Let's say that the Protestant Reformation doesn't occur as in OTL (Luther's dramatic intervention doesn't happen, perhaps there is an impetus for reform within the Church). I'm interested in the question of how the intellectual landscape of Europe would progress without a Reformation, particularly in relation to Renaissance Humanism. Would the legacy of thinkers such as Erasmus, More and Bude be even greater? OTL, the Reformation led to divisions within the humanist movement, in England More was attacked by Tyndale for not supporting a vernacular Bible, whilst on the continent, Erasmus and Luther argued about free will. Without the Reformation, could we see the emergence of a greater humanist "Republic of Letters" and the creation of the first "reading public" like the Enlightenment? What about political thought? Will the continuing popularity of classical antiquity lead to a greater appreciation of republican ideals? Or will the influence of Platonism led to an intellectual disengagement from politics? What about the effects on Early Modern society? Without the division of the nobility created by the Reformation, it's possible that the traditional order isn't radically threatened like OTL, and there's no religious doctrine to justify resistance theory.
Sorry for the number of issues raised here, I'm just curious about how Europe could have turned out differently.
Sorry for the number of issues raised here, I'm just curious about how Europe could have turned out differently.