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Protestant Reformation In The 1500's

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The ideas of the Protestant reformation of the 1500’s had been in the minds of peasants for years because of the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church. Many people felt the clergy (church members) had taken advantage of the people, by becoming wealthy while the people were poor and hungry. There was also a rising sense of nationalism in Europe, that combined with the anger of the economic and political demands made by the Church, further angered the people. The church was spending money in many ways. The Pope was competing for political power in Italy, and had to fight off invasions from other countries. In addition, Pope Leo X (son of Lorenzo de Medici), was a great patron (contributes money) of arts and artists to create very expensive works, however the Pope paid for the art with the Church’s money. The church paid for this by having the peasants pay higher tithes (taxes to the church) and increasing the cost of baptisms and marriages. The use of indulgences was also a major reason people wanted a reform. An indulgence is a pardon for their sins. In 1517, German priest Martin Luther, son of a peasant miner, began a revolt that became the Reformation. Luther, who had been a student of law, had an epiphany (a dream). In a storm, Luther looked for shelter, for he thought …show more content…

The money being raised from the indulgences was to help build St. Peter 's Basilica in Rome. Tetzel told the people the purchase of the indulgences would save them and guarantee them to heaven. After seeing this, Luther wrote a list of 95 Theses, a list of arguments against indulgences. The complaints were nailed to the door of the Wittenberg cathedral. Luther’s main complaints were first, there were no basis for indulgences in the Bible, second, they had no authority to free souls from purgatory, and third, Christians could only be saved from

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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.

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Assignment 1: 1. The sources of religious discontent that preceded the Reformation was the people’s unhappiness with the selling of the offices of the church, clergy members holding more than one office, the selling of indulgences, church taxation, absenteeism, the literate and uneducated priests, and nepotism among the clergy. Additionally, the fact that most clergy was exempt from tax but could own property upset the people. 2. Luther’s intentions and actions of the 95 thesis to the Peace of Augsburg was to tell the Archbishop Albert that the indulgences were making penance insignificant, going against what was in the Gospels, and taking the importance of charity out of Christian’s lives.

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The influence of religion during the Reformation was a manifestation of the conflict of criticism toward the Catholic Church that shaped the events of the age. Although the peasants were primarily motivated towards economic and political justice, the Reformation introduced the German peasants to independent ideas and generated a movement against the nobility, as well as tying into the countermovement of the German peasant revolts of 1524 and 1525. Instead of seeking refuge in feudal authority, the peasants of Germany reflected religious ideas in their revolution by appealing to God’s authority. As the hold of the church's influence over society declined from the conflict of the Reformation, the leaders of the revolts optimized the growing animosity to generate support for the revolts. Correspondingly, religion expressed the

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The 95 Theses, which were courteously written to the Pope, denounced the sale of Papal Indulgences and attracted the attention of German aristocrats who were tired of paying so much to the Church. Due to the printing press, Luther’s 95 Theses were printed quickly and translated into many different languages so that his writing became available and popular throughout Germany. The Pope responded to Luther’s accusations by mandating that Luther recant. Luther then realized that the Church was far more corrupt than he thought, so he announced that the Pope and Catholic Church had been wrong in the past and were wrong again at that time.

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