AHC: Make the Protestant Reformation start in Southern Europe.

[MusuMankata]

With a POD not earlier then the XIV Century, make so that a major religious reform starting in Southern Europe ("Southern Europe" in this context begin Spain, Portugal, Italy under the Arno and the Catholic parts of the Balkans) ends up in dividing (permanently) Western Christianity in two halves.

Can start like OTL's Protestant Reform from a single man condemning a certain practice (bonus points if it's something besides the indulgences), or as a group effort of a single or multiple church communities.

 

[Theoretical_TJ]

Peter Waldo's doctrines light off the Reformation, chiefly by getting a nation-protector somewhere. Is Lyon south enough? The Waldensians existed from the late 1100s and quickly affiliated with the Protestant churches.

Anti-Transubstantiation, check
Anti-Material Excesses of the Church, check
Priesthood of all believers, check
Bible in the vernacular, check

What would be really radical is if Waldo moved over to Greece and a huge revival happened in the Eastern Church, and the revival led to the reformation of the dying Byzantine Empire.

The big POD is not the leader of the movement, because there were lots of reform movements in the Catholic church over the centuries, to varying degrees. The big POD is a leader who secures state toleration or overt support for the anti-establishment faith.