Why was the Northern Renaissance the foundation for the Reformation?

Question

in addition to the above question, What were the reformers trying to accomplish? What reasons define the Reformation?

Answer 1

The Northern Renaissance was one of the most influencial of them all. This is because of the area that it was in, Italy. As you know, the pennensula was where most trade came from and so it was bustling with inspiration, new ideas and new items.

Lords and Kings sent their sons to study beneath the great thinkers of that time and so this was a place of commerce and thought, which would eventually lead to the Reformation.

The other reason is because it was during the Italian Renaissance that the first press was made. Without this, there would most likely never have been such a large amount of converts from the Catholic religion to the reformed religions as it wouldn't have spread.

So, I would say that the reason it is the foundation of the Reformation soley rests on the reason because that is where the first paper press was created, which made Luther's ideas able to move at a faster pace than it ever would have if only by mouth.

As for the second part, it depends on which refomer you are speaking of. The Calvinists were not really accomplishing anything except that they believed that everything was pre-destined and it didn't matter if you were a great person or not, because the decision of where you would ultimately go was already decided.

The Church of England (Episcaple) was created by King Henry VIII in an attempt to divorce his wife since the Catholic Church said he had no grounds to do so. He decided therefore that he would be the deciding ruler of his own church so that he could divorce as much as he liked. This, of course, led to his many wives as well as their untimely deaths.

Martin Luther, in his biography, admits that his reasoning for causing the Reformation was to get rid of one Pope that he did not agree with. His 99 Theses were correct, but instead of working with the Church and fixing the problems, he decided to break away from the Catholic Church and create his own religion that he decided on. He removed books and edited wording within the Bible and translated it into German so that the laity could read it as well. Before that, everything was in Latin (Vatican I).

I believe the reasons that define the Reformation is truly that it started a downward spiral towards the many religions that we have today as well as the confusion during that time period. It started a political battle of religion and the German provinces (all...hundreds of them) began converting to the religion that offered them more. The other reason would be the cause of fixing the problems in the Church as well as the bringing about of Vatican II, which allowed the Mass to be translated into the laity languages so that parishoners could join in.

Answer 2

In that it did expand secular skepticism of the Vatican's absolute authority in all things moral and spiritual, as well as sparking the scientific revolution, yes. Though a more direct lineage for the Reformation probably leads back to the English Lollards and Bohemian Hussites.