FREE ESSAY ON MARTIN LUTHER

MARTIN LUTHER

The Reformation began in October 1517 when Martin Luther wrote his 95 theses. Luther was a
well-educated son of a miner who earns the right as a middle class by working hard.
Luther became a monk and while sitting in the tower outhouse he was inspired by Romans
1:17 "The just shall live by faith alone. This encourages him to challenge the church by
using this as his thesis for Luther's theology. In 1521 he was excommunicated but he
became a national hero because even though his opinions were not new they gave people new
hope. One of the first items he did was to say that the Roman Catholic Church was being
an Italian church exploiting the Germans. Since Germany was eager to get rid of Rome they
accept this idea. Second if the people quit making payments to Rome and took back their
lands they had allot to gain. There were other reasons but as you can see this made the
people eager to believe and following Luther. At first the lower classes were excited by
Luther's rebellion against papal authority believing that has someone standing behind
them. This made the lower class revolted against there lords and Luther who was discussed
by this wrote "Against the Murdering, Thieving Hordes of Peasants. So in the end the
lower class came to hate him. 
Around the same time a man named Ulrich Zwingli who was a humanist and interpreted the
bible by reason preach reform also. He differ from Luther as he was more humane he said
"heaven would welcome admirable Jews and heathen. His style of reform could have been
more well known if he was not killed in the a battle in Switzerland. 
Along the same time came John Calvin, he studied law and scholasticism and rejected
Catholicism. He wrote a book were he stated his views against them. He believed in a
Trinitarian God, divinity of Christ, resurrection after death, in the sacraments of
baptism and the Eucharist. In his "Doctrine of the Elect" which was held in high regards
by his followers, he stated Since God knows all and is all powerful, he knows the future
and does not let anything happen that is against his will. Which is why someone people
are selected for damnation and some for election. He puts bans on gambling, singing
dancing. The council had enough with his strict teachings and kicked him out of Geneva
only to have to ask him back when the council starting being taken over by the Catholics.
Since there was no discipline the bible became the law. There was horrible punishment for
breaking the law and even a few try to fight back( Huguenots) but they were out numbered.

The Counter- Reformation began in Spain and was the church's response to the reformation.
The church had to find away to revitalize itself so it decided to establish a new order
(Jesuits which was founded by Ignatius Loyola), start a inquisition in Spain and other
low countries, They started "Council of Trent" and finally the Baroque period supported
and brought prestige to the church. In 1480 Ferdinand & Isabella re-established the
inquisition as a modern form of crusade to wipe out converted Moslems and Jews. Paul III
was the first of the reform popes. He felt that there was a need for reform and staffed
his papal only with him of high integrity even though he had four illegitimate children.

During this time in England a man named Henry VIII was king. This was a man who didn't
waste money but built up the treasury try monastery confiscation. He was one who helped
create a new upper class, which was loyal to the crown, which gave them money. He also
made the split from Rome smoothly with the help of Thomas Cromwell. Henry III was
succeeded by his son Edward VI and then best known for his daughter Mary who burned 300
people. This earned her the name Bloody Mary and made people hate Catholicism.
In Germany was a place for religious wars. Imperialists vs. League of Sckmalkalden which
was just one. Then there was the Thirty Years war which was from 1618-1648 which was the
last of the religious wars which convulsed Europe during the reformation. The six combats
were Germany, France, Spain, Bohemia, Denmark and Sweden. This conflict was three wars in
one. It was a Religious war between Protestant and Catholic, International between
Germany, France, Sweden and Denmark and Civil war between Princes and Emperor. It began
as a religious and civil war and ended up as an international war fought mainly in
Germany. The war gave Germany a national sense of inferiority and delayed national unity.
The whole war left Germany with a need for authority. 
In the 1450's The Age of Exploration were sparked because they needed better navigational
tools, spices to preserve food and needed trade routes. Even though there was little
success rate for seamen returning for these explorations they went anyway because on land
it was not any better, life expectancy was 30 years. Portugal was the first nation to
engage in exploration on a large scale. Italy already had a monopoly on the far eastern
trade route. Prince Henry the navigator was the first ruler to begin state funded trade
expedition. Vasco De Gama reached India in 1490's. Out of his 180 men only 50 return with
him. Pedro Cabral was sent to India but went to far west and accidentally rant into
Brazil. This is why even today they mainly speak Portuguese there. In 1492 Christopher
Columbus wanted to reach the Indies. He returned three times but never knew that he was
on a new land instead of Asia. Amerigo Vespucci was the first to state that Columbus had
found a new world and the new land was named Amerigo. Magellan was the first to complete
a circumnavigated the earth. The Age of Exploration is when the African slave trade
began, the American Indians were almost wiped out east of the Mississippi, open western
man's vision of the earth led to a reassessment of western civilization and new foods
were added to the diets of most Europeans. 
1600's was the Age of the Kings , it was a century of transition between medieval and the
modern world. New institutions, beliefs ad theories rose up. Royal absolutism took over,
Louis XIV of France, Stuart Kings in England and Hapsbugs in Germany. In 1682 Peter the
Great came to the Throne. Peter was famous for defeating the Swedes in the Battle of
Poltava. In 1703 he founded the city of St. Petersburg in the unhealthy marshes of the
Baltic Sea. In Spain they ignored new mercantile and scientific methods because they came
from the heretical stage of Holland and England and this cause them to become second
rate. The Dutch had the highest living standard in the world but they had financial
supported the long war of the Spanish Succession and this drained them.
In the 18th Century was the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. The natural world
was known by the senses and understood by reason and dogma by revelation. The movement
known as Rationalism began in England and was supported and popular in France. These
people believed that reason could cure society ills and help achieve great government,
peace and help to discover the laws of nature. This brought about new religious belief
known as Deism. The basic beliefs of Deism were that miracles were impossible, universal
moral laws and man should be worship. A man named Voltaire was the father of Deism and
the most famous figure in the age of enlightenment. Humanism set the stage because they
began the question some of the tales of visions and miracles. 
There were many factors that led to the French Revolution, which was bloody radical and
put an end to the Age of Enlightenment. The factors were the government should be the
servant of the people; all men are entitled to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.