One of the major events that assisted the fall of the Holy Roman Empire was Thirty Years’ War. The event that started the Thirty Years’ War was “defenestration of Prague.” Two of Ferdinand’s officials were thrown out a window. The Lutherans violated the Peace of Augsburg by acquiring German Bishops, Calvinists converting princes, and Jesuits reconverting princes to Catholicism. The Calvinists and Catholics had many advantages because of that which made the Lutherans fear the Peace of Augsburg would be negatively impaired. The Lutheran Princes felt it necessary to create the Protestant Union and in retaliation the Catholics formed to Catholic League.
The transfer of religious power and influence from the papacy to the Crown, instigated by Cromwell, suggests a developing nation state. After establishing Henry’s supremacy over the English Church, Cromwell issued the Ten Articles of Faith in 1536. This evolutionary theology stated that salvation could be achieved by faith alone; one could not pay for his sins, neither could they be atoned for by somebody else. Therefore monasteries which housed international organisations loyal to the papacy no longer had a function in the English Church. The dissolution of the monasteries, enabled by Cromwell’s actions, removed access to this outside influence from English spiritual life.
The events in Scotland began with Charles introducing the English bible into Scotland, from there a religious protest developed and ultimately the National Covenant was set up. Charles wanted to base the Scottish Church on an English model (Hughes, 1998; p35) much to their disgust, and he declared the covenanters traitors, this united the movement early on. Importantly Charles knew that while the covenant existed he had no power in Scotland (Hughes, 1998; p37). The events led to the First Bishops War, which is the reason that Charles called the Short Parliament. He believed he had the support of the English Parliament.
Another thing that the Church was often criticized for was the lack of separation between Church and State. In all matters, whether they be religious or political, the Church, mainly the Pope, was the ultimate authority. The Protestants also had a problem with the idea of transubstantiation, or the belief that the bread and wine served at mass are literally the flesh and blood of Christ. The use of Latin in mass was also frowned upon, because no one could understand what the priest was saying. Clerical celibacy yet another thing that the Protestants didn’t like, and because of this, both Luther and Calvin were wedded.
The main motivation for the reformation in England was Henry V111 religious convictions how far do you agree with this statement? The reformation in England was the change from Catholicism to Protestantism. Henry V111 played a huge role in the reformation for example he stopped the amount of taxes that were being payed to Rome and he later ordered the dissolution of the monasteries however there are many other reasons to why the reformation in England took place for example for many years Protestants had argued over the beliefs and laws of the catholic religion as they believed some of their beliefs were corrupt. For example the Catholics had a strong belief in purgatory this is a seen as being like a waiting room were your soul is weighed on all of the sins you have committed compared to all of the positives that you have done throughout your life. The church said that the only way you could get time out of purgatory or save a family member from purgatory was to buy indulgences this means that the monks will pray for you and your family.
Therefore by reforming the English Church and removing the Pope and making Henry VIII the Supreme Head of the Church in England, there was a revolution in the relationship between Church and State. Also as Thomas Cromwell, who masterminded this manoeuvre, had used parliament to enforce the reformation the principle that King-in-parliament was the highest form of authority. This sat very well with Henry VIII and appealed far more to those who lent to the positive and idealistic though secular form of anti-clericalism. This is one reason why the English Church did need to be reformed in the 16th century. Another reason the English Church may have needed reforming would be that many people lost enthusiasm for religious orders and religious images in the 16th century.
This managed to break the circle of organization so the members had no one to follow. Elizabeth also pushed for the suppression of prophesying, as it would cause controversy if they were to discuss everything they believed wrong with her Settlement. However, Elizabeth’s current Archbishop, Grindal, refused to carry out her orders and instead supported the idea. In reaction to this, Elizabeth dismissed him from his post and instead found a new Archbishop in 1583 that would be loyal to her, Whitgift. He forbade unlicensed preaching, and religious practices with the Queen’s assent.
Countries that wanted their religion to triumph would have not predicted a new shift of power, a massacre and new technique for future wars that could even influence the actions of today. Religion was such a powerful weapon for rulers that the Peace of Augsburg was established and obtained until the early 17th century when the imperial power became concerned over a new rising religion named Calvinism. The religion is a strain of protestant, forbidden under the peace treaty, which spread to present day Germany. “Only two churches were recognized,” under the Peace of Augsburg treaty, “the Roman Catholic and the adherents of the Augsburg Confession—i.e., the Lutherans.”[1] Calvinism started to become the majority in some states so the Peace of Augsburg was nullified. There was also a vacancy in the lineage as King in the Holy Roman Empire.
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. Martin Luther, a German priest in Wittenberg during the 1500s, had opposed several immoral practices of the Catholic Church not only in Germany, but also all of Europe due to the extensive reach of power
Bismarck did not help to make the Catholics feel welcome in the Confederation. Pope Pius IX that the Church was slowly losing its traditional power, so he announced that any statement he made was to be accepted everywhere by Catholics, therefore German bishops would have to obey. Bismarck similarly wanted his new government to be obeyed. The Centre party (Catholic party) began to win more seats in the Reichstag, causing concern for Bismarck as there loyalty may be to the Pope. Bismarck began to fight back, he banned the most active order of Catholic priests and introduced a law that the government had a right to inspect all schools, including Catholic ones.