Protestant+Reformation+consequences

Carolina He

Prompt: Discuss the political and social consequences of the Protestant Reformation in the first half of the 16th Century.

Thesis: The Protestant Reformation brought many social consequences in family, education and religious practices, while politically, it sparked many wars as well as discomfort within the countries and between countries.

Political: - bloody warfare – Thirty Years’ War - Bloody Mary/Mary I - persecution of Protestants - Elizabeth I – persecuted few Catholics - Peasant’s Revolt of 1524-1525 - Peace of Augsburg – split Germany into 2 Habsburg lines – Spanish and Austrian - Church planed under control of state - Radical reformation - Anabaptists persecuted and repressed - Catholic church launched a Counter-Reformation

Social: - family placed at center of social life - women suppressed further into domestic role, removed from and religious roles - celibacy abolished - education for boys and girls - “Protestant work ethic” – spurred development of capitalism, strengthening middle class - religious practices like saints’ feast days, Carnival and Lent, sacraments, rituals and clerical importance abolished/modified - popular culture attacks – tried to ban drinking, dancing - music, relics and images abolished - more emphasis on Bible-reading

[]