The Scientific Revolution

The scientific revolution was a time when scientists began to have new theories about how the solar system really worked. These ideas went against the church's teachings, and the church was not happy. The Roman Catholic Church always taught that the solar system was geocentric, having the earth as a center, but scientists began to have new theories about astronomy, the study of the universe. They believed that the solar system was heliocentric, revolving around the sun. Copernicus was an important scientist who made a discovery that the sun was the center of the universe and figured out that the earth revolved around the sun. Galileo then came up with evidence to support his theory. The church became furious, because he was changing their teachings. Galileo took back his theories and was punished by prohibiting his book, being sent to prison and having to recite the seven penitential psalms once a week for three weeks. Chemistry was discovered by Robert Boyle. He founded modern chemistry helped with the founding of The Scientific Method. The Scientific Method is a seven step method which helps with experiments and how to carry it out.  Chemistry is the study of elements. Ambroise Pare discovered a medicine, a mixture that heals illnesses or wounds. He mixed egg yolks, turpentine, and oil of roses to heal wounds. He joined the military in 1536 and became a doctor. 


I am a catholic merchant traveling around for buisness. I have recently been hearing about the discoveries of Da Vinci, Vesalius and Harvey. They have been drawing the human body, and their drawings are so realistic because they are using real human bodies to dissect, observe then draw. I do not believe in this idea. Since I am catholic I don't believe that these bodies should be used in his way. They should be buried peacefully.  I also agree with the church. I don't think that there is another way to think about the anatomy. We have been taught by the church for so long, our ways of belief should not be changed now.




Image from: Image from: http://people.highline.edu/iglozman/classes/astronotes/geocentric.jpg

The Printing Press

The printing press changed the spread of ideas, they could travel faster and easier. Before the printing press existed, there were only 30,000 books. The reason for that is because books were written by hand, they had someone usually a pope, write and copy books. Since people hand-wrote the books, they were expensive and very time consuming. They had to copy every letter and every word. The books were a lot of times also filled with errors, because mistakes were very easy to make. After the printing press was invented, so many new doors opened up. There were then 12 million books in the library. It was easier to make a lot of one book also because they were easily mass produced with the new machine.  More people could afford these books, and they were less expensive for people to buy them and make them. Last, the books were so much faster to make.


Hello, I am Henry the 8th. I have had many wives, and I used to be catholic, but now I am protestant. Once in my life, I really wanted a son, I only had one daughter named Mary Tudor. I thought we should have a male heir for the throne. My wife didn't want to have a son, so I asked the pope to divorce us, but the priest would not let me. That's when I decided I did not want to be catholic anymore, so I took over the English Church, and I married Anne Boleyn, and we had another daughter. Since I did not have a son with her, I married four other women, I only ended up having one son, named Edward.

The Reformation Begins with Martin Luther

Luther was a monk who confronted the Church. He didn't believe in the idea of selling indulgences, which was basically a clean slate to get you out of your sins. He challenged the Catholic Church because he didn't believe in these indulgences. He wrote a letter which ended up in the hands of the pope. Luther was then excommunicated from the Holy Roman Empire. "I do not bring accusation against the outcries of the preachers, which I have not heard, so much as I grieve over the wholly false impressions which the people have conceived from the indulgences." - Martin Luther. He is trying to say he doesn't like the indulgences, because people buy them believing if they buy one they are guaranteed to be saved, but that's not always the truth, they might be wasting their needed money. 

Martin Luther's intentions were originally for the good of the people. He did not want them to get their hopes up, because not everybody had a lot of money and they bought them thinking they would be completely saved.  Luther was more concerned with spiritual reforms. The peasants didn't understand what he was saying, but Luther was actually talking spiritually, not about money. He did not believe in the indulgences and he wanted to make his point clear. He wrote a letter, and posted it to the doors of the church. Primarily, Luther's intentions were for the good of the people.