HS/2021-22/History/summary-practice questions/std IX

Reformation

Please carefully go through some of the possible ways in which the questions can be
asked. These practice questions are selected to assist you in writing the answers which
need special summarization or editing skills. Do go through the expected answers and
keep practicing these answers as frequently as possible.

❖ Define the term Reformation:

Other ways of asking the Question: Explain the term Reformation/ Write a short note on Reformation.
• Reformation was the name given to a group of religious movements of the 16th century launched
by the Christians against the various drawbacks of the Church and the objectionable practices of
the Clergymen and the Pope.
• These moments created a split in the Christian Church between those who continued to remain
loyal to the Pope at Rome known as the Roman Catholics and those who broke away from the
Church at Rome known as the Protestants.

❖ Causes that led to the Reformation:

1} Dissatisfaction with the practices of the Catholic Church:

a) Economic Factors:
Other ways of asking the Question: Economic Dissatisfaction leading to the Reformation Movement/
Economic resentment a reason for the birth of Reformation/ In what way did the Economic resentment
lead to the Reformation Movement?
• The Church had vast properties for which they never paid any tax. This angered the common man
as they had to bear the weight of all those taxes.
• The people had to give ‘Tithe’ ie. one-tenth of their hard-earned income to the Church.
• The Clergy also collected another sum called Peter’s Pence from the people.
• The Church offices were also sold to the highest bidder which was known as Simony.
• Pardon Certificates or Indulgences were sold to the sinners which remitted their punishments.
→ All these Economic causes made the people, the reformers voice out against the wrongdoings of
the Clergymen, the Pope and the Church leading to Reformation.

 What was meant by the sale of Indulgences?

Other ways of asking the Question: What were Indulgences? / Define the term Indulgences/ Explain the
concept of Indulgences.
• In the 16th century Indulgences were letters/pardon certificates which were sold by the Pope Leo X
to those who gave money to build St. Peter’s Church and were bought by sinners.
• All the sinners who bought them were remitted the punishments for both life and after death.
• Earlier the sinner was to give service or go for a pilgrimage but, the letter of indulgences was a
short cut where they could be freed from doing penance by buying a letter of Indulgence.

b) Corruption in the Church:

Other ways of asking the Question: Religious dissatisfaction leading to the Reformation/ Religious
resentment leading to Reformation/ In what way did the Religious resentment lead to the Reformation
Movement?
• In the beginning the Clergy, the Pope led an exemplary life and commanded great respect in the
society. But, with the passage of time, moral decay crept into some functioning of the Church.
• Some Clergymen lacked proper education and some lived in luxury and neglected their religious
duties.
• The priests promised salvation in exchange for fees. They charged fees for every transaction of
life. These practices were severely criticized and opposed by the people.
• The exposure of these corrupt practices in the Church through writer’s books eg: Erasmus- In
Praise of Folly created more awareness and thus formed a ground for the Reformation Movement.
 c) Ruler’s resentment:
Other ways of asking the Question: Political Dissatisfaction that caused the Reformation Movement/
Political Resentment leading to the Reformation Movement./ Political Dissatisfaction leading to the
Reformation Movement/Political resentment leading to Reformation/ How did ‘Ruler’s resentment’ turn
into a cause for Reformation?
• The Kings were the rightful rulers but, the Church kept interfering in each and every Political
decision which affected the power, the position and the authority of the Kings.
• The Kings were even dissatisfied with the Church taking so many taxes from the people as it
affected the treasury of the Kings.
• The Kings thus strongly gave patronage and supported the Reformation Movement to weaken the
Church.

 Examples of how the Kings challenged the Pope’s Authority:

• King Philip IV forced Pope Clement V to leave his headquarters at Rome and stay in France when
the Pope kept interfering in the King’s political affairs.
• King Henry VIII, by an Act of 1539, closed all the large monasteries. By destroying these
monasteries, he not only acquired its wealth and property but, also removed the influence of the
Pope.

d) Movements against the wrong doings of the Church:

Another way of asking the Question: Dissatisfaction with the practices of the Church by the scholars.
• Many anti-Church Movements began in Europe and directed their attacks on the wrong doings of
the Church.
• Example:
→ John Wycliffe-He criticized the worldliness of the Church and some of its practices. He laid
emphasis on the Bible as the sole guide for salvation.
→ Erasmus-He exposed the unjust practices and the unreligious activities of the Church in his book
named ‘In Praise of Folly’.
• All these reformers prepared the ground for the Reformation Movement by exposing the wrong
doings of the Church and creating awareness.

e) Immediate Cause:
• There were small cases of protest by the reformers against the power of the Pope but, they were all
crushed down with a heavy hand and failed in their mission.
• Martin Luther- a German priest raised a strong voice against the religious corruption and the
corrupt practices of the Church, misuse of power by the Clergymen and the Pope.
• This turned into an immediate cause of the Reformation Movement.

❖ Counter Reformation:
Other ways of asking the Question: Define Counter Reformation/ Explain the term Counter
Reformation/Write a short note on Counter Reformation.
• The Reformation Movement was against the evils of the Roman Catholic Church, the materialistic
non-religious lives of the Clergy. It brought about the birth of the Protestant Church.
• In order to restore the credibility of the Roman Catholic Church, a large number of dedicated
Christians including the Pope introduced certain reforms within the Church. This movement was
known as the Counter Reformation Movement.

*****