§ 130.10. =The Second Treaty of Cappel, A.D. 1531.=--Even

after the treaty the five cantons continued to persecute

the reformed, and renewed their alliance with Austria. Their

undue preponderance in the assembly led Zürich to demand a

revision of the federation. This led the forest cantons to

increase their cruelties upon the reformed. Zürich declared

for immediate hostilities, but Bern decided to refuse all

commercial intercourse with the five cantons. At the diet at

Lucerne, the five cantons resolved in September, A.D. 1531,

to avert famine by immediately declaring war. They made their

arrangements so secretly that the reformed party was not the

least prepared, when suddenly, on the 9th October, an army of

8,000 men, bent on revenge, rushed down on the Zürich Canton.

In all haste 2,000 men were mustered, who were almost annihilated

in the battle of Cappel on 11th October. There, too, Zwingli

fell. His body was quartered and burnt, and the ashes scattered

to the winds. Zürich and Bern soon brought a force of 20,000

men into the field, but the courage of their enemies had grown

in proportion as all confidence and spirit departed from the

reformed. Further successes led the forest cantons, which had

hitherto acted only on the defensive, to proceed on the offensive,

and the reformed were constrained to accept on humbling terms

the Second Treaty of Cappel of A.D. 1531. This granted freedom

of worship to the reformed in their own cantons, but secured the

restoration of Catholicism in the five cantons. The defeated had

also to bear the costs of the war, and to renounce their league

with Strassburg, Constance, and Hesse. The hitherto oppressed

Catholic minority began now to assert itself on all hands, and

in many places were more or less successful in securing the

ascendency. So it was in Aargau, Thurgau, Rapperschwyl, St. Gall,

Rheinthal, Solothurn, Glarus, etc.

§ 131. THE SACRAMENTARIAN CONTROVERSY, A.D. 1525-1529.[368]

Luther in his “Babylonish Captivity of the Church,” of A.D. 1520,

had, in opposition to prevailing views, which made the efficacy of the

sacraments dependent on the objective receiving without regard to the

faith of the receiver, _opus operatum_, pressed forward the subjective

side in a somewhat extreme manner. During the earlier period of

his career as a reformer, and indeed even at a later period, as his

letter to the men of Strassburg shows, he was in danger of going to

the extreme of overlooking or denying the real objective and Divine

contents of the sacrament. But decided as the opposition was to the

scholastic theory of transubstantiation, and convinced as he was that

the bread and wine were to be regarded as mere symbols, the text of

Scripture seemed clearly to say to him that he must recognise there

the presence of the true body and blood of Christ. His anxiety to

avoid the errors of the fanatics, and his simple acceptance of the

word of Scripture, led him to that conviction which inspired him to

the end, that IN, WITH, and UNDER the bread and wine the true body

and blood of the Lord are received, by believers unto salvation, by

unbelievers unto condemnation.

=Carlstadt= (§ 124, 3) had denied utterly the presence of the

body and blood of the Lord in the sacrament. He sought to set

aside the force of the words of institution by giving to τοῦτο

an absurd meaning: Christ had pointed to His own present body,

and said, “This here is My body, which in death I will give

for you, and in memory thereof eat this bread.” When Carlstadt,

expelled from Saxony, came to Strassburg, he sought to interest

the preachers there, Bucer and Capito, in himself and his

sacramental view. But Luther was not moved by their attempts

at conciliation. =Zwingli=, too, took the side of Carlstadt.

In essential agreement with Carlstadt, but putting the matter

on another basis, Zwingli interpreted the words of institution,

“This is,” by “This signifies,” and reduced the significance

of the sacrament to a symbolical memorial of Christ’s suffering

and death. In an epistle to the Lutheran Matthew Alber at

Reutlingen in A.D. 1524 he set forth this theory, and sided

with Carlstadt against Luther. He developed his views more

fully in his dogmatic treatise, _Commentarius de vera et falsa

relig._, A.D. 1525, where he characterizes Luther’s doctrine

as an _opinio non solum rustica sed etiam impia et frivola_.

=Œcolampadius=, too, took part in the controversy as supporter

of his friend Zwingli when attacked by Bugenhagen, and wrote in

A.D. 1525 his _De genuina verborum Domini, Hoc est corpus meum,

expositione_. He wished to understand the σῶμα of the words of

institution as equivalent to “sign of the body.” Œcolampadius

laid his treatise before the Swabian reformers Brenz and Schnepf;

but these, in concert with twelve other preachers, answered in

the _Syngramma Suevicum_ of A.D. 1525 quite in accordance with

Luther’s doctrine. The controversy continued to spread. Luther

first openly appeared against the Swiss in A.D. 1526 in his

“Sermon on the Sacrament against the Fanatics,” and to this

Zwingli replied. Luther answered again in his tract, “That

the words, This is My body, stand firm;” and in A.D. 1528 he

issued his great manifesto, “Confession in regard to the Lord’s

Supper” (§ 144, 2, note). Notwithstanding the endeavours of the

Strassburgers at conciliation the controversy still continued.

Zwingli’s statement was the shibboleth of the Swiss Reformation,

and was adopted also in many of the upland cities. Strassburg,

Lindau, Meiningen, and Constance accepted it; even in Ulm,

Augsburg, Reutlingen, etc., it had its supporters.--Continuation,

§ 132, 4.

§ 132. THE PROTEST AND CONFESSION OF THE EVANGELICAL NOBLES,

A.D. 1527-1530.

For three years after the diet at Spires in A.D. 1526 no public

proceedings were taken on religious questions. The success of the

Reformation however during these years roused the Catholic party to

make a great effort. At the next diet at Spires, in A.D. 1529, the

Catholics were in the majority, and measures were passed which, it

was hoped, would put an end to the Reformation. The evangelicals

tabled a formal protest (hence the name Protestants), and strove

hard to have effect given to it. The union negotiations with the

Swiss and uplanders were not indeed successful, but in the Augsburg

Confession of A.D. 1530 they raised before emperor and empire a

standard, around which they henceforth gathered with hearty goodwill.

§ 132.1. =The Pack Incident, A.D. 1527, 1528.=--In A.D. 1527

dark rumours of dangers to the evangelicals began to spread.

The landgrave, suspecting the existence of a conspiracy of the

German Catholic princes, gave to an officer in Duke George’s

government, Otto von Pack, 10,000 florins to secure documents

proving its existence. He produced one with the ducal seal,

which bound the Catholic princes of Germany to fall upon

the elector’s territories and Hesse, and to divide the lands

among them, etc. The landgrave was all fire and fury, and

even the Elector John joined him in a league to make a vigorous

demonstration against the purposed attack. But Luther and

Melanchthon pressed upon the elector our Lord’s words, “All

they that take the sword shall perish with the sword,” and

convinced him that he ought to abide the attack and restrict

himself to simple defence. The landgrave, highly offended

at the failure of his project, sent a copy of the document

to Duke George, who declared the whole affair a tissue of

lies. Philip had begun operations against the elector, but

was heartily ashamed of himself when he came to his sober

senses. Pack when interrogated became involved in contradictions,

and was found to be a thoroughly bad subject, who had been

before convicted of falsehood and intrigues. The landgrave

expelled him from his territories. He wandered long a homeless

exile, and at last, in A.D. 1536, was executed by Duke George’s

orders in the Netherlands. All this seriously injured the

interests of the gospel. Mutual distrust among the Protestant

leaders continued, and sympathy was created for the Catholic

princes as men who had been unjustly accused.

§ 132.2. =The Emperor’s Attitude, A.D. 1527-1529.=--The

faithlessness of the king of France and the ratification of

the League of Cognac (§ 126, 6) led to very strained relations

between the pope and the emperor. Old Frundsberg raised an

army in Germany, and the German peasants, without pay or reward,

crossed the Alps, burning with desire to humiliate the pope.

On 6th May, A.D. 1527, the imperial army of Spaniards and

Germans stormed Rome. The so-called sack of Rome presented

a scene of plunder and spoliation scarcely ever paralleled.

Clement VII., besieged in St. Angelo, was obliged to surrender

himself prisoner. But once again Germany’s hopes were cast

to the ground by the emperor. Considering the opinion that

prevailed in Spain, and influenced by his own antipathy to the

Saxon heresy, besides other political combinations, he forgot

that he had been saved by Lutheran soldiers. In June, A.D. 1528,

at Barcelona, he concluded a peace with the pope and promised

to use his whole power in suppressing heresy. By the Treaty of

Cambray, in July, A.D. 1529, the French war also was finally

brought to a conclusion. In this treaty both potentates promised

to uphold the papal chair, and Francis I. renewed his undertaking

to furnish aid against heretics and Turks. Charles now hastened

to Italy to be crowned by the pope, meaning then by his personal

attentions to settle the affairs of Germany.

§ 132.3. =The Diet at Spires, A.D. 1529.=--In the end of

A.D. 1528 the emperor issued a summons for another diet at

Spires, which met on 21st Feb., A.D. 1529. Things had changed

since A.D. 1526. The Catholics were roused by the Pack episode,

halting nobles were terrorized by the emperor, the prelates

were present in great numbers, and the Catholics, for the

first time since the Diet at Worms, were in a decided majority.

The proposition of the imperial commissioners to rescind the

conclusions of the diet of A.D. 1526 was adopted by a majority,

and formulated as the diet’s decision. No innovations were to

be introduced until at least a council had been convened, mass

was everywhere to be tolerated, the jurisdiction and revenues

of the bishops were in all cases to be fully restored. It was

the death-knell of the Reformation, as it gave the bishops

the right of deposing and punishing preachers at their will.

As Ferdinand was deaf to all remonstrances, the evangelicals

presented a solemn protest, with the demand that it should

be incorporated in the imperial statute book. But Ferdinand

refused to receive it. The =Protestants= now took no further

steps, but drew up a formal statement of their case for the

emperor, appealed to a free council and German national assembly,

and declared their constant adherence to the decisions of the

previous diet. This document was signed by the Elector of Saxony,

the Landgrave of Hesse, George of Brandenburg, the two dukes

of Lüneburg, and Prince Wolfgang of Anholt [Anhalt]. Of the

upland cities fourteen subscribed it.

§ 132.4. =The Marburg Conference, A.D. 1529.=--The Elector of

Saxony and Hesse entered into a defensive league with Strassburg,

Ulm, and Nuremberg at Spires. The theologians present agreed

only with hesitation to admit the Zwinglian Strassburg. The

landgrave at the same time formed an alliance with Zürich,

which attached itself to the interests of Francis I. of

France. Thus began the most formidable coalition which had

ever yet been formed against the house of Austria. But one

point had been overlooked which broke it all up again, _viz._

the religious differences between the Lutheran and Zwinglian

confessions. Melanchthon returned to Wittenburg [Wittenberg]

with serious qualms of conscience; Luther had declared against

any league, most of all against any fraternising with the

“Sacramentarians,” and the elector to some extent agreed with

him. Even the Nuremberg theologians had their scruples. The

proposed league was to have been ratified at Rotach in June.

The meeting took place, but no conclusion was reached. The

landgrave was furious, but the elector was resolute. Philip

now summoned leading theologians on both sides to a =conference

at Marburg= in his castle, which lasted from 1st till 3rd Oct.,

A.D. 1529. On the one side were Luther, Melanchthon, Justus

Jonas, from Wittenberg, Brenz from Swabia, and Osiander from

Nuremberg; on the other side, Zwingli from Zürich, Œcolampadius

from Basel, Bucer and Hadio [Hedio] from Strassburg. After, by

the landgrave’s well-meant arrangement, Zwingli had discussed

privately with Melanchthon, and Luther with Œcolampadius, during

the first day, the public conference began on the second. First

of all several points were discussed on the divinity of Christ,

original sin, baptism, the word of God, etc., in reference

to which suspicions of Zwingli’s orthodoxy had been current

in Wittenberg. On all these Zwingli willingly abandoned his

peculiar theories and accepted the doctrines of the œcumenical

church. But his views of the Lord’s Supper he stoutly maintained.

