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THE GERMAN PEOPLE
VOL. VI.
Demy 8vo. 25s. per 2 Vols.
HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE at the
Close of the Middle Ages. By Johannes Janssen.
Vols. I. and II. Translated by M. A. Mitchell and
A. M. Chbistie.
Vols. III. and IV. Translated by A. M. Christie.
LONDON :
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO. Ltd.
J3^bGH
HISTORY OF THE
GERMAN PEOPLE
AT THE CLOSE OF
THE MIDDLE AGES
By Johannes Janssen
VOL. VI.
TRANSLATED FROM THE
GERMAN BY A. M. CHRISTIE
fpfifl
LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO. Ltd.
PATERNOSTER HOUSE, CHARING CROSS ROAD
I9°3
(The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved)
CONTENTS
or
THE SIXTH VOLUME
BOOK II. — continued
CHAPTER PAGE
X. The League of Smalcald in Alliance with Foreign
Powers — The Catholic Counter-council — The Frank-
fort Armistice 1
The Smalcaldians call in the help of Henry VIII. of Eng-
land, also the help of France, 1-3.
French arrogance, 3-4.
Paul III. brings about (1538) an armistice at Rizza between
the Emperor and Francis I. — Promises of the latter — ■
Simultaneous transactions between him and the Smal-
caldians, 4-8.
Alliance of the Smalcaldians with Christian III. of Den-
mark— Significance of this alliance, 8-10.
Strengthening of the League of Smalcald in Germany,
1537-1538 The Margrave Hans von Brandenburg — ■
Ciistrin begins the suppression of the Catholics —
Oppression of the Catholics in the County of Mompel-
gard — The meeting of preachers at Urach — Bucer
on Duke Ulrich of Wiirtemberg — Military preparations
of the League of Smalcald — The League rejects the
authority of the Imperial Chamber, 10-17.
Two contemporaries on the reasons adduced by the
Smalcaldians in justification of the suppression of the
Catholics, 17-20.
Catholic protective alliances against the Smalcaldians—
Origin, object, and organisation of the League of Nurem-
berg of 1538 — King Ferdinand seeks reconciliation with
the Smalcaldians owing to the Turkish danger, 20-28.
How the Smalcaldians purpose using the Turkish danger
vi HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CHAPTER
PAGK
for their own ends— The Emperor concerning a truce
with the Protestants — War preparations of the Smal-
caldians— Luther's invectives against the Elector Albert
of Brandenburg, 1538— Capture of Duke Henry of Bruns-
wick's letters— General discontent in the Empire, 28-34.
Transactions at the Diet at Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1539 —
The Smalcaldians decide first of all to commence war
against the Catholic Estates — Fuller details concerning
Philip of Hesse's military schemes — France promises the
Protestants help — In consequence of which the German
civil war (to Calvin's annoyance) is further hindered,
34-42.
The Frankfort armistice of 1539 — How this armistice
injured the Catholic cause — Doable-faced attitude of the
Imperial orator, 42-45.
Philip of Hesse acts in opposition to the armistice just con-
cluded— His behaviour in tbe church of St. Elizabeth at
Marburg — A Protestant voice raised against church
robbery, 45-48.
XL Protestantism of the Duchy of Saxony and the
Electorate of Brandenburg 49
Duke George the Bearded of Saxony and his death in 1539
— Character sketch of his brother Henry, 49-51.
Henry and his sons Maurice and Augustus join the League of
Smalcald — Henry's religious edict against the Catholics,
1539 — Luther urges recourse to compulsion and force
against the Bishop of Meissen, a prince of the Empire —
How the ' Gospel ' is introduced — Treatment of the
University of Leipzig — Pulpit demagogues — Sacking of
churches — Life at the court of Dresden— Duke Maurice
demands the suppression of the bishoprics of Meissen
and Merseburg, 51-59.
Perjury of the Bishop of Brandenburg — Double attitude of
the Elector Joachim II. of Brandenburg as regards re-
ligion— His new Church system — How the people are
deceived — Luther on the Church system and the Elector's
Court preacher, 59-62.
Agreement between the Elector and his brother Hans con-
cerning the confiscation of the bishoprics of Branden-
burg, Lebus, and Havelberg, 63.
Results of a church and parochial inspection — General
national discontent — "Wasteful expenditure of the Elector
— Squandering of church goods — Influence of the Jew
Lippold in the Electorate of Brandenburg — Thesuper-
intendent-general Agricola on the state of affairs, 64-69.
CONTENTS OF THE SIXTH VOLUME vii
CHAPTER [>A(;B
Means by which the Margrave William of Brandenburg
obtained the archbishopric of Eiga on behalf of the intro-
duction of the new Gospel, 70.
Albert of Brandenburg, the spendthrift Archbishop of
Magdeburg and Mayence, sells the permission to pro-
testantise the dioceses of Magdeburg and Halberstadt —
His behaviour in Halle — Spread of the new teaching in
the archbishopric of Mayence, 70-72.
XII. Military Plans of the Smalcald Confederates— Bigamy
of the Landgrave Philip of Hesse — Demoralisa-
tion in Hesse 73
Seasons why Duke William of Cleves solicits the help of
the Smalcaldians and allies himself with England, 73 f.
