The Reformation

Martin Luther and The Reformation

The Holy Roman Empire in the SIxteenth Century

First Let's Review

The Geographical Area

Let's Review

The Passage

Let's move on to Martin Luther

Martin Luther's story begins as he is studying law. He would study law until the age of twenty-one when an event changed the course of his life. He would stop studying law after this event and instead take an entirely different path.

Lightning Stuck!

Lightning Struck near Martin Luther. He was so frightened that he yelled out to a saint within Roman Catholism for help, this saint was Saint Anna. He believed it was an act of God that he was saved, so he dedidcated himself to becoming a monk, shaved head and all.

Martin Luther was Dedicated to Religion

Martin Luther was an Augustine Monk specifically. While a monk he would fast, pray for long hours, replicate books, travel on pilgramishes and study the bible. He also confessed his sins.... fequently.

Martin Luther was so dedicated to religion that he even looked at it with a critcal lense. Specfically he looked at The Roman Catholic Church with a critcal lense. Martin Luther had a long list of grievances with the church. Martin Luther felt the need to voice these critiques after an event.

Indulgences

A man was selling indulgences. Indulgences were a way or purchasing religious forgiveness so that a sinners' soul would spend less time in purgatory. These indulgences were approved by the Pope.

Martin Luther's 95 Theses

Martin Luther's 95 Theses was a list of 95 grievances Luther held with the Roman Catholic Church. He published all his grievances pubically, by placing it on the door to the Wittenberg church.

What were a few of his grievances?

He may have had some of the same reasons you wrote down in your grahpic organizer

• Indulgences
• The luxury Popes and other religious leaders lived in
• The common man being unable to read the bible
• He believed Individuals have a direct line to God rather than needing to have a priest or the pope as a middle man.
• He believed the Pope was just a man, and because he was a man he made mistakes

Click here to take a look at Martin Luther's 95 Theses

Click here to move the next slide

A message was spread

Luther made a lot of people mad, and a lot of people think. With the help of the invention of the printing press, Luther's ideas spread like wildfire. While many religious leaders disagreed with Luther, others supported his idea leading to both a religious but also politcal reformation.

Martin Luther Translated the Bible

In 1522, Luther translated the bible. Now more people had access to copies in a langauge a larger audience could read. Individuals could have a direct acess to God, and could interpret what the translated text meant for themselves.

Think about all the Christian sects today.

People would interpret the bible through its new translated version! People would translate it in many ways. This would lead to a split within christianity, now there would be different sects to develop over time.

Some Good, Some Bad

While people were reading the bible for themselves, not everyon interpreted the bible the same way. This led to many disagreements. With so many people disagreeing on such a large issue such as religion, war was inevitable. We will talk more about these religous wars later in the unit.

Watch this Short Video

Martin Luther in 5 minutes

The Next Slide

Now it's time for an activity

Using the graphic organizer you made earlier in class, it is your turn to create your own 95 Theses. Well, a shortened version. Listen up for verbal instructions.