Reformation

The Reformation, often called the Protestant or European Reformation, was a major theological shift in Western Christianity during the 16th century. It challenged both the religious authority of the pope and the political power of the Catholic Church hierarchy. Emerging near the end of the Renaissance, it launched Protestantism and is seen as a key event that closed the Middle Ages and opened the early modern period in Europe.

Most scholars date the Reformation’s start to 1517, when Martin Luther published his Ninety-five Theses, sparking Lutheranism. Earlier reform movements had existed within Western Christianity before Luther and other Protestant Reformers. The exact end of the Reformation era remains debated.

Reformers generally argued that justification came through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not through faith plus good works, as Catholics held. In Lutheran, Anglican, and Reformed views, good works were seen as results of living faith and part of sanctification, separate from justification. Protestantism also introduced new ideas about church structure. The main points of theological agreement among Protestant groups are now summarized as the three solae, though denominations differ on issues like Christ’s presence in the Eucharist: Lutherans accept a physical presence, while the Reformed see a spiritual one.

Gutenberg’s printing press helped spread religious texts quickly in local languages. The movement began in Saxony, Germany, then diversified. Nearby reformers like Swiss Huldrych Zwingli and French John Calvin developed the Continental Reformed tradition. In England, Thomas Cranmer led the Reformation, giving rise to Anglicanism; in Scotland, John Knox led it, producing Presbyterianism. This period also saw Radical Reformers, such as Anabaptists, who sought to revive early Christian practices and held different theologies from the Magisterial Reformers (Lutherans, Reformed, Anglicans). The Catholic Church responded with the Counter-Reformation, including the Council of Trent, which clarified Catholic positions and addressed abuses criticized by reformers. The resulting European wars of religion caused between seven and seventeen million deaths.

**Terminology**

In the 16th century, “Reformation” mainly covered four movements: Lutheranism, Calvinism, the Radical Reformation, and the Catholic Reformation (or Counter-Reformation). Since the late 1900s, historians often use the plural “Reformations” to stress that it wasn’t a single, uniform event but a set of parallel movements.

Anglican theologian Alister McGrath called “Reformation” an “interpretative category” for mapping a slice of history where certain ideas and values developed. Historian John Bossy criticized the term for wrongly implying bad religion gave way to good, and for having little connection to actual social behavior or culture. A French scholar noted that no Reformation term is indisputable, and that Protestants and Catholics were not as uniform as once thought.

Specific terms include: - “Protestant Reformation,” which excludes Catholic reform movements. - “Magisterial Reformation,” a narrower term for mainstream Protestantism (Lutheranism, Anglicanism, Calvinism), contrasting with radical groups like Anabaptists. - “Catholic Reformation,” distinguished by historian Massimo Firpo from “Counter-Reformation.” He saw Catholic Reformation as focused on pastoral care, clergy renewal, and charitable roles, while Counter-Reformation emphasized defending orthodoxy, suppressing dissent, and reasserting church authority. - Some historians also suggest an “Erasmian Reformation.”

Many studies focus on specific aspects like changes in art, music, rituals, and communities.

Peter Marshall emphasized that calls for reform within Christianity are ancient, with every age seeing urgent attempts. Charlemagne used a “rhetoric of reform.” Medieval examples include the Cluniac Reform (10th–11th centuries) and the Gregorian Reform (11th century), both fighting lay influence over the church. Medieval authors typically took a conservative, utopian view, admiring a past “golden age” when the church was supposedly perfect.

Both the starting and ending dates of the Reformation are debated. The most common start is 31 October 1517, when Martin Luther allegedly nailed his Ninety-five Theses to a church door in Wittenberg. Calvinist historians often propose 1516, when Swiss priest Huldrych Zwingli first preached against church abuses. The end date is even more disputed.