Reformation · 1517-1530

Luther and the Reformation

A monk in a small Saxon town challenges the most powerful institution in Europe. Students follow Luther from Wittenberg to Worms and the Wartburg, and see how printing turned one man's protest into a movement that split the Western Church.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1517 to AD 1530
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

A monk in a small Saxon town challenges the most powerful institution in Europe. Students follow Luther from Wittenberg to Worms and the Wartburg, and see how printing turned one man's protest into a movement that split the Western Church.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain what indulgences were and why Luther objected to them.
  • Locate Wittenberg, Worms and the Wartburg and say what happened at each.
  • Explain how printing and the protection of a prince helped Luther survive.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1517

A small university town

Open the map in 1517 and find Wittenberg on the river Elbe, south-west of Berlin. Which empire is it part of? Now find Rome: how far away is the pope?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1521

The Diet of Worms

Turn on Historical Events and choose Religious Events. Move to 1521 and find the marker at Worms on the Rhine. Who did Luther face there, and what did he refuse to do?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1530

An empire of princes

Jump to 1530 and zoom out over the Holy Roman Empire. It was made up of many princes, bishops and free cities, and each could decide for its own church. Why did that make the Reformation hard to stop?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. What was an indulgence, and why did Luther think selling them was wrong?
  2. Luther's 95 Theses were written in Latin for scholars. How did his ideas reach ordinary Germans so quickly?
  3. Why did Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, protect a monk the pope had condemned?
  4. Luther translated the Bible into German. Why was that such a big step?
  5. Was the Reformation mainly about faith, money or power? Defend your answer.
4

Game round

10 min

Play a round of Rule History as Suleiman the Magnificent. While Charles V dealt with Luther, Suleiman took Belgrade in 1521 and besieged Vienna in 1529. Discuss: how could a threat from outside help the Reformation survive inside the empire?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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