Scholars dusting off forgotten Greek and Roman books sparked a burst of art and inquiry (the Renaissance), while a monk nailing complaints to a church door split Western Christianity (the Reformation). Together they cracked open the medieval world.
Rebirth, then rupture
The Renaissance (roughly 1400–1600) was a rebirth of art and learning in Europe, reviving classical ideas and centering human potential (humanism). Gutenberg's printing press (c. 1440) spread books and ideas faster than ever. That same technology helped launch the Reformation, when Martin Luther's 1517 critique of the Church split Western Christianity.
Printing made texts cheap and plentiful — spreading humanist scholarship and, crucially, Luther's ideas across Europe before authorities could suppress them.
Luther's 95 Theses, printed and distributed widely, turned a local dispute into a continent-wide movement — the Protestant Reformation.
Click the events from earliest to latest.
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Order the milestones from the early Renaissance to the Reformation.
- Luther writes a critique of Church practices.
- Consider how the printing press affects its spread.
- Explain why the press made the Reformation possible.
What you should see: The press mass-produced Luther's ideas cheaply and quickly, so they spread across Europe faster than the Church could contain them.