-
May 1, 1309
Church Divides
The church officially divides. The church was heavily corrupted, causing the popes to split up. This meant that the church was no longer united. -
May 1, 1382
Martin Luther Translates Bible
Martin Luther finally translates the Bible into german. This was incredibly important because without that, only trained readers would have access to the Bible. He did this so that the population could read it on their own, and not have to rely so much on mass and the church to gain religious information. -
May 1, 1415
Church Punishes People Who Go Against Them
The church had finally had enough of people trying to "go against them" and took to physical punishments. They burned a man named Jan Hus at a stake at a council meeting. He wanted to create a church based strictly off the Bible, and nothing else. The church rejected this idea and felt threatened by him. -
May 29, 1453
Constantinople Collapses
The capital city of the Byzantine Empire was taken over by the Ottoman Empire. This cast fear of the Turks all throughout Europe. This made it impossible for Charles V to take control over Germany, as everyone was too scared to care. -
Feb 23, 1455
Johannes Gutenberg Releases Press
Johannes Gutenberg invented a printing press. He allowed Martin Luther to make copies of the german Bible for cheap. This is arguably the most crucial step, as Luther couldn't have spread the Bible without it. -
May 1, 1498
Martin Luther Receives Backup
As Martin Luther spread his beliefs that the church should be about worship and not money, more and more people started to agree with him. He claimed that acts of goodness and faith let people into heaven, not the amount money that is donated to the church. This undermined the church even more. An example of the people who backed him is Savonarola. -
Oct 31, 1517
Martin Luther Releases 95 Theses
Martin Luther released his 95 Theses in Wittenberg, Germany. His 95 Theses are "rules", guidelines, questions, and propositions about worship. He "released" them by nailing a copy to the door of the Wittenberg castle.