He took his stand upon John vi. 63, “The flesh profiteth

nothing;” but Luther wrote with chalk on the table before

him, “This is My body,” as the word of God which no one may

explain away. No agreement could be reached. Zwingli declared

that notwithstanding he was ready for brotherly fellowship,

but this Luther and his party unanimously refused. Luther said,

“You are of another spirit than we.” Still Luther had found

his opponents not so bad as he expected, and also the Swiss

found that Luther’s doctrine was not so gross and capernaitic

as they had imagined. They agreed on fifteen articles, in

the fourteenth of which they determined on the basis of the

œcumenical church doctrine to oppose the errors of Papists

and Anabaptists, and in the fifteenth the Swiss admitted that

the true body and blood of Christ are in the sacrament, but

they could not admit that they were corporeally in the bread

and wine. Three copies of these Marburg articles were signed

by the theologians present.--Continuation, § 133, 8.

§ 132.5. =The Convention of Schwabach and the Landgrave

Philip.=--A convention met at Schwabach in Oct., A.D. 1529,

at which a confession of seventeen articles was proposed

to the representatives of the Swiss, but rejected by them.

Meanwhile the imperial answer to the decisions of the diet

had arrived from Spain, containing very ungracious expressions

against the Protestants. The evangelical nobles sent an embassy

to the emperor to Italy; but he refused to receive the protest,

and treated the ambassadors almost as prisoners. They returned

to Germany with a bad report. Hitherto there had been only a

defensive federation against attacks of the Swabian League or

other Catholic princes. Luther’s hope that the emperor might

yet be won was shattered. The question now was, what should be

done if an onslaught upon the reformed should be made by the

emperor himself. The jurists indeed were of opinion that the

German princes were not unconditionally subject to the emperor;

they too have authority by God’s grace, and in the exercise of

this are bound to protect their subjects. But Luther did not

hesitate for a moment to compare the relation of the elector

to the emperor with that of the burgomaster of Torgau to the

elector; for he maintained the idea of the empire as firmly

as that of the church. He insisted that the princes should not

withstand the emperor, and that they should bear everything

patiently for God’s sake. Only if the emperor should proceed

to persecute their own subjects for their faith should

they renounce their obedience. The landgrave’s negotiations

with Zwingli also led to no result. For political purposes,

notwithstanding the opposition of Wittenberg, there was formed a

coalition of all the Protestants of the north with the exception

of Denmark, extending also to the south and embracing even

Venice and France. The Swiss would stop the way of the emperor

over the Alps; Venice would be of service with her fleet, and

the most Christian king of France was to be summoned as the

protector of political and religious freedom of Germany. But

these fine plans were seen to be vain dreams when the time for

putting them in practice came round.

§ 132.6. =The Diet of Augsburg, A.D. 1530.=--From Boulogne,

where the pope crowned him, the emperor summoned a diet to

meet at Augsburg, at which for the first time in nine he was

to be personally present. He would once again seek to induce

the Protestants quietly to return to the old faith, and so

his missive was very conciliatory. But before its arrival new

irritations had arisen at Augsburg. The Elector John allowed

the preachers accompanying him, Spalatin and Agricola, to

engage freely in preaching. The emperor was greatly displeased

at this, and sent him a request to withdraw this permission,

which, however, he did not regard. On 15th June, accompanied

by the papal legate Campegius (§ 126, 2, 3), he made a brilliant

entrance, the Protestants, on the ground of 2 Kings v. 17, 18,

offering no opposition to all the civil and ecclesiastical

reception ceremonies. This gave the emperor greater confidence

in renewing the demand to stop the preaching. But the Protestants

stood firm, and Margrave George called down the unmeasured

wrath of the emperor by his decided but humble declaration,

that before he would deny God’s word, he would kneel where

he stood and have his head struck off. Just as decidedly he

refused the emperor’s call to join the Corpus Christi procession

on the following day, even with the addition that it was “to the

glory of Almighty God.” At last they yielded the matter of the

preaching so far as to discontinue it during the emperor’s stay,

on the other party undertaking to discontinue controversial

discourses. On 20th June the diet opened. The matter of the

Turkish war was on the emperor’s motion postponed, to allow

of the thorough discussion of the religious questions.

§ 132.7. =The Augsburg Confession, 25th June, A.D. 1530.=--In

view of the diet the evangelical theologians prepared for the

elector a short confession in the form of a revision of the

seventeen Schwabach Articles, the so called Torgau Articles.

Melanchthon employed the days that preceded the opening of

the diet in drawing up on the basis of the Torgau Articles,

in constant correspondence with the evangelical theologians,

the =Augsburg Confession=, _Confessio Augustana_. This concise,

clear, and decided though temperate document received the hearty

approval of Luther, who, as still under the ban, was kept back

by the elector at Coburg. It contained twenty-one _Articuli

fidei præcipui_, and also seven _Articuli in quibus recensentur

abusus mutati_. On 24th June the Protestants said they desired

their confession to be publicly read. But it was with difficulty

that they obtained the emperor’s consent to allow its being read

on the 25th June, and even then not in the public hall, but in

a much smaller episcopal chapel, where only members of the diet

could find room. The two chancellors of the electorate, Baier

and Brück, appeared, the one with a German, the other with

a Latin copy of the confession. The emperor wished the Latin,

but the elector insisted that on German soil the German copy

should be read. When this was done Dr. Brück handed both copies

to the emperor, who kept the Latin one and gave the German one

to the Elector of Mainz. Both were subscribed by Elector John,

Margrave George, Duke Ernest of Lüneburg, Landgrave Philip,

Prince Wolfgang of Anhalt, and the cities of Nuremberg and

Reutlingen. The confession made a favourable impression

on many of the assembled princes, and many prejudices were

dissipated; while the evangelicals were greatly strengthened by

the unanimous confession of their faith before the emperor and

the empire. The Catholic theologians Faber, Eck, Cochlæus, and

Wimpina were ordered by the emperor to controvert the confession.

Meanwhile Melanchthon entered into negotiations with the legate

Campegius, in which his love of peace went so far as to withdraw

all demands for marriage of the clergy, and the giving of the

cup to the laity, and to allow the ecclesiastical jurisdiction

of the bishops, reserving the question about the mass to the

decision of a council. But these weak concessions found little

or no favour among the other Protestants, and the legate could

make no binding engagement until he consulted Rome. On 3rd Aug.

the confutation of the Catholic theologians was read. The

emperor declared that it maintained the views by which he

would stand. He expected the princes would do the same. He

was defender of the Church, and was not disposed to suffer

ecclesiastical schism in Germany. The Protestants demanded for

closer inspection a copy of the confutation. This was refused.

The landgrave now left the diet. To the elector he said that

he gave over to him and to God’s word body and goods, land

and people; and to the representatives of the cities he wrote:

“Say to the cities that they are not women, but men. There is

no fear; God is on our side.” The zealous Papist Duke William of

Bavaria declared to Eck, “If I hear well, the Lutherans sit upon

the Scripture and we alongside of it.” The cities siding with

Zwingli, Strassburg, Memmingen, Constance, and Lindau, presented

their own confession drawn up by Bucer and Capilo [Capito], the

_Confessio Tetrapolitana_. In its eighteenth article it taught

that Christ gives in the sacrament His true body and His true

blood to be eaten and drunk for the feeding of the soul. The

emperor had a Catholic reply read, with which he expressed

satisfaction. Luther had meanwhile from Coburg supported those

contending for the confession by prayer, counsel, and comfort.

He preached frequently, wrote many letters, negotiated with

Bucer (§ 133, 8), wrought at the translation of the prophets,

and composed several evangelical works of edification.

§ 132.8. =The Conclusions of the Diet of Augsburg.=--The firm

bright spirit of the minority made it seem to the Catholic

majority too considerable to allow of an open breach. A further

attempt was therefore made to reach some agreement. A commission

was appointed, comprising from either side two princes, two

doctors of canon law, and three theologians. On the twenty-one

doctrinal articles, with the exception of that on the sacraments,

they were practically agreed, but the Protestants were called

upon to abandon everything in regard to constitution and customs.

Thus the attempt failed. Five imperial cities took the side

of the emperor, the rest attached themselves to the Protestant

princes. The Protestants wished to read Melanchthon’s apology

for the Augsburg Confession against the charge of the Catholic

confutation, but the emperor with unbending stubbornness refused.

This was the most decided piece of work Melanchthon ever did.

At the close of the diet, 22nd Sept., the Protestant princes

were informed that time for reflection would be allowed them

till 15th April of the following year; meanwhile they should

not enforce any innovations and should allow confession and

the mass in their territories. The early calling of a council

was expressly promised. The princes of the church had all their

rights restored. The emperor declared his firm determination to

enforce in its full rigour the edict of Worms, and commissioned

the public prosecutor to proceed against the disobedient even

to the length of putting them under the ban. The judicature was

formally and expressly empowered to carry out the conclusions

of the diet. Finally, the emperor expressed the wish that on

account of his frequent absence his brother Ferdinand should

be chosen King of Rome. The election was accordingly soon

carried out at Frankfort; but the elector lodged a protest

against it.

§ 133. INCIDENTS OF THE YEARS A.D. 1531-1536.

The Protestants now made an earnest effort to effect a union by

forming in A.D. 1531 the Schmalcald League. To this decided action

and the political difficulties of the emperor we owe the Peace of

Nuremburg [Nuremberg] of A.D. 1532. The bold step of the landgrave

freed Württemberg from the Austrian yoke and papal oppression. At

the same time the Reformation triumphed in Anhalt, Pomerania, and

several Westphalian cities. All Westphalia might have been one but

for the Anabaptists. Bucer’s unwearied efforts at last succeeded by

the Wittenberg concordat in opening the way for the Schmalcald League

into the cities of the Uplands. The league now comprised an imposing

array of powerful members.

§ 133.1. =The Founding of the Schmalcald League,

A.D. 1530, 1531.=--The conferring upon the court of justiciary

the power to execute the decrees of the Diet of Augsburg was

most dangerous to the Protestants. For protection against this

design, the Protestant nobles at a convention at Schmalcald in

Dec., A.D. 1530, formed the bold resolution, that all should

stand as one in resisting every attack of the court. But when

the question came to be discussed, whether in case of need they

should go the length of armed resistance to the emperor opinion

was divided. The views of the jurists finally prevailed over

those of the theologians, and the elector insisted on a league

against every aggressor, even should it be the emperor himself.

At a new convention at Schmalcald in March, A.D. 1531, a league

on these terms was concluded for six years. The members of it

were the electorate of Saxony, Hesse, Lüneburg, Anhalt, Mansfeld,

and eleven cities.

§ 133.2. =The Peace of Nuremberg, A.D. 1532.=--The energetic

combination of the Protestants had now rendered them formidable,

and the Sultan Soliman was threatening a new attack. If the

Protestants were to be conquered, an agreement must be come

to with the Turks; if the Turks were to be humbled, a peaceable

settlement with the Protestants was indispensable. Ferdinand’s

policy at first inclined to the latter direction, and by his

advice the emperor summoned a diet at Regensburg, and till the

meeting forbade any prosecutions on the basis of the decrees of

the Diet of Augsburg. But soon the catastrophe in Switzerland

(§ 130, 10) changed Ferdinand’s policy. It seemed to him now

the fittest time to deal a similar blow to the evangelicals in

Germany. He therefore sent an embassy to the sultan, empowered

to make the most humiliating conditions of peace. But Soliman

rejected all proposals with scorn, and in April, A.D. 1532,

advanced with an army of 300,000 men. Meanwhile the Diet of

Regensburg had opened on 17th April, A.D. 1532. The Protestants

no longer presented a humble petition, as they had done two

years before, but they firmly made their demands. There was

no longer talk of compromise or suffrance. They demanded

peace in matters of religion; the annulling of all religious

prosecutions; and, finally, a free general council, where

matters should be decided solely by God’s word. So long as

Ferdinand had any hope of getting a favourable answer from

the Turks, he would not seriously consider proposals for peace.

