The early reformers of the Catholic Church had one common thread; they felt the word of the Lord was grossly misinterpreted by the Church. Though the Church was working to give the people what they wanted, their practices were dishonest and they took liberties with the scriptures. Martin Luther cited two major corruptions in his Ninety Five Theses. The first was that salvation could be reached only by one’s own faith; secondly Luther objected to the selling of indulgences to provide absolution for sinners. The monies from these sales financed wars and expensive lifestyles of the popes, archbishops and bishops.
The loss of English territories in France was the main cause of York’s hatred of Somerset and worsened the relationship between Henry and York, whose relationship was already strained because of the court faction’s suspicions of York’s intentions and fears of attainder. York and the Neville’s wanted to see better governance and for Henry to regard them equally as the Beaufort’s. The feud between Somerset and York was because York felt dishonoured by Somerset’s easy surrender of Rouen and other lands of York’s appanage in 1450. As the son of Richard, Earl of Cambridge; who was executed for treason against Henry V, York was sensitive to the issue of family honour. He presented an article to the king in 1452, criticising Somerset for his failure to defend Rouen from attack and his surrender of Rouen in 1449 despite soldiers protesting.
THOMAS MORE Do you accept the view that More was a cruel man with little compassion for others? BREAK WITH ROME/REFORMATION Do you agree with the view that the main cause of the English Reformation was the character and influence of Anne Boleyn? Do you agree with the view that the most significant changes of the 1530s were political rather than religious? OPPOSITION Do you agree with the view that the main cause of the Pilgrimage of Grace was widespread dislike of religious changes? Do you accept the view expressed in source X that the Holy Maid of Kent remained important until 1533?
In the 16th century the church played a huge role in the lives of people in Europe, however, in some parts and Germany in particular, the Church was seen as not responding to the appetite for spiritual fulfillment and failing in some of its duties. The Church was involved not just spiritually but economically, politically and educationally; therefore, any corruption within the Church had consequences all over Christendom. The role of the Church was to perform the seven sacraments in order for Catholics to reach their goal – salvation. Firstly, the Church was resented because it was corrupt. This was resented in Germany because it seemed hard to obtain salvation and live a spiritual life when the representatives of Christianity were dishonest.
Henry VIII, having earned the title “Defender of Faith” for a pinning response to Luther’s attacks on the sacraments, had no interest in religious reform, whereas Martin Luther did. Henry’s motive was that of a personal matter only wanting his way concerning his divorce, while Martin Luther used his personal motive of reforming the church and making it widespread with his beliefs. One of Martin Luther’s
The Puritans wanted to remove all practice and rituals of Catholicism from Europe. John Winthrop and fellow Puritans were frustrated with religious activities in England, “All other Churches of Europe are brought to desolation and or sinnes”. He believed that the Church was corrupted and that the lord “Frowned upon us, doe threatens us fearfully”. Winthrop believed that England was invaded by evil and ran by a corrupted Government, and that the roots for religious learning were being disturbed. They feared to live in such sinful society, because they believed that God predestined people to salvation and others were damned for the rest of time.
Why did Henry VIII break away from the CatholicChurch?Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church in 1534. Many people wereshocked by this event. It is not likely that Henry made this decision for religiousreasons. In his younger years he had always been a loyal Catholic. The popehad even rewarded Henry with the title Defender of the Faith.
It assisted in laying the foundation of religious reform, thereby initiated the coming of the Renaissance. At that time, people considered that the God created and dominated the whole world, so that they kept the strong faith in the religions. Nevertheless, in fact, the death never reduced even though they prayed devoutly, and the plague was not got controlled as well. Furthermore, the government and the church were thrown into a panic, and many of them fled for surviving, leaving the masses in the pains. Thus, people started to feel disappointed to the ruling class and distrustful of the God, which triggered off the consideration about their own destiny and formed the ideological basic for the renaissance
He believed the selling indulgences was wrong, and even the pope, Pope Leo X, did not have the authority to abolish sins through payments. Luther recognized that at this time, the Church was more focused on accumulating money than saving its people and spreading the word of Christ. Luther believed that only God has the ability to take away the sins of humanity. Martin Luther published his opinions in a document titled Ninety-Five Theses. The monk's writing spread quickly around Europe, and he soon posed a serious threat to the Catholic Church.
With the numbers of Catholics rapidly growing James reacted with leniency to the suspicions of many that the ‘Devil’s influence’ was increasing. James eased down the Recusancy Laws in 1603. This was the financial punishment for failing to attend Church of England service. One would have thought that this would improve relations. James was trying to juggle different religious demands.