Philip of Hesse proposes to the Elector of Saxony to under-
take a campaign against the Duke of Brunswick and the
Archbishop of Bremen — The terms he proposes to the
Elector and his reasons for these, 74-75.
Preparations for the double marriage of the Landgrave — ■
His mode of life — Bucer's consent gained — Bucer sent
to Luther and Melanchthon — What Philip requires of the
latter — Their answer and that of the Elector of Saxony
respecting the double marriage, 75-82.
The Landgrave's transactions with his wife and with the
mother of the lady he wished for a second wife — The
nuptials at Botenburg— Discourse of a preacher in favour
of polygamy — Philip's explanation in his announcement
of the wedding, 82-86.
Luther rewarded by the Elector — Luther to the Elector of
Saxony on the double marriage — Popular reports on the
subject, 86-88.
General demoralisation of the people of Hesse— A Hessian
church ordinance attributes it to the working of Satan —
The preachers lay the chief blame of the demoralisation
on the public officials — -The latter blame the preachers — •
Bucer on the condition of things, 88-91.
XIII. Philip of Hesse's Plan for War against the Emperor
— Protestant Partisans at the Imperial Court —
Religious Conferences at Hagenau and Worms —
Proceedings among the Protestants respecting
Philip's Bigamy, 1540 92
How Philip stirs up his co-confederates of Smalcald against
the Emperor — How he hopes to overcome the latter and
to possess himself of the Netherlands — Petition of Philip
and of the Elector of Saxonv to Francis I. of France, 92 94.
viii HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CHAPTER
PAGE
The Emperor in France — Military deliberations of the
Smalcaldians — Intrigues of the Bavarian chancellor Eck
against the Emperor — Eck's religious attitude — He
wishes to treat with Bucer concerning a religious ac-
commodation and a Council, 1540 — Philip of Hesse on the
untrustworthiness of Bavaria, 94-97.
Negotiations of the Smalcaldians with Henry VIII. —
Melanchthon wishes that the English king might be
assassinated — He and Luther express themselves gene-
rally in favour of the murder of tyrants, 98-99.
Assembly at Smalcald, 1540— Melanchthon and Bucer re-
commend an offensive war against the Catholics — What
Philip of Hesse says, 99-101.
Three influential promoters of Protestantism at the imperial
Court — Their openness to bribery, 101-105.
The religious conferences — Why King Ferdinand 'tacks' —
Reasons brought forward by the papal legates against the
conferences — Why no results were to be expected from
them, 105-107.
The religious conference at Hagenau — Luther on the
general demoralisation, 107-109.
Religious conference at Worms — Decisions of the Pro-
testants at Gotha — Issue of the conference, 109-113.
Why the Protestants are alarmed about Philip's bigamy —
Bucer urges Philip to deceive the world after ' the ex-
ample of God' — The Landgrave's answer — Understanding
between Luther and Bucer — Angry correspondence
between Philip and Luther, 113-120.
Luther's remarks on the double marriage — Melanchthon's
despair — His bitter complaints against the Landgrave,
120-123.
Philip to Ulrich of Wiirtemberg — He threatens the Elector
with disclosures concerning criminal passages in his life
— Means for tempering his anger, 123-125.
Philip manages the publication of a pamphlet in open
defence of polygamy (1541)— Contents of this pamphlet
— A poetical satire on it, 125-132.
XIV. The Emperor's Endeavours at Reconciliation with
Francis I. of France— Francis I. and the Smal-
caldian Estates, 1540— Diet and Religious Con-
ference at Ratisbon, 1541 133
The Emperor's instructions to his son respecting France —
Peace overtures of the Emperor to Francis I. — Negotia-
tions of the Smalcaldians with Francis I.— Philip of Hesse
informs the Emperor concerning the French intrigues
CONTENTS OF THE SIXTH VOLUME IX
CHAPTER FAGB
with German princes — Philip's double attitude, 133-
140.
The Emperor at the Diet at Ratisbon, 1541 — Luther on the
Emperor — Immoral proceedings during the Diet, 140-142.
Bavaria urges measures of force against the Protestants —
The papal legates and Ferdinand on Bavarian policy —
French intrigues at the Diet, 143-145.
Attempt at religious reconciliation at Ratisbon — Why it
was bound to fail, 145-148.
Unfortunate agreement between the Emperor and Philip
of Hesse, 148-150.
Proposals of the Protestants — A Catholic memorandum
against the Protestants, 150-153.
Articles of the Ratisbon Recess — How the Catholics were
deceived — Pernicious double attitude of the Emperor,
154-159.
The Bavarian chancellor Eck again in alliance with Hesse
and Saxony, 159-161.
XV. Wars against the Turks, 1541 — Diets at Spires and at
Nuremberg— Imperial War against the Turks in
Hungary — Attack on the part of France, 1542 . 162
Affairs in Hungary — The country, as far as the Theiss, be-
comes a Turkish province — Disastrous expedition of
Charles V. to Algiers, 1541 — Exultation of the French
King, 162-164.
Diet at Spires re help against the Turks, 1542 — Demands of
the Protestant members relating to the spread of their
doctrines in Catholic territories and to the Imperial
Chamber — King Ferdinand's reply — General acrimony
among the members of the Diet — Concessions to the
Protestants for the sake of Turkish subsidies, 164-172.