But when that hope was shattered, and Soliman’s terrible host

approached, there was no time to lose. At Nuremberg the peace

was concluded on 23rd July, A.D. 1532. The faithful elector

was allowed to see the happy day, but died in that same year.

He was succeeded by his son, =John Frederick the Magnanimous=,

A.D. 1532-1547. A noble army was soon raised from the imperial

guards. Soliman suffered various misfortunes on land and water,

and withdrew without accomplishing anything. The emperor now

went to Italy, and insisted on the pope calling a general

council. But the pope thought the time had not come for that.

Also the annulling of prosecutions promised in the treaty

remained long unfulfilled. Pending prosecutions, mostly about

restitution of ecclesiastical goods and jurisdiction, were

pronounced to be not matters of religion, but of spoliation

and breach of the peace. The Protestants made a formal complaint

in Jan., A.D. 1534. This was disregarded, and arrangements

were being made to put certain nobles under the ban when events

occurred at Württemberg which changed the aspect of affairs.

§ 133.3. =The Evangelization of Württemberg,

A.D. 1534, 1535.=--The Swabian League in the interest of

Austria had obtained the banishment of Duke Ulrich in A.D. 1528,

and frustrated every attempt to secure his return. His son

Christopher had been educated at the court of Ferdinand,

and in A.D. 1532 accompanied the emperor to Spain. He made

his escape into the Alps, and publicly claimed his German

inheritance. The Landgrave Philip, Ulrich’s personal friend,

had long resolved to reconquer Württemberg for him. At last,

in the spring of A.D. 1534, with aid of French gold, he carried

out his plan. At Laufen Ferdinand’s army was almost annihilated,

and he himself was obliged in the Peace of Cadau of A.D. 1534

to restore Ulrich to Württemberg as an under-feudatory, but

with seat and vote in the imperial diet, and to allow him a

free hand in carrying out the Reformation in his territory.

Luther’s views had from the first found hearty reception in

Württemberg. The oldest and most distinguished of the Swabian

reformers, whose reputation had spread far beyond Württemberg,

was John Brenz (§§ 131, 1; 132, 4; 135, 2; 136, 6, 8). He

was preacher in Swabian Halle from A.D. 1522, provost in

Stuttgart from A.D. 1553, and died in A.D. 1570. But Ferdinand’s

government had stretched its arm so far as to visit with death

all manifestations of sympathy with the Reformation. All the

more rapidly did the work of evangelization now proceed. Ulrich

brought with him Ambrose Blaurer, a disciple of Zwingli and

friend of Bucer, and Erhard Schnapf, a decided supporter of

Luther; to the former he assigned the evangelization of the

upper, and to the latter the evangelization of the lower

division of his territories. Both had agreed in accepting

a common formula of Reformation principles. By the founding

of the University of Tübingen, organized after the pattern

of Marburg, Ulrich rendered important service to the cause

of Protestant learning. Several neighbouring courts and cities

were encouraged to follow Württemberg’s example.

§ 133.4. =The Reformation in Anhalt and Pomerania,

A.D. 1532-1534.=--Wolfgang of =Anhalt= had at an early date

introduced the Reformation on the banks of the Saale and into

Zerbst. Another prince of Anhalt, George, at first an opponent

of Luther, but converted by means of his writings, began in

A.D. 1532 the Reformation of the country east of the Elbe. And

when the Bishop of Brandenburg refused to ordain his married

priests, he sent them to be ordained by Luther in Wittenberg.

Much more violent was the Reformation of =Pomerania=. Nobles

and clergy sought to rouse the people against Lutheranism.

Prince Barnim was an ardent supporter of Luther, but his brother

George was bitterly opposed. On George’s death, his son Philip

joined with Barnim in introducing the Reformation into the land.

At the Assembly of Treptow, in Dec., A.D. 1534, they presented

a scheme of Reformation, which the nobles heartily accepted. It

was carried into operation by Bugenhagen by a church visitation

after the pattern of that of Saxony.

§ 133.5. =The Reformation in Westphalia, A.D. 1532-1534.=--In

the Westphalian cities much was accomplished by Luther’s hymns.

Pideritz, priest of =Lamgo=, was a supporter of Eck; but wishing

to see the working of the new views for himself, he went to

Brunswick, and returned to inaugurate the Reformation in his

own city. At =Soest=, the Catholic council condemned to death

a workman who had spoken of it with disrespect. Two blundering

attempts were made upon the scaffold, and the victim at last

was conducted home by the crowd in triumph. He died next day.

The council precipitately fled from the city. And thus in July,

A.D. 1533, Catholicism lost its last prop in that place. In

=Paderborn=, where liberty of preaching had been enjoyed, the

Elector of Cologne (§ 135, 7) had some of the leading Lutherans

imprisoned; and when some on the rack confessed to a treasonable

correspondence with the Landgrave of Hesse, of which they had

been falsely accused, he condemned them to death. But moved

by the request of an old man to share their death, and by

the weeping of the wives and maidens, Hermann spared their

lives. In =Münster=, Luther’s doctrines were preached as early

as A.D. 1531 by Rottmann, and soon the evangelicals won the

ascendency, so that council and clergy left the city. The Bishop

of Waldeck, after an unsuccessful attempt by force of arms, was

obliged in A.D. 1533 to grant unconditional religious freedom.

The neighbouring cities were about to follow the example of

the capital, when a catastrophe occurred which resulted in the

complete restoration of Catholicism.

§ 133.6. =Disturbances at Münster, A.D. 1534, 1535.=--Rottmann

had added to his Zwinglian creed the renunciation of infant

baptism, and prepared the way for Anabaptist excesses. John

of Leyden appeared in A.D. 1534, gained great popularity as

a preacher, and the council was weak enough to grant legal

recognition to the fanatics. Mad enthusiasts flocked into the

city. One of their prophets proclaimed it as God’s will that

unbelievers should be expelled. This was done on 27th February,

A.D. 1534. Seven deacons divided what was left among the

believers. In May the bishop laid siege to the city. This had

the effect of confining the mad disorder to Münster. After the

destruction of all images, organs, and books, with exception

only of the Bible, community of goods was introduced. John of

Leyden got the council set aside as required by his revelations,

and appointed a theocratic government of twelve elders, who

took their inspiration from the prophet. He proclaimed polygamy,

himself taking seventeen wives, while Rottmann contented himself

with four. In vain did the moral conscience of the inhabitants

protest. The objectors were executed. One of his fellow prophets

proclaimed John king of the whole world. He set up a showy

and expensive establishment, and committed the most frightful

abominations. He regarded himself as called to inaugurate the

millennium, sent out twenty-eight apostles to extend his kingdom,

and named twelve dukes who should rule the world under him.

The besiegers made an unsuccessful attempt in August, A.D. 1534,

to storm the city. Had not aid been sent them before the end

of the year from Hesse, Treves, Cleves, Mainz, and Cologne,

they would have been obliged to raise the siege. Even then they

could only think of reducing the city by famine. It was already

in great straits. On St. John’s night, A.D. 1535, a deserter

led the troops to the walls. After a stubborn resistance the

Anabaptists were beaten. Rottmann threw himself into the hottest

of the fight, and there perished. John, with his chief officers,

was taken prisoner, put to death with frightful tortures on

22nd Jan., A.D. 1536, and then hung in chains from St. Lambert’s

tower. Catholicism was thus restored to absolute supremacy.

§ 133.7. =Extension of the Schmalcald league, A.D. 1536.=--A

war with France had broken out in A.D. 1536, which taxed all

the emperor’s resources. Francis I. had made a league with

Soliman for a combined attack upon the emperor. Instead therefore

of punishing the Protestant princes for their proceedings in

Württemberg, he was obliged to do all he could to conciliate

them, as Francis was bidding for their alliance. Ferdinand

therefore, from the summer of A.D. 1535, sought to ingratiate

himself with the Protestants. In November he received a visit

of the elector in Vienna, and granted the extension of the Peace

of Nuremberg to all nobles who since its ratification had become

Protestants. The elector then went to an assembly at Schmalcald,

where the Schmalcald League was extended for ten years, the

French embassy dismissed, and the opposition to Austria abandoned.

On the basis of the Vienna compact Württemberg, Pomerania, Anhalt,

and several cities were added to the league. Signature of the

Augsburg Confession was the indispensable condition of reception.

Bucer managed to win over the upland cities to accept this

condition.

§ 133.8. =The Wittenberg Concordat of A.D. 1536.=--Bucer and

ultimately Œcolampadius, made such concessions on the doctrine

of the sacraments as satisfied Luther, but they were rejected

by Bullinger of Zürich. In December, A.D. 1535, there was a

conference at Cassel between Bucer and Melanchthon. A larger

conference was afterward held at Wittenberg, at which Bucer

and Capito from Strassburg, and eight other distinguished

theologians from the uplands, were present. As they accepted

the formula “in, with, and under,” the only question remaining

was whether unbelievers partook of the body of Christ. They

admitted this in regard to the unworthy, but not, as Luther

wished, in regard to the godless and unbelieving. Luther was

satisfied. On 25th May, A.D. 1536, Melanchthon composed the

“Wittenberg Concord,” which was signed by all, and ratified

by the common partaking of the sacrament. In consequence of

this union effort, three of the Swiss theologians, Bullinger,

Myconius, and Grynæus seceded, and produced the _Confessio

Helvetica prior_, in which the Zwinglian doctrine of the

sacraments was moderately but firmly maintained.

§ 134. INCIDENTS OF THE YEARS A.D. 1537-1539.

Clement VII. made many excuses for postponing the calling of a

council. At last, in A.D. 1533, he declared himself willing to do

so in the course of the year; but he required of the Protestants

unconditional acceptance of its decisions, to which they would not

agree. His successor, Paul III., A.D. 1534-1549, called one to meet

at Mantua in A.D. 1537. Luther composed for it as a manifesto the

Schmalcald Articles; but finally the Protestants renewed their demand

for a free council in a German city. In A.D. 1538 the Catholic nobles

concluded the Holy Alliance at Nuremberg for carrying out the decrees

of the Diet of Augsburg; but the political difficulties of the emperor

compelled him to make new concessions to the Protestants in the

Frankfort Interim of A.D. 1539. But in the same year the duchy of

Saxony and the electorate of Brandenburg went over to the Reformation.

By the beginning of A.D. 1540 almost all North Germany was won. Duke

Henry of Brunswick alone held out for the old faith.

§ 134.1. =The Schmalcald Articles, A.D. 1537.=--In A.D. 1535

Paul III. sent his legate Vergerius (§ 139, 24) into Germany

to fix a place of meeting for the council. At Wittenberg he

conferred with Luther and Bugenhagen, who scarcely expecting

the council were indifferent as to the place. The council was

formally summoned to meet at Mantua on May 23rd, A.D. 1537. At

a diet at Schmalcald in Feb., A.D. 1537, the Protestants stated

their demands. Luther, by the elector’s orders, had drawn up

the articles of which the council must treat. These Schmalcald

Articles are distinctly polemical, and indicate boldly the

limits of the papal hierarchy demanded by evangelicals. The

first part states briefly four uncontested positions on the

Trinity and the Person of Christ; the second part deals with

the office and work of Christ or our redemption, and marks

abruptly the points of difference between the two confessions;

the third part treats of those points which the council may

further discuss. In the second part Luther unconditionally

rejected the primacy of the pope, as not of Divine right and

inconsistent with the character of a true evangelical Church.

