The Fanboy Nation: The Evolution Of Comic Books

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The Fanboy Nation

The Evolution Of Comics In The Last Century

I was standing outside my tower, sucking on a cigarette and reading Frank Millers The Dark Knight Returns. Its a comic book, or more specifically a graphic novel, collecting the four issue run from the late 80s that looked at the bleak future of Gotham City. In the story Batman comes out of retirement after 0 years. Now a 50 something year old man battling with alcoholism, Batman faces a city that has outlawed costumed vigilantes and has been transformed into a desolate pit of crime and deviance.

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A fellow student walked out the door and I grunted an acknowledgement of his presence. A few minutes passed, and as Batman tried to rally together a hopeless gang called the "mutants" this guy snickers at me and says, "comic books are for eight year olds." I looked him in the eye, fighting the urge to strangle him, and asked him what the last book he read was. "Reading? Man, who the hell reads books in their spare time?" I took a final drag on my cigarette, flicked it at his $10 shoes, gave him the finger and stormed inside.

It infuriates me when people think of comics as "kids stuff", ignorant to the fact that comic books have become much more than Archie having to choose between Betty and Veronica. Ive read and collected comic books for years, and have a very unhealthy affection for them. In school Ive had to read "classics" like Of Mice and Men, A Tale Of Two Cities, and The Odyssey. Its taken me ages to read books like that and usually I just havent enjoyed them. Comics are entirely different, though. I read Paul Dini and Alex Rosss 500+ page epic, Earth X, in one sitting. It amazed me, the details of this story. The way it reflected American culture, and attacked sensitive issues, all the while containing a totally enjoyable superhero yarn. It boggles my mind that people refuse to believe in comics as literature. So, this paper is going to have a dual-purpose; Ill research and detail the evolution of comic books into literature, and ask the question, just for the sake of proving it, "are comics just for kids?"

I started my research in my dorm room, going through my boxes of comics and selecting tales that I thought were noteworthy. I read through them over the course of a few hours, and then headed to the liary to see what I could dig up on comic books. Digging through the second floor stacks on literature, I came a cross a musty section that housed books on comics. In a book that resembled the monolith from 001 A Space Odyssey I found data critical to my quest. To my surprise social commentary had been tried in comic books as far back as the early 100s. In 110 George Herriman began featuring his creation, Krazy Kat in The New York American. Herriman often used his comic as a social critique by locating Krazy Kats identity almost exclusively in an overtly ideological naïve nature. During his adventures, numerous characters joined Krazy Kat. Herriman used these companions to expose the false consciousness of his fellow Americans through ignorance of their habits, often "pointing out the pretensions and mis-recognitions necessary for the maintenance of everyday life"(Sabin, 5). More than any other aspect of his character, this naïve nature fixes Krazy as an individual. Like the background scenes of "Coconino County" where he lives, Krazys gender and race shifted, at random sometimes, but more often according to his social situation. Herriman penned his opinions about the socially constructed nature of categories like race and gender, as well as categories such as class, age, ethnicity, and occupation, into such a deep allegory, however, that few readers noticed them. Herriman caught heat for his comic, though, when his flagship character began dating the transgender rodent, Ignatz Mouse. Despite constant battles with publishers, though, Herrimans creation went the distance and remained a successful strip for nearly thirty years. (Sabin, -6)

It surprises me that issues like those that Herriman dealt with would be raised as far back as 110. Back then America was a much more conservative country, and to think that someone would have the gall to discuss transgender relations or age, race, class, or occupation strains is really quite amazing. I think Herriman was way ahead of his time. He belonged in the 60s with Robert Crumb and his classic feline STD cocktail, Fritz The Cat.

I read about Krazy Kat standing in the book stacks, and decided to grab some more books and go sit down. I picked up a couple of volumes of the International Journal Of Comic Art, A book on comic book culture, a book (mentioned above) on the history of comics through 1 and a coffee table book on Underground comics. Satisfied and weighed down by 40 lbs of books I proceeded to a secluded table.

Before I got into the maturing process of comic book tales, I wanted to make myself comfortable with the evolution of the industry. Sabins book was a great resource. The industry after Krazy Kat came along was booming, and more creators began emerging from the woodwork. The attitude taken by many artists was "The World Is Our Oyster"(Sabin, 7), and their success mirrored that statement. In January of 1 "Tarzan Of The Apes", a pulp favorite began enjoying huge success as a daily newspaper strip. The positive reaction made way for an even bigger hit, "Plainclothes Tracy"(later became "Dick Tracy"), created by Chester Gould. "Tracy" was the crime-noir tale of a yellow trench coat-clad cop with a very diverse rogues gallery. Tracys rogues gallery was the subject of controversy for the first two years of its publication, as the villains were based on actual mobsters, criminals, and crooked cops. Despite the setbacks, Goulds comic stayed put, and is published to this day in The Chicago Tribune.(Sabin, 7)

1 rolled around and the Ledger Syndicate chose to collect and publish a small amount of Sunday comics on Seven by Nine inch plates, an idea hit upon by two printer employees. The idea was met with praise, and set the wheels ago in the minds of Sales Manager Harry L. Wildenberg and salesman Max C. Gaines of the Eastern Color Printing Company (Goldweber, 88). The two businessmen theorized that if these plates could work, then two of these plates could fit on a tabloid page and produce a 7 ½ by 10-inch book when folded. With the idea in hand, on Feuary 7th, 1, pages of newspaper reprints including "Mutt and Jeff", "Joe Palooka", and "The Reglar Fellas", were gathered and Funnies On Parade was created, the very first page publication that resembled todays comic books. Looking to test their product, 10,000 copies were produced and given out as premiums by Proctor & Gamble. Funnies On Parade was an instant success, and sold out within two weeks (Sabin, 1).

This is obviously where the idea was given birth, transferring newspaper reprints into collections. Herrimanns Krazy Kat obviously gave everyone else the go-ahead to give their ideas a go. I would guess that the mindset was "well, if this guy made it with stories as inane as "Krazy Kat " then maybe we can make it too!" Another thing I was thinking of had to do with Tarzan. My thinking is this if Tarzan was created today, if he was redone, I think wed find his relationships with primates a little different. Realistically, if monkeys raised a boy, he would have a natural urge, at some point, to experiment sexually with his hairyothers and sisters. When did the rest of the creators make the leap into mature subject matter?

