World History II

Project: Reformation
By: Earn, Safe, Punch, Mind 1104
Causes of the Reformation
The Reformation started from the Catholic Church
became corrupted. Popes were into finding wealth and power
while priests ignore their spiritual duties. This leads people to
become worried about not reaching salvation. And because of
the idea of Humanism and Individualism contributes to the
idea of reforming the Church. The main influencer was
Erasmus and Martin Luther who influence the idea of
reformation. Erasmus has been a part of Christian humanist
but his idea didn’t become really popular. However, on the
other hand, the idea of Martin Luther’s reformation became
well-known by the development of the printing press and his
95-theses against the Church. Another important cause came
from kingdoms that do not want to be under the power of the
Pope so they start to take actions that lead to the reformation.
The Reformation (Major events)
During the reformation, Martin Luther wrote the 95 theses
against indulgences and allowed every person to read the bible. He was
the one who creates Lutheranism, which focused on faith. Calvin became
the leader of movement and inspired Geneva to be the center of
Calvinism. Henry VIII created Anglicanism and declared that he will not
be under the Catholic Church or the Pope, which is called the Act of
Supremacy, as well as became the head of the new church in England.
Charles V called to defend Luther’s ideas at The Imperial Diet and make
a final decision called The Edict of worms which means he banned
Martin Luther’s ideas. Frederick the III separated from the catholic
church for power, overthrow the pope and also helped Martin Luther
escape from the church and protected him. Many rulers supported Martin
Luther and took control of the territory from the Church to form new
Protestant Church. Now there is a Peasant war against the lord, but
Martin Luther supported the lords. While the reformation disrupted both
political and social order, the ongoing war between the Catholic and the
Protestant seem to be a problem to the Roman empire. There was also a
war between the Roman empire and the Ottoman Empire and France, so
the religious war ended with the Peace of Augsburg.
Effects of the Reformation
The Reformation has several effects that change how Christianity works. One
effect is Christianity become more humanism and individualism. Instead of mostly
believing in the Church, priests, and relics, people tend to believe more on
themselves and become less religious. In other words, people no longer need to rely
on Churches and started questioning them. Everyone was able to read bibles, not
just priests. The Reformation also led to many people challenging the Catholic
Church and creating their own versions of Christianity. These religions are all called
Protestant religions, such as Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism, etc. Thus,
people have more choices of religions to believe in. However, some German princes
used this opportunity to come up with a new protestant religion in order to gain
power over the pope. Since many people come up with several new religions against
the Catholic Church, many religious wars were created, which in turn weaken the
holy roman empire, as well as creating disruption in the political and social order.
Another political effect that arises is the Peasants’ War, which is when peasants
revolted for their rights against the lords to follow Martin Luther’s ideas. This can
be seen as another effects that influence how people think. People not just question
the church, but also question several things such as rights, equality, authority, etc.
As many protestant religions arise, the Peace of Augsburg is created. It is the
agreement that allowed the division of Christianity in Germany, which allow people
to have the same rights no matter what religion they chose.
The Reformation (Alternate History)
In the alternate history, we decided what if prince
Frederik did not help Martin Luther to escape.
Consequently, this would cause Martin Luther to be
executed and the Reformation wouldn’t be like what we
have known. The reformation was based on Martin’s idea
of reforming the Catholic Church, without him, many
events and effects wouldn’t exist. The idea of
Protestantism would likely become different or does not
occur in the first place as Martin has passed away. Besides,
related to protestant religion, we think that if Henry VIII
have already got a divorce, will there be Anglicanism?
There might be no act of supremacy and England would
still be under the pope. The third event that we consider is
Emperor Charles V make a revolution against the pope
without a religious purpose. This may cause significant
changes to the history of the reformation.
Effects of the Reformation (Alternate History)
Respectively from the previous alternated events, the possible outcomes from
Frederick action cause major changes. First, Martin Luther would be executed because he can
no longer escape. Martin Luther's death would create a huge impact on the Reformation and
many other people. There would no longer have any protestant religion like Lutheranism and
Calvinism because there would be no one who ignited the hope for reforming the Catholic
Church, people may lose faith in the Reformation. The protestant war would not happen and
many other events would not either. Martin’s ideas have influenced Christianity and people’s
ideas about the Church, it made people challenge the Church, political and social order. As we
can see that there was also a war between peasants and lord this is because Martin’s ideas have
encouraged the peasants to fight against an unfair system like when the princes have fought
against the Pope. As a result the Reformation would not exist, there would not be Peace of
Augsburg, the princes would still be under the power of the Pope and people would not try to
challenge the church as they did, it would take longer time to reform the Catholic Church and
there would be no influencer as same as Martin, however his idea would remain and someone
might continue and forward his idea. Another alternate event that King Henry VIII got a divorce
would create direct changes to England. There would not be Anglicanism and the act of
supremacy as his main purpose of creating the religion came from his marriage. England would
still be under the power of the church. Finally, if Charles V has made a revolution against the
Pope there would be many significant consequences from his actions. If he became more
powerful than the Catholic Church, there would be a war between those who want power and
those who still believe in the Church. The major difference between Charles V and Martin was
the purpose of the reformation. Martin wanted to reform the Church as it was corrupted, on the
other hand, Charles purpose would mainly focus on politics and power. The religion would
remain the same as it’s those who fight didn’t care about improving Christianity. Also, it would
be harder to unite people without Christianity.