Episode 38: Elections Have Consequences

Maximillian I is dead.  Who will be elected the new King of the Romans aka the Emperor of the Holy Roman Emperor?  This time we discuss the Hapsburgs, revisit Maximillian, and discuss the contenders for ultimate prize.  At the end, there is one winner.  But of course, elections have consequences.  

Charles V
Francis I
Henry VIII
Frederick III aka Frederick the Wise

Episode 37: The Holy Roman Empire:  The  Lightning Round

Holy Roman Empire at the Time of the Golden Bull (1356) By Cameron Pauley – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79672095 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Golden_Bull_of_1356.png/751px-Golden_Bull_of_1356.png

It is January 12, 1519, and Holy Roman Emperor, Maximillian I has died.  The Luther question is put on the back burner while the powers that be jockey for position to select a new emperor.  Before we delve into the selection and election of a new emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (HRE), this episode will be a lightning round of information about the Holy Roman Empire itself.  It encapsulates information presented way back in episodes 3,4,5, & 6.   Happy Listening!

Episode 36: Should I Stay or Should I Go

Frederick The Wise, Elector Of Saxony (1524) by Albrecht Durer

After the blow-up in Augsburg and Luther’s refusal to recant, and his subsequent escape, Cardinal Cajetan and Pope Leo X are demanding Luther be sent to Rome.  Frederick the Wise has a problem on his hands, how to solve the “Luther Affair?”

Episode 33: What the Eck?

We pick up the story after the Heidelberg Disputation, and discuss the relationship between Martin Luther and Johannes Eck, and Eck’s criticism of the 95 Theses.  Cardinal Cajetan enters the narrative, as we set the scene for Luther’s  upcoming trial at Augsburg.  Happy Listening!

Johannes Eck
Cardinal Cajetan

Episode 31: Reading, Writing & Heretics!

Dante
Chaucer
Jan Hus

This is a rather eclectic episode, digging into literacy and communication methods in the late Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation.  The move from Latin to writing in the vernacular.  We’ll also discuss the tortured history of heretics, especially Jan Hus, and whether reformers like Martin Luther had a reason to be a little fearful.

Happy Listening!

Episode 29: The Postman Always Rings Thrice? The 95 Theses Hits the Road

Based on where we are in the story of Martin Luther, this is essentially the beginning of “Book II” in the telling of The Life nd Times of Martin Luther.  

In this episode we meet three friends of Martin Luther: Johannes Lang, Georg Spalatin and Christopher Scheurl.  Each likely had an impact on the how and where the word of the 95 Theses would spread.  

Unfortunately, no painting/or sketch of Johannes Lang is available

Georg Spalatin
Christopher Scheurl

Episode 28: If I had a Hammer: The Posting of the 95 Theses

1517 Printing of the 95 Theses

Luther posts the 95 Theses!  In the program up to date, we have delved into Martin Luther’s life up to now. We have looked at the history of the Holy Roman Empire, and also a history of the Papacy; each of those topics until this moment on October 31, 1517.  Now the 95 Theses are in play, and the reaction to it will ignite the Reformation movement.  

Episode 27: The Indulgence Game

                           

Albrecht of Brandeburg                                  Leo X                                       Jakob Fugger

 

In Episode 27, we look at the penance process, the role of indulgences, and the secret deal wrought by an aggressively ambitious archbishop, a corrupt pope and the wealthiest man of the era.  This backroom deal  led to the indulgences Martin Luther challenged in the 95 Theses.

Episode 26: Breakthrough!

 

 

Cloaca Tower at the Wittenberg Monastery

No Way!  Way!  Finally, a New Episode!

My apologies that it has been too long between episodes.  I explain a bit in the preface to the show.

With 1517 looming, we start to get more first person and contemporary accounts of Doctor Martin.  In this episode, then,  we start learning more about the real Martin Luther; more about the man himself.  Then we look at his breakthrough in theology in the so-called “tower experience”,  as we position to look at the 95 Theses in the next program.

Happy New Year & Happy Listening!!

 

The new “Studio”!

Episode 25: The Augustinian Administrator

In this episode, we return to the life of Martin Luther, with a recap of where we have been in his life up to now, learn about the city of Wittenberg, and discuss Martin’s rise in the Augustinian order.

