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Martin Luther was born November 10, 1483, to Hans Luder and Margarethe. He was born in Eisleben, County of Mansfeld, in the Holy Roman Empire.
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Martin Luther receives a liberal arts degree, a master’s degree and begins law school.
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He abruptly abandons law school and enters a monastery after a violent thunderstorm frightens him so badly that he vows to become a monk if he survives.
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Luther receives his doctorate and becomes a professor of biblical studies. He begins to publish his writings on religion. -
Between 1513 and 1516, Martin Luther taught the bible.
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Luther finds out that another religious leader has supposedly told followers that buying an indulgence causes God to forgive a person’s sins. Luther writes the Ninety-five Theses, a document that explains why indulgences are wrong. Luther posts the Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Schlosskirche, Wittenberg, on October 31. This event will come to be considered the beginning of the Protestant Reformation
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Rome dispatched high-ranking clergy and theologians to debate Luther in disputations and offer him the opportunity to retract or mollify his views at Leipzig in July 1519. This was a turning point. Luther stood his ground in what was interpreted as a direct challenge to papal authority. Pope Leo was urged to issue the papal bull, or edict, condemning Luther's views as heresy and threatening him with excommunication. -
The pope issues a document that warns Luther to recant, or take back what he said. Luther publicly sets it on fire. -
The pope formally throws Luther out of the church saying Luther is a heretic—an outlaw who should be captured and burned to death. -
Luther appears at an official meeting called the Diet of Worms in Germany. He refuses to declare that the books he has published are wrong unless someone can find evidence in the Bible that he is wrong. Luther is declared an outlaw once again after the Diet of Worms adjourns. Frederick III of Saxony keeps Luther in hiding for the better part of a year. During this period Luther begins to translate the New Testament into German. -
Luther returns to Lutherstadt Wittenberg and sets off a series of theological and social reforms, such as education for all. He encourages musicians and poets to write music and hymns for church services.
