Protestant Reformation Dbq Essay

The Protestant Reformation was a cultural and political change that splintered the Catholic Church in Europe. Reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Henry VIII challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice. The person that had the most responsibility for this rebellion is Martin Luther. People agreed with his beliefs against the catholic church and they followed him. The Protestant Reformation affected people a lot by either unifying them or dividing them. The Protestant Reformation unified the people by the printing press which unified the people with their ideas, everybody had the same ideas and beliefs against the church’s practices, and they became more intellectual and literate

Knowledge, literacy, and their intellectuality expanded ever since the protestant reformation happened. The people that were against the catholic church began thinking for themselves and making better decisions. They agreed on decisions which involved unifying together. For example in the document “People and the Reformation” it states, “The meeting had eventually produced a friendly partnership within Protestant ranks while strengthening the emperor’s position against the threat of Roman Catholic forces”. In other words, this excerpt states that they withheld meetings to make their own decisions to improve the protestant reformation. They would improve it by strengthening the emperor’s position against the threat of the Roman Catholic forces. They united together to defend themselves and the emperor against the Roman Catholic forces. Their right to think for themselves resulted in something else too. In the document it states that, “As the Reformation changed forward, contentions inside of the protestant development changed, prompting lawful hearing. The two side (Luther and Zwingli) were to discover concession to fourteen purposes of argument”. This meant that as they began developing lawful hearing began. They were thinking for themselves and their knowledge expanded. They gained the privilege of being independent by just unifying together and their knowledge, intellectuality, and literacy expanding. Afterwards, even the emperors or princes who were with the protestant reformation were literate and intellectual enough to make their own decisions. In the document, “Growing Protest Towards Reform and the Internal Dispute” it states, “and in the meantime the princes moved to advance Protestantism under the privilege of independent action.” It states that because of independent action they were able to advance and make better development to