Commemorating the Quincentenary of the Reformation

To commemorate the 500th anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation this article will offer a brief historical overview of the key figures and events which demonstrate that the Reformation was not born out of a single moment, but is a movement that developed prior to Martin Luther’s Nintey-Five Theses in protest of the Roman Catholic Church. A movement which grew out of the early Church and Middles Ages and continued to impact the history of Christianity well into the twentieth century. Moving from the early Church to modern history this article will examine the interpretation of the reformatio ecclesiae as well as its usage and meaning at specific historical moments and by specific reformers.