Protestant Reformation Dbq

The Protestant Reformation was the 16th century religious, political, social, and economic upheaval which was an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the creation of the Protestant church. The Northern Christian Humanists of centuries before believed that the Christian faith had once been a simple religion that had been twisted and distorted through time by the incompetent papal authority. The Reformation completely changed the medieval way of life in Western Europe and introduced the era of modern history. Even though the movement dates from the early 16th century, when Martin Luther first challenged the authority of the church, the conditions had existed for hundreds of years. Religious and intellectual aspects were

The Pope and the Priest were corrupt and brutal. They neglected their people and took an intense interest in politics. Many critiqued the church on its clerical immortality, clerical ignorance, and clerical pluralism with also the problem of absenteeism. This meant that the papacy stayed away from their duties without a good reason. King Henry VIII’s chancellor Thomas Wolsey didn’t step foot in his diocese until fifteen years after. There was a frequent amount of clerical drunkenness and gambling. The papacy tried to make as much money as possible and issued indulgences, which were granted by the pope of reduction of the punishment in purgatory even after committing a sin. An indulgence ensured someone that they would go to heaven. Martin Luther’s 95 Theses on the Power of Indulgences

The rise new monarchs who were powerful and established their absolute rule, contributed to the Reformation. A number of monarchs including Henry VIII considered the presence of a powerful church as a check on their authority since in many ways outside the King's authority and the property of the church was excused from royal taxation. Bishops still directed justice in church in agreement with the Canon Law. The flow of enormous amounts of money from the revenues of the country to the Papal treasury was also opposed by them. There was a weakened ability of rulers to influence events or resist the Papal demands for money. Rulers wanted to master their own territory; rulers used their power to the form of religion that was to be followed. Socio-religious radicalism was reduced in areas that adopted Anglican, Lutheran, Calvinist, or Roman Catholic churches. They established Protestant churches in their country knowing that the new church would be dependent upon them and willing to accept their political