On this day in ...... 1521, an international conference that bears among the best names in history, the Diet of Worms, was convened by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in Worms, a city in what is now southern Germany. The purpose of the meeting was to hear the renunciation or reaffirmation by the monk Martin Luther of dissident views. Luther did not recant, so that in May the emperor issued an edict that banned Luther's writings and declared him a heretic and enemy of the state. Thus was reinforced a schism between the Catholic and Protestant denominations, which would have profound effect on international relations within Europe for centuries to follow. (credit for German postage stamp commemorating Luther's appearance before the Diet)