When the articles had been subscribed by the theologians,

Melanchthon added under his name: “As to the pope, I hold

that if he will not oppress the gospel, for the sake of the

peace and unity of those Christians who are or may be under

him, his superiority over bishops _jure humano_ might be allowed

by us.” Melanchthon’s tracts on “The Power of the Pope” and the

“Jurisdiction of Bishops” were also subscribed by the theologians

and added to the Schmalcald Articles. It was then decided that

in order to secure a free Christian council it must be held in

a German city. The elector even made the bold proposal to have

a counter-council summoned, say, at Augsburg, by Luther and his

fellow bishops.

§ 134.2. =The League of Nuremberg, A.D. 1538.=--The Protestant

princes were astonished at the close of the Schmalcald

convention to be told by Vice-Chancellor Held, on behalf

of the emperor, that he did not recognise the Peace of

Cadau or the Vienna Compact, and that the prosecutions

would be resumed. They therefore resumed their old attitude

of opposition. But Held visited all the Catholic courts in

order to complete the formation of a Catholic league for

the suppression of Protestantism. Ferdinand, who knew well

that Held exceeded his instructions, was very angry, for the

emperor was in the greatest straits, but he could not offer

direct opposition without offending the Catholic princes. So

on July 10th, A.D. 1538, the Holy Alliance was actually formed

at Nuremberg, embracing George of Saxony, Albert of Brandenburg,

Henry and Eric of Brunswick, King Ferdinand, and the Archbishop

of Salzburg. The Schmalcald nobles prepared to meet force with

force. A general bloody engagement seemed unavoidable.

§ 134.3. =The Frankfort Interim, A.D. 1539.=--As the emperor

needed help against Soliman, he recalled Held, and sent in

his place John, formerly Archbishop of Leyden. The electors

of Brandenburg and the Palatinate went as mediators with the

new envoy to Frankfort, where negotiations were opened with

the Protestants present, who demanded an unconditional, lasting

peace, and a judiciary court with Protestant as well as Catholic

members. These demands were at first refused, but pressing

need obliged the emperor to reopen negotiations, proposing

that a diet should be held, consisting of learned theologians

and simple, peaceable laymen, to effect a final union of

Christians in faith and worship. He would also grant suspension

of all proceedings against the Protestants for eighteen months.

The Protestants accepted in this “Frankfort Interim” what had

been greatly sought for at the Diet of Nuremberg. It was a

victory of the Schmalcald over the Nuremberg League. The public

confidence in Protestantism grew, and the cause rapidly spread

into new regions.

§ 134.4. =The Reformation in Albertine Saxony, A.D. 1539.=--Duke

George of Saxony, A.D. 1500-1539, was a devoted adherent of the

old faith. Of his four sons only one survived, and he almost

imbecile. He had him married, but he died two months after

the marriage. The old prince was in perplexity, for his brother

Henry, an ardent supporter of the Reformation, was his next

heir. He could ill brook the idea of having the whole work of

his life immediately undone. On the day of the death of his last

son he proposed to his nobles a scheme of succession, according

to which his brother Henry should succeed him only if he joined

the Nuremberg League; otherwise it should go to the emperor

or the King of Rome. Duke Henry rejected the proposal, and

Duke George died before he could produce another scheme. With

loud rejoicing the people received their new prince, and their

allegiance was sworn to him at Leipzig. Luther was there, for

the first time for twenty years, and preached with extraordinary

success. The Reformation proceeded rapidly throughout the whole

district. The King of Rome wished indeed to question George’s

claim, but the Schmalcald League resolved to stand by him, so

that Ferdinand thought it prudent to take no further steps.

§ 134.5. =The Reformation in Brandenburg and Neighbouring

States, A.D. 1539.=--Henry of Neumark joined the Schmalcald

League, and introduced the Reformation into his territories;

but his brother Joachim II. of Brandenburg, A.D. 1535-1571,

for several years adhered to the old faith without forbidding

evangelical preaching, which gradually made an impression on

his own mind. In the beginning of A.D. 1539, with the approval

of his nobles, he gave his adhesion to the reformed doctrines.

The city of Berlin asked for communion in both kinds, and a

considerable section of the nobles of Brandenburg expressed a

hearty longing for the pure gospel. On November 1st, A.D. 1539,

Joachim assembled all the preachers of his land in the Nicolai

Church at Spandau, the Bishop of Brandenburg held the first

evangelical communion, and the whole court and many knights

received the communion in both kinds. The people followed the

example of the prince. Joachim sketched a service which let

several of the old ceremonies remain, but justification by

faith was the central point of the doctrine, and communion

in both kinds the centre of the worship. The Duchess Elizabeth

of Calenberg-Brunswick followed her brother’s example. After

the death of her husband Eric, who was otherwise minded, she

exercised her influence as regent for the spread of the reformed

religion. The Cardinal-archbishop and Elector of Mainz, Albert

of Brandenburg, sought to preserve his archiepiscopal diocese of

Magdeburg, but his constant calls for money would be responded

to only on condition that he granted liberty of preaching. At

his Halle residence he made vigorous resistance, but there too

was obliged to yield. Before his eyes, Justus Jonas, Luther’s

most trusted friend and fellow labourer, Prof. and Provost of

Wittenberg since A.D. 1521, carried on the work of Reformation

in the city. The cardinal, in a rage, left Halle and the “idol

of Halle” (§ 123, 8) for Mainz.--Mecklenburg also about this

time adopted the evangelical constitution, mainly promoted by

one of its princes, Magnus Bishop of Schwerin. The Abbess of

Quedlinburg, Anna von Stolberg, had not ventured, so long as

Duke George of Saxony lived, to bring forward her evangelical

confession; but now without opposition she reformed her convent

and the city.

§ 135. UNION ATTEMPTS OF A.D. 1540-1546.

The Frankfort Interim revived the idea of a free union among those

who in the main agreed upon matters of faith and worship. With the

object of realizing this idea a whole series of religious conferences

were held. But near as its realization at one time seemed to be all

the measures taken proved one after another abortive, because the

emperor would not recognise the conclusions of any conference at

which a papal legate was not present. And just at this time, when

the imposing might of the Protestant nobles excited the brightest

hopes, the Protestant princes themselves laid the grounds of their

deepest humiliation: the landgrave by his double marriage, and the

elector by his quarrels with the ducal Saxon court.

§ 135.1. =The Double Marriage of the Landgrave,

A.D. 1540.=--Landgrave Philip of Hesse had married Christina,

a daughter of the deceased Duke George of Saxony. Various causes

had led to an estrangement between them, and a strong sensuous

nature, which he had been unable to control, had driven him to

repeated acts of unfaithfulness. His conscience reproved him;

he felt himself unworthy to be admitted to communion, great

as his desire for it was, and doubted of his soul’s salvation.

From regard to his wife he could not think of a divorce. Then

came the idea, suggested by the O.T. polygamy that had not been

abrogated in the N.T., that with consent of his wife he might

enter into a regular second marriage with Margaret von der Saale,

one of his sister’s lady’s-maids. In Nov., A.D. 1539, he sent

Bucer to Wittenberg in order to get the advice of Luther and

Melanchthon. The alternative was either continued adultery, or

an honourable married life with a second wife taken with consent

of the first. Luther and Melanchthon entreated him earnestly

for his own and for the gospel’s sake to avoid this terrible

scandal, but haltingly admitted that the latter alternative

was less heinously wicked than the former. They added, however,

that in order to avoid scandal the marriage should be private,

and their answer regarded not as a theological opinion, but

confidential counsel. The landgrave had the marriage consummated

in May, A.D. 1540. But the story soon spread. The court of

Albertine Saxony was deeply incensed, the elector beside

himself with rage, the theologians in most extreme embarrassment.

Melanchthon started to attend a religious conference at Hagenau,

but the excitement over the unhappy business prostrated him

on a sick-bed at Weimar. The emperor threatened Philip with

the infliction of capital punishment, which by the law of the

empire was attached to the crime of bigamy. At last the elector

called a convention of Saxon and Hessian theologians at Eisenach

to consult about the matter. Luther refused to treat it as a

question of law, and demanded absolute privacy as the condition

of permission. Among the opponents of the Reformation, it was

Duke Henry of Brunswick who insisted upon exacting the utmost

penalties of the law. He indeed was least fitted by his own

character to assume the part of defender of morals. It was

well known that he was then living in adultery with Eva von

Trott, after her pretended death and burial. In his perplexity,

Philip turned to the imperial chancellor Granvella, who was

willing to intercede for him, but on conditions to which the

landgrave could not accede. At last, at the Diet of Regensburg,

in A.D. 1541, Philip undertook to further the imperial interests

and to join no union in any way inimical to these; and upon

these terms the emperor agreed to grant him a full indemnity.

§ 135.2. =The Religious Conference at Worms,

A.D. 1540.=--Negotiations for peace with France having failed,

the emperor still required the support of the Protestant

party. He therefore agreed to the holding of a religious

conference at =Worms=, in order to reach if possible a good

mutual understanding on the basis of Holy Scripture. It was

held in Nov., A.D. 1540, under the presidency of Granvella.

On one side were Melanchthon, Bucer, Capito, Brenz, and Calvin;

on the other, Eck, Gropper, canon of Cologne, the Spaniard

Malvenda, etc. But the emperor had insisted on the papal

nuncio Marone taking part, and this, contrary to his intention,

brought the whole affair to naught. For Marone first of all

presented a number of formal objections, and when at last,

in Jan., A.D. 1541, the conference began, and awakened the

utmost apprehensions for the papacy, he rested not till

Granvella, even before the first article on original sin had

been discussed, dissolved the conference in the name and by

command of the emperor. But the emperor did not give up the

idea of conciliation, and called a diet at Regensburg, at

which the negotiations were to be renewed.

§ 135.3. =The Religious Conference at Regensburg,

A.D. 1541.=--The diet at Regensburg was opened on April 5th,

A.D. 1541. The emperor, anxious to reach a peaceable conclusion,

named as members of the conference Eck, Gropper, and Julius

von Pflugk, Dean of Meissen, on the one side; and Melanchthon,

Bucer, and Pistorius, on the other side; with Granvella and

Frederick, count-palatine, as presidents. The nuncio Contarini

was representative of the curia. By such a gathering the emperor

hoped to reach the wished for conclusion. In Italy (§ 139, 22)

there had sprung up a number of men well instructed in Scripture,

who sought to reform the doctrine of the church by adopting the

principle of justification by faith without touching the primacy

of the pope and the whole hierarchical system. Contarini was one

of the leaders of this party. He had come to an understanding

with the emperor that justification by faith, the use of

the cup in communion by the laity, and marriage of priests

should be allowed for Germany, and that, on the other hand,

the Protestants were to agree to the primacy of the pope. The

_justitia imputativa_ was acknowledged by both parties; and

even when Contarini, on the basis of that imputation, insisted

upon a _justitia inhærens_, _i.e._ not merely a declaring but

a making righteous, seeing that he grounded it solely on the

merits of Christ, the Protestants acquiesced. Differences arose

over the doctrine of the church, which were reserved for another

occasion. And now they came to the sacrament of the altar.

Communion in both kinds was agreed to by both; but trouble

arose over the word transubstantiation. Not only Eck, who had

opposed all concessions, but even Contarini, who had his orders

from Rome, would not yield. No more would the Protestants.

The conference had therefore to be dissolved. The emperor

wished both parties to accept the articles agreed on as

a common standard, and to have toleration granted upon the

disputed points; but the Catholic majority would not agree

to this. The Regensburg Interim, therefore, as the decision

of the diet is usually called, extends the Nuremberg Peace

(§ 133, 2) to all presently members of the Schmalcald League,

and enforced upon Protestants only the accepted articles.

