The Reformation

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The Reformation

• Trouble for the Catholic Church

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The Reformation

• The Reformation is a period during the
  Renaissance that refers to changes in the
  Catholic Church. Thanks to the invention of the
  printing press by Johann Gutenburg, people were
  able to read the Bible and make religious
  decisions for themselves. This led to more
  disagreements with how the church was run.

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The Great Schism

• The power of national states like France weakened
  the power of the church a French king Philip
  IV helped Clement V get elected pope.
• Pope Clement V moved the center of the church
  from Rome, Italy to Avignon, France. This
  internal conflict caused a weakening of the
  church from the inside.

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Schism Continued

• The church developed two centers of Power,
  Avignon and Rome, and even elected two popes who
  demanded different things from Catholics.
• This led to confusion and doubt further weakening
  the church.

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Criticism of the Church

• Over the centuries, the church had become very
  big and powerful. They needed a lot of money to
  run the land they controlled. Many critics and
  reformers were angered by how the church earned
  and spent its money. Especially the sale of
  indulgences.

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Indulgence

• An indulgence was a forgiveness of sin on earth
  that was sold to people for money.
• Reformers were outraged that the church
  appeared to be allowing people to believe they
  could buy their way into heaven. They often
  used this money to support the arts. Reformers
  wanted the church to focus on spiritual, not
  material values.

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Important Reformers

• Many reformers spoke out against church
  practices. In England, a philosopher and priest
  named John Wycliffe questioned the popes right
  to levy taxes and appoint church officials
  without the kings approval. He spoke about
  immoral behavior in the church and had the Bible
  translated into English

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Erasmus

• Dutch priest and humanist scholar Desiderius
  Erasmus criticized the church for abuses and
  corruption, and forgetting Christian values in
  his book The Praise of Folly, but he also
  criticized reformers for trying to divide the
  church, so he wasnt really trusted by either
  side.

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Martin Luther

• Inspired by Erasmus and other humanist thinkers,
  Martin Luther wanted to improve the church and is
  considered to be the man who started the
  Reformation with a document called the
  ninety-five theses.

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Luther continued

• Luther was born in Germany in 1483, was going to
  be a lawyer, but vowed to become a monk after he
  was almost struck by lightning. He believed
  people could only be saved if they had faith in
  Jesus Christ. So, he questioned that salvation
  could be won through good deeds/works.

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Ninety five theses

• The ninety-five theses was a document posted by
  Luther on the door of the Castle Church. It is
  considered the beginning of the Reformation. The
  document criticized the church for selling
  indulgences, spoke on the powers of the church,
  and talked about penance.

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Importance

• Eventually, many people supported Luther and some
  people were against him. The ones who supported
  him signed a protest against the church. This
  group began to be called
• Protestants.

• Ideas that came from the Reformation
• The Bible is the only source of religious truth
  people dont need priests to interpret the Bible.
• Salvation can only be gained through faith in
  Christ.

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Why it matters

• The Great Schism weakened the church
• Between the 1400s and 1600s many people were
  bothered by how the church earned and spent money
• Martin Luther became the leader of a
  revolutionary attack on the Roman Catholic Church
• Competition between Protestants and Catholics led
  to expansion of the Christian religion throughout
  the world

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