The Catholic Church in Early 1500

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The Catholic Church in Early 1500 By the 16th century the church as an institution was starting to

'crumble' and many of its people, Protestants and the reformation

party were starting to put pressure on the church for a change.

Although the main reason for the reformation was Henry VIII's divorce

from Catharine of Aragon, I believe that the church was failing in

some of its duties even though many criticisms and ideas were

exaggerated.

The church clergy was under enormous pressure, they had gained a bad

reputation according to many as encouraging superstition merely for

greed and many neglected their duties. Many contradicted the teachings

and traditions of the Catholic Church and this was dangerous as the

church meant a lot to the majority of the people living in England.

As G.R Elton puts it, "People in Englandthought little of priests".

Many clergy were despised of their wealth and ostentation and Wosley

became an obvious example. Not only was he never seen without fine

clothes or expensive jewellery, he had several homes - Hampden Court

being his most prominent residence. This was a very different contrast

to that of Jesus in the New Testament. According to the Bible, "It is

not fancy hair, gold jewellery or fine clothes that should make you

beautiful. No your beauty should come from within you-the beauty of a

gentle and quiet spirit that will never be destroyed and is very

precious to God" (1 Peter 3 v 3-4).

There were further more bishops and priests who were guilty of

pluralism who were constantly moving between their dioceses. As to

add, many had griev...

... middle of paper ...

...ch show that the church was getting

support from the people. The educational standards also showed an

increase from 8% to 42% between 1370-1532. This actually shows that

the church was improving in many ways and listening to views of reform

and improvement given by the people.

In conclusion, I have found from my studies of the Catholic Church in

early 1500 that the church was corrupt in many ways even though some

of these ideas were exaggerated and bias. I agree in various ways with

the argument although one must consider that many criticisms were from

those who wanted change and therefore, picked on 'weak' areas of the

church to attack. The church was an important institution to the

people and therefore it was important for the clergy to follow the

ways in which the Bible teaches and to maintain Catholic traditions.

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