Luther's Personal Experiences Affected His Ideas for Reform of the Church

Martin Luther was born in 1483 in the town of Eisleben. He was born to a middle class family and he wanted to be a lawyer and so he studied law at the University of Erfurt. However, he gets caught in a thunderstorm and he is so terrified that he promised that if he survives the thunderstorm, he would give his life to God. This is because he was terrified, at the time, of God's wrath and judgement. He then completed his holy orders a year later and became an Augustinian monk.

In 1510, he went on pilgrimage to Rome as many people did at the time. However, whilst he was there, he saw the Pope dressed in golden armour on his way to a battle. He was amazed by this as in his mind, the Pope was not supposed to be as...