The Protestant Reformation

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against the rest of Europe also. Until , Catholicism was a uniting force in Europe. Since all people there, other than Jews, were members of the Church, there was a sense of solidarity, which would never exist again in Europe after the Reformation. The power of the Church, then, was both religious and secular. However, after the Reformation, countries began to choose sides religiously, and to attempt to keep their own states almost entirely one or the other. This helped to change the alliances of powers within Europe, with Protestants standing against Catholics. Ultimately, these divisions led to a series of religious wars. For the common European, war was a fact of life as result of the Reformation, for each side sought to protect its political and religious position by fighting.
In the 1520s, Germany experienced the Peasant's Revolt. The Reformation was not the cause of the revolt, but it was an encouraging factor. The peasants were severely oppressed and poor. They ...

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