Beginning of campaign against the Turks — Character of the
commander-in-chief, Joachim von Brandenburg — Dila-
toriness of the Estates — Dearth of money — A fruitless
Diet at Nuremberg — Disgraceful issue of the war —
Reward claimed by Joachim, 172-178.
France prepares for war and forms a great coalition against
the Emperor — The powerlessness of the Emperor and of
Ferdinand helps on the revolution in the Empire, 178-
180.
XVL Forcible Measures for the Protestantisation of the
Bishoprics of Naumburg-Zeitz and Meissen . . 181
Proceedings of the Elector of Saxony against the Bishopric
of Naumburg-Zeitz — Luther's advice — Forcible annexa-
tion by the Elector — Ironical letter from the Saxon
HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CHAPTER PAGB
prince to the Emperor — Luther ordains a Protestant
Bishop in Naurnburg, 1542 — His public defence of the
Elector's violence — Confidential remarks of Protestant
theologians on their own slavery and the conduct of the
princes, 181-188.
The Elector of Saxony means to ' incorporate ' the bishopric
of Meissen also, and comes to strife on the subject in
1542 with Duke Maurice of Saxony — Luther on Maurice
— Issue of the quarrel — Plunder of churches in Meissen
— Luther's judgment on the propagators of the new
Gospel in Saxony, 188-194.
Proceedings of Duke Maurice in the bishopric of Merseburg
■ — Arrangements for a military expedition against Duke
Henry of Brunswick, 194-195.
XVII. Conquest and Protestantisation of the Duchy of
Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel 196
Duke Henry of Brunswick — At first in alliance with Philip
of Hesse, afterwards the bitterest opponent of the Smal-
cald confederates — Their accusations against him in
1541 — Luther's libellous pamphlet ' Wider Hanswurst '
and the Duke's answer, 196-200.
The chiefs of the League of Smalcald prepare for war
against Henry — The towns belonging to the League will
not give their consent, 201 -203.
Invasion of Brunswick, 1542 — Barbarity with which the
evangelical war is conducted — Luther on the religious
work and the robberies of the Smalcaldians — Decisions
of a Diet at Brunswick, 204-208.
How the new gospel is introduced into the episcopal town
of Hildesheim and the imperial city of Muhlhausen,
208-212.
Plundering of churches — The Catholic doctrines denounced
as devil's doctrines — The rule of the Smalcaldians in
the duchy of Brunswick — Affairs generally in the pro-
testantised duchy — Remarks of eye-witnesses, 212-216.
A breach of the public peace and a raid into Brunswick
defended as ' legitimate ' — The Imperial Chamber alone
discharges the duties of its office — The Imperial Chamber
repudiated by the Smalcaldians—' Justice blocked in the
Empire,' 216-219.
XVIII. Diet at Nuremberg— Further Strengthening of the
League of Smalcald — Attempt at Protestantising
the Archbishopric of Cologne, 1543 .... 220
The Smalcaldian princes decline to attend the Diet at
Nuremberg— Fruitless efforts of Ferdinand to obtain help
CONTENTS OF THE SIXTH VOLUME XI
CHAPTER , PAttE
against the Turks, who are about to overrun Austria —
The imperial minister Granvell's assurances to the Pro-
testants, 220-223.
The Empire in subjection to the Smalcaldians — Francis
von Waldeck, Bishop of Minister, Minden, and Osna-
briick, wishes to join the League of Smalcald — The
character of this bishop — The terms he offers, 223-225.
Characteristics of the Count Palatine Otto Henry, who
solicited admission into the League, 225-226.
Character of Hermann von Wied, Archbishop of Cologne —
How he intends protestantising the diocese with the help
of the Smalcaldians — The Cologne ' Book of Reform ' —
Luther on this book, 226-233.
Hopes placed by the Smalcaldians on Duke William of
Julich-Cleves, 233.
XIX. Events of the War — Negotiations with Protestant
Princes — The Duke of Cleves besieged — General
Situation, 1543-1544 234
Conquests of the Turks (in alliance with France) in Hun-
gary and Italy, 1543 — War of the Elector of Saxony and
France, assisted by the Duke of Cleves, against the
Emperor — Declaration of the Bavarian Chancellor Eck
against the Emperor and the Pope, 234-236.
Offers of the imperial minister Granvell to Maurice of
Saxony and Philip of Hesse, 236-238.
The Emperor's victory over the Duke of Cleves, 238-239.
Besults of the victory — Philip of Hesse on the situation of
the Protestants — Melanchthon on the Protestant princes
— The town council of Constance on affairs in general,
239-245.
The assurances made by Granvell and the vice-chancellor
Naves to the Smalcaldians respecting the Emperor's in-
tentions, 245-246.
XX. Diet at Spires — Peace with France, 1544 . . . 247
Proposal of the Emperor — The outlook among the Estates
■ — Henry of Brunswick puts bitter truths before the
Emperor — On what conditions the Smalcaldians are
ready to contribute help against the Turks — Melanchthon's
expression of opinion, 247-250.
Ineffectual appeals of the Emperor to Saxony and Hesse,
250.
The Spires Recess of 1544 almost annihilates the Catholic
standpoint — Weakness of the Ecclesiastical Estates, and
the causes of this weakness — The Emperor's relations to
Xli HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CHAPTER PAOB
the Pope — The Pope's protest against the Recess, 250-
257.
