Editing History of Christianity (section)

=== Reformation ===
{{multiple image
| footer            = In 1517, [[Martin Luther]] initiated the [[Reformation]] with his ''[[Ninety-five Theses]]''.
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| image1            = Lucas Cranach d.Ä. - Martin Luther, 1528 (Veste Coburg).jpg
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| alt1              = image of Martin Luther
| image2            = Luther 95 Thesen.png
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| alt2              = image of a page listing Luther's 95 theses.
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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}}