Transcript Martin Luther

Main Idea + Vocabulary
MAIN IDEA: In the 16th century, anger and frustration at
Catholic Church, combined with the spread of attractive
new ideas, caused many Europeans to break away from
the Catholic Church and, establish a new form of
Christianity – Protestantism
VOCABULARY: Indulgences; Corruption; 95 Theses
PEOPLE: Martin Luther
Causes
• Distrust in the Church because of the Black Death
• Anger at indulgences (the act of paying money to the
Church to have a sin forgiven)
• Anger at corruption (improper use of money) by many
leaders in the Church
• Stronger monarchies made the Church less important
• Scientific discoveries during the Scientific Revolution
challenged the teachings and power of the Church
• Invention of the printing press allowed new ideas to spread
much more quickly
• Increase in literacy during the Renaissance allowed people
to read arguments against the Church
Protestant reformation
• In response to all of
these causes, people
began to protest the
Catholic Church – and
became known as
Protestants
• The movement to reform
(change in order to
improve) the Catholic
Church was known as
the Protestant
Reformation
Above, people burn documents of the Catholic
Church to show their protest
Martin Luther
• The most famous Protestant leader
was Martin Luther
• In 1517, he posted his 95 Theses
(a list of what he thought was
wrong with the Catholic Church)
on the door of a Catholic Church
in Wittenburg, Germany
• Luther criticized:
• Indulgences
• The power of the Pope
• The huge wealth of the Catholic Church
The Spread
• Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of
the printing press in 1450 made it
possible for Luther to copy the 95
Theses and spread his beliefs
• Soon, people all across Europe were
reading his ideas and reform
movements (with different names)
began in many other European
countries
Effects
• Weakened the power of the Pope and Catholic Church
• Strengthened the power of monarchs, who had been arguing
with the Church for a long time over who had more power –
a king or the pope
• Caused multiple violent religious wars between Catholics
and Protestants
• Split European countries into two groups (in general,
northern European countries became Protestant, while
southern European countries remained Catholic)