Editing History of Christianity (section)

== Renaissance and Reformation (c. 1300–1650) ==
{{Further|Renaissance}}
=== Division in the West ===
[[Crisis of the late Middle Ages|The many calamities of the "long fourteenth century"]] included [[Bubonic plague|plague]], [[Great Famine of 1315–1317|famine]], [[Hundred Years' War|wars]], and [[Popular revolts in late medieval Europe|social unrest]], leading European people to believe that [[Christian eschatology|the end of the world]] was imminent.{{sfn|Lazzarini|Blanning|2021|pp=7–9}}{{sfn|Taylor|2021|pp=109–110}}{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998|pp=241–244}} This belief ran throughout society and became intertwined with anti-clerical and anti-papal sentiments.{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|p=4}}{{sfn|Taylor|2021|pp=118–119}}{{refn|group=note|Some claimed that the clergy did little to help the suffering, although the high mortality rate amongst clerics indicates that many continued to care for the sick. Other medieval folk claimed it was the "corrupted" and "vice-ridden" clergy that had caused the many calamities they believed were punishments from God.{{sfn|Taylor|2021|pp=114–115}}}} Criticism of the church became an integral part of late medieval European life, and was expressed in both secular and religious writings, and movements of heresy or internal reform,{{sfn|Swanson|2021|pp=9; 11; 12}}{{sfn|Heß|2013|pp=78–80, 88-89, 94}} although most attempts at reform between 1300 and 1500 failed.{{sfn|Swanson|2021|pp=15–17; 21}}{{sfn|MacCulloch|2009|p=378}}{{refn|group=note|In 1320, [[Dante Alighieri]] completed the [[Divine Comedy]], a Christian allegory of reason and divine revelation, sin and ultimate truth, using Catholic doctrine on Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. It became one of the greatest works in literary history.{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998| p=223}}}} 

In 1309, [[Pope Clement V]] fled Rome's factional politics by moving to [[Avignon]] in southern France. By leaving Rome the seat of Peter behind, this [[Avignon Papacy]], consisting of seven successive popes, unintentionally diminished papal prestige and power.{{sfn|Taylor|2021|pp=109–110, 118–119}}{{sfn|MacCulloch|2009|pp=375, 559, 561}} [[Pope Gregory XI]] returned to Rome in 1377.{{sfn|Kelly|2009|p=104}}{{sfn|Whalen|2015|p=14}}{{sfn|Taylor|2021|pp=109–110}} After Gregory's death the following year, the [[papal conclave]] elected [[Urban VI]] to succeed him, but the French cardinals disapproved and elected [[Robert of Geneva]] instead. This began the [[Western Schism]], during which there was more than one pope.{{sfn|Olson|1999|p=348}} In 1409, the [[Council of Pisa]]'s attempted resolution resulted in the election of a third separate pope. The schism was finally resolved in 1417, with the election of [[Pope Martin V]].{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998|pp=245–246}}{{sfn|Ullmann|2005|p=xv}}

Throughout the Late Middle Ages, the church faced powerful challenges and vigorous political confrontations.{{sfn|Van Engen|1986|pp=526; 532; 538; 552}}{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|pp=1; 7}} The English scholastic philosopher [[John Wycliffe]] (1320–1384) urged the church to again embrace simplicity by giving up its property and wealth, ending subservience to secular politics, and denying papal authority.{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998|p=247}}{{sfn|Estep|1986|pp=64, 66-67}} Wycliffe's teachings were condemned as heresy, but he was allowed to live out the last two years of his life in his home parish.{{sfn|Estep|1986|p=64}} In 1382, Wycliffe created the first [[Wycliffe's Bible|English translation of the Bible]].{{sfn|Norton|2011|pp=8–11}} Wycliffe's teachings influenced the Czech theologian [[Jan Hus]] (1369–1415) who also spoke out against what he saw as corruption in the church.{{sfn|Estep|1986|p=69}} Hus was convicted of heresy and burned at the stake.{{sfn|Estep|1986|p=76}} This was the impetus for the [[Bohemian Reformation]] and led to the [[Hussite Wars]].{{sfn|Haberkern|2016|pp=1–3}}{{sfn|Frassetto|2007|pp=196-198}}{{sfn|Estep|1986|pp=76–77}} 

