Memorable Events in the Reformation

Hello every one
This is Pastor Bea
with Nancy's permission I am publishing an event summary which she shared with the book readers by e-mail.
I thought you might like to have it again.

Memorable Events in the Reformation
Although the Reformation swept through all Western Europe, the most dramatic events of this great religious revolt took place in Germany. It was in Wittenberg, Saxony, that Luther posted his list of propositions (95 theses) in 1517 and burned the papal bull in 1520. A year later he was condemned by the Diet of Worms. In 1525 German nobles, encouraged by Luther, put down the Peasants' Revolt.
Another great event in the Reformation occurred in 1529, when the word Protestant was first used formally. In Germany the Diet of Speyer decreed that changes of religion must stop and that the authority of the Catholic church be restored. The Lutheran minority in the Diet signed a protest against that decree, however. From this protest comes the modern term for the religious denominations of Protestantism
The fury and suffering of war added to the turmoil of the Reformation through the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648. Time and again Charles V fought to uphold the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic church against the claims of France and the German princes. But he needed their aid as he battled the Muslims who had advanced to the doors of Germany. Then he fought the Schmalkaldic War (1546-47). Although he defeated the Protestants, he could not turn back the movement of the Reformation.
Peace treaties, however, followed the religious wars. The most important of these was the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. By that treaty Charles V was at last forced to grant to the ruler of each German state the right to choose Catholicism or Lutheranism. The state's religion was still imposed by the ruler, but the treaty gave a temporary religious peace to Germany.
The Lutheran faith spread chiefly in northern Germany and in Scandinavia. The Swiss were influenced early by Huldrych Zwingli, but like the French and Dutch they drew their Protestantism from a movement led by John Calvin a generation later. From this grew the zealous work of John Knox, who brought Presbyterianism to Scotland. The English Reformation began in 1533 when Henry VIII broke with the pope, who had refused to annul Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The introduction of Protestant doctrine in the Church of England, however, did not take place until 1549, during the reign of Edward VI.
The Catholic Counter-Reformation
Catholic church authorities underestimated the extent of the Reformation at first, considering it just another dissension or schism. Soon, however, they saw the movement spreading from one country to another
The church took action. From 1545 to 1563 the Council of Trent issued decrees to correct abuses and to reaffirm ancient doctrines and traditions. The most vigorous program was set up by the Society of Jesus, commonly called the Jesuits. This order was started in 1534 by Ignatius of Loyola, a Spanish nobleman and soldier who had become a monk. The Jesuit order was sanctioned by the pope in 1540.
A succession of able popes during the latter half of the 16th century followed the policy set in the Counter-Reformation. Their conscientious administrations removed much of the incentive to revolt.
By the close of the 16th century the Roman Catholic church had regained the faith of the people in half of the lands it had lost to Protestantism. Europe was then divided between the two forms of Christianity along almost the same lines that exist today.

Thank you, Nancy!