As a commoner, I do not agree with the king's orders, once again. It is a constant battle to try to provide for a family and take care of the children with my husband gone now. The king is not helping at all. He forces his own beliefs upon us and we cannot even worship the way that we would like. I work hard constantly, but it never shows and I feel like my work is never done. As a woman it is hard enough to be seen and taken seriously, but with my husband gone I do not have a choice. He fought for what he believed in and he ended up dead, and now I must fight for my family. I do not want to be Catholic merely becuase it is forced upon me. I want my children to live with their own independent beliefs, but King Louis refuses to listen, especially to a commoner as myself. We are simply the lowly class, never heard, never put into consideration.

http://www.reformedevangelist.com/images/Luther.jpg

http://www.reformedevangelist.com/images/Luther.jpg" \*


*I couldn't get my visual to paste, so this is the hyperlink to my picture of Martin Luther and his 95 Theses- going with my explanation of his role in the Reformation.

Along with many other issues of this time period, the Thirty Years War was caused by a multitude of different thing, but nostly by the religious conflicts of the time and the economic failure. Religion had not only become an isse between othernations, but it had become a civil issus where people were battling their own government and their claim of power over their religious opinions. The Thirty Years War was destined to come eventually considering all of the internal conflict going on in Europe, but the Reformation sparked new ideas of religion and expressing new opinions publicly. Therefore this opened new doors to freedom that the government did not want to acknowledge. The efffects of the Thiryt Years War were like many other wars, economic depression, lack in trade, failure in ecomonmy in general, and price issues. Prices were being raised and less people were becoming wealthy. Like many wars before and after it, the Thirty Years War caused the economy to become extrememy slow and the culture therefore suffered. The effects of this war were extremely evident all over Europe for many years.

In contributing to the Reformation, Martin Luther played a huge, influential role. Not only did he finally stand up for what he, and many others, believed against the Catholic Church, but at the time the church was also the government and political power so he risked everything to come out in the public with his beliefs. Though the government attempted to force him to take back all he had said and done, he refused to give in. His 95 Theses are a huge mark in history, making him a huge contribution to the Reformation. Martin Luther began the start of new ways of thinking, and not only thinking but acting upon these opinions in public. Before Luther people had been scared and passive, but he brought his opinion out aggressively in public, which sparked a fire in other believers; marking the beginning of the Reformation.