Overview of the Reformation Movement

During the 16th Century, not only was Europe was recovering from the social, political and economical upheaval it experienced, but it was thriving economically (399). Although there was stability within the governments and with colonial expansion, within the Church there were issues that were being noticed by the masses. There was neglect and ignorance and a loss of passion from the clergy, abuse of power from bishops and Popes, and misinformation spread through the masses on their salvation through indulgences (399–402). The latter was considered simony and was criticized by reformers like Erasmus, but it wasn’t until 1517 when a monk named Martin Luther published his Ninety-Five Theses that quickly spread and caused a chain-reaction effect that changed the status quo for religion in a movement known as the Reformation.

In 1517, the actions of bishop Albert of Hohensollern, friar Tetzel, and Pope Leo X elicited a response from Luther. Albert abused his position as bishop by purchasing bishop positions in Magdeburg and Halberstadt while selling indulgences, with the approval of Pope Leo X, with the profits being split between building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and paying off Albert’s increasingly large debt. Friar Tetzel deceived the public to believe that purchase indulgences would be their or their loved ones’ salvation (402). This was the catalyst that fueled Luther to write and publish the Ninety-Five Theses, which was ‘aimed at dismantling the doctrine of indulgences’ (402). While initially he wanted this to be used as a tool for discussion in the University of Wittenberg, what he would come to find out was that, through translation and the printing press and a public that was being manipulated by their religious sup...

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...al became ‘the most influential of the sixteenth century’ (421-422). The Society of Jesus was militant in their belief, schools were created to spread their word, and Catholic women could still join the convent as a path for ‘spiritual and even political advancement in Catholic countries’ (423).

Under the Protestantism movement, a new eye was focused on the abuses in power of the papacy onto its subjects. While some methods become radical in its approach, a focus on religion within the family became a priority during the domestication of the Reformation. The Catholic Church created the Counter Reformation to revaluate what was wrong and how it could be righted for the betterment of the church as well as its followers.

Works Cited

Coffin, Judith G, et al. Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture. 17th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Co, 2011. Print.