After the meeting, he was even more discouraged by the immorality and corruption of the catholic priests. He enrolled in the University of Wittenberg upon his return to Germany. He shone in his studies and received a doctorate and became a professor of theology at the university. While at the university he realized that the key to spiritual salvation was to believe that faith alone would bring salvation. In 1517, Pope Leo X introduced a new indulgence to help pay for the building of St. Peter’s Basilica. In the same year Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the university’s chapel door. The theses were intended to be discussion points and laid out a critique of the indulgences. Luther also sent a copy of the theses to Archbishop Albert Albrecht of Mainz calling on him to end the sale of indulgences. With the invention and aid of the printing press copies of the 95 theses spread throughout Germany within two weeks and throughout Europe within two months. In October of 1518 the church moved to stop the act of defiance. At a meeting with Cardinal Thomas Cajetan in Augsburg, Luther was ordered to recant his theses by the authority of the …show more content…
The next year in 1520 the pope threatened Luther with excommunication. Luther publicly burned the letter from the pope on December 10 of that same year. In January 1521, Luther was officially excommunicated from the church. He was summoned before the Diet of Worms in March, and again Luther refused to recant his writings. The council on May 8, 1521 released the Edict of Worms, banning Luther’s writings and declaring him a heretic. Friends helped him hide out at Wartburg Castle, while there he translated the New Testament into German. To allow ordinary people the opportunity to read the Bible. Luther later returned to Wittenberg Castle Church, in Eisenach, in May 1522. While there he began organizing a new church, Lutheranism. He gained many followers and got support from German princes. When the peasants revolted in 1524, Luther denounced the peasants and sided with the rulers whom he depended on to keep his church growing. Thousands of peasants were killed in the revolt, but Luther’s church kept growing over the years. In 1525, he married Katharina von Bora, a former nun who abandoned the