Religion in the Renaissance

In the 16^th century the church divided into two parts - The Catholic and The Protestant. This was the Reformation. The Church made better.

The causes

~ Some churchmen behaved badly. They couldn’t marry and have babies, but some of them get marry and have children. Some were interested in their money and power instead of worship their God. They enjoyed in a material life.

~ The Church seemed too powerful. It had most of the land in Europe and it collected taxes from all the people. The money were used to buy some treasures for the Church.

~ Some Church teachings were wrong. It said that the sun, not the earth was the centre of the universe. But it was wrong. Scholars thought that there are also some other things are wrong.

~ The main cause is that the Church sold pieces of papers called pardons. If the people bought them, their sins would be forgiven. A lot of Scholars thought this was wrong because only God could forgive sins.

Matin Luther and the Protestant Church

The Reformation started in Germany in 1517. A German monk, Martin Luther, said that 95 things were wrong with the church. He put his list on the church door in Wittenbery. It was a kind of notice- board. Matin Luther also wrote the Protestantism.

The Pope was very angry. If people followed Luther, the Church would lose power and money. The Pope wrote an official letter. He said that Luther was no longer a priest. Luther burned the letter.

Some powerful nobles believed Luther’s teachings. They protected him. Luther wanted to stay in the Catholic, but it was impossible. In 1521 he started a new Church. It was called the Protestant Church because it protested against Catholic Church. Many rulers liked the new religion because they didn’t have to obey the Pope and pay taxes to Rome.

Counter reformation