Tell Me about the Reformation

A great majority of the churchs dramatic changes in the sixteenth century came from the religious struggle of clashing
perspectives of what was considered just and unjust. Before the REFORMATION, people from all social groups were ardent
on devoting their time and money to religious causes and foundations. However, the Christian Church had three main
problems that society steadily began to condemn about. They specifically opposed the Churchs demonstration of
CLERICAL IMMORALITY, CLERICAL IGNORANCE, and CLERICAL PLURALISM. Many priests, monks, and nuns
disregarded celibacy, had one or more churches, neglecting the devotion needed for their job, and did not know what they
were even talking about really. One of the causes originated because the second eldest sons were sent to live as a priest or
monk for it was the second best thing other than inheriting the family fortune otherwise known as PRIMOGENITURE.
MARTIN LUTHER, an ordained priest was especially keen on changing the corruption of the Church. POPE LEO X
authorizing the sale of indulgences to finance his building plans in Rome severely troubled Luther. He saw that the
purchases of INDULGENCES alleviated the remorse of people and so, he decided to make a change. In 1517, he pinned a
letter to Archbishop Albert on the door of his church stating 95 things he felt was wrong with the church which became
known as his NINETY-FIVE THESES. From there, the papacy reacted by ordering Luther to burn his books and recant
within two months or be excommunicated. However, after appearing in the DIET OF WORMS, held by Charles V, Luther
refused to recant. Another humanist and priest, ULRICH ZWINGLI paralleled Luther with his passion to change the Church.
He was set on the idea that Christian life rested on Scriptures which he thought was the pure and sole basis of religious truth.
The followers of Zwingli and Luther were called PROTESTANTS for they believed that salvation came by faith alone. The
COLLOQUY OF MARBURG was consequently summoned to unite these Protestants, which reached agreements on every
issue except an important one concerning COMMUNION. Luther believed that Christ himself was present in the consecrated
bread and wine whereas Zwingli believed that only the spirit of Christ was present in the bread and wine. Progressively,
Luther and Zwingli worked with political authorities. Religious radicals were usually pacifists, refused to hold office which
lead both Protestant and Catholic authorities felt threatened by the implications of their religious ideas and by their total
rejection of a state church. In 1523 and 1524, crop failures heightened the poor economic condition of many German
peasants, distressed the nobles rents, which made demands they believed conformed to the Scriptures. This caused some
revolts caused by the peasants creating the GERMAN PEASANTS WAR. Luther originally sided with the peasants but
when rebellion began he did not because the Scripture did not mention anything about earthly justice or material gain. He
wrote the tract AGAINST THE MURDEROUS, THIEVING HORDES O THE PEASANTS being set on the idea that
rebellion would impair civilized society. Regarding Marriage and Sexuality, both Luther and Zwingli believed that marriage
brought spiritual advantages. Protestants understood a proper marriage as one that reflected both the spiritual equality of men
and women and the social hierarchy of wifely obedience and husbandly authority. They also thought that marriages that did
not have the elements of marital companionship might only be resolved by divorce, a clear difference from Catholic
doctrine. Although the Protestant Reformation had a positive impact on marriage, its impact on women was more mixed.
The events of the Reformation were greatly influenced by rise of the Habsburg prince CHARLES V to emperor of the Holy
Roman Empire. Charles V was a devout Catholic and so the Reformation led to religious wars. Of the thirteen cantons in
Switzerland, some remained to be Catholic while others turned to Protestantism. These two sides went to war in the late
1520s. After Zwingli was killed on the battlefield, the sides created a treaty that allowed each region to determine its own
religion and forced each side to get rid of its foreign alliances. This policy of neutrality still stands as a characteristic of
Switzerland today. To stop the division of religion, Charles V called on the IMPERIAL DIET in 1530. Here the Protestant
princes presented the Lutheran statement of faith called the AUGSBURG CONFESSION, to Charles V. After the rejection
ordered from Charles, the Protestant territories formed a military alliance against him. Finally, in 1555, the emperor gives in
and agrees to the PEACE OF AUGSBURG which allows the political authority in each canton to decide its religion. With
total surrender, Charles V abdicated the following year and moves to a monastery, giving his power to his son Philip and
brother Ferdinand.