Timeline of events in “A MIGHTY FORTRESS”

This chronology  will also appear in the program. For a more complete timeline, check out this website. The events below are only those which are specifically mentioned in the play.

Chronology of events from the life of Martin Luther (1483 – 1546) portrayed in A Mighty Fortress:

1505 – receives Master of Arts from University of Erfurt, plans to study law

1505 – caught in a thunder storm, feels convicted to dedicate his life to God by becoming a monk

1505 – enters Augustinian monastery at Erfurt

1507 – celebrates his first mass after becoming a priest

1510 – is sent to Rome by his order; is disillusioned by attitude of Roman clergy

1512 – completes his doctoral work and takes up a professorship at Wittenberg

1516 – while teaching on Psalms, comes to understand salvation by grace alone

1517 – on October 31, posts 95 Theses against the sale of Indulgences on the door of the castle church

1518 – appears before Cardinal Cajetan at Augsberg

1519 – debates John Eck before the Duke of Augsberg

1520 – excommunicated by Pope Leo

1521 – April: appears before the Holy Roman Emperor (Charles V) at the Diet of Worms, is ordered to recant

1521 – May (through March 1522): in hiding at Wartburg Castle, disguised as a knight