Protestant Reformation Essay

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Introduction In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany. This document detailed ideas that he had about Christianity and invited people to debate with him. He did this to fight against the Catholic Church in a movement known as the Protestant Reformation. But what caused the Protestant Reformation? There were many factors that contributed to the Protestant split from the Catholic Church, but the largest contributors include a few people, thoughts, technological advancements, and events in time. Important People Events such as the Protestant Reformation do not just happen. There are always people who advocate for it, start it, or may even be the problem that caused it. Some of the …show more content…

The Renaissance started around the same time as the Protestant Reformation. The Renaissance brought loads of new ideas and inventions to the world. It brought inventions like the Printing Press, and ideas such as Humanism. These ideas had a substantial impact on the course of the Protestant Reformation. Christian Humanism was one of the largest ideas brought by the Renaissance. Humanism was the belief in the value of the individual. It promoted the seeking of new information and led to finding multiple editions of the Bible. It also introduced individualism, which helped fuel Jan Hus’s opinions on the separation of believers and priests and helped people think for themselves …show more content…

Some of the other things that contributed to it were Western Schism and the perceived decadence of the clergy and the Catholic Church. The Western Schism started back in the early 1300s. It was a period where multiple Popes were appointed. This happened because Avignon, a commune in France, took on Papacy. This resulted in a pope in Rome and Avignon, causing problems in authority. When the French and Italian cardinals could not decide on one of them, they elected a third. After almost 40 years of having two popes, it was finally resolved in 1417 when the Council of Constance selected Pope Martin

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