The Reformation

(1517--1546.)



Martin Luther. --Signs of the Coming Reformation. --Luther's Youth and

Education. --His Study of the Bible. --His Professorship at

Wittenberg. --Visit to Rome. --Tetzel's Sale of Indulgences.

--Luther's Theses. --His Meeting with Cardinal Cajetanus. --Escape

from Augsburg. --Meeting with the Pope's Nuncio. --Excitement in

Germany. --Luther burns the Pope's Bull. --Charles V. elected

German Emperor. --Luther before the Diet at Worms. --His Abduction

and Concealment. --He Returns to Wittenberg. --Progress of the

Reformation. --The Anabaptists. --The Peasants' War. --Luther's

Manner of Translating the Bible. --Leagues For and Against the

Reformation. --Its Features. --The Wars of Charles V. --Diet at

Speyer. --The Protestants. --The Swiss Reformer, Zwingli. --His

Meeting with Luther. --Charles V. returns to Germany. --The

Augsburg Confession. --Measures against the Protestants. --The

League of Schmalkalden. --The Religious Peace of Nuremberg. --Its

Consequences. --John of Leyden. --Another Diet. --Charles V.

Invades France. --The Council of Trent. --Luther's last Years.

--His Death and Burial.





[Sidenote: 1519. MARTIN LUTHER.]



When the Emperor Maximilian died, a greater man than himself or any of

his predecessors on the Imperial throne had already begun a far greater

work than was ever accomplished by any political ruler. Out of the ranks

of the poor, oppressed German people arose the chosen Leader who became

powerful above all princes, who resisted the first monarch of the world,

and defeated the Church of Rome after an undisturbed reign of a thousand

years. We must therefore leave the succession of the house of Hapsburg

until we have traced the life of Martin Luther up to the time of

Maximilian's death.



The Reformation, which was now so near at hand, already existed in the

feelings and hopes of a large class of the people. The persecutions of

the Albigenses in France, the Waldenses in Savoy and the Wickliffites in

England, the burning of Huss and Jerome, and the long ravages of the

Hussite war had made all Europe familiar with the leading doctrine of

each of these sects--that the Bible was the highest authority, the only

source of Christian truth. Earnest, thinking men in all countries were

thus led to examine the Bible for themselves, and the great

dissemination of the study of the ancient languages, during the

fifteenth century, helped very much to increase the knowledge of the

sacred volume. Then came the art of printing, as a most providential

aid, making the truth accessible to all who were able to read it.



[Sidenote: 1483.]



The long reign of Frederick III., as we have seen, was a period of

political disorganization, which was partially corrected during the

reign of Maximilian. Internal peace was the first great necessity of

Germany, and, until it had been established, the people patiently

endured the oppressions and abuses of the Church of Rome. When they were

ready for a serious resistance to the latter, the man was also ready to

instruct and guide them, and the Church itself furnished the occasion

for a general revolt against its authority.



Martin Luther, the son of a poor miner, was born in the little Saxon

town of Eisleben (not far from the Hartz), on the 10th of November,

1483. He attended a monkish school at Magdeburg, and then became what is

called a "wandering-scholar"--that is, one who has no certain means of

support, but chants in the church, and also in the streets for alms--at

Eisenach, in Thuringia. As a boy he was so earnest, studious and

obedient, and gave such intellectual promise, that his parents stinted

themselves in order to save enough from their scanty earnings to secure

him a good education. But their circumstances gradually improved, and in

1501 they were able to send him to the University of Erfurt. Four years

afterwards he was graduated with honor, and delivered a course of

lectures upon Aristotle.



Luther's father desired that he should study jurisprudence, but his

thoughts were already turned towards religion. A copy of the Bible in

the library of the University excited in him such a spiritual struggle

that he became seriously ill; and he had barely recovered, when, while

taking a walk with a fellow-student, the latter was struck dead by

lightning at his side. Then he determined to renounce the world, and in

spite of the strong opposition of his father, became a monk of the

Augustine Order, in Erfurt. He prayed, fasted, and followed the most

rigid discipline of the order, in the hope of obtaining peace of mind,

but in vain: he was tormented by doubt and even by despair, until he

turned again to the Bible. A zealous study of the exact language of the

Gospels gave him not only a firm faith, but a peace and cheerfulness

which was never afterwards disturbed by trials or dangers.



[Sidenote: 1517. TETZEL'S SALE OF INDULGENCES.]



