachings of the Protestants, since John Calvin was French himself. The main political factors that differed between Germany and France, Spain, and Italy were how fractured Germany’s unity was and the root that Catholicism had already deeply implanted into the countries’ people and governments.