Reformation Propaganda
The Reformation in the early 16th century started with Martin Luther questioning the authority of the Catholic Church by condemning the Pope for selling religious offices, letting religious leaders go against their vows, and selling indulgences; indulgences were contracts sold by the church to the people, to reduce people’s punishment for their sins. Luther proceeded to publicly confront and challenge the church and started his religion, Lutheranism, which only followed the Bible, not the Pope. At the time, people couldn’t read the Bible for themselves so they did not question the Catholic church’s supremacy and saw the clergy as delivering the word of God (Iordache 64). However, Martin Luther wanted people to read the
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One of these pieces of propaganda is Luther’s 95 Theses. Many scholars argue that Luther wrote his theses to condemn the Catholic church, the Pope, and indulgences. One researcher for The Library of Congress, David Morris, pulls together multiple sources to argue that Luther intended to condemn the church. Despite researchers claiming Luther wrote his theses for those reasons, this essay will argue that although Luther does argue the Pope and indulgences are corrupt, he also writes his theses to save the souls of the German laypeople. In Luther’s theses, he writes about the corruption of the Catholic Church, specifically that the Pope is the antichrist because he sold …show more content…
In the woodcuts, the two are depicted as portraying opposite actions, in treating their disciples differently. By displaying evidence of the Pope and Christ's contrasting behaviors, Cranach is counting on people to see the logical reasoning and to come to the conclusion themselves, that Pope is the opposite of Jesus, the Antichrist, and he will obliterate Christianity. Cranach is attempting to put the Pope in perspective to Jesus. Jesus was seen as the embodiment of God and therefore he was the prime example of a good Christian. Thus when Cranach shows that the exemplary Christain and the Pope act opposingly, he leads people to see that the Pope is a corrupt Christian. Furthermore, Cranach is depicting a real scene; as Whittford explains, Pope Gregory once said that kings should kiss all Pope’s feet (45). This makes his argument all the more reliable, which, therefore, proves that Cranach had real evidence that he used to support his depiction of the two religious figures acting in opposite ways, in his woodcuts. Cranach’s display of straightforward and firm evidence in his woodcut uses logic that is easy for people to understand so that the people can conclude on their own, that the Pope will be the collapse of the
According to history.com, “The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era.” The Protestant Reformation began as a movement devoted to returning to ancient sources. According to the textbook, “ This religious movement initiated by sixteenth-century, Martin Luther, who openly criticized the corruption in the Catholic Church and voiced his belief that Christians could speak directly to God. Martin Luther was a Monk and a professor of theology. He questioned the pope and other religious people in his order for doing what he did not feel was acceptable.
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
The Protestant Reformation was a movement that spread throughout Europe, in which started in 1517. The Reformation affected Europe politically and socially. Feelings leading up to the Reformation were very religious, and very much full of disrespect. In document 2, written by Martin Luther in the 95 Theses, many people were very bitter of the church’s idea of “the money box.
I. The Protestant Reformation in Europe was a reform movement that occurred during the sixteenth century which divided the Western Christian church into Catholic and Protestant groups. Although the Reformation occurred in the sixteenth century earlier events of the late fourteenth and fifteenth century created the environment for the Reformation to occur. The Reformation was started by Martin Luther, who was a monk and professor who lectured the Bible (Duiker, World History, 421). There were four major factors that lead to The Protestant Reformation in Europe:
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.
Instead, Luther went for the roots of the theological aspect of the church. He claimed that the church was not teaching the correct materials and that he was. In his book “95 Theses,” Martin Luther attacked the theory of the selling of indulgences, stating that only God had control of souls in Purgatory, and no human figure himself. It was Luther’s statement about how scripture and faith were the only assets needed to attain Heaven that really put the church authority over the edge. He was not planning on breaking from the church with thus statement, but the pope had enough and finally decided to excommunicate his from the church
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
The Reformation The Reformation was a religious movement whose influence rivaled that of the Renaissance. The Reformation was a religious revolution which coincided with the end of Renaissance. The Reformation was a product of Martin Luther’s criticism of the Roman Catholic Church, whose power in Europe during the 16th century was undeniably enormous. Luther’s works discredited the institution the Church had become, which led to the Roman Catholic Church being distanced from society, politics, and even religion.
Luther was a devoted monk who practiced and believed in the Church’s teachings until he visited Rome. In Document 5, it says, "He received the impression that ‘Rome, once the holiest city, was now the worst.’ " In Rome, Luther came to realize one thing: the Church was not what it claimed to be. An example of this is when Pope Leo X, after emptying the Vatican’s coffers, sold indulgences to the public, exchanging money for salvation, or another time when a priest stated, "if there was a hell, Rome was built on it." Luther saw the corruption firsthand and decided to start gathering information to oppose the Church.
During the sixteenth century, the Protestant Reformation began due to the use of the printing press to spread new religious ideas, the corruption of the clergy, and the Church’s practice of the sale of indulgences. The printing press was used to spread new
The Reformation was a time in Europe in the 1500s in which people questioned the beliefs of the Catholic Church. There were many changes made by the catholic church. The people that were responsible were Martin Luther, John Calvin and King Henry VIII. The Protestant Reformation of 16th century Europe was primarily the result of three men and their disagreements with the Catholic Church; Martin Luther, John Calvin, and King Henry VIII forever changed the religious landscape of Europe.
The Protestant Reformation began with a movement made by a monk simply to criticize and challenge the actions of the Church. From the disapproval of selling indulgence to the demand of equality, multiple forces have sparked the inception of the Protestant Revolution. Martin Luther’s decision to take public stand against the Church was revolutionary to the society. A movement for religious reforms, known as the Protestant Reformation, was born. Luther’s beliefs were soon adopted by and appealed to every levels of society.
The Protestant Reformation was important in European History because with it came a Counter-Reformation. The Reformation revealed corruption in the Church, such as buying and selling salvation—indulgences—for profit, simony, and the overall battles for power and wealth (within the Church). Martin Luther and John Calvin were crusaders for the reformation and were able to share their ideas and beliefs effectively; they were then accepted/recognized by the people—the educated and uneducated, the middle class and nobility. Luther and Calvin’s beliefs allowed for other people to find a sense of freedom and individualism in religion.
Reformation LEQ Throughout the sixteenth century, Protestant Reformations were a common theme among a vast majority of European countries. The Protestant Reformation that took place in Germany was led by Martin Luther, a former Catholic Monk. His reasons for Reformation were solely religious based, which was very different than the Reformation that took place in England. The English Reformation was led by King Henry VIII, but unlike Luther, his reasons for Reformation were personal.
These ideas prompted many Catholics into finally correcting the church themselves and seeking Reformation. Martin Luther became the leading figure of the Reformation because he had openly challenged the authority of the Pope and attacked the practice of indulgences in his “Ninety-Five Theses” letter. Several other prominent Theologians such as John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli seized upon Luther’s beliefs and Reformation swept across 16th century Europe, leading eventually to