War with France— Terms of the Peace of Crespy, 1544—
Questions of the Council, 257-2G0.
XXI. Diet at Worms — Mutual Embittkrment of the Estates
— Luther's last Pamphlet against the Papacy, 1545
— Luther's Death, 1546 261
The Emperor's fruitless invitations to the Diet at Worms —
The Bavarian Chancellor Eck proposes to his Duke that
all the Catholics should unite with the Lutherans against
the Pope and the Emperor — Transactions at Worms —
Mutual recriminations of the members at the meetings
of the Committee— Transactions concerning usury and
the Jews — Threats of the Protestants, 261-268.
The Emperor still in favour of a policy of compromise —
The Protestants hope for the downfall of the Pope — The
historian of the League of Smalcald urges war against
the Pope — Luther clamours for getting rid of the ecclesi-
astical rule and the murder of the Pope and his ad-
herents— The Elector of Saxony in agreement with
Luther's pamphlet, 268-272.
Lucas Cranach's caricatures and scurrilous pictures of the
Pope — Luther's accompanying verses, 272-274.
Luther's last days— His anxieties and torments — His com-
plaints of the general demoralisation of the people — Wit-
tenberg called a new Sodom, 274-276. Luther on bad
terms with his colleagues — His encounters with the devil
— His opinions on reason, 276-278.
Object of his journey to Eisleben — At Halle he clamours
in the pulpit for the expulsion of the monks — His zeal
for the banishment of the Jews — His death, 278-281.
How he was honoured by his followers — Fate of his
family — Controversy concerning his end, 281-283.
Extracts from the funeral orations on Luther— Prediction
of the overthrow of the Catholics, 283-284.
CONTENTS OF THE SIXTH VOLUME Xlll
BOOK III
THE SMALCALDIAN WAR AND INTERNAL DISINTE-
GRATION DOWN TO THE SO-CALLED RELIGIOUS
PEACE OF NUREMBERG, 1546-1555.
CHAPTER PAOK
I. Origin and Nature of the Smalcaldian War . . 285
The contemporaries on the general causes and the origin of
the war, 285-288.
The Emperor's statements against the papal legates —
Overtures of the Pope, 288 289.
Recess of the Diet of Worms of 1545 — Progress of Protest-
antism in different districts— Imprisonment of Henry of
Brunswick — Hopes placed by the Smalcaldians on the
archbishoprics of Mayence and Cologne— Their decisions
at the Frankfort Diet in favour of the Archbishop of
Cologne, 1545 — Albert of Brandenburg on the Cologne
affair — This last becomes a special incitement to the
Smalcaldian war, 290-297.
Further strengthening of the League of Smalcald, 1545 —
Offers of the League to France — Attitude of the French
King, 297-300.
Religious conference at Ratisbon in 1546 — Conference of
the Emperor with Philip of Hesse, 300-301.
The Emperor at the Diet at Ratisbon, 1546 — Absence of
the Smalcaldian princes — Complaints of the Catholic
members of oppression by the Protestants, 301-304.
The Emperor to his sister on the position of the Empire
and on his motives for going to war, 304-306.
The Emperor's compacts with Bavaria and with the Pope,
306-308.
Jealousy between Duke Maurice of Saxony and his cousin
the Elector — What passed at their last interviews — Duke
Maurice's settlement with the Emperor — Granvell's
attitude in religious matters, 308-311.
Diet of the Smalcaldians — Their programme is ' general
secularisation and expulsion of the Catholic clergy,' 311-
313.
The Emperor's mandate against the rebellious princes,
313-314.
The Smalcaldians begin the war of religion in the bishopric
of Augsburg — On the Danube, 314-317.
Preparations of Saxony and Hesse — Their appeals for help
to France and England, 317-320.
xiv HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CIIArTEIi
PAGB
The preachers incite the people to a religious war— The
Smalcaldians very sanguine as to victory, 321-323.
Imperial sentence of outlawry against the Elector of Saxony
and the Landgrave of Hesse — The Emperor silent as to
his religious motives in the war — What the outlaws have to
say in self-defence — Their charges against the Emperor,
323-328.
A lampoon against the Emperor and the Pope, who are
designated as servants of the devil, 328-331.
II. The War on the Danube and in Saxony — The Flight
AT MiJHLBERG — THE CAPTIVITY OF PHILIP OF HESSE,
1546-1547 332
Unity and strength of the Smalcaldian army — The com-
manders-in-chief— Feeling among the troops — Want of
money — The Word of God costs the Estates too dear —
Philip of Hesse on his brother general John Frederic of
Saxony — Discontent of the towns with the management
of the war — Irresolution in the advance against the
Emperor, 332-337.
The Emperor, his army, and his method of conducting
war — A disclosure of the Smalcaldians respecting the
Pope — They send another defiant letter to the Emperor —
The Emperor removes the seat of war from Bavaria to
Suabia, 337-340.
Offers from the Smalcaldians to Francis I.— Double-
mouthed policy of France and England, 340-342.
' From the Smalcaldian and imperial camps,' 342-343.
Maurice of Saxony and King Ferdinand as executors of the
sentence of outlawry against John Frederick — Com-
mencement of the war in Saxony, 343-344.
