Martin Luther’s Rebellion Leading to the 30-Years War Between the Catholics and Protestants
By Priye S. Torulagha
Martin Luther (1483 -1546) contributed immensely to shaking up the Christian world, to the extent that the hegemonic power of the Roman Catholic Church was broken in Europe. Who was Martin Luther? He was a German monk, theologian, priest, and professor of theology in Wittenberg University in Germany.
Disgusted by the transgressions of the pope and the Catholic Church, at the age of 34, he compiled 95 theses which pinpointed the sins of the church, particularly the selling of indulgences and posted the theses on the door of the Schlosskirche (Castle Church) of the University of Wittenberg, in Germany on October 31, 1517. He expected an intellectualized theological debate on the matter. At the time, the Catholic Church was corrupt and raised funds by informing worshippers that sins would be forgiven by the pope if they buy indulgences. The practice of selling indulgences started in the Middle Ages. Many individuals bought indulgences in the hope that their sins would be forgiven. As a theologian, Martin Luther fervently argued that no human being or institution can forgive sins since only God can do so. He added that salvation can only be achieved through faith alone and not through church rituals or authority of the pope. He frowned against the monetization of faith (“Martin Luther as priest, heretic and outlaw,” n.d.).
Additionally, he queried why the pope who was very rich did not use his enormous wealth to build St. Peter Bassilica but instead used funds provided by the poor to do so (Cornelius, 2017, October 28). The Lutheran argument about the church and money continues to reverberate in contemporary times as many pastors and church leaders are alleged to compel their congregations to give tithe when some people cannot even eat two meals a day.
After posting the 95 theses, he wrote to his superior, Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz, informing him of his action. Due to the sensitivity of the issue concerning the selling of indulgence, the archbishop did not respond immediately. Why? Because the revenue collected from the selling of indulgences were used to pay the debts of the archbishop in Germany and the funding of the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome by Pope Leo X. The pope felt that Martin Luther challenged his authority since he had the power to grant indulgences. The pope summoned a gathering of high-ranking clergy and theologians to debate Martin Luther on the issue. The disputation took place in Leipzig on July 15, 1519, in which theologian Johannes Eck challenged Martin Luther, but Luther refused to renounce his position on the matter. Since Martin Luther refused to retract his views, Johannes Eck recommended to Pope Leo X to issue an edict or a papal bull declaring Luther’s position as heresy with a threat of excommunicating him from the Catholic Church. The pope issued “Exsurge Domine” compelling Luther to retract his doctrinal challenge of the church in 1520. Again, he refused to retract his views about the church and the pope. He even went as far as to call the pope an “Antichrist.” Pope Leo X issued papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem on January 3, 1521, resulting in the excommunication of Martin Luther from the Catholic Church. Resultantly, he was declared a heretic by Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in Germany because he refused to attend an invitation, instead, wrote a letter in response (“Martin Luther Excommunicated,” 2025, December 16).
In those days, it was very dangerous to be declared as a heretic by the Christian Church. In some cases, it meant severe torture and possibly death. Having been declared as a heretic through the Edict of Worms in 1521 by Emperor Charles V, Martin Luther was taken away by his supporters, particularly Frederick III of Saxony and hidden in Wartburg Castle in Wittenberg for about a year to avoid being captured and possibly killed by church authorities. While hiding, he adopted the name Junker Jorg or Knight George and translated the New Testament of the Bible from Greek to German (Petro, 2017, October 23). The establishment of the Gutenberg Press facilitated the mass printing of the Bible and other books, thereby, enhancing literacy and the acquisition of knowledge. The printing of his writings spread Luther’s ideas rapidly among those who agreed with his views about the pope and the church.
Protestant Reformation
Following intellectual debates about Luther’s views concerning the pope and the church, he was emboldened to call for the reforming of the church. German nobles and many Christians agreed with him because they were tired of the dictatorial authority of the pope and the church. Luther then suggested to German nobles to reform the oppressive and corrupt Catholic Church and the state. He suggested that it is necessary for the state to have authority over the church and not for the church to have authority over the state.
Thus, he set the ball rolling for the initiation of the Protestant Reformation. The protestants were those Christians who did not agree with some theological positions of the Catholic Church and wanted to establish a separate branch of Christianity that reflected their theological views on Christianity.
