The Protestant Reformation was a movement in
Europe that began with
Martin Luther's activities in 1517 and ended with the
Peace of Westphalia in
1648. The movement began as an attempt to reform the
Catholic Church and led to the fracturing of
Christendom. Many western
Christians were troubled by what they saw as false doctrines and malpractices within the Church, particularly involving the teaching and sale of
indulgences. Another major contention was the practice of buying and selling church positions (
simony) and the tremendous corruption found at the time within the Church's hierarchy. This corruption was systemic at the time, even reaching the position of
the Pope.
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The Protestant (as in "protest") Reformation began in 1517 when
Martin Luther tacked up 95 theses ("ideas") on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. Although meant as friendly criticism, these remarks lead to Luther's ouster from the
Catholic Church , after which he gave his energy to founding a new church, now known as the
Lutheran Church . Luther's writings provided the basis for all later protestant writings, including those of
Calvinism , Baptism (actually Anabaptism), and others. Due to political forces, protestantism quickly gained adherents across Europe, with whole countries--or at least large segments of countries--turning protestant. Following the Reformation, the
Protestant Churches developed into four main streams:
Lutheranism ,
Calvinism (a.k.a. Reformed),
Baptist , and
Anglican .
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