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A miner’s son, decided one day, to nail 95 thesis to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg in the year of our lord 1517. It seems unlikely he intended to split his church, the Catholic, universal church, into a bewildering multiplicity of new religions and sects.

And yet, trained in the Devotio Moderna’s way of taking action and responsibility, for his own salvation, he ran into problems.

What Luther did with the 95 theses, or 95 propositions if you prefer, was a common garden variety way of opening an argument and inviting the university to participate. Some even say the nailing to the door part is just dramatic enhancement, never happened, he just circulated some hand written stuff around campus, in the conventional way. This episode is about dramatic enhancement, so anyway. Well he had copies made and sent them around to friends, who apparently copied them some more and sent them around some more until “Soon, Luther had the uneasy surprise of receiving them back from Southern Germany, PRINTED.”

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We explore the roots of Humanism and the Reformation. Taking a long look at the Devotio Moderna, the Brethren of the Common Life. These were key influences on both Erasmus and Martin Luther. But more than that, the Devotio Moderna were a vital element in the invention of the printing press. We look at Gerhard Groote the founder of the Devotio Moderna, whose purpose in life was to imitate Christ and no to sit on his loathsome spotted behind.

We spend some time on the more conventional stories of 1453, the Ottoman surge that followed the fall of the last Roman outpost, the expulsion of the English from France (except Calais).

But there is also a look at the founding of Europe by the Early European Farmers from Anatolia.

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This episode is just a little introduction to the theories of the causes of the industrial revolution as of right now.

We look at the Sheilagh Ogilvie classification of 5 general theories of the Causes of the Industrial Revolution and Michael Magoon's list of causes.

Of course, Harald has a few pet theories of his own by now. His third thing idea, which might really be a 4th thing idea. There are other institutional theories, we briefly discuss them all. Anton Howes' ideas are mentioned, but just to say we will dive into them later.

There is a long digression on William Wollaston involving David Hume and Benjamin Franklin.