In the sixteenth century religious reform led many people away from the Catholic Church’s monopolistic control over Europe. New religious leaders emerged and many ideas that had been commonly accepted for centuries were brought into question. Reformers such as Martin Luther and King Henry VIII both opposed the catholic church, but for very different reasons. Luther despised the Catholic Church’s selling of indulgences and unquestioning acceptance of the pope’s testimony. Henry wanted more power over the Churches in his jurisdiction after his was denied his request for a divorce in order to try again to produce a male heir, and was enticed by the prospect of the economic opportunities that would arise were he to have full control of the Church in England. Despite Luther and Henry’s similar endeavors in diverging from the Catholic Church, the two were acting on very different motivations.
Although Martin Luther and King Henry VII accomplished many of the same things in establishing their respective churches, for the most part their motivations were strikingly different. One motive that the two had in common was dissatisfaction with the status quo, or the way that the Catholic Church was being run. They were unhappy with the amount of power that the Catholic Church had over everyone’s affairs. Also, they both found themselves in a struggle against church policy started purely from a personal reason. This ignited a desire for a change in both of them, although they approached this change in radically different ways.
Martin Luther was driven to oppose the Church for many reasons, of which very few were common to both he and Henry. Luther was born to a miner and a deeply religious mother living in the Holy Roman Empire in 1483. As a young man, he joined the Augustinian order, just as Christian Humanist Desiderius Erasmus had done. After fasts, avid prayers, a pilgrimage to Rome and an intense study of the Bible that led to a doctorate in Theology, Luther did not feel that he was be saved was through the Catholic Church; he had a disturbed conscience and thought of himself as a sinner. One of his biggest concerns was the selling of indulgences. People such as Johann Tetzel would offer the public the opportunity to pay to have their sins annulled; it even got to the point where people could purchase indulgences for deceased relatives with the intention of buying them out of Hell. Another of Luther’s greatest apprehensions was the pope’s authority over the Bible. Luther opposed this idea of the pope as a supreme being and proposed that anyone could read the Bible and interpret it as they saw fit. In order to express his displeasure, Luther composed the 95 theses to express his views. Although Luther was admired my many, other protestant reformers began appearing who would challenge his views. Huldrych Zwingli was a priest from Zurich who shared many of Luther’s values and motivations, with the exception of their views on transubstantiation, one of the main differences that prevented the two from uniting when they and other supporters of the reformation met at the Colloquy of Marburg to discuss their views. While Luther believed in the literal meaning of a communion, Zwingli interpreted the idea of eating the body and blood of Christ merely as a symbol of man’s unity with God. Another reformer who shared many of Luther’s motivations was John Calvin, although Calvin supported the ideology that God had chosen who would go to Heaven or Hell before they were born -- an idea commonly know as predestination -- whereas Luther did not. Luther’s writings commenced a call for religious reform; King Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire called Luther before him to defend his faith at what was known as the Diet of Worms. As a result, Luther was exiled, but not before his displeasure with the Catholic Church had made a significant impact; the German Peasant’s War was an uprising that began soon after, inspired mainly by Luther’s writings. Luther’s displeasure with the Catholic Church caused a widespread call for religious reform, while in England, King Henry VIII was taking matters into his own hands.
Henry’s motivations were substantially different from those of Luther, although they led to almost the same conclusion. Henry had married Catherine of Aragon in hopes of having a son who could inherit the throne from him. When she gave him only a daughter after years of marriage, Henry wanted a divorce. He was in love with another woman named Anne Boleyn, and requested that Pope Clement VII declare his marriage to Catherine invalid. When the pope refused, Henry’s mounting frustrations with the Catholic Church led him to be named the head of the Church of England in the Act of Supremacy of 1534. Despite his earlier ties with the Catholic Church that earned him the title Defender of the Faith, Henry became a member of the protestant movement. Being head of the Church of England proved to be very profitable for Henry. He would sell items from churches and often the churches themselves; this would later provide funding to go to war. Although Henry’s involvement in the reformation appeared to derive entirely from self-interest, it later proved to be useful and resulted in many of the same changes in England as Luther had brought about in the Holy Roman Empire.