The next two years saw comic books skyrocket to new heights of success, and in 15 they took an interesting turn. In Feuary of 5, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, an ex-cavalry officer and pulp writer published the tabloid-sized anthology title New Fun Comics #1 through National Allied Publications (later named DC comics)(Wright, 5). It was the first comic to contain new material, rather than reprints of Sunday cartoons. Much of it was written by Wheeler-Nicholson himself. Considering that the other early titles were successes because of recognizable characters, this was quite a risk. New Fun Comics #6 contained the first work of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the later creations of Superman, in comics. After the sixth issue, the title became More Fun, and after the eighth issue converted to 8"X11", standard size for modern comics. With this size change, it became the first comic book of "standard-size" to publish new material and continued on until 14. Wheeler-Nicholson had redefined the comic field forever.

In 17, though, Wheeler-Nicholson, after having financial trouble launching his third title, was forced to take on one of his printers, to whom he owed money. Harry Donnefield was the mans name and with Wheeler-Nicholson he helped found Detective Comics and their first new title, the companys third, was Detective Comics #1, launched in March of 17. The new title concentrated solely on crime and suspense stories, instead of the usual varied themes, and is the title that would later launch Batman and Superman. The initials of the company eventually became the new name. The DC imprint continues to this day and has the longest uninterrupted run of any imprint. Despite the companys success, Wheeler-Nicholson was still having financial difficulty, and late in the year, sold his remaining interest to Harry Donenfield. (Wright, 14)

With the success of DC, even after the untimely demise of its president, new creators were jumping on board left and right. One young man, named Joe Siegel, presented DC with a new idea; a costumed crime fighter, on a quest to uphold "Truth, Justice and the American Way." (Wright, 15) The idea was turned down without much thought, and dismissed. Siegel worked on his idea, against the odds, and returned to DC two months later. This time his proposal was much more detailed, and he presented the heads of the company with Superman, who was "more powerful than a locomotive, could leap tall buildings in a single bound, and soar higher than the eagles." (Goulart, 86) Though still skeptical, DC accepted Siegels proposal and took him on board. Superman made his first appearance in Action Comics #1, and was an overnight success. Legions of fans flocked to the newsstands to see what all the fuss was about, and within two weeks the title had sold over 175,000 copies. (Sabin, 86) Superman remains DCs flagship character, and still enjoys the same (if not more) success that he did in his debut.

So now we have Superman, ever the Boy Scout, and a true symbol of American Freedom and prosperity. He was clean-cut, fair, polite, a "Dapper-Dan" stereotype. But Superman was hardly the type of hero to give the industry a more mature, dark side. He did make comics more popular, but reinforced the fact that comics were simple, safe and basically just for kids. I took the obvious next step, Supermans mirror image, and the yin to his yang, Batman. Batman was set in a darker, more depraved world. Criminals of a strange and sadistic nature overran his city of Gotham. Put simply, Batman was a more mature and grim character. I think this is where comics began to mature a little, and became just a smidge less kid friendly.

. Inspired by Da Vincis drawings of flying machines, Kane tried a number of names before settling on Batman. Bird-Man, Eagle-Man and Hawk-Man were all names that Kane had tossed aside. (Wright, 140) Da Vinci, once again, inspired the name, this time with his quote "remember that your bird should have no other model than the bat." Batman was an independent masked vigilante who, after a mugger killed his parents, turned to crime fighting to exact vengeance on all those whooke the law. He was a loner and Kane exploited this by having Batman work under the cover of darkness and outside the law. (Sabin, 0) His costume was designed to be so awesome that it would throw fear and respect into all villains that crossed the batmans path.

Batman had no superpowers, and fans were mainly turned on by the exciting, dangerous stories, which most collectors agree, were better than Supermans. (Richards, interview) Kane also had a new and different art style that combined cinematic angles and use of light and darkness to create a unique fantasy world. The twisted, dark villains in Batmans quest for vengeance were unlike anything seen previously. Batman made his first appearance in Detective Comics #7. and the following spring he debuted in his own title, Batman #1. This book featured the first appearances of The Joker, and Catwoman, maniacal villains that relied more on psychological terror to intrigue fans.

Psychological terror! Hows that for mature reading? The fact that the majority of DC readers preferred Batman to Superman is a clue to me that people were definitely ready for the more mature subject matter. But with my knowledge that Marvel comics played a pretty decent role in the maturing of the comic book industry I decided to move into a new direction.

By the early 60s, DC superheroes were waning, almost wiped off the map entirely, not helped by prices from 1 to 15 cents from most publishers. Marvel was still doing well, however, and the fledgling company had captured the majority of the market. Marvel had marked its territory as the leader in the comic book industry, with intriguing storylines and characters that were deep. Spider-Man, for example was a teenager with problems like acne, girls, school bullies, etc. and when he gained amazing powers did his troubles fade away? Oh no! They just got worse. How was a mild-mannered teenager to handle a dual identity on top of everything else? Readers ate the stuff up.

Marvels "new formula"(Sabin, 55), as some authors have called it, has been included in almost all the comic history books Ive picked up. Apparently it was new to comics to have readers connecting with characters like Peter Parker the bookworm, the dysfunctional family ties of the Fantastic Four, and the inner turmoil of the incredible hulk. This is something, in all my years of collecting, that I havent heard about, but while DC ushered in the modern day superhero it was Marvel who took the truly revolutionary leap, making the characters more than just four colour muscle bound clowns.

The 60s came and went, and Marvel upped the ante several times. 167 saw the first death of a core character as Spider-Mans girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, was murdered by an arch nemesis. Readers were shocked, as they had come to love Gwen since her introduction 4 years prior. Harry Osborn, the son of Marvel villain The Green Goblin, started abusing LSD behind the backs of his friends. Iron Man, a founding member of The Avengers, was revealed to be struggling with Alcoholism. These all had noticeable effects on not only the stories, but the readers as well. Parents wrote in like mad, disgusted that Marvel was printing material about alcohol, drugs and death. Marvel stood their ground though, and advised parents to check out the comics before their kids read them. (Sabin, 148)

This is interesting, because rarely will a media company back down from the threat of public outcry. Marvel didnt give in though, in this situation, and continued to occasionally print stories that were controversial in a medium that was still considered by the masses as "kids stuff." Comic books were maturing in the sense that a few characters were going through abstract experiences, or some stories were being told on a more intellectual level. There wasnt anything up yet that would totally change the way comic book tales were weaved.

It was during the mid-80s that DC changed the comic book medium as a whole, and made its triumphant return to the forefront of corporate comic success. DC signed on a young unknown Englishman, named Frank Miller to pen a Batman tale. Instead of the "blah" that the 80s was pumping out, DC got an absolute goldmine.(Kidd, 01) Batman The Dark Knight Returns took place in the future and dealt with an elderlyuce Wayne coming out of superhero retirement and putting on the mantle of the Bat one last time.

