William Tyler
Martin Luther Changes the Future

Some say the fall of Rome in Western Europe came in the 16th century with the division of Christianity between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, which itself then fractured into many different sects.

In Germany the catholic friar, Martin Luther first introduced Protestantism in 1517. A second Protestant leader who proved influential in Germany was Jean Calvin. Both men gave their names to their Protestant movements- Lutheranism and Calvinism. Today 34.5% of Germans claim to be Protestant, and 32.2% Catholic.

The Thirty Years War racked much of Northern and Central Europe with Germany at the epicentre. It has been estimated that the war ended in the loss of 4.5-12 million European lives out of a population of 75 million.

These two centuries had an impact on future German history, not least around the question of Unification in 1871. Luther’s antisemitism also had an impact on later Nazi antisemitism.