Tag: Germany

Areas of Study in History

~ Helene Harrison ~ Leave a comment

History in Words.
History in Words.

PERIODICAL
This involves examining history within a certain period, i.e. Tudor period 1485-1603 or Victorian period 1837-1901. This could also be by century, for example, looking at the 20th century, or even decade i.e. 1940s. The ways historians divide history down into periods reflect judgments made on the past.
* Sample questions:-
1) How successful were Tudor rebellions between 1485 and 1603?
2) What were the most pivotal events in the Cold War 1945 – 1991 and why?
3) How did England grow into an industrial nation throughout the 19th century?
* Sample literature:-
1) A.N. Wilson, ‘The Victorians’
2) David Loades, ‘The Tudors: History of a Dynasty’
3) Henry Freeman, ‘Roman Britain: a History from Beginning to End’

GEOGRAPHICAL
Geographical history can involve examining history in a particular country, region or city. For example, local history is becoming more popular, like the history of north-east England or the history of Glasgow. Landscapes, weather and the availability of supplies all affect the people who live and work in a particular place. Continue reading “Areas of Study in History” →

Witchcraft in the 16th and 17th Centuries

~ Helene Harrison ~ 5 Comments

How do Historians Account for the Comparative Differences in Witch Hunting and the Witchcraze Throughout Europe?

Title page of the seventh Cologne edition of the Malleus Maleficarum, 1520 (from the University of Sydney Library)
Title page of the seventh Cologne edition of the Malleus Maleficarum, 1520 (from the University of Sydney Library)

The witchcraze was a period in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries where so-called ‘witches’ were hunted and punished for practising witchcraft. This belief in witchcraft was most noticeable in Scotland and continental Europe as this is where the majority of accusations took place.[1] This essay will look at several different areas of witchcraft and the witchcraze, including where beliefs did and did not take hold, the proportion of men and women who were accused, the influence of the Protestant Reformation and the prosecution of witches across Europe. Historians tend to agree that the witchcraze took off in Protestant areas more than Catholic areas, and also that it was largely female-identified. Historians also agree that there were different punishments for witchcraft in different countries, with some being stricter than others. However, there are some problems in analysing the differences in the witchcraze in different countries because for some countries it is difficult to access the trial records and historians do not even agree on the number of people who were executed as witches in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries at the height of the witchcraze.

The witchcraze had more of an effect in some countries than others but the questions that were asked to accused witches by the interrogators and the authorities were often given the same or very similar answers all across the globe, and it was this which first gave rise to the idea that the witchcraze was an ‘international conspiracy’.[2] Continue reading “Witchcraft in the 16th and 17th Centuries” →

Martin Luther, John Calvin, Huldrich Zwingli & John Knox

~ Helene Harrison ~ 2 Comments

Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach 1528.
Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach 1528.

Martin Luther 1483-1546

Germany – monk, priest, reformer, author & professor of theology
Rejected five of the seven sacraments – sale of indulgences, confession, pilgrimages, prayers to Saints and the Catholic Mass.
Salvation achieved through faith not good works.
Transubstantiation – real body and blood of Christ.
Denied Papal authority.
Importance of the Scriptures.
Bible should be in the vernacular.
For clerical marriage.
Works:- * Ninety-Five Theses (1517) * Appeal to the German Nobility (1520) * Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520) * Freedom of a Christian (1520) * On Secular Authority (1523) * Bondage of the Will (1525) * Small and Large Catechisms (1529) Continue reading “Martin Luther, John Calvin, Huldrich Zwingli & John Knox” →

Timeline of the German Reformation

~ Helene Harrison ~ 2 Comments

 

Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach 1528.
Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach 1528.

1510 – Luther is sent to Rome on monastic business and sees the corruption of the Church.

1517 – Luther posts his 95 theses on a church door in Wittenburg in Germany, formally beginning the Protestant Reformation in Europe:-

The disputation protests against clerical abuses like pluralism, absenteeism, baptism and the sale of indulgences (the idea that people could buy a place in heaven for their souls, and to forgive their sins).

1518 – Luther defends his beliefs in front of Augustinians, and refuses to recant. Frederick the Wise protects him from being handed over to Rome.

1519 – Luther debates papal infallibility and begins a New Testament sermon series.

1520 – Luther is told by papal bull to recant within 60 days or be excommunicated, but he instead burns the bull and writes three texts:- Continue reading “Timeline of the German Reformation” →