Abstract
In the following pages an attempt is made to show that the principles governing the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century found their source in the Renaissance. | The Political conditions of the times, the inventions, the literature and art all play an important part in the successful turning man away from his Creator, and setting the law of free interpretation above the lawful authority of the Church. | The shifting scenes portray a remarkable group of interesting characters of this period. We trace the Renaissance from its first beginnings in the teachings of Petrarch, Erasmus, the Renaissance Popes, Leo X, Innocent VII, Boniface VIII, Martin Luther and his followers. | While these efforts in no wise exhaust the subject, the purpose has been to show that the doctrine promulgated by the humanists of the Renaissance,terminated in the great upheavel[sic] of the Sixteenth Century which shook Europe to its very foundation.