Europe's search for stability

THE REFORMATION

Europe's Search for Stability

One of the greatest of all revolutions was the 16th-century religious revolt known as the Reformation. This stormy, often brutal, conflict separated the Christians of Western Europe into Protestants and Catholics. So far-reaching were the results of the separation that the Reformation has been called a turning point in history. It ushered in the Modern Age because, once the people's religious unity was destroyed, they began to think in terms of their own regional interests. From the diversity of those interests arose new political, social, and economic problems and beliefs.

Background of the Revolt

At the start of the 16th century Western Europe had only one religion, Roman Catholicism. The Catholic church was rich and powerful and had preserved Europe's classical culture. However, despite General Councils called to impose reforms, disputes and lax practices had grown up within the church.

Churchmen criticized the administration of the church and began to doubt some of its teachings. For example, the church insisted that it alone had the authority to interpret the meaning of the Bible for the people. As early as the 14th century, however, John Wycliffe, an English priest and teacher at Oxford University, declared that people had the right to read the Bible and interpret it for themselves. Despite protests by the church, followers of Wycliffe translated the Bible from Latin into English in 1382 and carried copies throughout the countryside. Wycliffe's ideas spread into Bohemia, where Jan Hus widely preached them in powerful sermons. The work of Wycliffe and Hus greatly influenced a Saxon monk named Martin Luther.

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