1520), leaving the pope no alternative but to pronounce
his excommunication (January 1521).
Luther’s fate now depended to a large extent on polit-
ical events within the empire. Summoned to appear before
Emperor Charles V at the Diet of WORMS(March 1521),
Luther refused to recant, but he was protected in his defi-
ance by FREDERICK(III) THE WISE, Elector of Saxony, and in
1522 Luther was able to return to Wittenberg. Here he re-
mained for the rest of his life, writing and watching over
the gradual growth of the reformed movement. In 1534 he
completed his new German translation of the Bible based
on the original texts, destined to be the most enduring
of his literary productions. The Greater Catechism and
Shorter Catechism (1529) also played an important role in
spreading his teaching among the people.
Luther also wrote an enormous number of small pam-
phlets and tracts in which his love of controversy and ca-
pacity for abuse found full expression. His Contra
Henricum regem Anglicanum (1522), written in response to
HENRY VIII’s Assertio septem sacramentorum (1521), was ex-
pressed in such immoderate terms that potential English
sympathizers with his cause were alienated. In the mid-
1520s he was embroiled in controversy with ERASMUS,
who had for some years resisted pressure to involve him-
self in religious controversy; Erasmus’s Diatribe de libero
arbitrio (1524), his vindication of the importance of
human free will in the Christian scheme of Redemption
drew a sharp response in Luther’s De servo arbitrio (1525),
which clearly set out his doctrine of determinism. Eras-
mus responded with Hyperaspites (The defender; 1526).
Around this time, during the PEASANTS’ REVOLTin Ger-
many, Luther backed the Protestant aristocracy in its ef-
forts to restore order by exterminating the disaffected
mobs, thus antagonizing a large section of the German
people. His later attack on the Jews, Von den Juden und
ihren Lügen (1543), is notorious in the history of ANTI-
SEMITISM, and his final published work was a bitter on-
slaught against his oldest antagonist, the papacy. These
works are now the preserve of historians or theologians,
but Luther is better remembered as a writer of hymns: he
wrote both words and music for “Ein’ feste Burg is unser
Gott” (“A safe stronghold is our God”), a version of Psalm
46 that is still sung in Protestant churches worldwide. In
middle age Luther became increasingly irascible, stub-
bornly resisting any attempt to develop or refine his theo-
logical insights. The result was a series of damaging
disputes with other reformers, of which the Eucharistic
controversy with the Swiss reformer Ulrich ZWINGLI(see
MARBURG, COLLOQUY OF) was the most serious. By the time
of Luther’s death a Lutheran Church was well established
over large areas of Germany, but it was increasingly trou-
bled by internal dissensions.
Luther married a former nun, Katharina von Bora, in
1525, the year after he had finally abandoned his religious
habit. They enjoyed a happy family life, and the Table Talk
(Tischreden) recorded by his students faithfully preserves
the flavor of life in his household. His friendship with
Lucas CRANACHresulted in a number of portraits; the re-
former’s uncompromising character is well captured in a
1529 painting now in the Uffizi, Florence.
Further reading: Ronald H. Bainton, Here I Stand: A
Life of Martin Luther (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press,
1980; repr. New York Penguin USA, 1995); Peter N.
Brooks (ed.), Seven-Headed Luther: Essays in Commemora-
tion of a Quincentenary, 1483–1983 (Oxford, U.K.: Claren-
don Press, 1983); Arthur G. Dickens, The German Nation
and Martin Luther (London: Edward Arnold, 1974);
Robert Kolb, Martin Luther as Prophet, Teacher, Hero: Im-
ages of the Reformer, 1520–1620 (Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Baker Books and Carlisle, U.K.: Paternoster, 1999); Bern-
hard Lohse, Martin Luther’s Theology: Its Historical and
Systematic Development, transl. Roy A. Harrisville (Min-
neapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 1999); Lewis W. Spitz,
Luther and German Humanism (Aldershot, U.K.: Variorum,
1996).Lutheranism The movement for evangelical reform in
Germany, led by Martin LUTHER. Although the term
“Lutheran” was originally coined by Luther’s Catholic op-
ponents, it soon came into general use to describe his sup-
porters. As the movement gathered pace the need for a
clearer definition of doctrine than that provided by
Luther’s own writings became evident; this process of de-
finition led to the establishment of a distinct Lutheran
Church and to the exclusion of many non-Lutheran re-
formers. The first authoritative expression of Lutheran
doctrine was the Confession of AUGSBURG, drawn up by
Philipp MELANCHTHONwith Luther’s approval. Its 21 doc-
trinal articles included a clear exposition of JUSTIFICATION
BY FAITH, together with an affirmation of the REAL PRES-
ENCE(of Christ’s body in the sacrament, the point that had
already caused a breach between Luther and the Swiss re-
former ZWINGLI). Although Melanchthon issued a sub-
stantially revised version in 1540 (the Variata), more
acceptable to reformed theologians, it was the original text
that was incorporated into the 1580 Book of CONCORD, the
definitive statement of Lutheran orthodoxy. Also influen-
tial in defining Luther’s teaching were his two catechisms
(1529) and the SCHMALKALDIC ARTICLES(1537).
Lutheranism achieved its greatest success in Ger-
many, where many cities and princes adopted the Refor-
mation between 1524 and 1535. Lutheran state churches
were subsequently established in much of the empire,
including the important states of Saxony, Brandenburg,
Brunswick, and Hesse. Outside Germany Lutheran
churches were permanently established only in Scandi-
navia (in Denmark in 1530 and Sweden in 1531–37) and
the Baltic lands. In other parts of Europe where the Refor-
mation had made early headway Lutheranism was gener-
ally superseded by the more robust Calvinist tradition.LLuutthheerraanniissmm 229911