In the year 1517, the pope, Leo X., famous both for his luxurious
habits and his love of art, found that his income was not sufficient
for his expenses, and determined to increase it by issuing a series of
absolutions for all forms of crime, even perjury, bigamy and murder.
The cost of pardon was graduated according to the nature of the sin.
Albert, Archbishop of Mayence, bought the right of selling absolutions
in Germany, and appointed as his agent a Dominican monk of the name of
Tetzel. The latter began traveling through the country like a peddler,
publicly offering for sale the pardon of the Roman church for all
varieties of crime. In some places he did an excellent business, since
many evil men also purchased pardons in advance for the crimes they
_intended_ to commit; in other districts Tetzel only stirred up the
abhorrence of the people, and increased their burning desire to have
such enormities suppressed.
Only one man, however, dared to come out openly and condemn the papal
trade in sin and crime. This was Dr. Martin Luther, who, on the 31st
of October, 1517, nailed upon the door of the church at Wittenberg a
series of ninety-five theses, or theological declarations, the truth
of which he offered to prove, against all adversaries. The substance
of them was that the pardon of sins came only from God, and could only
be purchased by true repentance; that to offer absolutions for sale,
as Tetzel was doing, was an unchristian act, contrary to the genuine
doctrines of the church; and that it could not, therefore, have been
sanctioned by the pope. Luther’s object, at this time, was not to
separate from the church of Rome, but to reform and purify it.
The ninety-five theses, which were written in Latin, were immediately
translated, printed, and circulated throughout Germany. They were
followed by replies, in which the action of the pope was defended;
Luther was styled a heretic, and threatened with the fate of Huss. He
defended himself in pamphlets, which were eagerly read by the people;
and his followers increased so rapidly that Leo X., who had summoned
him to Rome for trial, finally agreed that he should present himself
before the Papal Legate, Cardinal Cajetanus, at Augsburg. The latter
simply demanded that Luther should retract what he had preached and
written, as being contrary to the papal bulls; whereupon Luther, for
the first time, was compelled to declare that “the command of the pope
can only be respected as the voice of God, when it is not in conflict
with the Holy Scriptures.” The Cardinal afterward said: “I will have
nothing more to do with that German beast, with the deep eyes and the
whimsical speculations in his head!” and Luther said of him: “He knew
no more about the Word than a donkey knows of harp-playing.”
The Vicar-General of the Augustines was still Luther’s friend, and,
fearing that he was not safe in Augsburg, he had him let out of the
city at daybreak, through a small door in the wall, and then supplied
with a horse. Having reached Wittenberg, where he was surrounded with
devoted followers, Frederick the Wise was next ordered to give him
up. About the same time Leo X. declared that the practices assailed
by Luther were doctrines of the church, and must be accepted as such.
Frederick began to waver; but the young Philip Melanchthon, Justus
Jonas, and other distinguished men connected with the university
exerted their influence, and the elector finally refused the demand.
The Emperor Maximilian, now near his end, sent a letter to the pope,
begging him to arrange the difficulty, and Leo X. commissioned his
Nuncio, a Saxon nobleman named Karl von Miltitz, to meet Luther. The
meeting took place at Altenburg in 1519; the Nuncio, who afterward
reported that he “would not undertake to remove Luther from Germany
with the help of 10,000 soldiers, for he had found ten men for him
where one was for the pope”—was a mild and conciliatory man. He prayed
Luther to pause, for he was destroying the peace of the church, and
succeeded, by his persuasions, in inducing him to promise to keep
silence, provided his antagonists remained silent also.
This was merely a truce, and it was soon broken. Dr. Eck, one of the
partisans of the church, challenged Luther’s friend and follower,
Carlstadt, to a public discussion in Leipzig, and it was not long
before Luther himself was compelled to take part in it. He declared his
views with more clearness than ever, disregarding the outcry raised
against him that he was in fellowship with the Bohemian heretics. The
struggle, by this time, had affected all Germany, the middle class and
smaller nobles being mostly on Luther’s side, while the priests and
reigning princes, with a few exceptions, were against him. In order
to defend himself from misrepresentation and justify his course, he
published two pamphlets, one called “An Appeal to the Emperor and
Christian Nobles of Germany,” and the other “Concerning the Babylonian
Captivity of the Church.” These were read by tens of thousands, all
over the country.
Pope Leo X. immediately issued a bull, ordering all Luther’s writings
to be burned, excommunicating those who should believe in them, and
summoning Luther to Rome. This only increased the popular excitement
in Luther’s favor, and on the 10th of December, 1520, he took the step
which made impossible any reconciliation between himself and the papal
power. Accompanied by the professors and students of the university, he
had a fire kindled outside of one of the gates of Wittenberg, placed
therein the books of canonical law and various writings in defence of
the pope, and then cast the papal bull into the flames, with the words:
“As thou hast tormented the Lord and His saints, so may eternal flame
torment and consume thee.” This was the boldest declaration of war
ever hurled at such an overwhelming majority; but the courage of this
one man soon communicated itself to the people. Frederick the Wise was
now his steadfast friend, and, although the dangers which beset him
increased every day, his own faith in the righteousness of his cause
only became firmer and purer.[F]