Two Scenes from Luther's Life

The Conversion
Already at the age of 22, Martin Luther was appointed Magister Artium at the University of Erfurt and decided to continue his studies at a higher, law school. However, he is said to have "always walked along sadly", citing tentatio tristitiae - the fear of his sins and the dread of the last judgement - as the reason.
When he was on his way back to Erfurt from a visit to his parents in Mansfeld in 1505, a heavy thunderstorm broke out over him near Stotterheim on 2 July and lightning struck close by, so that he was thrown to the ground by the air pressure. Overcome by abrupt terror, he vowed in agony: "Help me, S. Anna, I want to become a monk." On 17 July he entered the "Black Monastery", the monastery of the Augustinian Hermits, against his father's resistance. Since it has not been handed down whether Luther wandered alone or in company, we have added another figure to complete the little scene.

Thesis posting
Martin Luther posted his 95 theses against the Roman Catholic Church's sale of indulgences on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517.
At least, that is how the legend has it. The posting of the theses, which the Protestant Church still celebrates every year as the birth of the Reformation, may never have happened. What is certain, however, is that the theology professor at the local university sent his condemnation of the sale of indulgences in well-legislated Latin to the bishops in Mainz and Magdeburg as well as to friends and scholars at other universities.