Dürer, the first great artist to tackle the complexities of printing, becomes a master of woodcut and engraving

The first etchings are printed in Augsburg, from iron plates

The first watches, made in Nuremberg, are spherical clocks about three inches in diameter, worn usually on a ribbon round the neck

The local sale of indulgences by Johann Tetzel outrages a friar teaching in Wittenberg, Martin Luther

Martin Luther nails his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg

Philipp Melanchthon joins the Wittenberg university to teach Greek and inspires Luther to translate the New Testament

Luther's writings are burnt in Rome by order of the pope

Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther after he has refused to recant

Luther travels to the German city of Worms to present his case to an imperial diet

Luther bears witness to a Protestant conscience, stating at Worms: 'Here I stand, I can not do otherwise.'

Outlawed by the Edict of Worms, Luther lives secretly in the Wartburg as Junker Georg

Hans Sachs, popular poet and master singer, describes Luther as the Wittenberg nightingale

William Tyndale studies in the university at Wittenberg and plans to translate the Bible into English

Luther, a former friar, marries Catherine von Bora, a former nun who has just emerged from her convent

Thomas Müntzer leads the rebels in the Peasant War, to the profound displeasure of Luther

Lucas Cranach's studio in Wittenberg has a profitable line in naked female figures from mythology

The 'Protestation' of various princes and imperial cities at Speyer identifies them as Protestants

Protestant reformers Luther and Zwingli disagree at Marburg on the nature of the Eucharist

The Augsburg Confession, presented by Melanchthon to the imperial diet, defines the Lutheran faith

German botanist Otto Brunfels publishes Living images of plants, the first serious work of natural history with printed illustrations

The Protestant princes of Germany form the defensive League of Schmalkalden

The Peace of Augsburg achieves a compromise which for a while solves the religious tensions deriving from the Reformation

News sheets published in Augsburg and Strasbourg become the first known newspapers

Albrecht von Wallenstein uses his wife's fortune to mobilize a private army in support of the emperor Ferdinand II

The first English newspaper (Corante) appears, promising reports 'from Italy, Germany, Hungarie, Spaine and France'