1517 : Martin Luther posts 95 theses
On this day in 1517, the priest and scholar Martin Luther
approaches the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg,
Germany, and nails a piece of paper to it containing the 95
revolutionary opinions that would begin the Protestant
Reformation.
In his theses, Luther condemned the excesses and corruption
of the Roman Catholic Church, especially the papal practice
of asking payment--called "indulgences"--for the forgiveness
of sins. At the time, a Dominican priest named Johann Tetzel,
commissioned by the Archbishop of Mainz and Pope Leo X,
was in the midst of a major fundraising campaign in Germany
to finance the renovation of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Though Prince Frederick III the Wise had banned the sale of
indulgences in Wittenberg, many church members traveled to
purchase them. When they returned, they showed the pardons
they had bought to Luther, claiming they no longer had to
repent for their sins.
Luther's frustration with this practice led him to write the 95
Theses, which were quickly snapped up, translated from
Latin into German and distributed widely. A copy made its way
to Rome, and efforts began to convince Luther to change his
tune. He refused to keep silent, however, and in 1521 Pope
Leo X formally excommunicated Luther from the Catholic
Church. That same year, Luther again refused to recant his
writings before the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of
Germany, who issued the famous Edict of Worms declaring
Luther an outlaw and a heretic and giving permission for
anyone to kill him without consequence. Protected by Prince
Frederick, Luther began working on a German translation of
the Bible, a task that took 10 years to complete.
The term "Protestant" first appeared in 1529, when Charles V
revoked a provision that allowed the ruler of each German
state to choose whether they would enforce the Edict of Worms.
A number of princes and other supporters of Luther issued a
protest, declaring that their allegiance to God trumped their
allegiance to the emperor. They became known to their
opponents as Protestants; gradually this name came to apply
to all who believed the Church should be reformed, even those
outside Germany. By the time Luther died, of natural causes,
in 1546, his revolutionary beliefs had formed the basis for the
Protestant Reformation, which would over the next three
centuries revolutionize Western civilization.
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General Interest
1517 : Martin Luther posts 95 theses
http://www.history.com/tdih.
1926 : Houdini is dead
http://www.history.com/tdih.
1961 : Stalin's body removed from Lenin's tomb
http://www.history.com/tdih.
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