Proto-Protestantism

thumb|John Wycliffe is called the "Morning Star of the Reformation" by Andy Thomson. thumb|Luther Monument (Worms)|Luther Monument in Worms, including Protestant forerunners such as [[Girolamo Savonarola, Jan Hus and Peter Waldo|294x294px]] thumb|Attempts to suppress the followers of Jan Hus led to launching of several crusades and the [[Hussite Wars in 1419–1434, culminating in formal recognition of religious freedom in Bohemia.]] Proto-Protestantism, also called pre-Protestantism, refers to individuals and movements that propagated various ideas later associated with Protestantism before 1517, which historians usually regard as the starting year for the Reformation era. The relationship between medieval sects and Protestantism is an issue that has been debated by historians.

Successionism is the further idea that these proto-Protestants are evidence of a continuous hidden church of true believers, despite their manifest differences in belief.