In the 16^th century, many leaders questioned some of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church and the authority of the Pope. These leaders, such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and King Henry VIII wanted to "reform" the church. They wanted to establish new churches. This schism was very important in world history. It changed the relationship between church and state. Before the Reformation, the Pope was the ultimate authority in all religious and political affairs. After the Reformation, kings made all the final decisions within their own countries.

We can see how these two schisms affected Europe by examining the following map. Locate the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant countries on this map.

 

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^[1] Source: This image from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Europe_religion_map.png is licensed under the terms of the GNU License Agreement.

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