Reformation: References & Edit History
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Researcher's Note
The posting of the theses
Luther was long believed to have posted the theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, but the historicity of this event has been questioned. The issue is discussed at length in Erwin Iserloh’s Luther zwischen Reform und Reformation (1966; published in English [1968] as The Theses Were Not Posted). Iserloh indicated that the first known reference to the story was made by Philipp Melanchthon in 1546 and that Luther never mentioned the posting of his theses on the church door. He suggested that Luther wrote to the bishops on October 31, 1517, did not receive an answer, and then circulated the theses among friends and learned acquaintances.
Some later research, however, lent support to the traditional belief. In his contribution to Luthers thesenanschlag: faktum oder fiktion (2008; “Luther’s Posting of the Theses: Fact or Fiction”), for example, Martin Treu discussed a note written by Georg Rörer, a close collaborator of Luther’s, in a copy of the New Testament that he and Luther used for revisions of the Bible. The note read:
In the year of our Lord 1517, on the eve of All Saints’…[theses] about indulgences…were posted on the doors of the churches in Wittenberg by Dr. Martin Luther.
But Rörer, like Melanchthon, was not a witness to the event and could have merely assumed that the posting had taken place in keeping with the statutes of the university at Wittenberg requiring that theses for public debate be posted on the doors of all Wittenberg churches. Scholars remain divided on the question.
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Article History
| Type | Description | Contributor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add new Web site: National Trust - What was the Reformation? | Sep 18, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: BBC Bitesize - The Reformation and its impact. | Apr 30, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: National Library of Scotland - How Martin Luther sparked the reformation. | Jan 02, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: The Met - The Reformation. | Jan 02, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: History of Parliament Online - The Reformation (PDF). | Nov 25, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: ABC listen - God Forbid - The Reformation. | Apr 21, 2025 | ||
| Questions and answers added. | Feb 14, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: BBC - Beyond Belief - Martin Luther and the Reformation. | Dec 09, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: International Journal of Food and Nutritional Sciences - Effect of the Reformation on Today?s Church. | Oct 22, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Catholic Online - The Reformation. | Mar 26, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Ohio State University - Origins - Martin Luther and the Reformation. | Nov 15, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: Khan Academy - The Protestant Reformation. | Sep 04, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University - Protestant Reformation. | Jun 28, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: Eternal Word Television Network - Roots of the Reformation. | Apr 05, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: World History Encyclopedia - Protestant Reformation. | Dec 02, 2022 | ||
| Add new Web site: McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia - Reformation. | Aug 21, 2022 | ||
| Removed media. | Jun 23, 2022 | ||
| Media added. | Jun 22, 2022 | ||
| Add new Web site: United States History - The Protestant Reformation. | Feb 08, 2019 | ||
| Added images of Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli. | Nov 14, 2017 | ||
| Corrected the spelling of "sola scriptura" and added cross-references. | Nov 14, 2017 | ||
| Add new Web site: PBS LearningMedia - The Protestant Reformation | Inside the Court of Henry VIII. | Feb 15, 2017 | ||
| Add new Web site: KidsPast.com - The Reformation. | Dec 30, 2016 | ||
| Add new Web site: British Broadcasting Corporation - History - An Overview of the Reformation. | Jun 02, 2014 | ||
| Replaced photograph. | Apr 03, 2014 | ||
| Add new Web site: Jewish Virtual Library - Reformation. | Feb 07, 2013 | ||
| Media added. | Apr 20, 2010 | ||
| Added new Web site: How Stuff Works - History - Reformation. | Nov 05, 2008 | ||
| Added new Web site: The Catholic Encyclopedia - The Reformation. | Jan 16, 2008 | ||
| Added new Web site: Christian Reformed Church - Reformation. | Apr 17, 2007 | ||
| Media added. | Jan 25, 2007 | ||
| Added new Web site: World History International Project - Woman Suffrage. | Aug 03, 2006 | ||
| Article revised. | May 27, 2005 | ||
| Article revised. | Jun 01, 1999 | ||
| Article added to new online database. | Jul 20, 1998 |
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