The Protestant Reformation of the 1500s began in Germany and Switzerland, and soon spread to many countries across Europe, particularly northern Europe. The German Reformation of Luther took root in parts of Germany and the Scandinavian countries. The Swiss Reformation of Zwingli and Calvin took root in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Scotland, as well as having a minority presence in France, Poland and Hungary. (England was a special case; the Church of England was in some ways like the Lutheran churches and in other ways more like the Swiss Reformed Churches.) The Radical Reformation or Anabaptists, a third arm of the Reformation, mainly thrived in Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands, and later Poland.
By the 1560s, the initial "fire" of the early years had cooled
down and for the next 100 years or so, the various iterations of Protestant Christianity
solidified into a new "orthodoxy" (rigid beliefs and
practices).
The Reformation began with Luther in the Saxon university town of Wittenberg and spread across Germany and across Europe. However, it was in parts of Germany (e.g. Saxony and Wurtemberg), and in Scandinavia that Lutheranism took root. The history of Lutheranism in what is now Latvia dates back to Andreas Knopken in 1522. The Lutheran churches had many controversies after the death of Luther. Points of controversy included the place of good works, the precise understanding of communion, and the role of human free will in receiving salvation. Luther's closest follow Philip Melancthon held some views at odds with Luther, and these were not adopted by others. The definitive statement of Lutheran belief was the 1577 Formula of Concord. The Nordic-type Lutheran churches in Denmark, Norway, Estonia and Finland operated with bishops, while the German-type churches did not. The years up to 1648 and later were years of war, defending Lutheran territories military, but also years of consolidation.
Similar to the Lutheran Church was the Church of England (Anglican). This also retained many of the outward forms of medieval Christianity, such as clerical robes, altars, crosses and so on. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the Church of England was the national church and it was a matter of political loyalty to attend its services which were conducted following the Book of Prayer composed by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Some people in the Church of England called "Puritans" wanted a "purer" church without these outward decorations and ceremonies. Others, called "Separatists" rejected the idea of a state church, and from 1581 began independent churches in various places. Many of them took refuge in the Netherlands, where there was freedom of religion. Some of them came into contact with the Anabaptists in the Netherlands. It is these churches which are the origin of the Pilgrim Fathers who sailed to America, and also of the Congregational and Baptist churches. Throughout the 1600s there was a big struggle between the King and his Church of England, and those who wanted to worship according to their own understanding of the Bible. This led to a civil war and to the execution of the king in 1649. When the kings were reinstated, they resumed persecution of the church. It was in 1689 that King William of Orange and Queen Anne came to power and religious toleration was declared.
The Swiss Reformation of Zwingli and Calvin took root in Switzerland, in parts of Germany, in the Netherlands and in Scotland. Reformed Christianity was simpler (more austere) than Lutheran or Anglican churches. There were no decorations such as crosses or pictures and the church services focused more on the preaching of God's word and prayers. Communion was important but celebrated only a few times a year. Reformed churches did not have any musical instruments and they sang the psalms. There were various Reformed confessions summarising beliefs, such as the Helvetic Confession, the Belgic Confession, or the Scots Confession, and also catechisms which taught them to the people in an accessible way. Geneva and later Leyden in the Netherlands were centres for theology. At Geneva the Turretin family became well-known theological thinkers, and at Leyden Gomarus was a leading light. A major theme in Reformed theology is the idea of "covenant". Reformed theology sees a lot of continuity between the Old and the New Testament. One aspect of this is the practice of infant baptism, seen as a continuation of the practice of circumcision. Reformed theology became very rigid and focused on issues such as the divine decrees (God's plans made before the creation of the world). As a result, in the Netherlands, Arminius began questioning some of the teachings, and advocated a different understanding. Arminius' teachings were rejected at the Synod of Dordt in 1619, but are held now by Methodists and Pentecostals. In the 1600s many leading reformed thinkers were in the Netherlands, such as Cocceius, Voetius and Witsius.
A special case was France, which had a long history of Reformed Christians and which at one time could have become Protestant. However, the French Reformed Christians remained a minority. Their places of worship were called "temples". Jean Calvin was French and trained lots of pastors at Geneva for service in France. The tension between Catholic and Protestant in France led to massacres such as the 1572 St Bartholomew massacre, and to "wars of religion". A former Protestant turned Catholic became King Henry IV became king of France and declared freedom of religion in 1598. However, when he was assassinated in 1610, the tide turned. King Louis XIV reigned from 1638 to 1715 and he actively opposed the Huguenots, forcing them to attend Catholic mass and in some cases stationing soldiers in their houses. Eventually the freedoms for Protestants were withdrawn and many places of Protestant worship were destroyed. Many Huguenots emigrated to the Netherlands, Germany, Britain, Russia, and other places.
The third arm of the Reformation were the Radicals or Anabaptists. There were many different kinds of Anabaptists, but some were evangelical in outlook, such as the Mennonites and Swiss Brethren. The Anabaptists were spread across Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. They did not believe in the baptism of infants, or a state church. Their congregations were made up of people who had consciously professed faith and been baptised. They did not believe in holding public office or serving in the army. Many Anabaptists moved to the Vistula river area of Poland where for a time they were able to live in peace.
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