Meanwhile, a vernacular religious culture called the ''[[Devotio Moderna]]'' attempted to work toward a pious society of ordinary people.{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998|p=246}} Through the Dutch scholar [[Erasmus|Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus]] (1466–1536), [[Christian humanism]] grew and impacted literature and education.{{sfn|Caspari|1947|pp=91-92}} Between 1525 and 1534, [[William Tyndale]] used the Vulgate and Greek texts from Erasmus to create the [[Tyndale Bible]].{{sfn|Norton|2011|pp=8–11}} King James commissioned the [[King James Version]] in 1604, using all previous versions in Latin, Greek, and English as sources. It was published in 1611.{{sfn|Norton|2011|pp=, 54, 85, 132}}

=== East and Renaissance ===
A reunion agreement between the Orthodox and Catholic churches in 1452 was negated by the [[Fall of Constantinople]] to the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1453, which sealed off Orthodoxy from the West for more than a century.{{sfn|Kitromilides|2006|pp=187, 191}}{{sfn|Kenworthy|2008|p=173}}{{sfn|Dowley|2018|pp=342–343}} Islamic law did not acknowledge the Byzantine church as an institution, but a concern for societal stability allowed it to survive. Financial handicaps, constant upheaval, [[simony]], and corruption impoverished many, and made conversion an attractive solution.{{sfn|Zachariadou|2006|pp=171–181}}{{sfn|Kenworthy|2008|p=175}}{{sfn|Kitromilides|2006|p=192}} This led to the state confiscating churches and turning them into mosques.{{sfn|Kitromilides|2006|p=192}} The patriarchate became a part of the Ottoman system under [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] (1520–1566),{{sfn|Zachariadou|2006|pp=181; 184}}{{sfn|Kenworthy|2008|p=175}} and by the end of the sixteenth century, widespread desperation and low morale had produced crisis and decline. When [[Cyril Lucaris|Cyril I Loukaris (1572 – 1638)]] became Patriarch in 1620, he began leading the church toward renewal.{{sfn|Kitromilides|2006|p=192}} A shared hostility towards Catholicism led Cyril to reach out to the Protestants of Europe and to be deeply impacted by their Reformation doctrines.{{sfn|Kitromilides|2006|p=195}} Protestant pressure produced the [[Cyril_Lucaris#Calvinism|Lukaris Confession]] embracing [[Reformed Christianity|Calvinism]].{{sfn|Kitromilides|2006|pp=197-198}}

[[File:Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano September 2015-1a.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|alt=image of St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City|The facade of [[St. Peter's Basilica]] in the [[Vatican City]].]]
The flight of [[Greek scholars in the Renaissance|Eastern Christians from Constantinople]], as well as the manuscripts they carried with them, were important factors in stimulating literary renaissance in the West.{{sfn|Hudson|2023}}{{sfn|Ware|1993|p=11}} The Catholic Church became a leading patron of [[Renaissance art|art]] and [[Medieval architecture|architecture]], commissioning work and supporting renowned artists.{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998|pp=299, 308–319}}{{sfn|Hebron|2022|loc=Heritage and Rupture with the Tradition}} Even while fifteenth-century popes struggled to reestablish papal authority, the [[Renaissance Papacy]] transformed Rome by rebuilding [[St. Peter's Basilica]] and establishing the city as a prestigious centre of learning.{{sfn|Gordon|2022|pp=6, 9-10}} Reformation Protestants condemned these popes as corrupt for their lack of chastity, nepotism, and selling "hats and indulgences".{{sfn|Gordon|2022|pp=10–11}} 

In Russia, [[Ivan III of Russia]] adopted the style of the Byzantine imperial court to gain support among the Rus' elite who saw themselves as the new 'chosen' and Moscow as the [[New Jerusalem#Eastern Christianity|New Jerusalem]].{{sfn|Shepard|2006|pp=8–9}} [[Jeremias II]] (1536–1595), the first Orthodox patriarch to visit north-eastern Europe, founded the [[Russian Orthodox Church|Orthodox Patriarchate of Russia]] during his journey.{{sfn|Zachariadou|2006|p=185}}{{sfn|Kenworthy|2008|p=175}}

