Reformation The people of medieval Europe were mainly Christians who believed in the power of god. God-fearing Catholics accepted the role of the Church that acted as the medium between them and god. The church became the focal point for all the activities of common people from birth to death. In due course of time, the power wielded by the church Pope Leo X Modern World: The Age of Reason authorities increased beyond measure.
The kings and people of Europe were, however, beginning to feel the heavy hand of the Church. There were occasional instances of defiance and disobedience of Papal authority. The Church created the Inquisition to treat this new heresy with violence. The Inquisition dubbed the people who questioned the activities of the Church as heretics and women as witches.
The revolt against the absolute power of the church was called Protestant because it protested against the dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. The movement is called the Reformation. It was a popular revolt against corruption as well as the authoritarianism of the Church. In response the loyal Roman Church men made some attempts to reform the Church of its abuses from within.
This phase of reform movement came to be known as Counter- Reformation which once again acted against the protest sternly. Causes for Reformation Movement Corruption of Church authorities The practice of sale of indulgence (absolving one’s sin by getting papal pardon through payment of money), nepotism, and simony (sale of church posts for money) came under attack. The indulgence emptied the pockets of poor as they had to spend money to get papal pardon for their sins. Some Popes such as Alexander VI, Julius II and Leo X quarrelled with the rulers on the above practices.
There was an instance of Albert of Mainz becoming the archbishop by paying money to Pope Leo X. The Pope was said to have collected it saying that half of the money would be used for St. Peter’s Basilica. Members of the great merchant families such as the