Martin Luther

Martin Luther was born

1483

Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483 in Eisleben, Germany to his father Hans Luther and his mother Margarethe Luther.

Martin Luther gains education

1502

Luther earns his liberal arts degree and then continued on to get his master's degree. He then heads to law school.

Luther returns to Christ

1505

Luther abandons school after a violent thunderstorms shakes him to his core. He joins a monastery after vowing to become a monk if he survived the storm.

Doctor Martin Luther

1512

Luther earns his doctorate and becomes a professor of biblical studies, beginning to publish his writings on religion.

Luther's Realization

Period: 1513 to 1516

Luther, through Johann Tetzel a Dominican friar sent to Germany who promoted the sale of indulgences to raise money to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, going so far as to sell plenary indulgences.

95 Theses

1517

Luther finds out that religious leaders have been promoting the sale of indulgences for forgiving sins and writes the 95 Theses in response, scolding and protesting the sales of indulgences.

Protestant Revolution Begins

1517

Martin Luther posts the 95 Theses to the doors of the Schlosskirche (Castle Church) in Wittenberg on October 31. This posting is though of as the start of the Protestant Revolution .

Disputation

1519

In June and July, theologian Johann Eck staged disputations with Luther's colleague Andreas Karlstadt at Leipzig and invited Luther to speak, in which Luther made a bold claim that made Eck devote himself to Luther's defeat.

The Pope Scolds Luther

1520

The pope issues a document that tells Luther to take back what he said in the 95 Theses. Luther refuses and publicly burns the document

Luther's Trial

1521

Luther appears at the Diet of Worms in Germany in which his accusers demand that he renounce the books he has written, and he refuses based on a lack of evidence from the Bible that he is wrong. Charles V declares him an outlaw but Frederick III of Saxony, a local ruler, keeps Luther in hiding where he begins to translate the New Testament into German.

Excommunication

1521

The pope officially and formally excommunicates Luther, throwing him out of the church completely. The pope says that he is an outlaw that should be captured and burned until death (burned alive), going against the German king Charles V who vowed that no German would be convicted without a proper hearing.

Returning to Wittenberg

1522

Luther secretly returned to Wittenberg, and began to preach, bringing immediate effect to the people there. He also began to modify existing church practices there, working with authorities to restore public order.