By Michael Gryboski, Editor Friday, October 31, 2025

A statue of 16th-century theologian Martin Luther holds a Bible in the hand on the marketplace during the celebrations to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Luther's nailing of his 95 theses on the doors of the nearby Schlosskirche church on October 31, 2017 in Wittenberg, Germany. | Carsten Koall/Getty Images

On Oct. 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed 95 theses on a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, launching the widely influential Protestant Reformation.Luther’s objections to various corrupt practices and theological positions taken by the Catholic Church continue to influence religion and culture in the Western world to the present day.However, challenging such widespread views led to Luther gaining many adversaries, ranging from scholars who intellectually debated him to rulers who tried to stamp out his cause violently.Some of these opponents started as allies, eventually falling out with Luther over what and how to reform; others began as enemies, but later became direct or indirect allies. 

Here are seven notable enemies of Martin Luther. 

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By Michael Gryboski, Editor Friday, October 31, 2025

1. Girolamo Aleandro

Also known as Hieronymus Aleander, Girolamo Aleandro was born in Venice, Italy, and became a humanist scholar and cardinal known for his opposition to the Protestant Reformation.

Aleandro served as a nuncio at the court of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, where he was assigned to crack down on the teachings of Martin Luther as they spread throughout the empire.

“He procured Luther’s condemnation at the Diet of Worms in 1521, and is supposed to have been the author of the edict issued against the great reformer,” explained the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia.

“In 1531 he was sent as papal representative to Charles V, whom he accompanied to the Netherlands and Italy, zealous in inciting the emperor to action against the Protestants.”

Aleandro was later sent to German King Ferdinand to help advance a “conciliatory policy toward the Protestants,” but when he failed to do so, he “demanded their ruthless destruction.”