95 Theses

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Overview

The 95 Theses are a list of propositions on indulgences written in Latin by the German monk and professor Martin Luther in 1517. He offered them for academic debate at Wittenberg. Printed copies spread rapidly across the German lands, and the controversy grew into the Protestant Reformation. The document matters because it shows a single scholar questioning a major institution on grounds of scripture and conscience.

Context

In the early sixteenth century the Catholic Church sold indulgences, documents that were said to reduce the temporal penalty for sin. A major indulgence campaign was linked to funding the rebuilding of St Peter's in Rome and to the debts of Albrecht of Brandenburg, an archbishop. A preacher, Johann Tetzel, promoted it near Wittenberg. The printing press then helped Luther's text travel quickly.