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Standage (Luther (indulgences (documents sold by the church to avoid "…
Standage
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wrote to the archbishop of the region against Tetzel's sale of indulgences, including a list of propositions written in Latin which he wanted to discuss in an open debate at the university, entitled "disputation on the power and efficacy of indulgences"
on october 31, 1517 he posted the list on the door of the castle church to announce the debate
by december printed versions of the theses appeared simultaneously in multiple german cities, as well as a german translation
Luther soon started writing in simle, non-regional german in subsequent publications to better reach the people he now knew were interested in his work
unwittingly revealed the power of a decentralized, person-to-person media system, whose participants took care of distribution, deciding collectively which messages to amplify through sharing, recommendation and copying
printing made it cheaper and easier to distribute the works, and the format of pamphlets made it cheap enough to be bough t and read by ordinary people
Luther was the most prolific author in the following years, but there were many others on both sides of the debate-> being able to follow and discuss the back-and-forth exchanges gave ordinary german people an unprecedented sense of participation in a vast, distributed debate
amid the barrage of pamphlets, ballads and woodcuts, public opinion was clearly moving in Luther's favor
reluctant to issue official pamphlets, as that may be perceived as admitting theological matters were open to debate and further publicize his radical views
Luther was formally excommunicated in 1521; Edict of Worms in the same year called him an outlaw, banned his works and ordered his arrest as a heretic
therefore, the church left it to others to respond; however, they did so in academic Latin, making it have a much smaller reach
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the popularity of Luther's pamphlets signaled the widespread support of his ideas, protecting him and his supporters from facing consequences at the hands of the church, unlike earlier supporters of such ideas-> a phenomenon called "synchronization of opinion
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by 1471: print workshops had been set up in several German towns and in major cities across Europe (commercial and academic centres with good demand for printed books)
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- during the dark ages (6th-12th century)
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not only words, but also music and images were shared
the news ballad was a relatively new format, just like the pamphlet, and it set often exaggerated descriptions of contemporary events to a familiar tune so that it could be easily learned, sung and taught to others(often "contrafacta": mashed a pious melody with secular or even profane lyrics)
woodcuts were also a useful form of propaganda, able to convey messages to the illiterate
new forms of media do not trigger revolutions by themselves, but they can make it easier for would-be revolutionaries to coordinate their actions, synchronize opinion, and rally others to their cause. Luther's use of pamphlets represents a pioneering example