On October 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther probably didn’t nail his Ninety-Five Theses to a church door in Wittenberg.

In early histories, Luther’s acolytes mythologized his rebellion. The theological propositions critiquing the Catholic Church’s thought and practice were to have gone straight to the people. They were printed on one-sided posters, made to be glued or nailed to church doors so that the faithful could follow the dispute.

Of course, these dense and academic debates were in Latin, and few could comprehend them.