The Saxon-Hessian army retreats from South Germany —
Depredations committed by the Elector of Saxony and his
commanding officers, 344-348.
Treatment of the Archbishop of Magdeburg and the
Catholics at Halle by the Elector of Saxony — Robberies
in Merseburg, 348-349.
The Suabian towns and Frankfort-on-the-Main submit
themselves to the Emperor — Remarks of a contemporary
on the Smalcaldians — Submission of the Palatine Elector
and the Duke of Wiirtemberg — Why the Emperor does
not take back the duchy of Wiirtemberg for Austria —
The Emperor's lenient treatment of the suppliants, 349-
355.
Restoration of the old order in the archbishopric of Cologne,
355.
CONTENTS OF THE SIXTH VOLUME XV
CHAPTER PAGE
Strasburg, after fruitless intriguing with France, compelled
to surrender, 356-357.
Hopes placed by the chiefs of the League of Smalcald on
France and on the Turks — Francis I. sends subsidies to
the Smalcaldians — His death, 1547 — The state in which
he left his country — Character of his successor, Henry II.,
357-359.
War of the Elector of Saxony against Duke Maurice —
Siege of Leipzig — Surprise at Rochlitz — Alliances of the
Elector with the insurgent Bohemians — He does not
know how to use his advantages, 359-362.
The Emperor's military expedition into Saxony, 1547 —
The Elector's flight at Muhlberg — Behaviour of the
Elector of Brandenburg and his court preacher — Capitu-
lation of the Wittenbergites, 362-363.
Henry II. incites the Turks to war — Recruits German troops
— His offers to the Nether- Saxon towns — Battle of
Drakenburg — Submission of the towns — Magdeburg's
resistance, 363-366.
Philip of Hesse's position — For what purpose he proffers
his services to the Emperor — What the Emperor de-
mands— Proceedings of the arbitrating Electors, Maurice
of Saxony and Joachim of Brandenburg — The Land-
grave's letter to the King of France — Philip's surrender
at Halle — His imprisonment, 366-374.
Summons to a Diet at Augsburg, 374.
III. The Emperor opposes the Authority of the Council —
The Diet at Augsburg, 1547-1548 — The Imperial
' Interim Religion ' 375
General situation — The Emperor at variance with the
Pope — Origin of their quarrel — Imperial policy in Italy —
Reasons why the Emperor's policy at the Council excited
mistrust in Rome and among the papal legates at the
Council of Trent — Decisions of the Council — Its removal
to Bologna, 375-383.
Demands and threats of the Emperor — Discovery of the
conspiracy at Piacenza, 383.
Diet at Augsburg, 1547 — The Emperor determined to carry
out his will in defiance of the Pope and the Council —
Decisions at Augsburg respecting the Council — Effects of
the quarrel between the Emperor and the Pope, 383-388.
The Emperor's declaration of war against the Council and
the Pope— Their answer, 388-389.
The Emperor is resolved to establish an 'Interim Religion '
in Augsburg, in conjunction with the Estates — Mode of
xvi HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CHAPTKK
PAGB
life of the members during the time of the Diet —
« Drinking ' princes, 389-392.
The Estates form themselves into a religious committee —
Demands of the Protestant and Catholic members of this
committee — Dissolution of the committee, 392-395.
The imperial Interim commission — Origin of the Augsburg
Interim — Why the Elector Joachim of Brandenburg and
his court preacher exert themselves actively on behalf of
the Interim, 395-398.
Reasons of the Catholics for refusing to accept the imperial
' Interim religion,' 398-400.
The Emperor's proceedings against Rome — Proclamation
of the Interim, 400-402.
Opponents of the Interim among the Protestants — Albert
of Brandenburg- Culmbach on the preachers and the
reasons of their antagonism to the papacy, 402-405.
What was accomplished for the carrying out of the imperial
religious edict — What was overlooked— Wonderful per-
tinacity of the Emperor, 405-408.
Fruitless transactions respecting the establishment of a
general imperial league — Decisions at Augsburg in
imperial affairs, 408-411.
The case of Philip of Hesse — A public conference between
Maurice of Saxony and his minister Carlowitz — General
opinion on the imprisonment of Philip of Hesse — The
Spaniards in the Empire, 411-415.
General opposition to the Interim — Risings of the common
people — Pulpit demagogues — Lampoons and satirical
verses — The writings of Flacius Illyricus — The Emperor's
fears, 415-420.
IV. Fresh Turkish Alliances and Insurrectionary Plans,
1548-1551 421
Beginning of the conspiracies with France against the
Emperor and the Empire, 1548-1549 — Margrave John of
Brandenburg- Ciistrin — A scheme of the princes for the
slaughter of Catholic bishops and priests, 421-424.
League at Konigsberg, 424-425.
Albert of Brandenburg-Culmbach on the expulsion of the
Emperor and the enthronement of the French King —
Maurice of Saxony sends an ambassador to France —
Overtures of the French King to the Margrave John of
Brandenburg, 425-428.
Diet at Augsburg, 1550 — Negotiations respecting the
Interim and the Council, 428-431.
