Protestant Reformation

The **Protestant Reformation** was a series of events that happened in the 16th century in the Catholic Church. Because the Catholic Church had been accused of corruption, some people believed changes were needed to the way the Church worked.

People like Erasmus, Huldrych Zwingli, Martin Luther and John Calvin protested the corruption and tried to stop it. This led to a split in the church, into Catholics and various Protestant churches. The Protestant reformation triggered the Catholic Counter-Reformation.

## History

In 1517, Martin Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses at Wittenberg. Historians consider this the start of the Protestant Reformation. John Knox brought Luther's ideas to Scotland and founded the Presbyterian Church.

At this time, the printing press had just recently been invented. This made it possible to spread awareness of the Church's abuses to many people.

Reformers translated the Bible into various local languages. For example, John Wycliffe and William Tyndale worked on an English translation. Much of Tyndale's translation was used in the King James version of the Bible. Luther translated the Bible into German.

As various countries adopted Protestant ideas, wars broke out between Catholic and Protestant factions and countries. Many people died in these wars, which included the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War. These wars were not just about religion. Since most countries have recognized (state) religion, many of the disputes were political.

In 1648 the Peace of Westphalia recognized Protestants when the signers agreed not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. This included their chosen religion.

## Causes of the Reformation

Many events in the early 16th century helped to cause the Protestant Reformation. Clergy abuse caused people to begin criticizing the Catholic Church. The greed and scandalous lives of the clergy had created a split between them and the peasants. Furthermore, the clergy did not respond to the population's needs, often because they did not speak the local language, or live in their own diocese. The papacy lost prestige.

### Points of criticism

However, the split was more over doctrine than corruption. The main points of criticism were:
- The Bible was only printed in Latin. It was not printed in the local language. Printing was controlled by the church by a system of censorship. Catholic Mass, the Church's chief religious service, was also in Latin. This meant the people could not check whether what the priest said was actually correct.
- In 1476 Pope Sixtus IV said that someone could buy an indulgence for someone in purgatory. This meant that by paying money, a person could help a family member or friend go to heaven. The abuse of indulgences by selling them was a serious problem. But the church was unable to stop it.
- Religious posts were often sold to whoever was willing to pay the most money for them (see Simony). This meant many priests did not know enough about Christianity. So they told the people many different things. Some of the things had little to do with what was written in the Bible.

### 95 Theses

_See the main article: Ninety-Five Theses_

In 1515, the Pope started a new indulgence campaign to raise money for rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica, an important church in Rome. Preachers came to Germany to sell the indulgences, promising that money could release souls from purgatory.

Martin Luther, a German Catholic monk, thought this went too far. On October 31, 1517, he sent his 95 Theses to the local archbishop in protest. It is said he nailed a copy to the door of a church in Wittenberg. These theses, written in Latin, were points that Luther wanted to debate. Most of them related to the problems caused by the sale of indulgences.

Luther said that the idea that money could buy forgiveness prevented people from turning away from sins. He said that it also made people give less money to the poor. Luther did not attack the Pope; he blamed the abuses on others. Nevertheless, his ideas implied that the Pope was corrupt too.

Without Luther's permission, the 95 Theses were translated into German and sent to many places. Many people agreed with Luther. The Catholic Church tried to stop these new ideas, but without much result. Luther was considered an enemy of the Pope, and when he refused to change his ideas he was excommunicated (put out of the church). In the beginning, Luther had not planned to separate from the Catholic Church or to create a new religion; he wanted to reform the Catholic Church.

### Reforms

In many countries, Christians put Luther's reforms into practice. People began to read the Bible in their own language, and many could see for themselves how the Catholic Church had let the Christian faith become corrupted. Many who stayed in the Catholic Church adopted some of Luther's ideas.

### Inquisition & Counter-Reformation

The Pope reestablished the Inquisition to combat heresy. The Catholic Church responded to the Protestant reformation with the Counter-Reformation.

Between 1545 and 1563 the Council of Trent met to decide what to do. Some of the worst abuses were eliminated, but many of the old teachings were kept. The Inquisition tried to force people to keep those ideas.

Finding force not very successful, the church utilized religious orders like the Jesuits, Theatines, Capuchins, and the Ursulines.  These new religious orders were told to combat Protestantism by educating the population about Catholicism.

The Pope made the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, a list of banned books. It had a big influence in its first centuries and was not ended until the 1960s. The Catholic Church also used baroque art to touch the religious feeling of the faithful and bring them to the Catholic religion.

### Political consequences

In addition to the conflict in the churches, there were political consequences. Common people became more willing to question their leaders. In 1524-1525, millions of peasants rebelled against the nobles in the name of equality of humanity in front of God.

Many countries in Europe chose Protestantism as their state religion. This divided Europe by religion. Religious wars such as the French Wars of Religion resulted.

For a short time, Protestant and Catholic had managed to live with one another and with the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. This Peace recognized the confessional division of the German states and gave the right to Protestants to practice their religion.

## Longer-Term Impacts

For a long time, Catholic countries like Spain and Italy didn't allow Protestants to live there, while Protestant countries kept out Catholics. With the American Revolution, the idea of freedom of religion began to expand. Protestants became influential in the United States and the English Canada.

### Quebec

Quebec was a (formerly French) Catholic province of Canada. After the Seven Years War the British imposed the Quebec Act  granting freedom of religion in Quebec. This law also said that some of the present-day United States (like Ohio and Michigan) were part of Quebec.  Catholics were granted religious freedom in those areas. Protestant colonists saw this as one of the Intolerable Acts. In later centuries, many Protestant churches were established in the province of Quebec. Many Catholic churches also began in Ohio and Michigan. Eventually most Christian countries allowed some religious freedom.

### New churches

Churches based on Reformation ideas have multiplied into different forms, especially in historically Protestant countries. Even in much of Latin America, which is historically Catholic, Evangelical churches (which follow many of the Protestant ideas) have greatly expanded.

In the 20th century, some countries still had state churches, but also allowed full freedom of religion. In these countries, conflict between Protestant and Catholic Christians became less important. They have to work together to confront a more secular society.

In 2016 Pope Francis praised Luther in a prayer service that commemorated the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. In turn, some Protestant churches have embraced some Catholic worship traditions, and others have praised them for their stand on social issues.

## Related pages

- Protestantism