WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In January 1521, Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther. Three months later, Luther was called to defend his beliefs before Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms, where he was famously defiant. For his refusal to recant his writings, the emperor declared him an outlaw and a heretic.

Detailed explanation-2: -Martin Luther, the chief catalyst of Protestantism, was a professor of biblical interpretation at the University of Wittenberg in Germany when he drew up his 95 theses condemning the Catholic Church for its corrupt practice of selling indulgences, or the forgiveness of sins.

Detailed explanation-3: -In it, he asked Martin Luther to recant what he had written in his 95 theses, or else face expulsion from the church. The reformer would not back down and burned the paper in an act of protest.

Detailed explanation-4: -Finally, in 1520 Pope Leo X issued a bull – a statement of the Pope’s authority – condemning Luther and banning his works. Defying the Pope, Luther publicly burned the bull. The break with the church was then complete. In January 1521 Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther.