Ep.: 4 A Drunken German Lights a Fire

The Reformation! (1517-1555) · Oct 15, 2026 · 39m

n spring 1518 Martin Luther assured Pope Leo X that he was a dutiful son of the Church. But was he still one?

The 95 Theses were the perfect opening salvo: provocative, popular and, crucially, not obviously heretical.

Archbishop Albrecht’s own theologians in Mainz refused to condemn them and passed the problem on to Rome.

Then Luther did something new: he wrote the Sermon on Indulgences and Grace in punchy German for ordinary readers.

It became an early bestseller and helped create a mass market for public debate in print.

Tetzel’s Dominicans hit back with counter-theses, which Wittenberg…