Title: Martin Luther | The German Way & More
Headings: Martin Luther
Martin Luther
German Protestant Religious Reformer (“Der Reformator”)
Next | Religion in Germany

Content: The Luther Rose or Luther Seal symbolizes the Lutheran faith. The peasant revolts (which were not limited to just farmers and peasants) had spread like wildfire before being diminished by Luther’s condemnation. Estimates of the number of people killed in the uprisings range from 75,000 to 130,000. Very few of the revolts led to the political, religious and economic reforms the people wanted. Feudalism and monarchial rule would last centuries longer in Germany and Europe. After the Peasants War, the Reformation was less of a people’s movement and more of a time when the new Protestant Church could flourish under the nobles and secular rulers in Germany and other parts of Europe. Luther now began to organize his new religion. With the support of the Elector, Luther helped spread his doctrines in Saxony, from whence Lutheranism spread to other states, principalities and regions. ( Frederick’s successor, his brother John the Constant [Johann der Beständige], was a zealous Lutheran.) Although it was not what he had originally intended, the loss of funding from the Catholic Church and the political situation forced Luther to use a state-supported model for his new religion.