"The Dark Knight Returns was about auce Wayne who couldnt cope. Too young to cope with middle age and retirement, he became Batman again. Then, finding himself too old to cope as Batman - the young Batman -uce Wayne was forced to find a third way. Leave bothuce Wayne and Batman behind, go underground, and become something...else." (Kidd 0)

This Batman was a tougher, less merciful vigilante than any variation, ever, on The Dark Knight. Miller also portrayed some classic DC characters in a different light, as Superman was no longer the Boy Scout he had once been, but was being pushed around by the corrupted American government. The Green Arrow, another character from the early days of DC, had lost an arm (yet still managed to handle a bow masterfully) and to top it off, a teenage girl had replaced Robin, The Boy Wonder, Batmans sidekick. In the span of four months this title generated more sales for DC than any project beforehand. (Kidd, 0)

Also in 186, DC created a comic book limited series called Watchmen. This 1 issue series dealt with a society on theink of economicaleakdown, where real people did have superpowers. The Watchmen were a group of vigilantes that were forced to stop their actions by the government after a police strike. Years later the come out of retirement to help prevent theeakdown of a collapsing society and to solve the murder mystery of one of their former teammates. The book took some serious risks as it dealt with such issues as rape, politics and foreign policies; issues that were very sensitive at the time, especially in a comic book. (Vachss, 1)

I read Watchmen. It was amazing. If theres a Citizen Kane of comic books, its definitely Watchmen. It. Is. Huge. Its huge in scope, cast, drama, scale and action. The story jumps all over the timeline of these characters. Their past, their present and their futures are all told throughout this book, which on the surface is a murder mystery, but in reality is a totally revolutionary work of art. This book, in my opinion, should be taught in classrooms around the world. The way Moore weaves the histories of some of these characters, along with the horror of the cold war and the nuclear arms race, is incredible. Everything is set in the parallel world of Earths past. America won Vietnam and never reconciled their differences with the Soviet Union. Superheroes saved lives, and then were subsequently outlawed when they became too unpredictable, too dangerous. Now, everything is at stake as the world races towards nuclear Armageddon, and one lone vigilante superhero tries to solve one last case, one that will have far reaching consequences if he does. I feel slightly ashamed writing this, but Watchmen goes beyond what even The Dark Knight Returns accomplished.

With the release of Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns comics were unquestionably able to dance in the realm of literature and were obviously maturing, as the aforementioned books were targeted towards a group of readers older than 17(Vachss 8).

Other publishers soon caught wind of DCs success and took chances of their own. Marvel comics hired a fledgling artist named Todd McFarlane to take over writing and art duties on their number one seller, "Amazing Spider-Man." McFarlane had a very dark,ooding style to his art, which spilled over into his stories. Spider Man became more of a grim vigilante than a wisecracking web-slinger. Sales skyrocketed as word of McFarlanes talent spread and soon Marvel was ready to turn over aand new Spider Man book to McFarlane, over which he was allowed full creative control. McFarlane stayed with Marvel for years working primarily on Spider Man, but also giving his touch to characters like The Incredible Hulk and The Punisher. After his stay at Marvel, Todd joined a group of rogue creators, artists, editors and writers to form an independent comic book publishing house called Image. (Goulart, 167)

Its odd to hear Image called an independent company, as theyve grown into something huge, and are the third ranking comic book company (sales wise) behind Marvel and DC. As for McFarlane, I never cared for his work after he left Marvel, but I must give credit where credit is due; he kept the mature and intelligent side of comics alive into the 0s.

Marvel was publishing a good number of books every month that were grim, gritty and intelligent. DC had taken what Miller and Moore did for them and ran with it, keeping their stories as realistic as possible, and always intelligent. Then, in 1, a new publisher sprung up, and did something that no mainstream publisher had done to date; they only published comics for readers over 17. Their name was Vertigo and their goal was to shock, offend and educate as many people as possible.

While many writers that worked for Vertigo created some amazing stuff, the most important of all was Neil Gaiman. Gaiman was a scholar to the end. His creation was entitled Sandman and was the most intelligent, graceful and literary work in comic books since Watchmen.

"Neil Gaimans Sandman series contains some of the most horrifying scenes ever depicted in comic books. Tortures, rapes, mutilation, maiming, hopeless people are poisoned, lacerated, incinerated, even shredded. The ultimate effect of the books, though, is that of kindness, acceptance, consolation, mercy and redemption. Sandman deals with the relationships of stories and dreams. They can be compared to works like The Tempest and A Midsummer Nights Dream. Also, Gaiman includes homage and passages to and from Shakespeare, like issues 1-1 which parallel Love Labours Lost" (Goldweber, 78)

Upon reading Goldwebers review of Sandman I realized that my question had been answered, my point had been proven, my quest was over. If comic books can be compared, no, become literature, as Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller and Alan Moore did, then they must have evolved into a more mature art form, and theres no way that comic books are purely "kids stuff" anymore. Sure, anyone could draw the latter conclusion from the 17+ requirements on some comics, but you could argue that the age restriction isnt just to protect kids from seeing violence and sex, its to mark a comic book as higher-level reading.

And thats what comic books have become higher level reading. Sure you can still pick up an issue of Lady Death if you simply want a half-nude, top-heavy woman hacking people to pieces with a sword, or you can still pick up Thundercats if you simply want to relive some of the 80s through some weird nostalgic perversion, but if you want to stimulate your mind theres nothing better to take in than any number of comics from any number of publishers. The characters have come a long way and so has the industry. What were once 4 panel cartoon strips in the Sunday newspapers are now full color page glossy, expansive, engaging, and sometimes classic pieces of literature. And thats why I can stand up loud and proud and say "Im a comic book geek and Im damn proud!."

