They had used several immoral practices such as simony, the buying and selling of church offices. And as author Dan Petty put it, “pluralism (holding multiple offices simultaneously) and absenteeism (failure to reside in the parish where they were supposed to minister),”(Petty). Several situations in which the church displayed its power included taxations and practicing celibacy (Petty). Due to the church’s immense power, many expressed fear and became discouraged to contest its actions. One of the main leaders in the act to resist the Roman Catholic Church’s authority and change the ideas of Christianity in the Protestant Reformation was Martin Luther.
The four main reasons for the collapse of the empire are Economics. Power (Army), Religion and Power (Emperor). The first reason for the collapse of the empire is Economics. I can support this as the roman emperors spent a lot of money on showing off to others, making others feel jealous and for their own pleasure. Some of the things they spent it on were golden statues of themselves, banquets that were very expensive and clothes made out of the finest, unique fabrics instead of trying to develop the infrastructure of Rome.
Henry had spent a lot of money on wars in Europe, expensive clothes and food so he wanted to make up the loss by being head of the church. This meant Henry would have more money for himself. Finally, Henry made himself head of the English Church because he knew that previous kings had been unhappy with the amount of power the Pope had over the English church so he decided he wanted complete control over his country. Henry wanted power to divorce without the Pope's consent and in general Henry wanted more power over England's land. Henry wanted a divorce from Catherine of Aragon because she could not produce a son.
Peasants were captive to their lords, essentially forced into servitude without wages. Through the worst conditions, a constant source of comfort was the Church and it's promise of a better life in Heaven. As it grew in power and riches, the Catholic Church became a political power, and peasants began to fear the church instead of worshiping the God, through the life of Jesus Christ, that it represented. In the political climate, protest was difficult. Anyone that was considered a threat to the power of the Church were often executed or exiled.
How far do sources 1, 2 and 3 suggest that the early 16th century church exploited the faith of its followers to increase its own wealth? We know that in the early 16th century, around the time of the reformation of the church in England, much had been said about the state in which the church was in. Many opponents, such as Simon Fish, the writer of source 1, would state that the church was riddled with corruption and in a state of collapse. However, the Catholic Church still played a vital role in the life of most everyday people. Source 1, would strongly support the statement, as it aggressively attacks the church and its actions.
Economically, as well as socially, it provided stability as it employed tens of thousands of men. In surveying the condition of the Church during this age, historians have often highlighted its abuses – the ways in which it had side-tracked its spirituality due to the corruption of its hierarchy. The clergy had grown progressively secular – they became increasingly concerned with government rather than that of spiritual leadership. There were abuses, such as simony - when fraudulent Church officials were buying and selling their offices to raise money. There has been much debate about the state of the Roman Catholic Church on the eve of the Reformation – whilst many have argued that it was in a dismal state, others hold that generally it served the people reasonably well and perhaps the peoples’ prospects of the Church had grown or perceptions of the Church’s role had altered.
In the early 16th century, the Protestant Reformation divided the unity of the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation movement began in Germany led by Martin Luther. His speeches and writings were passed on all over Europe with the help of the printing press. It started in response to the rising sense of corruption in the church. For instance, “the sale of indulgences for the benefit of the church of Rome specifically for the rebuilding of St. Peters Cathedral provoked harsh criticism, especially by those who saw the luxuries of the papacy as a betrayal of apostolic ideals ” (Fiero 119).
However, the changes were not uniformly experienced across Europe. Religious context Religion was one of the aspects of the Renaissance that changed drastically over a few centuries. Before the Renaissance, during the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was dominant in most states of Europe. The medieval thinkers believed that the most important responsibility of the people was to pray to God and aim at saving their souls. Society was believed to be full of evil temptations.
How far do you agree that the main reason that Mussolini was able to gain dictatorial powers was the actions of the elites and the Catholics? I believe that the actions of the elites and the Catholic Church were an important factor in the process of Mussolini gaining dictatorial powers in Italy, yet it wasn’t the main reason. The elites contributed to Mussolini gaining power as they were influential as did the Catholic Church, who put their faith in the wrong man. I believe that the main reason Mussolini was able to gain dictatorial powers was the Matteoti crisis. The Matteoti crisis put Mussolini in a very powerful position with a great excuse to keep the opposition out of parliament.
It was necessary for Henry to continue the war as it would have been disastrous to give up on the fight for French land, but war was expensive and it affected the income of many noble families. This caused distress at the home front which was not wholly Henry’s fault. The French were growing in military strength by 1931. With greatly superior resources in men and money, it is easy to conceive how the French managed to reverse the military situation during Henry’s reign. It was exceedingly difficult for Henry to live up to the immensely high standard of success