[BLANK-1] was the leading figure of the Protestant Reformati…
was the leading figure of the Protestant Reformation that began in 1517. He was an Augustinian friar who criticized the Catholic Church’s use of plenary indulgences and other issues. He believed that Christians could only be saved by faith, which itself was granted by God’s grace, and that the Bible was the ultimate authority on religious matters. His movement, and subsequent schisms, left European states divided between Catholicism and Protestantism. Religious violence followed and religious minority groups became the targets of persecution. Some of these groups immigrated to North America to escape the religious turmoil and to be free to practice their faith as they wished.