The Reformation Era Every piece of history is important in some way; as it helped us get here to the present. The Reformation, taking place in the 1500’s, was no different. There were many aspects to this period of time that helped continue the timeline to what it is today. People during this time especially helped in the continuation to the future many had hoped for. Even Catherine of Aragon, former first wife of Henry VIII, had played a part. But the real focus points of this time was the Church, the sects, and the beliefs many held dear. These may be the focus points for good reason, as there were things beyond one’s realm of understanding looming about during this time. This would be the Inquisition, and their secret way of getting …show more content…
During this time period, the activities of the Inquisition was still playing its part in combating their definition of heresy. To achieve this, they did the unspeakable; tortured those they believed were heretics. The Institution was nothing new to this era. In fact, this organization was feared from the Medieval era to early modern times. Stories describe an Inquisitor, an officer and judge of the Inquisition, striding through heresy infested districts and manifesting fear into anyone who crossed his path. After his visit, a forty day time period was set to grace those who wished to confess their acts of heresy by recanting their faith. When this period was up, those selected were brought to face the Inquisitor. Those who were accused of being a heretic were often taken from their homes in the dead of night and escorted to the Inquisition's prison, also called the holy edifice. There, their untimely despise would soon fall upon those accused, never to see the light from the graves that was the bottom layer of the Inquisition; the dungeons. The Roman Inquisition took a more mild approach due to the Church going through a period of reformation. The Roman Catholic Church confided in the Council of Trent to help suppress the ideology of Protestantism. Pope Paul III established what was called the Holy Office, the final place where the final trials of heresy would …show more content…
Such works includes those written by Martin Luther and his Ninety-Five Thesis. These were to be forbidden to the public due to fact the Church thought they were dangerous to the faith and morals of Roman Catholics. The indexes were made to prevent the contamination of the faith or the corruption of the morals through reading what they branded were immoral books. The series of indexes were published for a wide amount of time; from the early 1500’s to the mid 1900’s. The twentieth edition, the last index, was published in 1948. Time came when the list was finally suppressed by the Church in June of 1966 and was abolished by Pope Paul
Before the reformation Henry, the VIII had a lot of contributing factors to the start of the reformation. King Henry VIII wanted his marriage with his wife, Catherine of Aragon annulled because he wanted a male heir because at this time women wouldn't rule alone though his wife kept producing females and was about to become too old to have kids and king Henry VIII thought it was her fault not his so he wanted to marry and new younger person Anna Boleyn because he thought she would be
The long-term causes of the Reformation- the corruption of the church and the hostility of the laity- appear to have been historical illusion. " I have come to the conclusion, that the Church in England in 1529 needed considerable reforms, because many abuses, undoubtedly, had occurred in various departments of religious life.
Initiated by Pope Paul III to condemn and refute protestant beliefs, it would eventually lay the principles of catholicism for four centuries. They were able to condemn the reformation by approving the Index of Forbidden Books, which would punish anyone who possessed a list of books that supported Protestantism or were critical of the church in Catholic Countries. They defended their religion through scriptures and other traditions. It would eventually acknowledge and curtail the abuses in sale of indulgences, sale of church offices, give bishops more power from clergy, and establish seminaries to train priests. The Council of Trent existed to condemn protestants in order to protect their faith, but in turn would have to decrease some of their
As the Byzantine empire’s power began to lessen, ecclesiastical law flourished (Rautman). The Inquisition was entirely based around Roman Catholicism, and was commonly seen as needed in order to protect and defend the church from protestantism and sinners. It’s courts had judges called “inquisitors.” Inquisitors served lifelong terms and made decisions solely in the name of the Pope. While the only type of crime pursued and prosecuted by the Inquisition were crimes against the church, it was often accused of being a very biased institution, as all verdicts were made according to Catholic beliefs, regardless of the circumstance
The 1500’s were a time of reformation and also a time of corruption in the church. The pope, Pope Leo X was one of the most corrupt popes because of his greed for money. The church was very wealthy during the protestant reformation promoting false beliefs to many people, but one man named Martin Luther changed that with his 95 theses because of his dislike for the wrongdoings from the Catholic church.
...the 95 Theses reject that indulgences are real, it believes you can be baptized and renewed in Christ. Ulrich Zwingli was another important man as he set the demise of Catholicism, and started a war with the Roman officials. Henry VIII was notorious not only for killing all of his wives but also the Reformation in England where he stated that he will be the only authority of the church. Henry VIII made himself the authority of the church so he could re-marry. Prior to this the Pope would not allow him which led to Henry being the only authority of the English Churches. The Council of Trent fought to help Martin Luther and the rest of the reformers. The Counter Reformers and the Catholic Church fought to become more spiritual, educated, and literate.
