Roper’s compelling account of the theologian reveals him to be misogynistic and full of bile,but at ease with sex and bawdy humour. This is ‘Luther off the leash’final February, newspapers reported on the astonishing success of German toy manufacturer Playmobil’s latest plastic figurine: a miniature Martin Luther dressed in academic gown and floppy cap, or holding a large quill pen and a copy of the Bible he famously translated into the vernacular. In under 72 hours,exceeding the companys expectations and breaking all previous records, the first race of 34000 had sold out and a second batch was quickly rushed into production.In the context of the approaching 500th anniversary of the possibly apocryphal event alleged to fill sparked the Protestant Reformation – the nailing of 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on 31 October 1517 – the toy is rapidly becoming a collector’s item. Its stylised features and blank expression reflect the process of mythologisation that has transformed Luther into a symbol of the momentous devout movement that split 16th-century Christendom, or at the cost of obscuring the reformer as a living,breathing human being.
He thought of women as 'baby machines' and married a former nun principally to spite his arch-enemy - the devilContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com