The Reformation: A Transformative Era in History
Reformation, also called Protestant Reformation, the religious revolution
that took place in the Western church in the 16th century.
far-reaching impacts on society, culture, and politics. Its greatest leaders
undoubtedly were Martin Luther and John Calvin.
became the basis for the founding of Protestantism, one of the three
major branches of Christianity.
England and Nederland accepted this new religion thought
wholeheartedly.
Causes of the Reformation
1. Corruption in the Catholic Church: Maximum
Priest were uneducated, didn’t know how to read the Bible
Luxurious life of Pope
Sale of the Nomination letter
Fees related to the illegal marriage
the sale of indulgences
veneration of sacred relics
Corruption in Monasteries
2. Ideological reasons :
Saint Augustine (early middle age)
Peter Lombard and Saint Thomas Aquinas (2nd
phase in middle age)
3. Political reasons:
Emergence of National consciousness
Origin of Monarchy
Opposition of the King against the Pope
4. Economic Reason
Possession of property by the Church and
Monasteries
Collection of various taxes by Pope
Money laundering
5. Immediate Reason: the sale of indulgences in
Germany and corruption.
German Protestant Reformation and Martin
Luther (95 theses)
• Protestant Reformation began in Wittenberg,
Germany on October 31, 1517, when Martin
Luther(1483-1546), a German monk and
University Professor, posted his 95 theses on the
door of the castle church in wittenberg.
• In his Ninety-five Theses, he attacked the
indulgence system, insisting that the pope had no
authority over purgatory and that the doctrine of
the merits of the saints had no foundation in the
gospel.
The Reformation movement within Germany
diversified almost immediately, and other reform
impulses arose independently of Luther. Huldrych
Zwingli built a Christian theocracy in Zürich in which
church and state joined for the service of God.
Another important form of Protestantism (as those
protesting against their suppressions were designated
by the Diet of Speyer in 1529) is Calvinism, named for
John Calvin, a French lawyer who fled France after his
conversion to the Protestant cause. In Basel,
Switzerland, Calvin brought out the first edition of his
Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536, the first
systematic, theological treatise of the new reform
movement.
• The Reformation spread to other European
countries over the course of the 16th century. By
mid century, Lutheranism dominated northern
Europe.
• Eastern Europe offered a seedbed for even more
radical varieties of Protestantism, because kings
were weak, nobles strong, and cities few, and
because religious pluralism had long existed.
• Spain and Italy were to be the great centres of
the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and
Protestantism never gained a strong foothold
there.
• Spain and Italy were to be the great centres
of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and
Protestantism never gained a strong foothold
there.
• In England the Reformation’s roots were both
political and religious. Henry VIII, incensed by
Pope Clement VII’s refusal to grant him an
annulment of his marriage, repudiated papal
authority and in 1534 established the
Anglican church with the king as the supreme
head.
Effects
• The emergence of Protestantism, which
became one of the three major branches of
Christianity (along with Roman Catholicism
and Eastern Orthodoxy).
• The establishment of many Protestant
churches, groups, and movements, including
Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism, the
Society of Friends (also known as Quakers)
• Translation of the Bible into German, French,
English, and other languages.
• The Counter-Reformation, a movement within the
Roman Catholic Church to reform and revive itself.
• Improved training and education for some Roman
Catholic priests.
• The end of the sale of indulgences.
• The Peace of Augsburg (1555), which allowed
German princes to decide whether their territories
would be Catholic or Lutheran.
• The Thirty Years’ War (1618–48), a conflict in which
most of the countries of Europe fought and about
eight million people died. The war was partly a
struggle between Roman Catholics, Calvinists, and
Lutherans.
