A summary of Lutheran doctrine, written by Martin Luther in 1537 for a meeting of the Schmalkaldic League in preparation for an intended ecumenical Council of the Church. Luther's patron, Elector John Frederick of Saxony, asked him to prepare these articles for the League's meeting in 1537, held again in Schmalkalden. Though they were not adopted at the meeting of the Schmalkaldic League in 1537, they were widely used and were incorporated into the Book of Concord in 1580 as one of the Lutheran Confessions of the faith. (from Wikipedia)