Germany

• 1483 the plague could wipe out an entire town in days
• A quarter of all children died before they could die
• The one consolation was the Church and its promise of Heaven
• The Church became the most powerful institution on Earth; rich, powerful, but corrupt
• 1546 Martin Luther travels from Wittenberg to Eisleben 
• Martin Luther challenged the Church and said, "You are wrong, let me show you what is right"
• Martin Luther stood against the entire world and would not back down
• Martin Luther grew up in Mansefeldt in Northen Germany 
• The Church's rules and laws spread over every aspect of daily life
• Martin Luther served as an altar boy and sang in the choir
• Martin Luther's father wanted his son to climb up higher and become a lawyer
• Martin was terrified of punishment if he did not live up to expectations and this led to his rebellion
• In 1505 the plague struck Erefut, the city Luther was in at the time
• When three of Luther's friends died he realized man was very mortal and this led to one of the biggest events of his entire life
• Luther was caught in a massive storm on his way back to Erefut after visiting with his family. He vowed himself to God, faced with death. He wanted to become a monk. 
• A monk's life was devoted to the Church. They had to participate in services seven times a day and when they were not in these services they had to keep their deep faith in God and his ways. Everything they did was regulated by a set of rules. Monks did this to show their renunciation of their old ways.
• People were taught that if they did not give their lives to the Church their souls would be sent to Hell.
• Monks tried to imitate the ways of Christ, subjugating themselves to terrible hardships, whipping themselves and sleeping in the cold. 
• Luther traveled to Rome, the capital of the Catholic Roman Church and the capital of Christianity entirely
• October 1510, Luther and his companions arrive at Rome, just as the Renaissance is reaching its pinnacle
• Among the palaces and churches in Rome Luther found that Rome was not just dealing with religion, they were after money
• Luther found many things wrong with the religious capital of the world. When he tried to preach the Word, he was told to "Get on with it" and when he presented the consecrated bread, someone scoffed that bread is all it would ever be
• Luther felt that he could never feel as he wanted to about the Church. He confessed many times a day because he never felt as if he was truly sorry. The rest of his time he spent in penance.