The [[History of the Catholic Church in Japan|sixteenth-century success of Christianity in Japan]] was followed by severe repression, such as the [[crucifixion]] of the [[26 Martyrs of Japan]].{{sfn|Macdonald|2015|p=31}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2008|pp=14–15}}{{sfn|O'Hara|2022}}

=== Colonialism and missions ===
{{Main|Christianity and colonialism}}{{See also|Christianity in China|Christianity in Korea|Christianity in Vietnam}}
[[Colonialism]], which began in the fifteenth century, originated either on a militaristic/political path, a commercial one, or with settlers who wanted land.{{sfn|Gardner|Roy|2020|p=19}} Christian missionaries soon followed with their own separate agenda.{{sfn|Gardner|Roy|2020|p=19, 20, 21}}{{sfn|Nowell|Magdoff|Webster|2022}}{{sfn|Gilley|2006|p=1}}{{sfn|Robinson|1952|p=152}} "Companies, politicians, missionaries, settlers, and traders rarely acted together" and were often in conflict.{{sfn|Gardner|Roy|2020|p=19, 20, 21}} Some missionaries supported colonialism while others took stances against colonial oppression.{{sfn|Gardner|Roy|2020|pp=11, 69-70}}{{sfn|Sanneh|2007|p=134}}{{sfn|Gilley|2006|p=3}}{{sfn|Sanneh|1985|p=200, 204, 210-211}} 

Between 1500 and 1800, Catholic Christianity gained followers worldwide through missionaries from the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]], [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]], and [[First French Empire|French]] empires.{{sfn|Koschorke|2025|pp=XX-XXIII}}{{sfn|Gilley|2006|p=1}}{{sfn|Robert|2009|p=105}} During the Hispanic colonization of the Americas, Latin America largely became a [[New World]] form of [[History of the Catholic Church in Spain|Iberian Catholicism]], while the merging of native and Spanish traditions also created a multitude of indigenous Christianities.{{sfn|Koschorke|2025|pp=77, 80}}{{sfn|Sanneh|2016|p=14}} Spanish missionaries tried to suppress the trade in [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Amerindian]] slaves in the Caribbean, but the Catholic church became one of the largest holders of black slaves.{{sfn|Eltis|Bradley|Cartledge|Drescher|2011|pp=257–259, 499}}

Long before the first European colonists arrived, indigenous Christian communities, which were often in conflict with the newcomers, had existed in Asia and Africa.{{sfn|Koschorke|2025|pp=XX-XXI}} Prior to the Portuguese' landing, [[Saint Thomas Christians|St.Thomas Christian communities]] in southern India had existed continuously for more than 1000 years.{{sfn|Koschorke|2025|p=9}} In the 16th century, baptized Kongolese Christians were taken by Portuguese slavers to the [[Caribbean]] and [[Brazil]] where there are clear traces that they evangelized among their fellow sufferers. Former slaves returned to West Africa "with Bible in hand" preceding the European Protestant missionaries. These [[Freedman|freedmen]] founded [[Freetown]] which played a central role in the Christianization of West Africa.{{sfn|Koschorke|2025|p=XXIII}}

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, [[Reductions|reductionist villages]] for natives in regions of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil were established by Jesuits and other orders. Jesuits promoted local skills and technical innovations, working exclusively in the native language to form an "agrarian collective" kept separate from the rest of colonial society, with serfdom and forced labor forbidden. The Spanish crown resented this autonomy, and the Jesuit order was banned; its members were expelled from Spain in 1767. Thereafter, reduction territories became open to settlers, and natives often became bondmen.{{sfn|Koschorke|2025|pp=82-83}}{{refn|group=note| In 1986, [[ Roland Joffé]] made a film titled [[The Mission (1986 film)|The Mission]] dramatizing these events.{{sfn|Scranton|2015}}}}