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Dimensions of Love

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The idea of Love in "How do I Love Thee" shows love as everlasting, as in "Stop all The Clocks, and Shut off the Telephone" shows love as an until death relationship. The relationship of these two poems blends together because they are both showing love from different outlooks but essentially together because they both love someone important to them. They are just expressing their love in two different ways the writer of "How do I Love Thee" is Elizabeth Barrettowning, a female while on the other hand, the author of "Stop all the Clocks, and Shut off the Telephone" is W.H. Auden, a male. The love ofowning tends to flow freely for example, How do I love thee? Let me count the ways, I love thee to the depth andeadth and height my soul can reach (owning pg 811 1-). owning is actually listing ways that she loves her mate. She expresses her love as depth andeadth and goes even further by adding height like a three dimensional figure but a soul can not be seen. So, there is no comparison in her love. She loves freely with all her soul and then some. In Audens poem he expresses his love as until death relationship. He loves until the person dies and that is it. Stop all the clocks, and shut off the telephone. Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone (Auden 1-). This love shows that love is dead once one dies using an example of a dog. The dog gives a symbol of love for a bone but not being able to bark with his wonderful treat or to show how good he was because he got this great bone. This statement also, represents the love and affection of someone because it is not able to be shown once one dies

ownings everlasting love is shown in I love thee to the level of every days most quiet need (owning 6). She is expressing the love for her mate as simple but genuine kind of love. There is no activity to stupid or on any everyday agenda that she does not yearn for with her love. While, Auden describes scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead, Put crepe bows around the necks of the public doves (Auden 6-7). Auden uses He is dead because his love is over and he can not get it back. He then wants to show how important his love was by saying put crepe bows around the white necks of public doves because the whole world should stop to see how important his love really is. He has a resentment of the death of his mate and he switches his tone of importance to bitter by saying put expensive neck ties on important people to see his great loved one dead.

Another example ofownings love is I love thee purely as they turn from praise. This is a Christian tone towards the love of God being displayed for her mate. People of God are Portrayed as pure, good, and loving. They also, give their praise to the Lord for his wonderful works. She loves her mate with the love that God has for his people which is everlasting and eternal regardless of fault. On the other hand, Auden shows He was my North, my South, My East, and West, My working week and my Sunday rest (Auden -10) there is a limit to this love because of his word choice of was. A bitter tone is implied in this part of the poem because he is hurt by someone close to him passing away.

Online writing services offer help on Dimensions of Loveowning seems to get lost in her everlasting love for her mate for example, in my griefs and in my childhoods faith, I love thee with a love I seem to lose (owning 10-11).owning gets lost in her love for her mate. There are no sorrows to small or too big for her love. Nothing seems to matter. She has the love and faith of a five year old that gets kissed for the first time. She believes that this person is her soul mate and they will spend eternity together. owning gives her heart completely with no restraints or conditions. While Auden believes love is forever but when the time comes and his love dies that is it. Its over for him for example, I thought that love would last forever; I was wrong (Auden 1). He never put a condition on his love till that person past away. He believed in romance but once his love died he changed his mind. Now, there is a limit and condition that will be with him the rest of his life.

owning show her everlasting love shine through her for example, Smiles, tears, of all my life and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death (owning 1-14). She shows all the smiles in the world did not change her love. Tears of sorrow and happiness approach but her love still beats strong. She will love her mate till the end and longer. If God chooses she will love her mate in a better place (heaven) for the rest of her days and then love him even more than she does now. On the other hand, Auden shows once a person dies there is no more love. He needs to just pick up the pieces and move on for example, Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; for nothing now can come to any good (Auden 15-16). He is comparing his heart to an ocean and the ocean is enormous and makes up most of our world today. His love is strong for his mate but once they die thats it. Sweep up the piece to hisoken heart. The rest of his life is ruined and his love will never be the same.

These two poems show love to another person but Elizabeth Barrettowning shows love more as everlasting while,W.H. Auden shows love as an until death relationship that is classified as love. Both of these poems have a blended meaning of love fitting together. The poems are just portrayed in two different kinds of love everlasting love and a until death love.

Please note that this sample paper on Dimensions of Love is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on Dimensions of Love, we are here to assist you. Your persuasive essay on Dimensions of Love will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality. Order your authentic assignment and you will be amazed at how easy it is to complete a quality custom paper within the shortest time possible!

Assess the contribution and impact of Tiberius as princeps

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• After Augustuss death Tiberius reluctantly took on the role as princeps

• He started off with great promise for his dealings with mutinies among the frontiers and his contribution to foreign policy was carried out with real statesmanship (Tacitus admits to this)

• However his trust of the lecherous Sejanus and his retirement to Capri (with his minor building program), prove to have left the most impacting marks on his career Tiberius Foreign Policy (provincial and frontier)

Tiberius government of the empire was carried out with real statesmanship. Even Tacitus admits this

Provincial Policy

Tiberius recognised Romes responsibility for the welfare of provincials, and would tolerate no abuses by governors or the Roman business class

Maintained strict discipline of troops in the provinces secured frontiers by diplomacy if possible

- Tacitus "Tiberius was happier to have secured peace by prudent negotiation than if he had fought a victorious war

Paid special attention to his choice of governors; retained many governors at their posts for extended periods, to increase efficiency

Sought to maintain justice not only for provincials but also for Roman citizens within the provinces

Maintained strict supervision of imperial legates to avoid oppression; prosecutions of governors and procurators charged with extortion were strict

Initiated road andidge building, and established new settlements in Syria, Spain, Moesia, Dalmatia and Pannonia

Generous to provincial cities during disasters eg earthquakes

Avoided interfering in senatorial provinces, but kept a close eye on their administration

Checked the plundering of the equestrian tax companies; protected Egypt from excessive taxation

- Tacitus "He ensured also that the provinces were not harasses by new impositions and that old impositions were not aggravated through official acquisitiveness orutality."

Did not encourage the worship of himself in the provinces

- From Tacitus To have my statues worshipped among the gods in every province would be presumptuous and arrogant. Besides, the honour to Augustus will be meaningless if it is debased by indiscriminate flattery. As for myself, senators, I emphasise to you that I am human, performing human tasks."

Gave provincial assemblies larger degree of autonomy

Tiberius policy of leaving governors in office for long periods in order to benefit the provincials fell down when he made a poor judgement about a governor

Eg 10 years was too long for Pontius Pilatus (6-6) who was governor of Judaea at the time of Christs crucifixion

Pontius Pilatus made a number of serious mistakes, provoking the inhabitants unnecessarily, and it took the governor of Syria, Vitellius, to conciliate the Jews after Pilatus was sent to Rome to stand trial

The senate resented his guidance and control in the provinces and were particularly affronted when he encroached on the senatorial sphere by refusing to permit a change of proconsuls for Asia and Africa and keeping the same men there for 6 years

The Influence of Sejanus on Tiberius

Tiberius trusted adviser

After death of Germanicus, Tiberius planned to promote his own son Drusus to secure succession for him

In AD 1, Drusus nd consulship, and in next year granted tribunician power

This embittered faction loyal to Germanicus and didnt suit the capable prefect of Praetorian Guard, L. Aelius Sejanus, who had become Tiberius trusted adviser

Sejanus had been joint commander of the Guard with his father, and had served Augustus; accompanied Drusus to Pannonia during revolts of AD 14 and from ad 17 was sole prefect of Guard

Sejanus ambition

Tacitus Sejanus "concealed behind a carefully modest exterior an unbounded lust for power."

