Main Page

New World Encyclopedia integrates facts with values. Written by certified experts.

The 1517 Nuremberg printing of Luther's Ninety-five Theses,

The Ninety-five Theses is a list of propositions for an academic disputation written in 1517 by Martin Luther. The Theses is retrospectively considered to have launched the Protestant Reformation and the birth of Protestantism, despite various proto-Protestant groups having existed previously. It detailed Luther's opposition to what he saw as the Roman Catholic Church's abuse and corruption by Catholic clergy, who were selling plenary indulgences, which were certificates supposed to reduce the temporal punishment in purgatory for sins committed by the purchasers or their loved ones.

Popular Article: Charlemagne

Charlemagne, portrait by Albrecht Dürer

Charlemagne (742 or 747 – January 28, 814) (also Charles the Great), son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, was the king of the Franks from 768 C.E. to 814 C.E. and king of the Lombards from 774 C.E. to 814 C.E. Charlemagne was crowned Imperator Augustus in Rome on Christmas Day, 800 by Pope Leo III and is therefore regarded as the founder of the Holy Roman Empire (as Charles I). Through military conquest and defense, he solidified and expanded his realm to cover most of Western Europe. He is often seen as the Father of Europe and is an iconic figure, instrumental in defining European identity. His was the first truly imperial power in the West since the fall of Rome.

Did you know?

The Phoenicians are credited with spreading the Phoenician alphabet throughout the Mediterranean world, so that it became one of the most widely used writing systems (source: Phoenician Civilization)

> more interesting facts