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From before the Middle Ages to the early 15th century, most Christianity in Western Europe was known alternately as the Universal or [[Catholic]] Church, headed by the [[Pope]]. Every child born in Europe was baptized. The Catholic Church was of paramount importance to the daily life of the average person. Church services were conducted in [[Latin]], which was the ecclesiastical language of the time. Because many common people were illiterate, the Church endeavored to instruct its members in the Christian faith by means of artwork in Church buildings: statues, paintings, and stained glass windows.
When the printing press was invented around [[1455]], the Bible was one of the first books printed with [[Printing press|movable type]], and therefore was able to be mass-produced. Although illiteracy was still widespread, more people could now read the Bible and interpret it for themselves. This was one factor leading to the Protestant [[Reformation]] in Europe. One of the leaders of the Reformation was the German monk named [[Martin Luther]] (1483 to 1546). Today, members of the church founded upon his beliefs are known as [[Lutherans]]. Along with Luther, [[Ulrich Zwingli]] — the leader of the [[Protestant]] movement in German-speaking Switzerland — and [[John Calvin]] — whose then-future [[Calvinist]] churches believe in strict [[Predestination]] — also left the Catholic church, and founded what are today known as the [[Reformed]] and the [[Presbyterian]] churches. In the beginning, all three of these churches were state churches
===Radical Reformation and the Anabaptists===
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