Since Drusus suspected Sejanus designs and resented his influence over his father, he had to be removed

To do this would not ensure Sejanus rise to power, due to the abundance of members of the imperial house (Sejanus planned to remove these individuals at intervals)

Seduction of Livilla and death of Drusus

Sejanus seduced Livilla (wife of Drusus) and together they poisoned Drusus

Tiberius never got over Drusus death in , became more morose, and came to depend on Sejanus to an even greater extent

Tiberius retirement to Capri

Tiberius now made serious mistake

Retired to island of Capri, tired of plotting factions and hostility at court

Tacitus says Sejanus urged him to do so as he would control access to Emperor and most of correspondence [no evidence of truth in Tacitus suggestions eg. Tacitus went to satisfy his perversions, to escape his bullying mother Livia]

Tiberius government from Capri as efficient as ever, although his removal allowed Sejanus free rein with his intrigues

Sejanus saves Tiberius life

Tiberius, Sejanus and servants dining in natural cavern when a rock-fall threatened the emperors life

Sejanus protected Tiberius from falling boulders

This further increased Sejanus power over Tiberius

From that time "Tiberius believed him disinterested and listened trustingly to his advice, however disastrous." Tacitus

Downfall of Sejanus

With the death of Livia, Sejanus appeared to be moving closer to the throne

1. He had control of the Praetorian Guard as sole prefect

. He had control of the senate as he controlled communications to and from Tiberius at Capri

. He was engaged to the granddaughter of Tiberius

4. He was granted proconsular imperium

5. He was honoured with statues and games

When it appeared that Tiberius was looking to Agrippinas youngest son (and his grandson through the adoption of Germanicus) Gaius the last son who had not been persecuted as yet by Sejanus ( eldest sons were exiled), Sejanus supposedly plotted to kill Tiberius (some say he plotted to kill Gaius)

Tiberius was alerted to the plot, and to the fact that Sejanus and Livilla had poisoned his son Drusus 8 years previously, by Antonia (mother of Germanicus and Claudius and Livilla; grandmother of Gaius)

Tiberius had to be very careful as Sejanus was in a very powerful position

Tiberius used Macro, the prefect of the Vigiles, to facilitate the destruction of Sejanus by giving him a letter to be read in the senate denouncing Sejanus as a traitor to Rome

Sejanus was arrested, taken to prison and executed immediately

From the death of Sejanus to the death of Tiberius, the period is referred to by Tacitus as the Reign of Terror

Tacitus calls this a time of sheer crushing tyranny as many people were executed

Friends and family of Sejanus were executed

Sejanus himself had caused the deaths of many people through treason trials Agrippina, Nero Caesar and Drusus Caesar had all been imprisoned or exiled and then they died through suicide and starvation

 See Tiberius Administration in folder

Building Program

Tiberius did not conduct an extensive building program nor did he use buildings to increase his popularity and personal glory as Augustus had done

He completed many of the buildings begun by Augustus, restored buildings but did not put his own name on them

He did erect a temple to Augustus and a barracks for the Praetorian Guard

In the provinces he supervised the construction of utilitarian projects such as roads,idges and aqueducts

The Death of Tiberius AD 7

Tiberius did not return to Rome but continued to rule from Capri until he died at the age of 78

Strengths Weaknesses

Continuance of Augustus arrangements as much as possible

Excellent civil administration

ɧ Alleviated food shortages

ɧ Maintained law and order in the city through the city prefect

ɧ Gave substantial relief to help victims of an amphitheatre tragedy and a fire on the Aventine

ɧ Cut down public expenses erected few public buildings and reduced gladiatorial shows

Strengths Servility of senators little co-rule, dependence on Tiberius

Treason trials and growing numbers of delatores

Crisis as a result of Germanicus death

Influence of Sejanus and elimination of members of imperial family

Retirement of Tiberius to Capri alienation of senate

Weaknesses

ɧ Took measures to safeguard the countryside fromigandage

ɧ Reduced sales tax

ɧ Chose officials carefully

Attempt to work with the senate

ɧ Took no exceptional honours

ɧ Upheld traditional rights

ɧ Treated it with respect

ɧ Consulted it

ɧ Extended its administrative and legal functions

Provincial and frontier policies

ɧ Maintained peace and prosperity

ɧ Settled disputes in provinces fairly

ɧ Gave extensive tax relief after earthquake damage

ɧ Built roads andidges

ɧ Built public buildings in provinces

ɧ Chose best men wherever possible

ɧ Maintained thorough discipline, loyalty and efficiency in armies Vengeance taken on Sejanus supporters

Gaius given no training for public life contributed to difficulties of his reign

Praetorian Guard conscious of increased power repercussions for future influence on succession

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Descriptive essay

If you order your research paper from our custom writing service you will receive a perfectly written assignment on Descriptive essay. What we need from you is to provide us with your detailed paper instructions for our experienced writers to follow all of your specific writing requirements. Specify your order details, state the exact number of pages required and our custom writing professionals will deliver the best quality Descriptive essay paper right on time. Out staff of freelance writers includes over 120 experts proficient in Descriptive essay, therefore you can rest assured that your assignment will be handled by only top rated specialists. Order your Descriptive essay paper at affordable prices! It is 6:00 A.M. on a Saturday morning. I go through my pre-surf ritual, which includes, rolling out of bed, throw on my bathing suit, splash water on my face and head to the kitchen for my morning nutrition.<parallelism: rolling, throwing, splashing, heading] This consists of cereal with milk. It is now 6:10 as I head out to load up the car. With my board in hand and my bag of the days necessities on my back, I begin the hour and a half trip to Cocoa Beach with my roommate. As we make the journey, I anticipate the sound, sight and smell of the ocean. <good details in intro]

Once we are at the beach, we step out of the vehicle and are greeted by the inviting sound of the ocean waves in the distance. As we make our way across the wooden decks, the sound of the roaring ocean becomes closer. There is something so calming, yet invigorating about the waves crashing upon the shoreline. My heart is pounding as I step onto the warm, wet sand.<nice details] I make my way towards the cool, morning surf.

Seeing the first few waveseak in the early morning light is spectacular. I envision myself riding in on those waves. Theres noone else out at that time of the morning, except for a few locals. We make sure to stay out of their way. We drop our bags down and head towards the water. As I lay my board down to start paddling out into the ocean, I can see how calm and peaceful the water is[,]<coordination comma] and I start to mentally prepare myself for the first ride of the morning.

