Skip to main content

Primary sourceArtifact

Signature of Martin Luther

Martin Luther

The autograph signature of Martin Luther, used to identify his handwriting on documents and letters.

This is Luther's own handwritten signature, used to authenticate documents as genuinely his.

Ask Martin Luther about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Black handwritten cursive signature on a white background, reading 'Martin Luther' in large, flowing strokes with a dot above the i.
Signature of Martin Luther.

About this source

What it is

This is Martin Luther's own signature, a simple but essential record of his handwriting.

Why it matters

A signature like this helps historians verify which documents and letters genuinely come from Luther himself, since so many texts and ideas were attributed to him. It is a small but direct physical trace of the man.

Look closer

  • What can handwriting tell us about a person that printed text cannot?
  • Why might it matter to historians whether a document is signed by Luther himself or just attributed to him?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Martin Luther on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Martin Luther sources

Meet the AI Martin Luther →
Printed 1517 broadsheet page of Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses, in black letter type with red paragraph marks and a title header at top. Dense two-column Latin text, numbered theses, and a date near the bottom.Document

Primary source

Ninety-five Theses

Martin Luther · 1517

Black and white engraving of an interior room with coffered ceiling and four framed portraits on the wall. A man in dark robes and cap plays a lute at a table while a young boy with a tankard listens. On the right, a woman and a child sit by a window and an older man reads. Two children sit on the floor reading a book, and a dog lies near the left chair.Painting

Secondary source

Domestic Life of Martin Luther at Wittenberg

Pierre-Antoine Labouchère (design); J. D. Nargeot (engraving) · 1800-1899

Woodcut portrait of Martin Luther with a dove above his head in a radiating halo, wearing a monastic robe, hands resting on a closed book. Above the image is the title Martinus Luther; below are verses and a coat of arms seal.Painting

Primary source

Martinus Luther Woodcut Portrait

Unbekannt (Formschneider)

Scan of a printed page with a black-and-white woodcut portrait of a man with short curly hair in a monastic-style robe with a high collar, holding a book with a decorated cover. Architectural columns frame him, and the date 1520 is printed at upper right.Painting

Primary source

Woodcut Portrait of Luther in Sermon Pamphlet

1523

An open, worn leather-bound book lying on a dark background. The right page shows a woodcut title page reading 'Biblia, das ist: die gantze Heilige Schrifft Deudsch, Mart. Luth. Wittemberg' with the date MDXXXIIII. The left page has a small woodcut and handwritten notes.Book

Secondary source

Luther Bible

Martin Luther · 1534

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Martin Luther now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions