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Do not fill this in! ===Start of the Reformation: 1516–1517=== {{Further|History of Protestantism|History of Lutheranism}} [[File:Jeorg Breu Elder A Question to a Mintmaker c1500.png|thumb|left|The [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[Indulgence|sale of indulgences]] shown in ''A Question to a Mintmaker'', a [[woodcut]] by [[Jörg Breu the Elder]] of Augsburg, {{Circa|1530}}]] In 1516, [[Johann Tetzel]], a [[Dominican Order|Dominican friar]], was sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic Church to sell indulgences to raise money in order to rebuild [[St. Peter's Basilica]] in Rome.<ref>"[[Johann Tetzel]]," ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2007</ref> Tetzel's experiences as a preacher of indulgences, especially between 1503 and 1510, led to his appointment as general commissioner by [[Albert of Brandenburg|Albrecht von Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz]], who, already deeply in debt to pay for a large accumulation of benefices, had to contribute the considerable sum of ten thousand [[ducat]]s<ref>At first, "the pope demanded twelve thousand ducats for the twelve apostles. Albert offered seven thousand ducats for the seven deadly sins. They compromised on ten thousand, presumably not for the Ten Commandments". Bainton, Roland. ''Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther'' (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1950), p. 75, [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.155980 online]</ref> toward the rebuilding of the basilica. Albrecht obtained permission from Pope Leo X to conduct the sale of a special plenary indulgence (i.e., remission of the temporal punishment of sin), half of the proceeds of which Albrecht was to claim to pay the fees of his benefices. On 31 October 1517, Luther wrote to his bishop, Albrecht von Brandenburg, protesting against the sale of indulgences. He enclosed in his letter a copy of his "Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences",{{efn|name=title|{{lang-la|"Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum"}} – The first printings of the ''Theses'' use an [[incipit]] rather than a title which summarizes the content. Luther usually called them "{{lang|de|meine Propositiones}}" (my propositions).{{sfn|Cummings|2002|p=32}}}} which came to be known as the ''[[Ninety-five Theses]]''. Hans Hillerbrand writes that Luther had no intention of confronting the church but saw his disputation as a scholarly objection to church practices, and the tone of the writing is accordingly "searching, rather than doctrinaire."<ref name=HillerbrandIndulgences>Hillerbrand, Hans J. "Martin Luther: Indulgences and salvation," ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2007.</ref> Hillerbrand writes that there is nevertheless an undercurrent of challenge in several of the theses, particularly in Thesis 86, which asks: "Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest [[Marcus Licinius Crassus|Crassus]], build the basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money?"<ref name=HillerbrandIndulgences/> Luther objected to a saying attributed to Tetzel that, "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory (also attested as 'into heaven') springs."<ref>Thesis 55 of Tetzel's ''One Hundred and Six Theses''. These "Anti-theses" were a reply to Luther's ''Ninety-five Theses'' and were drawn up by Tetzel's friend and former professor, [[Konrad Wimpina]]. Theses 55 & 56 (responding to Luther's 27th Thesis) read: "For a soul to fly out, is for it to obtain the vision of God, which can be ''hindered by no interruption'', therefore he errs who says that the soul ''cannot fly out'' before the coin can jingle in the bottom of the chest." In ''The reformation in Germany'', [[Henry Clay Vedder]], 1914, Macmillan Company, p. 405. [https://archive.org/details/reformationinge00veddgoog/page/n465] ''Animam purgatam evolare, est eam visione dei potiri, quod nulla potest intercapedine impediri. Quisquis ergo dicit, non citius posse animam volare, quam in fundo cistae denarius possit tinnire, errat''. In: ''D. Martini Lutheri, Opera Latina: Varii Argumenti'', 1865, Henricus Schmidt, ed., Heyder and Zimmer, [[Frankfurt|Frankfurt am Main]] & Erlangen, vol. 1, p. 300. ([[Print on demand]] edition: [[Nabu Press]], 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-142-40551-9}}). [https://books.google.com/books?id=s633jfx_uEUC&pg=PA300] See also: {{Cite Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=Johann Tetzel}}</ref> He insisted that, since [[forgiveness]] was God's alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgences [[absolution|absolved]] buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error. Christians, he said, must not slacken in following Christ on account of such false assurances. [[File:Lutherstadt Wittenberg 09-2016 photo06.jpg|thumb|Luther's theses are engraved into the door of [[All Saints' Church, Wittenberg]]; the [[Latin]] inscription above informs the reader that the original door was destroyed by a fire, and that in 1857, King [[Frederick William IV of Prussia]] ordered that a replacement be made.]] According to one account, Luther nailed his ''Ninety-five Theses'' to the door of [[All Saints' Church, Wittenberg|All Saints' Church]] in [[Wittenberg]] on 31 October 1517. Scholars Walter Krämer, Götz Trenkler, Gerhard Ritter, and Gerhard Prause contend that the story of the posting on the door, although it has become one of the pillars of history, has little foundation in truth.<ref name="Krämer">Krämer, Walter and Trenkler, Götz. "Luther" in ''Lexicon van Hardnekkige Misverstanden''. Uitgeverij Bert Bakker, 1997, 214:216.</ref><ref name=Ritter>Ritter, Gerhard. ''Luther'', Frankfurt 1985.</ref><ref name=Prause>Gerhard Prause "Luthers Thesanschlag ist eine Legende,"in ''Niemand hat Kolumbus ausgelacht''. Düsseldorf, 1986.</ref><ref name=Marshall>Marshall, Peter ''1517: Martin Luther and the Invention of the Reformation'' (Oxford University Press, 2017) {{ISBN|978-0-19-968201-0}}</ref> The story is based on comments made by Luther's collaborator [[Philip Melanchthon]], though it is thought that he was not in Wittenberg at the time.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=41aJOjMZ3nwC&pg=PT125 |title=Dresden Leipzig & Saxony Adventure Guide |first=Henrik |last= Bekker |page=125|publisher=Hunter Publishing, Inc |access-date=7 February 2012 |isbn= 978-1-58843-950-5|year=2010 }}</ref> According to [[Roland Bainton]], on the other hand, it is true.<ref>Bainton, Roland. ''Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther'' (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1950), p. 79, [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.155980 online]</ref> The Latin ''Theses'' were printed in several locations in Germany in 1517. In January 1518 friends of Luther translated the ''Ninety-five Theses'' from Latin into German.<ref name=Brecht204>Brecht, Martin. ''Martin Luther''. tr. James L. Schaaf, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985–93, 1:204–205.</ref> Within two weeks, copies of the theses had spread throughout Germany. Luther's writings circulated widely, reaching [[Kingdom of France|France]], [[Kingdom of England|England]], and [[History of Italy|Italy]] as early as 1519. Students thronged to Wittenberg to hear Luther speak. He published a short commentary on [[Epistle to the Galatians|Galatians]] and his ''Work on the Psalms''. This early part of Luther's career was one of his most creative and productive.<ref>Spitz, Lewis W. ''The Renaissance and Reformation Movements'', St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1987, 338.</ref> Three of his best-known works were published in 1520: ''[[To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation]]'', ''[[On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church]]'', and ''[[On the Freedom of a Christian]]''. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page