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For over a thousand years,
one Church dominated Western Europe.

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Roman Catholicism was the only
official religion.

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And at its centre was the Pope
in Rome,

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a bishop who could crown kings
and launch crusades.

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Five centuries ago,
that Church was torn apart

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by a vast religious revolution -

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the Reformation.

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In this film,
I want to discover what sparked

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that cataclysmic upheaval that
led Christian to kill Christian.

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Luther said the devil was raging,
and it was Luther

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fighting against that devil,
as a prophet at the end of the world.

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That one man, Martin Luther,
launched an attack on corruption

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that split the Church.

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Europe was gripped
by religious wars and atrocities.

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The Protestants were regarded
as people who polluted the city,

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and it would be doing God's work
if they were massacred.

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Christianity broke into
intolerant factions

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and communities
were divided for generations.

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The Pope is a man of sin,
and I believe the Reform faith

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and they identify the Pope as
the Antichrist, and I accept that.

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I want to find out if the
Reformation really needed to happen,

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if it had to lead
to such bloodshed and turmoil.

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This was the greatest struggle
in the history of my religion.

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It was Christianity's civil war.

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I was brought up a Protestant
in the Church of England.

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My family went regularly to church.

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And Sunday School was one of
the few constants in my life,

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as my father's work took us
anywhere from Bath to Singapore.

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But 15 years ago I went through
my own personal reformation.

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The Church of England had abandoned
its roots and its traditions,

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and seemed immersed instead

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in the liberalism and political
correctness of the modern world.

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That wasn't the Church I'd been
brought up in, and I didn't feel

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I belonged there any more.

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So I left
and I became a Roman Catholic.

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I was free to make
my deeply personal conversion.

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It opened no rift with my brother,

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who's still a vicar in
the Church of England.

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But five centuries ago
it would have been very different.

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Back then, as the Reformation
swept across Britain,

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I could have been beheaded
as a traitor

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or burned alive as a heretic.

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For a century, the common people
of England

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faced waves of religious
change, tyranny and persecution.

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At the Catholic monastery of
Westminster Abbey,

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the monks were thrown out
and holy relics destroyed.

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Families were divided by their faith

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as England became an officially
Protestant country.

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This immense upheaval was sparked
by a crisis in Western Christianity.

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Across Europe,

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there were fears the Medieval
Catholic Church had become corrupt.

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There were
calls for sweeping reform,

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even panicked claims that the end
of the world was approaching.

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The man who brought all these hopes
and fears to a head was not a king,

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pope or emperor, but a lowly
German monk called Martin Luther.

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There had already been attacks

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on power-crazed bishops, ignorant
priests and fake holy relics.

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Luther targeted a set of corrupt
documents, called Indulgences.

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In 1517, he made them the launch pad
for his religious rebellion.

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This is Indulgence, it's a printed
piece of parchment.

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We have also got
manuscripts with the same text,

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it's a blank form, you had to fill in
the name of the person who bought...

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Received it, yeah.

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..who received it
here in this part...

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So whose authority was
behind this certificate?

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In this case,
it was the authority of the Pope.

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'The Church sold these simple pieces
of parchment

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'for vast sums of money.

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'It claimed by buying one
you could wipe away

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'all the sins of a wicked life,

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'and were guaranteed swift access
to an eternity in heaven.

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'Luther saw Indulgences
as expensive con tricks

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'which could never save a sinner.

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'He laid out his argument against
these symbols of Church corruption

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'in 95 academic points, or theses.

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'But the Pope was less than pleased
with Luther's detailed proposals.'

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So, OK, Luther was
attacking Indulgences.

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What was so radical about that?

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Many were critical of Indulgences,
and that's of course the reason why

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the 95 theses were so successful,

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because people thought, "Yes,
this is exactly what I think."

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But nobody before had written
really 95 theses attacking this

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as a practice in the Church, and in
1520 Luther is declared a heretic.

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Heresy was the greatest crime
of the Middle Ages.

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Luther was cast out of the Church,
his books were banned

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and the authorities were
commanded to burn him alive.

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At the same time,
Luther was also raising the stakes.

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It was no longer simply Indulgences.

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He was now convinced that,
instead of any Church ritual,

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it was faith in God alone that
would earn you a place in heaven.

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For Luther, Jesus was the only
leader of the Church, and the Pope,

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who had damned him as a heretic,
was actually the Antichrist,

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his opponent in a titanic battle
between good and evil.

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I believe that the medieval Church

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wasin need of
urgent and sweeping reform.

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But what Luther was proposing
was something more than just

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a simple attack on corruption.

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It was something more than just
an academic theological debate.

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He was mounting a challenge

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to the very nature and structure
of the Church.

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He could never have realised it,
but what Luther was unleashing

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was one of the greatest

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political and religious
revolutions in history.

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Luther was summoned to
the German city of Worms

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and given one last chance to recant.

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But, even facing death at the stake,
he stood by his beliefs.

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This is one monk
against a vast monolith of a Church.

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Why wouldn't he back down?

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That was of course very much
a viewpoint of all the Church.

