Editing Reformation (section)

==Beginnings==
The Reformation in Germanic countries was instigated by Martin Luther, however historians note that many of his ideas were pre-dated by Wycliff, Huss, [[Erasmus]], [[Zwingli]] and others, both heretic and orthodox. Historian [[Peter Marshall (historian)|Peter Marshall]] has noted "In recent decades, scholars have become increasingly acclimatized to the idea that the Reformation was in important respects a continuation and intensification of trends within later medieval Catholicism, rather than simply a wholesale rejection of it."<ref name=marshall2015>{{cite journal |last1=Marshall |first1=Peter |title=Catholic Puritanism in Pre-Reformation England |journal=British Catholic History |date=October 2015 |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=431–450 |doi=10.1017/bch.2015.15}}</ref>

=== Luther and the ''Ninety-five Theses'' ===

{{Main|Martin Luther|Ninety-five Theses}}

[[File:Martin Luther by Cranach-restoration.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A round-faced middle-aged man|''Portrait of Martin Luther'' (1529) by [[Lucas Cranach the Elder]]]]

[[Pope Leo X]] ({{reign|1513|1521}}) decided to complete the construction of the new St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.<ref>Huppert, Ann C. Year. "Envisioning New St. Peter's: Perspectiva, Drawings, and the Process of Design." ''University of Kansas Journal'', no. 160</ref> As the sale of certificates of indulgences had been a well-established method of papal fund raising, he announced new indulgences in the papal bull {{lang|la|Sacrosanctis}} in 1515. On the advice of the banker [[Jakob Fugger]] (d. 1525), he appointed the pluralist prelate [[Albert of Brandenburg]] (d. 1545) to supervise the sale campaign in Germany.{{refn|group=note|A member of the [[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollern dynasty]], Albert ruled the [[Archbishopric of Mainz|Archbishoprics of Mainz]] and [[Archbishopric of Magdeburg|Magdeburg]] and the [[Bishopric of Halberstadt]] simultaneously. He had borrowed money from Fugger to pay the fees to the Roman Curia for his appointment to the [[episcopal see|see]] of Mainz, and his share in the revenues from the sale of indulgences was expected to allow him to repay the loan.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|p=117}}}} The Dominican friar [[Johann Tetzel]] (d. 1519), a leading figure in the campaign, applied unusually aggressive marketing methods. A slogan attributed to him famously claimed that "As soon as the coin into the box rings, a soul from purgatory to heaven springs".{{sfn|Lindberg|2021|p=71}}{{sfn|Marshall|2009|p=15}} [[Frederick III, Elector of Saxony|Frederick the Wise]], [[Prince-elector]] of Saxony ({{reign|1486|1525}}) forbade the campaign because the {{lang|la|Sacrosanctis}} suspended the sale of previous indulgences, depriving him of revenues that he had spent on his collection of [[relic]]s.{{refn|group=note|Frederick rebuilt the [[All Saints' Church, Wittenberg|castle church at Wittenberg]] to store his collection of nearly 20,000 relics. This collection was thought to include a straw from the stable of the [[Nativity of Jesus|Nativity]], the corpse of a [[Massacre of the Innocents|holy innocent]], and drops from the Virgin's [[breast milk]].{{sfn|Cameron|2012|p=15}}}}{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|p=119}}

The campaign's vulgarity shocked many serious-minded believers,{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|p=119}} among them Martin Luther, a theology professor at the [[University of Wittenberg]] in Saxony.{{sfn|Marshall|2009|p=15}}{{sfn|Kolb|2006|p=41}} Born into a middle-class family, Luther entered an [[St. Augustine's Monastery (Erfurt)|Augustinian monastery]] after a heavy thunderstorm dreadfully reminded him the risk of sudden death and eternal damnation, but his anxiety about his sinfulness did not abate.{{sfn|Kolb|2006|pp=40–41}} His studies on the works of the Late Roman theologian [[Augustine of Hippo]] (d. 430) convinced him that those whom God chose as his elect received a gift of faith independently of their acts.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|pp=114, 116}} He first denounced the idea of justification through human efforts in his {{lang|la|Disputatio contra scholasticam theologiam}} ('Disputation against Scholastic Theology') in September 1517.{{sfn|Kaufmann|2023|p=70}}

