The Protestant Reformation started in 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to a church in Wittenburg, Germany.

Historians usually date the start of the Protestant Reformation to the 1517 publication of Martin Luther’s “95 Theses.” Its ending can be placed anywhere from the 1555 Peace of Augsburg, which allowed for the coexistence of Catholicism and Lutheranism in Germany, to the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty …

October 31, 1517
The Protestant Reformation began in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, a teacher and a monk, published a document he called Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, or 95 Theses. The document was a series of 95 ideas about Christianity that he invited people to debate with him.

October 31 was the 500-year anniversary of the day Martin Luther allegedly nailed his 95 theses — objections to various practices of the Catholic Church — to the door of a German church. This event is widely considered the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

What was the Protestant Reformation? It was a schism, or break, between loyalist members Catholic Church, and Christians who believed different things. These protesters were progressive and “left-wing” at the time. They wanted to change the Church and go against tradition.

Protestantism began in Germany in 1517, when Martin Luther published his Ninety-five Theses as a reaction against abuses in the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church, which purported to offer the remission of the temporal punishment of sins to their purchasers.

The Protestant Reformation was a major 16th century European movement aimed initially at reforming the beliefs and practices of The Roman Catholic Church. Its religious aspects were supplemented by ambitious political rulers who wanted to extend their power and control at the expense of the Church.

Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation, a religious movement that began in the sixteenth century, brought an end to the ecclesiastical unity of medieval Christianity in western Europe and profoundly reshaped the course of modern history.

Luther argued against the practice of buying or earning forgiveness, believing instead that salvation is a gift God gives to those who have faith. Luther’s objections to the indulgence system paved the way for other challenges to the Catholic doctrine throughout Europe.

The reformers rejected the authority of the pope as well as many of the principles and practices of Catholicism of that time. The essential tenets of the Reformation are that the Bible is the sole authority for all matters of faith and conduct and that salvation is by God’s grace and by faith in Jesus Christ.

The Reformation’s Legacy Along with the religious consequences of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation came deep and lasting political changes. Northern Europe’s new religious and political freedoms came at a great cost, with decades of rebellions, wars and bloody persecutions.