Martin Luther

Today in Western Civ. with Sir Robert Shickolas we learned and talked about Martin Luther and indulgences. The Church weakened socially- the Renaissance emphasis on the secular and the individual challenge church authority.  The printing press helped.  Politically- some rulers (especially the Germans) began to challenge the church's political power.  Economically- northern merchants resented paying church taxes to Rome.  Some priests drank to excess and many gambled.  The selling of indulgences (pardons) releases a sinner from performing the penalty a priest imposed for sins.  Johann Tetzel was a monk who sold indulgences to help rebuild St. Peters Cathedral.  A monk named Martin Luther objected to this practice.  Martin Luther born in Germany in 1483.  He studies the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric)