Reformers

[etricomi143]

The ideas of the reformers Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli led to a revolution in Early Modern Europe. The resulting Protestant Reformation transformed forever the way Europeans thought about religion and themselves. Why were their revolutionary ideas so appealing to large masses of the population?

[Octavius]

.....because they were....revolutionary ideas.

I don't think we can really help you with your entire history coursework. It often works much better if you create some of your own ideas, interpretations and input and then ask for opinions on those ideas.

[tiggerblue10]

Maybe because people were fed up of being indoctrinated by the Catholic Church/Vatican.

[dundurn]

And don't forget that their ideas (especially Luther's) were not initially designed to start a new church - they were reformers trying to correct what they saw as errors, wrongs and bad practice in the Roman Catholic Church. They weren't alone in recognising these errors. To some extent they were echoing what many people already felt, so when they stepped forward they were in a real sense 'preaching to the converted'. Have a look at Chaucer's Canterbury Tales for his comments on people associated with the Church - he makes some of the same points (in a satirical way) that the Reformers made, but 100 years earlier.