The Protestant Reformation was a separation of the protestants from the Catholics, because many people found fault with many of the doctrines of the catholic church. The reformation began in 1517 but the thoughts and works behind the actual reformation began before that, as far back as the life of Wycliffe. The reformation has had great impacts on the culture of many nations and churches today, creating a whole new division of the church.
Some of the important reformation documents included the Wycliffe Bible (an English version of the bible from 1382), Martin Luther’s theses (problems with the Catholic church) (1517), and John Calvin’s writings.
Martin Luther was the father of the reformation, greatly spreading and encouraging the reformation. He had the courage to completely deny the Catholic church and their “unholy” ways. John Wycliffe, John Calvin, and many others were also greatly influential in the reformation. Johannes Gutenburg’s printing press was also very important, as it enabled books and other works to travel much more quickly and be much, much more accessible. The Wycliffe bible was also very helpful for the reformation, because now the common English man could read the bible for themselves instead of having to listen to a “corrupted” preaching of it, translated by a Catholic Priest or Bishop. The Reformation also played a large part in the colonization of America, as most of the settlers who went to America were protestant men and women trying to escape the legal but inhumane tyranny of the Catholics.