FREE ESSAY ON WESTERN CIVILIZATION REFORMATION

WESTERN CIVILIZATION REFORMATION

 Chris Walters 1April99
HIS121 Western Civilization
REFORMATION
During the Sixteenth century, a widespread Religious reformation took
place in Western Europe. It was between the Catholics and the Protestants. A
reformation is a 16th century religious movement marked ultimately by rejection or
modification of some Roman Catholic doctrine and practice and establishment of the
Protestant churches. This particular Reformation separated the Christians of Western
Europe into Protestants and Catholics. Some of the major Reformations of the Sixteenth
century were the Catholic Reformation, the Genevan Reformation, German Reformation,
English Reformation, and the Swiss Reformation, also known as the Zwinglian
Reformation. They all shared some similar characteristics, while also having some
different characteristics.
During the Sixteenth century corruption was widespread throughout all of
Western Europe. Clergy men, popes, and priests were all sinning alike. Greed, sex, abuse
of power were just some of these abuses. The Reformations sought to eliminate these
abuses. In each of these reformations, Royalty played a part in it. In the Catholic
Reformation, taking place in Spain and Italy, Queen Isabel of Spain brought the church
further under the crown's control than ever before. Her reason for Reformation was to
raise the intellectual and moral standards of the church. In the German Reformation,
Martin Luther was the leader, and he split the church into two groups the Catholic and
Protestant. He had protested that some of the clergy were selling indulgences (temporal
pardons of sins) without making clear that people must also be sincerely repentant for
those sins. He's most famous for his list of 95 indulgences that he nailed to the door
of
the catholic church. In Switzerland Zwinglian lead the Swiss Reformation. He broke
Traditional standards. 
He said "A church without the magistrate is mutilated and
incomplete."Relics and images were abolished; all paintings and decorations were
removed form the churches and replaced by white washed walls. He also had music
removed from the sermon because he felt it was a distraction from the word of god.
(Spielvogel 471)
The English Reformation came about because of Henry VIII's desire to
divorce his wife, in search of one that could bear him a son. The Genevan reformation,
(I
don't get this part because it's in Switzerland so isn't it the same thing then as the
Swiss
Reformation?)It was lead by John Calvin. Calvin enforced the ideals of purity,
simplicity,
and devout religious faith. 
All of these Reformations took power away form the churches and placed it
under the crown. No one's power will be higher than that of the crown. All of these
Reformations sought to eliminate corruption, sin, and any other wrong doings from the
churches. The Catholic Reformation and the English Reformation fought to keep
Catholicism, while the Swiss Reformation, the German reformation, and the Genevan
reformation all fought for Protestantism. Each of these Reformations divided up their
countries people. The Holy Roman Empire was the main fighting force against
Protestantism. All these Reformations broke traditional standards around Western
Europe. 
"The true reform was not directed against an enemy; it was undertaken for
God, Jesus Christ, as a protestation of unwavering loyalty.( Daniel-Rops 3) 
The idea was to change Mankind not Religion, but this proved to be
impossible. Each Reformation was different because there were different driving forces
behind them. The Genevan Reformation, led by Calvin, was ultimately driven by the
government of Geneva, which wasn't a King or a Queen, but instead by a series of
councils. The Catholic Reformation had Queen Isabel behind it in her hopes to strengthen
the morals of her people. The Swiss Reformation was started by Zwinglian, in his hopes
to remove all that which distracted from the pure word of God. The German Reformation
was driven by Luther and later carried on by Charles V, who tried to unite his kingdom
through religion but through a series of wars lost all hopes of religious unity. And the
English Reformation was started because of King Henry VIII's quest for a heir to his
throne. 
Each of these Reformations had their differences and similarities, but
ultimately shared one major concept; to eliminate all sin, the abuse of power and the
selling of indulgences from the church and the pure word of God. 
Works Cited
Bibliography
1.Compton's Encyclopedia Online:
2.Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization vol1, 3rd ed. NY: West Publishing
Company. 1997
3.Hillerbrand, Hans J. Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation vol1. NY: Oxford
University Press. 1996
4.Daniel-Rops, H. The Catholic Reformation. NY: E.P. Dutton and Coinc. 1962
5.Jensen, De Lamar. Reformation Europe 2nd edition. Toronto: D.C.Heath and
Company. 1992
6.Hsia, Repo-Chia. The German People & The Reformation. NY and London:
Cornell University Press. 1988
7.Grass, Mark Green. The European Reformation c1500-1618. NY and London:
Addison Wesley Longman limited. 1998