Protestant Reformers
Theologians who brought about the Reformation
Protestant Reformers were theologians whose careers, works and actions brought about the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.
In the context of the Reformation, Martin Luther was the first reformer, sharing his views publicly in 1517, followed by Andreas Karlstadt and Philip Melanchthon at Wittenberg, who promptly joined the new movement. In 1519, Huldrych Zwingli became the first reformer to express a form of the Reformed tradition.
Listed are the most influential reformers only. They are listed by movement, although some reformers influenced multiple movements and are included in each respective section.
01Notable precursors
Throughout the Middle Ages, according to Edmund Hamer Broadbent, there were a number of Christian movements that sought a return to what they perceived as the purity of the Apostolic church and whose teachings foreshadowed Protestant ideas.
02Magisterial Reformers
There were a number of key reformers within the Magisterial Reformation, including:
Lutheran
- Martin Luther
- Philipp Melanchthon
- Justus Jonas
- Martin Chemnitz
- Georg Spalatin
- Joachim Westphal
- Andreas Osiander
- Johannes Brenz
- Johannes Bugenhagen
- Andreas Karlstadt, later a Radical Reformer
- Hans Tausen
- Mikael Agricola
- Primož Trubar
- Jiří Třanovský
Reformed
- Huldrych Zwingli
- Martin Bucer
- John Calvin
- Heinrich Bullinger
- Theodore Beza
- William Farel
- John Knox
- Wolfgang Capito
- Johannes Oecolampadius
- Peter Martyr Vermigli
- Leo Jud
- Matthias Devay
- Jacobus Arminius
- Thomas Helwys
Anglican
03Radical Reformers
04Unitarian Reformers
Those spearheading the Unitarian Christian tradition include:
05Second Front Reformers
There were also a number of people who initially cooperated with the Radical Reformers, but separated from them to form a "Second Front", principally in objection to sacralism. Among these were:
Anabaptist
06Counter-Reformers
Catholics who actively opposed the Reformation and partook in the Counter-Reformation include:
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Protestant Reformers”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Zentralbibliothek Zürich - Effigies praecipuorum illustrium atque praestantium aliquot theologorum - 000008283 cropped.jpg by Johann Schweizer, Public domain
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