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Similarities and differences between Catholicism and Protestantism
Similarities and differences between Catholicism and Protestantism
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Leonhard Von Eck was a German chancellor, or head of government of Bavaria, therefore held a high status and role in society, revealing him as a probable reliable source (doc 1). As chancellor, Von Eck regulated order in society and was accustomed to the behavior of the peasants during this time period. He states that “the peasants are blinded, led astray, and made witless”, which displayed their lack of knowledge (doc 1). Ignorance of the peasants revealed that they, themselves are not dependable, thus, not reliable. Von Eck demonstrates this idea through the quote, “they could change their minds within an hour.” However, Von Eck showed accuracy as he emphasizes facts instead of opinions. His purpose in writing this report was to express his disagreements about Protestantism and how the “Word of God”, “the Gospel” in addition to “brotherly love”, were critical influences in their religious lives. Their “blindness” as Von Eck states, was caused by the utmost control of the Catholic Church. The Peasant Parliament of Swabia in March of 1525, implied the demands of the peasants as a unified faction. (doc 3) The Parliament stressed that as “poor serfs”, they have distressed and …show more content…
The peasants desired “suitable compensation”. They argued that they should not be forced to labor without being rewarded, but will continue to assist lords at “proper times” in return. Thus, this document is held as a credible source. Lorenz Fries, chief advisor to the Archbishop of Wurzburg, also argues about economic equality in June of 1525 (doc 8). Unlike the preachers however, he wrote a secret report, which was not meant to be read by the public, specifically, the peasants. This fact makes the probability of the document more believable, increasing the liability of honesty displayed by Fries (doc 8). The intention of Lorenz Fries was to inform the archbishop of rumors among the peasants, which would claim to change his views on economic prejudice and biased
Davis gives various examples of the social norms that peasants lived under during the sixteenth century. When Sanxi, Guerre’s father, and his family decided to leave their village, Davis states that the majority of men who leave their village do so because they “were usually not heir to their family’s property, as was Sanxi Daguerre, but younger brothers who could not or would not remain in the ancestral household” (Davis 6). This highlights the idea that being the heir to the family’s inheritance is a great indicator of how one’s life as a peasant would carry on. It is very likely that if one is the heir, then the individual shall stay at their property and assume the role as head of the household once the “s...
The Bishop of Hamburg Grants a Charter to Colonists (1106) is a legal document commissioned by Frederick, Bishop of Hamburg, outlining the rights of the Hollanders in regards to the land he was offering for them to colonise. Furthermore, the charter was signed by “Henry, the Priest, to whom we have granted the aforesaid churches for life” in addition to the “laymen, Helikin, Arnold, Hiko, Fordolt, and Referic” . Produced in 1106, this source reveals the value of land in the economic climate of the Middle Ages. This source is “a perpetual benediction” , and thus is destined to the current and future Bishop landowners of the area, to bind them in legal agreement, according to the specific payment and dimensions laid out in the charter. This source illuminates the value and power of the ecclesiastical order of the land. This source reveals the interplay of the church and the secular clergy, the nobility and landowners, and the laity, with further insight into measurements and economic currency used in the 12th century Medieval Europe. Not only was this charter a means of granting land ...
The importance and job of each class fail to function optimally. The castles were rooted economically in the countryside which was intimately connected with the villagers. These villagers were the “social and economic units of rural Europe” (147) which illustrates the importance of the various classes in medieval Europe. Undermining the lower social classes will cause political and social upheaval as they collectively dominate the economic force in the feudal system. Few individual commoners mask the
One of the reasons the serfs led an uprise against the government in the early 1520s was a wanting for economic equality. In a letter written from a Count to a Duke, describes the attacks the peasants were planning and executing in which they attacked the houses of the nobility (Doc 11). The peasants started with the most wealthy individuals and stealing possessions from wealthy areas (like consuming all that was available in the monasteries) and then continued to attack other rick noblemen is descending order of wealth. This systematic approach of attacking the wealthy, and the wealthiest first, shows the dislike by the peasants for the economic system at the time. In addition, in an article written by peasants, called Twelve Articles of the Swabian Peasants, the peasants demanded better compensations for the services they provided their lords (Doc 2). They believed that they were being severely underpaid and were suffering conditions almost equal of that to a slave. They believe that they are simply demanding what is, in their opinion, just. On another instance, in 1525, in a letter written to the Archbishop of Wurzburg by an unknown source, the peasants demand a wealth redistribution (Doc 8). Lorenz Fries, the chief advisor to the Archbishop, discusses that the secret lett...
