levo

Y308: The Catholic Reformation 1492–1610

The nature of the Catholic Reformation: condition of the Catholic Church in the 1490s

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 3

Overview

Recall questions on the condition of the Catholic Church in the 1490s, the Church’s reaction to humanism and Protestantism.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Give evidence that lay piety remained strong despite clerical abuses.

Key term

Which pope best symbolised the worldliness of the Renaissance papacy in the 1490s?

Key term

What does Savonarola's fate suggest about reform before Luther?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Describe the condition of the Catholic Church in the 1490s.

    Model answer

    It suffered from pluralism, absenteeism, simony and a poorly educated parish clergy, while the papacy behaved like an Italian princely court, yet popular devotion remained vigorous.

  2. 2

    Give evidence that lay piety remained strong despite clerical abuses.

    Model answer

    Confraternities, pilgrimage, endowments for masses, the cults of the saints and a large market for printed devotional books all flourished.

  3. 3

    Which pope best symbolised the worldliness of the Renaissance papacy in the 1490s?

    Model answer

    Alexander VI, whose nepotism, wealth and dynastic ambitions for his children were notorious.

  4. 4

    What was pluralism, and why did it damage the Church?

    Model answer

    It was the holding of several benefices at once; it enriched senior clergy while leaving parishes served by poorly paid and often untrained substitutes.

  5. 5

    How did Savonarola attempt reform in Florence?

    Model answer

    He preached apocalyptic sermons against corruption and luxury, dominated the city after 1494 and staged public burnings of worldly goods, before being excommunicated in 1497 and executed in 1498.

  6. 6

    What does Savonarola's fate suggest about reform before Luther?

    Model answer

    The appetite for reform existed within the Church, but a reformer who defied the papacy was more likely to be crushed than harnessed.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016
Y102: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest 1035–1107
Y103: England 1199–1272
Y104: England 1377–1455

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

Franz Ferdinand was shot at in June.
SarajevoBelgradeVienna

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AA republic replaced the sultanate.
BThe caliphate was abolished in 1924.
CThe Latin alphabet was adopted.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Simony means the buying and selling of Church office.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Y308: The Catholic Reformation 1492–1610, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.