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Ninety-Five Theses

Luther's list of ninety-five propositions on indulgences, written in Latin in 1517 for a debate at the University of Wittenberg.

4 links, 2 backed by primary records

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Dates
31 Oct 1517
Place
Wittenberg
Also known as
95 Theses, Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences
Wikidata
Q157506

Luther’s propositions on the sale of indulgences, written at Wittenberg and spread by the Printing press. Tetzel’s sermon on indulgences is one of the preachings they answered.

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  • Wittenberg 31 Oct 1517 Primary record 5

    The text announces a debate at Wittenberg, and the letter that carried it to Archbishop Albert is dated there.

Timeline 3 dates
  1. 1517 Martin Luther authored Ninety-Five Theses
  2. 31 Oct 1517 Ninety-Five Theses
  3. 31 Oct 1517 Ninety-Five Theses written at Wittenberg
Proof 5 sources
  1. Sources for and against the Posting of the Ninety-Five Theses, by Volker Leppin and Timothy J. Wengert, Lutheran Quarterly 29 (2015), pp. 373-398 (Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen repository), 2015. Scholarship & press
    By the end of the year copies were reprinted in Nuremberg and Basel.
    Luther always gave as a basis for his own intervention the exaggerations of the indulgence preachers, above all, Tetzel.
  2. The Life and Letters of Martin Luther, by Preserved Smith, Houghton Mifflin, Boston (scan on the Internet Archive), 1911. Scholarship & press
    But now that they are printed and circulated far beyond my expectation, I feel anxious about what they may bring forth
  3. Preaching Future Security: Johann Tetzel, Sermon on Indulgences (c. 1517), editors' introduction, German History in Documents and Images (German Historical Institute Washington). Scholarship & press
    The campaign triggered Luther’s attack on indulgences, which marked the beginning of his agitation for reform.
  4. Luther's Correspondence and Other Contemporary Letters, volume I, 1507-1521, translated by Preserved Smith and Charles M. Jacobs (the letters), Lutheran Publication Society, Philadelphia (scan on the Internet Archive), 1913. Primary record
    I do not wish my Theses to come into the hands of the illustrious elector or of any of the courtiers before they are received by those who believe that they are branded by them
  5. Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences (the Ninety-five Theses), 31 October 1517, English translation of 1915, Project Gutenberg (from Works of Martin Luther, vol. 1, Philadelphia: A. J. Holman Company, 1915), 31 Oct 1517. Primary record
    the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther
Page history 1 change
  1. Add the story Ninety-Five Theses, with its people, places, works and sources, and a relation for where a work was writtenAlibekf0e490a

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