Further manoeuvring of conspirator princes with France—
CONTENTS OF THE SIXTH VOLUME XVll
TER PAGE
Fruits of religious rancour in North Germany — Imperial
war against Magdeburg, 1550 — Policy of the Elector
Maurice of Saxony, 431-436.
League of Princes at Dresden, 1551 — New plan for the
expulsion of the Catholic clergy- — Evangelical zeal of the
Margrave John — Conspiracy at Torgau, 437-439.
V. Betrayal of the Empire by the Elector Maurice and
his Allies — Albert or Brandenburg's ' Evangelical
War,' 1552 440
The conspirators of Torgau's instructions to their ambas-
sador to the French King, 1551 — They solicit help from
England also — Maurice at the same time feigns obedience
and loyalty to the Emperor, 440-442.
Negotiations with a French ambassador — Promises from
the conspirators, 442-444.
Opinion of military experts on the war about to be con-
ducted against the Emperor and Ferdinand — Proposal
for the extermination of clergy and merchants — Schartlin
von Burtenbach urges the election of a new Emperor —
Albert of Brandenburg- Culmbach on a partition of the
South German territories — What France would gain
thereby, 444-447.
Maurice constitutes himself Lord of Magdeburg — Pillaging
in Thuringia, 447-448.
Conclusion of the alliance with France, 448.
On the nature of the war just commencing, especially the
principal hero of it, Albert of Brandenburg-Culmbach —
Why he encouraged plunder and robbery — On the
material destitution and the terrible religious and moral
depravity in his principalities of Ansbach and Bayreuth,
448-453.
Beginning of the war in March 1552 — An army of con-
spirators before Frankfort - on - the - Main — Levying of
contributions from Nuremberg — War manifestoes —
Albert of Brandenburg gives notice of the secularisation
of the ecclesiastical foundations — Surrender of Augsburg,
453-456.
Barbarity of the evangelical war in the territory of the
imperial cities Ulm and Nuremberg — Treaties of the
Bishops of Bamberg and Wiirzburg with Albert of
Brandenburg - Culmbach — Description of the general
devastation — Slaughter and pillage are Albert's favourite
pastime — Numbers of towns, villages, &c, reduced to
ashes, 456-461.
vol. vi. a
xviii HISTOEY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CHAPTER PAGE
King Henry II. of France as ally of the Protestant princes
— His policy — His fraudulent manifesto to the German
nation — His conquests in German territory — Capture of
Metz — Loyal German feeling of the Alsatian people—
Strasburg's resistance, 461-466.
Conquests of the Turks allied with France — The Sultan
becomes sovereign of all Hungary and Transylvania — He
greets the German conspirator princes as confederates —
What Henry II. writes to the Sultan concerning his con-
quests in Germany, 466-467.
Why the Emperor refuses for a long time to believe in the
treachery of the Elector Maurice — His assurances with
regard to Philip of Hesse — Calls in the help of the Elector
of Brandenburg, 467-471.
Helpless position of the Emperor — Miserable behaviour
of Bavaria and the Rhenish electors — The spiritual
electors declare themselves ready for treason against the
Church — Opinion of a contemporary, 472-473.
Interview of King Ferdinand with Maurice at Linz — De-
mands of the latter — The Emperor's answer, 474-475.
The conspirator princes invade the Tyrol — The Emperor's
flight from Innsbruck — Release of John Frederic of
Saxony — Housing in the Tyrol, 475-479.
VI. The Truce of Passau, 1552 — Albert of Brandenburg-
Culmbach ' Prince and Firebrand,' 1552-1554 . . 480
Transactions at Passau — Complaints and exactions of the
Elector Maurice — Why the original aims of the con-
spirator princes could not be attained, 480-483.
The Emperor's answer respecting the complaints and
demands brought forward at Passau — He will not suffer
the unity of the faith and the imperial authority to go to
the ground, 483-486.
A delegate of Ferdinand's in the camp of the conspirator
princes — They revel in atrocities— Drinking day and
night, 486-488.
Slaughter and rapine of the princes on the Main and in the
territory of the Teutonic Order— Ineffectual siege of
Frankfort, 750-751, 488-490.
The conspirator princes, with the exception of Albert of
Brandenburg-Culmbach, accept the Treaty of Passau.
490-491.
Albert's devastations in the bishoprics of Worms, Spires,
and Mayence— He is praised by the French King for his
' glorious deeds '—Enters French service— A despatch to
CONTENTS OF THE SIXTH VOLUME xix
CHAPTER PAGE
the Elector Joachim II. respecting the devastation of the
Empire — Atrocities in Mayence and Treves — Albert's
ravages in the duchy of Luxemburg — His further
negotiations with France are wrecked, 491-498.
The Emperor sets out on the reconquest of the territory
occupied by France — Eeconciliation with John Frederic
of Saxony — The inhabitants of Ulm and Strasburg
praised for their loyalty to the Empire, 498-500.
The Emperor before Metz — His unrighteous compact with
the Margrave Albert — What he says about it — He is
obliged to withdraw from Metz, 500-502.
Fresh machinations of the Elector Maurice with France —
Maurice to become king of Hungary and Transylvania
under Turkish supremacy — He intends to make use of
Ferdinand's help, 503-505.
Two contemporaries on the situation of the Empire, 505-
506.