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They thought, what is this man doing,

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really he's saying, "I'm right and
all the Church, all of the scholars

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"that gather together, they're all
wrong." How can he possibly say this?

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But Luther saw himself as a prophet,
at the end of the days.

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So he actually believed
the world was going to end?

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Yes, and if you think that
and if you think

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that the Papacy is the Antichrist, it
goes along with that that you think

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everything will get worse
and that are just the signs

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of the world coming to an end.

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Despite his recklessly brave stand,
Luther escaped death at the stake.

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He had won the support of
a powerful prince,

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who took the fugitive monk
into hiding at Wartburg Castle.

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Here,
in disguise and under a false name,

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Luther set to work
on his masterpiece -

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the translation of the Bible
into his native tongue of German.

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The medieval Church had used
the Latin edition of the Scriptures,

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which could be read only by priests,

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monks and other
well educated people.

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Luther
was determined to change that.

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For me, this is the triumph
of the Reformation.

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The Luther Bible, with his own notes
handwritten in the margin.

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The Bible was so important to me
as I was growing up.

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And it was Luther who believed
that everybody should have access

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to this book, should work out their
personal relationship with God.

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It was this Bible which made
the Reformation so necessary,

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and this which made it
a religious revolution.

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Luther
had changed Christianity forever.

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But, while he had started the
Reformation, he couldn't control it.

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New Protestant groups
broke away from the Catholic Church.

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And when they read Luther's Bible
they came to their own conclusions,

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radically different from his.

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The thousand-year monolith

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of the medieval Church wasn't just
cleaved in two, it was shattered.

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The result was religious anarchy
and political rebellion.

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From 1524, hordes of rioting
peasants overran Germany,

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attacking corrupt priests
and demanding religious reform.

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Here, in the small town
of Frankenhausen,

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the site of their bloodiest battle,

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their struggles have been
immortalised

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in the world's largest painting.

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But, rather than a victory, the
panorama shows a crushing defeat -

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a one-sided slaughter in which
the armies of the German princes

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annihilated the untrained peasants.

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Appalled by the rebellion,
Luther could now only watch

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as the Reformation
took on a violent life of its own.

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He thinks the world is a cesspit,
it's full of sin.

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And he thought again
the devil was raging,

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he was really doing his most,
now was the time for the devil,

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and it was Luther
fighting against that devil,

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as a prophet of these last days.

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There were now dozens
of warring religious factions.

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Germany was riven with
disputes and conflict.

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Luther had every reason
to believe the Apocalypse had come.

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This schism soon spread
to touch every country in Europe.

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And in one land

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it became a part of royal politics
and court intrigues -

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England.

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Hampton Court.
England's grandest Tudor palace.

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In the 1520s, while Luther was
fighting for his life

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against the Catholic Church,

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Henry VIII was one
of his most formidable opponents.

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He had copies of the German monk's
Bible burnt in the streets,

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and his English followers
executed as heretics.

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The Pope was the official head
of the Church in England

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and gave Henry the title Defender
of the Faith for his loyal zeal.

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Yet it was this same Henry

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who eventually brought
the Reformation to England.

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As a politician, I know
how important it can be

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to harness the prevailing mood, and
the Reformation was a gift to Henry.

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He wanted a male heir,

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but his wife
hadn't been able to give him one.

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So he wanted to get rid of her
and marry his mistress, Anne Boleyn.

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The only problem was, to do that
he needed his marriage annulled,

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and the Pope said...no.

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What does that do to Henry?

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Well, Henry hates to be thwarted,
so the first thing it does to Henry

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is just to get angry, and Henry
becomes absolutely convinced that

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he should have total control over the
Church, that the Pope has usurped it.

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And he will not brook
any opposition to this idea.

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So he decided to set himself up
as Head of the Church,

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at any rate the Church in England,

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and that he would set the rules, but
was Henry convinced by Lutherism?

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Not at all. He never accepted the
real fundamentals of Lutheran belief.

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If Henry hadn't needed a male heir,

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would the Reformation have come
to England?

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I think it's most unlikely.

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There was closed ranks
against Lutheranism

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in the 1520s, when Henry still
thought he would have a male heir.

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It was only after Henry took on

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the supreme headship of the Church
that things began to splinter.

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Henry VIII didn't change the
authority of the Church, he didn't
change the structure of the Church,

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it was just about putting him
at its head instead of the Pope.

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It had little to do with
Luther's theology, and everything

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to do with that crude mixture
of power, pride, lust and politics.

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In 1534, an Act of Parliament
made the break from Rome official.

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The common people were ordered
to obey Henry's religious commands.

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The first communities to feel the
full force of the royal Reformation

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were the monasteries.

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Magnificent, rich and ancient, they
were lifelines for local people.

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The monks were major employers,

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and provided charity
to the poor and sick.

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Their vast libraries were
centres of learning and education.

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All this was paid for by
the monasteries' immense estates,

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two million prime acres, a sixth
of all the land in the Kingdom.

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When he started the Reformation,

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it was all about solving
Henry VIII's marriage problems.

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Oh, but soon he realised there were
other advantages to being in charge

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of the Church of England, that in
the Church he now controlled

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he had a vast source of wealth.