§ 135.4. =The Regensburg Declaration, A.D. 1541.=--The emperor,

in order to satisfy the naturally dissatisfied Protestants,

made a special declaration, annulling the prosecutions decree

of the Augsburg Diet and relieving the adherents of the Augsburg

Confession from all disabilities. Also the injunction that no

one should withhold their dues from the clergy was extended

to the Protestant ministers. But on the very day when the

declaration was issued the emperor held a private session

with the Catholic majority, in which the Nuremberg League was

renewed and the pope received into it. Thus he hoped to receive

help from all parties and to ward off internecine conflict till

a more convenient season. He concluded a separate treaty with

the landgrave and the Elector Joachim II., both undertaking

to support imperial interests. The elector expressly promised

not to join the Schmalcald League; and the landgrave promised

to oppose all consorting of the league not only with foreign

powers (England and France), but also with the Duke of Cleves,

with whom the emperor had a standing feud. In return the

landgrave was granted an amnesty for all previous delinquencies

and undisturbed liberty in matters of religion. The emperor’s

negotiations with the Elector of Saxony broke down over the

Cleves dispute, for the Duke of Cleves was his brother-in-law.

§ 135.5. =The Naumburg Bishopric, A.D. 1541, 1542.=--Since

A.D. 1520 the Lutheran doctrines had spread in the diocese

of Naumburg. When the bishop died, in A.D. 1511, the chapter

elected the learned and mild provost Julius von Pflugk. But

the elector regarded it as proper in a Lutheran state to have a

Lutheran bishop, and so refused to confirm Pflugk’s appointment,

and had Nic. von Arnsdorf (§ 127, 4) ordained bishop by Luther,

in A.D. 1542, “without chrism, butter, suet, lard, tar, grease,

incense, and coals.” The civil administration of the diocese was

committed to an electoral officer; Arnsdorf was satisfied with

the small income of 600 florins and the rest of the revenues

were applied to pious uses. After the battle of Mühlberg,

in A.D. 1547, Arnsdorf was expelled and Pflugk restored. On

his death in 1564, the chapter, though then Lutheran, did not

restore Arnsdorf, but gave over the administration to a Saxon

prince. The elector’s violent procedure in this case caused

great offence to the Albertine court. Duke Henry had died in

A.D. 1541, and was succeeded by his son Maurice. The elector

and the young duke quarrelled over a question of jurisdiction,

and it was only with great difficulty that Luther and the

landgrave managed to effect a peaceful solution of the dispute.

But the mutual estrangement and rivalry between the courts soon

afterwards broke out in a violent form.

§ 135.6. =The Reformation in Brunswick and the Palatinate,

A.D. 1542-1546.=--Duke Henry of Brunswick accused the city

of Goslar of the destruction of two monasteries, and in spite

of all the concessions to Protestants the court pronounced

the ban against the city, and empowered Henry to carry it

out. The elector and the landgrave, acting for the Schmalcald

League in defence of the city, entered Henry’s territory in

A.D. 1542 and conquered it. The gospel was now preached, and an

evangelical constitution was given to Brunswick by Bugenhagen.

This completed the conquest of North Germany for the gospel.--In

South Germany Regensburg received the Reformation in A.D. 1542;

but Bavaria, owing to Ferdinand’s influence, gave no place to

the heretics. In the Upper Palatinate evangelical preachers

had for a long time been tolerated. The young prince of

the Neuburg Palatinate in A.D. 1543 called Osiander from

Nuremburg [Nuremberg], and joined the Schmalcald League.

The Elector-palatine Louis died in A.D. 1543. His brother

Frederick II., who succeeded him was not unfavourable to the

Reformation, and formally introduced it into his dominions in

A.D. 1546. Even in Austria evangelical views made such advance

that Ferdinand neither could nor would attempt those violent

measures that he had previously tried.

§ 135.7. =The Reformation in the Electorate of Cologne,

A.D. 1542-1544.=--Hermann von Weid (§ 133, 5), Archbishop and

Elector of Cologne, now far advanced in life, by the study of

Luther’s Bible had convinced himself of the scripturalness of

the Augsburg Confession. He resolved to reform his province

in accordance with God’s word. At the Bonn Assembly of March,

A.D. 1542, he made known his plan, and found himself supported

by his nobles. He invited Bucer to inaugurate the work, and

he was soon joined by Melanchthon. In July, A.D. 1543, the

elector laid before the nobles his Reformation scheme, and

they unanimously accepted it. The cathedral chapter and the

university opposed it in the interests of the papacy; also

the Cologne council from fear of losing their authority.

Nevertheless the movement advanced, and it was hoped that the

opposition would gradually be overcome. Cologne was to remain

after as before an ecclesiastical principality, but with an

evangelical constitution. The Bishop of Münster prepared to

follow the example, and had the work in Cologne been lasting,

certainly many others would have pursued the same course.

§ 135.8. =The Emperor’s Difficulties, A.D. 1543, 1544.=--Soliman

in A.D. 1541 had overrun Hungary, converted the principal

church into a mosque, and set a pasha over the whole land,

which now became a Turkish province. Aid against the Turks

was voted at a diet at Spires in the beginning of A.D. 1542,

and the Protestants were left unmolested for five years after

the conclusion of the war. The campaign against the Turks led

by Joachim II. was unsuccessful. Meanwhile new troubles arose

with France, and Soliman prepared for a second campaign.

The emperor now summoned a diet to meet at Nuremberg, Jan.,

A.D. 1543. Ferdinand was willing to grant to the Protestants

the Regensburg Declaration, but William of Bavaria would rather

see the whole world perish or the crescent ruling over all

Germany. In summer of A.D. 1543 the emperor was beset with

dangers from every side; France attacked the Netherlands,

Soliman conquered Grau, the Danes closed the Sound against

the subjects of the emperor, a Turco-French fleet held sway

in the Mediterranean and had already taken Nizza, and the

Protestants were assuming a threatening attitude. Christian III.

of Denmark and Gustavus Vasa of Sweden asked to be received

into the Schmalcald League. The Duke of Cleves, too, broke

his truce. This roused the emperor most of all. He rushed down

upon Cleves and Gelderland, and conquered them, and restored

Catholicism. The emperor’s circumstances now improved: Cleves

was quieted; Denmark and England came to terms with him. But

his most dangerous enemies, Soliman and Francis I., were still

in arms. He could not yet dispense with the powerful support

of the Protestants.

§ 135.9. =Diet at Spires, A.D. 1544.=--In order to get

help against the Turks and French, at the Diet of Spires,

in Feb., A.D. 1544, the emperor relieved the Protestants of

all disabilities, promised a genuine, free Christian council

to settle matters in dispute, and, in case this should not

succeed, in next autumn a national assembly to determine

matters definitely without pope or council. The emperor promised

to propose a scheme of Reformation, and invited the other nobles

to bring forward schemes. After such concessions the Protestants

went in heartily with the emperor’s political projects. He

wished first of all help against the French. In the same year

the emperor led against France an army composed mostly of

Protestants, and in Sept., A.D. 1544, obliged the king to

conclude the Peace of Crespy. The Turks had next to be dealt

with, and the Protestants were eager to show their devotion

to the emperor. In prospect of the national assembly the

Elector of Saxony set his theologians to the composition of

a plan of Reformation. This document, known as the “Wittenberg

Reformation,” allows to the prelates their spiritual and civil

functions, their revenues, goods, and jurisdiction, the right

of ordination, visitation, and discipline, on condition that

these be exercised in an evangelical spirit.

§ 135.10. =Differences between the Emperor and the Protestant

Nobles, A.D. 1545, 1546.=--The pope by calling a council to

meet at Trent sowed seeds of discord between the emperor and

the Protestants. The emperor’s proposals of reform were so

far short of the demands of the Protestants that they were

unanimously rejected. The Reformation movement in Cologne had

seriously imperilled the imperial government of the Netherlands.

An attempt of Henry to reconquer Brunswick was frustrated by the

combined action of the Landgrave of Hesse and the Duke of Saxony.

Frederick II., elector-palatine, began to reform his provinces

and to seek admission to the Schmalcald League. Four of the

six electors had gone over, and the fifth, Sebastian, who after

Albert’s death in A.D. 1545 had been, by Hessian and Palatine

influence, made Elector of Mainz, had just resolved to follow

their example. All these things had greatly irritated the

emperor. He concluded a truce with the Turks in Oct., A.D. 1545,

and arranged with the pope, who pledged his whole possessions

and crown, for the campaign against the heretics. On 13th Dec.,

A.D. 1545, the pope opened the =Council of Trent=, and made

it no secret that it was intended for the destruction of the

Protestants. The emperor attempted to get the Protestants to

take part. In Jan., A.D. 1546, a conference was held in which

Cochlæus (§ 129, 1) and others met with Bucer, Brenz, and Major;

but it was soon dissolved, owing to initial differences. The

horrible fratricide committed at Neuburg upon a Spaniard, Juan

Diaz, showed the Protestants how good Catholics thought heretics

must be dealt with. The murderer was seized, but by order of the

pope to the Bishop of Trent set again at liberty. He remained

unpunished, but hanged himself at Trent A.D. 1551.

§ 135.11. =Luther’s Death, A.D. 1546.=--Luther died at Eisleben

in his 63rd year on 18th Feb., 1546. During his last years he

was harassed with heavy trials. The political turn that affairs

had taken was wholly distasteful to him, but he was powerless to

prevent it. In Wittenberg itself much was done not in accordance

with his will. Wearied with his daily toils, suffering severe

pain and consequent bodily weakness, he often longed to die

in peace. In the beginning of A.D. 1546 the Counts of Mansfeld

called him to Eisleben in order to compose differences between

them by his impartial judgment. In order to perform this

business he spent the three last weeks of his life in his

birthplace, and, with scarcely any previous illness, on the

night of the 18th Feb., he peacefully fell asleep in Jesus.

His body was taken to Wittenberg and there buried in the

castle church.

§ 136. THE SCHMALCALD WAR, THE INTERIM, AND THE COUNCIL,

A.D. 1546-1551.

All attempts at agreement in matters of religion were at an end.

The pope, however, had at last convened a council in a German city.

The emperor hoped to conciliate the Protestants by bringing about

a reformation after a fashion, removing many hierarchical abuses,

conceding the marriage of the clergy, the cup to the laity, and even

perhaps accepting the doctrine of justification. But he soon came to

a rupture with the Protestants, and war broke out before the Schmalcald

Leaguers were prepared for it. Their power, however, was far superior

to that of the emperor; but through needless scruples, delays, and

indecision they let slip the opportunity of certain victory. The power

of the league was utterly destroyed, and the emperor’s power reached

the summit of its strength. All Southern Germany was forced to submit

to the hated interim, and in North Germany only the outlawed Magdeburg

ventured to maintain, in spite of the emperor, a pure Protestant

profession.

§ 136.1. =Preparations for the Schmalcald War, A.D. 1546.=--In

consequence of variances among the members of the league the

emperor conceived a plan of securing allies from among the

Protestants themselves by a judicious distribution of favours.

The Margrave Hans of Cüstrin and Duke Eric of Brunswick, the

one cousin, the other son-in-law, of the exiled and imprisoned

Duke of Wolfenbüttel, were ready to take part in war against the

robbers of their friend’s dominions. Much more eager, however,

was the emperor to win over the young Duke Maurice of Saxony. He

tempted him with the promise of the electorate and the greater

part of the elector’s territory, and was successful. The emperor

could not indeed formally release any of them from submission

to the council, but he promised in any case to reserve for

their countries the doctrine of justification, the cup in lay

communion, and the marriage of priests. Now when he was sure

of Maurice the emperor proceeded openly with his preparations,

and made no secret of his intention to punish those princes who

had despised his imperial authority and taken to themselves the

possessions of others. The Schmalcald Leaguers could no longer

deceive themselves, and so they began their preparations.

