Protestant Reformation

The deteriorating relationship between churches and it's faithful patrons stood as an obstacle for the millions who were looking for a meaningful religious experience. The perception of the pope was becoming more damaging as they were more concerned with there temporal power and material wealth than the salvation of church members. A lot of the cardinals and popes were from the wealthy families, this intensified the people's out look.
The monarchs increased their power over subjects and laid the foundation for the modern state or nation. The christian church over shadowed power shift; concerted attempts to reform the church led to the reformation and the establishment of the protestantism. Which prompted Catholic church's to respond with a counter-reformation, which ultimately produced a civil war between the Protestants and the catholics. The dissatisfaction with the church had grown and the out spoken German theologian, Martin Luther, challenged authority and sparked the reformation. He objected to the practices of the sale of indulgences and suggested that people were buying their way into heaven. Martin Luther posted his objection, called the ninety-five, on the door of the church for discussion.
The shift and reformation of the churches affected European life, particularly in its patronage and types of arts commissioned. Catholics and protestants took different stances on the role of visual imagery in religion. Catholics were all for decoration as aids to communicating with the God. Protestants believed such decorations would lead to idolatry and make the people lose focus on the real reason for their presence in church. A dominant artist, Durer, displayed many of his works of art in The Holy Roman Empire. Durer was the first outside of Italy to become an international art celebrity. A man of exceptional talents who enjoyed a lofty reputation ever since. Durer employed an agent to sell his prints and sold his prints at market. Generally regarded as the first in history to have a lawsuit over copyrighting of his work; moreover, the first to leave a record of his life and career through self-portraits, correspondence and a carefully kept diary. Durer was among the first northern artists to travel to Italy expressly to study art and its underlying theories at their source so he could understand fully the basic aims of the Renaissance of Italy.