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How to flame your enemies, 16th-century style

If you find the tone of modern social media unedifying, you'll be shocked by this glance at the 16th-century equivalent. Chris Bowlby reveals how Martin Luther's printed rhetoric could be appallingly offensive: rife with anti-Semitism, it often featured imagery that would make a Snapchatter blush. Modern social media spats are civil by comparison.

This clip features in Breaking Free: Martin Luther's Revolution, a week-long season of programmes that explore the Protestant Reformation and its consequences for the society, religion art and culture of today.

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3 minutes