Protestant

A Protestant is a Christian that does not recognize the authority of the Catholic Church and instead follows the doctrines of the Protestant Reformation.

One of the defining characteristics of a Protestant is they believe that the Bible alone is all that is needed to have a relationship to Christ and God, and only though a personal relationship with Christ would ensure a soul's salvation. This stripped down version of Christianity made the rituals and policies established by the Catholic Church unnecessary, a distraction, and a temptation into corruption and greed in the eyes of the Protestants.

As a sidenote, in period, Protestants considered Catholics heretics and vice versa.