Essay on The German Reformation - 764 Words

The German Reformation The Reformation of the Catholic Church was always going to happen; it was just a question of when? For centuries the Church had been fighting off herises. In Germany between 1513 and 1530, it just so happened that a number of key factors for the Reformation co-insided. The clearly corrupted church and papacy; the development of printing; the arrival and actions of Martin Luther and public opinion; the absence of the Emperor in the 1520’s and the way Erasmus and his writing had opened up the criticisms of the Papacy, these were all key factors of the German Reformation. I will examine these key factors. In the 1420’s the people of the Holy Roman Empire were encouraged to†¦show more content†¦It was this, which got Luther noticed. The people in Germany were feeling ‘Anfechtung’ tension between society and the Church. ‘Anfechtung’ was the spiritual anxiety felt by a lot of Germans. The German Church lacked leadership and it resented giving all their money to the Papacy, who were mostly Italian. When Luther wrote the theses he was seen as a prophet who had come to lead the way for the arrival of Christ. Luther was seen as a ‘John the Baptist’ character. With the development of printing, Luther’s ideas were spread a lot quicker throughout Germany and beyond. In the 1520’s Luther wrote three pamphlets, which expressed his ideas on Catholicism. The first was; ‘Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation.’ This pamphlet emphasised the corruption of the Papacy, with their sexual permissiveness, luxury and evil notions. The Church was more about money than God. Luther also made clear that priests were ordinary men, not closer to God, or to God’s representations. The first pamphlet also introduced the idea of ‘sola fide’ to the ordinary Germans. This is the idea that by faith alone, you will go to heaven. The ideas of the first pamphlet were very successful, because it was what the German people wanted to believe. No longer were they condemned in eternal hell, or payingShow MoreRelatedMusic as Propaganda in the German Reformation1059 Words   |  5 PagesMusic as Propaganda in the German Reformation The reformation was a religious and political movement that took place in the year 1517. This movement was spread by the Cristian humanist Martin Luther, when he posted his â€Å"Ninety Five Theses†. The reformation itself is one of those things everybody has heard about but no one quite understands, even nowadays, 500 years after this movement occurred. The main reason for this movement is unknown, however, some causes are being slowly known. First of allRead MoreThe Reformation Movement Of The German Town Of Marburg On The Lahn1417 Words   |  6 Pages In the German town of Marburg-on-the-Lahn over the days of the 1st-4th October 1529 a meeting of minds was convened. 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