Luther's Reformation and Achievements
If religion set the tone for the 15th century, extravagance and growing secularism set the tone for the 16th, giving rise to a Renaissance unparalleled in world history. The Italian Renaissance, founded on humanist scholasticism, brought forth a mental transformation, giving power to artistry, math, geometry, science, and reason. Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man and Michaelangelo's Pieta were products of this artistic enlightenment, but it was the British and German philosophers that would formulate the most mental change among Europe's literary elites. Men like John Wycliffe and Johan Hus would question Catholic dogma in the 15th century, leading one particular man, Martin Luther, to carry on where these men left off. Luther's reformation was a byproduct of growing hedonism in the Catholic Church. Ever since the Investiture Controversy of 1075, the Pope officially broke away from secular control and declared full power over spiritual and temporal matters, thus granting himself...