The sixteenth century in Europe was a time of change for the Europe. People were starting to question the Church's authority, some people who questioned the Church were Martin Luther, John Calvin and Henry VIII. These people helped to start the Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation was a time when new religions were formed by people who protested the Catholic faith and what it was doing. Many people date the start of the Protestant Reformation with German Martin Luther's "95 Theses," a paper which spoke against the pope using Indulgences for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. His paper spoke of how the Bible should be the main guide for Christians and that faith rather than good deeds was the way to Heaven. He nailed the paper to the door of the Church, making the topic up for debate. Within years Luther had gathered enough followers to begin their own churches in Germany. The faith Martin Luther created was called Lutherism. From Germany the Protestant …show more content…
Henry VIII broke away from the Church so that he was able to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon when she would not give him a son as a heir. The church would not grant him his annulment, so he excommunicated himself from the Church. By doing so he became Protestant, and England broke away from the Catholic Church. After Henry died, his son ruled, before he died as well. After the reign of her half brother, Mary I, also known as Bloody Mary, became queen of England. Mary I changed England back to Catholic during her reign as Queen, but after she dies and her half sister took the thrown, Elizabeth I changed it back to Protestant in 1558. Even though England was Protestant, she still let some of the Catholic practices stay. Queen Elizabeth I proclaimed England a "middle way", having the new religion be a mix of Calvinism and