The Elector, Frederick the Wise, of Saxony, had founded a new University

at Wittenberg, and sought to obtain competent professors for it. The

Vicar-General of the Augustine Order, to whom Luther's zeal and ability

were known, recommended him for one of the places, and in 1508 he began

to lecture in Wittenberg, first on Greek philosophy, and then upon

theology. His success was so marked that in 1510 he was sent by the

Order on a special mission to Rome, where the corruptions of the Church

and the immorality of the Pope and Cardinals made a profound and lasting

impression upon his mind. He returned to Germany, feeling as he never

had felt before, the necessity of a reformation of the Church. In 1512

he was made Doctor of Theology, and from that time forward his

teachings, which were based upon his own knowledge of the Bible, began

to bear abundant fruit.



In the year 1517, the Pope, Leo X., famous both for his luxurious habits

and his love of art, found that his income was not sufficient for his

expenses, and determined to increase it by issuing a series of

absolutions for all forms of crime, even perjury, bigamy and murder. The

cost of pardon was graduated according to the nature of the sin. Albert,

Archbishop of Mayence, bought the right of selling absolutions in

Germany, and appointed as his agent a Dominican monk of the name of

Tetzel. The latter began travelling through the country like a pedlar,

publicly offering for sale the pardon of the Roman Church for all

varieties of crime. In some places he did an excellent business, since

many evil men also purchased pardons in advance for the crimes they

intended to commit: in other districts Tetzel only stirred up the

abhorrence of the people, and increased their burning desire to have

such enormities suppressed.



Only one man, however, dared to come out openly and condemn the Papal

trade in sin and crime. This was Dr. Martin Luther, who, on the 31st of

October, 1517, nailed upon the door of the Church at Wittenberg a series

of ninety-five theses, or theological declarations, the truth of which

he offered to prove, against all adversaries. The substance of them was

that the pardon of sins came only from God, and could only be purchased

by true repentance; that to offer absolutions for sale, as Tetzel was

doing, was an unchristian act, contrary to the genuine doctrines of the

Church; and that it could not, therefore, have been sanctioned by the

Pope. Luther's object, at this time, was not to separate from the Church

of Rome, but to reform and purify it.



[Sidenote: 1518.]



The ninety-five theses, which were written in Latin, were immediately

translated, printed, and circulated throughout Germany. They were

followed by replies, in which the action of the Pope was defended;

Luther was styled a heretic, and threatened with the fate of Huss. He

defended himself in pamphlets, which were eagerly read by the people;

and his followers increased so rapidly that Leo X., who had summoned him

to Rome for trial, finally agreed that he should present himself before

the Papal Legate, Cardinal Cajetanus, at Augsburg. The latter simply

demanded that Luther should retract what he had preached and written, as

being contrary to the Papal bulls; whereupon Luther, for the first time,

was compelled to declare that "the command of the Pope can only be

respected as the voice of God, when it is not in conflict with the Holy

Scriptures." The Cardinal afterwards said: "I will have nothing more to

do with that German beast, with the deep eyes and the whimsical

speculations in his head!" and Luther said of him: "He knew no more

about the Word than a donkey knows of harp-playing."



The Vicar-General of the Augustines was still Luther's friend, and,

fearing that he was not safe in Augsburg, he had him let out of the city

at daybreak, through a small door in the wall, and then supplied with a

horse. Having reached Wittenberg, where he was surrounded with devoted

followers, Frederick the Wise was next ordered to give him up. About the

same time Leo X. declared that the practices assailed by Luther were

doctrines of the Church, and must be accepted as such. Frederick began

to waver; but the young Philip Melanchthon, Justus Jonas, and other

distinguished men connected with the University exerted their influence,

and the Elector finally refused the demand. The Emperor Maximilian, now

near his end, sent a letter to the Pope, begging him to arrange the

difficulty, and Leo X. commissioned his Nuncio, a Saxon nobleman named

Karl von Miltitz, to meet Luther. The meeting took place at Altenburg in

1519: the Nuncio, who afterwards reported that he "would not undertake

to remove Luther from Germany with the help of 10,000 soldiers, for he

had found ten men for him where one was for the Pope"--was a mild and

conciliatory man. He prayed Luther to pause, for he was destroying the

peace of the Church, and succeeded, by his persuasions, in inducing him

to promise to keep silence, provided his antagonists remained silent

also.



[Sidenote: 1520. BURNING THE POPE'S BULL.]



