Frederic the Wise (1463-1525)
Prince Frederic III, Elector of Saxony, always offered protection to Luther against the Pope’s terrible sentences (he was banned as an outlaw) and also the attacks of Emperor Charles the...
Martin Luther and public life
Luther’s teaching, writings and sermons were widely distributed. After his 95 theses had been posted, and he was condemned by the Pope as a theologian, many of his fellow citizens...
Martin Luther and Erasmus
The relationship between Luther and Erasmus was rich but stormy. The theologian and the humanist had very close understandings in their translations of the Bible. But they had different points...
Martin Luther, translator of the Bible
As early as 1517 Martin Luther started translating the Psalms into German. In 1521, when he was imprisoned in Wartburg, he set about translating the New Testament. This great undertaking...
Martin Luther, his theology
Luther founded his theology on the Bible and more specifically on the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, as far as salvation through God’s grace and not through one’s deeds...
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Martin Luther’s theology is based on the Bible and not on dogmas. Referring to Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, he claims that salvation is given through God’s grace and not...
Charles the Fifth (1500-1558)
Charles the Fifth inherited a vast empire; although he saw himself as a defender of Catholicism, he was unable to prevent the spread of the Reformation Movement in the Holy...
Lucas Cranach the Elder (1427-1553)
The painter and engraver Lucas Cranach or Cranach the Elder adopted the reformation ideas of Luther as soon as his theses were posted in 1517. He was the official painter...
Martin Luther and the Lutheran Reformation
Martin Luther, a german augustin monk, questioned the dogma of salvation through deeds. He was condemned by Pope Leon X, and started the extensive movement of religious reform of the...
Philadelphe Delord, the friend of the lepers (1869-1947)
In 1926 pastor Philadelphe Delord founded, with the help of the Institut Pasteur, the first sanatorium for lepers in the charterhouse in Valbonne, in the Gard. The establishment won international...
The Pastor Eugène Bersier Foundation
The Foundation follows a long tradition of serving the inhabitants of western Paris and also French Protestantism. It is specialized in audio-visual techniques and supports Protestant associations in a wide...
Christianity in the West in 16th century
At the beginning of the 16th century, the Church of Rome had been in a state of moral and political crisis for two centuries, but had not managed to overcome...
Pierre Valdo (1140-1217) and the Waldenses
Pierre Valdo started the Waldenses movement, which spread throughout southern Europe.
John Wyclif (c. 1328-1384) and the Lollards
Wyclif, a distant precursor of the Reformation, challenged the Church’s authority and hierarchy. His followers, the Lollards, instigated a peasant revolt. They denounced the established Church.
Jan Hus (1369-1415) and the Hussite wars (1419-1436)
Hus was a Czech priest, who, a century before Luther, called for a reform of the Chuch and was burnt at the stake. His death set off a religious, political...
Forerunners of the Reformation
The Forerunners of the Reformation developed many ideas which inspired Luther. Among them Pierre Valdo was the first, in the XIIth century.
Jacques Lefèvre d’Etaples (1450-1537)
Jacques Lefèvre d’Etaples was a theologian who founded the “Cenacle of Meaux” and was the first to translate the Bible into French.
The “Cenacle of Meaux” (1521-1525)
The “Cenacle of Meaux” was founded in 1521 by Lefèvre d’Etaples ; its function was to encourage reflexion on the Scriptures and to spread new ideas – notably, it advocated the...
Michel de l’Hospital (1505-1573)
Michel de l’Hospital was a Catholic lawyer, who was called on by Catherine de Médicis to try to establish the peaceful coexistence of Catholics and Protestants. However he failed in...