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So I reckon that to the motives of
lust and politics

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we can now add greed.

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Royal agents were ordered to draw up
charge sheets against monasteries

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and assess their wealth.

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'In September 1539,
they arrived at Glastonbury,

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'the richest Abbey in England.'

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What's the charge sheet
against the monasteries,
what have they done wrong?

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Well, the popular perception, both
in Tudor times and subsequently,

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is that they had become
horribly corrupted.

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Now, as soon as one begins to dig
beneath the surface of those charges,

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one finds that there
is far less substance to them,

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because the monks provide a range
of social and cultural services.

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So what happened when
the Reformation arrived?

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Well, all of this, in a space
of four years, is swept away.

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The Abbey was ruthlessly stripped of
its valuables, the land confiscated

234
00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:24,879
and even the roof removed to stop it
being used as a place of worship.

235
00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:30,759
The Abbot of Glastonbury spoke out
against the destruction,

236
00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:33,879
and paid
the price for his resistance.

237
00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:37,239
He was found guilty on
trumped-up charges,

238
00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:41,239
and executed in a cruel mockery
of Christ's Crucifixion.

239
00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:49,039
He is dragged through the town to
the tor, the hill outside the town,

240
00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:51,639
where he is executed with

241
00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:55,639
two others accused of the robbery
of the treasures of the Church.

242
00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:01,359
The mode of his execution undoubtedly
has a kind of

243
00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:05,359
biblical resonance, the hill
outside the town, the...

244
00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:06,479
The two people either side of him.

245
00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:10,199
The two people either side,
clearly designed to deter

246
00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:14,199
any others from offering resistance.

247
00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:25,319
Greed may have been the motive,
but its realisation

248
00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,279
was desecration, was sacrilege.

249
00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:34,279
Like Luther himself, Henry VIII had
unleashed something that he couldn't

250
00:19:34,460 --> 00:19:36,959
actually any longer control.

251
00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:40,319
And by the time the Reformation
reached Somerset

252
00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:43,239
it was no longer
about theological debate,

253
00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:46,839
wasn't even about political debate.

254
00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:54,839
Now it was in the hands of some
depraved and very vengeful people.

255
00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:01,439
King Henry died six years
after the last monastery fell,

256
00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:04,439
and was succeeded by his son.

257
00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:08,439
Unlike his father, Edward was a true
Protestant believer.

258
00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:12,559
But vast numbers of
the King's subjects

259
00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:16,559
were still, at heart, Catholic.

260
00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,999
They were devoted
to the medieval festivals,

261
00:20:24,120 --> 00:20:28,119
processions and relics which
Edward's government now outlawed.

262
00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:31,919
In the Devon hamlet of Morebath,

263
00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:35,919
Church rituals had held the
community together for generations.

264
00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,479
The humble farming folk didn't want
the Reformation,

265
00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:44,479
but were being forced
to join it by royal commands.

266
00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:48,919
'In the parish's ancient
record book,

267
00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,479
'Professor Eamon Duffy
has made an incredible discovery

268
00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:56,479
'of how far they would go
to protect their Catholic faith.'

269
00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:01,399
It's the removal of the traditional
Latin Mass, that's the crunch point.

270
00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:05,559
And in the summer of 1549

271
00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:09,199
the parish, in common with
most of the other parishes of Devon,

272
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:11,919
rebelled against the Reformation.

273
00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:14,919
It wasn't till I became curious
about this

274
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:17,639
and examined the original manuscript

275
00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:21,639
that it emerged that
here we had the only surviving record

276
00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:26,719
of a parish equipping soldiers to go
and commit high treason.

277
00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:31,359
By rebelling, the villagers
were committing a crime

278
00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:34,279
second only to heresy itself.

279
00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:37,599
But they chose their religion
over their King.

280
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:40,559
The Church funded and
armed five young men

281
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:43,839
and sent them
to join the rebel siege at Exeter.

282
00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:47,839
In order to finance this, they
had a collection at the church gate

283
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:52,439
and the priest wrote down
the names of everyone who
contributed to the collection...

284
00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:53,839
Contributed to treason, actually.

285
00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:57,839
Yes, and he paid again
to William Hurley, the young man,

286
00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:02,039
at his going forth to St David's
Downs Camp, six and eightpence.

287
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:06,919
Later,
he crosses out, each time it occurs,

288
00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:11,199
the incriminating word "camp".
The word camp meant rebel camp.

289
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:15,199
And so this is desperately
incriminating, and he makes a
rather feeble attempt at covering up.

290
00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:17,559
This wasn't trivial stuff.

291
00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:19,919
What drove them to do it?

292
00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:21,479
For a start,

293
00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:25,479
this particular community had
been stripped to the bone

294
00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,599
by the Reformation,
their dignity and independence

295
00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:30,279
had been taken away from them.

296
00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:33,519
And there's a tremendous sense
of the worm turning,

297
00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:38,519
of the West Country standing up
for itself and saying, "Enough."

298
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:47,079
The royal government in London
was determined to crush the protest.

