How did Martin Luther, a simple monk, become a key figure in history in
the 15th century? Luther managed to unite and divide Germans.
Martin Luther started out as a simple monk, a doubting theologian in
constant conflict with himself. But he became an epochal figure, both
uniting and dividing the Germans and splitting the Roman Catholic Church
without actually intending to. "The Holy Roman Empire of the German
Nation" had been the name of the state at the heart of Europe since the
late 15th century. It was the era of the Habsburg Emperor Charles V,
who, according to ancient tradition, saw himself as a ruler by God's
grace and defender of Christian unity. The sun did not set on his
empire, he said in 1521 - it stretched from Latin America to Central
Europe to the Philippines. The German territories formed only one of
many kingdoms, and powerful electors defended their own interests there.
Secular and spiritual power at that time was still based on Roman
Christianity. But be they princes or estates, peasants or city dwellers:
during the Reformation, many sensed an opportunity to distance
themselves from Rome and the Emperor and to bolster their status within
the power structures of their day. Unlike Charles V, who did not even
speak German, many identified with Luther, who became extremely popular.
The reformer was one of the first to explicitly play the German card
and appeal to national sentiment: "How would the Germans put up with
robbery and oppression from strangers?" he wrote in one tract. Luther’s
translation of the Bible into German spread the language and laid the
foundations of a growing German identity. People should be able to enjoy
"being spoken to in German," he said. But the religious conflict led to
a military one. To restore peace, it was decided that each sovereign
could decide for or against the Reformation according to the formula
"Cuius regio, eius religio" ("Whose realm, his religion"). The Peace of
Augsburg in 1555 strengthened the independence of the princes. But the
Germans remained divided in faith.
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