The Protestant Reformation began in the early 1500s in response to corruption within the Catholic Church. Some of the key causes included the selling of indulgences by priests to finance church projects, nepotism among high-ranking clergy, and the Church ignoring calls for reform from Christian humanists. Martin Luther's 95 Theses criticizing indulgences in 1517 is seen as sparking the Reformation. The new Protestant churches, including those led by Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin, spread across Europe in the following decades, while Catholic monarchs like Henry VIII of England broke from Rome. The religious divide escalated conflicts like the Thirty Years' War, devastating much of central Europe.

1. The Protestant Reformation
Created by David William Phillips

2. Causesof the ProtestantReformation:
• Indulgences - Pope Leo X (r. 1513-21) authorized sale by Johann
Tetzel to finance Renaissance beautification of St. Peter’s
Basilica.
• Nepotism - appointed nephews
• Simony –offices sold
• Pluralism –multiple offices
• Absenteeism – Clergy outside parish
• Pope Alexander VI (r. 1493-1503), b. Rodrigo Borgia

3. Causesof the ProtestantReformation:
• Church corruption
• Avignon Papacy
• Selling of indulgences.
• Popes acting like political leaders and warriors instead of
providing spiritual leadership
• Priests acting improperly
• Church ignoring calls from Christian humanists for return to
simple Christian ethics
• Greed of secular leaders  1/3 of Europe  church land
• Printing Press

4. Martin Luther,
the Beer Pope,
and the
GermanReformation

5. The Spread of the Printing Press

6. Caricature of
Pope Alexander VI
by Martin Luther,
1545

7. The Peasant Revolt - 1525

8. Huldrich Zwingli
and the
Plan that Backfired

9. John Calvin,
the Reformed
Swiss Church

10. Calvin’s World in the 16c

11. Protestant
Churches
in
France
(Late 16c)

12. The Anabaptists
Dutch persecution of Anabaptists
(Mennonites)

15. Meet Henry VIII.

16. In the early 1500s,
Henry was the
King of England.

17. Henry had a problem.

18. Meet Henry’s wife,
Catherine of Aragon.

19. + =
Henry
VIII
Catherine
of Aragon
Mary I
Henry and Catherine had a daughter, Mary.

20. Henry blamed
Catherine for
the lack of a son.
In 1527, Henry
asked the pope
in Rome for an
annulmentto
his marriage.

21. Catherine was a good Catholic.

22. And Catherine’s
cousin was Charles V,
a devout Catholic and
the most powerful man
in Europe.

23. The pope didn’t want to upset Charles.
He told Henry no.

24. So Henry broke
England’s ties with the
Church in Rome.

25. + =
Anne
Boleyn
Elizabeth IHenry
VIII

26. + =
Jane
Seymour
Edward VIHenry
VIII

27. Anne of Cleves
DIVORCED

28. Catherine Howard
BEHEADED

29. Catherine Parr
DIED

30. 1547:
Henry VIII dies

31. 1553:
Edward VI dies

32. 1558:
Mary I dies

33. Elizabeth I
Queen of England
(r. 1558-1603)

34. Pope Paul III
and the Catholic/
Counter-Reformation
(r. 1534-1549)

39. The Dutch Revolt
(1568-1609):
the Drain on Spain
and England’s Ascent

41. Elizabeth Receiving the Dutch Ambassadors

43. Netherlands,
1582
Philip II
William
of Orange
States GeneralElizabeth

53. Civil War
In France,
1562-
1598

58. Henry III,
Valois king
Henry of Guise,
Catholics
(funded by Philip II)
Henry of Navarre,
HugenotsVS. VS.

62. The Thirty Years’ War,
1618-1648:
1. Bohemian Revolt
2. Danish intervention
3. Swedish intervention
4. French intervention

64. 1618-1648

69. Bohemian Phase, 1618-1621

70. Albrecht
von
Wallenstein

71. Danish Phase, 1625-1629

72. Gustavus
Adolphus

75. Swedish Phase, 1630-1635

76.  German towns decimated.
 Agriculture collapsed  famine
 8 million dead  1/3 of the population [from
21 million in 1618 to 13.5 million in 1648]
 Massive inflation.
 Trade crippled throughout Europe.
 Germany remains disunited until 1871
The French Phase, 1635-1648

78. Treaty of Westphalia, 1648