From Reformation to Enlightenment – Political Fragmentation and Cultural Unification

Abstract

The feeling that change was necessary was widespread at the end of the fifteenth century. Many feuds made it apparent that the worldly order did not function appropriately. The long-lasting agrarian crisis had impoverished large sections of the peasantry; most of the peasants were obliged to work for the noblemen, and their obligations were increasing. The church could not give much consolation — its credibility was ruined. Too obvious were the discrepancies between its preaching and the actual behaviour of its servants, too appalling the instrumentalization of religion in order to accumulate worldly opulence. In large numbers the souls of disappointed believers turned to mystical or heretical movements. Social unrest and subversive conspiracies were frequent.