Today in 1521 Pope Leo X issued the Papal Bull that excommunicated Martin Luther from the Catholic Church. It had been over three years since Luther first published his 95 Theses, his list of grievances against the church, and the Pope was finally done with this pesky German cleric. They offered him the chance to recant his 95 Theses, but he refused. Charles V called the Diet of Worms – a council convened by the Holy Roman Emperor to decide the fate of Luther – and Luther still didn’t back down. Charles declared him an outlaw and heretic.
Luther’s main stance was the idea of Justification by Faith alone. It’s the core belief of Protestants everywhere that you can’t earn salvation by good works, or the sale of indulgences, or even confession to a priest.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com where we just did a series on the Protestant Reformation in England in October.
Suggested link:
October is Reformation Month!
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop. She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.