[Note: This documentary is not yet on the “History of the World in Videos” article. I recommend watching the interesting “The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance” documentary series before the videos in this article— especially this episode that explains the circumstances of the corrupt Popes that triggered the Protestant reformation.]
“Martin Luther: Driven to Defiance” (Part 1 of 2)
Following is from the video page:
A 2002 PBS Biography Documentary narrated by Liam Neeson as part of Empires Special Series.
Few if any men have changed the course of history like Martin Luther. In less than ten years, this fevered German monk plunged a knife into the heart of an empire that had ruled for a thousand years, and set in motion a train of revolution, war and conflict that would reshape Western civilization, and lift it out of the Dark Ages.
Martin Luther was born into a world dominated by the Catholic Church, which holds spiritual dominion over all the nations of Europe. For the keenly spiritual Luther, the Church’s promise of salvation is irresistible – caught in a thunderstorm, terrified by the possibility of imminent death, he vows to become a monk. But after entering the monastery, Luther becomes increasingly doubtful that the Church can actually offer him salvation at all. His views crystallize even further with a trip to Rome, where he finds that the capital of Catholicism is swamped in corruption.
Wracked by despair, Luther finally finds release in the pages of the Bible, when he discovers that it is not the Church, but his own individual faith that will guarantee his salvation. With this revelation, he turns on the Church, attacking its practice of selling Indulgences in the famous 95 Theses.
“Martin Luther: The Reluctant Revolutionary” (Part 2 of 2)
Following is from the video page:
When an obscure monk named Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses – 95 stinging rebukes – attacking the mighty Catholic Church, and its head, Pope Leo X to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral he unleashed a tornado. It was a hurricane of violence and revolution that raged across Europe, and changed the face of a continent forever. The Catholic Church brought all its considerable power to bear to try and muzzle Luther, including accusations of heresy and excommunication. But protected by his local ruler, Frederick the Wise, Luther continued to write ever more radical critiques of the Church, and to develop a whole new system of faith, one that puts the freedom of the individual believer above the rituals of the Church.
His ideas spread like wildfire, aided by the newly invented printing press. Finally he’s called before the German imperial parliament, in the city of Worms, and told he must recant. Risking torture and execution, Luther nevertheless refused and proclaimed his inalienable right to believe what he wished.
Convinced he would not survive the trip to Worms but with absolute faith he declared, “I am not afraid, for God’s Will will (sic) be done, and I rejoice to suffer in so noble a cause.”
Luther finally died in the year 1543, seized by a crippling heart attack but he held onto his righteousness and rage until the very end.
“When I die, I want to be a ghost… So I can continue to pester the bishops, priests and godless monks until that they have more trouble with a dead Luther than they could have had before with a thousand living ones.”