The Protestant Reformation1517

Martin Luther:

The Rebel

One Opportunity.

Background – a loss of confidence• The Catholic church-

THE church in Western Europe

• Black Plague had devastated Europe – people thought God was punishing them & Church couldn’t stop it

• Indulgences- pay money in order to get into heaven.

• The Church was extremely wealthy– Taxes

• Church officials- many not very concerned with spiritual matters

• Pope Leo X was trying to raise money to build a big new church in Rome (selling indulgences)

Pope Leo and his crib

The Protester• Martin Luther was a strange

person plagued by the idea that he could never be good enough for God to love

• Became a monk when he was frightened by being caught outside during a thunder storm

• Was very worried about his soul’s salvation – confessed his sins for hours, fasted, went without sleep, trying to make up for sins

Luther’s cell as a monk

Cell sweet Cell

Luther’s Breakthrough

• Developed the idea of justification by faith

• Have faith in God-all that was needed to get to heaven

• Luther wanted to share this information with everyone– Thought Pope would agree, but he didn’t

• The Pope just wanted $$ for his cathedral in Rome

The Conflict• A Catholic agent was

in town, selling indulgences (get out of Purgatory free cards), giving people guilt-trips

• “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs” – John Tetzel’s selling slogan

Signed by John Tetzel, with whom Luther has his disagreement

The 95 Theses• Luther began seeing

the church as corrupt, especially in selling indulgences

• Wrote 95 complaints about indulgences and the church’s power

• Nailed them to the castle church door in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517 causing a debate to begin

Spread of Luther’s Ideas• Printing press let Luther’s

ideas spread quickly – Luther becomes even more radical and gains popular support

• Pope condemns Luther• Luther burns the Pope’s

excommunication in the public square

• German princes called Luther to the town of Worms, for a diet, or meeting

• Told Luther to take back what he’d said

• Luther refuses to take back what he said and is forced to go into hiding

• German princes use Reformation as a rallying cry to free Germany of Papal interference

The Results

• People soon take up Luther’s ideas, sparking wars and religious/political problems all over Europe

• The church in Europe would never reunify – it would remain split between Catholics and Protestants

Luther’s protector, Frederick the Wise

Protestant Reformation Task • Create a comic strip (at least six slides)

depicting the stages of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther is the main character and should be included on every slide.

• For each slide, write a short

explanation (at least two sentences

each).

• Last, go view the 95 Theses on

the door. Write one down and

explain what it means.