Question

Q Describe how did support for Martin Luther grew
specially in German states. (90-100 words)​

Answer 1

Answer:

2017

Five hundred years ago, in an obscure town in a remote part of Germany, an Augustinian friar set in train a series of events that led to the permanent splintering of western Christendom. The story of Martin Luther posting his Ninety-Five Theses against Indulgences to the door of the castle chapel in Wittenberg is a defining moment in German history. But what were the origins of Luther’s movement for religious reform? How should we understand the individuals and the events that propelled his protest from Wittenberg onto the European stage? And how can we explain the Reformation’s significance in the context of contemporary concerns?

The eldest of nine siblings, Martin Luther was born in Eisleben in the county of Mansfeld on November 10th, 1483. His origins were relatively lowly: ‘I am a peasant’s son; my great-grandfather, my grandfather, my father were true peasants’, he commented later in life. This was an exaggeration. Although his family was of peasant origin, his father, Hans Luder, had become a senior figure in the local mining industry and wanted his eldest son to study law. Luther attended school in Magdeburg and Eisenach and in 1501 he enrolled at the university in Erfurt, where he gained a master’s degree in 1505. Rather than continuing his studies, Luther entered the city’s Augustinian monastery. Reflecting on this change of direction, Luther told a story that provides an insight into the nature of pre-Reformation piety: caught in a thunderstorm on the road to Erfurt, Luther called on St Anne, the patron saint of miners, pledging himself to a monastic life, if she came to his aid. In late medieval Europe, saints served as guardians and protectors, mediating between Heaven and Earth. This belief in saintly intercession was to become one of the many aspects of traditional religion that Protestant reformers such as Luther sought to eliminate.