Facts and Inaccuracies
Curious about the real story of Martin Luther? Thinking about writing an essay? Take a look at this List of Facts and Inaccuracies.
- Although the printing press made it possible to disseminate Luther's ideas, Luther and Gutenberg never knew each other. Gutenberg died in 1468, more than 15 years before Luther's birth. ["Shout out to Johann Gutenberg...I see you baby!"]
- In the music video, Luther has an implied sexual relationship with a nun who dies by the third chorus. In fact, Luther married a nun—Catherine Von Bora—but she was never executed. She died in 1552, over eight years after Luther's death. ["With my hat, my Bible, and my sexy lil nun..."]
- Death sentences for heresy were uncommon. When they did occur, the most common forms were burning at the stake and garroting, not beheading.
- In the music video, Philip of Hess has two attractive women at his sides. This represents Philip's practice of bigamy. In reality, however, his first wife, Christine of Saxony, was sickly and unattractive. This caused him to seek religious justification from theologians for taking a second (and more attractive) spouse. ["I said Catholicism leads to life of excess, and we all remember what went down with Philip of Hess."]
- Did Luther actually nail his Theses to the door? Church doors often served as bulletin boards in the 16th century, though some argue that Luther only sent copies of the 95 theses to Pope Leo X, the Archbishop of Mainz, and others. For more information, read Edwin Iserloh's The Theses Were Not Posted: Luther Between Reform and Reformation (Boston: Beacon Press, 1968). ["When I wrote the 95, haters straight-up assailed 'em, now they only care whether or not I nailed 'em or mailed 'em."]