299
00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,759
An army of foreign mercenaries
was assembled

300
00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,519
and marched down to Exeter.

301
00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:57,519
Thousands of Devon peasants
were slaughtered.

302
00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:06,199
The ordinary man or woman
had no choice.

303
00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:09,919
It was the King who decided
what their religion was.

304
00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:13,119
It makes me feel very angry.

305
00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:17,119
The Reformation started as
something, if you like to put it
that way, noble

306
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:21,519
and it came to this -
right to the heart of this ordinary,

307
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:26,359
law abiding,
inoffensive little village,

308
00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:31,359
and it had a huge impact on people,
even to the taking of life.

309
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,639
In 1553, just four years after

310
00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:41,639
Morebath's rebellion, the King died
and his sister, Mary, became Queen.

311
00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:46,679
Unlike Protestant Edward,
she was a devout Catholic.

312
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,959
After 20 years of religious change,

313
00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:54,799
Mary ordered the people to convert
yet again.

314
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:56,719
For the last time in history,

315
00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:00,719
England became an officially
Catholic country.

316
00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:06,119
Protestants faced five dark years
of persecution.

317
00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:09,519
Here in the market town of Lewes,

318
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,519
17 local men and women
were tried for heresy.

319
00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:17,679
They treasured their English Bibles
and were committed to Protestantism.

320
00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:22,199
So each was dragged through the
town's high street and burned alive.

321
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:37,559
The Protestant martyrs are
remembered every Bonfire Night

322
00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:41,559
as Lewes turns into a festival
of fire and thunder.

323
00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:47,359
BANG

324
00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:58,119
We have 17 crosses that we carry
through the high street

325
00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:02,079
and they're lit up almost as
a literal reminder of the martyrs.

326
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:06,079
The martyrs gave this country
a freedom that we didn't have.

327
00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:10,079
Dying for their beliefs.
And we're free to have opinions

328
00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:14,079
and choices because of people
like that that gave their lives.

329
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:18,079
The Reformation began with
Luther's call for Christian freedom,

330
00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:22,399
for everyone to form
their own relationship with God.

331
00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:24,679
But it's clear to me that in England

332
00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:27,919
the Reformation had been hijacked
by politics.

333
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:31,559
Instead of religious freedom,
Kings and Queens gave

334
00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:37,559
the common people a stark choice -
convert or face horrific death.

335
00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:40,959
But there's more to this.

336
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:44,919
This Bonfire Society
burns a pope in effigy,

337
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:48,119
carries banners saying No Popery.

338
00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:51,719
When Cliffe Bonfire Society
was founded

339
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:56,719
over 150 years ago, this wasn't
just an event to remember history.

340
00:25:56,720 --> 00:26:02,719
Instead, it was a fiercely
anti-Catholic rally.

341
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,679
Well, they're burning the Pope
in effigy, cheering as they do it.

342
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,679
They're shouting,
"Burn him, burn him!"

343
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:22,679
I find the image of the Pope
burning particularly difficult.

344
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:26,879
It's the one that is
very solemn to Catholics.

345
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:29,919
That is what they're burning.

346
00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:33,919
They don't mean it like that,
but it's ghastly.

347
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:40,399
You're not embarrassed to be
burning the Pope in effigy?

348
00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,119
Oh, absolutely not,
we make no apology for doing that.

349
00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:46,679
And we have many Catholics
in the procession itself.

350
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,039
Some of our vice-presidents are, I
wouldn't know how many in Lewes are,

351
00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:52,479
and the "no Popery" bit
we make no apology for.

352
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:56,479
The Pope we actually blow up is
Pope Paul V, and we make no apology
for doing that.

353
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:01,679
This crowd is no lynch mob.

354
00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:04,119
Most of them aren't
even anti-Catholic.

355
00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:09,119
But this event is a deeply upsetting
relic of a long and vicious history

356
00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,639
of anti-Catholicism in Britain.

357
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:16,639
Because, as the years passed,
the Reformation became more than

358
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:20,679
a set of theological doctrines
or even royal commands.

359
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,999
Instead, being a Catholic or
a Protestant became woven into

360
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:29,319
national identity and fundamental
to how people defined themselves.

361
00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:33,599
Those on the other side of
the religious divide were seen as

362
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:37,439
enemies, outsiders, aliens.

363
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:42,439
Religious hatred tore nations,
cities and families apart.

364
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:46,599
And it led to one of history's worst
religious atrocities,

365
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:50,599
a massacre
that turned a river red with blood.

366
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:04,759
By 1572, the Reformation had been
sweeping over Europe for 50 years.

367
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:11,159
But the Catholic kings of France
had stood firm.

368
00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:12,919
Unlike the Tudors in England,

369
00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:16,919
they had remained steadfastly loyal
to the Pope in Rome.

370
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:19,959
France's monasteries stood intact.

371
00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:23,959
Catholic processions still marched
through Paris's streets.

372
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:25,799
Despite this,

373
00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,799
one in eight Frenchmen had converted
to the new Protestant religion.