This was merely a truce, and it was soon broken. Dr. Eck, one of the

partisans of the Church, challenged Luther's friend and follower,

Carlstadt, to a public discussion in Leipzig, and it was not long before

Luther himself was compelled to take part in it. He declared his views

with more clearness than ever, disregarding the outcry raised against

him that he was in fellowship with the Bohemian heretics. The struggle,

by this time, had affected all Germany, the middle class and smaller

nobles being mostly on Luther's side, while the priests and reigning

princes, with a few exceptions, were against him. In order to defend

himself from misrepresentation and justify his course, he published two

pamphlets, one called "An Appeal to the Emperor and Christian Nobles of

Germany," and the other, "Concerning the Babylonian Captivity of the

Church." These were read by tens of thousands, all over the country.



Pope Leo X. immediately issued a bull, ordering all Luther's writings to

be burned, excommunicating those who should believe in them, and

summoning Luther to Rome. This only increased the popular excitement in

Luther's favor, and on the 10th of December, 1520, he took the step

which made impossible any reconciliation between himself and the Papal

power. Accompanied by the Professors and students of the University, he

had a fire kindled outside of one of the gates of Wittenberg, placed

therein the books of canonical law and various writings in defence of

the Pope, and then cast the Papal bull into the flames, with the words:

"As thou hast tormented the Lord and His Saints, so may eternal flame

torment and consume thee!" This was the boldest declaration of war ever

hurled at such an overwhelming authority; but the courage of this one

man soon communicated itself to the people. The knight, Ulric von

Hutten, a distinguished scholar, who had been crowned as poet by the

Emperor Maximilian, openly declared for Luther: the rebellious baron,

Franz von Sickingen, offered him his castle as a safe place of refuge.

Frederick the Wise was now his steadfast friend, and, although the

dangers which beset him increased every day, his own faith in the

righteousness of his cause only became firmer and purer.



[Sidenote: 1519.]



By this time the question of electing a successor to Maximilian had been

settled. When the Diet came together at Frankfort, in June, 1519, two

prominent candidates presented themselves,--king Francis I. of France,

and king Charles of Spain, Naples, Sicily and the Spanish possessions in

the newly-discovered America. The former of these had no other right to

the crown than could be purchased by the wagon-loads of money which he

sent to Germany; the latter was the grandson of Maximilian, and also

represented, in his own person, Austria, Burgundy and the Netherlands.

Again the old jealousy of so much power arose among the Electors, and

they gave their votes to Frederick the Wise, of Saxony. He, however,

shrank from the burden of the imperial rule, at such a time, and

declined to accept. Then Charles of Spain, who had ruined the prospects

of Francis I. by distributing 850,000 gold florins among the members of

the Diet, was elected without any further difficulty. The following year

he was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle, and became Karl V. in the list of

German Emperors. Although he reigned thirty-six years, he always

remained a foreigner: he never even learned to speak the German language

fluently: his tastes and habits were Spanish, and his election, at such

a crisis in the history of Germany, was a crime from the effects of

which the country did not recover for three hundred years afterwards.



Luther wrote to the new Emperor, immediately after the election, begging

that he might not be condemned unheard, and was so earnestly supported

by Frederick the Wise, who had voted for Charles at the Diet, that the

latter sent Luther a formal invitation to appear before him at Worms,

where a new Diet had been called, specially to arrange the Imperial

Court in the ten districts of the Empire, and to raise a military force

to drive the French out of Lombardy, which Francis I. had seized. Luther

considered this opportunity "a call from God:" he set out from

Wittenberg, and wherever he passed the people flocked together in great

numbers to see him and hear him speak. On approaching Worms, one of his

friends tried to persuade him to turn back, but he answered: "Though

there were as many devils in the city as tiles on the roofs, yet would I

go!" He entered Worms in an open wagon, in his monk's dress, stared at

by an immense concourse of people. The same evening he received visits

from a number of princes and noblemen.



[Sidenote: 1521. LUTHER AT THE DIET OF WORMS.]



On the 17th of April, 1521, Luther was conducted by the Marshal of the

Empire to the City Hall, where the Diet was in session. As he was

passing through the outer hall, the famous knight and general, George

von Frundsberg, clapped him upon the shoulder, with the words: "Monk,

monk! thou art in a strait, the like of which myself and many leaders,

in the most desperate battles, have never known. But if thy thoughts are

just, and thou art sure of thy cause, go on in God's name, and be of

good cheer, He will not forsake thee!" Charles V. is reported to have

said, when Luther entered the great hall: "That monk will never make a

heretic of me!" After having acknowledged all his writings, Luther was

called upon to retract them. He appeared to be somewhat embarrassed and

undecided, either confused by the splendor of the Imperial Court, or

shaken by the overwhelming responsibility resting upon him. He therefore

asked a little time for further consideration, and was allowed

twenty-four hours.



When he reappeared before the Diet, the next day, he was calm and firm.

