Why protestant reformation began

Inquisitions, both in Spain and in Rome, were reorganized to fight the threat of Protestant heresy. Along with the religious consequences of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation came deep and lasting political changes.

Bach, the baroque altarpieces of Pieter Paul Rubens and even the capitalism of Dutch Calvinist merchants. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Luther spent his early years in relative anonymity as a monk and scholar. Generally described as taking place from the 14th century to the 17th century, the Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in the world, with more than 2 billion followers.

The Christian faith centers on beliefs regarding the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While it started with a small group of adherents, many historians regard The king forbade the teaching of these articles, but neither Hus nor the university complied with the ruling, requesting that the articles should first be proven to be un-scriptural.

The tumults at Prague had stirred up a sensation; papal legates and Archbishop Albik tried to persuade Hus to give up his opposition to the papal bulls, and the king made an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the two parties. Hus was later condemned and burned at the stake despite promise of safe-conduct when he voiced his views to church leaders at the Council of Constance — Wycliffe, who died in , was also declared a heretic by the Council of Constance, and his corpse was exhumed and burned.

Execution of Jan Hus at the Council of Constance in The Reformation led to the creation of new national Protestant churches. The Roman Catholic Church responded with a Counter-Reformation initiated by the Council of Trent and spearheaded by the new order of the Society of Jesus Jesuits , specifically organized to counter the Protestant movement. In general, Northern Europe, with the exception of most of Ireland, turned Protestant. Southern Europe remained Roman Catholic, while Central Europe was a site of fierce conflict escalating to full-scale war.

It met for twenty-five sessions between December 13, , and December 4, , in Trento then the capital of the Prince-Bishopric of Trent in the Holy Roman Empire , apart from the ninth to eleventh sessions held in Bologna during Skip to main content.

Chapter The Protestant Reformation. Enter Luther. Indginant at such abuses, he modestly aimed to reform the Church from within. Little did he know, however, that his criticism would ignite a conflagration of religious animus that was to engulf all of Europe.

In retrospect it is not difficult to see why this happened, since ultimately at stake in this dispute was nothing less than the authority to determine legitimate interpretations of scripture and rituals of worship. In short, Luther argued that the relationship between man and God is a fundamentally personal one, nurtured by individual faith and subject to no greater authority than the Bible itself. And yet, to circumscribe the Reformation solely within the sphere of theological disputation is to mask the complexity of both its birth and afterlife.

The rapidity with which these ideas were disseminated across the continent is unthinkable without the countless tracts, pamphlets and leaflets issued by Protestant proselytizers from the recently-invented printing press. This considerable body of literature spurred in turn a newfound valorization of public education. Such ramifications could easily be multiplied—suffice it to say that, much like the French Revolution of or the World Wars of the twentieth century, the Reformation was a truly continental movement that touched every aspect of its society to the quick.

Europe would never be the same. He believed that individuals could be saved only by personal faith in Jesus Christ and the grace of God. He also advocated the printing of the Bible in the language of the reader, rather than in Latin. The pope condemned the Reformation movement, and Luther was excommunicated from the church in The Reformation did not arise in a vacuum. Its rise was influenced by currents of nationalism, mercantilism, anticlericalism, and opposition to vested property interests in the hands of the church that had begun in the late fourteenth century.

The church burned Wycliffe posthumously as a heretic in and condemned and executed Hus in Most settlers in the thirteen colonies that eventually formed the United States were Protestants; indeed, several had established Protestant churches.

Roger Williams —, pictured here was an early proponent of disestablishment, a movement later led by more secular leaders such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Other important leaders were Philipp Melanchthon — , Martin Bucer — , and Heinrich Bullinger — The reformers rejected the authority of the pope as well as many of the principles and practices of Catholicism of that time. Roger Williams — was an early proponent of disestablishment, a movement later led by more secular leaders such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

Thomas Curry, a contemporary Catholic bishop and historian, argues that the influx of Roman Catholic immigrants to the United States in the nineteenth century later challenged an unofficial Protestant establishment that was especially prominent in public schools and institutions.