ipl-logo

The Reformation Dbq

844 Words4 Pages

During the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the countries of Europe began to develop a rift. This was caused by a movement known as the Reformation. The Reformation was jump-started by the posting of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses. Luther urged for the reform of the Catholic Church and its ideas. The proponents of his reform convinced many of the common people to reconsider the foundations of their religious beliefs, as well as the structures of their communities. In 1520, Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church, and he and his followers – the majority of whom were peasants - became known as Protestants. Inspired by Luther and his ideas, the peasants revolted against their lords. Initially arising as a call for change and justice, the peasant revolt took a violent turn and brought to light the contrasting views and values of Christianity, which ultimately led to the destruction of a unified Catholic Church and Europe. Clergy supporting …show more content…

An important figure during this time period was Thomas Müntzer. He was a priest and theologian who merged religious reform with social revolution. Although the movement was inspired by the ideas of Martin Luther, Müntzer preached equally against the Church and Luther, as he believed that they had humbled themselves to lay authorities. In an open letter to the people of Allstedt in 1525, Müntzer wrote, “How long are you going to resist G-d’s will?” (Document 6) Describing the chaos that had occurred during the Holy Easter week, he encouraged the peasants to further revolt: “Hammer away on the anvils of the princes and lords, cast down their towers to the ground!” What started off as a call for justice and rights, resulted in a violent, bloody, and thoughtless attack. Müntzer used religion to gain new recruits, but what Eck had said ended up true. As time went on, the peasants were “blinded, led astray, and made

Show More
Related
1347 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More
651 Words | 3 Pages

The beginning of the 16th century brought with it the Reformation. The Catholic Church became challenged by Martin Luther and John Calvin. With nailing of the 95 theses on the Church doors, Luther began the Protestant Reformation. The counter-reformation was introduced in Europe to weaken the Protestant Reformation and rebuild the power of the Catholic Church through education, clergy reform, and spreading of the Catholic faith. The counter-reformation can be additionally seen as a political movement because of the loss in revenue in the Baltic provinces.

Read More
753 Words | 4 Pages

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).

Read More
1052 Words | 5 Pages

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

Read More
682 Words | 3 Pages

Martin Luther was a german theologian who brought on the reformation by demanding changes in the Catholic Church (“Martin Luther”). Martin grew with a father that was a miner and grew up working and being very religious (“Martin Luther”). One year later he followed out his promise by leaving everything behind and being ordained a monk (Martin Luther, World History Ancient and Medieval Eras). Many people believe Martin spoke badly about the church because he was corrupted by temptation. Martin Luther was ordained a monk in 1507 and did this hopefully find inner peace however, temptation made

Read More
543 Words | 3 Pages

The sixteenth century in Europe was a time of change for the Europe. People were starting to question the Church's authority, some people who questioned the Church were Martin Luther, John Calvin and Henry VIII. These people helped to start the Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation was a time when new religions were formed by people who protested the Catholic faith and what it was doing. Many people date the start of the Protestant Reformation with German Martin Luther's

Read More
889 Words | 4 Pages

The Middle Ages were the era of Reformation. The Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation, and the Catholic counter-reformation were all major reform movements that brought about much needed change. However, these three movements strongly disagreed with each other. Why did they disagree? Because they had different perspectives concerning Christianity and the church’s authority.

Read More
822 Words | 4 Pages

People were unhappy with the way the clergy were treating their people and it was clear that corruption was throughout the Catholic church. The state of the Catholic church, while significant, was simply a backdrop for Martin Luther in his early life. Ironically, he was on the side of the Catholic church in his early life; he was “a university professor of theology and a member of the Catholic clergy,” (Dutton, 390). This close integration with the church made it surprising that he was the one to lead a religious reformation. However, it was his knowledge of scripture that made his message so

Read More
792 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
928 Words | 4 Pages

Luther did not give his support and encouraged the princes to kill the peasants. The princes end up “killing over one hundred thousand peasants as they put down the rebellion (Jones 151).” The violence and conflict associated with the Protestant Reformation had a lasting impact on the religious and cultural landscape of Europe and set a precedent for future religious wars and acts of

Read More
428 Words | 2 Pages

The reformation was a time period of revolutionized ideologies that led to a new look of the world for many in Europe. Starting in Switzerland and Germany the reformation was a time period in which there was a major fundamental shift in society including the selling of indulgences, reforms to the Catholic Church, and the start of a separation between the Catholic Church and the secular ruling elites. When the reformation started, humanists Martin Luther and others started to protest against the selling of indulgences. Luther began his public protest of the selling of indulgences when he posted his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg.

Read More
166 Words | 1 Pages

The Reformation was a necessary part of history. The Roman Catholic Church had become the biggest church in the Eastern world, with control over governments, land, and riches. With the immense power came a level of corruption that the people could no longer ignore. A famous monk, named Martin Luther, disagreed with many of the churches practices, and he led a revolt against the church, which resulted in the Protestant movement, and the formation of many new branches of the church.

Read More
578 Words | 3 Pages

The year is 1517. Martin Luther has just nailed his 95 theses on the doors of the Wittenburg church. The Catholic church stands for personal gain, nepotism, and brothels, but Luther raised a position of self-salvation to the people. This ended up being so controversial that he was given the equivalent of a cease and desist notice, but this still couldn’t stop the spark he lit. The peasant revolts of 1524-26 were caused by a new wave of thinking cause by Martin Luther which made peasants believe they no longer had to be peasants.

Read More
280 Words | 2 Pages

Protestant Reformation  Protestant Reformation was a European Christian movement. This movement, led by Martin Luther reformed the Roman Catholic Church practices and begin Protestantism. The reformation started because of the corruption of Roman Catholic Church.   The corruption that begin the protestant reformation was phony relics and indulgences. The church priests would sell these relics to poor people knowing that they were fake and build on lies only to make money for the church.

Read More
480 Words | 2 Pages

The German Peasants' war breaks out. Luther wrote several letters rejecting the revolt. In a series of deeply religious ferment there was a continuous struggle for the supremacy of earthly political power between popes and secular powers. ” From the very beginning, the late of Luter’s movement was closely tied to political affair.” In conclusion, in the beginning there was Luther insisted that secular authority had to use force against the Pope, but also argued vehemently that was not to be any reason to resist secular rulers

Read More

More about The Reformation Dbq

Open Document