During the early sixteenth century the Church began to experience loss of respect and many challenges due to the corruption within the church. Many began to think the church was dying. This would cause the reformation. Throughout the age of reformation, the political and social spheres of Europe were also significantly affected, as well as the religious movement, through Martin Luther, the printing press, and the opinions of the people. The reformation is often viewed as a religious movement, yet it also affected the political and social aspects of Europe as well.
Thomas Cromwell was a man who came to power during the reign of HenryVIII. While that is a true statement, it also fails to provide a clear indication of what Cromwell’s power consisted of and how much of it he actually had. Cromwell was Henry’s chief minister and vicegerent , which meant he had a large degree of influence over the initial stages of Henry’s reformation. Cromwell’s rise occurred because he supposedly was able to solve the kings problem of divorce. Diarmaid MacCulloch credits Cromwell with spearheading, if not greatly directing the religious developments of Henry’s England.
Luther’s radical new ideas regarding religion excited the peasants of the German states and his ideas stated in documents such as his 95 theses acted as a catalyst for the revolts that erupted in the lower class between the years 1524 and 1526. Peasants believed the cause of these revolts were the mistreatment they received from their lords and ruling princes. Their acts of revolution were largely based on new radical ideas surrounding religion, and some even saw it as God’s will. A third cause cited by the peasants was a need for their release from serfdom.
Luther believed that salvation was achieved by the grace of god and not by doing the work that the church demanded. The Reformation was so much more than a religious revolution even though it started out with a religious nature, it exceeded pass religion.
The peasants’ revolts in the German states occurred after the Reformation had gripped Europe. Religious figures at this time such as Martin Luther, and John Calvin, as well as writings like The Ninety-Five Theses, incited many peasants to look with new ideas about Catholicism and the clergy, which led to a call for reform, and later rebellion, the causes of which were mainly the oppression of lords against the lay people economically and physically, as well as extreme Lutheran teaching. Martin Luther, and those that were accused of the oppression, the nobles, responded by saying those that took part in the rebellion were unchristian, and should submit to proper authority, shaping the conflict and the rebellion.
Thomas Muntzer supported the rebellions, he believed countries had finally stopped resisting God’s Will, and he supported the peasants taking down the unethical upper class (Doc 4). As a protestant preacher, Muntzer strived to kindle rebellions because he yearned for a drastic religious reform of the corrupt Catholic church (POV). Being the man that started the Reformation, Martin Luther supported the development of a new religion, but he did not support the violent process the peasants were using to further the reform (Doc 5). Luther was a man of strong faith and he understood that killing nobles, even if it was for God, was unchristian, therefore he didn’t endorse the German peasant revolts even though they were in his name (POV). Caspar Nutzel, similar to Luther, responded to the uprisings by saying that the authorities had been very suppressive, but the peasants did cross a line with their improper conduct (Doc 6).
Wealth, fame, and power, Henry Every The king of the pirates earned these and anything else the world had to offer. Henry Every was a man of many titles such as “Long Ben”, “The Arch Pirate” and most importantly “The King Of Pirates”, he operated for a total of only two years before allowing himself to retire with the biggest bounty ever put on a crew. Every earned the title "Arch Pirate" due to pulling off one of the most daring and profitable raids in history when he captured the Grand Mughal ship, the "Ganj-i-Sawai," in 1695. who is said to have carried cargo worth 95 million in today’s dollars.
The Reformation caused many who were born into lower classes to question the social caste system as Luther had questioned the church, which eventually lead to the Peasant Revolt of 1524. This Revolt spawned The Twelve Articles of the Swabian Peasants, which stated, “It has been customary for men to hold us as their property [as serfs]. But since Christ redeemed us all, it accords with Scripture that we should be set free.” This shows the peasants were slaves of that time as they were “held as property” by the people in power, however, even with the peasants best efforts they were “shut down” swiftly by the lords and princes. At the beginning of the Revolution, Martin Luther gave his sympathies to the peasants, but once the peasants began to pillage, burn, and kill he decided to side with the princes and lords.
Many reformers such as Martin Luther, John Wycliff, and John Calvin played prominent roles in sixteenth-century Europe; they helped to reform Catholic churches and change the Europeans’ ways of thinking. “The Reformation was a rejection of the secular spirit of the Italian Renaissance” is a true statement. The main goal of the religious reformation was to bring back the former beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, which were based off of the bible; this went against the Renaissance ideas. Martin Luther was one of the many important reformers in sixteenth century Europe. Luther helped to completely change the church systems by writing his 95 theses.
About the author: The Table Talks are the random conversations written down by various guests at Luther 's table, which over the years were gathered together and published in various collections. It is based on the notes of the students that Luther had and compiled by Johannes Mathesius and published soon after. Mathesius spoke very highly about the privilege of eating and conversing with Luther, and was known for taking detailed and serious notes about the remarks that Luther made. Other note takers wrote down only the serious remarks of Luther, rather than including the more damaging and hurtful words of Luther.
John Calvin John Calvin was an important aspect in the reformation for multiple reasons one being that he was a leading figure by publishing the Institutes of the Christian Religion which he hoped to regulate Protestantism. He also became a valued spiritual and political leader in which he put together a religious government. Later given absolute supremacy as the leader in Geneva. He was a man who instituted numerous positive policies. He did a superb job of what he was trying to accomplish, he banned all art other than music which ended up creating Geneva the center of Protestantism, which is what he was shooting for initially.
The opposition Luther took against the Church soon had an instant impact on peasants. Individuals began to form opinions on both political and religious fields, but they had failed to interpret the beliefs of Luther correctly.
In this speech, from William Shakespeare's Henry VIII, Cardinal Wolsey addresses his sudden downfall as adviser to the king. Shakespeare describes how Wolsey feels as he found out the news. Moreover, he shows the anger and disappointment one could feel when it’s unexpected. Wolsey’s monologue reveals both his anger and lamentation as he struggles to understand why this downfall has occurred. Shakespeare portrays Wolsey’s farewell with allusions and figurative language, accompanied by a vengeful tone.
Overall, the reformation had many major positive and negative impacts on the development of Europe. The reformation lead to the ideas of equality and the rights of an individual. Both of these ideas came from the religious aspect of the reformation. The idea of equality come from the Christianity aspect and the idea of the right of an individual came from the Protestants. The reformation gave people a sense of Liberty that they had never felt before due to the rule of the Church and rule of the different Empires.
The strongest teams are when each group member understands their own strengths and weaknesses well. Unfortunately, it is not easy to honestly evaluate one’s strengths and weaknesses but there are assessments such as; True Color that provide insight. After taking the True Color and Clifton Strengths finder assessment, I realized the best way for me to cultivate a positive team environment is clearly understanding my role within the group early-on, providing a logical perspective for decisions, and identifying others strengthens and weakness so we can offset one another. Additionally, Leader-Membership-Exchange theory, known as LMX, is important towards establishing a successful team. The combination of all these elements result in teams achieving their goals.
