Why Half of Europe Left the Catholic Church in 10 Years

In 1517, the Roman Catholic Church controlled the religious life of virtually every Christian in Western Europe. Ten years later, half of Europe was in open revolt against it. How does a thousand-year institution collapse that fast? This video answers that question directly. Not a full Reformation history — just the mechanics of why it spread so fast. The fuel that had been building for generations: financial corruption, moral failure, and a population-wide resentment with nowhere to go. The spark: Luther's ninety-five theses and the indulgence scandal that triggered them. The accelerant: the printing press, which turned a local academic protest into a continental revolution within weeks. And the political structure of Germany, which meant the church could not do what it had done to every previous reformer. Topics covered: — The financial corruption and moral decay of the late medieval Catholic Church — John Tetzel, the indulgence scandal, and what actually triggered Luther — Why Luther's ninety-five theses spread across Europe in weeks, not years — The printing press as the first mass media revolution in Western history — The political structure of the Holy Roman Empire and why Germany moved first — The Diet of Worms and why the emperor could not stop Luther — How three forces combined to make the Reformation unstoppable — Why the split became permanent by 1530