Martin Luther Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Breach with the papacy=== [[File:Bulla-contra-errores.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Pope Leo X]]'s ''Bull against the errors of Martin Luther'', 1521, commonly known as ''[[Exsurge Domine]]'']] Archbishop Albrecht did not reply to Luther's letter containing the ''Ninety-five Theses''. He had the theses checked for heresy and in December 1517 forwarded them to Rome.<ref>Michael A. Mullett, ''Martin Luther'', London: [[Routledge]], 2004, {{ISBN|978-0-415-26168-5}}, 78; Oberman, Heiko, ''Luther: Man Between God and the Devil'', New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006, {{ISBN|0-300-10313-1}}, 192β193.</ref> He needed the revenue from the indulgences to pay off a papal dispensation for his [[Benefice#Pluralism|tenure of more than one bishopric]]. As Luther later notes, "the pope had a finger in the pie as well, because one half was to go to the building of St. Peter's Church in Rome".<ref>Mullett, 68β69; Oberman, 189.</ref> Pope Leo X was used to reformers and heretics,<ref>Richard Marius, ''Luther'', London: Quartet, 1975, {{ISBN|0-7043-3192-6}}, 85.</ref> and he responded slowly, "with great care as is proper."<ref>Papal Bull ''[[Exsurge Domine]]'', 15 June 1520.</ref> Over the next three years he deployed a series of papal theologians and envoys against Luther, which served only to harden the reformer's anti-papal theology. First, the Dominican theologian [[Sylvester Mazzolini]] drafted a heresy case against Luther, whom Leo then summoned to Rome. The [[Frederick III, Elector of Saxony|Elector Frederick]] persuaded the pope to have Luther examined at Augsburg, where the [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]] was held.<ref>Mullett, 81β82.</ref> Over a three-day period in October 1518, Luther defended himself under questioning by [[papal legate]] [[Thomas Cajetan|Cardinal Cajetan]]. The pope's right to issue indulgences was at the centre of the dispute between the two men.<ref name="Reformation500">{{cite web|url=http://reformation500.csl.edu/timeline/luther-meets-with-cajetan-at-augsburg/|title=Luther meets with Cajetan at Augsburg|publisher=Reformation 500 β Concordia Seminary, St. Louis|access-date=28 March 2016|date=11 January 2012|archive-date=19 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819111021/http://reformation500.csl.edu/timeline/luther-meets-with-cajetan-at-augsburg/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Ex-Classics">{{cite web|url= http://www.exclassics.com/foxe/foxe147.htm |title=The Acts and Monuments of the Church β Martin Luther |publisher=exclassics.com|access-date=28 March 2016}}</ref> The hearings degenerated into a shouting match. More than writing his theses, Luther's confrontation with the church cast him as an enemy of the pope: "His Holiness abuses Scripture", retorted Luther. "I deny that he is above Scripture".<ref>Bainton, Roland. ''Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther'' (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1950), Chapter V, p. 96, [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.155980 online]</ref><ref>Mullett, 82.</ref> Cajetan's original instructions had been to arrest Luther if he failed to recant, but the legate desisted from doing so.<ref>Mullett, 83.</ref> With help from the [[Carmelites|Carmelite friar]] [[Christoph Langenmantel]], Luther slipped out of the city at night, unbeknownst to Cajetan.<ref>Oberman, 197.</ref> [[File:Luther-vor-Cajetan.jpg|thumb|Luther (right) meeting [[Cardinal Cajetan]] (left)]] In January 1519, at [[Altenburg]] in Saxony, the papal nuncio [[Karl von Miltitz]] adopted a more conciliatory approach. Luther made certain concessions to the Saxon, who was a relative of the Elector and promised to remain silent if his opponents did.<ref>Mullett, 92β95; Roland H. Bainton, ''Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther'', New York: Mentor, 1955, {{OCLC|220064892}}, 81.</ref> The theologian [[Johann Eck]], however, was determined to expose Luther's doctrine in a public forum. In June and July 1519, he staged a [[Leipzig Debate|disputation]] with Luther's colleague [[Andreas Karlstadt]] at [[Leipzig]] and invited Luther to speak.<ref>Marius, 87β89; Bainton, Mentor edition, 82.</ref> Luther's boldest assertion in the debate was that {{Bibleverse|Matthew|16:18|KJV}} does not confer on popes the exclusive right to interpret scripture, and that therefore neither popes nor [[Ecumenical council|church councils]] were infallible.<ref>Marius, 93; Bainton, Mentor edition, 90.</ref> For this, Eck branded Luther a new [[Jan Hus]], referring to the Czech reformer and heretic [[Death by burning#Christian states|burned at the stake]] in 1415. From that moment, he devoted himself to Luther's defeat.<ref>G. R. Elton, ''Reformation Europe: 1517β1559'', London: Collins, 1963, {{OCLC|222872115}}, 177.</ref> 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