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The Diet of Worms

Up until this point, Luther had remained in the Roman Catholic Church and in his monastic order. However, on 15 June 1520, Pope Leo X published a bull, Exsurge Domine, asserting that Luther had sixty days to recant his views or be expelled from the Church. Luther received a copy of the bull in early October and, the following month, wrote a tract entitled Against the Execrable Bull of the Antichrist, which is possibly the first time in the Reformation era that a pope was called the Antichrist – a name that would often be repeated in anti-Catholic books, sermons and artistic representations.

Soon thereafter (28 November), the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, gave Luther safe passage to travel to the German parliament, the Diet of Worms, to present his views before them. Luther arrived in Worms on 16 April 1521, and theological scholars required him to read books by accepted Church authorities, including St Thomas Aquinas, and to reconsider his own views in light of these Church teachers. Luther reflected upon these authors, but held fast to his teachings. He stood before the emperor on 18 April and said, ‘I cannot change my views. Here I stand. I can do no other.’