The Reformation
Western Christianity fragments, and Europe fights about it for 130 years.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 131 years
- Known to
- ± 5 years
- Era
- Early Modern, Holocene
Luther is followed by Zwingli, Calvin in Geneva with his doctrine of predestination, the Anabaptists, and Henry VIII's break with Rome in 1534 for reasons of succession rather than doctrine. The Catholic response — the Council of Trent from 1545, the Jesuits, the Index of forbidden books — reforms and hardens the church. Vernacular scripture and mass literacy campaigns follow, and religious identity becomes the organising line of European politics.