In 1501, a fire damaged the western section of the church and destroyed the roof. The repairs were made in red brick, the most common building material of the time. Another kind of fire was about to engulf the world of Viborg Cathedral. During the bishopric of Jørgen Friis, the last Catholic Bishop of Viborg, Luther's ideas about reforming the Catholic Church swept into Viborg like a storm. Hans Tausen (1494-1561), who was to become "Denmark's Luther", was sent to Viborg by his superior in the Order of St John at Copenhagen to Viborg for heretical preaching in his Easter sermon 1525. Tausen taught the curious citizens of Viborg from his cell. The ideas which Tausen introduced to the people were accepted so readily that within weeks, Tausen was freed, and a Franciscan Abbey broken open so that people could hear his preaching indoors. Bishop Friis was unable to cope with the rising demands for changes in the liturgy and the host of issues that separated Protestants and Catholics all over Europe at the time. Viborg became the center for the Reformation in Denmark for a time. Within a year, Tausen was personal chaplain to the king. The ideas Tausen brought spread from Viborg over all of Jutland.
