1. Martin Luther Aldo Popow Mrs. Eckman Wissler CP English 12
31 October 2016

2. Essential Question
How did Martin Luther affect the Catholic church?

3. Martin Luther: Early Life
On November 10, 1483 in Eisleben, Germany Martin Luther was born to Hans and Margarette Luther, both from peasant lineage. Though Hans was a peasant, he was a successful miner and was able to send his son Martin to get an education. From the age of 7 he attended school in Mansfeld, then at age 14, he went to school in Magdeburg. In 1498, he returned to his hometown of Eisleben to attend school there. His father wanted Martin to become an educated man to avoid the hardships of mining, and encouraged his son to be a lawyer.

4. Martin Luther: Post Education
Martin Luther enrolled at the University of Erfurt in 1501 to become a lawyer. In 1505, Martin had a life changing experience in which he was caught in the middle of an intense thunderstorm. He prayed for his survival, even promising to become a monk if he survived. He lived through the storm and started on his journey to become a monk. Though this was disappointing to his father, Martin felt he had to fulfil his promise, and it also made him feel comfortable living in a monastery, as it kept him close to salvation.
University of Erfurt

5. Martin Luther: Religious Life
Though he was training to be a monk, he stayed enrolled at the University of Erfurt and then went to another university in Wittenberg to continue his education. Between 1510 and 1511, Martin left his education to serve as a representative for the German Augustinian Ministries in Rome. During his stay in Rome, Martin became aware of the corruption in the church amongst the priests and found it appalling. Upon his return he enrolled again in university in an attempt to forget the corruption he witnessed. He eventually received his doctorate, and became a professor of theology. Over time Martin realized that one does not have to fear God in order to gain entrance to Heaven, but hold their faith in him for their salvation. A belief that Martin held in high regard.

6. Martin Luther and the Roman Catholic Church
Martin Luther, due to the invention of the printing press, and the now growing influx of knowledge from it, was able to study from philosophers of the past. This primarily being Augustine. Augustine believed that the Bible itself was the closest a mortal could get to God, not church officials, and that it was not one’s own actions that granted salvation, but God’s own grace. Martin Luther related with these ideas and as a result, was against the Roman Catholic Church by default. The Roman Church believed that their priests, monks, and friars were closer to God than the normal citizen, and that buying “indulgences”, or religious trinkets, would bring someone closer to Heaven. Martin believed this practice was corrupt and reprehensible.

7. Martin Luther’s Last Straw
Martin, though disagreeing with the Roman Catholic Church, never publicly denounced them, that is, until the church attempted to extort the people around his monastery to buy indulgences in order to raise funds for a new church.Now selling indulgences was banned in Germany at this time so Martin felt he had to do something and express his opinions. He wrote 95 theses that pointed out the Roman Church’s flaws and hung them on the Wittenberg Chapel door. An act that openly defied the Roman Church.

8. The Spreading of an Idea
Martin also sent the Archbishop of Mainz, Albert Albrecht, a copy of the 95 theses asking him to finally end the sale of indulgences once and for all. The printing press also helped Martin’s 95 theses spread around the whole of Europe in only 2 months. One of the most controversial theses was when Martin wrote "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?" (Luther), attacking both the church’s hypocrisies and unfound reliance on the sale of indulgences.

9. The Roman Catholic Church’s Response
The Catholic church ordered Martin Luther to appear before Cardinal Thomas Cajetan in Augsburg. Martin was ordered to recant his statements in the 95 theses, but Luther said that he would only recant if there was scripture that proved him wrong. He even went so far as to say that the papacy did not have the authority to interpret scripture. The meeting only increased tensions between Martin and the church.
Augsburg, Germany

10. Martin’s Excommunication
Around June 1519 Martin publicly stated that the Bible did not give the church authority over interpretation of the scripture, directly attacking the Roman church’s teachings. Due to this the church ordered Martin to recant his statements again, but he refused. The church then excommunicated him in and labeled him a “convicted heretic”. This forced Martin into hiding.

11. Frauenkirche, a Lutheran chapel in Dresden, Germany
Reformation
Despite being a wanted man, Martin returned to Wittenberg to start his own church. He gained a following that even included German princes who backed him against the Roman church. When there was a peasant revolt, he denounced the use of violence and sided with the local rulers, which let his church grow unabated. Martin was only the catalyst of the reformation, and he did not lead it all the way through.

12. Martin’s Accomplishments
Martin, by standing by his beliefs, was able to divide the Roman Catholic Church and create a bond between the common man and God. He kept the power from the church by translated the Bible from Latin to German, allowing normal people to read the scripture and interpret it themselves. Although in his later years he began to write harshly against the Jewish faith.

13. Works Cited
Biography.com Editors. “Martin Luther Biography”. The Biography.com Website.
A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 31 October #related-video-gallery
History.com Staff. “Martin Luther and the 95 Theses”. History.com. A+E networks, Web. 1 November 2016.
Luther, Martin. “Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences”. Iclnet.org. Philadelphia: A.
J. Holman Company, Web. 1 November

14. Pictures