Luther an Intellectual Historians Perspective

Lortz an intellectual, Catholic Historian explains the reformation with reference to the medieval break up of Western Christianity. Lortz provides revealing evidence of a late medieval break down in the universality of the Catholic Church, which shook it to its very foundations. Firstly, Clement V removed the seat of the Roman See to Avignon in France from 1309 till 1377. Petrarch, the "father of humanism", termed this period the "Babylonian Captivity" of the papacy, a sentiment shared by many non-French. In 1377 Gregory XI's returned to Rome, by 1378 he was forced to evacuate back to Avignon where he re-established himself as pope. The result of this was the creation of two popes Urban VI in Rome and in Robert of Geneva in Avignon, the two popes excommunicated each other. European loyalty became divided, England and the German empire sided with Urban, France and the kings of Spain with Clement. In 1409 the Council of Pisa attempted to re-unify the church under one pope but ironically created a third pope. Secondly the establishment of the German national reform council with a "radically separatist" stance acted to distance Germany from Rome. …