This document was written a very long time ago. Do not use this as a judgment of my writing abilities, it is here only to show how much my writing has improved. Yes, this paper is bad enough for me to put this disclaimer here.

Introduction-- In America we now seem to take for granted our freedoms and choices when it comes to religion. It was not always this way.

1. Beginning of the Storm
1. The Sale of Church Indulgences
2. Participation in Crusades and Holy Wars
3. Lack of an Educated Clergy
2. People of the Reformation
1. Zwingli
1. Early Reformation Church
2. Preaching at Zurich
2. Martin Luther
1. Career and Birth
2. Tetzel's Indulgences
3. The Ninety-five Theses
4. Leo X excommunicates Luther
3. John Calvin
1. More influential than Zurich
2. Institutes of the Christian Religion
3. The English Reformation
1. Henry VII
1. Annulment, Marriage, Annulment
2. Church of England (Anglican)
3. The Six Articles
2. Edward VI
1. Sickly Child
2. Repealing the Six Articles
3. Cramner's English Book of Prayer
3. Bloody Mary
1. Half Spaniard
2. Fanatical Roman Catholic
3. Executions of ProtestantsA
4. Attempts to Restore the 'old order
5. Marriage to Prince Phillip
6. Plans to reunite with the Roman Catholic Church
4. Elizabeth
1. The Elizabethan Settlement
2. Mary Queen of Scots
3. Rebellions
4. Pope's Dispensatoin of Subjects
5. Admonition of Parliament
6. Catholic Traitors?
5. James
1. Millenary Petition
2. The King James Bible
3. Puritan Emigration
6. Charles I
1. Divine Right
2. Dissolution of Parliament
3. Book of Common Prayer -to- Directory of Public Worship
4. Charles to his death in London
7. Charles II
1. Anglican Favor
2. Restoration to William Laud's Church
3. St. Bartholomew's Day

Conclusion-- The many religions allowed now are by the actions of these times, helped to create our country.

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Walk down your street. How many churches do you see? Most likely, more than one. Lutheran, Baptist, Calvinist, Methodist, and Catholic are just a few of the many forms of religion we, in America, take for granted. It was not always this way. There was a time when you could only go to one church. Well, you could do otherwise but you would probably be imprisoned or killed.

At some point in history, the Catholic Church of Rome decided that they could play on the human need for absolution. And in that need, the Church of Rome decided that they could sell absolution in the name of our almighty lord. People were then allowed to purchase forgiveness. This forgiveness carried the name of "indulgences". This caused unrest in some, and delight in others. Some were angry that they could now buy something that they had to earn for such a long while. Some were happy that they no longer had to earn something that they could buy. (Dickens, Reformation and society, pg. #N/A)

Other sources of unrest were the Holy Wars that the Catholic Church condoned. People argued, where they could, that the Church should or could not have such a thing. How could a war be holy? The Catholic Church was allowing their subjects to overlook one of their commandments in the name of the church. This was viewed as an inconsistency from what they had been learning since childhood. Thou shall not kill, unless the church says it is alright with them? (Gomez)

Throughout this people wanted, or needed a good interpretation of the bible. But it was not there. The church clergy was very uneducated from the viewpoint of the people. The clergy knew only a few lines of the non-vernacular (not of common language) bible that they were supposed to be reading. The people could not gain a better understanding of a book that was read by somebody who was unable to translate the bible with full integrity to the people. (Luther, Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther of the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences)

Several people sought out to reform the church and wrest the peoples troubles. They tried to lay a new framework for the religion that they viewed as corrupt. But when the church would not cooperate, they created their own branches of Christianity. (Dickens, Reformation and Society; 60, 111, 162)

Zwingli was one of the first people to openly oppose the ways of the Catholic Church exerting its power. He set up his own church in Zurich. His actions spawned several other men to stand up for what they believed was wrong with the church. (Dickens, Reformation and Society; 113, 107-124)

Martin Luther is argued as the most influential man in the reformation. Martin Luther was employed as a Doctor of Theology (the study of religion) at the University of Wittenberg. You can think of him as an educator of the clerics. Most, if not all, the Universities of the time were sponsored by the church, so they were only allowed to teach what the church allowed them. (Dickens, Reformation and Society; 52-66)

One morning, Luther hears that John Tetzel is selling indulgences near the border of Saxony. Luther must not have been thrilled that the church as selling these things as forgiveness to raise money for the remodeling of St. Peter's square, because he posted ninety-five theses on the door of Wittenberg Cathedral condemning the church's practices. In these cases, he condemned the sale of indulgences, the lack of clerical education and other items. (Luther, Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther and the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences.)

