Imperial Diet · Worms · A.D. 1521
The imperial diet before which Martin Luther, summoned under safe-conduct by the Emperor Charles V, refused to recant his writings on 18 April 1521 — “unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason.” The diet’s Edict of Worms then declared Luther an outlaw and banned his books throughout the Empire.
The treatises for which Luther was called to account are held in the vault under his First Principles of the Reformation (Wace & Buchheim, 1883, public domain).
Documents
- First Principles of the Reformation — Luther’s To the Christian Nobility, On the Babylonish Captivity of the Church, and Concerning Christian Liberty, the 1520 treatises condemned at Worms.
Not yet included
- Luther’s reply before the Diet and the Edict of Worms (Charles V) — no clean standalone public-domain English text was located at build time; both are best read in a scholarly edition of the diet’s acts.
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