In a plain, yet most earnest address, delivered both in Latin and German

so that all might understand, he explained the grounds of his belief,

and closed with the solemn words: "Unless, therefore, I should be

confuted by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures and by clear and

convincing reasons, I cannot and will not retract, because there is

neither wisdom nor safety in acting against conscience. Here I stand; I

cannot do otherwise: God help me! Amen."



Charles V., without allowing the matter to be discussed by the Diet,

immediately declared that Luther should be prosecuted as a heretic, as

soon as the remaining twenty-one days of his safe-conduct had expired.

He was urged by many of the partisans of Rome, not to respect the

promise, but he answered: "I do not mean to blush, like Sigismund."

Luther's sincerity and courage confirmed the faith of his princely

friends. Frederick the Wise and the Landgrave Philip of Hesse walked by

his side when he left the Diet, and Duke Eric of Brunswick sent him a

jug of beer. His followers among the nobility greatly increased in

numbers and enthusiasm.



[Sidenote: 1521.]



It was certain, however, that he would be in serious danger as soon as

he had been formally outlawed by the Emperor. A plot, kept secret from

all his friends, was formed for his safety, and successfully carried out

during his return from Worms to Wittenberg. Luther travelled in an open

wagon, with only one companion. On entering the Thuringian Forest, he

sent his escort in advance, and was soon afterwards, in a lonely glen,

seized by four knights in armor and with closed visors, placed upon a

horse and carried away. The news spread like wild-fire over Germany that

he had been murdered, and for nearly a year he was lost to the world.

His writings were only read the more: the Papal bull and the Imperial

edict which ordered them to be burned were alike disregarded. Charles V.

went back to Spain immediately after the Diet of Worms, after having

transferred the German possessions of the house of Hapsburg to his

younger brother, Ferdinand, and the business of suppressing Luther's

doctrines fell chiefly to the Archbishops of Mayence and Cologne, and

the Papal Legate.



Luther, meanwhile, was in security in a castle called the Wartburg, on

the summit of a mountain near Eisenach. He was dressed in a knightly

fashion, wore a helmet, breastplate and sword, allowed his beard to

grow, and went by the name of "Squire George." But in the privacy of his

own chamber--all the furniture of which is preserved to this day, as

when he lived in it--he worked zealously upon a translation of the New

Testament into German. In the spring of 1522 he was disturbed in his

labors by the report of new doctrines which were being preached in

Wittenberg. His friend Carlstadt had joined a fanatical sect, called the

Anabaptists, which advocated the abolition of the mass, the destruction

of pictures and statues, and proclaimed the coming of God's Kingdom upon

the Earth.



The experience of the Bohemians showed Luther the necessity of union in

his great work of reforming the Christian Church. Moreover, his enemies

triumphantly pointed to the excesses of the Anabaptists as the natural

result of his doctrines. There was no time to be lost: in spite of the

remonstrance of the Elector Frederick, he left the Wartburg, and rode

alone, as a man-at-arms, to Wittenberg, where even Melanchthon did not

recognize him on his arrival. He began preaching, with so much power and

eloquence, that in a few days the new sect lost all the ground it had

gained, and its followers were expelled from the city. The necessity of

arranging another and simpler form of divine service was made evident by

these occurrences; and after the publication of the New Testament in

German, in September, 1522, Luther and Melanchthon united in the former

task.



[Sidenote: 1523. THE PEASANTS' WAR.]



The Reformation made such progress that by 1523, not only Saxony, Hesse

and Brunswick had practically embraced it, but also the cities of

Frankfort, Strasburg, Nuremberg and Magdeburg, the Augustine order of

monks, a part of the Franciscans, and quite a large number of priests.

Now, however, a new and most serious trouble arose, partly from the

preaching of the Anabaptists, headed by their so-called Prophet, Thomas

Muenzer, and partly provoked by the oppressions which the common people

had so long endured. In the summer of 1524 the peasants of Wuertemberg

and Baden united, armed themselves, and issued a manifesto containing

twelve articles. They demanded the right to choose their own priests;

the restriction of tithes to their harvests; the abolition of feudal

serfdom; the use of the forests; the regulation of the privilege of the

nobles to hunt and fish; and protection, in certain other points,

against the arbitrary power of the landed nobility. They seemed to take

it for granted that Luther would support them; but he, dreading a civil

war and desirous to keep the religious reformation free from any

political movement, published a pamphlet condemning their revolt. At the

same time he used his influence on their behalf, with the reigning

priests and princes.