Dread of a general rising of the populace through the agency
of Albert of Brandenburg - Culmbach, 1553 — Albert's
barbarity in the bishoprics of Bamberg and Wiirzburg
and in the district of Nuremberg — He hopes to become
King of Bohemia, 506-509.
The Elector Maurice in constant intrigue with France — A
patriotic wail over the baseness of the German princes,
509-512.
With what objects Maurice offers himself to the French,
512-513.
Battle of Sievershausen, 1553, and its significance —
France's loss in the death of Maurice — Fresh intrigues
of the French King with German princes — Last deeds of
Albert of Brandenburg-Culmbach — He solicits afresh the
French King— His flight to France, 513-519.
VII. The State of Things in General — The so-called
Eeligious Peace of Augsburg, 1555 .... 520
Decline of Germany in all departments of life — Protestant
utterances on the Catholic ' past ' as compared with the
present universal deterioration in moral and religious
life — Official evidence of this deterioration, especially
as regards the growth of blasphemy — Want of ministers
of the Church, 520-525.
Protestant evidence on the robbery of Church property and
pauper funds, and the results of this robbery, 525-532.
The Protestant people yearn after the Catholic ' past,' 532-
533.
XX HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
TAGE
Melanchtbon bewails the evil results of the territorial Church
system, but declares nevertheless that the transference
of the Church to the secular authorities was enjoined by
God, 534-535.
On the schism between the theologians and the preachers
of the Augsburg Confession, 535-537.
Hopes placed on the Diet at Augsburg — Difficulties in
getting the Diet started — The Emperor hands over all
authority to King Ferdinand — Opening of the Diet, 1555
— Ferdinand's proposal concerning the settlement of the
religious question, 538-543.
An assembly of Protestant princes at Naumburg decides on
the course of the proceedings at Augsburg, 543.
Attitude of the Cardinal Bishop Otto of Augsburg, 545-546.
Why the Protestants were able to proceed so boldly and
recklessly — The question of churchyards and episcopal
jurisdiction — The Ecclesiastical Reservation — Secularisa-
tion schemes, 547-551.
How the Protestants give proof of their love of peace,
552-553.
Transactions respecting the Ecclesiastical Reservation —
What the Elector Augustus of Saxony said about it —
How the Catholics were intimidated, 553-555.
The question of tolerance — How the Protestants contradict
themselves, 555-5G1.
King Ferdinand's Declaration whereby he thinks to smooth
down the contention regarding the toleration of the Augs-
burg Confessionists in ecclesiastical districts, and Ecclesi-
astical Reservation, 561-562.
Whether the so-called Religious Peace of Augsburg of Sept.
26, 1555. is indeed a guarantee of peace for the nation and
the Empire, 563-565.
Index of Places 567
Index of Persons 576
Errata
Page 23, line 6, for Weissenfeld, read Weissenfelder
„ 58, „ 2, „ Duke of Mansfield, read Count of Mansfield
,. 89, „ 9, „ Wigand Lange, read Wigand Lauze
., 148, „ 14 from bottom, for Nansen, read Nausea
„ 163, „ 9, for Frangipanni, read Frangipani
„ 235, „ 12 from bottom, for Rossen, read Rossem
„ 288, note 3, for Schutten, read Schultess
„ 322, line 16, „ Raders, read Reders
„ 384, „ 5, „ Werthof, read Westhof
,, 437, , 1, „ Celle, read Cella
HISTOEY
T
OF
THE GEBMAN PEOPLE
AT THE CLOSE OF THE MIDDLE AGES
BOOK II — continued
CHAPTEE X
THE LEAGUE OF SMALCALD IN ALLIANCE WITH FOREIGN
COUNTRIES THE CATHOLIC COUNTER-LEAGUE THE
FRANKFORT TRUCE
The obstinacy with which the confederates of Smalcald
had rejected the proposals of the Pope and the Emperor
with regard to a General Council arose out of their
confidence in the power they had already gained in the
Empire, and their firm conviction that they would
obtain support and protection from England and France,
and other foreign potentates.
Already in the early days of the establishment of
their confederacy they had striven to gain the good-
will of the French and English kings, and the heads of
the league had concluded an alliance with Francis I.1
1 See vol. v., p. 345 ff.
VOL. VI. B
2 HTSTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
With England closer relations had arisen since the
year 1535. In consequence of a statement made by
Henry VIII. through his envoys at the Congress of
Smalcald, that 'he was not disinclined to join the
Christian League of the Electors and Princes,' x
the confederates of Smalcald had offered him, on
December 25, the office and title of ' protector and
president of the league,' proposing at the same time
that Henry should deposit with the princes the sum of
100,000 crowns ' for the defence of this most sacred
and honourable confederacy.' In the event of a war
of defence becoming necessary the confederates were to
use this money to defray one half of the expenses,
and the other half was to be covered by the money of
the associates. In case of the defensive operations
being prolonged and the first supplies not proving
sufficient the King was to furnish another 100,000
crowns. Henry VIII. had agreed to these proposals,
on the condition, however, that in case he and his
country were attacked on account of religion the
confederates would supply him for four months with
500 equipped horses or ten well-manned ships. These
demands exceeded the resources of the Smalcald princes,
and the latter resolved accordingly to try and prevail
on Henry VIII., through his delegates, to give up his
demands, or at any rate to be content with more
moderate help. If they were not themselves burdened
1 In the Frankfort archives, Convolut, ' Bundnisse und Gegenbiind-
nisse von 1535 bis 1536,' fol. 25. Mittelgewolbe, D. 41. 'Responsum ad
legatos Anglicos,' in the Corp. Reform, ii. 1032-1036. On December 23,
1535, the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse applied to
Henry VIII. for help for Christian III. of Denmark, who was a disciple of
' the divine word ' and an active worker in its cause in Denmark. State
Papers, vii. 638-639.
