The Reformation! (1517-1555)

Episoade

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  Season 12: The Reformation! (Trailer) 31.08.2026 3min

  When it comes to events from German history that left a mark on the world, most minds turn towards the 19th and 20th century. But there is at least one, arguably two periods that can claim to have had equally lasting impact. One is the Investiture Controversy that we discussed in Season 2, and the other is what we will learn about now, the Reformation!
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  Ep. 1: The Faith of the Common People 03.09.2026 34min

  On 31 October 1517, an Augustinian monk carried 95 theses through the streets of Wittenberg — whether to nail them to the castle church door, post them by letter, or send them to the printers remains disputed. Within two months they had spread across the Empire and beyond and the world was never the same again...In this first episode of the new season we look at the world Martin Luther grew up in, what common people like him experienced in life - mostly godawful things - and how that shaped their worldview and religious leanings.We will talk about onion-shaped societies, ancient prophecies of an age of bliss, the importance of mass even if no-one gets communion, the benefits of purgatory, pilgrimages and lots more...
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  Ep. 2: Martin Luther's Youth and his "Anfechtungen" 17.09.2026 49min

   When Martin Luther joined the Augustinian Order in 1505, he embarked on a 15 year long spiritual journey that changed the World....In this episode we will look at the first 35 years of Martin Luther’s life, from his birth in 1483 to a moment sometime between 1512 and 1519 when he achieved his great theological breakthrough. This is a crucial period in the history of the Reformation, a time when Luther struggled with what he called his “Anfechtungen”. Anfechtungen is one of these untranslatable German words like Schadenfreude and Gemütlichkeit. It is something more than a trial or tribulation, more of an existential assault on faith itself — an overwhelming, often visceral experience of doubt, terror, and despair before God, in which the sinner feels utterly exposed to divine judgment and abandoned by grace. Sounds quite painful. It was these “Anfechtungen” that brought about the cornerstone of his creed, that salvation is to be obtained through faith alone. It is the story how Protestantism is born in the head of just one man.And this story is usually told around three, sometimes four, pivotal events, a thunderstorm in July 1505 that frightened young Luther so much, he vowed to join a monastery, then the day when he celebrated his first mass and the subsequent challenge to these choices by his father, then his visit to Renaissance Rome in 1510 or 1511 and finally, the “tower experience” where Luther is supposed to have had his intellectual breakthrough whilst sitting on the loo…
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  Ep.: 3 The 95 Theses - Cockup or Conspiracy? 01.10.2026 42min

  What if the most famous story of the Reformation has some massive holes? Was Tetzel really a snake oil salesman? Was Albrecht of Brandenburg and the Fuggers really after the indulgence contracts? Were the Germans been ripped off by the papacy more than anyone else? Who could believe that there is still room for new perspectives on this event?