The Protestant Reformation: Long And Long-Term Causes And Effects On Western Civilization

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The Protestant Reformation began in the early 16th century, and was a religious, political, and cultural movement to expose the corruption of the Catholic Church. It all began in Germany with Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. Luther didn’t like some of the things that the Catholic Church were doing such as selling indulgences, and being the middlemen between God and the people. Therefore, Luther posted his 95 Theses, which were tweaks to the way the church operated. Luther never wanted or expected it to become a major religious revolution against the church, rather he simply wanted the church to make the changes. Regardless of Luther’s intentions, the Protestant Reformation had significant short-term and long-term causes and consequences for western civilization. The 95 Theses were eventually Perhaps the biggest long-term cause of the reformation was the Catholic Church becoming more recognized, but more importantly greedy. During the Renaissance, the church was spending so much money on art that they used the indulgences to cover all the purchases. Clergymen and people in the church’s hierarchy started living lavish lifestyles during the Renaissance becoming greedy. This then led to Martin Luther’s 95 Theses and eventually to the Protestant Reformation. Naturally, when a religion becomes world renowned, someone will eventually find a flaw in the system, and that’s what Luther and his reformers did. The Catholic Church didn’t help their case by becoming greedy and trying to cover their loses either. Another major long-term cause was humanists urging for a simpler, less corrupt religion. Finally strong national monarchs emerging was a major cause to the Protestant Reformation. Many of these long-term causes of the Protestant Reformation led to impactful and sever consequences for western

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