Protestant Reformers

This chart provides basic facts on notable reformers and leaders in the Protestant Reformation. A few Catholics, like Bucer and Erasmus, are included here because of their importance in the Protestant Reformation.

Image	Name(s)	Birth	Death	Cause of Death	Education	Vocation(s)	Associated Tradition	Works	Overview
	James Arminius; Jacobus Arminius; Jacob Hermansz	1560 Oudewater, Netherlands	1609 Leiden, Netherlands	Natural causes	Leiden, Basel, Geneva	professor at Leiden, theologian	Reformed	Orations; Declaration of Sentiments; Apology; Disputations	Rejected Calvinist predestination; laid theological foundation for John Wesley.
	Theodore Beza	1519	1605	Natural causes	Orleans	professor of Greek at Geneva, minister, theologian	Reformed	Confession of the Christian Faith; On the Rights of Magistrates	Succeeded Calvin as religious leader of Geneva. Hardened Calvin's doctrine of predestination. Discovered Codex Bezae.
	Martin Bucer; Martin Butzer	1491	Feb. 28, 1551 Cambridge, England	Natural causes; body exhumed and burnt in 1557.	Heidelberg	former Dominican monk, professor of Divinity at Cambridge	Lutheran		Known as the Peacemaker of the Reformation. Humanist. Led Reformation in Strasbourg. Tried to reconcile Lutherans, Reformed and Catholics.
	Heinrich Bullinger	Jul. 18, 1504 Bremgarten, Switzerland	Sept. 17, 1575 Zurich, Switzerland	Natural causes	Cologne	theologian	Reformed	first and second Helvetic Confessions	Influenced by Erasmus, Luther, Melanchthon. Succeeded Zwingli at Zurich. Opposed presbyterianism.
	John Calvin; Jean Cauvin	1509 Noyon, France	1564 Geneva, Switzerland	Natural causes	Paris and Orleans	professor, minister	Reformed	Institutes of the Christian Religion	Led Geneva; developed doctrine of sovereignty of God
	Thomas Cranmer	1489 Nottinghamshire, England	Mar. 21, 1556 Oxford, England	Burned at the stake	Cambridge	Archbishop of Canterbury	Anglican	first and second Book of Common Prayer; Thirty-Nine Articles	Played large role in English Reformation. Involved in Henry VIII's divorce; was burned at the stake under Queen Mary after recanting his recantation.
	Thomas Cromwell	c. 1485	July 28, 1540	Beheaded for treason	unknown	Member of Parliament, vicar-general	Anglican	none	Supervised dissolution of monasteries. Attempted marriage alliance between Henry VIII and German Lutherans.
	Desiderius Erasmus; Erasmus of Rotterdam; Erasmus Roterodamus	c. 1469 Rotterdam, Netherlands	1536 Basel, Switzerland	Natural causes	Gouda and Deventer	humanist scholar	Catholic	Praise of Folly; Handbook of the Christian Soldier; Complaint of Peace; On Free Will	Moderate reformer; witty satirist; translated Latin Bible into Greek.
	George Fox	1624 Fenny Drayton, Leicestershire, England	Jan. 13, 1691	Natural causes	none	shoemaker	Quaker	Journal	Founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Emphasized the Inner Light of Christ. Frequent missionary journeys.
	Jan Hus; John Huss	1373 Husinec, Czech Republic	July 6, 1415 Constance, Germany	Burned at the stake	Prague	priest, professor of philosophy at Prague	Catholic (pre-Reformation)		Influenced by Wycliffe. Emphasized right living over sacraments. Opposed veneration of images and indulgences. Became national hero.
	John Knox	c. 1514 Haddington, Scotland	1572	Natural causes	Glasgow and St. Andrews	priest, notary, private tutor, preacher	Reformed	The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women; History of the Reformation of Religion in Scotland	Went to Geneva in 1553, influenced by Calvin. Returned to Scotland in 1559 and led Scottish Reformation.
	Hugh Latimer	c. 1485	Oct. 16, 1555 Oxford, England	Burned at the stake	Cambridge	Bishop of Worcester	Anglican	Many sermons; most famous is "Of the Plough"	Twice imprisoned by Henry VIII. Leading preacher under Edward VI. Burned at the stake under Mary Tudor.
	Martin Luther; Martin Luder	1483 Eisleben, Germany	1546 Eisleben, Germany	Natural causes	Leipzig	professor, priest	Lutheran	95 Theses; Freedom of a Christian; Bondage of the Will; Smaller and Larger Catechisms	Sparked the Reformation by protesting against indulgences. Taught justification by faith alone, authority of scripture alone. Married former nun.
	Philip Melanchthon; Philip Schwartzerdt ("Black earth")	1497	1560	Natural causes	Heidelberg and Tubingen	professor of Greek at Wittenberg	Lutheran	Loci Communes	Luther's colleague at Wittenburg. Attempted reconciliation with Reformed and Catholics. Systematized Luther's theology.
	Nicholas Ridley	c. 1500	1555	Burned at the stake	Cambridge	chaplain to Cranmer and Henry VIII, Bishop of London		Helped produce Book of Common Prayer	Burned at the stake with Latimer.
	Menno Simons	1496	1561	Natural causes		parish priest	Anabaptist (Mennonite)		Taught believers' baptism, non-resistance, symbolic Eucharist. Founder of Mennonites.
	Philip Jakob Spener	1635 Alsace	1705	Natural causes	Strasbourg	preacher	Lutheran, Pietist	Pia Desideria	Founder of Pietism.
	William Tyndale; William Tindale; William Huchyns	c. 1494	Oct. 6, 1536 Brussels, Belgium	Strangled and burned at the stake	Oxford and Cambridge	translator	Anglican	English translation of NT; Obedience of a Christian Man; Parable of the Wicked Mammon	Lived in exile on the Continent, where he published English NT. Executed.
	John Wesley	June 17, 1703 Epworth, Lincolnshire, England	Mar. 2, 1791 London, England	Natural causes	Oxford	Anglican minister, founder of Methodism	Anglican, Methodist	A Plain Account of Christian Perfection; Advice to a People Called Methodist	Founded Methodism; adopted Arminian doctrine of free will; emphasized sanctification.
	John Wycliffe; John Wyclif	c. 1330 Yorkshire, England	Dec. 31, 1384 Oxford, England	Natural causes; body exhumed and burnt in 1415	Oxford	professor, theologian, philosopher at Oxford	Catholic (pre-Reformation)	On the Church; On the Truth of Sacred Scripture	Translated Bible into English; rejected many Catholic practices; sent out preachers called Lollards. Posthumously declared heretic .
	Ulrich Zwingli; Huldrych Zwingli	Jan. 1, 1484 Wildhaus, Switzerland	Oct. 11, 1531 Kappel (near Zurich), Switzerland	Killed in battle against Catholic cantons.	Bern, Vienna and Basel	priest, military chaplain, People's Preacher at Zurich's Old Minster	Reformed	On True and False Religion; 67 Conclusions; Concerning Freedom and Choice of Food; The Clarity and Certainty of the Word of God	Introduced reformation ideas to Zurich and throughout Switzerland. Said nothing should be believed or practiced that is not in the Bible. Argued with Luther over the Eucharist. Persecuted Anabaptists.