“How were the ideas of Marsilius of Padua evident in Louis of Bavaria’s conflict with Pope John XXII?”
Marsilius of Padua believed that the monarch should be superior over the Papacy, and sided with Louis of Bavaria during his conflict with Pope John XXII. Let’s back up a bit to the conflict between Louis of Bavaria and Pope John XXII. Louis of Bavaria and Frederick of Austria were both qualified to be king, but Pope John XII wouldn’t choose one(the Popes’ back then chose the next king). So Louis and Frederick went to war with each other, resulting in the victory for Louis, but even then Pope John XXII wouldn’t enthrone him.
So Louis allied with Marsilius of Padua and together went to Rome. Marsilius of Padua believed that the Papacy should have nothing to do with politics and the monarch, and believed that the King should be in charge of the Church authority.
They even went as far as trying to get the people to crown him without getting the Pope’s consent. And he succeeded in being crowned by the people, but he taxed the people and Marsilius would torture the people who would refuse him. So people, of course, started growing weary and angry, and Louis realized this and retreated to Germany with Marsilius, where their opinions were more welcomed.
“What can we say about the condition of the Catholic Church on the eve of the Protestant Reformation?”
The Catholic Church was already facing many problems, to begin with. It was corrupt with greedy, ignorant, and unqualified clergymen, some even took a position just for the salary. Not only that, people were losing interest in religious practices, such as going to Mass and preaching to God. Instead, people would go and watch preachers, and things like astrology, death and praying to saints, were becoming popular among the people.
So the Church’s reputation was being tainted, and its condition wasn’t at its greatest. It was corrupted, the clergymen were unsuited for their position, and were greedy and ignorant.
“Discuss the three key developments in the process of political centralization in Spain”
The first key development, 1469, the two countries Castile and Aragon were reunited together by the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. The second key development is between the Spanish and the Muslims. You see the Muslims owned Granada who had to pay tribute to Castile yearly. But they suddenly stopped, because the Muslims didn’t want to pay them anymore, so Ferdinand and Isabella went to war with the Muslims to reconquer Granada. After a decade, they finally reconquered Granada.
The third final key development in the process of political centralization in Spain is the Spanish Inquisition. The Jews and the Muslims were to convert to Catholicism because they felt like it would centralize the country better, however it didn’t seem they were ‘sincere’ about the conversion. So the people who refused to convert were either expelled or their religious books would’ve been confiscated and burned.