The Reformation: A rejection of the secular spirit of the Renaissance?
.... The peasanty became Lutheran for economic reasons in order to better their position in society. This led to the peasant revolts in Germany, which Luther later brutally supressed. Henry VIII converted England to Protestantism in order to divorce his wife, not because he actually loved tge Protestant teachings. The Supremacy Act of 1534 put Henry VII in charge of the Church of England, even though he had previosly been a tough supporter of the pope and Catholicism. Also, Henry the Eighth grew rich off of confiscated clerical lands. Princes of Germany and France and England and other lands throughout Europe used the Protestant faith as a means of centralizing their power. Papal power wasn't well liked, except in strictly Catholic places such as Spain. France, however, never became Protestant because the country had already broken off from the po...