The first step to reduce the Lutherans to obedience to the Pope was the
so-called Augsburg Interim. It was proclaimed by the Emperor at Augsburg
on May 15, 1548, as the law of the Empire under the title: "Der
roemischen kaiserlichen Majestaet Erklaerung wie es der Religion halben
im heiligen Reich bis zu Austrag des gemeinen Concilii gehalten werden
soll." The people were also forbidden to teach, write, or preach against
the document. The Interim had been prepared by the papal bishops Julius
Pflug and Michael Helding and the court-preacher of Elector Joachim of
Brandenburg, John Agricola, a man with whom Luther had, already since
1540, refused to have any further intercourse owing to his insincerity
and duplicity. "I go forth as the Reformer of all Germany," Agricola
boasted when he left Berlin to attend the Diet at Augsburg, which was to
open September 1, 1547. After the Diet he bragged that in Augsburg he
had flung the windows wide open for the Gospel; that he had reformed the
Pope and made the Emperor a Lutheran, that a golden time had now
arrived, for the Gospel would be preached in all Europe; that he had not
only been present, but had presided at the drafting of the Interim; that
he had received 500 crowns from the Emperor and 500 from King Ferdinand,
etc. (Preger, _M. Flacius Illyricus,_ 1, 119.)
The document, prepared at the command of the Emperor, was called Interim
because its object was to regulate the church affairs until the
religious controversy would be finally settled by the Council of Trent,
to the resolutions of which the Lutherans were required to submit. It
was, however, essentially papal. For the time being, indeed, it
permitted Protestant clergymen to marry, and to celebrate the Lord's
Supper in both kinds, but demanded the immediate restoration of the
Romish customs and ceremonies, the acknowledgment of papal supremacy
_iure divino,_ as well as the jurisdiction of the bishops, and the
adoption of articles in which the doctrines were all explained in the
sense of the Catholic dogmas, and in which truth and falsehood, in
general, were badly mingled. Transubstantiation, the seven sacraments,
and other papal errors were reaffirmed, while Lutheran tenets, such as
the doctrine of justification by faith alone, were either denied or
omitted. And from the fact that this Interim was nevertheless condemned
by the Pope and the Romanists, who demanded an unqualified, blind, and
unconditional submission, the Lutherans could infer what they were to
expect after consenting to these interimistic provisions. The general
conviction among Catholics as well as Protestants was that the Interim
was but the first step to a complete return to Romanism. Indeed, soon
after its promulgation, the Catholic Electors of Mainz and Koeln
endeavored to rob the Lutherans also of the use of the cup and of the
marriage of the priests. The Elector of Mainz declared all such
marriages void and their children bastards. (Jaekel, 162.)
In the most important point, the doctrine of justification, the Augsburg
Interim not only omitted the _sola fide,_ but clearly taught that
justification embraces also renewal. When God justifies a man, the
Interim declared, He does not only absolve him from his guilt, but also
"makes him better by imparting the Holy Ghost, who cleanses his heart
and incites it through the love of God which is shed abroad in his
heart." (Frank, _Theologie d. Konkordienformel,_ 2, 80.) A man "is
absolved from the guilt of eternal damnation and renewed through the
Holy Spirit and thus an unjust man becomes just." (143.) Again: "This
faith obtains the gift of the Holy Ghost, by which the love of God is
shed abroad in our hearts; and after this has been added to faith and
hope, we are truly justified by the infused righteousness which is in
man; for this righteousness consists in faith, hope, and love." (81.)
In Southern Germany, Charles V and his Italian and Spanish troops,
employing brute force, succeeded in rigidly enforcing the Interim
outwardly and temporarily. Free cities rejecting it were deprived of
their liberties and privileges. Constance, having fallen after a heroic
defense, was annexed to Austria. Magdeburg offered the longest
resistance and was outlawed three times. Defiantly its citizens
declared: "We are saved neither by an Interim nor by an Exterim, but by
the Word of God alone." (Jaekel 1, 166.) Refractory magistrates were
treated as rebels. Pastors who declined to introduce the Interim were
deposed, some were banished, others incarcerated, still others even
executed. In Swabia and along the Rhine about four hundred ministers
were willing to suffer imprisonment and banishment rather than conform
to the Interim. They were driven into exile with their families, and
some of them were killed. When Jacob Sturm of Augsburg presented his
grievances to Granvella, the latter answered: "If necessary, one might
proceed against heretics also with fire." "Indeed," Sturm retorted, "you
may kill people by fire, but even in this way you cannot force their
faith." (165.) Bucer and Fagius, preachers in Augsburg, left for
England. Musculus was deposed because he had preached against the
Interim. Osiander was compelled to leave Nuernberg, Erhard Schnepf,
Wuerttemberg. Among the fugitives eagerly sought throughout Germany by
the imperial henchmen was Brenz in Schwaebisch-Hall, the renowned
theologian of Wuerttemberg, who spoke of the Interim only as "Interitus,
Ruin." (_C. R._ 7, 289.) The tombstone of Brenz bears the inscription:
"_Voce, stylo, pietate, fide, ardore probatus_--Renowned for his
eloquence, style, piety, faithfulness, and ardor." (Jaekel, 164.) A
prize of 5,000 gulden was offered for the head of Caspar Aquila, who was
one of the first to write against the Interim. (Preger 1, 12.) Of
course, by persecuting and banishing their ministers, the Emperor could
not and did not win the people. Elector Frederick II of the Palatinate
consented to introduce the Interim. But even in Southern Germany the
success of the Emperor was apparent rather than real. The churches in
Augsburg, Ulm, and other cities stood empty as a silent protest against
the Interim and imperial tyranny.
In Northern Germany the Emperor met with more than a mere passive
resistance on the part of the people as well as the preachers. The
Interim was regarded as a trap for the Lutherans. The slogan ran: "There
is a rogue behind the Interim! _O selig ist der Mann, Der Gott vertrauen
kann Und willigt nicht ins Interim, Denn es hat den Schalk hinter ihm_!"
The Interim was rejected in Brunswick, Hamburg, Luebeck, Lueneburg,
Goslar, Bremen, Goettingen, Hannover, Einbeck, Eisleben, Mansfeld,
Stolberg, Schwarzburg, Hohenstein, Halle, etc. Joachim of Brandenburg
endeavored to introduce it, but soon abandoned these efforts. At a
convent of 300 preachers assembled in Berlin for the purpose of
subscribing to the Interim, an old minister whose name was Leutinger,
arose and declared in the presence of Agricola, the coauthor of the
Interim: "I love Agricola, and more than him I love my Elector; but my
Lord Jesus Christ I love most," and saying this, he cast the document
handed him for subscription into the flames of the fire burning in the
hearth. Before this, Margrave Hans, of Kuestrin, had flung away the pen
handed him for the subscription of the infamous document, saying: "I
shall never adopt this poisonous concoction, nor submit to any council.
Rather sword than pen; blood rather than ink!"
The three Counts of Mansfeld, Hans Jorge, Hans Albrecht, and Hans
Ernest, declared in a letter of August 20, 1548, to the Emperor: "Most
gracious Emperor and Lord! As for our government, the greater part of
the people are miners, who have not much to lose and are easily induced
to leave. Nor are they willing to suffer much coercion. Yet the welfare
of our whole government depends upon them. Besides, we know that, if we
should press the matter, all of the preachers would leave, and the
result would be a desolation of preaching and of the Sacraments. And
after losing our preachers, our own lives and limbs would not be safe
among the miners, and we must needs expect a revolt of all the people."
(Walther 19f.) Thus the Interim before long became a dead letter
throughout the greater part of Germany.