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Martin Luther's posting of the 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517 is one of the most famous events of Western history. It inaugurated the Protestant Reformation, and has for centuries been a powerful and enduring symbol of religious freedom of conscience, and of righteous protest against the abuse of power.
But did it actually really happen?
In this engagingly-written, wide-ranging and insightful work of cultural history, leading Reformation historian Peter Marshall reviews the available evidence, and concludes that, very probably, it did not. The theses-posting is a myth. And yet, Marshall argues, this fact makes the incident all the more historically significant. In tracing how - and why - a 'non-event' ended up becoming a defining episode of the modern historical imagination. Marshall compellingly explores the multiple ways in which the figure of Martin Luther, and the nature of the Reformation itself, have been remembered and used for their own purposes by subsequent generations of Protestants and others - in Germany, Britain, the United States and elsewhere.
As people in Europe, and across the world, prepare to remember, and celebrate, the 500th anniversary of Luther's posting of the theses, this book offers a timely contribution and corrective. The intention is not to 'debunk', or to belittle Luther's achievement, but rather to invite renewed reflection on how the past speaks to the present - and on how, all too often, the present creates the past in its own image and likeness.
List of contents
- List of Illustrations
- Prologue: Postings
- 1: 1517: Theses
- 2: 1517: Responses
- 3: 1617: Anniversaries
- 4: 1817: Heroes
- 5: 1917: Controversies
- Epilogue: Reformations
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Picture Credits
- Index
About the author
Peter Marshall, a native of the Orkney Islands, has since 2006 been Professor of History at the University of Warwick, and is a leading expert in the history of the Reformation and its impact in the British Isles and beyond. He is a winner of the Harold J. Grimm Prize for Reformation History, and has been shortlisted for the Longman/History Today Book of the Year Award. He is co-editor of the English Historical Review, a frequent reviewer for the TLS, Literary Review, Tablet and other periodicals, and a regular lecturer to school and community groups. He is married with three daughters, and lives in Leamington Spa.
Summary
Did Martin Luther really post his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Castle Church door in October 1517? Probably not, says Reformation historian Peter Marshall. But though the event might be mythic, it became one of the great defining episodes in Western history, a symbol of religious freedom of conscience which still shapes our world 500 years later.
Additional text
1517 is a remarkable exploration of the Reformation's most famous scene, Martin Luther's posting of the Theses on the Wittenberg church door. By unpacking the memory and meaning of this episode as it has been interpreted and reinterpreted across five centuries of European history, Peter Marshall reveals how the contingencies of time and place have shaped our understanding of the Reformation and how the Reformation, in turn, has maintained its place in the historical imagination as a turning point on the path to the present. Packed with detail, stories, facts, and arguments, and beautifully written, this will surely prove to be one of the most original of the books written to mark the Reformation quincentenary.
Report
Marshall's narrative skills and his probing analysis are equally enjoyable and insightful. His work is a reminder that histories and anniversaries are contextual, with one eye on the past and the other on the present ... an engaging and stimulating look not only at an historical event, but how such an event took on an oversized life of its own through anniversary celebrations over the centuries. Mark A. Granquist, Reading Religion
