The Edict of Nantes was issued by King Henry IV of France in 1598. It was primarily concerned with religious tolerance in France. It extended freedom of worship to French Calvinists (known as Huguenots) in what was, at the time, an officially and exclusively Catholic nation.

The Dominican and Franciscan religious orders are part of the group of religious orders known as the “mendicant orders.” These groups were known for renouncing all earthly possessions and for begging for financial support from the people they preached to. Both these groups were influential in European and global Christendom in the era immediately following the beginning of the Catholic Counter Reformation.

England embraced the Protestant Reformation during the reign of King Henry VIII (he of the six wives). Henry had been a devout Catholic in his early years, but was persuaded to renounce Catholicism after the Pope would not allow him to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon. Henry founded a new religion, called Anglicanism, which was Protestant in name but resembled Catholicism far more than the other branches of Protestantism spreading around Europe at the time.

After the Great Schism of Christianity in 1054 (which divided Christianity between a Catholic Church in the west and an Orthodox Church in the east) the Byzantine city of Constantinople was the center of Eastern Orthodoxy. However, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the center of Orthodox Christianity moved to Moscow. The Russian title for ‘king’ - Tsar - comes from the Russian belief that Moscow is the ‘Third Rome’ which carries on the legacy of the Roman Empire.

The Kongolese Kingdom was founded in the fourteenth century and existed, as either an independent state or as a Portuguese vassal-state, until the early twentieth century. After the arrival of Portuguese missionaries the Kongolese Kingdom converted to Christianity in the sixteenth century.

Martin Luther’s initial concerns with the Catholic Church were primarily related to abuses of the clergy. Luther abhorred the practices of simony, nepotism, and usury and decried the sale of indulgences. Simony is the practice of selling one’s position within the church; usury is the practice of extending loans for the purposes of making money (something forbidden by Christian doctrine); nepotism is the practice of granting titles and positions on the basis of favor rather than merit; the sale of indulgences refers to the church’s practice of literally selling salvation to wealthy patrons who were willing to pay to guarantee their entrance into heaven.

The Protestant Reformation began in the sixteenth century and spread most quickly and effectively in Northern Europe - Germany, the Netherlands, the British isles. It threatened to remove the influence of Catholicism from Europe, but never really took effect in Southern Europe. The Catholic Church enacted the Counter Reformation at the Council of Trent (1545-1563) and fought back against the forces of Protestantism. The Protestant Reformation had a massive impact on European, and subsequently American, society.

Contrary to popular belief, Martin Luther did not argue against the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, a stance that would later put him at odds with other Reformation leaders. His main argument in the 95 Theses is actually salvation through faith alone, not through indulgences, good works, or any other Church intervention. Luther also believed that priests should be appointed based on their qualifications, not their family connections, and he wanted services to be conducted in local vernaculars so all could understand.

Ishmael I of the Safavid Dynasty conquered Tabriz and established the Twelver school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of the empire.

The Protestant Reformation began in 1517 when the reformer Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg. Luther was concerned with abuses of the clergy, namely the sale of indulgences; the practice of simony; and nepotism. Originally Luther intended to reform the church and contribute to a discussion within the framework of church authority, but eventually his movement evolved into a widespread reformation.