374
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,639
There had been riots,
feuds, and civil wars

375
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:36,359
but in August 1572,

376
00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:40,039
a royal wedding was arranged
between a Catholic and a Protestant

377
00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:44,039
to heal the rift.

378
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,199
Just days after the ceremony,
as Gaspard de Coligny -

379
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,919
a leading Protestant -
walked home from the King's palace,

380
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:57,719
an unseen assassin opened fire.

381
00:28:57,720 --> 00:28:59,879
GUNSHOT

382
00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:02,119
Coligny survived the attack.

383
00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:07,119
But there were rumours
of Protestant plans for retaliation.

384
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:12,559
So the Catholic royal council
launched a pre-emptive strike.

385
00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:20,359
In the early hours of the 24th of
August - St Bartholomew's Day -

386
00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:23,439
troops fanned out across Paris.

387
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:27,739
'They were sent to kill Coligny,
and another 50 Protestant nobles.'

388
00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:29,399
While you weren't aware of it?
Yeah, yeah.

389
00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:31,119
While you weren't aware of it?
Yeah, yeah.
Yes.

390
00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:34,039
So, Mark,
what was actually happening?

391
00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,839
Things seem to have been going,
more or less, according to plan,

392
00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:40,079
through the night, until daybreak.

393
00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,519
And by five o'clock, it seems,

394
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:44,959
the bodies were already
beginning to stack up

395
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,199
of the leading Protestant nobles

396
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:50,599
in the Place Saint-Honore
just over there,

397
00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:53,319
where they were to be
brought down by carts,

398
00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:57,079
and dumped into the Seine
round about there.

399
00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:00,519
But at some point, the populace
becomes involved in all of this.

400
00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:01,799
Absolutely.

401
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:06,799
So it's at that point that the
things start to move out of control.

402
00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:08,919
CROWD SHOUTING

403
00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:12,919
The Catholic citizens of Paris
had been woken by the commotion.

404
00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:17,119
For years, they had despised their
heretical Protestant neighbours.

405
00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:20,159
They now seized their chance,

406
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:22,399
and turned
the targeted assassinations

407
00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:26,399
into a general slaughter.

408
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,639
This doesn't look as if
it's changed a great deal.

409
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:35,279
What was happening here?

410
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:38,719
We're in the suburbs just
outside the city walls, here, Ann.

411
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:42,559
And it was here that lived
about 1,500 or more Protestants,

412
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:45,959
and we have accounts, for example,

413
00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,679
of a lady who was in
the latter stages of pregnancy.

414
00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:51,479
The midwife was already with her,

415
00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:55,479
and she gets stabbed,
thrown out of the window,

416
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:59,639
and the baby, even, is half-born
as her dead body is in the streets.

417
00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:05,999
So, it's as though people
are no longer human beings.

418
00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:06,999
So, it's as though people
are no longer human beings.
They've crossed a line.

419
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:08,319
So, it's as though people
are no longer human beings.
They've crossed a line.
They have become animals.

420
00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:10,119
But who was doing all this killing?

421
00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:12,399
Who were these Catholics
who were doing it?

422
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:15,919
Often, it was neighbours, people
that they recognised and knew.

423
00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:17,679
But it could be the chap next door?

424
00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:18,039
Often was.

425
00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:27,039
Despite royal attempts to halt the
carnage, it continued for five days.

426
00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:31,199
The River Seine ran red with blood,

427
00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:34,519
and copycat attacks
occurred across France.

428
00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:39,519
10,000 Protestants died
in the wave of hideous violence.

429
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:48,639
So, it's all been pretty horrible,

430
00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:51,159
but why were people doing this?

431
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:55,559
What was the driving motivation
for a man to kill his neighbour?

432
00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:59,839
We live in a century
of mass violence and genocide,

433
00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:03,839
and we tend to think that's something
unique to the 20th, 21st century.

434
00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:08,079
It's not. It was also
a feature of the 16th century,

435
00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:11,879
it's just that the religious
component is more obvious.

436
00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:14,519
If you've been told,
from the pulpit,

437
00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:18,079
as Parisians in this city were,

438
00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:21,839
that their city
was going to be under God's judgment

439
00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:25,839
if they allowed
Protestant heretic pollution

440
00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:27,799
to survive within its walls,

441
00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:30,439
then it's not surprising, is it,

442
00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:33,039
that people take into
their own hands,

443
00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:35,759
believing they're not
just doing the King's will,

444
00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:39,759
but that they're doing God's will?

445
00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:47,599
In this city,
the religious divide was so intense,

446
00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:51,959
the Catholics no longer saw
the Protestants as Frenchmen,

447
00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:55,959
neighbours, family,
or even fellow human beings.

448
00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:01,479
The Reformation had led ordinary
Christians to butcher one another.

449
00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:15,399
News of the St Bartholomew's Day
Massacre raced across Europe.

450
00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:19,119
Before the Reformation,

451
00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:22,159
a single religion
had bound the continent together.

452
00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:26,759
Now, people defined themselves
as either Catholic or Protestant

453
00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:31,119
and fought to defend that faith.

454
00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:35,319
When the Pope
heard of the Paris slaughter,

455
00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:40,319
he had a medal struck to celebrate
a "Glorious Catholic victory."

