The Protestant Reformation (1517) was one of the more transformational events in European history impacting religious, poltical and social landscape across the continent.

At the heart of this movement was one person, a German Monk called Martin Luther whose ‘95 Thesis’ caused quite a stirr.

But was he indispensible to this shift or would the Reformation happen anyway without him?

Before Martin Luther

Before the reformation, the Catholic Church was by far the most dominant institution in Europe, holding immense power over all day to day matters. During the unstable Dark Ages, the Church provided a sense of order, stability, primary source of education, law, moral guidance. The teachings of the Church were considered absolute, and questioning the authority was not only discouraged by also resulted in pretty serious consequences including execution. The clergy had near-monopoly in knowledge, and Bible (the source of truth) were written in Latin, a language largely inaacesibel to general popilation. It meant that the Church could maintain its power completely unchalleneged, and no one really had the oppirtunty to question its doctrines.

But this authority was often abused. One example was the sale of indulgences, where the Church clained that pyaments could reduce the time in purgatory (a made up place where you to to reduce the time you spend in hell…)

One of the most egregious examples was the sale of indulgences, where the Church claimed that monetary payments could reduce time spent in purgatory, the intermediary state where souls were believed to be purified before entering heaven.