The excitement, however, was too great to be subdued by admonitions of

patience and forbearance. A dreadful war broke out in 1525: the army of

30,000 peasants ravaged a great part of Southern Germany, destroying

castles and convents, and venting their rage in the most shocking

barbarities, which were afterwards inflicted upon themselves, when they

were finally defeated by the Count of Waldburg. The movement extended

through Middle Germany even to Westphalia, and threatened to become

general: some parts of Thuringia were held for a short time by the

peasants, and suffered terrible ravages. Another army of 8,000, headed

by Thomas Muenzer, was cut to pieces near Muehlhausen, in Saxony, and by

the end of the year 1525, the rebellion was completely suppressed. In

this short time, some of the most interesting monuments of the Middle

Ages, among them the grand castle of the Hohenstaufens, in Suabia, had

been levelled to the earth; whole provinces were laid waste; tens of

thousands of men, women and children were put to the sword, and a

serious check was given to the progress of the Reformation, through all

Southern Germany.



[Sidenote: 1525.]



The stand which Luther had taken against the rebellion preserved the

friendship of those princes who were well-disposed towards him, but he

took no part in the measures of defence against the Imperial and Papal

power, which they were soon compelled to adopt. He devoted himself to

the completion of his translation of the Bible, in which he was

faithfully assisted by Melanchthon and others. In this great work he

accomplished even more than a service to Christianity; he created the

modern German language. Before his time, there had been no tongue which

was known and accepted throughout the whole Empire. The poets and

minstrels of the Middle Ages wrote in Suabian; other popular works were

in low-Saxon, Franconian or Alsatian. The dialect of Holland and

Flanders had so changed that it was hardly understood in Germany; that

of Brandenburg and the Baltic provinces had no literature as yet, and

the learned or scientific works of the time were written in Latin.



No one before Luther saw that the simplest and most expressive qualities

of the German language must be sought for in the mouths of the people.

With all his scholarship, he never used the theological style of

writing, but endeavored to express himself so that he could be clearly

understood by all men. In translating the Old Testament, he took

extraordinary pains to find words and phrases as simple and strong as

those of the Hebrew writers. He frequented the market-place, the

merry-making, the house of birth, marriage or death, to learn how the

common people expressed themselves in all the circumstances of life. He

enlisted his friends in the same service, begging them to note down for

him any peculiar, characteristic phrase; "for," said he, "I cannot use

the words heard in castles and courts." Not a sentence of the Bible was

translated until he had found the best and clearest German expression

for it. He wrote, in 1530: "I have exerted myself, in translating, to

give pure and clear German. And it has verily happened, that we have

sought and questioned a fortnight, three, four weeks, for a single word,

and yet it was not always found. In Job, we so labored, Philip

Melanchthon, Aurogallus and I, that in four days we sometimes barely

finished three lines."



[Sidenote: 1525. LUTHER'S MARRIAGE.]



Pope Leo X. died in 1521, and was succeeded by Adrian VI., the last

German who wore the Papal crown. He admitted many of the corruptions of

the Roman Church, and seemed inclined to reform them; but he only lived

two years, and his successor was Clement VII., a nephew of Leo. The

latter induced Ferdinand of Austria, the Dukes of Bavaria and several

Bishops to unite in a league for suppressing the spread of Luther's

doctrines. Thereupon the Elector John of Saxony (Frederick the Wise

having died in 1525), Philip of Hesse, Albert of Brandenburg, the Dukes

of Brunswick and Mecklenburg, the Counts of Mansfeld and Anhalt and the

city of Magdeburg formed a counter-alliance at Torgau, in 1526. At the

Diet held in Speyer the same year, the party of the Reformation was so

strong that no decree against it could be passed; the question was left

free.



The organization of the Christian Church which was by this time adopted

in Saxony, soon spread over all Northern Germany. Its principal features

were: the abolition of the monastic orders and of priestly celibacy;

divine service in the language of the country; the distribution of the

Bible, in German, to all persons; the communion in both forms, for

laymen; and the instruction of the people and their children in the

truths of Christianity. The former possessions of the Church were given

up to the State, and Luther, against Melanchthon's advice, even insisted

on uniting the episcopal authority with the political, in the person of

the reigning prince. He set the example of giving up priestly celibacy,

by marrying, in 1525, Catharine von Bora, a nun of a noble family. This

step created a great sensation; even many of Luther's friends condemned

his course, but he declared that he was right, and he was rewarded by

twenty-one years of unalloyed domestic happiness.



