Martin Luther

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Not to be confused with Martin Luther King
Martin Luther
Born10 November 1483
Eisleben, Mansfeld, Holy Roman Empire
Died18 February 1546
Eisleben, Mansfeld, Holy Roman Empire
NationalityGerman
Known forProtestant Reformation


Martin Luther (10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German cleric who started the Protestant Reformation in 1517. He criticized the feudal authority of priests and the Catholic Church's sale of indulgences and believed salvation depended on personal religious convictions rather than participation in organized religion. The Holy Roman Empire brought him to the Diet of Worms in 1521, where they threatened to execute him for heresy. However, many German princes supported Protestantism, and Luther condemned the German peasant uprising of 1524–25, encouraging feudal lords to kill rebellious peasants, even though some radical Protestants supported the revolt.[1]

References

  1. Neil Faulkner (2013). A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals: 'The First Wave of Bourgeois Revolutions' (pp. 94–95). [PDF] Pluto Press. ISBN 9781849648639 [LG]