===Women, witch frenzy, expulsion and inquisition===
{{See also|Witch trials in the early modern period}}
[[Women in the Middle Ages]] were considered incapable of moral judgment and authority.{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|p=5}}{{refn|group=note|Women had no access to education within institutions associated with the church, such as cathedral schools and most universities.{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|p=5}} The boundary between men and women was absolute in clerical matters. The church often used the participation of women to demonize movements deemed heretical.{{sfn|Heß|2013|p=84}}}} However, there were women who became distinguished leaders of nunneries, exercising the same powers and privileges as their male counterparts, such as [[Hildegard of Bingen]] (d. 1179), [[Elisabeth of Schönau]] (d. 1164/65), and [[Marie d'Oignies]] (d. 1213).{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|pp=96–97}}{{sfn|Garcia|2004|p=180}} Although the Catholic Church had long ruled that [[witches]] did not exist, the conviction that witches were both real and malevolent developed throughout fifteenth-century European society.{{sfn|Kwiatkowska|2010|p=30}}{{sfn|Levack|2013|p=6}} No single cause of "witch frenzy" is known, although the [[Little Ice Age]] is thought to have been a factor.{{sfn|Behringer|2019|pp=69-72}} Approximately 100,000 people, of whom 80% were women accused by those in their own villages, were prosecuted in mostly civil trials between 1561 and 1670; 40,000 to 50,000 were executed.{{sfn|Monter|2023}}{{sfn|Levack|2013|p=6}}

The medieval church never officially repudiated Augustine's doctrine of protecting the Jews. However, defining them as heretical outsiders became increasingly common in European society of the fifteenth century as the newly centralized states demanded greater cultural conformity from their citizens.{{sfn|Parker|2023}}{{sfn|Heß|2013|p=83}} Local rulers repeatedly [[Expulsions and exoduses of Jews|evicted Jews from their lands]] and confiscated Jewish property.{{sfn|Bejczy|1997|pp=374 fn43, 368}}{{sfn|Cohen|1998|p=396}}{{sfn|Lacopo|2016|pp=2–3}} 

Between 1478 and 1542, the Spanish and Portuguese inquisitions were initially authorized by the church but soon became state institutions.{{sfn|Rawlings|2006|pp=1–2}}{{sfn|Marcocci|2013|pp=1–7}}{{sfn|Mayer|2014|pp=2–3}} Authorized by [[Pope Sixtus IV]] in 1478, the [[Spanish Inquisition]] was established to combat fears that Jewish converts were conspiring with Muslims to sabotage [[Hispanic Monarchy (political entity)|the new state]].{{sfn|Tarver|Slape|2016|pp=210–212}}{{sfn|Bernardini|Fiering|2001|p=371}} Five years later, a papal bull conceded control of the Spanish Inquisition to Spanish monarchs, making it the first national, unified, centralized institution of the nascent Spanish state.{{sfn|Kamen|2014|p=182}}{{sfn|MacCulloch|2009|p=587}}{{sfn|Casanova|1994|p=75}} The monarchy centralized state power by absorbing military orders, adapting [[Santa Hermandad|police organizations]] and the Inquisition for political purposes.{{sfn|Parker|2023}} The [[Portuguese Inquisition]], controlled by a state board of directors, incorporated anti-Judaism before the end of the fifteenth century. Many of these forcibly converted Jews, known as [[New Christian|New Christians]], fled to [[Portuguese India|Portuguese colonies in India]], where they subsequently suffered as targets of the [[Goa Inquisition]].{{sfn|Flannery|2013|p=11}}{{sfn|Marcocci|2013|pp=1–7}} The bureaucratic and intellectual [[Roman Inquisition]], best known for its condemnation of [[Galileo]], served the papacy's political aims in Italy.{{sfn|Mayer|2014|pp=2–3, 5}}

