Why did the protestant and catholic reformations cause tremendous political and social unrest throughout europe

Martin Luther´s Reformation was a revolution or even more: a social and religious earthquake in the Catholic-dominated European world. His theses questioned the very authority of the pope and the Church itself to represent Christ on Earth; they questioned the scandalous trade with papal bulls to get money or wealth in exchange for forgiveness of sins; he questioned the role of the priests as intermediaries betwen God and men. A furious pope demanded his retraction and excommunicated him. The Roman Church reacted with intolerance and anger; its position as center of the Christian world was questioned by the Reformation! Catholic monarchs also saw their position threatened. Why? They ruled by God´s will and with the blessing of the Roman pointiff, it was believed then.

Counterreformation had as its main goals to combat the spread of the Protestant faith and recover lost ground by the Roman Catholic Church, strengthening loyalty to Catholicism in Europe. It started in Spain  with the work of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, the "Compañía de Jesus" (Jesus´ Company).

The clash between Reformation and the Catholic reaction led to social unrest, to witch-hunting and burning of Protestants as heretics, to long and devastating wars between states and kingdoms. The Thirty Years War was , in part, a religious war between Protestants and Catholics.

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