Reformation

Reformation is a revolution of a large sections of Christians broke away from the catholic church and formed a separate group of Christianity.It also known as protestant revolt rather than reformation. It also assumed a political character too.The popes besides claiming spiritual supremacy,often interfered in the internal affairs of the other countries in western Europe.Such interference clashed with the rising sentiment of national patriotism.the reformation was therefor not only a religious revolution but also a national revolt against the domination  of the foreign authority of the pope.There were several causes contributed to the reformation movement.Church corruption—such as the selling of indulgences, nepotism (the practice of appointing one’s relatives to offices),the pursuit of personal wealth by bishops, and the sexual indulgence of the clergy etc were the main reasons of the reformation. another prominent reason was the renaissance. Actually reformation was the child of renaissance.The critical spirit generated by the renaissance aroused a spirit of opposition among thinking men against the evils which had crept into the church.

At the end of the fourteenth century John Wycliffe an oxford professor,who has been called the morning star of reformation,severely criticized the temporal power of the church and immortality of the clergy.Erasmus and other humanist scholars of Germany, by their criticism against the evils of the church prepared the ground for the reception of the seeds of reformation. The German humanist were only reformers and not revolutionaries.they wanted to reform the church within the church and opposed the idea of separation from the catholic church.But the criticism which they opened, invited the deluge of the reformation.the advent of press helped to hi-lighten the feeling of anti clericalism and make the path clear to for the reformation. 

The growth of national consciousnesses Europe and the rise of despotic governments were another causes of reformation.The political ambitions of the despotic monarchs combined with the intense national spirit of the peoples dealt a severe blow to the secular and spiritual authority of the pope and created the proper climate for the reformation.The church had become a vast economic empire.it was the largest landowner in Europe.

The immediate cause of the reformation was the arrival of a Dominican monk Tetzel to Germany for the sale of indulgences.Martin Luther (1483– 1546), an obscure German monk and brilliant theologian started a rebellion against the church’s authority in Germany.