Essay 3 During the Middle Ages, the Renaissance spread throughout Europe. The Renaissance was a time where different art forms, philosophies, and ideologies formed. The Renaissance originated in Rome. During the Renaissance, many Europeans, especially Romans, became humanists. Secularism took over during the Renaissance. This caused many to question the church’s Catholicism viewpoints. Many Roman Catholic churches started to implement new doctrines that stated that in order to enter heaven, one had to have a piece of paper that stated that they could enter heaven and were insured a spot in heaven if they bought the paper. These papers were called indulgences. The Roman Catholic churches were corrupt in doing this. They were corrupted by making money off of lies. This did not settle with Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a monk who did not condone the actions of the church. The corruption of the …show more content…
One person, other than Martin Luther, who opposed the churches actions, was John Wycliffe. He was against the churches giving out indulgences. John Wycliffe “emphasized the spiritual freedom of the individual. He argued that every person—priest or layman— held an equal place in the eyes of God. He believed the Pope should not be adorned with riches but rather with poverty. The Pope should not be a political leader” (Section 8: The Church in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance). John Wycliffe even went as far as to calling the doctrine of the Church that was for the indulgences “a manifold blasphemy against Christ” (John Wycliffe (c.1330-1384): “On Indulgences”). These indulgences were eventually revoked thanks to Martin Luther, Wycliffe, and several supporters. After the indulgences were put to a stop, the authority of the Church changed because of the opposition of Martin Luther and the spread of