Pre-reformation movements that have been argued, with differing degrees of anachronism and accuracy, as having individual ideas later espoused by some Protestant groups include: •
Antidicomarians: An active Christian sect from the 3rd to 5th century. They believed that Mary's virginity was not perpetual. Their radical opponents may have been
Collyridians, those who allegedly worshipped Mary as though she was equated to the Trinity. •
Jovinian and
Jovinianism (died ): Jovinian was a 4th-century theologian who challenged the wave of
asceticism in the 4th century, challenged the exaltation of virginity, denied the
perpetual virginity of Mary, and he believed that there is no difference between abstaining from food and enjoying it with thanksgiving. Jovinian taught a perseverance doctrine similar to John Calvin, as he taught the truly regenerate will persevere to the end. Some also have argued Jovinian held grace oriented salvation views, similar to the Reformation. Jovinian is sometimes praised as an early forerunner of the reformation. •
Byzantine Iconoclasm: this was a movement within the Eastern Church that gained imperial support in the 8th century from
Leo III the Isaurian (685–741) and some later emperors. They eliminated religious
icons, with some violence, possibly influenced by
Islam. Protestant Iconoclasts looked back to the Byzantine iconoclasts to justify their assault on religious image. Protestants in the reformation used the same Biblical and
Patristic texts used by the Byzantines in the 8th and 9th centuries, to condemn religious images. •
Claudius of Turin: Claudius of Turin was the Bishop of Turin; because of his
iconoclasm, he is often seen as proto-Protestant. His commentary on the
Epistle to Galatians shows some of his views prefigure those expressed by both the
Waldensians and
Protestants centuries later. Claudius, in his writings, maintained that faith is the only requirement for salvation, denies the supremacy of Peter, sees praying for the dead to be useless, attacked practices of the church and held the church to be fallible. •
Gottschalk of Orbais: Gottschalk was a 9th-century
Saxon theologian who was condemned for heresy, due to his teachings on
predestination and that Christ's redemption was only for the elect. The grace views of Gottschalk mirror the Protestant
sola fide doctrine. •
Ratramnus: Ratramnus was a theologian who died in 868. Ratramnus believed that the Eucharist is merely symbolic, thus rejecting the real presence of the Eucharist. Ratramnus also believed in single
predestination. The writings of Ratramnus influenced Protestant theologians and contributed to the later
Reformation. •
Ælfric of Eynsham: Protestants have appealed to Ælfric of Eynsham as evidence for the English church not believing transubstantiation, because of his book:
Sermo de sacrificio in die pascae where he defines the Eucharist. •
Berengar of Tours: Berengar of Tours (c. 1005 – 1088) was a forerunner of the reformation. Berengar of Tours argued against
transubstantiation, saying that it is against logic and the Bible, and taught that the body and blood were not "
real" in the
Eucharist. •
Albigenses: the Albigenses were a religious group that first appeared in Western Europe around the first half of the 11th century. They were earlier called Cathars. The Cathars denied the Incarnation, Resurrection, Trinity and held to
dualist ideas. The inclusion of the Cathars or Albigenses as a Protestant forerunner has been a matter of controversy, some people in the past attempting to justify the Albigensians as Protestants have even argued against them being dualist, however without much evidence. •
Bosnian Church: Also called
Krstjani, they denied the power of the Pope and were excommunicated by both the eastern and western churches. Some have claimed that the Bosnian church is an early pre-reformist church. •
Pataria: The Pataria were an 11th-century group in northern Italy, that was against corruption in the church. •
Tanchelm: Tanchelm was a 12th-century preacher who rejected the structure of the Catholic church. Irish novelist and Abelard scholar
George Augustus Moore (1852–1933), referred to Abelard as the "first
protestant" prior to
Martin Luther. •
Peter of Bruys: was a French reformer who fought against the Catholic church, he rejected
infant baptism and religious images. •
Henry of Lausanne: Henry of Lausanne preached in France and his followers were called Henricans, Henry condemned Catholic clergy for their wealth. •
Fraticelli: the Fraticelli or Spiritual Franciscans were an extreme group of the
Franciscans in the 13th century. The Fraticelli influenced later Protestant
mystics. •
Marsilius of Padua: Marsilius (born in 1270) is sometimes called a forerunner of the reformation. Marsilius believed that the only source of truth for a Christian are the Scriptures, and rejected the Church as being the ultimate authority. Marsilius believed that obedience to papal decrees was not necessary for salvation, and he believed the Papal system to be of human arrangement and not divine. The beliefs of Marsilius were largely in agreement with the Protestant reformers. •
William of Ockham: Ockhamite philosophy influenced Luther and Protestant philosophy. Luther conveyed the ethical philosophy of Ockham into Protestantism. Ockham's stress on scripture anticipates Protestant views and some see him as a proto-Protestant. •