On 31 October 1517, Luther addressed a letter to Albert of Brandenburg, stating that the clerics preaching the St. Peter's indulgences were deceiving the faithful, and attached his ''Ninety-five Theses'' to it. He questioned the efficacy of indulgences for the dead, although also stated "{{nowrap|If ...}} indulgences were preached according to the spirit and intention of the pope, {{nowrap|all ...}} doubts would be readily resolved".{{sfn|Kaufmann|2023|p=75}} Archbishop Albert ordered the theologians at the [[University of Mainz]] to examine the document. Tetzel, and the theologians [[Konrad Wimpina]] (d. 1531) and [[Johann Eck]] (d. 1543) were the first to associate some of Luther's propositions with Hussitism. The case was soon forwarded to the Roman Curia for judgement.{{sfn|Kaufmann|2023|pp=75–79}} Pope Leo remained uninterested, and mentioned the case as "a quarrel among friars".{{sfn|Marshall|2009|p=15}}{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|p=121}}

=== New theology ===

{{Main|Lutheranism}}
{{See also|Luther Bible}}

{{Quote box
 |title     = Luther on the Christian struggles toward God 
 |quote     = Christians should be exhorted to seek earnestly to follow Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, hells. And let them thus be more confident of entering heaven through many tribulations rather than through a false assurance of peace. 
 |author    = Martin Luther
 |source    = ''Ninety-five Theses''{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|p=120}}
 |align     = right
 |width     = 25%
 |bgcolor   = #F5FAFF
 |title_bg  = #CEE0F2
 |qalign    = left
 |salign    = right
 }}
As the historian [[Lyndal Roper]] notes, the "Reformation proceeded by a set of debates and arguments".{{sfn|Roper|2022|p=58}} Luther presented his views in public at the [[Heidelberg Disputation|observant Augustinians' assembly]] in [[Heidelberg]] on 26 April 1518.{{sfn|Kaufmann|2023|pp=77–79}} Here he explained his "[[theology of the Cross]]" about a loving God who had [[Incarnation (Christianity)|become frail]] to save [[Fall of man|fallen]] humanity, contrasting it with what he saw as the scholastic "theology of glory" that in his view celebrated erudition and human acts.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|p=121}} It is uncertain when Luther's concept of [[sola fide|justification by faith alone]]—a central element of his theology—crystallised. He would later attribute it to his "tower experience"{{refn|group=note|"Luther himself
had said that he found his new insight "auff diser cloaca auff dem thurm" (on or over the toilet on the tower); however some historians dispute the account.<ref name="auto">{{cite journal |last1=Leppin |first1=Volker |title=Setting Luther into His Historical Place: My Quarrels with the German Orthodoxy in Luther Research |journal=The Sixteenth Century Journal |date=2017 |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=927–943 |doi=10.1086/SCJ4804009 |jstor=44817117 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44817117 |issn=0361-0160}}</ref>}} (1519),<ref>{{cite web |last1=Luther |first1=Martin |title=The Preface to the Complete Edition of Luther's Latin Works |url=https://pages.uoregon.edu/sshoemak/323/texts/Luther%20Tower%20Experience.htm |website=Modern History Sourcebook}}</ref> when he comprehended that God could freely declare even sinners righteous while he was thinking about the words of [[Paul the Apostle]] (d. 64 or 65)—"[[Romans 1:17|the just shall live by faith]]".{{sfn|Cameron|2012|pp=114–121}}{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|pp=115–116}}

Urged by Luther's opponents, Pope Leo appointed the jurist [[Girolamo Ghinucci]] (d. 1541) and the theologian [[Sylvester Mazzolini]] (d. 1527) to inspect Luther's teaching.{{sfn|Cameron|2012|p=103}} Mazzolini argued that Luther had questioned papal authority by attacking the indulgences, while Luther concluded that only a fundamental reform could put an end to the abuse of indulgences.{{sfn|Lindberg|2021|pp=72–75}} Pope Leo did not excommunicate Luther because Leo did not want to alienate Luther's patron Frederick the Wise.{{refn|group=note|Luther's friendship with Frederick's secretary [[George Spalatin]] (d. 1545) secured him Frederick's favour, and {{nowrap|Leo X}} wanted to influence the forthcoming [[imperial election]] with Frederick's assistance.{{sfn|Roper|2022|p=58}}}} Instead, he appointed Cardinal [[Thomas Cajetan]] (d. 1534) to convince Luther to withdraw some of his theses. Cajetan met with Luther at [[Augsburg]] in October 1518.{{sfn|Cameron|2012|p=102}} The historian Berndt Hamm says that the meeting was the "historical point at which the opposition between the Reformation and Catholicism first emerged",{{refn|group=note|Historian Volker Leppin writes "anti-Catholicism does not lie at the root of Reformation, even if later on it obviously became part of the whole Reformation framework," but notes "the anti-Catholic tendency of Luther research".<ref name="auto"/>}} as Cajetan thought that believers accepting Luther's views of justification would no more obey clerical guidance.{{sfn|Hamm|1999|pp=75–76}}{{sfn|Lindberg|2021|p=79}}

