Against the attendant abuses the Augustinian monk Martin Luther posted (31st October 1517) on the church door at Wittenberg his famous ninety-five theses, which were the signal for widespread revolt against the church.
He inveighs against the oppression of the poor by the rich, reproves those who, weary of matins or mass, spend their time in church "jangling," telling tales, and wondering where they will get the best ale, and revives the legend of the dancers at the church door during mass who were cursed by the priest and went on dancing for a twelvemonth without cessation.
The popular feeling for the first time found expression when Luther, on All Saints day 1517, nailed to a church door in Wittenberg the theses in which he contested the doctrine Luther which lay at the root of the scandalous traffic in indulgences carried on in the popes name by Tetzel and his like.
Luther nailed ninety-five theses on the church door on that day, the 1st of November 1517, when the crowd could see and read them.
While the service was taking place a huge clod of snow slipped from the roof and fell right against the church door.