The church begins to notice a dramatic drop in sales of their precious indulgences near the area that Luther posted these items. They order an inquisition of Luther. In these days, the church governed, using the inquisition as a courtroom. In that courtroom you could either agree with them or be excommunicated. Luther never arrives in Rome for the inquisition and is charged with heresy in his absence. (Dickens, Reformation and Society, pg, #N/A) The Pope wants to Luther to hear what he is charged so they summon him to Rome yet again. They order him to recant what he wrote, but Luther refuses and flees back to Wittenberg under the protection of Frederick III. (Gomez)

Luther continues to write material against the church, even after the church orders him to concede. Pope Leo X, began to get just a bit irritated, so he excommunicated Luther. Luther was now on his own, he was no longer allowed inside of a Catholic church. Without the church he can no longer receive any of the seven sacraments needed to go to heaven. (Gomez)

Luther then create his own church, changing from the age-old patterns of Catholocism creating a religion that still exists today. This man marks the beginning of the reformation. From this day forward, people had the opportunity to choose another religion. There was a downside of choosing your own religion though, you could be imprisoned, or worse yet, killed. But, people knew that there was something other than Catholocism in the world. There was another choice. (Dickens, Reformation and Society, pg. #N/A)

John Calvin, another great early reformer, preached against the same basic principles that Luther did. The moment this man arrived on the scene he was considered much more influential than Zwingli ever was. He also started his own religion, Calvinism. Calvinism was prevalent in many areas of France, before the Edict of Nantes was repealed. It still survives today. (Dickens, Reformation and Society, pg. #N/A)

The reformation was never so turbulent as it was in England. When the king died shortly after his marriage, his brother, and successor, took the throne and tried to take the wife of the former king. In order to do so they needed an annulment from the Pope. The only way that they could convince the Pope that an annulment was in order was if they could prove that the king has never consummated the marriage with the beautiful Catherene of Aragon. So, they went with that, and Henry VIII and Catherene of Aragon were married. After eighteen years, Catherene failed to produce a male heir for Henry. Henry wanted a male heir to carry on the throne, so he wanted a different wife to do so for him. He then arranges for another annulment from the Pope in Rome. (Gomez)

The Pope refuses. He had already given him an annulment to get married to this woman in the first place. (Dickens, The Reformation in England, pg. #N/A) Why should he have to give an annulment if he had already given one?

Henry then comes up with the idea of creating his own church. In about three years time he cuts his ties with Rome. One bill through parliament at a time. He took away many of the powers previously granted to the church and redistributed them to himself and the Archbishop of Canterbury. He then declares himself the supreme ruler of the Anglican Church. The Anglican church of the time was not far off from that of the Catholic church. It was nearly the same in most respects except that there was no Pope, there was a King. (Bates, "The Reformation Guide")

Anybody who refused to acknowledge Henry as the supreme ruler of the church was removed from office and killed. Two of the men who suffered this fate were Bishop John Fisher, and Sir Thomas Moore. In 1539, Henry issued his Six Articles as "an act abolishing the diversity of opinion." This document dictated to the people what they should believe in but made doubt or heresy a felony. (Gomez) Included in this document were the doctrine of Transubstatantiation, the adequacy of communion, the necessity of clerical celibacy, the obligation of nuns and lay-brothers to observe the vows of chastity, the importance of private mass, and the necessity of sacramental concession. (Gomez)

Edward VI comes to power. Only a very sickly boy of nine, the Duke of Somerset controlled the throne. Soon after Edward's ascension to power, he had the Six Articles repealed, and had the Roman service books replaced with the English Book of Prayer. (Bates, "The Reformation Guide.")

Edward didn't hold the throne for very long, in 1553 he died of tubercular infection. (Gomez) His sister Mary took the throne, she would be forever known as "Bloody Mary".

Mary, Catherene of Aragon's daughter, was a fanatical Roman Catholic in exile in France coming to the throne of a Protestant nation. Mary wanted the old order restored, and wanted it now. She killed anybody who was in her way, and many were in her way. Among the men that she imprisoned were Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley. (Bates, "The Reformation Guide") In order to strengthen a Catholic grip on the country she marries a man from the historically Catholic country, Spain. His name was Prince Phillip. After the marriage they arranged for the ties to be re-tied with Rome, to erase the past thirty years of Protestantism and return the religion to the hands of the Pope. Mary never lived long enough to handle it though. In 1558 she died, allowing Elizabeth to ascend to the throne. (Dickens, The Reformation in England, pg. #N/A)

Elizabeth was a protestant, but she did not want to make the mistakes of her ancestors had done. England was being torn apart by these changes in religion and people were getting confused. Are we Protestant today or Catholic? So she wrote the Elizabethan Settlement. This act revived Henry's legislation against Rome and Edward's act to restore the administration of the sacrament to the laity of both kinds, and the prayer book of 1552. (Gomez)

