Protestant Reformation Dbq

Throughout history, religion has played an integral role in the formation of a modern society. It has not simply been the presence of religion in life that has inspired the development of a modern social order, but the reformation of religion throughout time that has changed the world. In the early sixteenth century, a storm was brewing, a storm that would forever change the world. This perfect storm was the protestant reformation. The protestant reformation was headed by catholic monk named Martin Luther; Luther began the reformation when he could no longer tolerate the corruption in the Roman Catholic church. The protestant reformation was caused by a variety of corruptions within the catholic church, and dissatisfactions outside the church related to the church’s habits, some of these included: economic corruption, the sale of indulgences, the power and authority of the pope, and the all around dissatisfaction with the practice of external worship.
One of the many corruptions of the Roman Catholic church that triggered the Protestant Reformation was economic corruption. The Roman catholic church was swathed in opulence and was the wealthiest organization of that time. But where did the church get all of this money? It wasn’t like the people were charged a fee to simply enter the church, attend a mass, or worship God. No, the church’s means of creating revenue were far more sophisticated and devious. The majority of society in the 1500’s was the peasent class; this class was regarded as submissive and naïve, making them the best target for the church. The church preached that if you donated to the Roman Catholic Church, you would enter the kingdom of heaven more easily, and oftentimes without the struggles of purgatory. Soon, the economic impact of this tithing became evident in other countries. Leaders and noblemen, began to notice the lack of gold and silver in their homelands, such as germany. German nobleman, Urich von Hutten, addressed the