Protestant Reformation
1519-1685
Social
The Protestant Reformation was a religious reform movement within the Christian Church. In 1500, the papacy was gaining stature and suffering from corruption and dissent. Larger donations and tax receipts let popes fund ambitious construction projects in Rome. They needed money to finish the Saint Peter's Basilica. Pope Leo was the pope at this time, was more of an actual man than a spiritual leader. A technique that he used to raise money for the building of the basilica was to raise an indulgence.
Political
People started to question the church, this is because the Renaissance valued humanism and secularism, which is the belief that the church should not take part in the public. This is where the idea of separation of church and state came from. The Protestant Reformation resulted in people forming new Christian religions. These new religions include the Lutheran and Reformed Churches and the Church of England.
Interaction
Martin Luther, a young professor of sacred scripture, objected to the way the new indulgence was preached. Martin Luther took a religious journey and became a hermit. On this journey, he discovered a lot about himself. During this journey, he found a passage in Saint Paul's Epistle. This passage led him to the realisation that the pope and priests emphasized giving money more than the faith itself. He then wrote a letter to Pope Leo asking him to emphasize more of the faith than money. Luther declared that Christian belief should be based on the Bible. This led him to leave the Church and start the Lutheran religion.
Culture
People got inspired by Martin Luther's blame on the church leaders. Therefore, other leaders called for a return to authentic Christian beliefs. Reformers appealed to genuine religious sentiments, but their success and failures were due to political circumstances and the social agendas that motivated people to join them. Lutheranism had its greatest appeal to Germans and Scandinavians. Peasants and laborers joined new faiths.
Economic
Martin Luther spread the word about the Church by using the printing press. The printing press transferred text on paper easily. The printers of the printing press launched a revolution for literate people to read religious and unorthodox political texts. The use of the printing press made the Bible more accessible to more people to read. When these people read the Bible they saw that the Church was making money their first priority instead of the faith itself. Martin Luther's ideas spread around Europe to Germany.