Protestant Reformation

Niamh Walsh

10/11/16

AP Euro

P. 8

DBQ Essay

        The Reformation took place from the 15th century to the 16th century. Due to corruption in the church during this time, people left the church looking for a new religion, which led to the creation of the Protestant religion. Well-known political leaders such as Martin Luther and John Calvin who supported Protestantism influenced society’s decision regarding what religion they would take to, thus the rise in popularity of Protestantism during that time. The Reformation was more prominently known as a religious movement, but many do not look deeper to see that it had a significant effect on the political and social spheres of Europe.

        When Martin Luther criticized the German lords in An Abomination of Peace (1525), he blamed the Lords for taking things from the common folk. He also blamed them for the start of the Reformation and the rebellion against the church. This was a part of the political sphere being effected in Europe because the common folk no longer trusted the Lords which caused a lot of social chaos. During this time, the German Peasants’ War had begun in the same year and the Habsburg-Valois Wars had just recently begun in 1521.

When summoned to appear before the Emperor at the Diet of Worms to answer to writing his 95 Theses in 1521, Luther said that he would not submit to the Pope and Council because they did not know what they wanted for the church anymore, and he made them aware of that. This effected the political sphere in Europe because Luther was a prominent political leader in which people looked up to for his beliefs. So, when he had distrust for the Pope and the Council, his followers were influenced by his decision, and decided to follow suit by also having distrust for the Pope and Council. At this point in time, the Habsburg-Valois Wars had just started. These wars were intertwined with the Italian wars, and the latter arose because of the instability of the Italian peninsula. Luther’s reply was also a part of the political sphere in Europe that was effected by the Reformation.

Another part of the political sphere was Nicolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, Chapter XVII (1505). In it, he gives the advice that a prince should present himself in a more respectable and honourable way, and to not lie, because society is more influenced by what political leaders say rather than what they do. In 1504, a year before Machiavelli’s literature was written, he was in France, learning about the strength of a single nation ruled by one person, rather than under the central power of numerous rulers.

        Martin Luther wrote about his concerns for marriage in Concerning Christian Liberty (1520) and were a huge part of the social aspect in Europe. What he is expressing about marriage to society is that marriage is equality and anything of the husband’s is also the wife’s. Before, in Holy matrimony, society thought that the husband was more powerful, had automatic ownership (of things like land, house, etc.) and more rights. But, during this time period, people began to realize that the husband and the wife should have equal ownership and rights to certain things. Also, in the same year that Luther had written about his concerns for marriage, he also was refusing to retract any of his 95 Theses on the Power of Indulgences which he wrote in 1517.[pic 1]

The printing press, which was invented in the mid 15th century allowed for the spread of Protestant ideas, which resulted in the effect on society’s religious views of the church. This was another part of the social aspect. These ideas reached almost everybody, but even if some did not receive word through literature manufactured from the printing press, they were informed verbally or through letters. Along with the invention of the printing press, Europe was halfway through the age of the Renaissance. The invention of the printing press in 1450 was a crucial event in the history of the Renaissance age.