The word “inquisition” means to examine. Inquisitors would “examine” suspected Heretics, people whose ideas do not match those of the Roman Catholic Church, and punish them accordingly. This included torture and burning. The great inquisition movement that took place in Spain, or Hispania as it was called before Spain united. It was called The Spanish Inquisition. It took place for approximately five hundred years, from the late 15th century to mid 19th century. Many ironic elements were involved in the history of the Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition lasted longer than any other preceding it, and was the most cruel, bloodthirsty, and festive of all. The objective of the inquisition, in its early state, was to convert all Jews into Christians, but later it mutated into an ugly machine who’s new objective was to rid the country of the newly converted Christians.
In order for an Inquisition to be issued the Holy Office, or the Pope, must grant permission (Bachrach 12). The Papacy instituted Inquisition in certain countries to counter any threat against Catholicism. An Inquisition was initially intended to prevent civil disruption, social corruption, and bloodshed (Bachrach 12). This, however, was not the case. The Church began to empower government officials called Inquisitors to essentially hunt down “unbelievers” and quietly question them about their faith
The Protestant Reformation was a period of time (1500-1700) where there became a change in Western Christendom. This reformation was caused by the resentment from the people because the Catholic Church abusing their powers for political and economic advances. In this time the church was selling pardons for sin and indulgences to forgive sins, decrease days spent in purgatory and save the dead from damnation. The reformation was when people became more aware with the back hand dealings with the church and men like Martin Luther and John Calvin created their own churches to what they believed was not corrupt unlike the church. Unfortunately there many consequences as far at the Roman Catholic church attempting to bring people back to the church,
The Reformation occurred all over Western Europe. It was mostly set in Germany where various parts of corruption in the Church happened. Martin Luther started the process of the Reformation, he was German so he understood how the Catholic Church took advantage and didn't think this was fair. The Catholic Reformation took place between 1450-1650 which was the biggest revolution in Germany, although the understanding of Luther's actions weren't taken notice of until he put the 95 Theses on the Church's door. Luther felt that Bishops and Priests didn't understand the bible correctly. Luther wanted the Reformation to help fix this by helping the uneducated and powerless. Some of the movement of this was
Martin Luther is considered one of the most instrumental individuals in Christian history for his role in the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation that severed the powerful religious, political, and social grip the Catholic Church had upon European society (1). Luther did not set out to be a revolutionary, but simply questioned the church 's marketing of indulgences that offered the buyer or their deceased loved one absolution from the penalty of sin (2). Luther’s famous “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences,” or “95 Theses” argued against the sale of indulgences, but Luther also ultimately disagreed with many of the fundamental religious philosophies of the medieval Catholic Church. The religious ideas of Martin Luther differed from late medieval Catholicism on key elements of theology: spiritual authority, justification of sin, free will, and the sacraments.
The protestant reformation of 16th century had both: immediate and long term effects. Thus, we can see that it was a revolution of understanding the essence of religion, and of what God is. The protestant reformation is said to a religious movement. However, it also influenced the economical, political and social life of people. The most global, short term effect of the reformation was the reevaluation of beliefs, and, as a result, the loss of authority of the Holy Roman Empire. The long term effects were: the emergence of new heretical movements, the declining of papacy, thus the reevaluation of people’s view on the church and life values.
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century is one of the most complex movements in European history since the fall of the Roman Empire. The Reformation truly ends the Middle Ages and begins a new era in the history of Western Civilization. The Reformation ended the religious unity of Europe and ushered in 150 years of religious warfare. By the time the conflicts had ended, the political and social geography in the west had fundamentally changed. The Reformation would have been revolutionary enough of itself, but it coincided in time with the opening of the Western Hemisphere to the Europeans and the development of firearms as effective field weapons. It coincided, too, with the spread of Renaissance ideals from Italy and the first stirrings of the Scientific Revolution. Taken together, these developments transformed Europe.
The renaissance and the reformation were two of the most significant changes in history that has shaped our world today. Both of these great time periods are strikingly similar in some ways and totally different in others. This is because the renaissance was a change from religion to humanism whether it is in art or literature; it is where the individual began to matter. However, the reformation was,” in a nutshell,” a way to reform the church and even more so to form the way our society is today. The first half of this paper will view the drop in faith, the economic powers, and the artistic and literary changes during the renaissance, while the second half will view the progresses and changes the church makes during the reformation.
Though there was no driving force like Luther, Zwingli or Calvin during the English Reformation, it succeeded because certain people strived for political power and not exactly for religious freedom. People like Queen Elizabeth I and Henry VIII brought the Reformation in England much success, however their reasons were based on self-gain and desire for political power.