16th Century

It was nearly 500 years ago that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, setting into motion the Protestant Reformation and a major division of Christianity.Modern-day Lutherans meeting this week in Philadelphia will vote on whether to adopt three ecumenical agreements that would undo some of that division.The Churchwide Assembly of the 5.2 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will consider agreements with the Episcopal Church, three Reformed churches and the Roman Catholic Church.

My husband and I will have one day in Lisbon in the spring. Can you suggest an itinerary?Lisbon is a fine city to walk in, and it has an accessible public transportation system. Cabs are also rather inexpensive, so, to begin, take a cab, for about $3.50, from the Praca do Comercio (Commerce Square) to the Castelo de Sao Jorge (St. George's Castle). The castle, atop a hill, was built by the Moors and retaken by the Portuguese in the 12th century. The site is now primarily a garden with a magnificent view.

Tupac Amaru I in the 16th century and Tupac Amaru II in the 18th century were lost causes who caused mischief. It is fair to infer what Trey is about.Show no sympathy. The top FBI guy working for the Russians should have known a top KGB guy was helping our side.Mobutu Sese Seko heard of a part of Zaire he hadn't stolen and went back for it.So long, Ed-die, it was good to see you again.Pub Date: 12/20/96

"The Buergermeister's Daughter," by Steven Ozment. St. Martin's Press. 227 pages. $23.95 The author's sad and legally complicated history of a 16th-century woman thrust out of her house and denied her inheritance by a father furious at her sexual indiscretions shows that the impulse toward interminable litigation and the machinery for carrying it out existed long ago.The author has scrupulously examined the records of the case of Anna Bueschler, who fought outrageous fortune in the courts of late Renaissance Germany for several decades.

After 18 years of research and restoration by museum staff, the private apartments of Napoleon I at the Chateau de Fontainebleau opened to the public last month. The 800-year-old chateau reflects a variety of exterior styles, especially of the 16th century, and is famous for its 17th-century "horseshoe" exterior staircase.In contrast to the lush Renaissance and 18th-century magnificence displayed in other parts of the chateau, Napoleon's suite, six small rooms on the first floor, is a superb example of the early 19th-century Empire style.

The taxi from the airport pulled up smack in the heart of Mexico's past: in front of the Hotel Casino, across from the Plaza de los Martires and next to the 17th-century cathedral.This is not to suggest Morelia, Mexico, capital of the state of Michoacan, has no present or future. Those are readily apparent in its vibrant streets and plazas, new suburban malls and burgeoning population -- 1.3 million, up a million from 1964.But the past is everywhere. You bump into it at every turn.Virtually in the geographic center of Mexico, Morelia is a Spanish colonial city dating to 1541.

It's not Bermuda or Jamaica or the Virgin Islands. There's not a whole lot of Club Med about it. For many, when the time comes to plan an exotic island getaway, Puerto Rico gets short shrift.Maybe it's taken for granted by Americans; after all, it is a U.S. commonwealth, and to travelers, that means visiting the island is pretty much as easy as visiting Fort Lauderdale. And, no doubt, it suffers from comparison with its smaller cousins, the tiny points of land that are more in keeping with most Americans' idea of a Caribbean vacation.

Warsaw.--Marcin Zamoyski is a TV cameraman by trade. He has neither a political activist's history nor an administrator's experience.But last year, in one of the more evident signs of Polish nostalgia for yesterday, a group of conservative Catholic intellectuals in the southeastern town of Zamosc asked him to become their mayor.He won two thirds of the city councilors' votes, beating two veterans of the Solidarity labor movement."They voted for the Zamoyski name," Marcin Zamoyski commented, "a name which guaranteed honesty and justice."

IN A DAY WHEN PEOPLE may know about Michael Hedges (New Age singer) but not Michael Torke (classical composer), it's unlikely names like Loys Bourgeois, Claudin de Sermisy, Frabritio Caroso and Daniel Bachelar will ring any bells.They were 16th Century French, Italian and English composer-players of songs, dance melodies, ballads and other tunes that took a giant leap in melody from the relatively staid plainchants and polyphonic religious singing of the Middle Ages.These were fine songs to be played, sung, danced to and talked to, some outside and some in church.