of various religious teachings of reformation movement and also reading of the same by common people. People were encouraged to read and understand the Bible. The use of vernacular language in preaching and the translation of Bible in regional languages opened a new avenue to reach ordinary people. (c) Status of Women: Due to the opposition of celibacy in churches, the pastors of the Protestant churches became married men.
This strengthened the role of women in household and in churches. Women were encouraged to read the Bible and bring up the children in Protestant methods. This led to the increase in literacy level of women. (d) Power of Kings: The reformation movement gave more power to some rulers such as Henry VIII, who became the head of both the state and the Church.
(e) Race for colonies: Both the Protestants and the Catholics wanted to convert people from other parts of the world to their own religious beliefs. The Spanish conquest in South America was followed by Jesuit priests (a new sect of Roman Catholics created to spread Catholicism). The Puritans, Catholics and Anglicans set up their churches in the thirteen British colonies of North America. (f) Spread of Christianity: The availability of gold and silver from the colonies made the European nations to send explorers in the guise of missionaries to various parts of the world.
“First the missionary, then the gun boat, then the land grabbing” _ that was the sequence of events people of the succeeding generation had to contend with. Catholic Counter Reformation The Society of Jesus The Catholic religion watched rise of the Protestant movement with caution and concern. Just about the time Martin Luther was gaining in popularity, a new Church order was started by a Spaniard, Ignatius of Loyola in Paris, France, on August , when he and six university students pledged to keep vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience and to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. One of the students was Francis Xavier, who later became a missionary to India and Japan.
This society aimed at training