Modern World History IS

Martin Luther Writes 95 Theses

1517

Martin Luther begins the reformation in Wittenberg. Martin Luther's protest over abuses in the Catholic Church led to the founding of Protestant churches.

Edict of Worms

1521

Luther made a speech, Charles issued an imperial order, the Edict of Worms. It declared Luther was an outlaw and a heretic.

Swiss Civil War

1531

A violent war happened in 1531. Swiss cantons had a generation of relatively political stability. As part of their struggle for independence, they in the 15th century looked to limit the influence of the Church on their political authority.

Act of Supremacy in England

1534

The Act of Supremacy abolished the Roman Catholic Church's power in England, declared the English monarch the Supreme Head of the Church of England, and initiated the English Reformation.

Thomas More executed

1535

Thomas More criticized the church. Remained a devoted catholic. Said his faith would not allow him to accept the terms of the act and refused to take the oath. Henry then arrested and imprisoned him in the Tower of London. More was found guilty of high reason and executed.

Anabaptists settle in Münster

1535

Anabaptists were heavily persecuted by state churches, both Protestants and Roman Catholics. Starting in the 16th century and continuing after, mostly because of their ideas of baptism. Which include getting baptized as an adult. This put them at odds with official state church interpretations and local government control.

John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion

1536

Published in Latin in 1536, the Institutes argues for the dignity of God and for the righteous by faith alone. The book decisively shaped Calvinism as a significant, religious and intellectual force in Europe and throughout the world.

Jesuits order founded

1540

Members of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Ignatius of Loyola. They also founded schools, missioned to convert non-christians and stop spread of Protestantism.

Council of Trent

1545

Paul 111 took lead in reforming Catholic Church.He called the council of Church leaders meet in Trent in Northern Italy. To rule on doctrines criticized by the Protestant reformers.

Peace of Augsburg

1555

Ended the fighting in Europe between the Holy Roman Empire (Charles V) and the Protestant Princes in Germany. It established the fact that the princes could choose their religion in their territories.

Reign of Elizabeth

1559

Elizabeth 1 begins rule: restores the Protestant Church.
Elizabeth became head of Anglican church. Church was only legal church in England. Church moderated Protestants and Catholics.

Scotland becomes Calvinist

1560

In 1560, Scotland went though a Protestant Reformation that created a primarily Calvinist national kirk, which was strongly Presbyterian in prospect.

St. Bartholomew's day of massacre

1572

The St. Bartholomew's Day of Massacre was to end a new protestant group called the Huguenots. The actual massacre was ordered by the king to murder a group of Huguenot leaders throughout Paris. The massacre marked a turning point in the French wars of religion.

Edict of Nantes

1598

Declaration in which the French King Henry IV promised that Protestants could live in peace in France and could set up houses of worship in some French cities.