Martin Luther Reformation Dbq Analysis

In the second decade of the sixteenth century, a religious movement began in Europe. This movement, later referred to as the Reformation, was to fix and reform the church, which had turned to corruption. Many leaders came along during the time of the Reformation, but not one so powerful as Martin Luther whose teachings and views played such a large impact in the Reformation. He inspired others with his action and beliefs in a way many others couldn 't do as effectively at the time. Martin Luther had such strong religious views and witnessed corruptions, such as those of John Tetzel led to such a strong opposition to indulgences, that he wrote the Ninety-Five Theses, which would spark the Reformation. Martin Luther was a German priest during …show more content…
As shown in Document D, they found Luther comparable with the devil, as in the painting he is depicted having clawed feet and a tail, trying to tempt Christ. This painting is Catholic propaganda that could be seen as being used by the church to try and prevent the temptation of Catholics to Martin Luther 's view, or by those who were strongly against the reformation that Luther unintentionally became a leader of. As Martin Luther became more popular, peasants at the time began to see him as someone who can help them push through the political and societal issues they were having at the time. Luther never wanted this though, as all he was trying to do was reform the corruption of the church, not lead a revolt against it, or defy it. This didn 't stop the peasants, who continued to see him as the leader of their revolt and independence from Wittenberg, due to his views on Christian freedoms and criticism of monastic landowners. They supported him, praised him, and even converted to the Lutherans, following after Luther 's teachings. Document C, a drawing of Martin Luther portrays him as very strong, and brave looking. This document can be seen as propaganda from his supporters, that makes him look like the man who will lead their revolt against landowners. As said though, Luther wanted nothing …show more content…
Many saw the issues that were occuring in the church between clerics marrying, having mistresses, and taking on responsibilities that caused them to not focus on the church. In Document A, Desiderius Erasmus depicts the exclusion of Pope Julius II from Heaven. In the depiction, Julius II is trying to enter Heaven, but his key won 't open the gate. When his guardian angel asks him why he only brought his key of power, and not his key of knowledge, Julius answers saying that he has never needed to use the key of knowledge, only power, and that he found it useless. This depiction by Erasmus shows another common problem within the church, which was that those within it solved their problems with power and force, instead of with knowlege and God. This was common, as money and power took away from the true purpose of the church, and added to the seemingly endless forms of corruption within the church(ADD). All these corruptions Martin Luther saw, especially with the Indulgences went against his religious views so strongly that he felt that he had to change this. Without him, we don 't know how the Reformation would have occured or if how, it would have finished, and although others, such as Erasmus took part and shared their views, none of them managed that impact. Martin Luther had such strong religious views and witnessed corruptions, such as those of John Tetzel led to such a strong