The Story of Civilization

P1: How did the Reformation impact the development of the 16th century nation-state? Thesis Paragraph: The first half of the 16th Century saw the Reformation destabilize Christendom and bring a sense of chaos throughout Europe. By the 1550’s, the social and religious aspects of the Reformation seemed to stabilize, causing a wave of political instability. The French nobles and merchants seemed to convert to Calvinism in hopes of decentralizing France. In the Spanish Habsburg Empire, the rebellions Calvinist Dutch seemed to threaten the stability of Philip’s empire. In England, the chaos of the age seemed to actually stabilize England as a nation-state under the reign of Elizabeth.