This Day In History: Martin Luther and the 95 Theses
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“Portrait of Martin Luther” c. 1533 by Lucas Cranach the Elder |
This Day In History: 500 years ago Pope Leo X signed the papal bull Exsurge Domine ("Arise, O Lord") on June 15, 1520 demanding Martin Luther to retract 41 of his 95 theses and other specified errors. Legend has it that the Augustinian monk and theologian approached the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517 and nailed to it a piece of paper containing the monk's revolutionary opinions that would trigger the Protestant Reformation. (95 Theses Credit: Uncommon Travel Germany)
The Pope gave him up to sixty days to recant, however, Luther only fueled the flame when he publicly burned the papal decree while tenaciously adhering to his protestations. He was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church on January 3, 1521 in a succeeding papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem ("[It] befits [the] Roman Pontiff").
The Pope gave him up to sixty days to recant, however, Luther only fueled the flame when he publicly burned the papal decree while tenaciously adhering to his protestations. He was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church on January 3, 1521 in a succeeding papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem ("[It] befits [the] Roman Pontiff").
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