Martin Luther — "Safe-conduct on the highways should be abolished completely for the Jews."
Safe-conduct on the highways should be abolished completely for the Jews.
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More from Martin Luther
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About Martin Luther (1483-1546)
German theologian whose 95 Theses (1517) launched the Protestant Reformation and broke the Catholic Church's monopoly on Western Christianity. Closely associated with Philipp Melanchthon (Lutheran systematizer) and John Calvin (later Reformer who built on Luther's break). For an intellectual contrast, see Pope Leo X, Renaissance pope (1513-1521) — Leo X's indulgence sales triggered Luther's break and Leo excommunicated him in 1521 — Luther's entire Reformation is structured as a direct answer to the indulgence-funded Vatican Leo represented.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Luther is calling for the removal of legal protections that allowed Jewish travelers to move safely between towns and territories. Safe-conducts were official guarantees from rulers promising travelers would not be attacked, robbed, or arrested while passing through. By urging this protection be stripped specifically from Jews, he is advocating they be left vulnerable to violence and harassment on the roads, effectively endorsing their persecution and restricting their ability to conduct trade or travel.
Relevance to Martin Luther
This comes from Luther's 1543 treatise On the Jews and Their Lies, written late in his life after his earlier hopes that Jews would convert to his reformed Christianity failed. The former Augustinian monk who once defended Jewish people in 1523 turned bitterly hostile, issuing seven recommendations including burning synagogues, destroying homes, confiscating religious texts, and forbidding rabbis to teach. His antisemitic writings later became propaganda tools cited by Nazi Germany.
The era
Early modern Europe routinely confined Jews to ghettos, expelled them from kingdoms like Spain in 1492, and required special permits for travel between Christian territories. Safe-conducts were essential because Jews faced blood libel accusations, pogroms, and arbitrary violence. The Protestant Reformation was fracturing Christendom, and religious minorities became convenient scapegoats. Princes weighed economic benefits of Jewish moneylending against pressure from clergy demanding restrictions, making travel protections a frequently contested legal privilege.
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