Martin Luther and the Great Schism

Most of what we want to talk about in this series will be done in the shadow of Luther. The social, technological, and economic conditions of Europe in the 16th century combined to create unprecedented pressures on the authority of the Catholic Church. It was Luther's particular and extraordinary combination of will and ability that focused that pressure onto the most vulnerable pillars of Catholic authority. And with a ferocious push set about its collapse. So great men don't make history, but history does sometimes make men great.