Key Reformer: Martin Luther

Marin Luther was born in Saxony, Gemany in 1483. He became a monk in 1505. His actions and beliefs caused the Reformation

Luther challenged the Catholic Church’s abuses, especially the sale of indulgences. The sale of indulgeces was the selling of special prayers that promised a pardon from sins or a shortened time in purgatory. This was seen as exploiting the poor and the Church’s believes as well as corrupting true faith. In 1517, Johann Tetzel arrived in Wittenberg to sell indulgences, raising money for the rebuild of St. Peter’s Basilica. Luther responed by writing the 95 Theses against Johann Tetzel, the sale of indulgences and the Church for exploiting of its believers. This showed his opposition to corruption within the Church.

Luther introdues new religious beliefs. He believed in “justification by faith alone”, rejecting the ideas of salvation through good works, indulgences, relics and pilgrammages. He believed that the Bible was the only authority, not the Pope and only accepted two sacraments, Baptism and Eucharist. He also believed that Mass and the Bible should be in the vernacular, and that the bread and wine of Eucharist remained bread and wine as opposed to transforming into the body and blood of Christ. This is called constantsubtiation. Luther’s new religious beliefs simplified Christianity.

Luther’s actions had huge results. In 1520, Pope Leo X sent a Papl Bull, ordering Luther to recant. He burned it in public, causing him to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church. At the Diet of Worms in 1521, he refused to recant his ideas before Emperor Charles V, who declared him an outlaw, and the Edict of Worms meant that anyone could kill him without punishment. For Luther’s protection, Frederick the Wise captured him and hid him in Wartburg Castle where he translated the Bible to the vernacular - German meaning that ordinary people could read and interpret the scripture for themselves. As a result, the Protestant religious spread quickly across German and most of Northern Europe, breaking te Catholic Church’s control. His actions also sparked the Catholic Counter-Reformation and many religious wars such as the Thirty Year War.