The Reformation Movement

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.