The Pope begins to fund a collaboration of him and Mary Queen of Scots in order to rally the Catholic supporters of England, and a rebellion is eventually started, but it is put down with severity and swiftness. The Pope realizes his failure and does the last thing he can do, he excommunicates Elizabeth. Not that Elizabeth cared, she was protestant, she didn't care much about what the Pope said involved her and the Catholics. But the pope did do something that caught Elizabeth's eye, he dissolved all of Elizabeth's Catholic subjects from taking allegiance to her. (Dickens, Reformation and Society) This would cause a few problems.

In order to confine the people to her side, Elizabeth enacts a new law that increases the fine for not going to church and declared anybody that goes to a Catholic church a traitor. (Dickens, Reformation and Society, pg. #N/A) This was a wonderful way to keep the people from the word of the Pope. Now she was in control of what they heard, and she was in control of what they believed.

When Elizabeth dies, King James takes the throne in attempt to unite Scotland and England. After reading the "Millenary Petition" produced for him, he takes the side of the Anglicans. A conference was also held because the Puritans objected to passages in the Prayer book, but James sides with the Anglicans again. He also plans to translate the bible into a vernacular language, English. (Gomez)

In 1611 the first authorized version of the English Bible was published. Known as the King James Edition, you can probably find this in your home. (The King James Bible) It is the most common English form of the bible found in the world today.

By now, the Puritan were really frustrated. Everything that they try to do to purify the Anglican church is met with disagreement and failure. They decide to pack up and leave to the New World. (Gomez)

When James died, his son Charles I took the throne. This man had quite an ego on his hands. He also believed in Divine Right (the belief that kings had power bestowed to them by god) that he would not allow the parliament to get into his way, and had it dissolved. There would not be another meeting of parliament for another eleven years. He now governed by Royal Prerogative, or absolute rule. Similar to when you ask your mom and she answers "Because I said so". (Gomez) Charles, already on the bad side of parliament ends up having a war with it. Oliver Cromwell was the leader of parliament and was fighting against Charles for control of England. The Church of England came to an end whenever Cromwell could reach, and the book of prayer was replaced by "The Directory of Public Worship" (Dickens, Reformation and Society, pg #N/A), sounds a bit more austere doesn't it?

In 1649 Charles is brought to London and sentenced to death. The execution marked the triumph of the Puritans in England. For several years there was no king on the throne in England, but eventually they decided that it was in order to get one. (Bates, "The Reformation Guide")

King Charles II ascended to the throne. He ordered the Church of England restored to that it was in the days of William Laud. On St. Bartholomew's Day hte Church of England was fully restored. The Puritans then separated from the Anglican church. The reformation of England is over. (Bates, "The Reformation Guide")

Much of hte literature of the period was religious. Luther wrote several religious documents, alone with Calvin and Zwingli. During this time some of the most important literature was written, including the King James Bible. Nearly every church uses the King James Bible. (The King James Bible) Without the King James Bible being produced we would probably all still be reading the non-vernacular Latin Bible.

During this time there was much turbulence. Many religions fomred, and many eliminated or changed. These were the days that gave us the million religions that our country has today. These were the days that helped to give us the freedom we have today. These were the days that changed our world forever.

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Works Cited

Bates, Lawrence "The Reformation Guide." Publication: November 22, 2000; Date of Access: December 22, 2000 http://www.edue.msu.edu/homepages/lawrence/reformation/index.htm

Dickens, A.G. Reformation and Society London, England: Thames and Hudson: 1966

Dickens, A.G. and Dorothy Carr The Reformation in England London, England: Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd.,1967

Gomes, Jorge. "Outline of the English Reformation" Four Pages. Geocities. Date of Access: November 20, 2000, Date of Publication: Unavailable http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Crete/5081/english_reformation_outline.html

The King James Bible. Nashville, TN: Gideons International, 1965

Luther, Martin. Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther of the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. 1517. Project Wittenberg E-TEXT Archives http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/web/ninetyfive.html

Luther, Martin. A Mighty Fortress is Our God Project Wittenberg E-TEXT Archives; Date of Access: November 22, 2000 Date of Publication: Unavailable http://www.humanities.ccny.cuny.edu/history/reader/fortres.htm

Prentice Hall, Inc., a Viacom Company Literature, The British Tradition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: 1996.

Scott Foresman and Company. England in Literature, Glenview IL: 1982

Spitz, Lewis W. The Reformation: Material or Spiritual Boston, MA: DC. Heath and Company, 1962