Why was there a Reformation?

We often think of the renaissance period as having solely taken place in Italy, but in reality fine paintings, new inventions and literature were also being produced in the Netherlands and in Germany. The Netherlands was mainly producing painting whereas Germany was producing many different medias. One of the areas in which Germany specialized was the writing and printing of religious books, in fact almost all books of the period on religion were produced in Germany. These religious books were at first mainly aimed at increasing understanding of the bible, but quickly moved onto looking at Catholicism as a whole. Unfortunately the pope and other members of the clergy were still much more interested in Italy’s painters, sculptors and architects, so much of the German literature passed them by. In fact not only was the clergy largely ignoring Germany it was all ignoring its parishes and churches. Many religious figures were working for the state rather than for God and churches were be...