Today happens to be the 500th Anniversary of the Martin’s posting of the 95 Theses in Wittenberg.   Happy Anniversary Martin!

Episode 20: Oh My Papa…The History of the Papacy Part 1

 

As we approach the posting of the 95 Theses in Luther’s story, it seems like a good idea to learn about the institution of the papacy itself.  This first part details the history of the beginning of the papacy, starting with the tradition that St. Peter was the first Bishop of Rome, and how we get from there in a straight line to what has been one of the oldest, if not the oldest continual institution in recorded history.

Happy Listening!

 

Episode 19: What’s Up Doc?

This time we will delve into Martin finishing his doctorate in theology, thereby earning the title Doctor Luther.

Along the way, we’ll explore the continued angst Luther claimed to have experienced which will eventually lead to other crossroads, including eventually a breakthrough of theological thought. The more we discover about Martin, the more we see the crossroads clearly marked out, but for him at least, the destination of the route is unknown, unsure.

Episode 18: Next Stop—-The Eternal City

Martin Luther takes a road trip to Rome, the Eternal City. He goes with high hopes, and leaves with a dose of realism.  Along the way, we discuss the legendary history of the founding of Rome by Romulus, the forgiveness of sins through indulgences, and climbing the true highway to heaven, the Scala Sancta.

Happy Listening!

Episode 16: Meanwhile, Back in Erfurt…

Meanwhile, Back in Erfurt…

In this episode we are pivoting from Augustine, back to Martin Luther. There is a bit more history about the Augustinians in Erfurt, and then inner conflict in the Augustinian Order between the observant and conventual friars.  We are introduced to Martin’s mentor, Johannes von Staupitz, as Luther begins his studies on the way to receiving a doctorate in Theology.

Happy Listening!

 

Special Announcement! Happy Reformation and Exciting News about the Program

Happy 499th Anniversary of the Reformation!  

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther, an Augustinian Friar and professor at the University of Wittenberg, allegedly nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church in Wittenberg.  Originally, Luther was attempting to challenge some practices of the Church, within the Church.  The responses by the Catholic hierarchy, however, eventually demanding that Dr. Luther recant and then branding him a heretic; set in motion the seismic societal movement we know as the Reformation.

Listen for exciting (and daunting) plans for the program!

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Episode 15: Saints and Sinners: Augustine, the Wrap-up

Saints & Sinners: This time, we mop things up relative to Augustine, delving into his two major rhetorical and actual fights with the Donatists and the Pelagians. Augustine explores free will, predestination, and the nature of sin.  We then pivot to monastic life, and a brief history of the Augustinian Order.  Along the way there are the Christian persecutions from earlier during the Roman Empire’s Crisis during the Third Century, The Cyprian Plague, and a host of sinners and saints.

In the end, we are left with the question, were you predestined to download this program, or was it your free will?!?!  You decide!

Happy listening!

 

Episode 14: Barbarians at the Gates-Augustine of Hippo Part 3

Augustine goes from conversion to baptism as a Christian.  Shortly after he and Monica share the spiritual “Vision at Ostia”, Monica died.  After arrival in North Africa, tragedy strikes again as Augustine’s only son died.  After his mother and son were gone, Augustine became a priest, and then Bishop of Hippo.  Along the way, he became one of the most prolific writers and defenders of the faith of any age.  Happy Listening!

Episode 12: Give Me Chastity … Just Not Yet! Augustine of Hippo Part 1

Episode 12: Augustine of Hippo, Part 1

This time explore the namesake of the Augustinian Order, Augustine of Hippo. From his birth to his first time in Carthage, as he begins searching for wisdom.  On the way, we meet Monica, his devout Christian mother.  His life and scholarship had a profound effect on the Church, and his philosophies and writings are part of the story of the Reformation, over 1,000 years after his death to the time Luther posts the 95 Theses.

 

Happy Listening!!

Episode 11: Get Thee to a Monastery!

Episode 11!  In this episode we follow Martin Luther from his oath made at the thunderstorm to the gates of the Augustinian Order.  He leaves his prior life behind, and becomes an Augustinian friar.  Luther celebrates his first mass as an ordained priest, and tries to reconcile with his father.  Unfortunately, the reconciliation turns into an uncomfortable moment.

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