To put it simply, the Roman Catholic church dominated the religious practices of most of Western Europe since sometime during the fourth century(?) AD when Emperor Constantine made it the official religion of Rome. Then in 1517 Martin Luther, noting the corruption that had developed in the leadership of this religion broke away for the Catholic church. (This is credited as being the beginning of the Protestant movement.) The Catholic church quite correctly saw this as an assault on its authority and initiated a program of persecution against Protestants. This persecution was carried out both by agents of the church itself and by those monarchs that remained loyal the the Catholic church. In retaliation, the Protestants often persecuted Catholics that lived in countries that were dominated by Protestants. As with any institutionalized conflict, one round of violence led to another until it was not so much about the differences in religious beliefs as it was about vengeance for the last atrocity. So, the cycle of violence continues in many places over and argument that started almost 500 years ago. Just as an interesting sidelight to this, Henry VIII of England was given the title Defender of the Faith by the Pope in honor of his diligent persecution of Protestants. I find it ironic that he kept the title even after he broke with Roman Catholicism over the issue of divorce. The monarchs of England still claim that title today despite the fact that they now claim to be the head of the Church of England (a completely Protestant religion) rather than membership in the Catholic church. ************** "Alatea: This might be called an outright lie!" "Ignatius: This is complete bunk and standard misrepresentation of history." If you disagree with this answer, then how about posting answers of your own to correct my errors. Without justification, your criticisms are just gratuitous assertions. According to the rules of logic, any gratuitous assertion can just as gratuitously be denied.