B.A. Social Notes

               The Decline of the Catholic Church The popularity of the church began to decline from the 12th century. Anti-Church movements began in this time,the most noteworthy being the revolt of Albigenses and Waldenses in France. These movements directed their attacks on the church sacraments and priesthood. The Lollard movement in England which was led by John Wycliffe, a priest and professor, leveled its criticism on the worldliness of the church and its superstitious practices. He advocated a property less Church and a return to the Bible as the sole guide for finding the true path of salvation. For this purpose Wycliffe (1328-84) translated the Holy Bible into English. The Church ordered his expulsion from Oxford University where he was teaching ,and after his body was exhumed and desecrated. A follower of John Wycliffe was a Bohemian, John Huss who criticized the pope for the sale of Indulgences and urged people to follow the Bible. Furthermore, he denied the doctri

                           Religious Reformation The split that developed in the Christian church is most significant developments in the sixteenth century Europe.The Roman Catholic church became corrupt, lost much of its credibility with the intellectuals in the 16th century.It also failed to fulfill the purpose for which it was founded by Jesus Christ and his successor, St.Peter, who became the first bishop of Rome. It was set up to propagate the teachings of Christ, give proper guidance which enabled them to attain salvation without difficulty.   After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Christian church played an important role in saving the Christians from the perils of barbaric invasions.The papacy was highly respected and every pope was considered to possess divinity and regarded infallible. The catholic church served the spiritual and other religious needs in various ways and became so popular that even mighty kings of Europe were afraid to differ from it. They called upon

                                                The Renaissance The world 'Renaissance' has been used both in extensive and narrow form.In extensive form it implies all those important movements of 15th and 16th centuries which changed the medieval outlooks into the modern one, but in narrow sense it means a new spirit in learning. Ferguisson Bruun has thus described Renaissance. Renaissance denotes revival or rebirth but in history it has been referred to as rebirth of culture and civilization.Hence Scheville, a prominant scholar of history writes,"The Renaissance was not a sharp break with the Middle Ages.It was worldly movement and included all the intellectual changes that were visible at the close of the middle european period and at the commencement of the Modern times." The Renaissance invoked the spirit of enquiry and knowledge among the mankind.So far,people used to follow the commands of the Pope like blind fellows but with the advent of Renaissance,peo