As I paddle out into the waves, I take in the salty smell of the ocean. The ocean water is a very distinct smell that makes me long to be riding in on a wave. Even as we are nearing Cocoa Beach, long before we ever see the oceanside, we roll down our windows to take in a deepeath of the fishy, salty, oceaneeze. <nice sensory detail] The one thing that I can do without is the smell of gasoline from the passing by boats.

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I just recently started seriously surfing. I have become extremely hooked on this sport. I look at the ocean in a new light and have gained much respect for its power and unruliness to change. I look forward to every weekend knowing that I will, again, be at the beach. Surfing and being apart of the ocean is something that I truly love and see myself doing for as long as possible.<fine conclusion]

Fine descriptive details here and good proofreading. The "power" and "unruliness" of the ocean could be more developed in this essay, however. What do you think?

90B

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Creative Writing - The Kidnapper

If you order your custom term paper from our custom writing service you will receive a perfectly written assignment on Creative Writing - The Kidnapper. What we need from you is to provide us with your detailed paper instructions for our experienced writers to follow all of your specific writing requirements. Specify your order details, state the exact number of pages required and our custom writing professionals will deliver the best quality Creative Writing - The Kidnapper paper right on time. Out staff of freelance writers includes over 120 experts proficient in Creative Writing - The Kidnapper, therefore you can rest assured that your assignment will be handled by only top rated specialists. Order your Creative Writing - The Kidnapper paper at affordable prices! The Kidnapper

Clouds filled the dark sky. Street lamps flickering fiercely along the freekingly frightening street. Mist. Everywhere. Suddenly, rain poured from the heavens above. Tick-Tock. Midnight. A stench of sewege crept slowly around the misty silent street.

John was driving along the gloomy street. BANG! The car suddenly stopped. It wouldnt start again. He got out cautiously and walks over to the hood. He could see nothing wrong. There were no pay phones in sight and his battery was dead on his age old cellular phone.John sat there waiting for another car to come past . Nothing.

One whole hour had gone by when he noticed eeire moaning sounds coming from the graveyard behind him. He then heard a scream. John thought to himself, should he check it out? What if someones in trouble? He began slowly walking towards the gate when he heard another scream. His heart went. He was thinking twice about this. As he opened the tall creaky gate, a black cat jumped screaming out of a tree and on to is face leaving him with a cut. The cat ran off. He advanced further into the graveyard. The cut was stinging as if three hundred nails were forced into his face at once. He came closer to the screams when he saw the church it was an old, batterduised church. Not in use no more he thought untill he glanced up and noticed a light was on upstairs. John walked around the other side of the church only to see a big white van parked outside the backdoor. It was rocking back and forth. He could not here any more screams but could hear this mumbling cming from inside the van. John opened the van door and saw a young women must have been about twenty one, all tied up and had tape across her mouth. He took the tape off her mouth and she cried Help! Please! John claimed Il do my best. Suddenly, she screamed

Behind you!

Whack. John fell to the floor looked up to see a man holding a shovel. John thought to himself if he pretended to be unconscious he might be able to get an advantage on him. As the man climbed in the van, ready to go, John jumped up quickly and pulled him from the seat and ended up on the floor in aawl. The man happend to get the better of John and ended up knocking him out anf tieng him up too. The man threw him in the van. The car started to go. Blackness was all he could see. He could tell the girl was rumbling around toeak free, but it was no use. It must have been two oclock in the morning by then. He fell asleep.

Slam! a door closed, then the side door opened. Vigoursly he grabbe them and guided them into some, some sort of building. The man sat them down on a chair them to eachother. The man left the room. Silence. Darknes. John once again fell asleep.

Boom! Clear. Clear. hold it right there. Dont move!

No! Bang bang. Gun shots were fired. It smelt like fireworks. Suddenly, someone ripped the tape from Johns eyes. With his blured vision he could roughly make out it was police.

Its going to be ok he heard. He was untied and was put in an flashing ambulance.

Would you like a cup of tea sir? a nurse asked,

No im fine thanks John answered. As he lay there, in the grimy hospital bed, he began to think what he got himself into. Then right there in the bed next to him was... The Kidnapper!

Please note that this sample paper on Creative Writing - The Kidnapper is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on Creative Writing - The Kidnapper, we are here to assist you. Your cheap custom college paper on Creative Writing - The Kidnapper will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality. Order your authentic assignment and you will be amazed at how easy it is to complete a quality custom paper within the shortest time possible!

Eve of the ReformationBlack Death to Luthers Protest

If you order your research paper from our custom writing service you will receive a perfectly written assignment on Eve of the ReformationBlack Death to Luthers Protest. What we need from you is to provide us with your detailed paper instructions for our experienced writers to follow all of your specific writing requirements. Specify your order details, state the exact number of pages required and our custom writing professionals will deliver the best quality Eve of the ReformationBlack Death to Luthers Protest paper right on time. Out staff of freelance writers includes over 120 experts proficient in Eve of the ReformationBlack Death to Luthers Protest, therefore you can rest assured that your assignment will be handled by only top rated specialists. Order your Eve of the ReformationBlack Death to Luthers Protest paper at affordable prices! There is a myth that since the time of the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity in 1 A.D. until the Reformation that the Catholic Church lived in relative peace. This myth is false; the Church was constantly under attack. Heresies, Islam, and other less organized pagans always had the Church busy fighting on the side of Truth. From 00 A.D. to 600 A.D., the Church was affected with the heresy of Arianism. The heresy caused many men and many clergy to be led astray. After the Churchs battle with Arianism, Mohammed and his new religion, Islam, rose to power and overwhelmed most of the Orient. Islam and Christianity were at war with each other since Islams creation up until the Reformation. Between battles with Islam, pagans from Scandinavia and Mongols from Asia tried to battle Christian Europe, but they were less organized and easily defeated.

Christian unity was incredibly strong for the first twelve hundred years of its existence because the Christians were always defending their faith against an outside opponent. There was not time for any internal dissention, everyone got along because they had an attitude of "we" verse "them." Since a Christian was a Christian, it didnt matter their theology or how they lived their life, or how the Church lead its people. As long as a person was not Islamic or from another outside group, everyone got along.

But, after the twelfth century, the pressure from outside forces that Christianity was fighting against diminished. With no need for strong Christian identity, heresy and dissention began to pop up throughout Christendom. For example, the Albigensian movement, they had a belief in a doctrine of a dual godhead. There was a good god and an evil god. This heresy spread through much of southern France before it was extinguished. After the extinguishing of the Albigensian heresy, there was a time of piece for about eighty years. From 10 A.D. to 100 A.D. Europe lived in a full Catholic society. The whole of Europe was under one belief and one spiritual head.

