The Protestant Reformation

Question 1

What was the Catholic Church like around the 12th Century?

Answer 1

The Catholic Church was richer and more powerful than ever. People tries to avoid the agonies of purgatory through praying to saints, and going on pilgrimages to worship holy relics.

Question 2

However, a few hundred years after the 12th Century, how did people treat the Catholic Church?

Answer 2

Many of the most sacred pilgrimage sites in England had been destroyed, with precious relics and statues of saints smashed and scattered. England seemed to have abandoned Catholicism.

Question 3

By the start of the 16th Century, how did people feel about the Catholic Church?

Answer 3

There was growing criticism of the Catholic Church across Europe, not only from those who attended services, but also from some priests.

Question 4

What were some of the doubts that people were having about the Church?

Answer 4

• Why are ordinary people forbidden from reading the Bible?
• Why must the Bible and all of the church services be in Latin, when few people understand it?
• It doesn’t seem right that the rich can pay to remove their sins, no matter how bad they are, through buying indulgences.
• Why is the Church so rich when so many people are so poor because It doesn’t say in the Bible that we should worship God by building palaces for bishops!
• People are getting carried away with superstitious nonsense such as worshipping statues which has nothing to do with the worship of God.
• The taxes the Church asks us to pay are too high and we can’t afford them as well as feeding and clothing our families

Question 5

What could speaking shuch doubts aloud about the church lead to?

Answer 5

Harsh punishments, including execution as a heretic.

Question 6

Why did the criticisms intesify as the 16th century progressed?

Answer 6

Mainly over the issue of indulgences.

Question 7

What were indulgences?

Answer 7

Indulgences were sold by the Catholic Church, and allowed the holder to reduce their time in purgatory, for a fee.

Question 8

Name one person who was critical of the indulgences?

Answer 8

A German priest called Martin Luther

Question 9

What happened in 1516 with the basilica of St Peter’s in Rome?

Answer 9

It needed rebuilding so Johann Tetzel, a German Dominican friar, was dispatched back to his homeland with indulgences to try to raise money for the work.

Question 10

What was the basilica of St Peter’s in Rome considered to be?

Answer 10

One of the most holy buildings in Christendom.

Question 11

Sum up the incident involving Johann Tetzel?

Answer 11

When Tetzel was collecting money by selling indulgences in Leipzig, a nobleman asked him if he could recieve one for a future sin. Tetzel then sold it to him but when he was leaving Leipzig, the nobleman attacked him along the way and sent him back empty-handed. That was the future sin which the nobleman had in mind.

Question 12

In 1517 what happened in the university town of Wittenberg?

Answer 12

A professor of theology, Martin Luther, approached the heavy doors of All Saints’ Church and nailed a piece of paper became known as the ‘95 theses and was to prove one of the most explosive documents in history. It would help to set in motion the Reformation and change many countries forever.

Question 13

Who was Martin Luther?

Answer 13

Martin Luther was a former monk who, by 1517, was Professor of Theology at the University of Wittenberg.

Question 14

How did Luther feel about the Catholic Church?

Answer 14

He had become deeply disillusioned with the Catholic Church, and began to argue that salvation could not be achieved through indulgences, charity or the worship of relics. In Luther’s mind, only God had the power to grant absolution.

Question 15

What did the existence of the printing press mean?

Answer 15

It mean that copies of the 95 theses were widely read.

Question 16

What consequences did the 95 theses have?

Answer 16

German peasants, inspired by Luthers words, revolted against their Catholic rulers and some German princes sided with the peasants, leading to a civil war in which thousands of peasants died. The revolt ultimately failed but Luther’s ideas spread.

Question 17

What happened to Martin Luther?

Answer 17

The pope branded him a heretic and he was excommunicated (banished from the Catholic Church group) in 1521.

Question 18

How did the 95 theses affect the Protestant rulers?

Answer 18

Soon Protestant rulers across a large proportion of Europe were inspired to denounce Catholicism, resulting in the Protestant Reformation.

Question 19

Why did the Protestant Reformation spread so far?

Answer 19

It was a time of rising prices. Many people hated having to pay tithes to the Church, especially as much of this money went out of the country to the Pope.

The growth of nationalism. Some people wanted the Church to belong to their own country, without interference from the Pope.

People’s lives were changing. Merchants, shopkeepers and craftsmen in the towns wanted to make a profit and they did not like the power the Church had over their daily lives. Some kings and queens agreed with them.

The Catholic Church was corrupt. Many important people within the Church, including the Pope, used their positions to become very rich and powerful. They did not live godly lives.

It was a time of general change. It was the time of the Renaissance when accepted ideas in art and science were being challenged. It was also the time of the voyages of discovery. Everything, including religion, was being questioned.

The development of printing. This meant that the ideas of people who challenged the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, became widely known - and supported.

Question 20

What did the invention of the printing press do for the indulgences?

Answer 20

The invention of the printing press around 1440 meant that copies of indulgences could be cheaply and easily produced.