456
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:46,599
In 1588, his successor blessed
the Spanish Armada as a crusade -

457
00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:50,919
a holy invasion fleet -
sent against heretical England,

458
00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:54,919
where Protestant Elizabeth
now ruled.

459
00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:03,759
As the threat from abroad rose,

460
00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:07,319
the Queen turned on the Catholics
within England.

461
00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:09,959
They were banned
from celebrating the Mass,

462
00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:12,359
their priests were outlawed

463
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:15,679
and for 200 years,

464
00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:18,399
it was illegal to be
a practising Roman Catholic

465
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,079
in this country.

466
00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:22,039
But the old faith did survive.

467
00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:24,919
Hidden away
on their country estates,

468
00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:30,919
a few devoted families, such as
the Stonors, kept Catholicism alive.

469
00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:34,279
What were the penalties,

470
00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:37,439
what were the restrictions
that practising Catholics

471
00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:38,039
actually faced?

472
00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:40,479
actually faced?
depending on what you did,

473
00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:42,159
started with treason at the top,

474
00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:44,799
life imprisonment was the next worst,
of course,

475
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:47,239
and then,
a lesser period of imprisonment.

476
00:34:47,240 --> 00:34:50,039
So, did your family remain loyal
to Catholicism?

477
00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:53,759
Yes, there was a priest here
who celebrated Mass,

478
00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:55,959
and this,

479
00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:57,519
they somehow continued to do.

480
00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:02,519
Through the very difficult times,
they hid priests here.

481
00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:06,919
These priests were concealed
in hidden compartments and holes.

482
00:35:07,240 --> 00:35:10,439
If caught,
they and their accomplices

483
00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:14,439
could have been executed
as traitors.

484
00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:16,639
On top of this legal threat,

485
00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:18,919
Catholics also faced
popular prejudice.

486
00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:24,919
Hundreds of gutter-press pamphlets
attacked them and their faith.

487
00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:27,919
Well, in this library here,

488
00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:29,839
I found these pamphlets,

489
00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:33,519
most of which have been here
from the time of their publication.

490
00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:36,599
So, you've got here
The Necessity Of Maintaining

491
00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:39,319
The Established Religion
In Opposition to Popery.

492
00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:40,799
Yes, it's all very blunt,
in your face, isn't it?

493
00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:41,839
Yes, it's all very blunt,
in your face, isn't it?
Yeah.

494
00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:42,439
This is what
they're afraid of, isn't it?

495
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:44,319
This is what
they're afraid of, isn't it?
Yes, that's what they're afraid of.

496
00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:47,999
This is what they're afraid of -
"establishing popery,"
as they call it.

497
00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:51,599
Here, we're into the tabloid.

498
00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:54,079
It was...the propaganda was wild.

499
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:55,239
Certainly was.

500
00:35:55,240 --> 00:35:58,959
These pamphlets were published
and soldon the street in London,

501
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:01,079
or sometimes in pubs.

502
00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:02,519
'All the Stonors wanted

503
00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:06,479
'was to live in peace,
as both English and Catholic.

504
00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:08,399
'But for centuries, it was claimed

505
00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:11,599
'only Protestants could be loyal
to king and country.

506
00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:12,999
'British law still states

507
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:15,519
'that the monarch
cannot be a Catholic,

508
00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:18,759
'or even married to a Catholic.'

509
00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:21,519
Given the history of your ancestors,

510
00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:25,519
what they went through,
what they did, how they held out,

511
00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:27,239
are you proud of them?

512
00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:29,839
Oh, yes, very.

513
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:31,839
I'm very proud of them indeed,

514
00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:35,839
and I'm particularly proud that,
whilst they kept their faith,

515
00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:39,919
they were never disloyal
to the sovereign.

516
00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:45,199
Today, practically all the old
intolerant laws have been repealed.

517
00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:49,399
But I believe there's still plenty
of anti-Catholic sentiment

518
00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:51,319
around in Britain today.

519
00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:55,079
And when I converted to Catholicism
15 years ago,

520
00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:59,079
I found out just how extreme
some of it still is.

521
00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:03,199
CHEERING

522
00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:07,759
In 1995, I was at
Westminster's Catholic cathedral,

523
00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:12,119
when the Queen made the first
visit by a British monarch.

524
00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:13,959
CHEERING

525
00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:17,959
We were heckled by hard-line
Protestants yelling, "Betrayal."

526
00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:24,159
Betrayal! Betrayal! Betrayal!

527
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:27,839
Ever since my conversion,
I have received a stream

528
00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:32,839
of anti-Catholic letters, accusing
me of betraying queen and country.

529
00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:38,119
"Ann Widdecombe being
received into Popery."

530
00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:42,119
And they've changed "converts
to Rome" to "perverts to Rome."

531
00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:44,439
"Traitor, go and live in Rome,

532
00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:46,999
"with the Pope and the Mafia!"

533
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:50,159
I'm not surprised that one
didn't have any address on it.

534
00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:53,759
According to this,
I'm bringing back the Antichrist.