“Under the outward appearance of the gospel, they honor and serve the devil, thus deserving death in body and soul ten times over.” Luther’s brutal words against the rebelling peasants of Germany in 1525 reveal the complex reality of the Reformation. Suppression of the rebellion by the German aristocracy was swift and violent, leaving over 70,000 German peasants dead. The rebellion targeted the social and political oppression of the peasantry in the early 16th century. The peasants found new justification for revolt in the promising words of Martin Luther. Luther proclaimed a new kind of freedom for the Christian soul and the peasants applied his idea to their own circumstances. However a dichotomy emerged between spiritual freedom and worldly freedom. Luther argued that good Christians were spiritually free but still subject to temporal laws. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of man were separate spheres. Luther rejected attempts to integrate spiritual freedom into the temporal sphere [Luther turned against the peasants’ revolt of 1525 because the demands of the peasants went against his doctrine of Christian freedom, which stressed the spiritual freedom of Christians and concordant obedience to temporal authority. By using scripture as a justification for rebellion, the peasants not only blasphemed God’s name but also acted against the natural order mandated by God.
Reading the book “The Trial of Tempel Anneke” raises interesting questions, and details the clashing of anxieties that took place within Early Modern German communities, both in economic and religious justification. Some central questions posed by myself is proposed below.
A final topic focused and reformed by Catherine II and Peter I was the peasantry. During the time of both rulers, the lower classes did not benefit from their “reforms”. Peter I forced peasants to work on major projects, serve for life to others of higher class, or educate the sons of nobility. While Catherine II advocated the abolition of serfdom and cruel treatment of peasants, she failed to enhance the lives of the people and, instead, gave away thousands of state peasants who became serfs.
Collapse of medieval social structure paved the way for the policies which majorly concentrated on the upliftment of poor. This resulted in the poor relief act for the betterment of the underprivileged people of the society. During 1547 beggars were grouped as ‘V’ and were forced to slavery for two years. The law of 1572 continued this approach stating that beggars should be punished and for a third offence should be given death penalty. The only help for poor people was through private charity. Growing numbers of beggars and vagrants were of great concern to the then ruling government. They were of the view that this might lead to social disorder and hence a distinction was being made between the poor. The poor then were categorized into deserving and the undeserving poor. The deserving poor consisted of the elderly and the very young and families who occasionally found themselves in financial difficulties due to a change in circumstance they were considered deserving of social support. The undeserving poor were those people who often turned to crime to make their living, migrant wo...
Mlambo, Alois. "Peasants and Peasantry." New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Ed. Maryanne Cline Horowitz. Vol. 4. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005. 1727-1730. World History in Context. Web. 17 De c. 2013.
The medieval man felt that all men are equal in the sight of God and that all are equal in the sight of God and that even the humblest has an infinite worth. If a man had to work, this was not to degrade him but it was a source dignity. Having a job was to be able to take of his family and necessities. A person's property and family was to be used to gra...
...as called on by the church to work for free. This resulted in many peasants not being able to raise and tend to their private gardens and farms and starve (Peschke).
A revealing comparison can be made in the matter of money between the Parson and the Friar as to the monetary motivations of the clergy. The Parson was a poor man. He took out of the tithes given to him by parishoners and his salary to give back to them, as “rather wolde he yeven […] / unto his povre parisshens about/ of his offering, and eek of his substaunce.” (487-489) The Friar on the other hand was wealthy, and would rather take from the poor to increase his income than to give, “for thogh a widwe hadde noght a sho/ […] yet wolde he have a ferthing, er he wente.” (253-255) The actions of the Parson make those of the Friar look even worse. The Parson cares little for his own wealth, but is a great deal concerned about the poverty of his parishoners. The Friar cares very little about poverty, but is terribly concerned about his own income. On the subject of personal wealth, these two men may be seen as complete opposites, one showing the horror and inappropriate actions of the other, and th...
Throughout France in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries majority of the population consisted of peasants who lived in rural areas across an estimated thirty thousand different villages. The lives of these peasants consisted of hard physical labour that usually took place on farms that they rented from a seigneur . “Life was a struggle to grow enough to feed families and meet obligations. Crop yields were relatively low, and the average villager did not own enough land to live comfortably on what it could produce” . This paper will cover peasant revolts in France during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as their suppressions. Two different kinds of revolts will be looked at, tax revolts and religious revolts. The two kinds of revolts will then be compared and analysed.
In 1517, when reformist Martin Luther wrote an indictment of the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church called the 95 Theses, he appealed to many people across Europe. In his indictment he greatly criticized and addressed the selling of indulgences above all. At first, a person would have to do “work of satisfaction” like fasting, prayer, almsgiving, retreats and pilgrimages in return for an indulgence. But when the empire was in need of money to fight off the Ottoman Empire and rebuild St. Peter’s in Rome, the pope allowed indulgences to be sold for money where he would receive half the proceeds and the other half would go to funding. This is when Luther was even more angered by the selling of indulgences since he already believed that salvation could not be obtained by man’s own effort, but more the fact that man would be saved only if God willed it. It was that event that prompted the German monk to post his ideas and beliefs as the 95 Theses and address the abuse of selling indulgences in it.
The Church in the 1400’s was the center of everyone’s life and a peasant’s life was the hardest to live. The Church convinced everyone that if they broke the rules their soul would be damned. One of the rules was to devote time to the church where peasants would give hours of free labor in the churches’ fields instead of working on their own land to feed their family (“The Medieval Church”). The Church would gather tithes of food and money from every person and store them in a tithe barn where the food would rot or be poisoned by rats (“The Medieval Church”).