Diet of Worms: Luther's stand against the Church [audio 45min]

Nestled on a bend of the River Rhine, in the South West corner of Germany, is the City of Worms. It’s one of the oldest cities in central Europe; it still has its early city walls, its 11th century Romanesque cathedral and a 500-year-old printing industry, but in its centre is a statue of the monk, heretic and founder of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther. In 1521 Luther came to Worms to explain his attacks on the Catholic Church to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, and the gathered dignitaries of the German lands. What happened at that meeting, called the Diet of Worms, tore countries apart, set nation against nation, felled kings and plunged dynasties into suicidal bouts of infighting. But why did Martin Luther risk execution to go to the Diet, what was at stake for the big players of medieval Europe, and how did events at the Diet of Worms irrevocably change the history of Europe? Presenter Melvyn Bragg investigates the history of ideas and debates their application in modern life with his guests Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University; David Bagchi, Lecturer in the History of Christian Thought at the University of Hull; and the Reverend Dr Charlotte Methuen, Lecturer in Reformation History at the University of Oxford. Baron Bragg -- historian, journalist and novelist -- is Controller of Arts for London Weekend Television.