Protestant Reformation Research Paper

The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era. In northern and central Europe, reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin and Henry VIII challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice. They argued for a religious and political redistribution of power into the hands of Bible- and pamphlet-reading pastors and princes. The disruption triggered wars, persecutions and the so-called Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church’s delayed but forceful response to the Protestants. This essay will discuss the affects that

But the most important factor was King Henry VIII’s pervasive self-serving attitude which profoundly impacted, and ultimately caused the Reformation of England. Anne Boleyn’s influence that held sway over the king was an extremely important factor as well, but the majority of his actions can be directly linked to his selfish nature, rather than his love and devotion to either his kingdom or to his “true love.” His superiority complex mixed with all other factors going on catalysed the events that led ultimately to reformation in 1534. Which changed the face of England forever. (Team, 2017) One of the reasons why Henry VIII’s Protestant Reformation was politically successful was because there had been previous attempts at a Protestant reformation in England. England had been uncomfortable with Rome for several centuries, and the Wycliffe rebellion in the 14th century prepared foundations for Protestantism in England. John Wycliffe was the first person to translate the Bible into the vernacular language; unfortunately, he was branded a heretic for his work and was killed. The need for reform was evident among many churches in England prior to 1529. Absenteeism and discontent were rife, with clergymen often not completing their clerical duties, and corruption of the church

Historians were never quite sure how to relate that assumption to Ireland’s subsequent experience of the Reformation and tended to sidestep the issue. Recent studies, however, based primarily on ecclesiastical records and surveys of the architectural remains of late medieval church buildings, have overthrown the notion that the church in Ireland was on the verge of ‘total breakdown’ on the eve of the Reformation. Evidence from across the island shows that it was actually experiencing a remarkable renewal right up to the moment of Henry VIII’s breach with Rome. The Irish church operated through a dense network of parishes and chapelries, with radii of only a mile or so in the Pale and two miles over much of Gaelic Ireland, which were staffed by plenty of priests and supervised by many able bishops. (Jefferies, 2016) Given the fragmentation of political authority in Ireland in the sixteenth century, and the consequent disorders that wracked many areas, the Irish church authorities were not always able to call on the secular authorities to enforce canon law as rigorously as their counterparts in more settled regions of Europe. In a context of wide-scale economic underdevelopment, impoverished congregations could not always afford to maintain church buildings in perfect condition, or to subsidise the education of many parish clergy to university standards. Yet there