The Reformation
95 theses become Europe's first viral media event
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Luther's demand that every believer read the Bible themselves made literacy a religious obligation, and his German translation shaped the language. The Reformation set off over a century of religious war, culminating in the Thirty Years' War and ending in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 — which laid the ground for the idea of sovereign states. In Norway and Denmark the Reformation was imposed from above in 1537, transferring vast church estates to the crown.
For children
The monk Martin Luther argued that the Church was wrong to sell forgiveness for money. He wrote down 95 objections. Thanks to the printing press they spread across Germany in two weeks — and split Europe in two.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org