Luther's Opponents

Johann Tetzel

The Dominican monk Johann Tetzel had already been active in other indulgence campaigns before he came directly into the focus of Luther's criticism as sub-commissioner of the distribution of the "Peter's Indulgence" in 1517. He was the first to counter Luther's 95 theses against indulgences with his own theses, albeit unsuccessfully. But although from then on he was to be regarded as the epitome of indulgences in person, Luther consoled him in a letter shortly before his death: Tetzel should not blame himself, the matter had "another father.

Pope Leo X.

The Florentine Pope Leo X, who came to the chair of Peter at a young age, was initially seen by many as a beacon of hope with regard to a long overdue church reform. Luther, too, initially admired him for his education and erudition, but changed his mind after a few years when the pope and the Roman curia proved unwilling to reform. From that point on, Luther saw him only as the Antichrist. Leo himself underestimated the extent of Luther's movement and considered the matter settled with the church ban on Luther.

Emperor Charles V.

Already at the age of 20, Charles had been crowned emperor and, with the overseas possessions, ruled over an empire "in which the sun never set". Luther associated his accession to power with the hope of his support for the Reformation, which, however, did not come true: For the emperor, who at first seemed quite sympathetic to some Reformation themes, Luther was, however, a heretic after the Roman trial. He was not swayed even by Luther's appearance at the Diet of Worms in 1521 and fought the Protestant forces.

Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg

In order to obtain the lucrative bishopric of Mainz in addition to his offices as bishop of Magdeburg and administrator of the bishopric of Halberstadt, Albrecht was forced to take on large debts to the banking house of the Fugger family in Augsburg. To counter-finance these debts, he received permission to sell indulgences in his dioceses. The sales practice of his indulgence merchant Tetzel provoked Luther's criticism, who then wrote his 95 Theses.

Thomas Müntzer

Thomas Müntzer was initially an enthusiastic supporter of Luther and the Wittenberg Reformation, but he extended his criticism beyond that of the pope and Roman church policy to the secular authorities. Because of this radical social revolutionary stance, Luther eventually distanced himself from him. Müntzer supported the violent uprisings of the peasants, which resulted in the Peasants' Wars of 1524/25. After the Battle of Frankenhausen, which was devastating for the peasants, he was captured and executed shortly thereafter.

Erasmus of Rotterdam

The eminent scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam, through the mediation of Georg Spalatin, entered into a lively correspondence with Luther starting in 1519, which, however, finally led to the final disagreement in 1524 due to different theological convictions. In particular, there was disagreement over the question of the existence of free will: While Erasmus assumed that man could freely choose between good and evil, for Luther, on the other hand, free will was no longer conceivable after the fall of Adam and Eve.