The Hour I First Believed

“I can assure you that no kingdom has ever had as many civil wars as the kingdom of Christ.” 

-Montesquieu ,  Persian Letters 

On March 9th, 1513, Raffaele Riario is elected to the position of Pope, rather than Giovanni de Lorenzo de’ Medici (Pope Leo X) as happened in our universe.

As Pope, Riario’s policies are less tolerant to dissent than those of Pope Leo X. As opposed to excommunication, Pope Riario’s response to Martin Luther’s public display of the 95 Theses in 1517 is to have him publicly executed. This decision, already extremely unpopular within the church, causes a wave of backlash in the already tense environment that was ready to give way to the schism of the Protestant Reformation. Influence of the Catholic Church is greatly reduced as Martin Luther becomes a martyr and opposition to the papacy becomes violently galvanized. This leads to a tremendously different version of the Renaissance, dominated by Protestant culture and influence rather than Catholic.