As far as I know, that was the end of Christianity…but that’s ALL I know. I find the topics easier to understand when it comes to Yahoo! Answers (which is sad but true).
The Protestant Reformation is the name given to a religious and political development at the beginning of the 16th century. The reformation was led by Martin Luther, a German monk. He said the Roman Catholic Church was corrupt and should be reformed. Luther also argued that reform of other things was necessary. In particular, reform was needed regarding: the language in which the Bible was produced: most people could not read Latin; selling forgiveness, this was considered immoral by Luther, but was a common practice by some monks and priests for years. The ideas behind the Protestant Reformation were simple. The church should be changed, or reformed, so that it is less greedy, more just, and more accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy and educated.
The protest against the church was not entirely new. In England there were similar protests in the 14th century: although they were crushed. Luther, however, won a lot of support for his ideas. Many people were unhappy with the Pope and the Church.
The Protestant Reformation did not “break” Christianity as it still stands today (I should have known that, I am a Christian). He simply divided Christendom into two main parts; Protestantism and Catholicism.
Protestants (like me) believe that salvation cannot be earned or bought and is only available through faith in Jesus Christ. Catholics (not speaking for all of them) generally believe that salvation is attainable by faith AND good works.
Martin Luther, the guy who started it all, decided to do something big and translated the Bible from Latin to German so everyone could read and see God’s Holy Word for themselves (Luther was German, that is why he translated the Bible for this Language).
In the early 17th century, King James of England had the Bible translated into English, hence the King James Version of the Bible. There is also a New King James version which is the one I use (there are also other reliable translations). The King James Version, or KJV, is written in what we call “Shakespeare’s English”, meaning it is the same language spoken by Shakespeare in his day.
Back to the Reformation. After Luther’s separation from the Roman Catholic Church, Catholics understandably began a counter-reformation to save face. Before the Reformation, the Catholic Church was corrupt; there were priestly and papal offices sold, as well as indulgences (indulgences are small pieces of paper that “guarantee salvation” for the living and the dead), priests marrying or taking concubines, and papal offices given to children (Pope Leo X is an example).
Google Protestant Reform for a better explanation.
Source(s): Christian with a BA in history.
Martin Luther started when he wrote the 95 Theses. The 95 Theses contained everything that was wrong with the Catholic Church. The printing press was invented recently and helped spread the 99 Theses among Europeans. The peoples of Europe saw the things that were wrong with the Catholic Church and decided to create their own branches of Christianity. These included Lutherans and Protestants.
Yahoo or Google… Source Book on Modern Internet History
Source(s): USEFUL