page_title: Reformation Day
section_title: Centenary
hierarchical_section_title: Reformation Day / Anniversaries / Centenary
caption_attribution_description: English: A broadside on the centenary of the German Reformation and a prophetic dream of Friedrich III of Saxony on Luther's posting of the 95 Theses in Wittenberg; with a woodcut showing on the left Martin Luther writing with a large pen on a church door, the end of his pen poking through the ears of a lion, knocking off the tiara of Pope Leo X; with letterpress title, but wanting letterpress text in German and Latin.
context_page_description: Reformation Day is a Protestant Christian religious holiday celebrated on 31 October, alongside All Hallows' Eve during the triduum of Allhallowtide, in remembrance of the onset of the Reformation.
  According to Philip Melanchthon, 31 October 1517 was the day German monk Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the All Saints' Church in Wittenberg, Electorate of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire. Historians and other experts on the subject argue that Luther may have chosen All Hallows' Eve on purpose to get the attention of common people, although that has never been proved. Available data suggest that 31 October was the day when Luther sent his work to Albert of Brandenburg, the Archbishop of Mainz. This has been verified; nowadays, it is regarded as the start of the Reformation alongside the unconfirmed nailing of the Ninety-five Theses/grievances to All Saints' Church's door on the same date.
  The holiday is a significant one for both Lutheran and Calvinist Churches, although other Protestant communities also tend to commemorate the day.
context_section_description: In 1617, the celebration of faith concentrated on Lutheran orthodoxy. In early 1617, the Lutheran duke and elector John George I of Saxony received a politically delicate dispatch. The University of Wittenberg asked for permission to celebrate the memory of its former lecturer Martin Luther. The duke agreed and made the commemoration obligatory for all of Electoral Saxony. The worship services and sermons were, however, all prewritten and prescribed in detail and provided as a recommendation to other Protestant regional rulers as well. They did not want any trouble with the Catholics. In the end, the Reformation was celebrated in 1617 in nearly all of the Protestant territories of the Holy Roman Empire, and members of the Protestant Union and others following its lead all celebrated together on the first Sunday in November. As Wolfgang Flügel, an expert for Reformation jubilees and a researcher with the Society for Reformation History of the University of Halle-Wittenberg explains: "Competition and crises were decisive in the realization and content of the 1617 celebrations." The historian Heinz Schilling speaks of "confrontation for the sake of preserving one’s own identity".
caption: Print made for the 1617 Reformation Jubilee showing Luther enscribing the Theses on the Wittenberg church door with a giant quill
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