Category: 11th Grade History

(1) What were the causes and consequences of the Spanish revolt that occurred after Charles left to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor? When Charles was crowned king of Spain, he left Spain a little while later to be crowned the Holy Roman Emperor. While he was away, there was a revolt in Spain. The people who revolted appointed a new ruler, Queen Joanna, Charles’ own mother. About a year later, the Comuneros were defeated at the Battle of Villalar and the Comuneros were crushed, ending the revolt and the Comuneros leaders were executed.

(2) What were the causes of the Dutch revolt? What was the “demonstration effect”? According to The Memory, “The Dutch Revolt or Eighty Years’ War was a series of battles fought in the Netherlands between 1568 and 1648 which began when part of the Habsburg Empire resisted the, in their eyes, unjust rule of the Spanish King Philip II.” The results of the Dutch revolt were economic, political, and religious ones, but it was the religious problems that really got the revolt fired up. The “demonstration effect” is when people saw what other nations do, and try to implicate that into their own nation. The Dutch Republic was very successful at the time, and other countries tried to replicate that into their own countries.

(3) Who were the contenting parties in the French wars of religion? What was the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre? What was the Edict of Nantes? According to Lumen, “The French Wars of Religion (1562–98) is the name of a period of fighting between French Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots).” The Catholics really did not like the Huguenots, so they tried everything they could to try to get the Huguenots to either convert to Catholicism, or to leave/die. Eventually they asked the king if they could just go kill a bunch of Huguenots in a city. Since the king was like stressed out at this point, the king agreed. This killing ended up being named the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Hundreds of Huguenots died that day. Eventually, the Edict of Nantes was signed, ending the dispute between Catholics and Protestants.

(4) Describe the religious policy of Elizabeth I. Some people thought that she had no religion because of her attracted to parts of Catholicism while part of a different religion. She even changed her religion when she became queen in order to create a stable and peaceful nation. She kept changing her religion, so I am not sure that she had a permanent religion.

How was the English Reformation different from the German Reformation? There were several different ways in which these two reformations were different. One of the differences is they differed in doctrine, but the main difference is motivation. The German Reformation’s motivation was belief mainly, while the motivation of the English Reformation was mainly politics.

What do we learn about St. Francis Xavier’s missionary work in the letter you read for lesson 13? This letter was written by St. Francis Xavier and was named the letter from India, to the Society of Jesus at Rome. It is in this letter that we find out that St. Francis wanted to travel the world, and teach others about Jesus. Well, he got to do this. He even got the chance to evangelize in Japan. He was trying to get to China to share the Gospel, but died before he could.

What kind of impression are you left with by the Spiritual Exercises? Why is Ignatius concerned about careless discussion of faith and good works? According to Wikipedia, “The Spiritual Exercises, composed 1522–1524, are a set of Christian meditations, contemplations, and prayers written by Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th-century Spanish priest, theologian, and founder of the Society of Jesus.” The Spiritual Exercises were ultimately designed to undermine the Protestant belief. These Exercises were meant to counter the Protestant views, and the Protestant’s views in the 1500’s were based on faith. So, Ignatius puts an emphasis on works rather than faith.

How would you describe the condition of the Catholic Church on the eve of the Protestant Reformation? According to History, the Protestant Reformation was “the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era.”

During this time there was a rise in High Masses, literary works being published, people listening to famous preachers, and pilgrimages. But, some of the things that these people did were not all good. During this time, the wars were savage, there were executions which were not uncommon, and people would be tortured for months and then killed.

The conditions in the Church itself was worse. Church members were preforming immoral conduct, they collected money from the public, and there was a lot of clerical ignorance because there were no seminaries to teach the preachers.

Above all, the Church was in desperate need for a reform, but it was not until the sixteenth century that reformation would at last arrive.

What were the Ninety-Five Theses about? What was the basic message of Luther’s complaint? According to Wikipedia, “The Ninety-five Theses or Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences is a list of propositions for an academic disputation written in 1517 by Martin Luther, professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, at the time controlled by the Electorate of Saxony.” Basically, the message he was trying to get across is that, according to History, “In his theses, Luther condemned the excesses and corruption of the Roman Catholic Church, especially the papal practice of asking payment—called “indulgences”—for the forgiveness of sins.” I am just going to say, paying for forgiveness for your sins is so dumb. Why pay for it when you can just do it for free? I think that this is one of the reasons that Luther was so against indulgences.