The Spread of Protestantism in the 1500's

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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...

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...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.

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