History 101: The Protestant Reformation | National Geographic

• [Narrator] The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century shook the very foundation of Europe's cultural identity. The Reformation was a revolution of religion in western Europe. Essentially, it was the result of centuries worth of political and social grievances against the Christian Church as it existed.

Christianity, which began as a fledgling religion in the 1st century, had grown by the 13th century into an institution powerful enough to rival state governments. For instance, the Pope, then the leader of the Christian Church, had greater political and military influence than some emperors and kings. This tension was exacerbated by the transformative social and intellectual period known as the Renaissance. In particular, this period involved the rise of humanism, a philosophy that shifted man's fate from being determined by religious doctrine to being determined by man himself.

Additionally, some within the Church believed it had become increasingly corrupt. Priests like John Wycliffe of England and Jan Hus of Bohemia challenged the Church's teachings, which they believed had strayed away from the Bible. However, one of the most well-known advocates for a reformed Christian Church was a German priest named Martin Luther. Martin Luther began to question the Church in the early 1500s. He believed it was abusing its power and disagreed with some of its practices.

For instance, he challenged the Church's doctrine that stated the Pope, not the Bible, was the ultimate spiritual authority. Plus, he criticized the Church for selling indulgences, the practice of purchasing forgiveness of one's sins by giving money to the Church. Luther believed the Church needed to revise its doctrine by returning to the Bible's teachings and by saying that salvation could be granted by faith in Christ alone.

So on October 31, 1517, Luther took a stand. In what's considered the birth of the Protestant Reformation, Luther is said to have nailed 95 theses, or arguments against the Church, onto the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther was later put on trial in front of Church officials to defend his theses. But in January 1521, the Church declared Luther a heretic and excommunicated him.

While Luther's membership with the Church ended, the reformation he argued for started to gain momentum. Unlike Luther's predecessors who challenged the Church, Luther had one tool at his disposal that they didn't have: the printing press. This new invention allowed his arguments to be copied and spread across Europe.

This unprecedented access to ideas such as Luther's inspired many others to challenge the Church, thereby splitting Christianity into two major denominations: Catholic and Protestant, from the word protest. Also, the Bible became more accessible. Luther and other Reformists translated Biblical texts from Latin, which was only known by nobility and Church officials, to German, English, and French, languages spoken by the general public.

While the Protestant Reformation revolutionized the Christian faith, it had ramifications that extended beyond religion. Prior to the Reformation, many Europeans were dependent on an educated upper class. But perhaps the most resounding impact of the Reformation was that the common people were empowered to question religion and other aspects of life.

The Reformation, along with technological innovations and the introduction of other new ideas, gave many in Europe's general public the freedom and power to decide their own fates.