With such an open breach the Diet of Regensburg ended in June,

A.D. 1546.

§ 136.2. =The Campaign on the Danube, A.D. 1546.=--Schärtlin,

at the head of a powerful army, could have attacked the emperor

or taken the Tyrol; but the council of war, listening to William

of Bavaria, who professed neutrality, and hoping to win over

Ferdinand, foolishly ordered delay. Thus the emperor gained

time to collect an army. On 20th June, A.D. 1546, he issued

from Regensburg a ban against the Landgrave Philip and the

Elector John Frederick as oath-breaking vassals. These princes

at the head of their forces had joined Schärtlin at Donauwörth

[Donauwört]. Papal despatches fell into their hands, in which

the pope proclaimed a crusade for the rooting out of heretics,

promising indulgence to all who would aid in the work. Fatal

indecision still prevailed in the council of war, and winter

came on without a battle being fought. The news that Maurice

had taken possession of the elector’s domains led the landgrave

and the ex-elector to return home, and Schärtlin, for want of

money and ammunition, was unable to face a winter campaign in

Franconia. Thus the whole country lay open to the emperor. One

city after another accepted terms more or less severe. In the

beginning of A.D. 1547 he was master of all Southern Germany.

Now at last he put an end to the Cologne movement (§ 135, 7).

The pope had issued the ban against the archbishop in A.D. 1546,

and now the emperor had the former coadjutor proclaimed

archbishop and elector, in spite of the opposition of the

nobles. Hermann was willing to secure the religious peace of

his dominions by resignation, but this was refused, and being

too weak to offer resistance, he resigned unconditionally. Thus

the Rhine provinces were irretrievably lost to Protestantism.

§ 136.3. =The Campaign on the Elbe, A.D. 1547.=--After rapidly

reconquering his own territories, the Elector John Frederick

hastened with a considerable army to meet his enemy. At Mühlberg

he suddenly came upon the emperor’s forces. There scarcely was

a battle. His comparatively small armament melted away before

the superior numbers of the imperial host, and the elector was

taken prisoner on 24th April, A.D. 1547. He had already been

sentenced to death as a rebel and heretic. It was deemed more

prudent to require of him only the surrender of his fortresses.

The pious prince willingly resigned all temporal dignities, but

in matters of religion he was inflexible. He was sentenced to

life-long imprisonment and his possessions were mostly given

to Maurice. The Landgrave Philip, for want of money, ammunition,

and troops, had been prevented from doing anything. The news

of John Frederick’s misfortunes brought him almost to despair.

Too powerless to offer opposition, he surrendered at discretion

to the emperor. He was to prostrate himself before the emperor,

surrender all his fortresses, neither now nor in future suffer

enemies of the emperor in his lands, and for all his life to

renounce all leagues, to liberate Henry of Brunswick and restore

him to his dominions. The ceremony of prostration was performed

at Halle on 19th July. The two electors with the landgrave

then went by invitation to a supper with the Duke of Alba.

After supper the duke declared the landgrave his prisoner.

The elector’s remonstrances then with Alba and next day with

the imperial councillors were all in vain. The emperor was

equally deaf to all representations.

§ 136.4. =The Council of Trent, A.D. 1545-1547.=--The Council

of Trent opened in Dec., A.D. 1545 (§ 149, 2). At the outset,

contrary to the emperor’s wishes, the pope laid down conditions

that excluded Protestants from taking part in it. Scripture and

tradition were first discussed. The O.T. Apocrypha (§§ 59, 1;

161, 8) had equal authority assigned it with the other books

of the O. and N.T., and the Vulgate was declared to be the

only authentic text for theological discussions and sermons.

Tradition was placed on equal terms alongside of Scripture,

but its contents were carefully defined. Original sin was

extinguished by baptism, and after baptism there is only

actual transgression. The scholastic doctrine of justification

was sanctioned anew, but accommodated as far as possible to

Scripture phraseology; justification is the inward actual change

of a sinner into a righteous man, not merely the forgiveness

of sins, but pre-eminently the sanctification and renewal of

the inner man. It is effected, not so much by the imputation

of Christ’s merits, as by the infusion of habitual righteousness,

which enables men to win salvation by works. It is not forensic,

but a physical act of God, is wrought not once for all, and not

by faith alone, but gradually by the free co-operation of the

man. The emperor, who saw in these decisions the overthrow of

his attempts at conciliation, was highly displeased, and wished

at least to postpone their promulgation. The pope obeyed for

a time; but when the emperor threatened to interfere in the

proceedings of the council, he had the decrees published, Jan.,

A.D. 1547, and some weeks after, on the plea of a dangerous

plague having broken out, removed the council to Bologna, where

for the time proceedings were suspended.

§ 136.5. =The Augsburg Interim, A.D. 1548.=--At a diet

at Augsburg in Sept., A.D. 1547, the Protestants declared

themselves willing to submit to a council meeting again at

Trent, and beginning afresh; but as the pope refused this,

the emperor was obliged to plan an interim, which should form

a standard for all parties till a settlement at a proper council

should be reached. It granted the cup to the laity and marriage

of priests, but held by the Tridentine doctrine of justification.

It represented the pope as simply the highest bishop, in whom

the unity of the church is visibly set forth. The right of

interpreting Scripture was given exclusively to the church.

The sacraments were enumerated as seven, and the doctrine

of transubstantiation emphatically maintained. The duty of

fasting, and seeking the intercession of the mother of God

and the saints, observing all Catholic ceremonies of worship,

processions, festivals, etc., was strictly insisted upon. The

emperor was satisfied, and so too some of the Protestant princes.

Maurice, however, felt that his people would not agree to its

adoption. He gave at last a half assent, which the emperor

accepted as approval. The emperor took no notice of those who

opposed it, the presence of his Spaniards in their dominions

would prevent all trouble. The emperor was not strong enough

to force the Catholic nobles to accept his interim, and so its

observance was to be binding only on the Protestants. Landgrave

Philip, whose power was for ever broken, gave in, but nothing

in the world would induce the noble John Frederick to submit.

The pope too refused persistently to recognise the interim, and

only in Aug., A.D. 1549, did he allow the bishops to agree to

the concessions made by it to the Protestants.

§ 136.6. =The Execution of the Interim= had on all sides to

be compulsorily enforced. Nuremberg, Augsburg, Ulm were one

after another coerced into adopting it. Constance resisted,

was put under the ban, and lost all privileges, till at last

instead of the interim the papacy found entrance, and evangelical

Protestantism got its death-blow. The other cities submitted to

the inevitable. All preachers refusing the interim were exiled

and persecuted. Over 400 true servants of the word wandered with

wives and children through South Germany homeless and without

bread. Frecht of Ulm was taken in chains to the emperor’s camp.

Brenz, one of the most determined opponents of the interim,

during his wanderings often by a miracle escaped capture. Much

more lasting was the opposition in North Germany. In Magdeburg,

still lying under the imperial ban, the fugitive opponents of

the interim gathered from all sides, and there alone was the

press still free in its utterances against the interim. A

flood of controversial tracts, satires, and caricatures were

sent out over all Germany. In Hesse and Brandenburg the princes

were unable to enforce the obnoxious measures; still less could

Maurice do so in the electorate.

§ 136.7. =The Leipzig or Little Interim, A.D. 1549.=--Maurice

in his difficulties sent for Melanchthon. Since the death

of Luther and the overthrow of John Frederick of Saxony,

Melanchthon’s tendency to yield largely for peace’ sake had

lost its wholesome checks. In writing to the minister Carlowitz,

the bitterest foe of Luther and the elector, he even went so far

as to complain of Luther’s combativeness. The result of various

negotiations was the drawing up of a document at the assembly in

Leipzig, 22nd December, A.D. 1548, by the Wittenberg theologians

in accordance with the views of Melanchthon. This modified

interim became the standard for religious practice in Saxony,

and a directory of worship in harmony with it was drawn up

by the theologians, and published in July, A.D. 1549. Calvin

and Brenz wrote letters that cut Melanchthon to the heart.

The measure was everywhere viewed by zealous Lutherans with

indignation, and the Interim of Leipzig was even more hateful

to the people than that of Augsburg. Imprisonment and exile

were vigorously carried out by means of it, yet the revolution

and ferment continued to increase.--The Leipzig Interim treated

Romish customs and ceremonies almost as things indifferent,

passed over many less essential doctrinal differences, and

gave to fundamental differences such a setting as might

be applied equally to the pure evangelical doctrine as to

that of the Augsburg Interim. The evangelical doctrine of

justification was essentially there, but it was not decidedly

and unambiguously expressed; and still less were Romish errors

sharply and unmistakably repudiated. Good works were said to

be necessary, but not in the sense that one could win salvation

by means of them. Whether good works in excess of the law’s

demands could be performed was not explicitly determined. On

church and hierarchy, the positions of the Augsburg Interim

were simply restated. To the pope as the highest bishop, as well

as to the other bishops, who performed their duties according

to God’s will for edification and not destruction, all churchmen

were to yield obedience. The seven sacraments were acknowledged,

though in another than the Romish sense. In the mass the Latin

language was again introduced. Images of saints were allowed,

but not for worship; so too the festivals of Mary and of _Corpus

Christi_, but without processions, etc.

§ 136.8. =The Council again at Trent, A.D. 1551.=--In September,

A.D. 1549, Paul III. dissolved the council at Bologna, where it

had done nothing. His successor, =Julius III.=, A.D. 1550-1555,

the nominee of the imperial party, acceded to the emperor’s

wishes to have the council again held at Trent. The Protestant

nobles declared their willingness to recognise it, but demanded

the cancelling of the earlier proceedings, a seat and vote for

their representatives. This the emperor was prepared to grant,

but the pope and prelates would not agree. The council began

its proceedings on 1st May, A.D. 1551, with the doctrine of

the Lord’s Supper. Meanwhile the Protestants prepared a new

confession, which might form the basis of their discussions

in the council. Melanchthon, who was beginning to take courage

again, sketched the _Confessio Saxonica_, or, as it has been

rightly named, the _Repetitio Confessionis Augustanæ_, in which

no trace of the indecision and ambiguity of the Leipzig Interim

is to be found. The pure doctrine is set forth firmly, with even

a polemical tone, though in a moderate and conciliatory manner.

Brenz, who had been in hiding up to this time, by order of Duke

Christopher of Württemberg, sketched for a like purpose the

“Württemberg Confession.” In November, A.D. 1551, the first

Protestants, lay delegates from Württemberg and Strassburg,

appeared in Trent. They were followed in January by Saxon

statesmen. On 24th January, A.D. 1552, these laid their

credentials before the council, but, notwithstanding all

the effort of the imperial commissioners, they could not gain

admission. In March the Württemberg and Strassburg theologians

arrived, with Brenz at their head, and Melanchthon, with two

Leipzig preachers, was on the way, when suddenly Maurice put

an end to all their well concerted plans.

§ 137A. MAURICE AND THE PEACE OF AUGSBURG A.D. 1550-1555.

In the beginning of A.D. 1550 the affairs of the Reformation were

in a worse condition than ever before. In the fetters of the interim,

it was like a felon on whom the death sentence was about to be passed.

Then just at the right time appeared the Elector Maurice as the man

who could break the fetters and lead on again to power and honour.

His betrayal of the cause had brought Protestantism to the verge of

destruction; his betrayal of the emperor proved its salvation. The

Compact of Passau guaranteed to Protestants full religious liberty

and equal rights with Catholics until a new council should meet. The

Religious Peace of Augsburg removed even this limitation, and brought

to a conclusion the history of the German Reformation.

