Martin Luther Vs. Henry VIII

Martin Luther vs. Henry VIII: How Two Men of Different Backgrounds Revolutionized Religions of the Reformation

Europe, 1600’s: The Catholic Church has begun to sell indulgences, a way to pay off sins to reduce time in purgatory, to raise money. A monk who is outraged by the pope tricking innocent worshipers into falling for his trap writes down a list of 95 reasons why the church has become corrupt by the light of a scroll and furiously hammers them to the door of a German church. Meanwhile in England, a king is denied an annulment to his marriage. In a fit of anger, he removes the church’s authority and writes up his own religion for his land and people, with himself as to rule. A monk and a king; Martin Luther and King Henry
One night in 1505, he was caught in a horrid lightning storm. He prayed to God, promising to become a monk if he left this storm alive and unharmed. He followed his word and taught peacefully. However, in 1516, one of the catholic pope’s commissioners was sent to Germany to sell and collect indulgences. This angered Luther because many of his people stopped attending church services, believing that since they had paid off indulgences, they had no need to ask forgiveness within the pews. He thought that since they would do this that they instead would spend more of an eternity in purgatory. On October 31, 1517, he began to write the 95 Theses, a list of reasons why the Catholic Church was corrupt in their intentions. He posted these onto the door of his church with the intended audience to just be the priest and a few others. However, because of the invention of the Printing Press, copies of Luther’s works were printed and spread across Germany- eventually Europe and into the hands of the pope. People related to Luther’s thoughts and this began Protestantism. Luther’s journey wasn’t over for him yet, though. After numerous warnings from the pope to take back what he had said, Pope Leo X excommunicated him in 1920. In 1521, Luther was called by a council of people, known as the Diet of Worms, for him to be tried as a heretic.
After taking the throne and marrying his brother’s wife, he had the dilemma of being unable to have a son produced between them. Henry turned to the Pope for a marriage annulment, but was denied of a divorce. Henry didn’t want to hear ‘no’ for an answer, so he called forth the Reformation Parliament to declare England to be no longer under the control of the Pope. The Acts of Parliament closed down the monasteries and put Henry in charge of the church, which was known as the Anglican Church. Out of his six marriages, only his 3rd wife Jane Seymour produced a son, Edward VI. When he took the throne, Protestantism began to take root. It was not until when Henry’s daughter, Mary, took the throne that England was returned to the Pope’s