=== Reformation ===
{{multiple image
| footer            = In 1517, [[Martin Luther]] initiated the [[Reformation]] with his ''[[Ninety-five Theses]]''.
| align             = vertical
| image1            = Lucas Cranach d.Ä. - Martin Luther, 1528 (Veste Coburg).jpg
| width1            = 170
| caption1          =
| alt1              = image of Martin Luther
| image2            = Luther 95 Thesen.png
| width2            = 188
| caption2          =
| alt2              = image of a page listing Luther's 95 theses.
}}
Supported by secular and canon law, the fourteenth century had been among the most violently oppressive of times in Western Europe for minorities.{{sfn|Hastings|2000|p=382}}{{sfn|Nirenberg|2015|p=19}} Protests against several church practices led to the [[Protestant Reformation]] which began when the Catholic monk [[Martin Luther]] nailed his ''[[Ninety-five Theses]]'' to the church door in [[Wittenberg]] in 1517. Luther challenged the nature of the church's role in society and its authority.{{sfn|Dixon|2017|pp=535–536; 553}}{{sfn|Leaver|1989|p=263}} For Catholics, authority meant the Pope. For the protesters, authority was in the priesthood of believers and Scripture.{{sfn|Leaver|1989|p=263}} Edicts issued at the [[Diet of Worms]] in 1521 condemned Luther.{{sfn|Fahlbusch|Bromiley|2003|p=362}}{{sfn|Barnett|1999|p=28}}

After protracted and acrimonious struggle, three new religious traditions emerged alongside Roman Catholicism: the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]], [[Reformed Christianity|Reformed]], and [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] traditions.{{sfn|Williams|1995|pp=xxx–xxix}}{{sfn|Prideaux|1986|p=159}} For Luther, the church's role in society was determined by two realms of human existence, the secular and the sacred, where one is not allowed to dominate the other, and only secular authority has the right to use force.{{sfn|Gritsch|2010|pp=12, 110}}{{sfn|Leaver|1989|p=263}} The Reformed churches, formed by followers of theologian [[John Calvin]], argued that the church had the right to function without interference from the state, and they established the ideal of a [[Representative democracy|constitutional representative government]] in both the church and in society.{{sfn|Packer|1966|p=149}}{{sfn|Benedict|2002|page=xiv}} [[Puritans]] and other [[English Dissenters|Dissenter groups]] in England, [[Huguenots]] in France, [[Dutch Reformed Church|“Beggars”]] in Holland, [[Covenanters]] in Scotland who produced [[Presbyterianism]], and [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrim Fathers of New England]] are Reformed churches that trace their theological roots to Calvin.{{sfn|Benedict|2002|page=xiv}} The Anglican church was first created as the [[Church of England]] by [[Henry VIII]] (1491 – 1547) who severed it from papal authority and appointed himself [[Supreme Head of the Church of England]]. Still, Henry preserved Catholic doctrine and the church's established role in society.{{sfn|Prideaux|1986|p=161}}{{sfn|Chapman|2006|pp=1, 30}} 

The Roman Catholic Church responded in the [[Counter-Reformation]], spearheaded by ten reforming popes between 1534 to 1605. The [[Council of Trent]] (1545–1563) denied each Protestant claim, and laid the foundation of modern Catholic policies. New monastic orders were formed, including the [[Society of Jesus]] – the "Jesuits" – who adopted military-style discipline and strict loyalty to the Pope.{{sfn|O'Malley|1995|p=16}}{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998|pp=329, 335–336}} Monastic reform also led to the [[Spanish mystics]] and the [[French school of spirituality]],{{sfn|MacCulloch|2004|p=404}} as well as the [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Uniate church]] which used Eastern liturgy but recognized the authority of Rome.{{sfn|Kenworthy|2008|pp=175–176}}

Quarreling royal houses, already involved in dynastic disagreements, became polarized into the two religious camps.{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998|pp=329–331}} In 1562, France became the centre of [[French Wars of Religion|a series of wars]], of which the largest and most destructive was the [[Thirty Years' War]] (1618–1648).{{sfn|Onnekink|2016|p=3}}{{sfn|Parker|2023}} While some scholars argue that these wars were varieties of the [[just war]] tradition for religious liberty and freedom,{{sfn|Onnekink|2016|p=10}} most historians argue that the wars were more about nationalistic state-building and economics, and less about religion.{{sfn|Murphy|2014|p=481, 484}}{{sfn|Onnekink|2016|pp=3, 6}}