Rose Rice

AP Euro
September 21, 2010

Before the Reformation in the 16th century, the Catholic Church and the Pope

were considered by many to be infallible and have spiritual authority. This changed,

however, as the Reformation came along and various reforms, like Luther, Zwingli,

Calvin, and so on, became to question these beliefs and practices which had previously

been accepted as true. This Reformation started due to various events of the previous

century, which helped the New Devotion spread, which taught Erasmus, who inspired the

reform of the Reformation to step forward.

Firstly, before the start of the 1500’s, there were a few major events that would

later help the Reformation begin. To start with, even before the Reformation began, there

were people who were unhappy with the Catholic Church. These people, John Wycliffe

and John Huss, attacked many of the practices and beliefs in the church and wanted to

return to the simple practices of the early church. Even though they were unsuccessful in

changing the church, these two reformers added to the Reformation in that many of their

followers lived on to participate in the Reformation (Doc. D). Additionally, in 1440,

Johann Gutenberg invented the Printing Press in Mainz, Germany. This invention

allowed for different texts to be made readily available to the public, like the Bible,

which, printed in 1454, gave scholars “access to a dependable, standardized text, so that

Scripture could be discussed…as never before” (Doc. F).

Because of the printing press, which made scripture readily available, the

Brothers of the Common life were able to form the New Devotion, which was a key part

in educating the future participants of the Reformation. One of the most “powerful
forces” of the Reformation, the New Devotion, established by Gerard Groote, was active

in education, including creating schools where children could be taught straight from

scripture (Doc. C). In The Imitation of Christ, written by Thomas a Kempis, the New

Devotion’s beliefs were directly expressed for the world to read in that century, and for

future ones. In it, Kempis expresses that Jesus said to follow him and that His teachings

“far transcends all the teachings of the Saints” (Doc. A). It is these teachings that would

later inspire all the reformers to proclaim the Scripture’s authority over everything else.

Educated by the New Devotion (Doc. E), Desiderius Erasmus, a humanist author

of the early 1500’s, added to the Reformation in that Luther and other major reformers

carried out his beliefs. Erasmus criticized the superstitions of the church and indulgences

(Doc E), which were preached by John Teztel (Doc G). Also, in his In Praise of Folly,

where he wrote for Christians his criticism of the Christians failing to live a true Christian

life, Erasmus expressed that the theologians of that time were “incredibly arrogant and

touchy” (Doc B). Furthermore, Erasmus argued that salvation wasn’t from ceremonial

acts, but from deeds of love. Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and others of the Reformation

would later reinforce this idea, along with all his others.

Because of various events, like the creation of the Printing Press, that helped the

New Devotion form, where Erasmus was taught, who later on inspired the important

people like Luther, the Reformation was able to start. The Reformation was a key event

in European History. It gave the world many long lasting legacies, like the Book of

Common Prayer, the Lutheran Church, Calvinism, the Anglican Church and so on. And it

is these things which help the religious community function today.