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Article: European Reformation
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- American Eras
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European Reformation
Sources
Catholicism.
There was only one church in western Europe from the death of Jesus until the Reformation; in fact, the term
catholic
means universal. After the fall of the Roman Empire the institution of the church was the one unifying force in a Europe fragmented into local fief-doms. After the eastern branch separated in 1054, the western branch of the church became known as Roman Catholic because the bishop of Rome, or Pope, was considered to be Jesus
’
representative on earth and a successor to Peter, whom Jesus chose as the rock upon which the church was to be built. The Pope appointed bishops as the successors of the other apostles to oversee ...