German Reformer (1483-1546) and the great catalytic figure of the Protestant Reformation. Born at Eisleben to a copper-mining family; trained at the University of Erfurt (MA 1505) for law before a near-death experience in a thunderstorm (1505) prompted his vow to become a monk. Entered the Augustinian Order at Erfurt (1505); ordained priest 1507; sent to Rome on monastery business 1510 (experience of Roman corruption); transferred to the new University of Wittenberg, where Luther studied for his Doctor of Theology (1512) and became professor of biblical theology. Through 1513-1517 Luther worked through the great anguish-and-discovery period in which the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone gradually clarified for him (the famous tower experience on Romans 1:17). On October 31, 1517 (the date traditionally marking the start of the Reformation), Luther posted the Ninety-five Theses on the church door at Wittenberg, protesting the sale of indulgences by Johann Tetzel. The Theses spread rapidly; the controversy escalated through 1518-1520 (Cajetan's interview, the Leipzig Debate with Eck, the publication of the three great Reformation treatises — To the Christian Nobility, The Babylonian Captivity, The Freedom of a Christian, all 1520); Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X (1521) and outlawed by the Holy Roman Emperor at the Diet of Worms (1521, here I stand, I can do no other). Hidden at the Wartburg by Frederick the Wise, Luther translated the New Testament into German (published 1522; the complete Bible 1534). Married the former nun Katharina von Bora (1525); produced six children; pastored at Wittenberg until his death (1546). Luther's theological corpus — the Small Catechism, the Large Catechism, the Smalcald Articles, the Galatians and Romans commentaries, the hundreds of sermons, treatises, and table talks — remains foundational not only for Lutheran but for all Protestant theology.