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Primary sourceBookAugust 1520

To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation

Martin Luther · August 1520

Luther's 1520 appeal to German princes urging reform and attacking the authority of the Pope.

Luther's appeal to German princes to take up church reform, challenging papal authority directly.

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Title page of Martin Luther's 1520 pamphlet in black-letter German type, framed by an ornate woodcut border with figures, scrolls and a coat of arms at top. Text reads: An den Christlichenn Adel teutscher Nation, von des Christlichen standes besserung, D. Martinus Luther, and below it Durch yhn selbs gemehret vnd corrigirt, and Wittenberg.
Martin Luther, An den christlichen Adel deutscher Nation, 1520.

About this source

What it is

A tract written in German by Martin Luther in 1520 and printed in Wittenberg, addressed to the Emperor and the German nobility. It was the first of three major reforming tracts Luther wrote that year.

Why it matters

In this work Luther introduced his ideas of the priesthood of all believers and the two kingdoms, attacking what he called the

This book 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.

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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

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