Martin Luther's Impact on Germany

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Martin Luther's Impact on Germany

Although we remember Luther as the 'great thinker who sparked the

reformation with his revolutionary ideas', it would be unfair to not

acknowledge that Luther was the first to form these new ideas. Many

attempts at reform had been attempted prior to Luther, led by heresies

such as John Wycliffe, John Hus et al. In fact, during the course of

Christianity there has been resistance and dissent, attempts at

reform. Fortunately for Luther, when he made his idea and theses

public, the German or rather Holy Roman Empire was in such a state

that made conditions very well suited for the acceptance and spread of

his words. The conditions that I speak of can be mostly categorised

within certain headings, Religious, Cultural, Social, Economic and

Political causes. The reformation was not about reforming religion but

institutions as a whole. This was the time of change, a volatile time.

Although I speak as though Luther was of no real importance, this is

far from the truth. Michael Mullet describes here in a quote-

'What he taught was a powerful and readily understood concept of mans

salvation; what he preached was preached with unique force, sincerity,

simplicity and, often, vulgarity; what he wrote covers a substantial

square footage of a modern library.'

Luther was a very clever and talented man, his personal role being a

very important role in history. Because of his highly regarded

personality, he was looked up to. His bravery was highly revered;

examples of such can be seen in his appearance at the Diet at Worms.

This required much courage and wise ness, as he knew Charles V knew

better than to ups...

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complain of the oppression. They were being heavily taxed for the war

with the Ottoman Empire, leaving them little more but serfs. Princes

were spurred by the opportunities of more money and land. Greed

adopted the Lutheran cause.

As the movement increased, during the 1530s the movement became more

and more in the Princes hands, making it a much more political cause.

This was not as Luther had intended, and could have been due to the

flexibility of his message and that it was so accessible. The princes

did however consolidate the protestant religion in Germany.

As stated, it was the conditions of Germany at the time of Luther that

made the country particularly ripe for this new radical reform. His

message was strong enough to spread, Luther using the countries

conditions to his advantage. Reform had begun.

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