This was a schism started in the 16th century by western Christians particularly Martin Luther and John Calvin. In 1517, Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses were posted, which catalyzed the spirit of protesting against the ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, its rituals, leadership, and doctrines. It resulted in the establishment of national Protestant churches. Earlier contributors to this spirit of protest were the Black Death, the Western Schism, and the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire and the invention of the print media.
The Roman Catholic Church, in a bid to counter this protestant movement, formed an ecumenical council named the Council of Trent. Northern Europe, except Ireland, turned to be Protestant as Britain and Netherlands. Southern Europe remained as an affiliate of the Roman Catholic Church while battles ended the courtesy of this Roman Catholic-Protestant contest in Central Europe.
The largest Protestant churches at that time were the Lutherans and the reformed churches, which were mainly in Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Scandinavia. Since the official beginning of the Protestant movement in 1517, with the publishing of the Ninety-Five Theses, the European warfare around this issue finished only in 1648, when a peace agreement, the “Treaty of Westphalia” was signed.
There were priests who opposed the teachings and doctrines, especially the issue of indulgence. Another issue of concern was the corruption and the power which was vested in the pope, namely legislation, financial control, and judicial appeals, the legitimacy of which was questioned by Luther. The power of the pope, termed as “indulgence”, was challenged. In 1521, Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church, which marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
In October 1517, Luther hanged his Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg Saxony. There were protests against the power of the pope, the purgatory doctrines, the compulsory celibacy of the clergy, the intercession of saints and devotion to them, as well as the church’s concentration on the Virgin Mary.
In later years, the Protestant movement changed according to doctrinal differences. Luther first differed with Zwingli, then with John Calvin. The result of this was the formation of several denominations such as the Lutheran, the Reformed Church, the Puritan denominations and the Anglican Church in Britain.
Most Protestant churches derived from German denominations. The corruption in the Roman Catholic Church caused wars in western nations and was termed as “schism” of the Western Christian Church. The Council of Constance, launched by the Roman Catholic Church, could not stop this schism as well as the war in Bohemia (1378-1416). Sixtus IV established the sale of indulgence that was meant for the dead. This created a new source of revenue with agents all over Europe (1471-1484). Thereafter, Alexander IV (Pope from 1492 to 1503), despite the compulsory celibacy of the clergy, fathered seven children by at least two mistresses. This, however, was not the main reason for Luther’s Thesis, fourteen years after the death of Pope Alexander VI. He was more agitated by the sale of indulgences of the same Pope.
Most of the Protestants date their movement to the 16th century, particularly referred to Magisterial Reformation. This enjoyed the state support, unlike the Radical Reformation which was deprived of this support. However, there are Protestant churches which dated their origin from the 15th century the Unity of Brethren and the Bohemian Brethren.
