Renaissance · Europe · Religion

1530

Augsburg Confession Read Aloud

June 25, 1530

In the imperial city of Augsburg, Philip Melanchthon's carefully moderate summary of Lutheran doctrine was read before Charles V. It became the foundational creed of German Protestantism. Compromise failed, and the princes of the new faith began preparing for a war they knew was inevitable. Melanchthon's moderate tone established the Confession as Lutheranism's defining theological document for centuries.