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.

Martin Luther was a man from Germany who truly ignited the protestant reformation. He taught many differences from the catholic church (which I am not going to discuss in great detail) including the fact that he did not believe in the selling of indulgences, which was the pope saying “give us money, and God will ‘save’ you”. Martin Luther translated the bible into the Germanic Language so that more common folk could read the bible for themselves. Martin Luther was the inspiration for many other protestant reformers, and he became very famous for his works.

Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer of the new world. He made his first journey across the Atlantic in 1499. Vespucci was famous for his idea that the New World was not a part of Asia.

Vespucci was born in Florence, Italy in 1454. He learned the trade of the merchant instead of going to college or university. Because he learned to be a merchant, he also learned bookkeeping and the like. Hence, he was the perfect fit for a job offered to him by Lorenzo Medici as a clerk (somebody that keeps track of the money, transactions, and financial status of another person). His work as Lorenzo’s Clerk led him to Spain on some business matters. He helped finance some of Columbus’ journeys out of pocket but never actually went on any journeys with him. Vespucci accompanied King Manuel I of Portugal to South America (not yet named South America). Vespucci kept a journal of his trip to South America. He then published it in his book, .

How many times Vespucci was in the New World is debated, but he had been there at least once. He was one of the first people to explore what is now South America. Martian Waldseemuller decided to name the New World after Vespucci. His first name was Amerigo. Amerigo becomes America, and then that became divided into North America, Central America, and South America. Vespucci would come become the master navigator of Spain, and would hold that position until he died of Malaria in 1512.

Ferdinand Magellan began the first expedition to circle the globe, although he died midway through the 3 year journey. He set out east from the spice islands in 1519, and traveled along the South American coast, eventually finding the strait of Magellan, which he sailed through. He named the Pacific Ocean, because it was very peaceful, with little or no rough waters. They stopped at a couple undiscovered islands where Magellan died to a native battle. The crew got as many cloves as they could in exchange for the few items they had, and sailed west, around the coast of Africa, and arrived at Spain, completing the trip around the world and proving the world was round. Only one ship and 18 men survived out of the 200 men and 5 ships.

Christopher Columbus was born in Portugal, and was the earliest recorded European to go to North America. According to the heliocentric worldview, the Earth is round, so Columbus could, theoretically, travel around the world to Asia. Columbus wanted to travel to India for the spices and other items of value in that country. Instead, he found San Salvador, one of the Caribbean Islands.

Columbus decided to attempt to travel west instead of east around the world, in order to reach India. He finally got a contract from Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to finance a journey, and he had a small fleet assembled. Columbus, rather than finding an alternate route to India, instead stumbled upon the Caribbean Islands. The first Island he came upon, he named San Salvador. It was inhabited by native peoples. Columbus was surprised when they were not hostile, and they did not have any of the modern weapons that the rest of the world had. Columbus thought he was in China or Japan. He had no clue he had discovered a new continent. He made one more stop before he went back to Europe, where he encountered his first hostile group of people. He did escape to tell the tale, and sailed back to Europe.

Upon sailing home, he inspired many others to explore and travel in America including Amerigo Vespucci, Ferdinand Magellan, and others. Columbus has many, many cities, states, etc named after him here in America. Columbus’ journeys, in short, led to the adventures of others, who discovered the larger continent of America.

Leonardo Da Vinci was born in Florence, Italy, in the year 1452. He was one of the most famous Italian artists and Renaissance thinkers. Beyond painting many paintings on different topics and for different people, Leonardo thought up many ideas that weren’t invented and put into practical use for several centuries. One of these was the Tank, which would roll around on wheels pushed by men, and then archers on the inside could attack the enemy while being protected by the walls of the tank. Another one was the helicopter, which was not actually built for several centuries. At times, Leonardo was also employed to work as a military engineer for certain cities, and some of his ideas were employed. Leonardo did not like to be referred to as an artist as much as he did an engineer. Leonardo’s most famous work is the Mona Lisa. It is currently in a French museum.

Michelangelo Buonarroti was another of the great Renaissance men. He studied in Florence. Michelangelo was a master of sculpting and fresco painting. Michelangelo’s father did not want him to be an artiest; he thought it was below their class. Michelangelo’s father sent Michelangelo to Florence to study language, but he did not like it, so he studied art instead. He worked with a master of frescoes, and soon became one himself. Michelangelo’s most famous works are The David and the fresco on the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling. The David was already in existence, but Michelangelo took the unfinished work and sculpted it into something beautiful.

In 1450 Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press. This was a major step forward in creating books and spreading information. Previously, all books had to be copied by hand, and this was both inefficient and labor intensive, making it a non-viable method of spreading information. The printing press was the beginning of a new era in civilization, marking the beginning of the industrial revolution. The way the printing press works is a typesetter will take a piece of type for each letter, and lay them out. The type is then used as a sort of stamp to put the ink onto the pages of the book. This made mass producing books and works of literature much easier. This, in turn, let the reformation spread much quicker. It also made the industrial revolution occur much speedier.