At the time in Western Europe, the Roman Catholic Church was the only Christian Church that also acted as the state. Thus, the pope was the spiritual head of the church, and Emperor Charles V was the political head of state (The Holy Roman Empire). Many German nobles supported Luther. Likewise, Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin in Switzerland and others in other parts of Europe joined the protestant movement against the Catholic Church. King Henry VIII of England joined the movement in 1534, resulting in the establishment of the Church of England (Anglican Church). The Anabaptists argued for the complete separation of church and state. Due to the theological disagreement, Catholic Europe was divided between the Catholics and Protestants.
The Protestant Reformation enabled local political rulers to seek autonomy from the Catholic Church. In so doing, they seized lands and properties belonging to the Catholic Church. This further increased ideological hostilities between the Catholics and Protestants (Lutherans) resulting in the German Peasant Revolt in 1524 and continuing with the Knights Revolt and the Schmalkaldic War. To reduce conflict, the Peace of Augsburg Treaty was signed in 1555. It led to the establishment of the policy of cuius regio, eius religio (whose realm, their religion) which encouraged each ruler to freely choose or adopt either the Catholic or the Lutheran faith (Mark 2022, August 11).
The 30-Years War
By the seventeenth century, the division between the Catholics and Protestants deepened to the extent that the states which had adopted Lutheranism (Protestantism) resisted the Holy Roman Empire led by the Habsburgs. The 30-years war erupted when Protestant nobles forcefully evicted Catholic officials in Bohemia in 1618 in Prague in protest over the prohibition of religious freedom. This incident resulted in a continental war involving the Holy Roman Empire, (made up of Austria, Bavaria, Bohemia, Habsburg, Saxony, etc.) and Bradenburg-Prussia, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, and Sweden. The war started on May 23, 1618, in Bohemia and spread to other parts of the continent. The war could be broken into four phases, including (1) Bohemian Revolt 1618 -1620, (2) Denmark’s Engagement 1625 -1629, (3) Sweden’s Engagement 1630 – 1634, and (4) France Engagement 1635 -1645 (Mark, 2022, August 11).
It was a very bloody war that was fought mostly in Central Europe. It ended on October 24, 1648. About 20% of the German population died in the war (Daley, 2017, June 6). Some estimates put the total number of deaths at about 8 million people (Mark, 2022, August 11).
The Thirty-Years War ended with the signing of the Peace of Westphalia Treaty on October 24, 1648. The treaty followed the format established by the treaty of the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 which established the concept of national sovereignty over the right of the state to choose what branch of Christianity to uphold without being compelled by another power to abide by a particular Christian faith.
Conclusion
Martin Luther’s rebellion against the pope and the Catholic Church resulted in the establishment of protestant churches. Therefore, any Christian today who is not a Catholic is basically a member of a Protestant Church. Thus, the Anglican, Baptist, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Nondenominational, Pentecostal, Seventh Day Adventist, and Presbyterian churches are Protestant because they are products of the Protestant Reformation that Martin Luther instigated when he rebelled against the Roman Catholic Church in Germany in the sixteenth century. Many Christians are not aware of the tumultuous history of Christianity. Most of them rarely pay attention to the history and focus excessively on the reading and interpretation of biblical sayings.
References
Cornelius, E. (2017, October 28). How Martin LLuther’s 95 theses altered history. LPN Media Group Lancaster. https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/how-martin-luther-s-95-theses-altered-history/article_84ddf562-bb41-11e7-b49d-cfa18324c87f.htm.
Daley, J. (2017, June 6). Researchers catalogue the grisly deaths of soldiers in the Thirty-Years War. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-catalogue-grisly-deaths-soldiers-thirty-years-war-180963531/).
Mark, J. J. (2022, August 11). Thirty Years War. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/Thirty_Years’_War/).
Martin Luther Excommunicated.” (2025, December 16). History. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/january-3/martin-luther-excommunicated).
Martin Luther as priest, heretic and outlaw.” (n.d.). Library of Congress. https://guides.loc.gov/martin-luther-priest-heretic-outlaw/luther-the-priest
Petro, B. (2017, October 23). History of Martin Luther: Part 5 -kidnapped. https://billpetro.com/martin-luther-part-5-kidnapped/.
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