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The 'Protestant Reformers' were those theologians, churchmen, and statesmen whose careers, works, and actions brought about the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe. It is thought to have begun in 1517 with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses and may be considered to have ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648....
 of the sixteenth century. Historically speaking, "Protestant" was the name given to those theologians, magnates, and delegations present at the Holy Roman Imperial
Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early modern Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor....
 Diet of Speyer
Diet of Speyer

The term Diet of Speyer refers to any of several sessions of the Reichstag of the Holy Roman Empire when it chose to meet in the city of Speyer, Germany....
 in 1529 who protested the revocation of the suspension, granted at a prior Diet of Speyer
Diet of Speyer

The term Diet of Speyer refers to any of several sessions of the Reichstag of the Holy Roman Empire when it chose to meet in the city of Speyer, Germany....
 in 1526, of Edict of Worms
Diet of Worms

The Diet of Worms was a general assembly of Estates of the realm of the Holy Roman Emperor that took place in Worms, Germany, a small town on the Rhine located in what is now Germany....
 of 1521, which had outlawed Martin Luther
Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a Germans monk, theology, university professor, priest, father of Protestantism, and Protestant Reformers whose ideas started the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western culture....
 and his followers.

The meaning of the label "Protestant" widened over time to embrace all Western Christians as distinguished from the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
, except for the Anabaptists and other Radical Reformers
Radical Reformation

The Radical Reformation was a 16th century response to what was believed to be both the corruption in the Roman Catholic Church and the expanding Magisterial Reformation Protestantism led by Martin Luther and many others....
.






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The 'Protestant Reformers' were those theologians, churchmen, and statesmen whose careers, works, and actions brought about the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe. It is thought to have begun in 1517 with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses and may be considered to have ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648....
 of the sixteenth century. Historically speaking, "Protestant" was the name given to those theologians, magnates, and delegations present at the Holy Roman Imperial
Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early modern Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor....
 Diet of Speyer
Diet of Speyer

The term Diet of Speyer refers to any of several sessions of the Reichstag of the Holy Roman Empire when it chose to meet in the city of Speyer, Germany....
 in 1529 who protested the revocation of the suspension, granted at a prior Diet of Speyer
Diet of Speyer

The term Diet of Speyer refers to any of several sessions of the Reichstag of the Holy Roman Empire when it chose to meet in the city of Speyer, Germany....
 in 1526, of Edict of Worms
Diet of Worms

The Diet of Worms was a general assembly of Estates of the realm of the Holy Roman Emperor that took place in Worms, Germany, a small town on the Rhine located in what is now Germany....
 of 1521, which had outlawed Martin Luther
Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a Germans monk, theology, university professor, priest, father of Protestantism, and Protestant Reformers whose ideas started the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western culture....
 and his followers.

The meaning of the label "Protestant" widened over time to embrace all Western Christians as distinguished from the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
, except for the Anabaptists and other Radical Reformers
Radical Reformation

The Radical Reformation was a 16th century response to what was believed to be both the corruption in the Roman Catholic Church and the expanding Magisterial Reformation Protestantism led by Martin Luther and many others....
. This reflected the widening spread of the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe. It is thought to have begun in 1517 with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses and may be considered to have ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648....
 over Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 into diversifying movements like Lutheranism
Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century Germans Reformer Martin Luther....
, Anglicanism
Anglicanism

Anglicanism is a tradition of Christianity faith. Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs, worship and church structures....
, Calvinism
Calvinism

Calvinism is a theology system and an approach to the Christian life that emphasizes the rule of God over all things. It was developed by several theologians, but it bears the name of the French Protestant Reformation John Calvin because of his prominent influence on it and because of his role in the confessional and ecclesiastical debates t...
, and Arminianism
Arminianism

Arminianism is a school of Soteriology thought within Protestant Christianity based on the Christian theology ideas of the Netherlands Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic followers, the Remonstrants....
. Today, all Western Christian denominations other than the Roman Catholic Church are loosely known as Protestant churches.