§ 137.1. =The State of Matters in A.D. 1550.=--It was a doleful

time for Germany. The emperor at the height of his power was

laying his plans for securing the succession in the imperial

dignity to his son Philip of Spain. In a bold, autocratic

spirit he trampled on all the rights of the imperial nobles,

and contrary to treaty he retained the presence of Spanish

troops in the empire, which daily committed deeds of atrocious

violence. The deliverance of the landgrave was stubbornly

refused, though all the conditions thereof were long ago

fulfilled. Protestant Germany groaned under the yoke of the

interim; the council would only confirm this, if not rather

enforce something even worse. Only one bulwark of evangelical

liberty stood in the emperor’s way, the brave, outlawed

Magdeburg. But how could it continue to hold out? Down to

autumn, A.D. 1552, all attempts to storm the city had failed.

Then Maurice undertook, by the order of the emperor and at the

cost of the empire, to execute the ban.

§ 137.2. =The Elector Maurice, A.D. 1551.--Maurice had lost the

hearts of his own people, and was regarded with detestation by

the Protestants of Germany, and notwithstanding imperial favour

his position was by no means secure. Yet he was too much of the

German and Protestant prince to view with favour the emperor’s

proceedings, while he felt indignant at the illegal detention

of his father-in-law. In these circumstances he resolved to

betray the emperor, as before he had betrayed to him the cause

of Protestantism. A master in dissimulation, he continued the

siege of Magdeburg with all diligence, but at the same time

joined a secret league with the Margrave Hans of Cüstrin and

Albert of Franconian Brandenburg, as also with the sons of the

landgrave, for the restoration of evangelical and civil liberty,

and entered into negotiations with Henry II. of France, who

undertook to aid him with money. Magdeburg at last capitulated,

and Maurice entered on 4th November, A.D. 1551. Arrears of

pay formed an excuse for not disbanding the imperial troops,

and, strengthened by the Magdeburg garrison and the auxiliary

troops of his allies, he threw off the mask, and issued public

proclamations in which he brought bitter charges against the

emperor, and declared that he could no longer lie under the

feet of priests and Spaniards. The emperor in vain appealed for

help to the Catholic princes. He found himself without troops

or money at Innsbrück, which could not stand a siege, and every

road to his hereditary territories seemed closed, for where

the leagued German princes were not the Ottomans on sea and

the French on land were ready to oppose him. Maurice was already

on the way to Innsbrück “to seek out the fox in his hole.” But

his troops’ demands for pay detained him, and the emperor gained

time. On a cold, wet night he fled, though not yet recovered

from fever, over the mountains covered with snow, and found

refuge in Villach. Three days after Maurice entered Innsbrück;

the council had already dissolved.

§ 137.3. =The Compact of Passau, A.D. 1552.=--Before the

flight of the emperor from Innsbrück, Maurice had an interview

with Ferdinand at Linz, where, besides the liberation of the

landgrave, he demanded a German national assembly for religious

union, and till it met unconditional toleration. The emperor,

notwithstanding all his embarrassments, would not listen to the

proposal. Negotiations were reopened at Passau, and Maurice’s

proposals were in the main accepted. Ferdinand consented, but

the emperor would not. Ferdinand himself travelled to Villach

and employed all his eloquence, but unconditional toleration

the emperor would not grant. His stubbornness conquered; the

majority gave in, and accepted a compact which gave to the

Protestants a full amnesty, general peace, and equal rights,

till the meeting of a national or œcumenical council, to be

arranged for at the next diet. Meanwhile the emperor had made

great preparations. Frankfort was his main stronghold, and

against it Maurice now advanced, and began the siege. Matters

were not promising, when the Passau delegate appeared in his

camp with the draft of the terms of peace. Had he refused his

signature, the ban would have been pronounced against him,

and his cousin would have been restored to the electorate.

He therefore subscribed the document. With difficulty Ferdinand

secured the subscription of the emperor, who believed himself

to be sufficiently strong to carry on the battle. The two

imprisoned princes were now at last liberated, and the preachers

exiled by the interim were allowed to return. John Frederick

died in A.D. 1554, and the Landgrave Philip in A.D. 1567.

§ 137.4. =Death of Maurice, A.D. 1553.=--The Margrave Albert

of Brandenburg had been Maurice’s comrade in the Schmalcald

war, and with him also he turned against the emperor. But after

the ratification of the Passau Compact, to which he was not a

party, Albert continued the war against the prelates and their

principalities. He now fell out with Maurice, and was taken into

his service by the emperor, who not only granted him an amnesty

for all his acts of spoliation and breaches of the truce, but

promised to enforce recognition of him from all the bishops.

Albert therefore helped the emperor against the French, and

then carried his conquests into Germany. Soon an open rupture

occurred between him and Maurice. In the battle of Sievershausen

Maurice gained a brilliant victory, but received a mortal wound,

of which he died in two days. Albert fled to France. The rude

soldier was broken down by misfortune, the religious convictions

of his youth awakened, and the composition of a beautiful and

well-known German hymn marks the turning point in his life.

He died in A.D. 1557.--The year 1554 was wholly occupied with

internal troubles. A desire for a lasting peace prevailed, and

the calamities of both parties brought Protestants and Catholics

nearer to one another. Even Henry of Brunswick was willing to

tolerate Protestantism in his dominions.

§ 137.5. =The Religious Peace of Augsburg, A.D. 1555.=--When

the diet met at Augsburg in February, A.D. 1555, the emperor’s

power was gone. To save his pride and conscience he renounced

all share in its proceedings in favour of his brother.

The Protestant members stood well together in claiming

unconditional religious freedom, and Ferdinand inclined

to their side. Meanwhile Pope Julius died, and the cardinals

Morone and Truchsess hasted from the diet to Rome to take part

in the papal election. The Catholic opposition was thus weakened

in the diet. The Protestants insisted that the peace should

apply to all who might in future join this confession. This

demand gave occasion to strong contests. At last the simple

formula was agreed upon, that no one should be interfered with

on account of the Augsburg Confession. But a more vehement

dispute arose as to what should happen if prelates or spiritual

princes should join the Protestant party. This was a vital

question for Catholicism, and acceptance of the Protestant

view would be its deathblow. It was therefore proposed that

every prelate who went over would lose, not only his spiritual

rank, but also his civil dominion. But the opposition would

not give in. Both parties appealed to Ferdinand, and he

delayed giving a decision. Advice was also asked about the

peace proclamation. The Protestants claimed that the judges

of the imperial court should be sworn to observe the Religious

Peace, and should be chosen in equal numbers from both religious

parties. On 30th Aug. Ferdinand stated his resolution. As

was expected, he went with the Catholics in regard to prelates

becoming Protestants, but, contrary to all expectations, he

also refused lasting unconditional peace. On this last point,

however, he declared himself on 6th Sept. willing to yield

if the Protestants would concede the point about the prelates.

They sought to sell their concession as dearly as possible

by securing to evangelical subjects of Catholic princes the

right to the free exercise of their religion. But the Catholic

prelates, on the ground of the territorial system (§ 126, 6)

advocated by the Protestants themselves, would not give in.

It was finally agreed that every noble in matters of religion

had territorial authority, but that subjects of another faith,

in case of the free exercise of their religion being refused,

should have guaranteed unrestricted liberty to withdraw without

loss of honour, property, or freedom. On 25th Sept., A.D. 1555,

the decrees of the diet were promulgated. The Reformed were

not included in the Religious Peace; this was first done in

the Peace of Westphalia (§ 153, 2).

§ 137B. GERMANY AFTER THE RELIGIOUS PEACE.

The political importance of the Protestant princes was about equal

to that of the Catholics; the Electors of Cologne, Mainz, and Treves

were not more powerful than those of Saxony, the Palatinate, and

Brandenburg; and the great array of Protestant cities, with almost

all the minor princes, were not behind the combined forces of Austria

and Bavaria. The maintenance of the peace was assigned to a legally

constituted corporation of Catholic and Protestant nobles, which held

power down to A.D. 1806. The hope of reaching a mutual understanding

on matters of religion was by no means abandoned, but the continuance

of the peace was to be in no way dependent upon its realization. A new

attempt to effect a union, which like all previous efforts ended in

failure, was soon made in the Worms Consultation. Equally unsuccessful

was a union project of the emperor Ferdinand I. Protestantism could get

no more out of the Catholic princes. A second attempt to protestantize

the Cologne electorate broke down as the first had done (§ 136, 2).

§ 137.6. =The Worms Consultation, A.D. 1557.=--Another effort

was made after the failure of the council in the interests of

union. Catholic and Protestant delegates under the presidency

of Pflugk met at Worms in A.D. 1557. At a preliminary meeting

the princes of Hesse, Württemburg [Württemberg], and the

Palatinate adopted the Augsburg Confession as bond of union

and standard for negotiations. The Saxon delegates insisted

upon a distinct repudiation of the interim and the insertion

of other details, which gave the Catholics an excuse for putting

an end to the negotiations. They had previously expressly

refused to acknowledge Scripture as the unconditional and

sole judge of controversies, as that was itself a matter in

dispute (§ 136, 4).

§ 137.7. =Second Attempt at Reformation in the Electorate of

Cologne, A.D. 1582.=--The Archbishop and Elector of Cologne,

Gebhard Truchsess of Waldburg went over in A.D. 1582 to the

Protestant Church, married the Countess Agnes of Mansfeld,

proclaimed religious freedom, and sought to convert his

ecclesiastical principality into a temporal dominion. His

plan was acceptable to nobles and people, but the clergy of

his diocese opposed it with all their might. The pope thundered

the ban against him, and Emperor Rudolph II. deposed him. The

Protestant princes at last deserted him, and the newly elected

archbishop, Duke Ernest of Bavaria, overpowered him by an armed

force. The issue of Gebhard’s attempt struck terror into other

prelates who had been contemplating similar moves.

§ 137.8. =The German Emperor.=--=Ferdinand I.=, A.D. 1556-1564,

conciliatory toward Protestantism, thoroughly dissatisfied

with the Tridentine Council, once and again made attempts to

secure a union, which all ended in failure. =Maximilian II.=,

A.D. 1564-1576, imbued by his tutor, Wolfgang Severus, with an

evangelical spirit, which was deepened under the influence of

his physician Crato von Crafftheim (§ 141, 10), gave perfect

liberty to the Protestants in his dominions, admitted them

to many of the higher and lower offices of state, kept down

the Jesuits, and was prevented from himself formally going

over to Protestantism only by his political relations with

Spain and the Catholic princes of the empire. These relations,

however, led to the adoption of half measures, out of which

afterwards sprang the Thirty Years’ War. His son =Rudolph II.=,

A.D. 1576-1612, educated by Jesuits at the Spanish court, gave

again to that order unlimited scope, injured the Protestants on

every side, and was only prevented by indecision and cowardice

from attempting the complete suppression of Protestantism.

§ 138. THE REFORMATION IN FRENCH SWITZERLAND.[369]

In French Switzerland the Reformation appeared somewhat later,

but in essentially the same form as in German Switzerland. Its special

character was given it by Farel and Viret, the predecessors of Calvin.

The powerful genius of Calvin secured for his views victory over

Zwinglianism in Switzerland, and won the ascendency for them in the

other Reformed Churches.

§ 138.1. =Calvin’s Predecessors, A.D. 1526-1535.=--=William

Farel=, the pupil and friend of the liberal exegete Faber

Stapulensis (§ 120, 8), was born in A.D. 1489 at Gap in

Dauphiné. When in A.D. 1521 the Sorbonne condemned Luther’s

doctrines and writings, he was obliged, as a suspected adherent

of Luther, to quit Paris. He retired to Meaux, where he was

well received by Bishop Briçonnet, but so boldly preached

the reformed doctrines, that even the bishop, on renewed

complaints being made, neither could nor would protect him.

