Editing History of Estonia (section)

===The Reformation===
[[Protestant Reformation]], initiated in 1517 by [[Martin Luther]], spread rapidly to Estonia in the 1520s, with the name of Martin Luther officially mentioned for the first time at the Prelates' Conference at Ronneburg on July 28, 1521.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Laantee |first=Karl |date=1953 |title=The Beginning of the Reformation in Estonia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3161780 |journal=Church History |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=269–278 |doi=10.2307/3161780 |issn=0009-6407}}</ref> Early Estonian [[Lutheranism]] was most popular in larger towns with significant merchant classes,<ref name=":0" /> and soon contributed to the spread of literacy among the [[commoners]]. Many peasants were traditionalists and comfortable with [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] traditions, delaying the adoption of the new church;  despite this, after 1600, Swedish Lutheranism began to dominate the building, furnishing, and (modest) decoration of new churches. Church architecture was now designed to encourage congregational understanding of and involvement in the services. Pews and seats were installed for the common people to make listening to the sermon less of a burden, and altars often featured depictions of the [[Last Supper]], but images and statues of the [[list of saints|saints]] had disappeared.<ref>Krista Kodres, "Church and art in the First Century of the reformation in Estonia: Towards Lutheran orthodoxy," ''Scandinavian Journal of History'' (2003) 28#3 pp 187–203. online</ref> Church services were now given in the local vernacular, instead of [[Latin]], and the first books were printed in Estonian.<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://depts.washington.edu/baltic/papers/reform.html| title=Protestant Reformation in the Baltic| last=Harrison| first=Rachelle| date=June 2000| publisher=[[University of Washington]]| access-date=2009-09-20| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903024306/http://depts.washington.edu/baltic/papers/reform.html| archive-date=3 September 2009| df=dmy-all}}</ref>