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The effects of the reformation
The cause and effects of reformation
Factors which led to reformation
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The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were periods of questioning and searching for truth. The practice of challenging traditional institutions, including the Church, was revolutionary. Individuals began to use reason to guide their actions and opinions and realized the oppressive nature of the Catholic monarchy. Individuals strove to act in their own best interest and in the name of what was true to them. The consensus was that society would be better off with an economy that shifted away from agriculture, looked globally, and decreased monopolies and the importance of Guilds, as economic opportunities would surface for all classes of men. This type of economy was only possible in light of religious reform, as religion was the foundation of all traditional aspects of the political and economic world.
Religious reformers offered alternatives to Catholicism that attracted men from all social and economic classes. They delineated the problems associated with rule under a Catholic dominated state that the majority of men could relate to. A questioning of the nature of government resulted, and the role that religion should have in politics was addressed. Different opinions surfaced, and because of both differing religious views and an increased awareness of the Church's abuse of political power, religion lost its cohesive ability and diminished in importance in local politics. As individuals experienced life absent of former traditional and religious restraints, benefits were realized, many of which were economic. Additionally, economic ventures led men to encounter other cultures, increasing appreciation of differing spiritual views.
Luther and Calvin offered alternatives to Catholicism, feeling that superstition guided man...
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... questions considered heresy. In effect, the common man felt deceived by his passivity and realized that his world was quite different from the image constructed by the Church. Two of the most significantly effected aspects of people's lives during the 16th and 17th centuries were their religious practice and economic pursuits. People increasingly used reason to determine what their beliefs were and how they should carry out their lives. Absent of the stringent limitations posed by traditional Catholic culture, individuals could secure themselves better economic opportunities and lifestyles.
References
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Clifford R. Backman, The Cultures of the West: A History. Volume 1: To 1750. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.
During the Middle Ages, independent thought was viewed disdainfully. Almost any idea deviating from the status quo, largely determined by the Roman Catholic Church, was condemned as heresy. One convicted of such a grievous offense was often excommunicated or killed, either by means of a proper execution or by a hostile mob. However, with the decline of the Middle Ages, the conditions arose for the birth of individualism—the development of which can be traced through the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the rise of capitalism. Individualism was a radical ideological revolution that forever altered the face of Europe and the rest of the world.
Perry, Marvin, et al. Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics and Society. 4th ed. Vol. I. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992.
3. Jackson J. Spielvogel. Western Civilization Third Edition, A Brief History volume 1: to 1715. 2005 Belmont CA. Wadsworth Publishing
Coffin, Judith G., and Robert C. Stacey. "CHAPTER 18 PAGES 668-669." Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture. 16TH ed. Vol. 2. New York, NY: W. W. Norton &, 2008. N. pag. Print.
What happens when people start to break away from the entity that bound an entire civilization together for over a thousand years? How does one go from unparalleled devotion to God to the exploration of what man could do? From absolute acceptance to intense scrutiny? Sheeple to independent thinkers? Like all revolutions preceding it, the Protestant Reformation did not happen overnight. Catholics had begun to lose faith in the once infallible Church ever since the Great Schism, when there were two popes, each declaring that the other was the antichrist. Two things in particular can be identified as the final catalyst: a new philosophy and simple disgust. The expanding influence of humanism and the corruption of the Catholic Church led to the Protestant Reformation, which in turn launched the Catholic Reformation and religious warfare.
Martin, Glenn Richards. "Chapter 8-13." Prevailing Worldviews of Western Society since 1500. Marion, IN: Triangle, 2006. 134+. Print.
... in the church so much that they were willing to devote their whole lives to it. Whilst this period did see a rise in the influence of the church, this reflected a need for people to find some comfort against the hardships of disease, wars and the chaos from government collapsing.
Hobson, J. M., 2004. The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 57
The renaissance and the reformation were two of the most significant changes in history that has shaped our world today. Both of these great time periods are strikingly similar in some ways and totally different in others. This is because the renaissance was a change from religion to humanism whether it is in art or literature; it is where the individual began to matter. However, the reformation was,” in a nutshell,” a way to reform the church and even more so to form the way our society is today. The first half of this paper will view the drop in faith, the economic powers, and the artistic and literary changes during the renaissance, while the second half will view the progresses and changes the church makes during the reformation.
Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization. 8th ed. Vol. 1. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.
McKay, J/P/, Hill, B.D., Buckler, J., Ebrey, P.B., Beck, R.B., Crowston, C.H., & Wiesner-Hanks, M.E. (2008). A History of World Societies, Volume A: From Antiquity to 1500. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martin's
Duiker, William J. , and Jackson J. Spielvogel. World History . 6th. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Pub Co, 2010. print.