As a result, the Protestant Reformation began in Germany in 1517, when an Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, nailed his famous “95 Theses” -- a protest of the sale of indulgences (pardons for sins)-- to the door of a church in Wittenberg. Then, Switzerland, Scandinavia, Scotland, and several German states soon adapted the new religion, called Protestantism. In England, the break with Rome came when Pope Clement VII refused to allow King Henry VIII to divorce his wife, and this led to the organization of the Anglican Church.