Position:Home>History> Is it fair to say that the protestant reformation was caused by the black death?
Question: Is it fair to say that the protestant reformation was caused by the black death!?
i could be wrong an i want your opinion:
The church was very corrupt and powerful and owned a lot of land due to the sale of fake indulgences, and tithes!.!.!.!.!.Due to the fuedel system in place, the church controled the lords who could commands the serfs and others living on the land!.!.!.!.!.they could influience their choices, and because the land was owned by the church, the fuedel lord convinced them Chatholisism was the way to God!.!.!.!.
Then once the plauge struck it ended the fuedel system with all the dying and chaos, causing a new wave of ideas AGAINST the church, causeing people like Wycliff and Hus to share their opinions, ultimatly leading to Martin Luther and the reformation!.!.!.!.all the remaining people then backed him up because they werent controled and wanted change after they saw all the dying, so the hopped on the "bandwagon" of Luther!.!.!.!.!.!.!.
It is late and i could be shooting things out of no where but could you give me you honest opinion on this, please no dumb answerWww@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
No, I would not say that the protestant reformation was caused by the Black Death but it is quite possible that there was a connection even though it may be tenuous!. The carnage of the Black Death in Northern Europe was so great that it resulted in major economic and social changes, in effect ending the feudal system in England and substituting an early form of wage economy and early ordinances to control wages and prices because of the economic disruption!. History evolves and the effects of the Black Death echoed down the centuries because it fundamentally changed economic and social relationships in society!. There were other factors too, though, which made for changes in religion, which date back to the 12th and 13th!. centuries and the beginning of the re-establishment of reason over faith, the new secular learning exemplified in the founding of the Universities of Paris & Oxford and the rediscovery of the classical world's works of mathematics, logic and philosophy, marking Europe's emergence from the Dark Ages!. So it is a complex question to which there is no ready answer and one which you would do well to research!. Start with a good book on economic history to assess the affects of the Black Death, rather than one that focuses on political history!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Hi there,
You are a little off on your dates!. The plague was not during Luther's time!. The biggest catalyst for the Protestant Reformation was the invention of the printing press (roughy 1440s)!. Luther had posted his notice (95 theses) on the church door (a common practice) of the things he thought needed changing!. He had no intention of being a reformer!. The list was taken off the door, replicated on a press and distributed!. The peasants used Luther's concerns as a battle cry for their concerns!. Luther did not support this societal unheaval!.
The peasants' concerns were not the same as Luther's!.
You said that the feudal lords convinced them that Catholicism was the way to God!.!.!." At that time all of the Christian world was Catholic!. There was no other alternative!. Luther wanted change within the church!. He was horrified by the peasants and is quoted as saying, "Smite and slay the evil peasants!.!.!."
The Protestant reformation was made possible by the printing press and had as it impetus the corruption within the church!. When Luther traveled to Rome he was shocked to encounter priests that couldn't even read!. He wanted the gospel to be accessible to all!. He wanted the end of indulgences!. He saw the celebacy of the clergy as unnatural (endorsing marriage instead)!. He ended up marrying a nun that he freed who wouldn't choose a husband!. (A story for another day!)!. The peasants were angling for economic change!.
Anyways, I hope that helped!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I think it played a part in the beginning of the protestant reformation!. Traditionally people would turn to the church in times of need, however when they saw as many priests and men of God dying during the black death they began to wonder if God had forsaken them!. Big thinkers like Wycliff,Hus and Luther were giving an alternative to what was already considered by many as a corrupt church!. This didn't happen overnight of course but the memory of the black death and the subsequent outbreaks of plague I think pointed people in the direction of Protestantism!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
not even close the printing press was the biggest contributer to the protestant reformation!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
No!. it is a myth that everyone supported the reformation, many did not!. In england, for example, the Reformation was brought about by Henry VIII wanting to get his hands on the wealth of the church (for the enrichment of himself and his nobles, not for the common people), and because he wanted to annul his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and marry Anne Boleyn!.
In any case, not all the land in england (or elsewhere) belonged to the church, a lot of land belonged to the nobility and the gentry, and of course the King owned a lot himself!.
The position of the common people in england was not improved by the Reformation, in fact it deteriorated, as the church provided a valuable welfare system for the poor people of England, they gave alms to the poor, they nursed the sick and elderly, they taught children, all of that came to an end with the Reformation!. and many people resisted the changes, there was an uprising in the north against the dissolution of the monasteries, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, which was put down with great savagery!. Then later in the reign of Edward VI there was another uprising, the Prayer Book Rebellion, against the introduction of the english prayer book into churches, which was also put down!.
Another feature of the Reformation in england was that henry decided that the peasants had too many days off, so many of the old Saints Days (which had been holidays in medieval times) were abolished, so that the peasants had to work harder!.
The peasants who worked the land enjoyed a degree of independence on their own smallholdings, they were left to farm them in their own way, and lived in communities that were run by elected representatives from among the villagers themselves!. This system began to beak down when the lords began enclosing the old common lands and keeping sheep, which led to a drastic increase in poverty and homelessness among the poor people!. It was sheep that brought about the end of the feudal system, and it did not improve the lot of the peasantry, who increasingly found themselves working as waged labourers on someone else's land instead of working their own, that is if they could get work at all!.
At the end of the 16th century, with the increase in enclosures and many more dispossesed peasants, the standard of living among the poor people of England was at its lowest ever!.Www@QuestionHome@Com