] is
the full title of the document commonly called "The Ninety-five
Theses." The form of the document was determined by the academic
practice of the Middle Ages. In all the Mediaeval Universities the
"disputation" was a well-established institution. It was a
debate, conducted according to accepted rules, on any subject
which the chief disputant might elect, and no student's education
was thought to be complete until he had shown his ability to
defend himself in discussions of this kind. It was customary to
set forth the subject which was to be discussed, in a series of
"theses," which were statements of opinion tentatively advanced
as the basis of argument. The author, or some other person he
might designate, announced himself ready to defend these
statements against all comers, and invited all who might wish to
debate with him to a part in the discussion. Such an academic
document, one out of many hundreds, exhaling the atmosphere of
the Mediaeval University, is the Disputation, which by its
historical importance has earned the name "The XCV Theses."

The Theses were published on the Eve of All Saints (Oct 31),
1517. They were not intended for any other public than that of
the University,[2] and Luther did not even have them printed at
first, though copies were forwarded to the Archbishop of Mainz,
and to Luther's own diocesan, the Bishop of Brandenburg. The
manner of their publication too was academic. They were simply
posted on the door of the Church of All Saints--called the
"Castle-church," to distinguish it from its neighbor, the
"Town-church"--not because more people would see them there than
elsewhere, but because that church-door was the customary place
for posting such announcements, the predecessor of the
"black-board" in the modern German University. It was not night,
but mid-day[3] when the Theses were nailed up, and the Eve of All
Saints was chosen, not that the crowds who would frequent the
next day's festival might read them, for they were written in
Latin, but because it was the customary day for the posting of
theses. Moreover, the Feast of All Saints was the time when the
precious relics, which earned the man who "adored" them, long
years of indulgence,[4] were exhibited to worshipers, and the
approach of this high feast-day put the thought of indulgences
uppermost in the minds of everybody in Wittenberg, including the
author of the Theses.[5]

But neither the Theses nor the results which follow