Reformation

The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation, and the European Reformation)[1] was a major movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in part posed a challenge to papal authority. The Reformation marked the start of Protestantism and in the Western Church, the Latin Church, remained the Catholic Church.

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Reformation
Ninety-five Theses, written by Martin Luther in 1517
Precursors Peter Waldo and Waldensians John Wycliffe and Lollardy Jan Hus and Hussites Girolamo Savonarola and Piagnoni Arnold of Brescia and Arnoldists Gottschalk of Orbais Ratramnus Claudius of Turin Berengar of Tours and Berengarians Wessel Gansfort Johann Ruchrat von Wesel Johannes von Goch Friends of God Pataria
Beginning Ninety-five Theses Diet of Worms Luther Bible Magisterials Radicals
Contributing factors Western Schism Avignon Papacy Bohemian Reformation Northern Renaissance Christian humanism German mysticism Johannes Gutenberg and his printing press Erasmus Johann Reuchlin
Theologies of seminal figures Theology of Martin Luther Theology of Huldrych Zwingli Theology of John Calvin
Protestant Reformers Martin Luther Philip Melanchthon Huldrych Zwingli John Calvin Martin Bucer William Tyndale Andreas Karlstadt Theodore Beza George Buchanan Heinrich Bullinger Peter Martyr Vermigli William Farel François Hotman John Knox Hubert Languet Thomas Müntzer Balthasar Hubmaier Menno Simons Thomas Cranmer Richard Hooker Jacobus Arminius Roger Williams Many others
By location Germany Switzerland (Geneva/Zürich) England Scotland Netherlands Czech Lands Hungary Romania Slovenia Denmark–Norway and Holstein Sweden and Finland Iceland Estonia and Latvia Austria France Italy Poland-Lithuania Ireland
Major political leaders Henry VIII of England Elizabeth I Oliver Cromwell James VI and I William the Silent Gaspard II de Coligny Henry IV of France Jeanne d'Albret Stephen Bocskai Gabriel Bethlen Gustav II Adolf Frederick V, Elector Palatine Philip I of Hesse Electors of Saxony Frederick III John Frederick I
Counter-Reformation Catholic Church Council of Trent Counter-Reformation § Politics Censorship of the Bible § 16th century Anti-Protestantism Criticism Holy Roman Emperors Charles V Ferdinand II
Political and religious conflicts Thirty Years' War French Wars of Religion Eighty Years' War War of the Three Kingdoms German Peasants' War Wars of Kappel Schmalkaldic War
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Music Forms Hymnody of continental Europe Music of the British Isles Hymn tune Lutheran chorale Lutheran hymn Anglican church music Exclusive psalmody Scottish church music Normative principle Anglican chant Homophony vs. Polyphony Falsobordone Verse anthem Liturgies Reformed worship Calvin's liturgy Formula missae Deutsche Messe Liturgical Struggle Ecclesiastical Latin Lutheran and Anglican Mass in music Cyclic mass vs. Paraphrase mass Roman vs. Sarum Rites Sequence (retained by Lutherans, mostly banned by Trent) Hymnals First and Second Lutheran hymnals First Wittenberg hymnal Ausbund Swenske songer Thomissøn's hymnal Book of Common Prayer Metrical psalters Book of Common Order Souterliedekens Genevan Psalter Scottish Psalter Whole Book of Psalms
Conclusion and commemorations Conclusion Confessionalization with subsequent Protestant orthodoxy Peace of Westphalia Simultaneous rise of Pietism and Rationalism Monuments Reformation Wall Luther Monuments Calendrical commemoration Reformation Day Lutheran Anglican
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Broad-based movements Charismatic movement Evangelicalism Mainline Protestant Neo-charismatic movement
Other developments Arminianism Christian fundamentalism Crypto-Protestantism Evangelical Catholicism Modernism and liberalism Neo-orthodoxy Paleo-orthodoxy Pietism Puritanism
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It is considered one of the events that signified the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern period in Europe.[2] The end of the Reformation era is disputed among modern scholars.

Prior to Martin Luther and the other Protestant Reformers, there were earlier reform movements within Western Christianity. Although the Reformation is usually considered to have started with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Martin Luther in 1517, he was not excommunicated by Pope Leo X until January 1521. The Diet of Worms of May 1521 condemned Luther and officially banned citizens of the Holy Roman Empire from defending or propagating his ideas.[3] Luther survived after being declared an outlaw due to the protection of Elector Frederick the Wise.

The spread of Gutenberg's printing press provided the means for the rapid dissemination of religious materials in the vernacular. The initial movement in Germany diversified, and other reformers such as Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin arose.

In general, the Reformers argued that salvation in Christianity was a completed status based on faith in Jesus alone and not a process that could involve good works, as in the Catholic view. Protestantism also introduced new ecclesiology.

The Counter-Reformation, also called the Catholic Reformation or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic reforms initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation.[4]