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The Protestant Reformation began in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, a teacher and a monk, published a document he called Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, or 95 Theses. The document was a series of 95 ideas about Christianity that he invited people to debate with him. These ideas were controversial because ...
Having far-reaching political, economic, and social effects, the Reformation became the basis for the founding of Protestantism, one of the three major branches of Christianity. The world of the late medieval Roman Catholic Church from which the 16th-century reformers emerged was a complex one.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Where and when did the Reformation start?The Reformation is said to have begun when Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on...
- What did the Reformation do?The Reformation became the basis for the founding of Protestantism, one of the three major branches of Christianity. The Reformation led to the ref...
- Who were some of the key figures of the Reformation?The greatest leaders of the Reformation undoubtedly were Martin Luther and John Calvin. Martin Luther precipitated the Reformation with his critiqu...
People also ask
How did the Reformation affect Catholicism and Protestantism?
How did Martin Luther contribute to the Protestant Reformation?
Why was the Protestant Reformation important?
What was the Protestant Reformation?
- The Medieval Church
- Early Heresies & Reformers
- Martin Luther & Indulgences
- Excommunication & The Start of Reformation
- Zwingli, Calvin, & Henry VIII
- Conclusion
The Church dominated medieval Europe (c. 476-1500) as the sole authority on spiritual matters and, as it became more powerful, influenced the spheres of politics and culture. In time, the pope became a significant political presence and, generally speaking, spent more time and effort on worldly affairs than religious matters. The hierarchy of the C...
These movements were condemned by the Church as heresies and were routinely crushed, often ruthlessly, as the clergy sought to maintain their authority and power. One of the earliest movements was the Paulicians (7th-9th centuries) who advocated a return to the simplicity of early Christianity and the life of Saint Paul (l. c. 5 to c. 67) and rejec...
Even though in the present day these reformers are recognized as the pioneers of the Reformation, there is no evidence they, initially, had any effect on the central reformist Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546), a German monk who also objected to the sale of indulgences. No matter how one chooses to date the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther stands a...
In 1520, Pope Leo X, tired of sending emissaries to reason with Luther, threatened him with excommunication unless he recanted. Luther publicly burned the edict (known as a papal bull) at Wittenberg and was excommunicated in 1521, meaning that, according to church doctrine, he no longer was in a state of grace with God and should be shunned by beli...
Luther's radical concepts were made more palatable to European intelligentsia, codified, and streamlined by his friend and collaborator Philip Melanchthon (l. 1497-1560) who is also responsible for the story of the dramatic nailing of Martin Luther's 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg church. Melanchthon was an early defender of Luther, who ha...
Many other princes and nobles supported the Reformation for this same reason. The Church as a powerful political entity had been influencing land rights, successions, even wars, for centuries, and by aligning themselves with the Protestant cause, these nobles gained greater autonomy and power. The separation from the Church was not a peaceful or am...
- Joshua J. Mark
Oct 26, 2017 · However, after Luther’s initial concerns inadvertently created a movement — the Reformation — the result was a division between Catholicism and the varied Protestant traditions, conflicts among those traditions and, eventually, changes in how religion influenced people’s lives.
It is virtually impossible to understand the history of the American experience without Protestantism. The theological and religious descendants of the Protestant Reformation arrived in the United States in the early 17th century, shaped American culture in the 18th century, grew dramatically in the 19th century, and continued to be the ...
- John Fea
- 2017
How did this happen? Where did they all begin? To understand the Protestant Reform movement, we need to go back in history to the early 16th century when there was only one church in Western Europe - what we would now call the Roman Catholic Church - under the leadership of the Pope in Rome.
Dec 2, 2009 · The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would ...
