Luther’s Fortress: Martin Luther and His Reformation Under Siege

Though the history of the Reformation often begins in 1517 with Luther posting his 95 theses to the door of the Imperial Church of Wittenberg, the movement arguably did not take shape until 1521, when Luther, having been excommunicated the year prior, was summoned to the Diet of Worms and branded a heretic by Holy Roman emperor Charles V. Fearing for his life, Luther was spirited to Wartburg Castle by his protector, Frederick the Wise, and spent 11 decisive months in seclusion. Religious scholar Reston (The Accidental Victim) chronicles those months in this cogent history. Luther began his stay by trading barbed messages with his opponents and writing inflammatory treatises on celibacy and the sacraments. Yet he soon began work on his masterpiece, a vernacular translation of the New Testament so readable it would “make Moses so German that no one would suspect he was a Jew,” and refined the concept of sola fide, the theological doctrine dictating that Christians could be saved by faith alone. Reston’s superb juxtaposition of Luther’s solitude in Wartburg and the instability in both Rome and Wittenberg demonstrates how truly perilous a moment this was in the history of the burgeoning Reformation. 25 b&w images.[em] Agent: Markus Hoffmann, Regal Literary. (May) [/em]