How the Reformation of the Church Changed Worldview
Worldview is comprehensive view or philosophy of life, the world and the universe. The Middle Ages view on the world was that humans were evil and must be controlled; therefore, the feudal system was formed with obedience being the most important virtue of life. Progress was not possible because of humanity’s fall from grace and the Pope and church oversaw everything. The Middle Ages lasted from 500 A.D to 1500 A.D and consisted of war, famine, plague, rebellion and social and political change. The Reformation of the Church led by Martin Luther who wrote the 95 Theses impacted society’s belief about the main source of knowledge from the church to science and the Reformation made people's opinions develop and be known and allowed them to voice what they think.
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The Reformation changed how people think; it changed from completely religious to scientific thinking causing society to evolve as humans, and invent and discover new things. The Black Plague was not as important in changing people’s worldview as The Reformation of the Church though it did help the latter come to be. The plague only caused people to think of a more critical attitude towards the Church, and would have had a bigger impact if the church was not so powerful. The plague did not contribute any positive growth, it caused mayhem and impeded the progress to the Renaissance by slowing down the development of people; however, the Reformation of the Church caused people to stop heavily relying on faith and the church alone for answers and turned to science and facts to solve
Another aspect of life that was highly affected was society. During the plague and after the plague society’s values and faith began to change. When the Black Death began taking the lives of the clergy just as well as everyone else, society began to wonder if the clergy were as powerful and as united to God as they had once believed, because no matter their prayer the plague was still raging. The people lost faith in the clergy and by the end of the plague the Church had lost its authority, not only for the reason
The Black Plague was a dreadful event that caused suffering in Europe, however it was also a wake up call for humanity. Many people believed that the pandemic was because the gods were angry at humanity for… some reason? After the bodies piled up on the street and pits were made to put them in instead of graves people wondered if the gods really cared about them. Another thing the black plague caused is a new class which was the middle class. Serfs and peasants were dying and the demand for them increased to a colossal extent. There was literally a law that had to be made saying basically you had to be part of a landlord's
When many people think of the Black Death they only think of the aspect of sick people dying. Although that was the tragedy that occurred, the whole picture includes social and economic changes within Europe. Since the population rapidly decreased due to the disease causing many to perish, the aftermath involved population regrowth, which also brought many changes along with it. Although a time of great loss, the Black Death allowed for the laboring class to financially benefit, causing financial distinctions amongst social classes to diminish. It also allowed for the rights of the lower class to increase and financial suffering for the middle class. The Black Death resulted in a push in the direction of modern Europe.
In the late Middle Ages the worst evil known to man terrorized Europe. People were dropping dead everywhere and there was no place to put them. This vicious culprit was known as the Black Plague. During the 14th century in Europe millions of people died from the plague and the plague brought about great change. Before the plague there was peace and prosperity in the High Middle Ages and after the plague things were different. Historians consider the outbreak of the Black Plague a watershed moment because of great social, religious and economical changes.
“A pocketful of posies, A-tishoo! A-tishoo! We all fall down.” A common nursery rhyme that many probably don’t know relates to the Black Death. It’s interpretation goes like; a rosy rash was a symptom of the plague, posies of herbs which were carried as protection, sneezing or coughing another symptom, and finally "all fall down.” Like most nursery rhymes the interpretation can be interpreted differently. What’s important is not how you interpret it but, that you tried to in the first place. Specifically focusing on England, the agricultural advances, famine, and economic problems due to war makes the already growing stress in England come to a boiling point. When the Black Death finally arrives it’s greeted by crowded cities with unsanitary conditions, war (disease on the battlefield is not great) and a population still trying to recover from the Great Famine. The Black Death has long term and short term effects in England that would change: lower class, labourer service/money-rent (serfs/villeins), church view, and nobles. The momentum from these issues caused by the Black Death sparked Protestant Reformation ideas to begin which inevitably lead to the English Reformation.
Black Death During the Middle Ages many changes took place that would later affect modern society. Though there were many events that contributed to these changes, probably the greatest cause for change was the Black Death. The Black Death (plague) was the greatest event to change human history because it killed nearly a third of the population, made people more inclined to do medical research, and caused many other religious groups to form.
The Reformation was quite a time of change in Europe during the 16th century. Many people studying the Reformation and learning about what happened at this time make ask several different questions about it. The main question being “How did the Reformation remake Europe?” After studying the Reformation, there are many different topics that could be discussed. However, the main three that will be argued today about the remaking of Europe during the Reformation are the challenging of the medieval system, how Martin Luther started up the Reformation and the spread of several religions throughout Europe.
Plague and diseases were significant and devastating in history because they don’t have the medical system as the modern society. The Black Plague changed the European Society substantially. The disaster affected all aspects of life— depopulation, government corruption, economy decreased dramatically, etc. “The disease carved a path of death through Asia, Italy, France, North Africa, Spain, and Normandy, and continued eastward into Hungary” (The Plague in Florence). The black plague impacted the amount of labors and the Jews. It also undermined the medieval model of feudalism and the presence of the church.
Although some people may argue that the black plague affected the middle ages the most in an economic sense, it affected the middle ages more in a religious sense. Therefore affecting the movement of the middle ages into the modern era. To begin with, the Black Death affected the middle ages in a social and economic aspect. The black death killed 75% of the population. This wiped out much of the population which included the peasants and working class.
This faith started to weaken in the face of the famine and bubonic plague, which the church could not fix or even console the victims of (WT/WA 423). However, in the early modern period, the Reformation made people lose faith in religious institutions and shifted focus towards individuals. The Reformation led by Martin Luther revealed the Church's corruption and misinterpretation of the Bible (WT/WA, 464). Individuals started reading the Bible themselves to understand it using their own reasoning abilities. A religious institution was no longer necessary to learn the bible, since individuals could interpret it themselves.
The Protestant Reformation changed Christianity forever. Roused to action by the corruption and abuses they saw in the Roman Catholic church of the time, visionary pastors and leaders like Martin Luther and John Calvin spearheaded a movement that transformed Christianity and eventually led to the emergence of the Protestant denominations that exist today. The Reformation, though seen by many as a bad thing, shaped the history of Europe and, consequently, the whole of the modern world. The Protestant Reformation was a widespread theological revolt in Europe against the abuses and totalitarian control of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Plague caused people to think for themselves and not rely on the Church for everything. About 25 million people died from the Black
The Black Plague had affected the world in many ways. People of that time period thought that the Black Plague was created by a superior being. They were thinking that it was their punishment from God for their sins, they were calling it a divine punishment. Soon they realized, it was not from God because holy men like the Pope started to perish. This caused citizens to go into chaos. They fled cities, left families and friends, and locked themselves from their former world. They would not take a risk for death from the Bubonic Plague. This ceased trade and new ideas to flood into Europe, it cut them off from the world. Peasants started to think that it was a natural cause because of Boccaccio, an Italian poet, witnessed the Bubonic Plague.
The Protestant Reformation and European expansion have both left political, social and economic impacts throughout history. The Protestant Reformation which was started in the 1500’s, by a Catholic man named Martin Luther caused political instability and fragmented the Holy Roman Empire. It economically caused the church to go bankrupt and socially allowed for the rise of individualism among the people; Luther gave the people of Europe the long needed reason to break free of the church. The Protestant Reformation and the need for new converts lead to the rise of European expansion. European expansion into the west resulted in a political increase of power for Europe, the social increase in slavery, disease and racism, as well as the
The Reformation was perhaps the greatest religious movement in Christ since the early church. It revived the Biblical and New Testament thoeological studies.