Before 1517, people had already brought the abuses of the Catholic Church to light. John Wyclif, an English theologian, told the Church to stop caring about wealth as well as power and instead focus on people in poverty. He continued to attack the Church by...
The Protestant Reformation was a major movement in sixteenth century Europe initially aimed at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The Church’s religious ambitions were supplemented with motivated political rulers who wanted to extend their power and control at the expense...
Martin Luther’s To the Christian Nobility Of the German Nation effectively questions why religious clergy are superior to the common man. In this Luther is effectively inciting the Protestant Reformation. Not only does this train of thought represent the changing western mind, but it sets...
The Protestant Reformation was primarily instigated by Martin Luther in 1517 as a result of the publication of his ninety-five theses, which divulged unconventional ideologies regarding religion, catholicism, and the church and state of Europe during the 1500’s which was condemned as heresy by the...
A key to any revolution, in any time period, is spreading the keypoints within the ideology of the revolution in an efficient and effective manner. The Protestant Reformation, which is accredited chiefly to the efforts of the German monk Martin Luther, involved a very large...
Martin Luther was born during an incredibly distressed age, and this was the tense transitional period between the Middle Ages and the Modern Ages. During this progressive time, outdated ways were becoming unfavoured, and new innovations and means of change were uprising at a rapid...
The Protestant Reformation, which erupted after the great Martin Luther published his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, plunged Europe into religious turmoil. Lasting throughout the sixteenth and into the seventeenth century, resulting in the Thirty Years War and French Wars of Religion. After these wars, religious...
Printing Advances the Protestant Reformation Before the 14th century, books were much too expensive for the common people. Churches had their Bibles and scholars had their precious copies of books. Books were rare. There were often people who disagreed with the Church, or perhaps believed...
The Protestant reformation (more accurately known as the Lutheran upheaval) is the product of the observance of a ridiculous amount of corruption amongst the highest ranking officials within the Catholic Church. Yet despite its origins, its events, people and publications left a lasting impact on...
“Huguenot, any of the Protestants in France in the 16th and 17th centuries, many of whom suffered severe persecution for their faith. The origin of the name is uncertain, but it appears to have come from the word aignos, derived from the German Eidgenossen (confederates...
The Protestant Reformation has impacted and reformed a variety of things such as science, religion, art our mentality and even reforming parts of healthcare. The Protestant Reformation has greatly impacted healthcare by increasing awareness of a new logical ideology and how it leads to the...
Between the years 1300 and 1600 was when Europe started to look for inspiration. To find this inspiration they looked at when Greece and Rome were at the height of their empires. The Catholic Church was corrupt which faced many problems. There were people brave...
There two main figures who come credited with the Reformation: Martin Luther, who took initiative in turning the tidal wave of a world in ancient beliefs came to an end by giving individuals the capability to stand forth as (look a better word later). The...
Martin Luther was born in 1483 and died in 1546. He was German reformer and founder of the Lutheran church. Luther is the most famous of all the reformers, for he is credited with initiating the Protestant reformation on October 31, 1517 when he nailed...
The Reformation formed the era in which modern society commenced. An era in which people began to think for their own wellbeing and not follow the will of the Church without question. Luther’s core belief that salvation came through one on one interaction with God...
The diversity within Protestantism is a result of the reformation and schism that occurred in the Church throughout the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. This resulted in the forming of new Christian churches and their numerous and multiple ways of practicing Christianity. This is incredibly important...
Martin Luther, one of the most remarkable scholars in Christian history, is responsible for starting the Protestant Reformation. To some sixteenth-century Christians, he was hailed as a spearheading safeguard of truth and strict opportunities; to other people, he was charged as a heretical pioneer of...
John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer, Henry VIII, John Knox, Martin Luther
Main Information
The Protestant Reformation was the religious revolution that took place in the Western church in the 16th century and played a key role in the development of the North American colonies and the eventual United States. Its greatest leaders were Martin Luther and John Calvin. The Reformation became the basis for the founding of Protestantism and the split of the Western Church into Protestantism and the Roman Catholic Church.
Start
The Protestant Reformation started in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, with the publication of Martin Luther’s "95 Theses" in 1517. Luther argued that the church had to be reformed. However, the pope condemned the Reformation movement, and Luther was excommunicated from the church in 1521.
Spread of the Movement
There were essentially three main reformation movements; one in Germany, one in England, and one in Switzerland - with all of them occurring around the same time in the 16th century. It was led by famous reformers such as John Calvin (1509–1564) and Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531) in Switzerland and John Knox (1513–1572) in Scotland. In England the Reformation’s roots were both political and religious. By mid century, Lutheranism dominated northern Europe.
The Reformation’s Legacy
The decades of rebellions, wars and bloody persecutions were consequences of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. But also, it strengthened the intellectual and cultural prosperity.