Precursors


There were a number of people who contributed to the development of the reformation, but lived before it, including:

  • John Hus
  • Jerome of Prague
    Jerome of Prague

    Jerome of Prague was one of the chief followers and most devoted friends of John Hus. He was born in Prague to a wealthy family; after taking his bachelor's degree at the University of Prague in 1398, he secured in 1399 permission to travel....
  • Savonarola
    Girolamo Savonarola

    Girolamo Savonarola , was an Italian Dominican Order priest and leader of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498. He was known for his book burning, destruction of what he considered immoral art, and hostility to the Renaissance....
  • Peter Waldo
    Peter Waldo

    Peter Waldo, Valdo, or Waldes , also Pierre Vaud?s or de Vaux, was the founder of the Waldensians, a Christian spiritual movement of the Middle Ages, descendants of which still exist in various regions....
  • Wessel Harmenz. Gansfort
    Johan Wessel

    Wessel Harmensz Gansfort , was a theologian and early humanism of the northern Low Countries. Many variations of his last name are seen and he is sometimes incorrectly called Johan Wessel....
  • John Wycliffe
    John Wycliffe

    John Wycliffe was an English theologian, lay preacher, translator and reformist. Wycliffe was an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century....


Magisterial Reformers

The Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe. It is thought to have begun in 1517 with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses and may be considered to have ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648....
, popularly thought to have begun on October 31, 1517 with the posting of Martin Luther
Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a Germans monk, theology, university professor, priest, father of Protestantism, and Protestant Reformers whose ideas started the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western culture....
's 95 theses
95 Theses

The Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, commonly known as The Ninety-Five Theses, were written by Martin Luther in 1517 and are widely regarded as the primary catalyst for the Protestant Reformation....
 to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg
Wittenberg

Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a town in Germany in the States of Germany Saxony-Anhalt, on the Elbe River. It has a population of about 50,000....
, divided Western Christendom, as distinguished from Eastern Christendom
Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the Four Marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago....
, into the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 and the Protestant churches.

The Magisterial Reformation
Magisterial Reformation

The Magisterial Reformation was an element of the Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther and many others. The Magisterial Reformation connected the visible Christian church with society as a whole, as the Roman Catholic Church had before, thus imposing on the government and magistrates Christian duties, such as supporting the new churche...
 connected the visible Christian
Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
 church with society as a whole, as the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 had before, thus imposing on the government and magistrates Christian duties, such as supporting the new churches economically and weighing in on issues of doctrine.

There were a number of key reformers within the Magisterial Reformation
Magisterial Reformation

The Magisterial Reformation was an element of the Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther and many others. The Magisterial Reformation connected the visible Christian church with society as a whole, as the Roman Catholic Church had before, thus imposing on the government and magistrates Christian duties, such as supporting the new churche...
, including:

  • Theodore Beza
    Theodore Beza

    Theodore Beza was a French people Protestant Christian theologian and scholar who played an important role in the early Protestant Reformation....
  • Martin Bucer
    Martin Bucer

    Martin Bucer was a Protestant reformer whose principal ministry was in Strasbourg....
  • Heinrich Bullinger
    Heinrich Bullinger

    Heinrich Bullinger was a Switzerland Protestant reformers, the successor of Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Zurich church and pastor at Grossm?nster....
  • John Calvin
    John Calvin

    John Calvin was an influential French people theology and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism....
  • Andreas von Carlstadt
    Andreas Karlstadt

    Andreas Rudolph Bodenstein von Karlstadt , better known as Andreas Karlstadt or Andreas Carlstadt, was a Germany Christian theologian during the Protestant Reformation....
    , later a Radical Reformer
    Radical Reformation

    The Radical Reformation was a 16th century response to what was believed to be both the corruption in the Roman Catholic Church and the expanding Magisterial Reformation Protestantism led by Martin Luther and many others....
  • Wolfgang Fabricius Capito
    Wolfgang Fabricius Capito

