Some nobles, scholars, and other people who agreed with Luthers writings began to think of themselves as his followers.

One of them Frederick, Prince Elector of Saxony backed Martin Luther in the religious dispute that broke out after 1517.

Frederick didnt necessarily agree with Luther, but because Frederick had founded the University of Wittenberg not many years before, he had a stake in protecting his faculty member, the overnight celebrity.Standing Up to the Emperor When Martin Luther really needed a friend, Frederick, Prince Elector of Saxony known as Frederick the Wise came through for him.

It happened shortly after Emperor Charles V, who succeeded his grandfather Maximilian I in 1519, tried to make Luther change what he had said about indulgences and the Church.

Charles made his challenge in 1521 at the Diet of Worms.

It wasnt nearly as disgusting as it sounds.

In the Holy Roman Empire, the word diet had nothing to do with NutriSystem.

A diet (from the medieval Latin dieta, meaning a days work) was an all-day meeting a day in court, or in this case, the Imperial Assembly.

Worms referred to a city rather than a mess of tubular, dirt-dwelling animals.

Worms is on the Rhine River near Mannheim, Germany.) At the Diet of Worms, Emperor Charles V met with the empires princes and with churchmen, including Luther.

Although no one asked him to ingest squirmy, legless invertebrates, Luther gagged anyway at the suggestion he give ground.

When the emperor tells you to change your tune, you have to at least think about it.

Luther turned the issue over and over in his mind before he came back the next morning with his answer.

Luther faced up to the emperor, the princes, and the bishops and said, Here I stand.

I can do no other.

God help me. Amen.

At least, thats how the story goes.

Theres some doubt over whether he ever really said that, but its too good a quote to throw away (so here I quote it; I can do no other).

Whether those were his exact words or not (and, come to think of it, he didnt even speak English), they sum up what Luther meant.

In the 2003 movie Luther, Joseph Fiennes doesnt speak any English, either, but the DVD includes English subtitles.

This German biopic takes some liberties with the facts (as all movies do), but it vividly portrays the tensions and excitement of the time.

Luther Gains a Following After the Diet of Worms, Martin Luther was an outlaw, and he headed home to Wittenberg to prepare for his arrest and a probable death sentence.

In the castle of Wartburg, Prince Freddy gave Luther a study in which to work, and work he did.

Instead of taking back his theses, Luther noisily attacked other beliefs of the Church.

Realizing the power of the printing press, he published his ideas among them his claims that priests werent the big deal they thought they were.

Luther said that Christians should read the Bible for themselves, and he translated his own user-friendly German version.

He also wrote both words and music for hymns such as A Mighty Fortress is Our God the theme song of the Reformation.

A pamphlet he published in 1520, To the Christian Nobility of the German Nations, was especially popular.

Luther 2003 Movie Download