The Emperor Charles V., during all these events, was absent from

Germany. His first war with France was brought to a conclusion by the

battle of Pavia, in February, 1525, when Francis I. was obliged to

surrender, and was sent as a prisoner to Madrid. But having purchased

his freedom the following year, by giving up his claims to Italy,

Burgundy and Flanders, he no sooner returned to France than he

recommenced the war,--this time in union with Pope Clement VII., who was

jealous of the Emperor's increasing power in Italy. The old knight

George von Frundsberg and the Constable de Bourbon--a member of the

royal family of France, who had gone over to Charles V.'s side,--then

united their forces, which were principally German, and marched upon

Rome. The city was taken by storm, in 1527, terribly ravaged and the

Pope made prisoner. Charles V. pretended not to have known of or

authorized this movement; he liberated the Pope, who promised, in

return, to call a Council for the Reformation of the Church. The war

continued, however,--Venice, Genoa and England being also

involved--until 1529, when it was terminated by the Peace of Cambray.



[Sidenote: 1529.]



Charles V. and the Pope then came to an understanding, in virtue of

which the former was crowned king of Lombardy and Emperor of Rome in

Bologna, in 1530, and bound himself to extirpate the doctrines of Luther

in Germany. In Austria, Bavaria and Wuertemberg, in fact, the persecution

had already commenced: many persons had been hanged or burned at the

stake for professing the new doctrines. Ferdinand of Austria, who had

meanwhile succeeded to the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary, was compelled

to call a Diet at Speyer, in 1529, to take measures against the Turks,

then victorious in Transylvania and a great part of Hungary; a majority

of Catholics was present, and they passed a decree repeating the

outlawry of Luther and his doctrines by the Diet of Worms. Seven

reigning princes, headed by Saxony, Brandenburg and Hesse, and fifteen

imperial cities, joined in a solemn protest against this measure,

asserting that the points in dispute could only be settled by a

universal Council, called for the purpose. From that day, the name of

"Protestants" was given to both the followers of Luther, and the Swiss

Reformers, under the lead of Zwingli.



The history of the Reformation in Switzerland cannot be here given. It

will be enough to say that Zwingli, who was born in the Canton of St.

Gall, in 1484, resembled Luther in his purity of character, his earnest

devotion to study, and the circumstance that his ideas of religious

reform were derived from an intimate knowledge of the Bible. It was the

passionate desire of Philip of Hesse that both branches of the

Protestants should become united, in order to be so much the stronger to

meet the dangers which all felt were coming. Luther, who labored and

prayed to prevent the struggle from becoming political, and who had

opposed even the league of the Protestant princes at Torgau, in 1526,

was with difficulty induced to meet Zwingli. He was still busy with his

translation of the Bible, with the preparation of a Catechism for the

people, a collection of hymns to be used in worship, and other works

necessary to the complete organization of the Protestant Church.



[Sidenote: 1539. MEETING OF LUTHER AND ZWINGLI.]



The meeting between the two Reformers finally took place in Marburg, in

1529. Melanchthon, Jonas, and many other distinguished men were present:

both Luther and Zwingli fully and freely compared their doctrines, but,

although they were united on all essential points, they differed in

regard to the nature of the Eucharist, and Luther positively refused to

give way, or even to make common cause with the Swiss Protestants. This

was one of several instances, wherein the great Reformer injured his

cause through his lack of wisdom and tolerance: in small things, as in

great, he was inflexible.



So matters stood, in the beginning of 1530, when Charles V. returned to

Germany, after an absence of nine years. He established his court at

Innsbruck, and summoned a Diet to meet at Augsburg, in April, but it was

not opened until the 20th of June. Melanchthon, with many other

Protestant professors and clergymen, was present: Luther, being under

the ban of the Empire, remained in Coburg, where he wrote his grand

hymn, "Our Lord, He is a Tower of Strength." The Protestant princes and

cities united in signing a Confession of Faith, which had been very

carefully drawn up by Melanchthon, and the Emperor was obliged to

consent that it should be read before the Diet. He ordered, however,

that the reading should take place, not in the great hall where the

sessions were held, but in the Bishop's chapel, and at a very early hour

in the morning. The object of this arrangement was to prevent any but

the members of the Diet from hearing the document.



But the weather was intensely warm, and it was necessary to open the

windows; the Saxon Chancellor, Dr. Bayer, read the Confession in such a

loud, clear voice, that a thousand or more persons, gathered on the

outside of the Chapel, were able to hear every word. The principles

asserted were:--That men are justified by faith alone; that an assembly

of true believers constitutes the Church; that it is not necessary that

forms and ceremonies should be everywhere the same; that preaching, the

sacraments, and infant baptism, are necessary; that Christ is really

present in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which should be

administered to the congregation in both forms; that monastic vows,

fasting, pilgrimages and the invocation of saints are useless, and that

priests must be allowed to marry. After the Confession had been read,

many persons were heard to exclaim: "It is reasonable that the abuses of

the Church should be corrected: the Lutherans are right, for our

spiritual lords have carried it with too high a hand." The general

impression was favorable to the Protestants, and the princes who had

signed the Confession determined that they would maintain it at all

hazards. This "Augsburg Confession," as it was thenceforth called, was

the foundation of the Lutheran Church throughout Germany.