Luther first expressed his sympathy for Jan Hus at a [[Leipzig Debate|disputation in Leipzig]] in June 1519. His case was reopened at the Roman Curia. Cajetan, Eck and other papal officials drafted the papal bull {{lang|la|[[Exsurge Domine]]}} ('Arise, O Lord') which was published on 15 June 1520. It condemned Luther's forty-one theses, and offered a sixty-day-long grace period to him to recant.{{sfn|Cameron|2012|pp=103–104}} Luther's theology quickly developed. In a Latin treatise ''[[On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church]]'', he stated that only baptism and the [[Eucharist in Lutheranism|Eucharist]] could be regarded as sacraments, and priests were not members of a privileged class but servants of the community (hence they became called [[Minister (Christianity)|ministers]] from the Latin word for servant). His German manifesto ''[[To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation]]'' associated the papacy with the [[Antichrist]], and described the Holy See as "the worst whorehouse of all whorehouses" in reference to the funds flowing to the Roman Curia.{{sfn|Kaufmann|2023|pp=82–84}}{{sfn|Roper|2022|pp=60–62}} It also challenged the Biblical justification of clerical celibacy.{{sfn|Lindberg|2021|p=93}} Luther's study ''[[On the Freedom of a Christian]]'' consolidated his thoughts about the believers' inner freedom with [[Great Commandment|their obligation]] to care for their neighbours although he rejected the traditional teaching about good works.{{sfn|Kaufmann|2023|pp=84–85}} The study is a characteristic example of Luther's enthusiasm for paradoxes.{{refn|group=note|For instance, he stated that "A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all."{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|pp=126–127}}}}{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|pp=126–127}}

{{listen|type=music
| filename=Ein' Feste Burg.ogg
| title=''Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott'' ('A Mighty Fortress Is Our God') sung in German
| description=The German text of Luther's hymn {{lang|de|[[A Mighty Fortress Is Our God|Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott]]}} sung to the isometric, more widely known arrangement of its traditional melody.
}}

The papal nuncio [[Girolamo Aleandro]] (d. 1542) ordered the burning of Luther's books.{{sfn|Cameron|2012|p=104}} In response, Luther and his followers burned the papal bull along with a copy of the {{lang|la|[[Corpus Juris Canonici]]}}—the fundamental document of medieval ecclesiastic law—at Wittenberg. The [[Decet Romanum Pontificem|papal bull excommunicating Luther]] was published on 3 January 1521.{{sfn|Lindberg|2021|p=83}}{{sfn|Roper|2022|p=62}} The newly elected [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] ({{reign|1519|1556}}) wanted to outlaw Luther at the [[Diet of Worms]], but could not make the decision alone.{{sfn|Cameron|2012|p=105}} The [[Holy Roman Empire]] was a confederation of [[List of states in the Holy Roman Empire|autonomous states]], and authority rested with the [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diets]] where the [[Imperial Estate]]s assembled.{{sfn|Marshall|2009|p=12}} Frederick the Wise vetoed the [[imperial ban]] against Luther, and Luther was summoned to [[Worms, Germany|Worms]] to defend his case at the Diet in April 1521. Here he refused to recant stating that only arguments from the Bible could convince him that his works contained errors.{{sfn|Cameron|2012|p=105}}

