How did the plague contribute to the Protestant Reformation?

Answer 1

It was seen as punishment for the Catholic Church's corruption.

Answer 2

The Black Death occurred well before the Protestant Reformation.

Answer 3

To first answer this question, one should know a little background information on the Black Death and the reformation.

The Black DeathThe Black Death was a disease that originated in the Gobi desert in the 1320's. From there it spread through human trade routes throughout Europe and Asia. The death tole was about 75 million, 50 million of which were in Europe, which was 2/3 of the total population.

At this time, the majority of Europe was strictly catholic. Many of those who suffered believed that this was God punishing them for some wrong committed on Earth. Some even thought it was the end of the world. This lead to the loss of hope, so the Church decided to try and stop this through indulgences.

IndulgencesIndulgences are acts, prayers, or sacrifices that can take away all or part of Purgatory away from oneself. Purgatory is the state or place where one goes to after death to make up for one's sins before entering heaven. These indulgences were like a "ticket to heaven", as the Catholics believed that they could get you through Purgatory and straight to heaven.

These indulgences then became abused. Pope Leo x began to sell indulgences for money to build the new St. Peter's Basilica. Other priests began to sell serives such as complete absolution from all past sins committed, and other acts against the Church. These abusises were seen as false doctrine to the man who started the Reformation, Martin Luther.

Martin LutherMartin Luther was born on November 10, 1483 in Eliseben, Germany. He grew up under his father's expectation of him to become a lawyer, although he became so angry at this, he disobeyed his father and became a monk at a local monostary. Here he preformed extraordinary acts of penance, such as whipping hiself to the point where he fainted, almost dead. After many yars of this, he was asked to help a university as professor of theology from 1508-1509. He then made a pilgimage to Rome, just in time to witness the abuse of indulgences.

After seeing what had become of the religion he had dedicated his life to, he realised that nothing you did on Earth could bring you salvation. He believed that eternal life could only be gained by faith alone, not by extreme acts of penance nor the use and misuse of indulgences.

Luther then proclaimed his beliefs to the public, by nailing 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg Castle church. These 95 theses were simply 95 observations made by Martin Luther about Christianity and the Church, and the abuse of indulgences. The pope was not happy with this, and declared it an act of heresy. Four years after Luther put his theses on the church door, he was excommunicated. By then he was being supported by many of the German nobility.

After this, Luther gained a large amount of civilian supporters who had read his 95 theses, which had spread via the new printing press. Protestantism was becoming very popular in many parts of Europe. King Henry VIII at this time split from catholisim and created the Anglican church, or the Church of England. John Knox brought Protestantism to Scotland, where it became the Presbyterian Church.

Eventually, in 1546, Martin Luther died. Nine years later, in 1555, each German prince was given the right to choose the religion of the territory he controlled, and as a result Protestantism spread throughout Europe.

SummaryThis can be mainly summarised in a simple flow chart:

Black Death > Indulgences > Abuse of Indulgences > Martin Luther's 95 Theses > Reformation

Answer 4

The plague left a shortage of priests, leading to ignorance among priests.