Martin Luther

Introduction

When you read Martin Luther, you probably immediately think about Martin Luther King Jr. However, I will not be writing about King, because his impact upon history is primarily localized to America. Instead, I will be talking about the German Cleric, Martin Luther. A man who started a religious Reformation that would change the structures of Europe and trigger a such dramatic societal shifts that still resonate to this day.

History

Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1487 in the North German Duchy of Saxony. He was born into a middle-class family, which owned a copper mine. The wealth that the mine provided along with the wishes of his father for him to be a lawyer, led Luther to seek a university education at the University of Ertford, at the age of 17. During his time at university he became deeply concerned about salvation following death, and came to believe that he was living incorrectly. These thoughts came to a front when riding home from university during a thunderstorm in 1505. During the course the storm, a tree was struck by lightning near him. Fearing for his life, Luther began to pray, promising that if he survived he would become a monk. Obviously he survived, going on to join a St. Augustine monastery 15 days later. Even though Luther had committed his life to piety, he continued to suffer from concerns of salvation in death. To remedy this he began to practiced a severe regiment of pious activities which included rigorous fasting, long prayer sessions, and self-inflicted punishment. As time went on, monastery officials grew deeply concerned that Luther would die during one of his displays of piety. In hope of harnessing his pious urges, one of the leading bishops in the area, Johann von Staupitz, invited him to teach Theology at the nearby University of Wittenburg. The appointment to the department of Theology probably saved Luther’s life, as he spent so much time teaching that he was unable to focus on anything else. The time at the university serves as a significant period for Luther because he was given access to bible and encouraged to study it rigorously in order to teach his classes. Through deep study of the bible, Luther began to find inconsistencies between it and church doctrine. These concerns were confirmed in 1511 when he was chosen by his monastery to go on a pilgrimage to Rome. It was on this pilgrimage that Luther began to become greatly disenfranchised with the church. For pilgrims were being asked to hand off considerable sums of money (in the form of indulgences) to receive services from immoral priest who clearly did not care about the faith. Luther’s outrage at the church reached it’s critical point in 1516. It was that year that the church began a campaign to collect indulgences in Germany, the purpose of which were to rebuilt St. Peter’s Basilica. The reason that Luther was outraged at this campaign, was that he could find no biblical backing for indulgences, meaning that the church was exploiting the faithful. Hoping to have his concerns redressed, Luther sent a letter to the regional archbishop, the Archbishop of Mainz. In addition to stating his concerns about indulgences, Luther also included his many other grievances with the church. After not getting a reply, Luther had the concerns printed as under the name of the 95 Theses. In an age where many were tired of the decadence of the church, the 95 Theses were spread rapidly throughout Europe, causing Martin Luther to become widely known. At first, the church remained quiet on the topic of Luther, but as the 95 Theses spread, the pope himself took an interest in the matter. By early 1518, it was decided that the church would take a soft approach to Luther, determining that they would try to talk to him before escalating the conflict. The pope initiate contact with Luther in a letter in which he ordered Luther to come to Rome to defend himself. Fearing that he would be arrested and burned as a heretic he appealed to his lord the Duke of Saxony, Fredrick the Wise, for help. Frederick was able to convince the pope to allow the questioning to take place at the neutral location of Augsburg instead. During this first round of questioning, nothing major occurred. for neither the papal nor Luther were willing to back down. The following year, another round of questioning occurred. During this questioning, Luther denied papal infallibility (the principle that the pope could not be challenged), along with sympathized with the teaching of Jan Hus, a reformer who was burned as a heretic. For these sentiments Luther would be excommunicated, branded as a heretic, and summoned by the Holy Roman Emperor to answer for his heresy at the Imperial Diet of Worms. At the diet, Luther was once more subjected to the questioning of papal inquisitors, before being delivered an ultimatum, renounce his works (by this time Luther had published many works which denounced the church as corrupt) or be burned as a heretic. Luther refused to do so, almost immediately following the diet Luther went into hiding under the protection of Frederick the Wise. During his time in hiding Luther dedicated himself to translating the bible into vernacular German, and worked to further develop what had now become Protestantism. Luther remained in hiding for a year, during which time massive upheaval occurred across Germany. All throughout Germany followers of his works began to exercise what they believed to be his will. Nobles began to seize church properties, while peasants raided and destroyed churches and monasteries. Luther horrified by some of these acts returned to Wittenburg in 1522. When he arrived, he immediately began to work with secular authorities to stop the unrest. After calming the peasantry, Luther began to work to create a new church structure. Luther would go on to spend the next 20 years of his life working with leading theologians to create a new doctrine for his Protestant faith. He would pass away on February 18, 1546.

Significance

Luther is significant to the history of the world for being the one to trigger the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation would directly lead to the weakening of the church, in addition to the strengthening of the nation state, and the laying of a foundation for democracy in the West.

Luther’s teachings are the primary reason that the power of the church weakened. As more and more people converted to Protestantism, the papacy lost control over huge sways of land. This in turn led the church to have to rely on secular powers to support it, a change from previous centuries in which it could force it’s will on secular powers.

Not only did these teachings weaken the church, but they also strengthened the nation state. Before the Reformation, religious authorities had huge sway over governments. They were able to make demands that had to be obeyed by secular authorities. However, the Reformation allowed rulers to remove church influence from their lands. This occurred when rulers converted to Protestantism, because they were able to seize church lands and banished Catholic priests, effectively removing the power of the church over the state. Not only did they banish the Catholic church, but rulers went on to create their own Protestant churches, firmly under the control of the state.

The final noteworthy impact of Luther’s teachings is that they laid the foundation for the democratization of Europe. At the foundation of Luther’s beliefs was the assertion that individuals can interpret the bible. This marked a radical change from the status quo of the era, which stated that only clerics were capable of telling Christians, what the bible said. In effect, this democratization of the faith allowed for greater freedom for the common man. The liberation of religion, would also allow future thinkers to fixate on elements of Christianity endorsed equality of all, effectively serving as a foundation for Western democracy.

In conclusion, the reason why Martin Luther is so significant to history is that he was able to weaken the power of the church, strengthen the nation state, and lay a foundation for democracy in Europe. All of these accomplishments prove that Martin Luther was extremely important to the history of Europe and the world.