to the castle church door at Wittenberg. This was not intended as a decisive attack on the church, and he did not want this to be circulated. However, the new spread quickly through Germany withing the next two weeks.Later in 1518 Luther boldly denied the absolute power of the church. On March 3rd , 1519, Luther wrote a letter to Pope Leo X. In the letter he stated that it was not his intention to undermine the authority of the pope or the church. He did not want a war. On June 27th Luther had a debate with Johann Eck in Leipzig. At the heart of the debate is the issue of indulgences and the authority of the pope and the Roman Church. This debate ended on July 14, and Luther was convinced Eck won. As a result of the debate, the impact of the Luther-Rome dispute began to grow. Luther and his ideas become unignorable. Luther became more popular. On June 11th, 1520, one hundred knights who were in favor of Luther offered him protection. He accepted the offer, fearing assassination. But along with people starting to favor him, people started to hate him. On November 12th, Luther`s books were burned in Wittenburg. Burning of his books in others cities follow shortly thereafter. On November 20th, Luther writes Freedom of the Christian Man, and publishes it along with an open letter to Pope Leo X. In the letter Luther apologizes to the pope personally, but continued to denounce what he sees as false doctrine and corruption. On December 10th, Luther burnt Exsurge Domine and other documents of the pope. He also burnt books of church law and books written by his enemies. On March 6, 1521, the Emperor Charles V summoned Luther to appear the diet of Worms. Luther traveled to the city of Worms of April 6th, and stopped along the way to preach in Erfurt, Gotha, and Frankfurt. On April 15th Luther entered Worms in triumphal precession. A crowd had gathered to cheer him. On April 17th the first hearing of the Diet of Worms began. An official p...
