Translation in the German Vernacular 

The Roman Curia investigated, condemned and excommunicated him in January 1521 and at the Diet of Worms before Emperor Charles V in the same year, he refused to repudiate his works unless convinced of error by Scripture or by reason. Otherwise, he stated, his conscience was bound by the Word of God. According to a traditional but apocryphal account, he ended his statement with the words, “Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.

Condemned by the Emperor, he escaped to hide in Wartburg Castle under the protection of Frederick the Wise of Saxony. During his stay in the Wartburg, Luther began work on what proved to be one of his foremost achievements—the translation of the New Testament into the German vernacular. This task was an obvious ramification of his insistence that the Bible alone is the source of Christian truth and his related belief that everyone is capable of understanding the biblical message.