Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenber

Featured Event 1517 Event

Luther Posts 95 Theses: Reformation Ignites

Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, challenging the Catholic Church's sale of indulgences. Whether he actually nailed them or simply mailed them to the Archbishop of Mainz is debated, but the content was explosive: Luther argued that the Pope had no authority to release souls from purgatory and that salvation came through faith alone, not purchased pardons. The theses were written in Latin for academic debate, but someone translated them into German and printed copies on the new Gutenberg press. Within weeks, they were circulating across Germany. Within years, Europe was engulfed in religious warfare. Luther's protest fractured Western Christianity permanently, spawning Protestantism and triggering the Counter-Reformation that reshaped Catholic doctrine.

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October 31, 1517

509 years ago

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