Chronology
Famous Trials
.
The Trial of 
Martin Luther 

1521

Images
Maps
Q & A Conderning
Indulgences
The 95
 Theses
     
      Luther's hearing at Worms. 
Leo's Papal Bull
Exsurge Domine (1520)

Luther's Letters
 & Appeal to Caesar
Aleander &
The Diet
Luther's Two
Narratives on Diet
The Martin Luther Trial: An Account
by  Douglas Linder  (c) 2010  

"Here I stand.  I cannot do otherwise.  God help me.  Amen."  --Martin Luther  (1521).

Historians have described it as the trial that led to the birth of the modern world.  Before the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the Diet of Worms in the spring of 1521, as Luther biographer Roland H. Bainton noted, "the past and the future were met."  Martin Luther bravely defended his written attacks on orthodox Catholic beliefs and denied the power of Rome to determine what is right and wrong in matters of faith.  By holding steadfast to his interpretation of Scripture, Luther provided the impetus for the Reformation, a reform movement that would divide Europe into two regions, one Protestant and one Catholic, and that would set the scene for religious wars that would continue for more than a century, not ending until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648....[CONTINUED]
.
  Famous Trials Homepage
Luther
 Before the Diet
 Edict of Worms
  Links &
Bibliography