[Sidenote: 1530.]



The Emperor ordered a refutation of the Protestant doctrines to be

prepared by the Catholic theologians who were present, but refused to

furnish a copy to the Protestants and prohibited them from making any

reply. He declared that the latter must instantly return to the Roman

Church, the abuses of which would be corrected by himself and the Pope.

Thus the breach was made permanent between Rome and more than half of

Germany. Charles V. procured the election of his brother Ferdinand to

the crown of Germany, although Bavaria united with the Protestant

princes in voting against him.



The Imperial Courts in the ten districts were now composed entirely of

Catholics, and they were ordered to enforce the suppression of

Protestant worship. Thereupon the Protestant princes and delegates from

the cities met at the little town of Schmalkalden, in Thuringia, and on

the 29th of March, 1531, bound themselves to unite, for the space of six

years, in resisting the Imperial decree. Even Luther, much as he dreaded

a religious war, could not oppose this movement. The League of

Schmalkalden, as it is called, represented so much military strength,

that king Ferdinand became alarmed and advised a more conciliatory

course towards the Protestants. Sultan Solyman of Turkey, who had

conquered all Hungary, was marching upon Vienna with an immense army,

and openly boasted that he would subdue Germany.



It thus became impossible for Charles V. either to suppress the

Protestants at this time, or to repel the Turkish invasion without their

help. He was compelled to call a new Diet, which met at Nuremberg, and

in August, 1532, concluded a Religious Peace, both parties agreeing to

refrain from all hostilities until a General Council of the Church

should be called. Then the Protestants contributed their share of troops

to the Imperial army, which soon amounted to 80,000 men, commanded by

the famous general, Sebastian Schertlin, himself a Protestant. The Turks

were defeated everywhere; the siege of Vienna was raised, and the whole

of Hungary might have been reconquered, but for Ferdinand's unpopularity

among the Catholic princes.



[Sidenote: 1539. THE LEAGUE OF SCHMALKALDEN.]



Other cities and smaller principalities joined the League of

Schmalkalden, the power of which increased from year to year. The

Religious Peace of Nuremberg greatly favored the spread of the

Reformation, although it was not very strictly observed by either side.

In 1534 Wuertemberg, which was then held by Ferdinand of Austria, was

conquered by Philip of Hesse, who reinstated the exiled Duke, Ulric. The

latter became a Protestant, and thus Wuertemberg was added to the League.

Charles V. would certainly have interfered in this case, but he had left

Germany for another nine years' absence, and was just then engaged in a

war with Tunis. The reigning princes of Brandenburg and Ducal Saxony

(Thuringia), who had been enemies of the Reformation, died and were

succeeded by Protestant sons: in 1537 the League of Schmalkalden was

renewed for ten years more, and the so-called "holy alliances," which

were attempted against it by Bavaria and the Archbishops of Mayence and

Salzburg, were of no avail. The Protestant faith continued to spread,

not only in Germany, but also in Denmark, Sweden, Holland and England.

The first of these countries even became a member of the Schmalkalden

League, in 1538.



Out of the "Freedom of the Gospel," which was the first watch-word of

the Reformers, smaller sects continued to arise, notwithstanding they

met with almost as much opposition from the Protestants as the

Catholics. The Anabaptists obtained possession of the city of Muenster in

1534, and held it for more than a year, under the government of a Dutch

tailor, named John of Leyden, who had himself crowned king of Zion,

introduced polygamy, and cut off the heads of all who resisted his

decrees. When the Bishop of Muenster finally took the city, John of

Leyden and two of his associates were tortured to death, and their

bodies suspended in iron cages over the door of the cathedral. About the

same time Simon Menno, a native of Friesland, founded a quiet and

peaceful sect which was named, after him, the Mennonites, and which

still exists, both in Germany and the United States.



[Sidenote: 1544.]



