But did the people bring this on themselves or did they disagree with the reformations? The historian Ethan Shagan believes that the people stirred the changes-- they wanted the change from Catholicism and this is why there was not too much popular revolt. In his book "Popular Politics and the English Reformation", Shagan claims that to have written "a narrative which acknowledges for the first time that the Reformation was necessarily based, like all aspects of Tudor government, on the collaboration of the governed." However, other scholars believe that English citizens preferred Catholicism and
No longer would they need to be dependent on the Church. Both of these Documents come from Luther’s point of view and thus have a fairly large bias in favor of the Reformation. Document 3 is also a look at Church corruption but from a pro Catholic point of view. It serves as more a realization of Church Corruption than a straight critique like Luther’s. The one thing that all these Documents have in common is
Martin Luther, the most significant figure in the early development of Protestantism, took hold of the reformation during this period and popularised its beliefs, basing them on his interpretation of the scriptures. Although the responses from the majority of the leaders within the Catholic Church were political attacks aimed at clinging onto power and restricting the reformists’ influence, Luther’s motivation was religious and a product of a devotion to God, after being struck by lightning in 1505. Through this enlightenment, he sought to highlight the widespread abuses imposed by the Catholic Church, which were regularly authorised by the Pope. The resistance to Luther had been rife from the start; however as Luther’s support base grew and his beliefs became a threat to those in power, the counter-attacks increased in significance. Nevertheless, it could be argued that people misjudged Luther’s intentions as he never intended to reshape the power structure of the church just address the abuses.
However, considering that almost all of England, and Europe for that matter, was Roman Catholic at the time (bar a few smaller Christian religions, which did not affect the country on a national level), it is not the case that religion, or religious disagreements, caused rebellion against the king. Even the different rival factions (Yorkist’s, Burgundy, Ireland, etc.) were all of the same religion. Furthermore, the Church itself was a major form of authority; since enforcing laws in a country such as England was difficult due to the vast distances between each county, the churches were “the main stabilizing force”. The church was ran by the Vatican, and not the state, therefore, if the people were upset by the church, they would protest to the church and not to the monarchy.
Was there really a threat to the Elizabethan regime from the Puritans? In 1559, Elizabeth created a religious settlement, which was mainly Protestant, but included many Catholic teachings. In theory, the settlement would end religious controversy and unite the people of the country. However, in practice, this didn't happen, as there was opposition to the settlement, from both Catholics and Puritans. Puritans were extreme Protestants who believed that Elizabeth's religious settlement was not enough – they believed that the Anglican church was still too much like the Roman Catholic Church.
With the Donatist controversy Constantine eventually appealed to them using force, attempting to persuade them to Catholic Church. He eventually abandoned this method as it appeared to be a persecution of the Christians all over again. Constantine did not just patronize the Christian religion, after the battle at the Milvian Bridge a triumphal arch was erected in remembrance of his victory, which had
There were both short and long term reasons for the petition and why it was presented to the new King. The Puritans were not happy with Elizabeth’s middle way she created that was meant to be a mixture of regulations from both the catholic and protestant churches in order to please as many people as she could. They thought that there were more elements of the church that were in agreement with the Catholic Church rules than the protestant ones though. The Puritans wanted the church to be a lot plainer, with not a lot of colours, whereas the Catholic Church was full of colours and stain glass windows. Hence the reason that a part to the petition was that ministers should not to wear gowns.
Why did Bismarck bring the Kulturkampf to an end in 1878? (12 marks) The Kulturkampf began as an attack on those who opposed Bismarck’s new nationalist unified state. It later went on to become an attack focused on the Catholics specifically as they seemed to be, to Bismarck at least, the biggest threat to the new Reich. By 1878 however, the Kulturkampf had to be brought to an abrupt but seemingly planned end. The main reason why, it can be argued, Bismarck brought an end to the Kulturkampf is down to the fact that instead of limiting the power of the Catholics he was only increasing it.
Also this quote states, “Not an organizer or politician, he moved men by the power of a profoundly religious faith resulting in unshakable trust in God…” This shows us that Martin Luther didn’t persuade people by organizing meetings or telling the people of the city lies, he showed people the wrongs of the Catholic Church, which sparked a new religion. Also, Martin Luther’s actions began the Reformation. Once Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to the castle church in Wittenberg, his words were copied and printed, and they were known all over Germany. The Reformation led to the founding of Christian churches that did not accept the pope’s authority. Luther wanted to reform the Church.
The Puritans branched off from the Protestants in England. They were affiliated with a radical activist movement going on in the Church of England. The issue with this new set of ideals is that they did not want to abandon or shun the Church of England, they just saw it unfit and wanted to purify and alter the main concept of the Church. The Puritans got their name because they wanted to purify the Church of England of all practices they considered popish. They sought the removal of all images, veneration of the saints, sacramental practices, and the like.