Protestant Reformation Research Paper

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Michael Gugliotta 11/6/14 Global 2 Mr. Jennings Political, Social, and Economical Effects of the Protestant Reformation The Protestant Reformation began in the 1500s. It all started around the idea of the Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences. An indulgence is something people paid for that pardoned their sins and allowed them entry into heaven. Martin Luther wanted this to end this. Out of anger, he wrote his “Ninety-Five Theses” and sent his proclamation to Archbishop Albert of Mainz in 1517. Luther’s protest led to the…show more content…
One way the Reformation affected Europeans economically is through the Catholic Church. Prior to the Reformation, the Church had a lot of authority. Even though the government had power, the Church had the bulk of it. One way the Catholic Church showed its authority was by selling indulgences. Johann Tetzel was a very successful dealer of indulgences; he was supplied by the Archbishop of Mainz. These transactions helped the Church gain a very large profit because nobody wanted to go to hell. Another abuse during this time was pluralism. Bishops held many offices at once, but they did not fulfill their duties even though they still collected money from the local parishes. Martin Luther was a major detractor against the abuses of the Church at this time. He was excommunicated in 1521 at the Diet of Worms by Charles V and had to state that his beliefs were wrong. After getting kicked out of the Church, Luther moved around and began to gain followers to the Protestant faith. Protestants did not believe that marriage was a sacrament. They only thought that Baptism and Eucharist were sacraments. Many Protestants still valued the institution of marriage. Protestants did not, “break with medieval scholastic theologians in their idea that women were to be subject to men” (Mr. Jennings handout, 455), and even reduced their role within the church. Catholic women who did not want to marry had the option of becoming nuns, Protestant women had no such option. With no other possibilities, some of these women had turned to prostitution in order to earn an income. Married Protestant women had to treat their spouse with adoration, care, respect, and had to be active participants in the church as well. They had no say in their household because their husband had all the authority. The life of women was very rough because they did not have any

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