"I cannot and will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.…Here I stand, I can do no other”

The Diet of Worms in April 1521 was one of history’s most dramatic confrontations, a clash of the old world and the new. It saw the celebrity professor Martin Luther summoned to the imperial free city of Worms by the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, to defend his radical beliefs. And though his life was guaranteed by the Emperor, Luther had never been in greater danger. He arrived in the city to huge, ecstatic crowds, like Jesus returning to Jerusalem from the desert. But would his rhetorical brilliance and passionate defence save him and the future of protestantism, or would he doom himself to a fiery fate?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss one of the most groundbreaking moments of western history: Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms in 1521, and the extraordinary twist of fate which saw the most famous man in Europe inexplicably vanish from the face of the earth. Defenestrated dogs, malevolent poltergeists and scatological furores abound...

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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Episode highlights

Martin Luther's Defiant Stand

Insights on Martin Luther's Beliefs and Experiences

The Dynamics of Reformation and Power Struggles in Wittenberg

Luther's Conspicuous Travels and Celebrity Status