Martin Luther's Role In The Catholic Church

Although it is undeniable that the Catholic church played a relatively large role in Luther’s message attracting popular support, it not sufficient to explain why Luther got popular. With many other Reformers having preached for reform in the Catholic Church long before Luther ever did, there happens to be more to Luther’s support than solely the corrupt nature that was the church. The people of Germany had many reasons to support Luther’s ideals, however a strong division between the poor and the rich ensued. The Princes called merely for the reform of the church. The Peasants viewed Luther as a hopeful step towards social reform. A large division amongst the German Clergy itself pushed certain members of the Church to follow Luther’s call …show more content…
One of the key factors in Luther’s success was the invention of the Gutenberg printing press which allowed for the words of Luther to spread rapidly. “Printing played the most important role in the spread of Protestantism.” Using the printing press, between 1517 and 1526, two thousand different editions of Luther’s books and sermons appeared giving access to other intellectuals and nobles to interpret his writings. Unlike past reformers, the message of Luther easily spread to the general media long before the invention of social media. This co-ordinated public opinion. Thanks to the printing press, the ninety-five theses nailed to the church door in Wittenberg on the thirty first of October 1517, made Luther famous overnight. Here, the role of the printing press allowed for Luther’s message to gain such popular support, while the corrupt nature of the church was a background …show more content…
In the two primary documents noted earlier, both made use of harsh terms towards the Church. Colot referred to Rome as being foul and deformed. The ‘Death of Alexander VI’ created a clear description of the hierarchy of the church, describing the former Pope as being cruel and being fond of poison to advance his own means. The unjust nature of the sixteenth century Church paints a picture of serfdom and other uses of unfair treatments towards the poor. However, the corrupt nature of the Church is not sufficient to explain why Luther’s message attracted such popular attention amongst the poor and the wealthy. Luther happened to be one of many people who wished to see change in the church system. The Application of the Printing Press played the largest role in the spread of Protestantism, because it allowed Luther’s messages to spread quicker than the word of man ever could