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The Reformation, a sixteenth-century religious movement in Europe, broke the monolithic authority of the R o man Catholic Church and opened the way to Protestantism. It profoundly changed the nature not only of Western Christianity but also of social, political, and economic relations in Western civilization. T h e conventional date for the beginning of the Reformation is October 31, 1517. On this day a German priest, monk, and scholar named Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the castle church at Wittenberg. Posting a document in this manner was the typical way of signaling a scholarly debate. In the Ninety-five Theses, Luther applied his understanding of "salvation by faith alone." H e attacked the authority of the institutional church to mediate salvation, specifically by selling indulgences, which were pardons granted by the pope to ensure or assist in salvation. Luther saw this practice as a flagrant example of the corruption of ecclesiastical power.