After Luther and his supporters left the Diet, those who remained sanctioned the imperial ban, threatening Luther's supporters with imprisonment and confiscation of their property.{{sfn|Lindberg|2021|p=85}} To save Luther's life but also to hide his involvement, Frederick arranged Luther's abduction on 4 May.{{sfn|Cameron|2012|p=105}} During his ten-month-long{{sfn|Lindberg|2021|p=85}} staged captivity at Frederick's castle of [[Wartburg]], Luther translated the [[New Testament]] to High German. The historian [[Diarmaid MacCulloch]] describes the translation as an "extraordinary achievement that has shaped the German language ever since", adding that "Luther's gift was for seizing the emotion with sudden, urgent phrases".{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|pp=128–129}} The translation would be published at the 1522 [[Leipzig Book Fair]] along with Luther's treatise ''On Monastic Vows'' that laid the theological foundations of the dissolution of monasteries.{{sfn|Kaufmann|2023|p=89}} Luther also composed [[List of hymns by Martin Luther|religious hymns]] in Wartburg. They would be first published in collections in 1524.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|p=129}} During Luther's absence, his co-workers, primarily [[Philip Melanchthon]] (d. 1560) and [[Andreas Karlstadt]] (d. 1541) assumed the leadership of Reformation in Wittenberg. Melanchthon consolidated Luther's thoughts into a coherent theological work titled {{lang|la|[[Loci communes]]}} ('Common Places').{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|pp=135–136}}

=== Spread ===

{{See also|Magisterial Reformation}}

[[File:Christ mocked - pope venerated.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|alt=|Woodcuts by [[Lucas Cranach the Elder]] from the ''Passional of Christ and Antichrist'', contrasting Christ who wears the [[Crown of Thorns]] and is mocked ''(on the left)'', with the pope crowned with a [[Papal tiara|tiara]] and adored by bishops and abbots ''(on the right)'']]
Roper argues that "the most important reason why Luther did not meet with Hus's fate was technology: the new medium of print". Luther was publishing his views in short but pungent treatises that gained unexpected popularity: he was responsible for about one-fifth of all works printed in Germany in the first third of the {{nowrap|16th century}}.{{refn|group=note|Between 1517 and 1520, Luther completed 30 treatises, and more than 300,000 of their copies were sold.{{sfn|Rubin|2014|p=7}}}}{{sfn|Roper|2022|pp=68–69}} German printing presses were scattered in many urban centers which prevented their control by central authorities.{{sfn|Marshall|2009|p=17}} Statistical analysis indicates a significant [[correlation]] between the presence of a printing press in a German city and the adoption of Reformation.{{refn|group=note|According to an [[econometric analysis]] by the economist Jared Rubin, "the mere presence of a printing press prior to 1500 increased the probability that a city would become Protestant in 1530 by 52.1 percentage points, Protestant in 1560 by 43.6 percentage points, and Protestant in 1600 by 28.7 percentage points."{{sfn|Rubin|2014|p=26}} Cities with a competitive printing market were even more likely to accept new theologies.{{sfn|Dittmar|Seabold|2015|p=21}}}}{{sfn|Becker|Pfaff|Rubin|2016|p=18}}

Reformation spread through the activities of enthusiastic preachers such as [[Johannes Oecolampadius]] (d. 1531) and [[Konrad Pellikan|Konrad Kürsner]] (d. 1556) in [[Basel]], [[Sebastian Hofmeister]] (d. 1533) in [[Schaffhausen]], and [[Matthäus Zell]] (d. 1548) and [[Martin Bucer]] (d. 1551) in [[Strasbourg]].{{sfn|Cameron|2012|pp=111–112}} They were called "Evangelicals" due to their insistence on teaching in accordance with the [[Gospel]]s (or {{lang|he|Evangelion}}).{{sfn|Pfaff|2013|p=189}} Luther and many of his followers worked with the artist [[Lucas Cranach the Elder]] (d. 1553) who had a keen sense of visualising their message. He produced Luther's idealised portrait setting a template for further popular images printed on the covers of books.{{sfn|Roper|2022|pp=69–71}} Cranach's [[woodcut]]s together with itinerant preachers' explanations helped the mainly illiterate people to understand Luther's teaching.{{sfn|Becker|Pfaff|Rubin|2016|p=205}} The illustrated pamphlets were carried from place to place typically by peddlers and merchants.{{sfn|Kim|Pfaff|2012|p=205}} Laypeople started to discuss various aspects of religion in both private and public all over Germany.{{sfn|Kaufmann|2023|pp=92–93}}