Heresy and revolt started to creep in to European society starting in the fourteenth century. Small spiritual revolts started appearing for the first time. The most notable movements were the movement by Wycliffe and at the very end of the century the Hussite movement. Wycliffe who died in 184 is considered the "morning star" by some Protestant historians because to some people his movement is the beginning of the Reformation. His movement though strong, was short and only affected a small part of Europe. John Huss and the Hussites of Bohemia were another strong spiritual movement that started about almost exactly one hundred years before Martin Luther. The Hussite movement was also a strong movement, but was very nationalistic. The Bohemians joined Huss not out of theological beliefs, but out of national pride.

Write a research paper on Eve of the ReformationBlack Death to Luthers Protest

The ground was prepared for a catastrophe by the end of the fourteenth century, but still no fatal course made the Reformation inevitable (Belloc 14). By the time of the start of the Reformation the doctrinal novelties of Wycliffe, Huss, and others had already faded away. Many generations had already passed by before Luthers first protest. The two hundred years before the Reformation were not a growth in new doctrines, but the weakening of the moral authority in the temporal and spiritual organization of the Church (Belloc 15).

Though there were spiritual revolts in the fourteenth century, there were many Catholic spiritual triumphs going on at the same time. There was the rise of the great monastic Orders of St. Francis and St. Dominic and the philosophy and theology of St. Thomas.

One of the most detrimental causes of the weakening of the papacy was the unnatural migration to Avignon. For centuries, Europe was use to the conflict between the papacy and the empire. The emperor was the head of lay power and the pope was the head of spiritual power. The papacy eventually won the battle, but at high costs. The papacy heavily taxed Europe, especially England (Belloc 16). With the empire fallen, the papacy had full control over the temporal and spiritual fields. Since there was no supreme lay power, Europe began looking to the next highest power, which was France.

With the pope now living in Avignon the papacy turned into a local power. Avignon was not technically part of the kings dominion, but the papacy was nominally subject to the king. The papacy became part of the French monarchy and was consumed by French nationalism. The French papacy which lasted for seventy years from 107 to 177 A.D. had its share of anti popes occasionally rise, but European common loyalty was always given to the pope at Avignon (Belloc 16).

The problem of Avignon and what caused the weakening of the papacys authority was being under the rule of the French king. Europe was use to a supreme head of the empire. The French king did not have the name or the authority of an emperor. The French king had no more power than any other king in Europe. He had no more authority to influence the papacy than any other king. With the rise of nationalism throughout Europe, other countries felt that the papacy was French and not universal, so the full authority of the pope throughout Europe was severely weakened.

To remedy the situation at Avignon the pope moved back to Rome. The move was supposed to strengthen the power of the pope, but that did not happen. What happened next was the Great Western Schism from 177 to 1407 A.D. The forty years of the schism permanently hurt the authority of the pope. After the schism was settled, it still took another thirty years and the accession of Nicholas V to the papacy before power was unanimously given back to the Bishop of Rome (Belloc 18). It was over one hundred and thirty years since the first removal of the papacy to Avignon. Until less that a lifetime before the Reformation Christendom lived under a divided and increasingly despised papacy (Belloc 18). The prime condition for a united Christendom is a single, powerful head and that had disappeared.

During the papacys time in Avignon, the Black Death tore though Christendom. One third to one half of all the clergy and religious died. Whole monastic communities were wiped out. Bishops and their priests were all dead. The clergy and religious never fully recovered. The new clergy that were ordained were not educated, illiterate, and unfit for the position they held. They did not have the respect for the sanctity of the office. The Black Death also caused a rise in nationalism which was not a help to the papacy at Avignon. The Black Death is the beginning of the Reformation; Europeans began to voice their disgust and anxiety about the Church. They cried for, "A Reform of Head and Church (Belloc 7)."

After the Black Death came the crystallization of religion (Belloc 4). The Churchs official life hardened out of measure. The Church used to be elastic and fluid, the Church is a living organism. The hardening of religion was from an exaggeration of routine and precise rule. The exaggeration and precision led to many abuses in the Church. Dues and Taxes were exacted out of mere precedent. Unnecessary taxes were taken even when the use for that tax was over. The Church also suffered from plurality with the holding of two offices.

The last lifetime was a period of eighty years between the Great Schism and the Reformation (Belloc ). The last lifetime was a time of great mental revolution. New learning and new expanded experiences shook peoples faiths because everything they thought to be true around them was changing. Sudden new discoveries caused people to question what they believed. A man born in 140 and living to old age would have seen an expansion of geographical knowledge far beyond their imagination. He would have heard about the turning of the Cape of Great Hope and a new way to India, colonization all over the world, and the fact that the Earth was round. He would have seen an increase in study of ancient literature, the printing press, and growth in vernacular literature. He also would have seen a change in the art of war, in which only national governments would be able to afford, and he would have seen the last bits of feudalism being swept away.

Humanism, the study of antiquity, was prevalent throughout Europe. Humanismed contempt for the medieval past and had thoughts of a glorious future. Since the Church was a part of the medieval past, the humanists dreamed of a future without it. Humanism diding about a lot of skepticism into Europeans minds. The pride of humanism was at issue with the Christian faith. Humanisms critical examination of legends, such as the Donation of Constantine and the unauthentic Decretals of Mercator, which parts of it supported papal power, tangled up doctrine with legend (Belloc ). Humanism had no patients for truth lurking in legend.

The lifetime before the Reformation alsoought about an increased study of scripture. The Old Testament, Talmud, and the Jewish arguments against the Faith were known to many. The New Testament was the test of scholarship and known by heart (Belloc 8).

Islam was also on the heels of Europe during the time before the Reformation. There was the fall of Constantinople and the conquering of Greece. All these forces caused aeakdown in European morals. The papacy should have used this time as an example for reform and repaired its authority, but the papacy ended up losing more authority instead.

The condition of the papacy worsened from 1447 to 1517 A.D. For centuries the papacy was politically weak, but morally strong. That changed with the accession of ten popes during the last seventy years. Nine of the popes were actual significant, Pope Pius III died twenty six days into his pontificate. Nicholas V was the first pope; he was the first undisputed, unpersecuted, and absolute monarchal pope. Nicholas was a very learned, cultured man, and also very pious. Calistus II was a Spanish pope and full of the Catholic spirit. Pius II was marred by an irresponsible youth; he had illegitimate children while a priest. But, he matured into a great scholar of history. Paul II was a worldly pope, but had no grave moral offenses while pope. Sixtus IV was of poor origin. He was not politically active and very worldly. He acted like a prince of the day. He was involved with the first great scandal, his nephew Cardinal Riario plotted against Florence.

