Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/684

 582 Outlines of European History and Francis I of France. Then the Pope himself, Leo X, the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was a friend and admirer of Erasmus and doubtless sympathized with many of his views. The youthful Charles V had advisers who believed Erasmus to be quite right and were ready to work toward a reform of the Church. Charles was a devout Catholic, but he too agreed that there were many evils to be remedied. So it seemed to Erasmus that the prospects were excellent for a peaceful reform ; but, in- stead of its coming, his latter years were embittered by Luther's revolt and all the ill-feelings and dissensions that it created. Section 102. How Martin Luther revolted AGAINST THE PaPACY Martin Luther was born in 1483. He was the son of a poor miner, and he often spoke in later life of the poverty and super- stition in which his boyhood was spent. His father, however, was determined that his son should be a lawyer, and so Martin was sent to the University of Erfurt. After he finished his college course and was about to take up the study of the law he sud- denly decided to become a monk. He summoned his college friends for a last evening together, and the next morning he led them to the gate of a monastery, bade them and the world farewell, and became a begging friar. He was much worried about his soul and feared that nothing he could do would save him from hell. He finally found comfort in the thought that in order to be saved he had on]y to believe sincerely that God would save him, and that he could not possibly save himself by trying to be good. He gained the re- spect of the head of the monastery, and when Frederick the Wise of Saxony (Fig. 211) was looking about for teachers in his new university at Wittenberg, Luther was recommended as a good person to teach Aristotle ; so he became a professor. As time went on Luther began to be suspicious of some of the things that were taught in the university. He finally decided