Q 01/05

What is the most commonly cited starting date of the Reformation?

A) 6 July 1415

B) 25 September 1555

C) 31 October 1517

D) 18 April 1521

Answer · why

C) 31 October 1517

That is the day Luther is said to have posted his Ninety-five Theses in Wittenberg; the date is now Reformation Day.

Q 02/05

In which town did Luther post his Ninety-five Theses?

A) Worms

B) Wittenberg

C) Erfurt

D) Eisleben

Answer · why

B) Wittenberg

He was a professor at the town's young university, founded in 1502.

Q 03/05

The Ninety-five Theses attacked the sale of what?

A) Indulgences

B) Relics

C) Bishoprics

D) Pilgrimage badges

Answer · why

A) Indulgences

Buyers were promised reduced time in purgatory for themselves or their dead relatives.

Q 04/05

The 1515 indulgence that provoked Luther was meant to finance the building of what?

A) Notre-Dame de Paris

B) Cologne Cathedral

C) The Sistine Chapel

D) St. Peter's Basilica

Answer · why

D) St. Peter's Basilica

Pope Leo X needed the money for the vast new church in Rome; the Archbishop of Mainz also took a cut to repay his debts.

Q 05/05

Which Dominican friar's indulgence-selling campaign in nearby towns prompted Luther to act?

A) Johann Eck

B) Thomas Cajetan

C) Johann Tetzel

D) Albert of Brandenburg

Answer · why

C) Johann Tetzel

A jingle attributed to him claimed that as soon as the coin rang in the coffer, a soul sprang from purgatory.