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Idea: Advocated for education and preaching as tools for combating heresy.
Contribution: Established the Dominican Order, focusing on preaching, teaching, and combating heresy through intellectual engagement. -
Idea: Emphasized poverty, humility, and simplicity in the Church.
Contribution: Founded the Franciscan Order, promoting a return to the simplicity of early Christianity. -
Idea: Urged the Pope to return to Rome from Avignon and to reform the clergy.
Contribution: Her letters and influence helped to persuade Pope Gregory XI to return the papacy to Rome, contributing to the end of the Avignon Papacy. -
Idea: Criticized the wealth and worldliness of the Church clergy, advocating for reform.
Contribution: Preached against the sale of indulgences and other corrupt practices, inspiring the Hussite movement and laying the groundwork for the Protestant Reformation. -
Idea: Challenged the Catholic Church's sale of indulgences and emphasized salvation through faith alone.
Contribution: Nailed the 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church in 1517, sparking the Protestant Reformation and leading to the formation of Lutheranism. -
Idea: Condemned corruption and moral laxity within the Church hierarchy.
Contribution: Led a reform movement in Florence, advocating for strict morality and the burning of worldly goods, including art and luxury items, during the "Bonfire of the Vanities." -
Idea: Advocated for a return to the original teachings of Christianity through scholarly study and humanistic reform.
Contribution: Criticized Church corruption, particularly through his satirical work "In Praise of Folly," and called for reform within the Catholic Church. -
Idea: Emphasized the sovereignty of God and predestination, advocating for a purer form of Christianity.
Contribution: Founded Calvinism, which spread throughout Europe and influenced Protestant theology and governance structures.