The Reformation was a great 16th-century religious revolution in the Christian Church, which had political, economic and social effects. It ended the ecclesiastical supremacy of the pope, led to the separation of many European nations from the Church of Rome and became the basis for the founding of Protestantism, one of the three major branches of Christianity.
             Over the centuries, the church had become deeply involved in the political life of Western Europe. It ruled the people through fear exploiting their beliefs, encouraging them towards pilgrimages, the buying of indulgences and other religious relics to attain salvation. The church's increasing power and wealth through such buses, combined with its political manipulations was among the reasons that led to the impulses to secession supplied by the likes of Martin Luther and John Calvin.
             The trouble began with the arrival of the new pope, Leo X. A spendthrift by nature, he desired to beautify the Vatican City and rebuild St. Paul's. Having exhausted the full coffers which he had received he began to pressurize his priests and cardinals to gather funds from their areas. This invoked protests from secular rulers who did not like the idea of so much money leaving their countries. They often forbade the sale of indulgences consenting only on condition that a portion of the receipts should be given to them. Therefore in the public mind the sale of indulgences took on an economic aspect, and, as they were frequent, many came to regard them as an oppressive tax. They were so frequent in fact that even a humorous saying came out,
             'As soon as money in the coffer ring,
             The soul from purgatory's fire springs.'
             In addition, a friar named Johann Tetzel came up with a novel idea, very popular with the pope, of selling indulgences for sins not yet committed. He even added indulgences for those who had died. When Tetzel arrived in Germany, Fredrick, Elector ...