While, therefore, Charles V. was carrying on his wars, alternately with

the Barbary States, and with Francis I. of France, the foundations of

the Protestant Church, in spite of all divisions and disturbances, were

permanently laid in Germany. Although he had been brilliantly successful

in Tunis, in 1535, he failed so completely before Algiers, in 1541, that

Francis I. was emboldened to make another attempt, in alliance with

Sultan Solyman of Turkey, Denmark and Sweden. So formidable was the

danger that the Emperor was again compelled to seek the assistance of

the German Protestants, and even of England. He returned to Germany for

the second time and called a Diet to meet in Speyer, which renewed the

Religious Peace of Nuremberg, with the assurance that Protestants should

have equal rights before the Imperial courts, and that they would be

left free until the meeting of a Free Council of the Church.



Having obtained an army of 40,000 men by these concessions, Charles V.

marched into France, captured a number of fortresses, and had reached

Soissons on his way to Paris, when Francis I. acknowledged himself

defeated and begged for peace. In the Treaty of Crespy, in 1544, he gave

up his claim to Lombardy, Naples, Flanders and Artois, while the Emperor

gave him a part of Burgundy, and both united in a league against the

Turks and Protestants, the allies of one and the other. In order,

however, to preserve some appearance of fidelity to his solemn pledges,

the Emperor finally prevailed upon the Pope, Paul III., to order an

OEcumenical Council. It was just 130 years since the Roman Church had

promised to reform itself. The delay had given rise to the Protestant

Reformation, which was now so powerful that only a just and conciliatory

course on the part of Rome could settle the difficulty. Instead of this,

the Council was summoned to meet at Trent, in the Italian part of the

Tyrol, the Pope reserved the government of it for himself, and the

Protestants, although invited to attend, were thus expected to

acknowledge his authority. They unanimously declared, therefore, that

they would not be bound by its decrees. Even Luther, who had ardently

hoped to see all Christians again united under a purer organization of

the Church, saw that a reconciliation was impossible, and published a

pamphlet entitled: "The Roman Papacy Founded by the Devil."



[Sidenote: 1546. LUTHER'S LAST DAYS.]



The publication of the complete translation of the Bible in 1534 was not

the end of Luther's labors. His leadership in the great work of

Reformation was acknowledged by all, and he was consulted by princes and

clergymen, by scholars and jurists, even by the common people. He never

relaxed in his efforts to preserve peace, not only among the Protestant

princes, who could not yet overcome their old habit of asserting an

independent authority, but also between Protestants and Catholics. Yet

he could hardly help feeling that, with such a form of government, and

such an Emperor, as Germany then possessed, peace was impossible: he

only prayed that it might last while he lived.



Luther's powerful constitution gradually broke down under the weight of

his labors and anxieties. He became subject to attacks of bodily

suffering, followed by great depression of mind. Nevertheless, the

consciousness of having in a great measure performed the work which he

had been called upon to do, kept up his faith, and he was accustomed to

declare that he had been made "a chosen weapon of God, known in Heaven

and Hell, as well as upon the earth." In January, 1546, he was summoned

to Eisleben, the place of his birth, by the Counts of Mansfeld, who

begged him to act as arbitrator between them in a question of

inheritance. Although much exhausted by the fatigues of the

winter-journey, he settled the dispute, and preached four times to the

people. His last letter to his wife, written on the 14th of February, is

full of courage, cheerfulness and tenderness.



Two days afterwards, his strength began to fail. His friend, Dr. Jonas,

was in Eisleben at the time, and Luther forced himself to sit at the

table with him and with his own two sons; but it was noticed that he

spoke only of the future life, and with an unusual earnestness and

solemnity. The same evening it became evident to all that his end was

rapidly approaching: he grew weaker from hour to hour, and occasionally

repeated passages from the Bible, in German and Latin. After midnight he

seemed to revive a little: Dr. Jonas, the Countess of Mansfeld, the

pastor of the church at Eisleben, and his sons, stood near his bed. Then

Jonas said: "Beloved Father, do you acknowledge Christ, the Son of God,

our Redeemer?" Luther answered "Yes," in a strong and clear voice; then,

folding his hands, he drew one deep sigh and died, between two and

three o'clock on the morning of the 17th of February.



[Sidenote: 1546.]



After solemn services in the church at Eisleben, the body was removed on

its way to Wittenberg. In every village through which the procession

passed, the bells were tolled, and the people flocked together from all

the surrounding country. The population of Halle, men and women, came

out of the city with loud cries and lamentations, and the throng was so

great that it was two hours before the coffin could be placed in the

church. "Here," says an eyewitness of the scene, "we endeavored to raise

the funeral psalm, De profundis ('Out of the depths have I cried unto

thee'); but so heavy was our grief that the words were rather wept than

sung." On the 22d of February the remains of the great Reformer were

given to the earth at Wittenberg, with all the honors which the people,

the authorities and the University could render.