The self-governing [[Free imperial city|free imperial cities]] were the first centers of the Reformation.{{sfn|Pfaff|2013|p=190}} The Evangelical preachers emphasized that many of the well-established church practices had no precedent in the Bible. They offered the Eucharist to the laity in both kinds,{{sfn|Kaufmann|2023|pp=95–96}} and denied the clerics' monopolies, which resonated with popular anti-clericalism.{{sfn|Becker|Pfaff|Rubin|2016|p=9}} It was not unusual that their supporters attacked clerics and church buildings.{{sfn|Kaufmann|2023|p=96}} Violent iconoclasm was common.{{refn|group=note|"Sixteenth-century Protestants and Catholics knew that iconoclasm was not simply a byproduct of the Reformation, or a violent spasm, but its very essence."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Eire |first1=Carlos M.N. |title=Book reviews: Early Modern European. 'Voracious Idols and Violent Hands: Iconoclasm in Reformation Zurich, Strasbourg, and Basel' by Lee Palmer Wandel. |journal=Catholic Historical Review |date=Oct 1996 |volume=82 |issue=4 |pages=703–704|doi=10.1353/cat.1996.0153  | issn = 0008-8080}}</ref> }}In some cities such as Strasbourg and [[Ulm]], the urban magistrates supported the Reformation; in the cities of the [[Hanseatic League]] the affluent middle classes enforced changes in church life.{{sfn|Rubin|2014|p=9}} Cities located closer to the most important ideological centers of the Reformation—Wittenberg and Basel—adopted its ideas more likely than other towns. This indicates the significance either of student networks,{{sfn|Kim|Pfaff|2012|p=206}} or of neighbours who had rejected Catholicism.{{sfn|Cantoni|2012|p=20}}

The sociologist Steven Pfaff underlines that "ecclesiastical and liturgical reform was not simply a religious question ... since the sort of reforms demanded by Evangelicals could not be accommodated within existing institutions, prevailing customs, or established law". After their triumph, the reformers expelled their leading opponents, dissolved the monasteries and convents, secured the urban magistrates' control of the appointment of priests, and established new civic institutions.{{sfn|Pfaff|2013|p=191}} Evangelical town councils usually prohibited begging but established a common chest for [[poverty relief]] by expropriating the property of dissolved ecclesiastic institutions. The funds were used for the daily support of orphans, old people and the sick, but also for low-interest loans to the impoverished to start a business. Luther was convinced that only educated people could effectively serve both God and the community. Under his auspices, public schools and libraries were opened in many towns offering education to more children than the traditional [[monastic school|monastic]] and [[cathedral school]]s.{{sfn|Lindberg|2021|pp=113–124}}

=== Resistance and oppression ===
[[File:Treasury of St. Ursula, Cologne, the Rhine, Germany-LCCN2002714088.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2 |alt=A golden shrine in a large room|Treasury of [[Saint Ursula]] in the [[Basilica of St. Ursula, Cologne]]. Her popular cult contributed to the townspeople's resistance to Evangelical proselytism in [[Cologne]].{{sfn|Pfaff|2013|p=201}}]]

Resistance to Evangelical preaching was significant in [[County of Flanders|Flanders]], the [[Rhineland]], [[Duchy of Bavaria|Bavaria]] and Austria.{{sfn|Becker|Pfaff|Rubin|2016|p=21}} Here the veneration of local saints was strong, and statistical analysis indicates that cities where indigenous saints' shrines served as centers of vivid communal cults less likely adopted Reformation.{{refn|group=note|Pfaff demonstrates in a study that the presence of a local saint's shrine in a city doubled the likelihood of resisting the Reformation.{{sfn|Pfaff|2013|p=202}}}}{{sfn|Pfaff|2013|p=214}} Likewise, cities with an episcopal see or monasteries more likely resisted Evangelical proselytism.<ref name="Rubin270"/>{{sfn|Curuk|Smulders|2016}} 

