Discuss The Factors That Led To The Reformation Dbq

The Renaissance, Religious Reformations, religious wars, and oversea expansions lead to changing attitudes in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The Protestant Reformation raised the status of women, but at the same time reformers like Martin Luther believed women should be domestic figures and stay out of the public area. As a result of the strong religious feelings from the Reformations, people became insecure with certain women, like widows and midwives, and developed the idea that they were witches and conferring with the devil. This insecurity and confusion launched the Great European witch-hunt. A witch-hunt is the searching for witches, which often resulted in the trial and persecution of women allegedly practicing witchcraft.

During this time period of confusion and insecurity, many people referred to religious leaders and reformers for answers. One such reformer was Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation. In one such sermon, he said that some women were “the Devil’s whores” who stole things for the Devil and caused plagues and storms (Doc 5). Contemporaries were convinced by what Luther was saying because it explained the things that were happening to them and gave them some comfort. In the end, women became the scapegoats of the societies’ adversities like bad harvest or animal dying in the area. Another person who had strong opinions on the witch-hunt was Manfred Rohrbach, a German Court Physician. Rohrbach claimed that lonely and ugly women, or those accused of practicing witchcraft, are “scapegoats in society” and “pay for our fears and ills” (Doc 6). As a physician, Rohrbach would rely on science and logic, rather than jumping to conclusions that women were the source of sicknesses. These two sources proved that people’s inability to explain what was happening led to women becoming scapegoats and the witch-hunt

The religious reforms stirred up extreme religious thoughts and made people rely on their religion for answers. The religious leaders and reformers urged their followers to persecute witches and support the witch-hunt. One such leader was Pope Innocent VIII, the pope in 1484. Pope Innocent VIII said that people who do not believe in the Catholic faith are “giving themselves over to the devil” and that these “fallen souls” should be imprisoned and punished (Doc 3). As pope, he would mostly want to look good in front of his people especially to attract followers back to Catholicism. Therefore, he said this to appear to be persecuting witches. Another religious leader and reformer who associated religion with the witchcraft, was John Calvin. John Calvin is the father of Calvinism and founded the city of Geneva. Calvin believed in Scripture and so he quoted Scripture saying that an army of demons have been casted off and that they have to be gotten rid of (Doc 7). This is saying that Calvin considers witches and devils sinful, and that he supports persecuting witches. As a Protestant, Calvin believes that the authority lies in Scripture alone, so he would naturally agree with what the Scripture is saying. Another example of Calvin trying to get rid of sinful things is the Geneva Consistory he set up to monitor the private morals of his citizens in Geneva. Calvin is