How did the Renaissance lead to the Reformation?

Answer 1

MARTIN LUTHER's 95 Theses.

During the Renaissance the Catholic Church was losing its grip on Europe as people began to criticize its logic and pratices. Look up HUMANISTS. They wanted a more personable and intimate connection with God rather than some priest telling them of God. Also the Catholic Church was corrupt and many Renaissance thinkers hated this. Especially Martin Luther. The Catholics would absolve sins for a price (indulgences). Peasants who were poor and the wealthy landowners grew tired of dishing out money to the Catholic Church. Thus the Reformation began with Martin Luther's 95 Theses. Also a blow to Catholicism was the Edict of Nantes. France (Catholic stronghold) lawfully allowed the new religion of the Reformation (Protestant).

Answer 2

Wow, this is actually what I've been doing in world history for the past week 1/2....well that and writing lyrics on my desk and arm.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, there was no structure. All the knowledge that had been gained was lost. In the Middle Ages, people werent trying to advance society, they were just trying to survive.
Italy was untouched by the Black Plague (Bubonic Plague, Black Death) and war. when theres peace, you can focus on more than just surviving, you can indulge. So it began in Italy, and spread throughout Europe & Asia. People began having more secular ideas...Humanism became more important, rather then religion. During the Renaissance (the rebirth) people began studying the classics of the Greeks and Romans.
The church was like the government before. Everyone looked to the church for guidence in the tough times. But the church took advantage...they would take peoples money, because they told the congregation that they had to pay the church (or buy from them) to get into heaven. They did lots of other stuff like that too....
Martin Luther spoke up. He thought that we should focus more on making life on eath better, rather then focusing soley on the afterlife. He had lots of other ideas, but Im doing this off the top of my head, so...
He asked the catholic church for change, and they refused. But lots of peopel thought he had a point. They were called the Protestants (key word being protest) They believed that not only the Pope and church Fathers could read the Bible and speak to God.
...i dont remember how the roman catholic church was broke apart. my head hurts, and im to tired to understand the wiki article. Here it is if you feel like taking a crack at it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation

Answer 3

Renaissance means "rebirth" - in this context it was the rebirth of thought. People began questioning the status quo. The Christian Church was ONLY Catholic (or Eastern Orthodox) until Martin Luther's 1517 objections (see above) changed things. The rich and powerful Catholic Church had lost prestige due to some very bad popes AND the episodes of plague since 1347 which the Church was powerless to explain or stop. People started wondering if the Rome based Church was as powerful as the priests said it was. Maybe the Church was wrong. And wouldn't it be nice to understand what the heck the priests were saying, since few people spoke or read Latin. It was illegal to print the bible in the languages of the people. Luther changed that when he translated the bible into German so people could read it for themselves. After that it was translated into other languages and the Reformation of the Church was on.