Counter Reformation Dbq Essay

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The beginning of the 16th century brought with it the Reformation. The Catholic Church became challenged by Martin Luther and John Calvin. With nailing of the 95 theses on the Church doors, Luther began the Protestant Reformation. The counter-reformation was introduced in Europe to weaken the Protestant Reformation and rebuild the power of the Catholic Church through education, clergy reform, and spreading of the Catholic faith. The counter-reformation can be additionally seen as a political movement because of the loss in revenue in the Baltic provinces. The Lutheranism in the area diverted funds from the Church because that religion didn’t for taxes to be paid to the pope. In order for the Roman Catholic Church to regain its power, the R.C.C. …show more content…

Now priests were required to have an education in theology everywhere in Europe. Additionally, priests were only allowed to have sacred and ancient books. According to Document #6 it states “The books of those who originated or revived heresies such as Luther,Zwingli, Calvin, Balthasar Schwenckfeld, and other like these are absolutely forbidden.” “..Sacred Books are permitted everywhere and without discrimination..” These two experts support the claim that all the books that were permitted were the sacred and ancient books. There will be a punishment if someone is to be found with condemned books, according to Document #5 it states “.. If anyone should read or possess books by heretics or writings by any author condemned and prohibited by reason of heresy or suspicion of false teaching, he incurs immediately the sentence of excommunication.” There could also be a slight chance the priests can be sent to the torture chamber like in Document #3. The painting shows off a torture chamber during the Roman Inquisition, which was responsible for prosecuting individuals accused of committing offenses relating to heresy. After taking care of education, the Roman Catholic Church needed to focus on how to spread the word of

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