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The Reformation, also referred to as the Protestant Reformation, was a schism from the Roman Catholic Church initiated by Martin Luther and continued by John Calvin, Zwingli, and other early Protestant reformers in 16th century Europe. It is usually considered to have started with the publication of the 95 Theses by Luther in 1517. The Protestant Reformation was the 16th century religious, political, intellectual, and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era. In Northern and Central Europe, reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Henry VIII challenged Papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice. They argued for a religious and political redistribution of power into the hands of Bible and pamphlet reading pastors and princes. The distribution triggered wars, persecutions, and the so-called Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church’s delayed, but forceful, response to the Protestants.