Beginning of Essay
may be considered to have started with Martin Luther's writing of the 95 Theses in 1517. Luther was not the first to question certain doctrines of the Catholic Church, but he served as a focal point for those who would ultimately work to throw off the domination ....

Middle of Essay
.... governments. And, with the rise of nationalism at the time helped to protect him in spreading his ideas. The Protestant League gave them a form of political power against the rest of Europe also. Until , Catholicism was a uniting force in Europe. Since all people there, other than Jews, were members of the Church, there was a sense of solidarity, which would never exist again in Europe after the Reformation. The power of the Church, then, was both religious and secular. However, after the Reformation, countries began to choose sides religiously, and to attempt to keep their own states almost entirely one or the other. This helped to change t ....