Luther's ideas were rejected by most representatives of the previous generation of Humanists. [[Erasmus]] stated that Luther's "unrestrained enthusiasm carries him beyond what is right". [[Jacob van Hoogstraaten]] (d. 1527) compared Luther's theology of salvation "as if Christ takes to himself the most foul bride and is unconcerned about her cleanliness".{{sfn|Cameron|2012|pp=132–134}} Luther's works were burned in most European countries.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|p=131}} Emperor Charles initiated the execution of the first Evangelical martyrs, the Augustinian monks [[Jan van Essen and Hendrik Vos]]. They were burned in Brussels on 1 July 1523.{{sfn|Kaufmann|2023|p=138}} Charles was determined to protect the Catholic Church, but the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks']] expansion towards Central Europe often thwarted him.{{sfn|Iyigun|2008|pp=4, 27}}{{sfn|Becker|Pfaff|Rubin|2016|pp=15, 19}} The [[Spanish Inquisition]] prevented the spread of Evangelical literature in that country, and suppressed the spiritual movement of the {{lang|es|[[Alumbrados]]}} ('Illuminists') who put a special emphasis on personal faith. Some Italian men of letters, such as the Venetian nobleman [[Gasparo Contarini]] (d. 1542) and the Augustinian canon [[Peter Martyr Vermigli]] (d. 1562) expressed ideas resembling Luther's theology of salvation but did not quickly break with Catholicism.{{refn|group=note|Contarini, according to his own words, "changed from great fear and suffering to happpiness" when he concluded, after counsel from a saintly monk on [[Holy Saturday]] 1511, that reliance on asceticism or penances was insufficient, unnecessary and counter-productive{{sfn|Collinson|2005|p=92}} however he did not hold Luther's position on, e.g., the sinfulness of good works.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gleason |first1=Elizabeth |title=Gasparo Contarini: Venice, Rome, and Reform |date=1993 |publisher=UC Press |location=Berkeley |url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft429005s2&chunk.id=d0e653&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e648&brand=ucpress;query=art#1}}</ref>}} They were part of a group known as {{lang|it|[[Spirituali]]}}.{{sfn|Kaufmann|2023|pp=146–147}}{{sfn|Cameron|2012|pp=135–136}} 

The English king [[Henry VIII]] ({{reign|1509|1547}}) commissioned a team of theologians to defend the Catholic dogmas against Luther's attacks. Their treatise titled ''[[Defence of the Seven Sacraments|The Assertion of the Seven Sacraments]]'' was published under Henry's name, and the grateful Pope awarded him with the title [[Defender of the Faith]].{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|p=131}}{{sfn|Kaufmann|2023|p=142}} In Scotland, the first Evangelical preacher [[Patrick Hamilton (martyr)|Patrick Hamilton]] (d. 1528) was burned for heresy.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2003|p=316}} In France, the theologians of the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]] stated that Luther "vomited up a doctrine of pestilence". [[Guillaume Briçonnet (Bishop of Meaux)|Guillaume Briçonnet]] (d. 1534), [[Bishop of Meaux]], also condemned Luther but employed reform-minded clerics like [[Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples]] (d. {{circa}} 1536) and [[William Farel]] (d. 1565) to renew religious life in his diocese. They enjoyed the protection of [[Marguerite de Navarre|Marguerite of Angoulême]] (d. 1549), the well-educated sister of the French king [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] ({{reign|1515|1547}}). The [[Parlement of Paris]] only took actions against them after Francis was captured in the [[Battle of Pavia]] in 1525, forcing many of them into exile.{{sfn|Lindberg|2021|pp=260–262}}

Correspondence between [[Luke of Prague]] (d. 1528), leader of the Bohemian Brethren, and Luther made it clear that their theologies were incompatible even if their views about justification were similar. In Bohemia, [[Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526)|Hungary]], and [[Kingdom of Poland (1385-1569)|Poland]], Luther's theology spread in the local German communities. King [[Louis II of Hungary|Louis of Bohemia and Hungary]] ({{reign|1516|1526}}) ordered the persecution of Evangelical preachers although his wife [[Mary of Hungary (governor of the Netherlands)|Mary of Austria]] (d. 1558) favoured the reformers. [[Sigismund I the Old]], King of Poland and Grand Duke of [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]] ({{reign|1506|1548}}) banned the import of Evangelical literature.{{sfn|Kaufmann|2023|pp=150–152}} [[Christian II of Denmark|Christian II]], who ruled the [[Kalmar Union]] of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway ({{reign|1513|1523}}), was sympathetic towards the Reformation but his despotic methods led to revolts. He was replaced by his uncle [[Frederick I of Denmark|Frederick I]] in Denmark and Norway ({{reign|1523|1533}}), and by a local aristocrat [[Gustav I of Sweden|Gustav I Vasa]] in Sweden ({{reign|1523|1560}}).{{sfn|Cameron|2012|p=275}}