On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther voiced his objection to the buying and selling of God’s grace, aka “indulgences.” Tetzel had come to Germany to sell indulgences because St. Pete’s in Rome needed some renovation. Luther enclosed his “95 Theses” in his letter of protest to the Archibishop, and he had no intention of confronting the church. His letter was an academic argument! His tone was “searching.”
29 years later on the same day, Luther nailed his Theses to the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg, a popular and public place for news bulletins (much like a blog today). The Germans quickly translated the Latin laundry list and then printed and widely copied it.
New media always takes down the powerful, even before the powerful realize it.
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“In contrast to the speed with which the theses were distributed, the response of the papacy was painstakingly slow.
Cardinal Albert of Hohenzollern, Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg, with the consent of Pope Leo X, was using part of the indulgence income to pay his bribery debts,[14] and did not reply to Luther’s letter; instead, he had the theses checked for heresy and forwarded to Rome.[41]”
Hm.