02 The Reformation and Religious Change

Protestant reform takes shape

In the early sixteenth century, Western European Christians belonged overwhelmingly to the Roman Catholic Church. Some people criticized church practices and leadership, including the sale of indulgences, while the spread of printing helped religious arguments reach a wider audience.

In 1517, Martin Luther challenged the use of indulgences. His dispute widened into a break with Rome. Luther taught that salvation came through faith and that the Bible held supreme authority in matters of Christian belief. His ideas helped inspire a range of Protestant churches, although Protestant reformers did not all agree with one another.

Other reform movements developed across Europe. John Calvin helped shape Reformed Protestantism, which emphasized God's sovereignty. In England, a break with papal authority began under Henry VIII: the Act of Supremacy of 1534 made the monarch head of the English church. The English Reformation was therefore closely tied to royal authority as well as religious debate.

Catholic reform and division

The Catholic Church responded to Protestant teachings through both renewal and opposition. The Council of Trent reaffirmed Catholic doctrines, including the importance of the sacraments, and called for improvements in clerical education and discipline.

The Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, was founded by Ignatius of Loyola. Its members promoted education, missionary work, and Catholic renewal. The broader movement is often called the Catholic Reformation or Counter-Reformation. It strengthened Catholic institutions and clarified differences between Catholic and Protestant beliefs, but it did not restore the former unity of Western Christianity; instead, it helped consolidate separate religious traditions.

Conflict and negotiated settlements

Religious disagreement often became entangled with rulers' efforts to control territory, institutions, and subjects. Some rulers supported Protestant reform, while others defended Catholicism. The Peace of Augsburg allowed rulers within the Holy Roman Empire to choose between Catholicism and Lutheranism for their territories. It did not recognize Calvinism or grant individuals general freedom to choose their faith.

France experienced a series of wars between Catholics and Protestant Huguenots. The Edict of Nantes, issued by Henry IV in 1598, ended the main phase of fighting and granted Huguenots limited rights and protections. It did not make France religiously equal: Catholicism remained established, and the edict was revoked in 1685.

The Thirty Years’ War began in the Holy Roman Empire amid disputes over religion and imperial authority. It expanded into a wider European conflict in which political and dynastic rivalries mattered alongside religious divisions. The Peace of Westphalia ended the war and recognized Calvinism alongside Catholicism and Lutheranism within the Empire. It also confirmed the Empire's decentralized political structure; it did not create a unified German state or establish religious freedom in the modern sense.

Rulers and religious authority

The Reformation changed the relationship between church and government. In some kingdoms, monarchs took control of national churches and church property. In parts of the Holy Roman Empire, territorial rulers gained greater authority over religious affairs, while the emperor's ability to impose religious unity remained limited. Elsewhere, rulers used alliances, laws, and military force to defend or reshape religious settlements.

These changes did not follow one pattern. A ruler's religion could shape a territory's official church, but local practice, resistance, and negotiated compromises also mattered. By the mid-seventeenth century, Europe remained divided among confessions, and rulers increasingly had to manage that division rather than restore a single Western church.

A divided religious landscape

The Protestant Reformation began as a challenge to church practices and authority and produced several distinct Protestant traditions. Catholic leaders responded with doctrinal clarification and institutional reform. Religious conflicts reshaped European states, but settlements such as Augsburg and Westphalia offered limited political compromises, not universal religious freedom. Across Europe, the era strengthened some rulers' control over churches while leaving the continent religiously diverse.