- [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 gian 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.