During the Renaissance, the Church was greatly in debt. It had spent money on wars, the arts, and other things which had left their funds drained. To compensate for this, some priests decided to sell indulgences, which are pardons for sins believed to be given by God. While the Church believed that this was wrong because they believed people cannot buy pardon for their sins, they did little to stop it, which rightfully enraged many people. Furthermore many religious could not read or were very ill educated, leaving them to teach other people what they themselves did not know.

Martin Luther saw these problems and was extraordinarily troubled by them. He eventually decided to write...