Exam Q2
How Far was German Nationalism responsible for the start of the Reformation? (30)
German Nationalism was a very important cause of the Reformation as before Luther wrote his 95 theses, this idea of German Nationalism already existed. Firstly, German Nationalism was the idea of having an independent Germany not containing any foreign powers taking money for the benefit of a foreign country. The German Nationalism idea set off by the publication of the 95 Theses set off outrage over Catholic Church practices fuelled by this idea of German Nationalism. However, in my opinion I do not think that German Nationalism was the most important cause of the Reformation, I think it was the role of the Printing Press spreading ideas of the German reformation throughout Germany.
I think the role of the printing press was the most important cause of the Reformation because although the printing press had not been invented much earlier, through this invention 1000’s of copies of a certain document such as the 95 Theses and documents about German Nationalism could be easily distributed throughout Germany and the rest of the Holy Roman Empire. Before the printing press was invented a person who could read and write would have to copy the document by hand. This could have easily led to misunderstandings and a lot of mistakes may have been made. The most vital role of the printing press was the distribution of the 95 Theses which directly triggered the Reformation. When Martin Luther pinned the 95 Theses to the door of Wittenberg church on 31st October 1517, the document was copied over and over then sent to different parts of the Holy Roman Empire. This vital role helped everyone receive Luther’s ideas as they came so everyone who could read (20% of the population) learnt these ideas. Then those people would have told people who couldn’t read meaning that the entire population learnt of the 95 Theses within two weeks of Luther pinning the document to the door of Wittenberg Church.
German Nationalism was a very important cause of the Reformation as before Luther wrote his 95 theses, this idea of German Nationalism already existed. Firstly, German Nationalism was the idea of having an independent Germany not containing any foreign powers taking money for the benefit of a foreign country. The German Nationalism idea set off by the publication of the 95 Theses set off outrage over Catholic Church practices fuelled by this idea of German Nationalism. However, in my opinion I do not think that German Nationalism was the most important cause of the Reformation, I think it was the role of the Printing Press spreading ideas of the German reformation throughout Germany.
I think the role of the printing press was the most important cause of the Reformation because although the printing press had not been invented much earlier, through this invention 1000’s of copies of a certain document such as the 95 Theses and documents about German Nationalism could be easily distributed throughout Germany and the rest of the Holy Roman Empire. Before the printing press was invented a person who could read and write would have to copy the document by hand. This could have easily led to misunderstandings and a lot of mistakes may have been made. The most vital role of the printing press was the distribution of the 95 Theses which directly triggered the Reformation. When Martin Luther pinned the 95 Theses to the door of Wittenberg church on 31st October 1517, the document was copied over and over then sent to different parts of the Holy Roman Empire. This vital role helped everyone receive Luther’s ideas as they came so everyone who could read (20% of the population) learnt these ideas. Then those people would have told people who couldn’t read meaning that the entire population learnt of the 95 Theses within two weeks of Luther pinning the document to the door of Wittenberg Church.