This week, you have examined the Renaissance and Reformation movements as well as the Catholic response to their criticisms. The crises of the late middle ages, particularly the religious problems, led many people to question the medieval understanding of God and the Church.

Drawing evidence from the lectures, but especially the historical readings for this week, compose an essay on the competing Renaissance, Reformation and Roman Catholic views of the church. There are a range of issues you may choose to focus on such as the issue of ultimate authority in the church, the key issues for religious reform, and so forth.

This essay should be based on the historical readings from the course. There are no outside sources required for this paper. Based on your reading and analysis of the historical documents, write an essay based on your thesis statement. A thesis is a focused argument based on your reading of the historical documents. The essay should use evidence from the historical documents to support your thesis. Be sure to develop a strong, specific thesis and provide evidence to support your argument.

Requirements: The essays should be 1000-1250 words in length. The paper should primarily rely on the historical documents to support your thesis.

Citation: Any form of citation (e.g., APA, Turabian) is allowed as long as you remain consistent throughout the paper. Citations, including in-text citations, do not count towards the overall word total.