He then withdrew to Basel (§ 130, 3). His first permanent

residence was at Neuchatel, where in November, A.D. 1530,

the Reformation was introduced by his influence. He left

Neuchatel in A.D. 1532 in order to work in Geneva. But the

civil authorities there could not protect him against the

bishop and clergy. He was obliged to leave the city, but

Saunier, Fromant, and Olivetan (§ 143, 5) continued the work

in his spirit. A revolution took place; the bishop thundered

his ban against the refractory council, and the senate replied

by declaring his office forfeited. Farel now returned to Geneva,

A.D. 1535, and there accompanied him =Peter Viret=, afterwards

the reformer of Lausanne. Viret was born at Orbe in A.D. 1511,

and had attached himself to the Protestant cause during his

studies in Paris. He therefore had also been obliged to quit

the capital. He retired to his native town, and sought there

diligently to spread the knowledge of the gospel. The arrival

of these two enthusiastic reformers in Geneva led to a life

and death struggle, from which the evangelicals went forth

triumphant. As the result of a public disputation in August,

A.D. 1535, the magistracy declared in their favour, and

Farel gave the movement a doctrinal basis by the issuing

of a confession. In the following year Calvin was passing

through Geneva. Farel adjured him in God’s name to remain

there. Farel indeed needed a fellow labourer of such genius

and power, for he had a hard battle to fight.

§ 138.2. =Calvin before his Genevan Ministry.=--=John Calvin=,

son of diocesan procurator Gerhard Cauvin, was born on 10th July,

A.D. 1509, at Noyou in Picardy. Intended for the church, he was,

from his twelfth year, in possession of a benefice. Meeting with

his relation Olivetan, he had his first doubts of the truth of

the Catholic system awakened. With his father’s consent he now

turned to the study of law, which he eagerly prosecuted for

four years at Orleans and Bourges. At Bourges, Melchior Wolmar,

a German professor of Greek, exercised so powerful an influence

over him, especially through the study of the Scriptures, that

he decided, after the death of his father, to devote himself

exclusively to theology. With this intention he went to Paris

in A.D. 1532, and there enthusiastically adopted the principles

of the Reformation. The newly appointed rector of the university,

Nic. Cop, had to deliver an address on the Feast of All Saints.

Calvin prepared it for him, and expressed therein such liberal

and evangelical views, as had never before been uttered in that

place. Cop read it boldly, and escaped the outburst of wrath

only by a timely flight. Calvin, too, found it prudent to quit

Paris. The bloody persecution of the Protestants by Francis I.

led him at last to leave France altogether. So he went, in

A.D. 1535, to Basel, where he became acquainted with Capito

and Grynæus. In the following year he issued the first sketch

of the _Institutio Religionis Christianæ_. It was made as

a defence of the Protestants of France, persecuted by Francis

on the pretext that they held Anabaptist and revolutionary

views. He therefore dedicated the book to the king, with a

noble and firm address. He soon left Basel, and went to the

court of the evangelical-minded Duchess Renata of Ferrara

(§ 139, 22), in order to secure her good offices for his fellow

countrymen suffering for their faith. He won the full confidence

of the duchess, but after some weeks was banished the country

by her husband. On his journey back to Basel, Farel and Viret

detained him in Geneva in A.D. 1536, and declared that he was

called to be a preacher and teacher of theology. On 1st October,

A.D. 1536, the three reformers, at a public disputation in

Lausanne, defended the principles of the Reformation. Viret

remained in Lausanne, and perfected the work of Reformation

there. As a confession of faith, a catechism, not in dialogue

form, was composed by Calvin as a popular summary of his

_Institutio_ in the French language, and was sworn to, in

A.D. 1536, by all the citizens of Geneva. The _Catechismus

Genevensis_, highly prized in all the Reformed churches, was

a later redaction, which appeared first in French in A.D. 1542,

and then in Latin, in A.D. 1545.[370]

§ 138.3. =Calvin’s First Ministry in Geneva, A.D. 1536-1538.=--In

Geneva, as in other places, there sprang up alongside of the

Reformation, and soon in deadly opposition to it, an antinomian

libertine sect, which strove for freedom from all restraint

and order (§ 146, 4). In the struggle against this dangerous

development, which found special favour among the aristocratic

youth of Geneva, Calvin put forth all the power of his logical

mind and unbending will, and sought to break its force by

the exercise of an excessively strict church discipline. He

created a spiritual consistory which arrogated to itself the

exclusive right of church discipline and excommunication, and

wished to lay upon the magistrates the duty of inflicting civil

punishments on all persons condemned by it. But not only did

the libertine sections offer the most strenuous opposition,

but also the magistrates regarded with jealousy and suspicion

the erection of such a tribunal. Magistrates and libertines

therefore combined to overthrow the consistory. A welcome

pretext was found in a synod at Lausanne in A.D. 1538, which

condemned the abolition of all festivals but the Sundays,

the removal of baptismal fonts from the churches, and the

introduction of leavened bread at the Lord’s Supper by the

Genevan church as uncalled for innovations. The magistrates

now demanded the withdrawal of these, and banished the preachers

who would not obey. Farel went to Neuchatel, where he remained

till his death in A.D. 1565; Calvin went to Strassburg, where

Bucer, Capito, and Hedio gave him the office of a professor

and preacher. During his three years’ residence there Calvin,

as a Strassburg delegate, was frequently brought into close

relationship with the German reformers, especially with

Melanchthon (§§ 134, 135). But he ever remained closely

associated with Geneva, and when Cardinal Sadolet (§ 139, 12)

issued from Lyons in A.D. 1539 an appeal to the Genevese to

return to the bosom of the Romish church, Calvin thundered

against him an annihilating reply. His Genevan friends, too,

spared no pains to win for him the favour of the council and

the citizens. They succeeded all the more easily because since

the overthrow of the theocratic consistory the libertine party

had run into all manner of riotous excesses. By a decree of

council of 20th Oct., A.D. 1540, Calvin was most honourably

recalled. After long consideration he accepted the call in

Sept., A.D. 1541, and now, with redoubled energy, set himself

to carry out most strictly the work that had been interrupted.

§ 138.4. =Calvin’s Second Ministry in Geneva,

A.D. 1541-1564.=--Calvin set up again, after his return, the

consistory, consisting of six ministers and twelve lay elders,

and by it ruled with almost absolute power. It was a thoroughly

organized inquisition tribunal, which regulated in all details

the moral, religious, domestic, and social life of the citizens,

called them to account on every suspicion of a fault, had the

incorrigible banished by the civil authorities, and the more

dangerous of them put to death. The Ciceronian Bible translator,

Sebastian Castellio, appointed rector of the Genevan school by

Calvin, got out of sympathy with the rigorous moral strictures

and compulsory prescriptions of matters of faith under the

Calvinistic rule, and charged the clergy with intolerance and

pride. He also contested the doctrine of the descent into hell,

and described the Canticles as a love poem. He was deposed,

and in order to escape further penalties he fled to Basel in

A.D. 1544. A libertine called Gruet was executed in A.D. 1547,

because he had circulated an abusive tract against the clergy,

and blasphemous references were found in his papers; _e.g._

that Christianity is only a fable, that Christ was a deceiver

and His mother a prostitute, that all ends with death, that

neither heaven nor hell exists, etc. The physician, Jerome

Bolsec, previously a Carmelite monk in Paris, was imprisoned

in A.D. 1551, and then banished, because of his opposition

to Calvin’s doctrine of predestination. He afterwards returned

to the Romish church, and revenged himself by a biography

of Calvin full of spiteful calumnies. On the execution of

Servetus in A.D. 1533, see § 148, 2. Between the years 1542

and 1546 there were in Geneva, with a population of only

20,000, no less than fifty-seven death sentences carried out

with Calvin’s approval, and seventy-six sentences of banishment.

The magistrates faithfully supported him in all his measures.

But under the inquisitorial reign of terror of his consistory,

the libertine party gained strength for a vehement struggle,

and among the magistrates, from about A.D. 1546, there arose

a powerful opposition, and fanatical mobs repeatedly threatened

to throw him into the Rhone. This struggle lasted for nine

years. But Calvin abated not a single iota from the strictness

of his earlier demands, and so great was the fear of his

powerful personality that neither the rage of riotous mobs

nor the hostility of the magistracy could secure his banishment.

In A.D. 1555 his party again won the ascendency in the elections,

mainly by the aid of crowds of refugees from France, England,

and Scotland, who had obtained residence and thus the rights of

citizens in Geneva. From this time till his death on 27th March,

A.D. 1564, his influence was supreme. The impress of his strong

mind was more and more distinctly stamped upon every institution

of the commonwealth, the demands of his rigorous discipline were

willingly and heartily adopted as the moral code, and secured

for Geneva that pre-eminence which for two centuries it retained

among all the Reformed churches as an honourable, pious, and

strictly moral city. In spite of a weak body and frequent

attacks of sickness Calvin, during the twenty-three years of

his two residences in Geneva, performed an amazing amount of

work. He had married in A.D. 1540, at Strassburg, Idaletta de

Bures, the widow of an Anabaptist converted by him. His wife

died in A.D. 1549. He preached almost daily, attended all

the sittings of the consistory and the preachers’ association,

inspired all their deliberations and resolutions, delivered

lectures in the academy founded by his orders in A.D. 1559,

composed numerous doctrinal, controversial, and apologetical

works, conducted an extensive correspondence, etc.

§ 138.5. =Calvin’s Writings.=--The most important of the

writings of Calvin is his already mentioned _Institutio

Religionis Christianæ_, of which the best and most complete

edition appeared in A.D. 1559, a companion volume to

Melanchthon’s _Loci_, but much more thorough and complete

as a formal and scientific treatise. In this work Calvin

elaborates his profound doctrinal system with great speculative

power and bold, relentless logic, combined with the peculiar

grace of a clear and charming style. Next in order of importance

came his commentaries on almost all the books of Scripture.

Here also he shows himself everywhere possessed of brilliant

acuteness, religious geniality, profound Christian sympathy,

and remarkable exegetical talent, but also a stickler for

small points or seriously fettered by dogmatic prejudices.

His exegetical productions want the warmth and childlike

identification of the commentator with his text, which in

so high a degree distinguishes Luther, while in form they are

incomparably superior for conciseness and scientific precision.

In the pulpit Calvin was the same strict and consistent logician

as in his systematic and polemical works. Of Luther’s popular

eloquence he had not the slightest trace.[371]

§ 138.6. =Calvin’s Doctrine.=--Calvin set Zwingli far below

Luther, and had no hesitation in characterizing the Zwinglian

doctrine of the sacraments as profane. With Luther, who highly

respected him, he never came into close personal contact, but

his intercourse with Melanchthon had a powerful influence upon

the latter. But decidedly as he approached Luther’s doctrine,

he was in principle rather on the same platform with Zwingli.

His view of the Protestant principles is essentially Zwinglian.

Just as decidedly as Zwingli had he broken with ecclesiastical

tradition. In the doctrine of the person of Christ he inclined

to Nestorianism, and could not therefore reach the same

believing fulness as Luther in his doctrine of the Lord’s

Supper. He taught, as Berengar before had done, that the

believer by means of faith partakes in the sacrament only

spiritually, but yet really, of the body and blood of the

Lord, through a power issuing from the glorified body of Christ,

whereas the unbeliever receives only bread and wine. In his

doctrine of justification he formally agrees with Luther, but

introduced a very marked difference by his strict, almost Old

Testament, legalism. His predestination doctrine goes beyond

even that of Augustine in its rigid consistency and unbending

severity.[372]