    Wolfgang Fabricius Capito Germany reformer, was born of humble parentage at Hagenau in Alsace.He was educated for the medical profession, but also studied law, and applied himself so earnestly to theology that he received the doctorate in that faculty also, and, having joined the Benedictines, taught for some time at Freiburg....
  • Martin Chemnitz
    Martin Chemnitz

    Martin Chemnitz was an eminent second-generation Lutheranism Christian theology, Protestant Reformers, churchman, and confessor. In the Lutheran tradition he is known as Alter Martinus, the "Second Martin": Si Martinus non fuisset, Martinus vix stetisset goes a common saying concerning him....
  • Thomas Cranmer
    Thomas Cranmer

    Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII of England and Edward VI of England....
  • William Farel
    William Farel

    Guillaume Farel was a French Evangelism, and a founder of the Reformed Church in the cantons of Canton of Neuch?tel, Canton of Bern, Canton of Geneva, and Canton of Vaud in Switzerland....
  • Matthias Flacius
    Matthias Flacius

    Matthias Flacius Illyricus was a Lutheran reformer.He was born in Carpano, a part of Albona in Istria, son of Andrea Vlacich alias Francovich and Jacobea Luciani, daughter of a wealthy and powerful Albonian family....
  • Caspar Hedio
  • Justus Jonas
    Justus Jonas

    Justus Jonas was a Germany Protestant reformer.He was born at Nordhausen in Thuringia. His real name was Jodokus Koch, which he changed according to the common custom of German scholars in the sixteenth century, when at the University of Erfurt....
  • John Knox
    John Knox

    John Knox was a Scotland clergyman and leader of the Protestant Reformation who is considered the founder of the Presbyterianism denomination....
  • Jan Laski
    Jan Laski

    Jan Laski, John Laski, Johannes Alasco, John a Lasco , was a Poland Protestant evangelical reformer....
  • Martin Luther
    Martin Luther

    Martin Luther was a Germans monk, theology, university professor, priest, father of Protestantism, and Protestant Reformers whose ideas started the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western culture....
  • Philipp Melanchthon
    Philipp Melanchthon

    Philipp Melanchthon was a German professor and theologian, a significant character in the Protestant Reformation, a key leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and a friend and associate of Martin Luther....
  • Johannes Oecolampadius
    Johannes Oecolampadius

    Johannes ?colampadius or ?kolampad was a Germany religious reformer. His real name was Hussgen or Heussgen ....
  • Peter Martyr
    Pietro Martire Vermigli

    Pietro Martire Vermigli, sometimes simply Peter Martyr , was an Italy theology of the Protestant Reformation period.He was born at Florence, the son of Stefano di Antonio Vermigli and Maria Fumantina, a moderately well-to-do family....
  • Aonio Paleario
    Aonio Paleario

    Aonio Paleario was an Italy humanism and reformer....
  • Laurentius Petri
    Laurentius Petri

    Laurentius Petri Nericius was a Sweden clergyman and the first Lutheran Church Archbishop of Uppsala. He and his brother Olaus Petri are, together with the King Gustav Vasa, regarded as the main Protestant Reformation of Sweden....
  • Olaus Petri
    Olaus Petri

    Olof Persson , better known under the Latin form of his name, Olaus Petri, was a clergyman, writer, and a major contibutor to the Protestant Reformation in Sweden....
  • William Tyndale
    William Tyndale

    William Tyndale was a 16th-century Protestant reformer and scholar who, influenced by the work of Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther, translated the Bible into the Early Modern English of his day....
  • Joachim Vadian
    Joachim Vadian

    Joachim Vadian , born as Joachim von Watt, was a Switzerland Humanism and scholar and also List of mayors of St. Gallen and Swiss Reformation in St....
  • Pierre Viret
    Pierre Viret

    Pierre Viret was a Switzerland Swiss Reformation theology....
  • Huldrych Zwingli
    Huldrych Zwingli

    Huldrych Zwingli was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Old Swiss Confederacy patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenaries, he attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly centre of Renaissance humanism....


