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Person1483 – 1546

Martin Luther

Also called: Luther

German theologian who launched the Reformation with his Ninety-five Theses in 1517, preached salvation “by faith alone” and authority “by scripture alone”, and translated the Bible into German

The son of a mining entrepreneur, he was studying law at Erfurt when, after nearly being struck by lightning, he entered an Augustinian monastery. As professor of theology at Wittenberg, reading Romans, he came to the conviction that “the righteous shall live by faith”. In 1525 he married the former nun Katharina von Bora, setting an example for clerical marriage. He wrote the hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”, and his German Bible became a foundation of modern German. He died in his birthplace, Eisleben.

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2 related events

  1. 1
    1521Luther at the Diet of Wormsleader

    In April 1521 Luther stood before Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms and refused to recant; outlawed by the Empire, he translated the Bible into German under the protection of the Elector of Saxony.

  2. 2
    1524 – 1525German Peasants’ Warrelated figure

    In 1524–1525 peasants across southern and central Germany, inspired by the Reformation, rose up demanding the end of serfdom and other reforms, but were crushed by the princes — with Luther on the princes’ side.

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  • Thomas Müntzer1525

    German radical reformer who led the Thuringian peasant army in the German Peasants’ War and was executed after the defeat at Frankenhausen

Themes this person appears in

  • Reformation and Absolutism1517 – 1796

    From Luther’s Ninety-five Theses to Catherine the Great — the wars of religion of a divided Christendom ended at Westphalia, and absolute monarchs armed with divine right, standing armies, bureaucracies and mercantilism, followed by the enlightened despots of eastern Europe, contended for the balance of power among sovereign states