An unstoppable rebellion and spreading from the grass roots up. The first steps of what would become the Reformation. ibid.
A series of peasant uprisings flared up across the country. ibid.
Luther would always hold to this vision of apocalyptic Biblical conflict. ibid.
After the peasants, one of his most infamous targets would be Judaism. ibid.
Protestantism swept across Germany and then on to France, the Netherlands, Belgium. But in every place it took a different form. ibid.
Luther would finally die in the year 1546 seized by a crippling heart attack. ibid.
Would the Protestant Reformation have happened without the printing press? Would the American Revolution have happened without pamphlets? Probably not. But neither printing presses nor pamphlets were the heroes of reform and revolution. Rebecca MacKinnon
The Protestant Reformation had a lot to do with the printing press, where Martin Luther’s theses were reproduced about 250,000 times, and so you had widespread dissemination of ideas that hadn’t circulated in the mainstream before. Nate Silver
Reformation names the disunity in which we currently stand. We who remain in the Protestant tradition want to say that Reformation was a success. Stanley Hauerwas
This very individualistic form of Protestant Christianity that became so basic in English and then American life is to a large degree responsible for the historical success of Britain and America. Walter Russell Mead
Protestantism developed its sense of identity primarily in response to external threats and criticisms rather than as a result of shared beliefs. In one sense, the idea of ‘Protestantism’ can be seen as the creation of its opponents rather than of its supporters. Alister E McGrath, ‘Christianity’s Dangerous Idea: The Protestant Revolution: A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First’
Then, said Cranly, you do not intend to become a protestant?
I said that I had lost the faith, Stephen answered, but not that I had lost self-respect. What kind of liberation would that be to forsake an absurdity which is logical and coherent and to embrace one which is illogical and incoherent? James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Here stand I. I can do no other. God help me. Amen. Martin Luther
For, where God built a church, there the devil would also build a chapel. Martin Luther
A safe stronghold our God is still,
A trusty shield and weapon. Martin Luther
Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God. Martin Luther
Is this the end of civilisation? ... The sixth killer app: Protestantism and the work ethic. Niall Ferguson, Civilisation: Is the West History? VI Work, Channnel 4 2011
Europeans these days work a whole lot less than their American counterparts. And they don’t just work less, they pray less. ibid.
Could it be that European Protestantism was killed by greed? ibid.
To the East a Godless Europe; to the West a God-fearing America. ibid.
Springfield ... Some five hundred places of worship. ibid.
Hong Kong created a quasi-Christian society of God-worshippers, that attracted the support of tens of millions of Chinese. ibid.
China’s experiment with Christianity had been a catastrophe ... Churches were closed down. Some were turned into factories. ibid.
The Protestant work ethic has come to China. ibid.
We live in an age of religious extremism, an age of terror and violent slaughter. We are locked in a bewildering ideological battle with religious fundamentalism. It’s a battle that’s taken most of us by surprise … We’ve been here before, here at home, here at the very heart of our own civilisation. Exactly 500 years ago the breach within Christianity tore Europe, England and the Church apart … The same apocalyptic violence as now. It’s own very own jihad. It’s called the Reformation. The Protestant Reformation was also a political and cultural revolution. It unleashed bloodshed, terror and the destruction of religious art. David Starkey, Reformation: Europe’s Holy War, BBC 2017
A spiritual empire bigger than the Caesars. It’s hard to overestimate the power of the Catholic Church in the late Middle Ages. It was a vastly wealthy, bureaucratic machine at the heart of Europe. ibid.
Indulgences were often sold to finance Church schemes … And for one German monk this was an abomination. On 31st October 1517 Martin Luther very publicly denounced this scandal. ibid.
By taking on the power of the Church, Luther has become a local legend, a figurehead for a populist, anti-establishment movement. ibid.
A stream of heretic works followed Tyndale’s New Testament to England. ibid.
Henry himself was left looking for a new policy. ibid.
England was on the road to its Tudor Brexit. ibid.
Thomas More was beheaded in 1535. ibid.
Luther’s Reformation was fuelled by religious fundamentalism and political opportunism. Henry’s was triggered by lust and a hunger for dynastic power. ibid.
King Henry declared Protestantism illegal throughout the kingdom. The Real War of Thrones s2e6: The Last of the Valois 1584-1594, History 2022
Since her marriage to Henry at 19 years old, Catherine’s main role had been to provide children for the crown. She was pregnant 10 times. The Real War of Thrones s2e2: In the Name of God 1550-1564
The Catholic King of Spain would devote his reign to eliminating Protestants from Europe. Protestants also risked being burned at the stake at the Catholic kingdom of France. ibid.
With the rise of Protestantism, Europe was plunged into bloody war. Among the Catholics, France was weakened by a regency; Spain was faced with a revolt; in Scotland, the Queen risked losing her throne for love. The Real Game of Thrones s2e3: Europe Ignites 1561-1569
1561: In France, Queen Catherine d’Medici must choose between tolerance and suppression … In six months, the Kingdom of France plunged into the first war of religion, dragging Europe behind it in a fight for faith. ibid.
King Henry declared Protestantism illegal throughout the kingdom. The Real War of Thrones s2e6: The Last of the Valois 1584-1594
Protestants! You will die! Agonisingly! And where will you go when you shuffle off this pestilential mortal coil? Where? Belfast 2021 starring Jude Hill & Caitriona Balfe & Judi Dench & Ciaran Hinds & lewis McAskie & Colin Morgan & Lara McDonnell & Michael Maloney et al, director Kenneth Branagh