History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Volume 2

One monk's conscience shook the foundations of Western civilization. Merle d'Aubigné's monumental history captures the Reformation at its most volatile moment: 1519, when Martin Luther stood alone against the might of Rome and dared to question whether a man could find God through any authority save his own faith. This volume traces the escalating confrontation between a rebellious friar and the most powerful institution on Earth, detailing the theological duels with Eck and Carlstadt that could have ended in execution, the precarious dance of German princes deciding whether to protect or betray him, and the revolutionary force of printing presses spreading forbidden ideas across Europe. Merle d'Aubigné writes as both historian and believer, rendering these events not as distant chronicle but as living drama, the moment when the medieval world cracked open and the modern one spilled forth. For readers curious about where our ideas of individual conscience and religious freedom first took root, this is the source.