Radical Reformers

Because these reformers were those of the Radical Reformation
Radical Reformation

The Radical Reformation was a 16th century response to what was believed to be both the corruption in the Roman Catholic Church and the expanding Magisterial Reformation Protestantism led by Martin Luther and many others....
 and the Anabaptist
Anabaptist

Anabaptists are Christianity of the Radical Reformation. Various groups at various times have been called Anabaptist, but the term is most commonly used to refer to the Anabaptists of 16th century Europe....
 movement, they have not been traditionally listed with the mainline Protestant reformers. (Compare the reformers of the "Second Front" of the Reformation below):

  • John of Leiden
    John of Leiden

    John of Leiden , was an Anabaptist leader from the Netherlands city of Leiden. He was the illegitimate son of a Dutch mayor, and a tailor's apprentice by trade....
  • Thomas Müntzer
  • Kaspar Schwenkfeld
    Kaspar Schwenkfeld von Ossig

    File:Kaspar-Schwenkfeld.jpgCaspar Schwenkfeld von Ossig was a Silesian nobility who became a Protestant Reformer and spiritualist, one of the earliest promoters of the Protestant Reformation in Silesia....
  • Sebastian Franck
    Sebastian Franck

    Sebastian Franck was a 16th century Germany freethinker, humanism, and radical reformer.Franck was born about 1499 at Donauw?rth, Bavaria. Because of this he styled himself Franck von Word....
  • Menno Simons
    Menno Simons

    Menno Simons was an Anabaptist religious leader from Friesland . Simons was a contemporary of the Protestant Reformers and his followers became known as Mennonites....


Counter-reformers

Catholics who worked against the Reformation include:

  • Jerome Cardinal Aleander
  • Augustine Alveld
  • Thomas Cardinal Cajetan
  • Johann Cochlaeus
    Johann Cochlaeus

    Johann Cochlaeus was a Germany Humanism and controversialist.Originally Johann Dobneck, he was born of poor parents at Wendelstein , from which he obtained the punning surname Cochlaeus , for which he occasionally substituted Wendelstinus....
  • Johann Eck
    Johann Eck

    Dr. Johann Maier von Eck was a 16th century theology and defender of Catholicism during the Protestant Reformation. It was Eck who argued that the beliefs of Martin Luther and Jan Hus were similar....
  • Jerome Emser
  • Pope Leo X
    Pope Leo X

    Pope Leo X, born Giovanni de' Medici was Pope from 1513 to his death. He was the last non-priest to be elected Pope. He is known primarily for the sale of indulgences to reconstruct St....
  • John Tetzel


Second Front Reformers

There were also a number of people who initially cooperated with the Reformers, but who separated from them to form a "Second Front", principally in objection to the Reformers' sacralism
Sacralism

Sacralism is the confluence of separation of church and state wherein one is called upon to change the other.Christian sacralism is, according to Verduin, the multicultural product that resulted from the colossal change known as the Constantinian shift that began early in the fourth century AD, when Christianity was granted official t...
. Among these were:

  • Hans Denck
    Hans Denck

    Hans Denck , was a German theologian and Anabaptist leader during the Protestant Reformation.Denck was born in 1495 in the Bavarian town of Weilheim-Schongau....
  • Conrad Grebel
    Conrad Grebel

    Conrad Grebel , son of a prominent Swiss merchant and councilman, was a co-founder of the Swiss Brethren movement and is often called the "Father of Anabaptists"....
  • Balthasar Hubmaier
    Balthasar Hubmaier

    Balthasar Hubmaier , was an influential German/Moravian Anabaptist leader. He was one of the most well-known and respected Anabaptist theologians of the Protestant Reformation....
  • Felix Manz
    Felix Manz

    Felix Manz , was a co-founder of the original Swiss Brethren Anabaptist congregation in Z?rich, Switzerland, and the first martyr of the Radical Reformation....


See also