Since the early 20s of the Sixteenth Century, Luther’s message started to spread out in Venice and its territory. Quickly disseminated through the print, as well as pulpits and merchants, the ideas of the Protestant Reformation generated interest and approval within Venetian citizens of every social class. The fellow travelers of such new doctrines were mostly artisans and professionals, but also members of the political and religious elites were included. During the central decades of the century, the territory of the Republic of Venice was crossed by a thick net of heterodox religious groups inspired by an often eclectic, albeit prevalently Zwinglian-Calvinist, Protestantism. Anabaptism stirred strong consensus as well. However, soon came the repression from both political and religious authorities. The Republic agreed that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith acted within its borders. Decimated by abjurations and emigrations, by the end of the century Protestantism had already been wiped out from Venice and the territories under its control.