June 27 - Luther

Here is a film with a scene that happens today - June 27. I hope you enjoy the movie and watch it tonight.

LUTHER

Martin Luther, caught in a terrible thunderstorm vows to become a monk if God spares him. God does so he does. However after two years, Luther has doubts. He is sent to Rome to deliver a brief from his monastery. Luther is disgusted by what he sees, He thinks Rome has a circus atmosphere of greed and corruption. Luther is sent to Wittenberg as a parish priest. He begins to see God as merciful, defying the church to do so, including personally burying a suicide in holy ground. He is made a teacher at a seminary and begins to attack the doctrine of relics and indulgences. Luther is warned off of this since this could reduce revenue from Frederick of Saxony’s relic collection.  Leo X is elected pope. He authorizes an indulgence to be sold by John Tetzel to help pay for St. Peters basilica. Luther nails the 95 theses on the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg condemning indulgences.  These create a firestorm and Luther is summoned to appear before Cardinal Cajetan. He is told he must recant, but he refuses. He is ordered excommunicated. The pope sends a golden rose to Frederick to try and get him to hand over Luther. The church burns Luther’s writings. Frederick convinces Emperor Charles to preside at a hearing for Luther at Worms. Luther refuses to recant. On the way back from Worms Luther is “kidnapped” by supporters of Frederick and hidden away where Luther works on translating the Bible into German. The Great Peasant Revolt begins.  After seeing its violence, Luther comes out against the revolt. On June 27, 1525 Luther marries Katharina von Bora, a former nun. [1:45:14 to 1:46:08]. At Augsburg in 1530 Charles V summons the princes to outlaw Protestantism, but they refuse and he is forced to allow rulers to opt to be Protestant.

An interesting biopic of this controversial figure. The film does contain numerous, though minor historical inaccuracies. It also glosses over Luther’s opposition to the Great Peasant’s Revolt and does not mention his alleged anti-Semitic writings. Still, all in all a good effort that is well worth watching. 

Out of the Storm: The Life and Legacy of Martin Luther by Derek Wilson (St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2009) at page 233 gives the date of his marriage.

Producer – Brigette Rochow, Christian P. Stehr and Alexander Theis

Director - Eric Till

Screenplay - Camille Thomasson and Bart Gavigan

Runtime – 2 hours 4 minutes

Released – October 30, 2003

Starring –

Joseph Fiennes as Martin Luther

Alfred Molina as John Tetzel

Jonathan Firth as Girolamo Aleandro

Claire Cox as Katharina von Bora

Peter Ustinov as Frederick the Wise

Bruno Ganz as Johann von Staupitz

Uwe Ochsenknecht as Pope Leo X

Mathieu Carrière as Cardinal Cajetan

Benjamin Sadler as George Spalatin

Jochen Horst as Andreas Karlstadt

Torben Liebrecht as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Maria Simon as Hanna

Lars Rudolph as Philipp Melanchthon

Marco Hofschneider as Ulrich Werner

Christopher Buchholz as Johann Eck

Timothy Peach as Karl von Miltitz

Tom Strauss as George of Brandenburg

Gene Reed as John, Elector of Saxony

Anian Zollner as Philip of Hesse

Johannes Lang as Albert Archbishop of Mainz

Jeff Boyd as  Prior

Jeff Caster as Matthew

Hussi Kutlucan as Blacksmith

Michael Traynor as Hans Luther

Joost Siedhoff as Old Monk

Anatole Taubman as Otto

Lena Krimmel as Teresa

Doris Prusova as Grete

Jindrich Fajst as Thomas

Watch Luther