Comparing Societies 1500 1800 essays

Comparing Societies 1500 1800 essays During the period from 1500 to 1800, religious and political unity was strongest in Islamic Empires and East Asia; while Europe was in complete turmoil with no religious and political unity. The Catholic Church during this time had become a very corrupt institution, and there was hardly any town in Europe during the late Middle Ages which did not have complaints against their clergy. There were complaints of maladministration, concubinage, or fiscalism of clergy, and the church was involved in selling of important ecclesiastical posts to the highest bidder and imposing regular indulgences on people, not only to remit their sins, but, the sins of their dead ones. All these factors accumulated to lay the foundation for the Protestant Reformation, which was to leave Europe in a political and religious turmoil for over three centuries. (Craig, Pg. 424 426) Although Martin Luther was the first one to start Reformation in Germany, almost all different nations had their own versions of Reformation, which were not related to each other. For example, the Reformation in Geneva was led by John Calvin, while the Swiss Reformation was led by Ulrich Zwingli. Although all the Reformation Movements had the basic idea of returning to early Christianity and boycott the corrupt practices of Catholic Church, still instead of combining together as one force against the Catholic Church, they had their own issues amongst themselves and in the long race developed a hatred for each other. This was evident from The Marburg Colloquy, when Landgrave Philip of Hesse, sought to unite both Swiss and German Protestants in a mutual defense pact. However, his efforts were foiled as the leaders of the two Reformation Movements had a disagreement over the nature of Christs presence in the Eucharist. (Craig Pg. 429) Although the different movements were not able to combine together, still the movement was overall a success. With the expansion of Prote...