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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