535
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:58,759
It would be easy to dismiss these
letters as the ranting of lunatics.

536
00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:00,959
But, unfortunately,

537
00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:04,959
they are also a tragic,
lasting legacy of the Reformation.

538
00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:07,079
Ah.

539
00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:10,999
"A Protestant country has given
you the right to high office,

540
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,519
"which you have abused."

541
00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:17,519
These letters contain the same ideas

542
00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:20,359
that sparked
the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre.

543
00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:23,439
They maintain
the perverse Reformation beliefs

544
00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:27,439
that Catholics and Protestants
are natural mortal enemies,

545
00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:31,039
that someone can't be both
Catholic and British.

546
00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:35,039
PIPES AND DRUMBEATS

547
00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:38,279
Most of us have now escaped
from these dreadful ideas.

548
00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:40,119
But in one region of modern Europe,

549
00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:44,419
this language of religious hate
has kept its power.

550
00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:46,919
There,
the divisions of the Reformation

551
00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:48,959
are still marked on the streets,

552
00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:53,959
and God has been called on
to bless killers.

553
00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:10,159
In the century after Luther's
break with Rome,

554
00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:15,159
the people of Europe were divided
by religious wars and feuds.

555
00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:19,359
But sheer exhaustion
eventually led to pragmatism.

556
00:39:19,720 --> 00:39:21,079
In 1648,

557
00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:25,879
the rulers of Europe gathered
together for a massive conference.

558
00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:28,599
They agreed the Peace of Westphalia,

559
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:30,359
an end to holy wars

560
00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:34,359
and a grudging promise
of religious acceptance.

561
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:40,559
But as ever, this tale of great men
and grand ideas

562
00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:43,399
was only part of the story.

563
00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:47,239
Actual religious tolerance
was already all round them.

564
00:39:47,240 --> 00:39:51,239
This building may look like
any other Amsterdam town house

565
00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:56,439
but actually it conceals
an extraordinary secret.

566
00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:05,479
This house was built
in the mid-17th century.

567
00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:08,679
Holland was an officially
Protestant country

568
00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:12,679
and Dutch Catholics were banned
from worshipping in public.

569
00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:16,879
The Mass was illegal
and priests were outlawed.

570
00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:20,519
But rather than a dusty
storage loft,

571
00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:25,519
this staircase leads to one of the
hidden wonders of the Reformation.

572
00:40:26,720 --> 00:40:30,719
Ah!

573
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:34,799
I don't believe it.

574
00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:38,839
They hid this.

575
00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:43,839
It's a full-scale,
illegal Catholic church.

576
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:47,999
It is appropriately called
"Our Lord in the Attic."

577
00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:53,959
It's beautiful.

578
00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:02,759
This church,

579
00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:06,759
it's not exactly something
you can hide if anybody comes.

580
00:41:07,560 --> 00:41:09,679
Did anybody know it was here?

581
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:11,879
Everybody knew it was here.

582
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:16,479
It could accommodate
a congregation of a good 150,

583
00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:20,639
and of course even 150 people
coming and going

584
00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:23,039
were always going to be noticed.

585
00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:28,039
All the neighbours knew. They
pretended that it wasn't occurring.

586
00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:31,639
It was much easier, wasn't it,
not to notice it was just plain,

587
00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:34,119
if you like, rather cold pragmatism?

588
00:41:34,120 --> 00:41:37,039
There was some pragmatism
involved, to be sure,

589
00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:40,079
but these were people's neighbours,

590
00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:42,479
these were in many cases
close relatives.

591
00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:47,479
Love thy neighbour was an injunction
that crossed these religious divides.

592
00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:53,599
The Attic Church represents a brave
first step towards toleration.

593
00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:55,279
Ordinary men and women,

594
00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:58,999
who had suffered so much
from the turmoil of the Reformation,

595
00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:02,999
were drawing on the
peaceful message of the Gospel.

596
00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:06,159
Gradually, over the next 200 years,

597
00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:09,439
hatred gave way to acceptance
across Europe.

598
00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:14,439
We were finally escaping
the worst of the Reformation.

599
00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:24,079
In recent times, only one region

600
00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:29,279
has been plagued by that old mix of
Christian division and violence.

601
00:42:30,240 --> 00:42:33,959
Like the wars of the Reformation,
there were always many factors

602
00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:36,079
here in Northern Ireland.

603
00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:40,779
But the religious divide was always
woven in to this deadly conflict.

604
00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:47,999
Here, people are three times more
likely to go to church regularly

605
00:42:48,720 --> 00:42:51,159
than they are
in modern Godless England.

606
00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:55,159
And more than that, they mark
their differences on the streets.

607
00:42:56,120 --> 00:42:59,959
Every year the Orange Order
celebrates its devotion

608
00:42:59,960 --> 00:43:03,959
to fervent Protestantism.

609
00:43:14,020 --> 00:43:18,119
Religious zeal is also found
in the corridors of power.

610
00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:22,839
Northern Ireland's former
first minister, Dr Ian Paisley,

611
00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:26,839
is the founder of his own
Protestant church.

