Leo X
Pope of the Medici family who granted the indulgence for St Peter’s, condemned forty-one of Luther’s propositions in 1520 and excommunicated him in January 1521.
Erasmus dedicated his New Testament to Leo in 1516 and praised the house of Medici from which he came (Erasmus, Novum Instrumentum (1516) dedication to Leo X). The indulgence for the building of St Peter’s was granted by Leo (Instructio summaria preamble (Kidd no. 6, pp. 13–14)).
In the bull Exsurge Domine he condemned forty-one propositions from the writings of Martin Luther. He said that he had urged Luther by letters and through his legate to give up his errors and had offered him a safe-conduct to Rome, and he gave him sixty days to recant (Leo X, Exsurge Domine the forty-one propositions and the sections that follow). The bull Decet Romanum Pontificem, which declared Luther a heretic, is dated 3 January 1521, in the eighth year of Leo’s pontificate (Leo X, Decet Romanum Pontificem sections II–III and date). Luther’s open letter to him of 1520 speaks of Leo himself with respect, as a lamb and a Daniel among lions, and attacks the Roman court (Luther, Freedom of a Christian letter to Leo X). See Luther Is Excommunicated and Outlawed at Worms.
In the timeline
- 31 October 1517, firm dateLuther’s Ninety-five Theses
On 31 October 1517 Martin Luther sends the archbishop of Mainz ninety-five theses questioning what indulgences can do. Whether he also posted them on the Castle Church at Wittenberg that day is disputed. The controversy that follows becomes the Reformation.
- 1520 to 1521, firm dateLuther Is Excommunicated and Outlawed at Worms
Leo X condemns forty-one of Luther’s propositions in 1520 and excommunicates him in January 1521. Before Charles V at Worms that April, Luther refuses to retract unless convinced by Scripture or evident reason. An imperial edict outlaws him, and he is hidden in a Saxon castle.
Primary sources
Exsurge Domine
- Leo X, Exsurge Domine the forty-one propositions and the sections that followpapalencyclicals.net
Decet Romanum Pontificem
- Leo X, Decet Romanum Pontificem sections II–III and datepapalencyclicals.net
The Freedom of a Christian
- Luther, Freedom of a Christian letter to Leo Xprojectwittenberg.org