Reformation (1517)

The Reformation (1517) shattered Western Christianity's thousand-year unity after Martin Luther's 95 Theses, sparking 130 years of religious wars across Europe. Yet it democratized Bible reading through vernacular translations, boosting literacy rates—by 1600, Protestant regions averaged 30% literacy versus 10% in Catholic areas. This challenge to papal authority laid groundwork for religious pluralism and the separation of church and state central to modern liberal democracy.