5277 AM · 1517 CE · world history
Luther and the Reformation
A monk from Wittenberg challenges the sale of indulgences and splits Western Christianity.
Martin Luther posts ninety-five theses against the sale of indulgences. A narrow dispute quickly becomes a fundamental one: salvation by faith, and scripture above the pope. The printing press carries his texts across Germany in weeks. His German Bible shapes the language. Europe divides into Catholic and Protestant.
Sources
Documents of the period
- documents and chronicles of the period — the 95 theses (1517), the Edict of Worms, and Luther’s Bible translation
Scholarship
- studies in European history — the part played by the printing press in spreading the Reformation within weeks
Basis: documents and evidence.