Protestant Reformation Research Paper

“The Reformation of the sixteenth century is the greatest event in history. It marks the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of modern times. Starting from religion, it gave, directly or indirectly, a mighty impulse to every forward movement.” (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church). The Protestant Reformation was shaped by a combination of several factors: a century of discontent with the Catholic Church, whose popes and bishops were demonstrating an increasing abuse of spiritual power for political and material gain, this created extensive revolution in four major influential powerhouses in Europe, England, Germany, France and Rome, consequently reshaping political and religious values in all of Europe. In turn, it radically

The Reformation impacted England starting in 1534 with Henry VIII's adoption of a Protestant national church for his own purposes, England adopting a new Protestant religion, embracing social ideas, and an idea of a national church added an overwhelming political power to England. Nevertheless with the majority of the population being devoutly Catholic, the reformation was not achieved without struggle, “On the whole, English men and women did not want the Reformation and most of them were slow to accept it when it came” (The Reformation and the English People, J.J. Scarisbrick, Historian). With separation of the Roman Catholic Church came the transfer of control of much of English territory from the Church to the English monarchy. Most English wealth was derived from the control and use of land. Prior to the Reformation, much of England's land was under the control of Rome; preventing the English from using it

The initial spread of Luther's ideas produced chaos, dissent, and rebellion, which naturally confirmed in the minds of faithful Catholics their belief that religious conflict brought spiritual peril. Luther himself called for German resistance to the papacy in nationalist terms, and the call was quickly answered. In 1522, knights in the Rhineland rebelled. They claimed to be loyal to the emperor, to be defending his rights in Germany, but in truth they were trying to defend their own, for the lower orders of knights in Germany had long been suffering both economically and socially many of them also had been persuaded to Lutheranism. "The most important thing for the future of the German nation was whether the nation would succeed in breaking away from the papacy without endangering both the state and its slowly and painfully acquired culture." - Leonard Krieger (Historian) As people began to feel freedom from the authority of the Church, they hungered for freedom from the oppression of their landlords and nobles. Peasants began to revolt against their oppressors. This change in hierarchy created a new societal structure and changed Germany’s political and social