German Caused the Church’s Downfall
Protestantism began with Martin Luther in Germany. It is not a coincidence that they also happened to have a language that shared little with Latin, the language of the Bible, compared with French, Spanish or even English.
The Pope was all powerful during that time, and ruled over almost the entirety of Europe, essentially in the same manner the emperor ruled over Japan. All of Europe was Christian at this time; entering Heaven when one dies was one of the most important aspects of Life. The Pope, and the Roman Catholic Church maintained a large part of their control over society in this fashion.
Everyone wanted to get into heaven; attending Church was the way to ensure this. The Church interpreted the whimsical nature of God and taught its followers how to live life according to His wishes. The people gave a modest portion of their earnings and wealth to the Church in exchange. Over time, this made the Church incredibly wealthy, and the Church had much invested in maintaining (if not advancing) this relationship with its followers.
One of the ways the Church maintained this relationship was through its interpretation of the Bible. The Bible was the word of God, the way God taught us how to live. But the Bible was written in Latin. However few–especially low class, uneducated, farming–people spoke Latin in their daily lives. The majority of Christians needed the help of the Church to learn and understand its teaching. Priests read passages from the Bible in Latin. Then, in more personal sessions, they would talk with people about its meaning and lessons in the native language they could understand.
This was only a small problem in countries that spoke Latin-based languages: France, Italy, Spain. Their languages were close enough to the original language the Good Book was based upon that anyone interested enough could learn Latin (so as to read the Bible) easily enough.
However, Germanic languages are not based upon Latin; the hurdles are substantially greater. People from these parts of the world were at a big disadvantage if all religious discourse took place in Latin. Wealth and strength concentrated in areas speaking Latin-based languages as a result. Italy and France were stronger and wealthier than England and Germany. In fact, Germany was a pretty minor player during these years.
So it is hardly surprising that Germany would be the first country to demand (or at least receive so enthusiastically) a translation of the Bible in their native language. Although the German that Martin Luther used almost certainly had great differences from the German a person reading it would speak, it was a vast improvement. Suddenly a wealth of people could access the Bible in a direct-way they never could previously.
It is also unsurprising that the Roman Catholic Church would view this development so unfavorably. A person who can read the Bible himself, can find his own way into Heaven; the help of the Church was no longer necessary. And if the Church was no longer necessary, neither was giving them all that money. A German bible seriously diminished the Church’s leverage and control over German Christians.
And their fears proved right. Germany broke from the Catholic church in dramatic fashion. They consolidated their power and challenged the Catholic church with great empires three times that conquered the bulk of Catholic lands in Europe. They might still hold those lands today were it not for the English (and Americans), another Germanic-speaking country (people) that split from the Church and became powerful enough to challenge its supremacy.
A few centuries ago all of the “civilized” world fell under the Pope’s domain. Today, every McDonald’s sign, BMW and cup of Tea is a testament to the United States, Germany and England. Their collective protestant cultural-footprint dwarfs the once great Pope’s.