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Ap Euro Dbq Reformation Essay

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The Reformation was a religious movement when many people broke away from the Catholic Church and joined Protestant churches changing Europe. In between the 1500s and 1600s, many new Protestant churches were established. The weakening of the Catholic Church, call to reform and Martin Luther’s actions led to the many changes in Europe. The weakening of the Catholic Church helped start the Reformation. During the Late Middle Ages, the weakening was caused by two reasons. The first was worldliness and corruption. Many church leaders broke vows and sold indulgences, grants from the Catholic Church releasing a person from punishment. The church was also caught doing simony, the buying and selling of spiritual goods. The second cause of the weakening was the disagreement in power between the Pope and other European monarchs. The European leaders wanted more power and began questioning the Pope’s authority which led to conflicts weakening the church. As the church was losing more power, Reformers began questioning the church’s teachings and introduced new Christian faiths. Reformers wanted to purify the church. They interrogated the Pope and Catholic Church’s authority. Many early leaders spoke out against the church. One was John Wycliffe, an English scholar, spoke opposing …show more content…

He had different beliefs than the Catholic Church. Therefore, Luther wrote the “Ninety-Five Theses” accusing them of indulgences and church abuses. He posted it on a church door in Wittenberg which put him in many disagreements with the church. The Catholic Church declared him as a heretic, someone whos beliefs contradict with the church. Later, he began the first Protestant church. He believed that the Bible was the ultimate source of authority and only considered two sacraments. His ideas and actions started the

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