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History 102-03First Long Paper:Martin Luther~Benjamin FranklinLIFTING HEAVEN’S THUMB:FROM RELIGION TO SECULARIZATIONByMelinda S. WrocklageUniversity of LouisvilleMarch 8, 2004
 
LIFTING HEAVEN’S THUMB:FROM RELIGION TO SECULARIZATIONPart 1:Martin Luther
Italy had become a cynical society, left with nothing to replacetheir lost faith; the popes were corrupt, fixated with warfare, riches, and women. The Babylonian Captivity, the Great Schism, and the creation of the Conciliar Antipope further undermined the Pope’s credibility. TheConciliar Movement ended with the betrayal and execution of JohannHus. The Northern Renaissance began a bit later than the ItalianRenaissance; a rebirth of learning had developed throughout Europe.Great thinkers, shut out of the political arena, found a home on religiousground. Lecturing the importance of individuality in finding God, onesuch thinker, Thomas a Kempis wrote
The Imitation of Christ 
, in which heurged people to imitate Christ by taking up the cross in a symbolic wayto fight evil inside and out. Hair shirts were worn to remind people toconstantly struggle; such as the one worn by Thomas Moore whose
Utopia 
described an ideal society where common people shared power.Erasmus‘s
Handbook of the Militant Christian 
, a very violent andaggressive book, preached to carry the dagger of faith at all times againstever-present evil. Both, Erasmus and Moore wanted an individualisticapproach to the Bible; the church was becoming more militant as people were ready to fight for change. Later, both Erasmus and Luther wouldprove their forceful fury at the corruption found in the Roman CatholicChurch with their verbose use of scatological language.Italian businesses gradually moved north to the Netherlands, which inherited Italian Republicanism. Having such a distant lord as theDuke of Burgundy, Mercantilism became just a small part of theeconomy, mixing with capitalism; this same system was also in place inthe Germanies; particularly in Saxony, where Luther grew up. Theseparate German Principalities enjoyed their autonomy outside of the yearly
Diets 
, or Parliament established by the Statute of Cividale; thisautonomy, further enhanced by the Golden Bull, which granted 7Electoral Principalities the right to vote for the subsequent Holy RomanEmperors, prevented the Germanies to amalgamate into a nation.Several of the Holy Roman Emperors wanted to gain back the controlthat was lost with these decrees; understandably, the Princes were notinterested in losing their established independence and so decided to tryto elect one of their own as Holy Roman Emperor. The Electoral SaxonyPrincipality in which Luther was born was ruled by a very powerfularistocrat, Duke Frederick Vettin, or Frederick the Wise; requested toMelinda S. WrocklagePage 2 of 147/23/2009
 
run for Holy Roman Emperor, he eventually accepted. Charles IV thennegotiated with Frederick to bow out of the election in exchange forcertain advantages; Frederick agreed and then made use of theseadvantages by assuring that the excommunicated Luther would beprotected from execution. Consecutive Holy Roman Emperors marriedstrategically; and as a result, Charles V had become the most powerfulperson in Europe.At that time, it was acceptable for the Catholic Church, in anattempt to earn money, to scatter monks throughout Europe, havingthem sell indulgences; supposedly, each one of these pieces of paperguaranteed passage out of Purgatory or even Hell. “With the approval of the pope, individual bishops could sell indulgences which…substitutedthe good works of the Catholic clergy for the good works required of theindividual believer [for salvation].”
1
Archbishop Albrocht sent Monk Tetzel to sell them in the Saxony Principality, with the motto: “as soon asthe coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”
2
Duringthe time the Italian cities were forming into separate republics and theHoly Roman Empire’s Principalities were failing to come together, a timeof nation building had begun in France, Spain, and England. To gaincontrol over the businessmen, a Mercantilism was developed, aregulating economy in which Ministers of Finance and Ministers of Commerce were established; these men were in charge of Guild Laws, which controlled quality, pricing, and competition. One compromise theMonarchies gave to their businessmen was to expel the Jews from theirnations, since they could not own property and could move freelythroughout Europe, they created much competition. The Holy RomanEmperor invited these displaced Jews to stay in the Germanies,advancing his wealth from their presence.Aristocrats owned all of the land; freed serfs could only rent land.Martin’s father, Hans Luder (the family-name
Luder 
later graduallychanged to the more refined
Luther 
), was the son of a landless peasant;he took a risk and went into copper mining, a very daring move since itstill was not regulated. Although mining was so unreliable, he was stillable to accumulate enough wealth to send Luther to college when thetime came. Even though Hans was now considered a middle-classman,he yearned to be one of the Patricians, who were Guild Masters orMinisterials. Hans wanted his son to follow his wife’s relatives, thecollege-educated Lindelman family, made up of Ministerials, generallylawyers and doctors serving the aristocrats. Luther’s strict background,
1
Hooker.
World Civilizations 
.http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/REFORM/NORTHERN.HTM
2
Post, Maria, “Historically Reformed: Luther changes history,” November2, 2001. URL: http://www-stu.calvin.edu/chimes/2001.11.02/fea2.htmlMelinda S. WrocklagePage 3 of 147/23/2009
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