There were very few shared motivations for which Luther and Henry became a part of the protestant reformation, although they both disliked the Catholic Church’s practices. Where Luther was unhappy with the church selling indulgences and the pope’s absolute power, Henry was trying to get a divorce and make some money, both of which he succeeded in doing. Luther and Henry both played important roles in the protestant reformation, although their roles were initiated by very different motives.
Although Martin Luther and King Henry VII accomplished many of the same things in establishing their respective churches, for the most part their motivations were strikingly different. One motive that the two had in common was dissatisfaction with the status quo, or the way that the Catholic Church was being run. They were unhappy with the amount of power that the Catholic Church had over everyone’s affairs. Also, they both found themselves in a struggle against church policy started purely from a personal reason. This ignited a desire for a change in both of them, although they approached this change in radically different ways.
Martin Luther was driven to oppose the Church for many reasons, of which very few were common to both he and Henry. Luther was born to a miner and a deeply religious mother living in the Holy Roman Empire in 1483. As a young man, he joined the Augustinian order, just as Christian Humanist Desiderius Erasmus had done. After fasts, avid prayers, a pilgrimage to Rome and an intense study of the Bible that led to a doctorate in Theology, Luther did not feel that he was be saved was through the Catholic Church; he had a disturbed conscience and thought of himself as a sinner. One of his biggest concerns was the selling of indulgences. People such as Johann Tetzel would offer the public the opportunity to pay to have their sins annulled; it even got to the point where people could purchase indulgences for deceased relatives with the intention of buying them out of Hell. Another of Luther’s greatest apprehensions was the pope’s authority over the Bible. Luther opposed this idea of the pope as a supreme being and proposed that anyone could read the Bible and interpret it as they saw fit. In order to express his displeasure, Luther composed the 95 theses to express his views. Although Luther was admired my many, other protestant reformers began appearing who would challenge his views. Huldrych Zwingli was a priest from Zurich who shared many of Luther’s values and motivations, with the exception of their views on transubstantiation, one of the main differences that prevented the two from uniting when they and other supporters of the reformation met at the Colloquy of Marburg to discuss their views. While Luther believed in the literal meaning of a communion, Zwingli interpreted the idea of eating the body and blood of Christ merely as a symbol of man’s unity with God. Another reformer who shared many of Luther’s motivations was John Calvin, although Calvin supported the ideology that God had chosen who would go to Heaven or Hell before they were born -- an idea commonly know as predestination -- whereas Luther did not. Luther’s writings commenced a call for religious reform; King Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire called Luther before him to defend his faith at what was known as the Diet of Worms. As a result, Luther was exiled, but not before his displeasure with the Catholic Church had made a significant impact; the German Peasant’s War was an uprising that began soon after, inspired mainly by Luther’s writings. Luther’s displeasure with the Catholic Church caused a widespread call for religious reform, while in England, King Henry VIII was taking matters into his own hands.
Henry’s motivations were substantially different from those of Luther, although they led to almost the same conclusion. Henry had married Catherine of Aragon in hopes of having a son who could inherit the throne from him. When she gave him only a daughter after years of marriage, Henry wanted a divorce. He was in love with another woman named Anne Boleyn, and requested that Pope Clement VII declare his marriage to Catherine invalid. When the pope refused, Henry’s mounting frustrations with the Catholic Church led him to be named the head of the Church of England in the Act of Supremacy of 1534. Despite his earlier ties with the Catholic Church that earned him the title Defender of the Faith, Henry became a member of the protestant movement. Being head of the Church of England proved to be very profitable for Henry. He would sell items from churches and often the churches themselves; this would later provide funding to go to war. Although Henry’s involvement in the reformation appeared to derive entirely from self-interest, it later proved to be useful and resulted in many of the same changes in England as Luther had brought about in the Holy Roman Empire.
There were very few shared motivations for which Luther and Henry became a part of the protestant reformation, although they both disliked the Catholic Church’s practices. Where Luther was unhappy with the church selling indulgences and the pope’s absolute power, Henry was trying to get a divorce and make some money, both of which he succeeded in doing. Luther and Henry both played important roles in the protestant reformation, although their roles were initiated by very different motives.