There were many causes of the Protestant Reformation,however there were three main causes. These three causes were the fallen Catholic church, the influence of Martin Luther's teachings, and the buying and selling of indulgences in order to build Saint Peter's Church. All three of these things contributed greatly to the Protestant Reformation.
Martin Luther was a German monk who struggle with doubts about his faith. Because of his doubts he was sent to the holy city, Rome. While in Rome, Luther discovered the issues within the church. His ideas and influences had a great effect on the starting of the Reformation. Luther protested the selling of indulgences in the Catholic church. He then wrote, what is known as the 95 thesis, and nailed it to the door of the church. this caused a major uproar among the people of the church.
The fallen Catholic church was one of the greatest causes of the Reformation. the church was fallen in the sense that positions in the church were being sold to whoever would pay the most for them. In this way the church was very corrupted. The church then began to enable people to buy your family member out of Purgatory, pay to see Holy relics, or buy a statue of your favorite saint. The main goal of the church became making money.
The indulgences being sold by the Roman Catholic church were the biggest form of corruption within it. The money made from selling the indulgences paid for the rebuilding of Saint Peter's Church in Rome. If you bought an indulgence it was believed that you could buy a loved one's way out of purgatory and into heaven. Luther strongly disagreed with this idea because it went against what the bible taught.
In conclusion, the teachings and influence of Martin Luther, the fallen church, and the selling of indulgences caused the church to drastically change. The change in the church also caused a change in the course of history. And without the teachings and ideas of Luther, then the whole reformation would most likely never have happened at all.
McKitterick, Rosamond. Times Medieval World. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.
Guy, John. Medieval Life. London: Ticktock Media Limited, 2001
