Renaissance and Reformation Primary Sources | Martin Luther

Excerpt from "The Ninety-Five Theses or Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences" (1517)

Reprinted in Confessions and Catechisms of the Reformation

Edited by Mark A. Noll
Published in 1997

The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were a time of transition from the Middle Ages (c. 400 –1400; also called the medieval period) to the modern era. The medieval period had been an era of walls and of faith. Massive stone walls had been built round each little town to protect against the evils of the outside world. Inside these walls, medieval people knew their place. They were craftsmen, noblemen, churchmen, farmers, and knights (noblemen soldiers). They did not question their duties because they were safe and had faith in the way things were run. At that time the Roman Catholic Church (a Christian religion headed by a pope and based in Rome, Italy) controlled all aspects of...