612
00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:34,839
He believes the Reformation was a
breakthrough that freed Christianity

613
00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:39,079
from the corruptions
of Roman Catholicism.

614
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:43,039
PEOPLE CHANT

615
00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:47,039
The Roman Catholic Church believes
that she is the supreme church

616
00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:53,519
and if you're not a member of her,
you're not in the book, as it were.

617
00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:55,719
I don't believe that,

618
00:43:55,720 --> 00:43:58,799
I believe that Christianity's basis

619
00:43:58,800 --> 00:44:01,159
is a personal relationship
to Jesus Christ,

620
00:44:01,160 --> 00:44:04,799
rather than relationships
to churches.

621
00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:07,919
Don't you regret how the Reformation
worked out in practice?

622
00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:11,639
I don't think the Reformation
was responsible for that,

623
00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:14,599
I think that was the reaction
of the Roman Catholic Church

624
00:44:14,600 --> 00:44:15,079
to retain her position.

625
00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:16,799
to retain her position.
Solely? >

626
00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:18,559
Well, there was
resistance to it.

627
00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:21,639
You think that the violence
of the Reformation

628
00:44:21,640 --> 00:44:25,439
was solely down
to the Catholic Church?

629
00:44:25,440 --> 00:44:28,199
Well, I think they started it.

630
00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:31,119
You attacked the Pope
in the European Parliament,

631
00:44:31,120 --> 00:44:35,119
indeed you proclaimed
him to be the Antichrist.

632
00:44:35,560 --> 00:44:37,359
...to say how much I...

633
00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:41,359
enemy and Antichrist!

634
00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:44,959
And all your false doctrine.

635
00:44:44,960 --> 00:44:48,959
I denounce you! I denounce you!

636
00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:52,479
Mr Paisley...

637
00:44:52,480 --> 00:44:56,279
I denounce you as the Antichrist!

638
00:44:56,280 --> 00:44:58,159
Is that still your position?

639
00:44:58,160 --> 00:45:01,079
Do I believe in the Reform
faith position? Yes, I do.

640
00:45:01,080 --> 00:45:03,439
No, do you believe
the Pope is the Antichrist?

641
00:45:03,440 --> 00:45:06,279
Yes, what it says in
the confession of faith.

642
00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:08,079
I signed it when I was ordained,

643
00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:12,079
that the Pope is that man of sin,
that son of perdition.

644
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:14,719
I believe the Reform faith

645
00:45:14,720 --> 00:45:18,719
and they identify the Pope
as the Antichrist and I accept that.

646
00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:23,959
For the second time, Mr Paisley...

647
00:45:24,760 --> 00:45:27,119
Do you regard the Pope as the enemy?

648
00:45:27,120 --> 00:45:29,479
Well, yes, I would say...

649
00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:34,479
I would say that Romanism
is not good for the country

650
00:45:35,040 --> 00:45:39,039
and it's not good for the world,
and it's not good for me.

651
00:45:44,720 --> 00:45:46,599
For Protestants like Ian Paisley,

652
00:45:46,600 --> 00:45:50,519
the Reformation remains
the bedrock of their faith.

653
00:45:50,520 --> 00:45:52,479
And, even as a Catholic,

654
00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:56,479
I support so much of what
the Reformation stood for.

655
00:46:01,640 --> 00:46:05,939
Luther showed incredible bravery
in standing by his beliefs.

656
00:46:06,040 --> 00:46:10,039
The Bible needed
to be made accessible to everyone.

657
00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:15,159
The Church had to do away with
indulgences and other abuses.

658
00:46:16,240 --> 00:46:19,759
Christianity needed a Reformation,

659
00:46:19,760 --> 00:46:22,119
but I think the way it worked out
in practice

660
00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:26,119
was the most appalling tragedy.

661
00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:30,599
I passionately believe
that Christianity

662
00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:35,679
can be and should be a massive
force for peace in the world.

663
00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:40,879
After all, the central tenet of
my religion is love thy neighbour.

664
00:46:40,920 --> 00:46:42,879
And yet, for centuries,

665
00:46:42,880 --> 00:46:47,879
Christian killed Christian
in the name of their faith.

666
00:46:49,480 --> 00:46:51,919
Theological debate led to war,

667
00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:56,919
persecution and religious divisions
which have lasted to this day.

668
00:46:57,680 --> 00:47:00,679
People had to convert
on the orders of their ruler,

669
00:47:01,400 --> 00:47:05,399
rather than follow their own
personal convictions.

670
00:47:07,240 --> 00:47:09,199
Both Catholics and Protestants

671
00:47:09,200 --> 00:47:11,879
lost sight of what
still united them

672
00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:15,479
as they fought over their
differences.

673
00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:17,879
I believe we should celebrate

674
00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:22,279
the breakthroughs and the reforms
that the Reformation brought about.

675
00:47:22,600 --> 00:47:27,599
But we should also remember
that like any family feud

676
00:47:28,600 --> 00:47:31,839
it left behind a bitter legacy
of division

677
00:47:31,840 --> 00:47:34,879
and brought about
some of the darkest moments

678
00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:37,999
in Christian history.

679
00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:41,999
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