Martin Luther was a German theologian and religious reformer who is widely credited as the initiator of the Protestant Reformation. In 1521, Luther was summoned to the Diet of Worms, an imperial assembly of the Holy Roman Empire, to answer charges of heresy. At the Diet, Luther refused to recant his teachings and was subsequently banned from the Empire. This ban was later lifted, but Luther's refusal to recant his teachings at the Diet of Worms is seen as a major turning point in the Reformation.
