The Reformation movement involved
many people, events, wars, etc. But it all started when a man named Martin
Luther (not the one who had a dream) nailed his 95 Theses on the door in Wittenberg (that happened in 1517).
It just took one man to start a huge movement that lasted for many years.
It was not just Martin Luther who
took charge of this whole movement many people followed in his footsteps and
made the Reformation continuing. Basically, the Reformation movement was made
by the Protestants who thought that the Catholic Church needed changes.
The movement started out in
Germany, but it expanded throughout Europe as it was continued. Many reformers wanted to translate the Bible
to different languages so more people can read it for themselves and understand
it. Some of those reformers were Desiderius Erasmus, William Tyndale, and more.
They all agreed that other people should read and understand the Bible for
themselves instead of it being told by a leader in the church. The Catholics’ prohibited that the Bible
should be translated. Even when William Tyndale tried to translate the Bible
for the people he got condemned as a heretic and was later burned at the stake.
There was also people part of the
Reformation called the French Huguenots. They were also inspired by another
reformer named John Calvin who even wrote “The
Institutes of the Christian Religion” for new believers in the Christian
faith. The Huguenots believed that you should rely on God not the church
itself.
The Catholics’ did not agree with
the Huguenots at all. So, Persecutions broke out in France and the Huguenots
had to find somewhere else to live.
Sooner or later wars started
between the Huguenots and the Catholics’. These were called the French Wars of Religion.
There were a total of eight civil wars that happened around 1562 and 1598.
Right when the Huguenots thought
they were safe the Catholics’ planned to kill the Huguenot leaders.
Unfortunately, it grew to be more than that because they killed many Huguenots
during this time. This was called the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.
Later, the Edict of Nantes was
written by Henry IV. This was made to try to bring an end to these wars, but it
still let the Huguenots worship without having any persecutions. This created
some peace until another Edict was made by Louis XIV. This was the Edict of Fontainebleau
and it stated that Protestantism was now illegal in France. Now the Huguenots
were not protected anymore. But, the Huguenots fled somewhere else that they
thought was safe.
During the Reformation there was an
invention that was very helpful during that time. This invention was the
printing press. It helped spread information more rapidly and copies of the
Bible were made faster too. The printing press had a big part during the
Reformation because of how helpful it was.
Now, the Reformation was created by
the Protestants because they thought that the Catholic Church needed reforming.
They even created something for themselves called the five solae. These were Latin phrases created by the Protestants stating
their beliefs. Sola means “alone” in English. This is the five solae in Latin and translated to
English:
1.
Sola Scriptura (“Scripture Alone”)
2.
Sola Fide (“Faith Alone”)
3.
Sola Gratia (“Grace Alone”)
4.
Sola Christus (“Through Christ Alone”)
5.
Sola Deo Gloria (“To God Alone Be The Glory”)
The Catholics’ were still not happy
with the Protestants. They decided to create the Counter Reformation. This was
made to stop the Protestants from their original movement. The Council of Trent
was also a part of this Counter Reformation. This Council also did not agree
with the Protestants and sided with the Catholic Church.
Later, a peace treaty was made
called the “Peace Treaty of Westphalia” and ended the Reformation movement.
After it ended it did influence other countries to become Protestant instead of
Catholic. Those countries specifically were Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands,
and England.
