It is known as the Protestant Reformation, or simply the Reformation, the Christian religious movement, initiated in Germany in the sixteenth century by Martin Luther, which led to a schism of the Catholic Church to give rise to numerous churches grouped under the denomination of Protestantism.
The Reformation had its origin in the criticisms and proposals with which various religious, thinkers and European politicians sought to cause a profound and widespread change in the customs and customs of the Catholic Church, in addition to denying the jurisdiction of the pope over all Christendom. The movement will later receive the name of Protestant Reformation, for its initial intention to reform Catholicism in order to return to a primitive Christianity, and the importance of the Speyer Protest, presented by some German princes and cities in 1529 against an edict of the Emperor Charles V tending to repeal the religious tolerance that had previously been granted to the German principalities.
For about 20 years, the Catholic Church had seen how many of its faithful were fighting among themselves in Europe, and bishops who failed to recognize the pope as Primus inter pares or as the highest pontiff of the Catholic Church, and separated from Rome even some cardinals, consequently, there were many Catholics who required a reaction from the Church to improve the customs, correcting the abuses that had fueled the Protestant Reformation. This reaction of the Catholic Church to Protestantism is generally known as the Catholic Counter-Reformation, although some historians consider the term "Catholic Reformation" more precise.