Thomas Bradwardine: Thomas was an English man and a teacher at Oxford. Bradwardine believed in the doctrine of
predestination, Thomas died in 1349. •
Gregory of Rimini: Gregory of Rimini (1300 – November 1358) was an Italian theologian; his teachings influenced later Protestant Reformers. Rimini believed in the human inability to lead a moral life without divine grace, and in
predestination. •
Friends of God: Friends of God or were a 14th-century Christian group in
Germany, some of the leaders of the movement were executed for their criticism of the
Catholic church, the movement foreshadowed the Protestant reformation. The movement was a democratic lay movement that stressed piety, devotion and holiness. •
Petrarch: Many Scholars have regarded Petrarch as a proto-Protestant who challenged the Pope's dogma. •
Strigolniki: The
strigolniki were a 14th-century movement in
Russia that were against monasteries, the upper clergy and they perhaps were
iconoclastic. There is some debate if the
strigolniki were similar to Protestantism or more "heretical". •
Lollardy: Lollardy was a 14th-century movement that stressed the importance of scripture, denied
transubstantiation and rejected the system of the
papacy. They were said to have taught the absolute sufficiency of scripture, maintaining it as the ultimate authority. They provided the view as an alternative to viewing the Church as an authority. The movement was started by
John Wycliffe and its doctrine anticipated those found in the Protestant Reformation. •
Hussites: Hussites were a 15th-century group in Bohemia, which emerged after the
execution of Jan Hus, who was influenced by the writings of
John Wycliffe. Jan Hus condemned indulgences and believed the scriptures to be the only authority for every man. •
Taborites: Taborites were a faction of the Hussite movement, they denied transubstantiation, veneration of saints, prayers for the dead, indulgences, confession to clergy and renounced oaths. •
Utraquists: Utraquists insisted on
communion under two kinds, apostolic poverty, "free preaching of the gospel" and the use of
Czech in scripture reading. •
Lorenzo Valla: Lorenzo Valla broke loose from an infallible church tradition and thus some call him a Protestant forerunner and prefigured some teachings of the reformation. Luther himself praised Lorenzo Valla. •
Johannes von Goch: Goch asserted that the Bible is the supreme authority on doctrine, perhaps taught that faith alone is enough for salvation and questioned monasticism. •
Johann Ruchrat von Wesel: Johann attacked indulgences and rejected priesty celibacy and papal authority; he believed in predestination and in the
church invisibile, and believed that the Scriptures are the only trustworthy authority. •
John of Wessel: John of Wessel attacked indulgences, rejected the
Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, Wessel believed that the pope and councils can err and laid stress on the faith of the recipient of the sacraments. While some Catholics have claimed that the identification of John of Wessel with Protestantism "exaggerates the similarities". •
Johannes Geiler von Kaysersverg: Born in 1445, Johannes was concerned for moral reform in
Strasbourg, and preached about God's justice. His reforms laid groundwork for the later Protestant reform in Strasbourg. •
Girolamo Savonarola was an Italian preacher and reformer, he was born in 1452 and died in 1498. Historians believe that Girolamo Savonarola influenced
Luther, and possibly also
John Calvin. Despite having many beliefs that align with Roman Catholicism, Savonarola believed in divine grace, such as Protestants do. Savonarola declared, that good works are not a cause of predestination but result of predestination. His followers were called the
Piagnoni. Savonarola never abandoned the dogmas of the Roman Catholic church, however his protests against papal corruption, reliance on the Bible as the main guide link Savonarola with the reformation. Although some dispute the inclusion of Girolamo Savonarola as a proto-Protestant. •
Pico della Mirandola: Pico della Mirandola published 900 theses against Rome, where he argued that "this is my body" must be seen symbolically and that no images should be adored. Pico was also an admirer of Girolamo Savonarola. When the reformation had begun, he never left the Catholic church but was suspected of leaning towards reformation ideas. Later his grandnephew,
Melanchthon joined the Protestant reformation. •
Faber Stapulensis: Faber was a forerunner of Luther in France, and anticipated the doctrine of justification by faith. •
Erasmus: Erasmus was born only 20 years before Luther in the
Netherlands and produced the
Latin and Greek New Testament that the Reformers used for their vernacular translations. He sought thorough-going moral and institutional reform, and doctrinal tolerance through simplification, education and biblicism, though not doctrinal revolution or violence. Erasmus initially defended Luther when Luther was in trouble with authorities; yet he felt that the Luther's claim of the biblical doctrine of
sola fide was not supported in the Bible, and that Luther's reforms verged on extremism and refused to support it, and ultimately remained loyal to the Roman Catholic hierarchy. However, mainstream Catholic contemporaries criticized Erasmus, charging him with "laying the egg that Luther hatched". ==Successionism==