Innocent VIII had an illegitimate family born to him before he took Orders. The problem was that he patronized them like a royal family. The most famous of these popes is Alexander VI who rose to power in 14. He was the pope when the people of the Reformation were old enough to receive a lasting impression. He was pope for eleven years and in those eleven years he did all matters of harm. He was elected thoughibery and wealth; he became pope by one vote, his own. Politically he was a good candidate; he helped the Jews while Chancellor of the Papal States. The worst actions came from his son, Caesar Borgia whose only virtue was courage. Caesar was born to Alexander when Alexander was a Cardinal. Alexander had no sanctity of the office he held.

Julius II and Leo X were also of not great harm, except the selling of the indulgence for building St. Peters. Both Julius and Leo were worldly men and acted very much like Italian princes. The popes were not seen anymore as universal shepherds, but as princes of Rome. The popes failed to carry out the greatest task of Christendom at the time, the fighting of the Turks. It was not necessarily the popes fault though because the kings and princes throughout Europe would not listen to the popes call. Pius II even led a crusade himself because he couldnt find anyone to take charge. He ended up dying on the battle field.

Four forces moved together to cause the Reformation (Belloc 4). The first is the weakening of moral disciple of the clergy, their plurality and worldliness, lack of sexual morals, heavy taxation, and the problems of the papacy. The second is the weakening of the moral disciple of the laity particularly the rich. The rich became very greedy and would do anything to get more money. They saw the Church as having a lot of money and they wanted it. The third force was the increased indignation at the failure of the official Church to reform. The fourth force and the strongest force was the hatred of the Catholic Faith. The church was constantly seen as restricting man always and always being in mans life. The Church was always at issue with pride, ambition, and desire. Most importantly was the Churchs claim to absolute authority and universal moral dominion. This hatred was confined to a small few in Europe, but it was potentially present in large numbers.

Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk is credited for starting the reformation. He visited Rome in 1510 A.D. during the pontificate of Julius II for business connected with his Order or his monastery. There is no real proof that Luther was upset at the worldliness of the papacy. He came back and taught at the University of Wittenberg and had local prominence among the Germans.

On October 1, 1517 Luther nailed his 5 theses to the door of the church of the Castle of Wittenberg. Luthers theses were grievances over the practice of selling indulgences. His nailing of his grievances was not an act of revolt at that time. It was common practice for scholars to nail topics for discussion on the church door. The only difference is that Luther firmly believed in his theses.

The Churchs dogma on indulgences was the same then as it is now; the merits of Saints may be applied by the Churchs authority to its people, not to the remission of sin, but to its punishment (CCC 1471). Grave abuses in the practice of indulgences were common throughout Europe, though. There was confusion between the payment of money as alms and the payment of money as a purchase. Also, masses of men fell into accepting indulgences as a remission of sin.

The most disgraceful act of the papacy concerning indulgences was the selling of an indulgence for the building of St. Peters. Julius II instituted this indulgence. Leo X collaborated with the Archbishop of Mayence to sell this indulgence (Belloc 40). The Archbishop and Leo X split the money gained from the sell of the indulgence for St. Peters. The Archbishop needed the money to pay off his debts. Lots of pomp and flair was used to pressure people into buying the indulgence. Many people and clergy did not approve of this indulgence. The Cardinal of Toledo forbade the promulgation of the indulgence (Belloc 41).

The Germans also hated the indulgence for two reasons. There was friction between the old tradition of the German king and the papacy and with the rise of German nationalism; the Germans felt that the pope had become an Italian prince (Belloc 41). This meant that the pope was no longer one with all Christendom because the pope was no longer one with Germany. The Germans were no longer one with the rest of Christendom. The Germans were ready to revolt and rebel against the authority of Rome. They saw Luthers protest as their opportunity for rebellion. Luther suddenly found himself in the spotlight. He had no intention of this happening when he posted the theses and never wanted to leave the Church, but with the support of the Germans, he decided to go along with them.

Rome thought nothing of Luthers protest or the grumblings in Germany. Pope Leo X saw the problem as a quarrel between two monastic Orders (Belloc 4). The Augustinians were jealous of the Dominicans because the Dominicans were the ones selling the indulgence. Luther was called to Rome in 1518 A.D., but he did not go. He did not go because of health reasons; it was not an act of defiance.

Irritation throughout Germany against papal power and taxation, mixed with some German nationalism demanded that Luther face his opponents on home turf. Rome accepted the situation and went to Germany. The Diet at Augsburg was set up with Romes main agenda being to persuade the German princes to fight against Islam. Luther was much smaller business. At the Diet, Luther was offended. He was made to look foolish; they tricked him into denying the authority of a General Council, which could overrule a pope (Belloc 4).

Throughout 151, Luther was still protesting his Catholicism. By the end of 151 A.D., Luther went through a revolution in his mind and became an opponent of the whole church system (Belloc 44). In 150 A.D. the Church gave a Bull of Excommunication to Luther with sixty days to submit to Rome (Stravinskas 847). Luther did not submit.

Luther with about five million people left the Church because of grievances over abuses and power of the Church (Lindsey 5). The forming of the main Protestant doctrines came after the first rebellion. Sola Fide was an after thought (Belloc 4). With the abolition of the clergy there was no one to administer the Sacraments. So only the tenants of faith that did not need a priest to perform were kept (Lindsey 51). Sola Scriptura was also a necessary doctrine because without a hierarchy to teach the people the correct interpretation of the Bible and to pass down Church Tradition personal interpretation of the Bible needed.

The Reformation was a social rebellion against the old way of life; it was not spiritual revolt due to new doctrines. Corruption of clergy and humanism caused people to be skeptical of the Church that led their faith. The rise of national governments along with a strong sense of nationalism severely weakened the supreme authority of the Church. The Reformation did not continue a direct Renaissance tendency toward larger things, it deflected that tendency. It did not introduce the arts, it cramped and thwarted them. Its last effects have not led to a society happy or stable; they have led to the society we see around us today (Belloc 6).

Belloc, Hilarie How the Reformation Happened Tan Books and Publishers, Inc. Illinois 1.

Catechism of the Catholic Church Double Day. New York 15.

Lindsey, David The Woman and the Dragon Pelican Publishing Company. Gretna 000.

OHare, Patrick The Facts about Luther Tan Books and Publishing, Inc. Illinois 187.

Stravinskas, Peter Catholic Encyclopedia Our Sunday Visitor Publishing. Indiana 18.

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