1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:14,000 LENA CAN READ, UNDERSTANDS THE TEXT, AND CAN FORM HER OWN OPINION. 2 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:20,640 To her this is nothing special, but 500 years ago that was not the case for many people. 3 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:26,160 Back then, Germany and other parts of Europe were divided up quite differently, both politically 4 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:27,840 and geographically. 5 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:33,840 They were ruled by emperors, kings, princes, and the Roman Catholic Church. 6 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:37,340 There was not yet a Protestant church at the time. 7 00:00:37,340 --> 00:00:41,480 These mainly told the people what to believe in and how they should live. 8 00:00:41,480 --> 00:00:47,600 The church had something, well, how should we put it, to offer sinful people. 9 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:51,060 For example, they sold letters of indulgence. 10 00:00:51,060 --> 00:00:56,000 These were supposed to exonerate someone from sin and reduce or even completely avoid the 11 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:01,480 time spent in purgatory, that is, the period before entering heaven. 12 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:03,880 Money in place of repentance. 13 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,240 And indeed they could be bought for deceased relatives too. 14 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:12,560 The church used the money to finance the construction of St. Peter's Basilica, for example, and 15 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,320 to plug up financial gaps. 16 00:01:15,320 --> 00:01:17,120 Not everyone agreed with this. 17 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:23,400 A German theologian by the name of Martin Luther criticized this misuse of indulgence. 18 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:28,760 According to traditions, he was said to have published 95 theses on that issue on October 19 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,880 31st, 1517. 20 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:38,680 He listed reasons that things should be about belief alone, about repentance and God's grace, 21 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,400 and not about making money and the church as an institution. 22 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:47,960 How his theses were acknowledged is not known exactly today, but one thing is clear. 23 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:54,480 Luther wrote history, and he heralded a reformation. 24 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:59,140 Thanks to the newly developed book printing technology, Luther's writings spread quickly 25 00:01:59,140 --> 00:02:04,000 and he gained followers, which the church did not exactly like that much. 26 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,100 It was a turbulent time for Luther. 27 00:02:06,100 --> 00:02:10,960 He was excluded, accused and pursued. 28 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:15,760 Away from the public eye, at the Wartburg Castle in the German town of Eisenach, he 29 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:20,000 continued to write using the alias Knight George. 30 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:25,320 It was there that he also translated the New Testament from Greek, Hebrew, and sometimes 31 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,960 Latin, into German. 32 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:34,960 This is how he made it possible for many people to read the Bible and to think for themselves. 33 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:39,480 Education and freedom were the most important topics of the Reformation. 34 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,200 However, it was not only a religious matter. 35 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:47,920 In his writings about the Reformation, Luther also addressed those who were dissatisfied 36 00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:53,520 with the political and social order, such as farmers, who suffered due to taxes and 37 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:54,520 serfdom. 38 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:58,840 They now demanded justice from those who ruled over them. 39 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:04,360 The institution of the Catholic Church was shaken by this, and a new Protestant Church 40 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,800 was founded, even if this had not been Luther's intention at all. 41 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:13,800 Over the course of decades, the prevailing common order of church and state gradually 42 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:15,240 dissolved. 43 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:22,560 The selling of indulgences has been prohibited in the Catholic Church since 1562 as well. 44 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:29,080 Lena now knows why October 31st is marked in her calendar as Reformation Day. 45 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:33,140 Protestants commemorate the publication of Martin Luther's theses on this day, along 46 00:03:33,140 --> 00:03:39,980 with the start of a Reformation, which stands for freedom, justice, education, and social 47 00:03:39,980 --> 00:03:40,820 equality.