What event in 1517 sparked the Protestant Reformation?

• A. Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses
• B. The Edict of Nantes
• C. The Council of Trent began
• D. Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy

Answer: (A)

The spark that started the Protestant Reformation in 1517 was Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses. Luther challenged the sale of indulgences and argued that salvation comes through faith and that Scripture, not the pope or church tradition, holds ultimate authority. By posting these theses and, later, through the spread of printed pamphlets, his ideas reached a wide audience and sparked debate across Europe. This set off a reform movement that questioned many Catholic practices and eventually led to the creation of Protestant churches.

The other events happened later or in different contexts: the Edict of Nantes granted rights to French Protestants centuries later; the Council of Trent began as part of the Catholic Counter-Reformation to respond to reformist ideas; and Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy in England established the monarch as head of the Church of England, but none of these mark the initial 1517 trigger.