Martin Luther was a German priest from the 14th century. He was one of the first people to question the Catholic Church and their teachings. He first began questioning the church when he went to Rome for the first time. He bought an indulgence, or a piece of paper that could forgive you or someone you love of your sins, he soon realized that this was a scam put on by the church so they could get more money. He battled against the church about this for a very long time and after he got the word out about indulgences bringing no peace or forgiveness many people stopped buying them. This was the beginning of a revolution.
Martin was then sent to Wittenburg, Germany where he preached. After a young boy commits suicide he wonders why the boy can't be buried in the church cemetery or go to heaven if the devil is the one who made the boy do it. Against the word of the other priests he does bury the boy in the cemetery with everyone in town watching him. He then becomes a theology professor at the University of Wittenburg. He often criticized the church’s practices with his students. This did not please the prince. The Roman Catholic Church then sent Johann Tetzel to Germany to sell indulgences to raise money for a new cathedral. This angered Martin so much he wrote The 95 Theses, these was mainly put up to show his unhappiness for indulgences and other flaws in the church. With the invention of the printing press Martin could now get the word out even more.
The Pope at the time, Leo X, summoned Luther to court for his writings. The Pope then had all of Martin’s writings destroyed and Martin revolted by burning lies the church had told. Luther went to trial in Germany at the Diet of Worms. At the trial he would not recant his writings and said he would take them back if he could be proven by fact that he is wrong. He is quoted with saying at his trial, “Here I stand, I can do no other.” which is a very famous quote. He was