Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a priest who joined the reformation. He wrote a list of complaints (now called the 95 Theses) and nailed it to a German church in Wittenberg. He criticized the church's practices, the sale of indulgences, and wrote his own beliefs. He sent it to the pope and was excommunicated. Later the Holy Roman Emperor ordered Luther to appear in front of a council in Worms. Luther was declared an outlaw, but one noble secretly hid him in a castle for a year. His ideas led to a split in the Catholic Church, those with Luther became Protestants against the Church. His teachings became Lutherans.