Week 23 Essay

          Over the past two weeks, I have learned about the Protestant Reformation. I learned about some people who were a part of this movement, such as Gerhard Groote, Martin Luther, and John Calvin. I also learned why the Reformation was so important and how it shaped Europe and other parts of the world forever.

          Even though people like Gerhard Groote set the ground for the Reformation, it officially began in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door. After this, people (especially people who worked in the church) started to revolt against the Catholic Church. They believed that many things were wrong with the Catholic Church, like selling indulgences, not letting people read the Bible for themselves.

          Many groups were formed, and they all mostly believed in the same things. The French Huguenots were the Protestant Reformers in France. They, too, believed that the church needed major reforms. Because of these beliefs, the Huguenots were persecuted by the Catholic Church leaders. All of this broke out in several wars between the Huguenots and the Catholic Church called: The French Wars of Religion.

          A very memorable event during these wars was the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. This started out as a plot by the Catholic Church leaders to kill the Huguenot leaders. However, this ended up as a very bloody massacre, killing thousands of Huguenots.

          Finally, King Henry Ⅳ, who was king of France at the time, made the Edict of Nantes, which allowed the Huguenots to believe what they want, which stopped the war temporarily. Unfortunately, however, the war was resumed by another king of France. He made Protestantism illegal in France.

          Many different Reformers came too, such as William Tyndale. William Tyndale is known for writing an English copy of the New Testament, and sneaking it into England so that the common people could read it for themselves. This was after he had been denied permission to make an English copy of the Bible by the pope. He did it anyway, and was burned at the stake for it.

          There have been many reformers in Europe during the Protestant Reformation. Each one of these people have shaped Europe and other parts of the world. Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and England all became Protestant countries, even though it started in Germany.