Important figures
M

Important figure · Reformation

Martin Luther

German Augustinian friar, theologian and leader of the Reformation

Period
1483–1546
Places
Wittenberg, Worms and Eisleben (Holy Roman Empire)

Augustinian friar whose 1517 Ninety-five Theses are usually taken as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

Martin Luther was born on 10 November 1483 in Eisleben, in the County of Mansfeld, and died there on 18 February 1546. He became a friar of the Augustinian order and later taught biblical studies at the University of Wittenberg.

In 1517 he wrote the Ninety-five Theses, a challenge to the practice of selling indulgences. Tradition holds that he posted them on the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg on 31 October; that account is disputed.

In January 1521 Pope Leo X excommunicated him by the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem. That year he was called before the Diet of Worms, an imperial assembly, and declined to recant his writings.

Full timeline

  1. 10 November 1483

    Birth in Eisleben

  2. 1517

    Ninety-five Theses

    A challenge to the sale of indulgences.

  3. 31 October 1517Disputed

    Traditional date of posting the Theses

    Tradition places the posting at All Saints’ Church, Wittenberg; the account is disputed.

  4. 3 January 1521

    Excommunication

    By the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.

  5. 1521

    Diet of Worms

    Called before an imperial assembly at Worms; declined to recant.

  6. 18 February 1546

    Death in Eisleben

  7. 31 October 1999

    Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification

    Signed at Augsburg by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church.

Contemporary positions and the arguments made for them. Each is presented as a position, not as settled fact.

His best-known teaching is justification by grace through faith rather than by works, together with the authority of scripture over church tradition. Historians debate how far these ideas were new in his own time.

In 1999 the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification at Augsburg, on 31 October 1999. It describes justification as God forgiving sins and accepting people into communion with him, received by grace alone through faith. It states that the earlier mutual condemnations do not apply to the teaching of the dialogue partners as presented in the declaration.

How the person has been received since their lifetime, by supporters, critics and churches. Presented with attribution.

Lutheran churches trace their identity to his teaching and honour him as a central figure of the Reformation.

Catholic and Protestant assessments of him have differed for centuries. The 1999 declaration is one sign of a move from mutual condemnation towards agreed statements, though it did not settle every difference between the churches.

His 1543 treatise On the Jews and Their Lies is now widely criticised by historians, and some Lutheran churches have publicly repudiated it.

Reference profile, drafted with care. Key dates were checked against the sources marked below; other claims still need a scholarly source before release.

  • Reference work · Checked in this build

    Martin Luther — Wikipedia

    Opened in this session. Checked: birth and death dates and places, the Ninety-five Theses (1517) and the disputed posting, the Diet of Worms (1521) and the excommunication (3 January 1521). Not used for the reception paragraphs, which need a scholarly source before release.

  • Official source · Checked in this build

    Catholic-Lutheran Joint Declaration on Justification: A Significant Step Towards Christian Unity — Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

    Read as a summary in this session: date and place of signature, the description of justification, and the statement on the earlier condemnations. The declaration text itself has not yet been opened.