1-157-146 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Martin Luther, German Protestant reformer, 1522. Luther (1483-1546) was a major inspiration behind the Reformation. He was excommunicated by Pope Leo IX in 1521 and declared an outlaw at the Diet of Worms. Under the protection of the Elector of Saxony, Luther produced a German translation of the Bible, and he went on to found the Lutheran Protestant Church. After a portrait by Cranach (1520) from the title page of a sermon against the authority of the Church published in 1522.