THE SMALCALD LEAGUE AND FOREIGN POTENTATES 3
with war, or likely to be burdened with it, tliey
promised to forward for the King's use GOO cavalry
and 2,000 infantry, at their own expense, to any
convenient spot he should fix on, ' at which place his
Majesty should receive these forces into his pay and
service.' 'The ratification of a treaty of alliance could
only take place on Henry VIII. 's coming to agreement
with them in matters of religion.' :
Francis I. also, who at the time was preparing for
an invasion of Savoy, signified to the Congress of
Smalcald his willingness to join the league,2 but he
received no definite answer.3
After rejecting the General Council the Smalcald
confederates appealed to the King of France on March 5,
1537, to espouse the cause of ' German freedom ; ' for,
they said, it was not only for the good of the Church
but also for the preservation of their liberties that the
Council had been rejected. Francis I. had often, so
they told him, given proof by his actions that he had
the freedom of Germany at heart, and that he would
always be found on the side of those who defended it
justly.4
Though the Emperor at this time was at war with
the French as well as with the Turks, it was in great
1 ' Responsio legati regis Anglie. Actum Wittenbergae in dominica
Renhniscere,' (March 12) 1536. The negotiations came to nothing.
Planck, iii. 326-332.
2 Corp. Reform, ii. 1009-1014.
3 The Elector of Saxony informed the Count of Neuenar that the
negotiations at Smalcald with the French and English delegates had
come to nothing : they had ' rien traicte resolument mais seulement ont
este despeschiez avec espoir et bonnes paroles.' Lanz, Staatsp>apiere,
p. 193.
4 '. . . saepe ostendit nobis R. D. V. ac re quoque declaravit se Ger-
manicae libertati optime velle nee defutururn esse iis, qui ipsam in causis
justis tuerentur.' Corp. Reform, iii. 109-112.
b 2
4 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
measure with the help of German troops that Francis I.
was fighting his battles in Italy.1 'The insolence of
the French was unbounded.' On December 10, 1537,
the King with his court appeared at a solemn session
of his Parliament at Paris, and proclaimed, through the
mouth of his advocate Cappel : ' The Emperor by his
usurpations in Flanders, Artois, and Charleroi had
been guilty of the most outrageous crime against his
liege lord the Kino- of France.' Charles must accord-
ingly be denounced as a rebel and must forfeit all his
possessions. At the King's behest the Parliament
summoned the Emperor to appear and answer the
charge, and on his non-appearance after a second
summons the following sentence was pronounced against
him : ' He was a traitor and a violator of pledges ; the
counties of Flanders, Artois, and Charleroi must be
seized as heritages of the Dukes of Burgundy.' This
sentence was publicly proclaimed in the streets of
Paris.2 He intended, Francis I. said, to make the
German Emperor smaller and more insignificant than
any emperor had ever been before, and to summon all
the Turks and all the host of demons to help him in
the task.3
But the state of utter exhaustion to which his
1 See vol. v. p. 146.
- ' Registre du Parlement,' in Capefigue, Francois Ier et la Benais-
sance, iv. 71-73.
3 Belations Secretes, p. 76. On July 16, 1537, an imperial envoy told
the confederates : ' An attack from the Turks is certain, and the King of
France is not ashamed to say publicly that it pleases him, and he and his
servants boast of it ; he intends joining his fleet at Marseilles to the
Turkish armada. Let the confederates consider whether, under these
circumstances, it is to their honour and to the welfare of the Fatherland
to allow their subjects to take service under the French King.' Eidgen.
Abschiede, iv. Abth. lc, 867.
TREATY OF NIZZA 5
kingdom had been reduced 1 obliged him to come to
terms.2 Through the mediation of the Pope a ten
years' truce between Francis and the Emperor was
concluded at Nizza on June 15, 1538. On July 14 he
had a personal interview with the Emperor at Aigues-
Mortes, when he presented him with a diamond ring
and swore that ' he would no longer fight against the
wisest prince of the age, but that he would be the
friend of his friends and the foe of his foes.'
' We promised each other,' wrote Charles to his
sister Maria on July 18, ' that for the future we would
be true brothers, friends and allies, and that we would
neither of us do anything that could injure the other.
The ten years' armistice is to be regarded as a treaty of
peace, and any remaining difficulties are to be settled
by our ministers and ambassadors.' The two monarchs
agreed to embark jointly on a great expedition against
the Turks, not only for defence but also for attack.
They resolved also to co-operate for the accomplish-
ment of a satisfactory settlement with regard to the
Protestant Estates. Francis promised emphatically to
make known to the Estates that he was now on terms
of sincere friendship with the Emperor ; and he also
expressed his intention of striving earnestly to bring
the dissentients back under the spiritual authority of
the Pope.3
1 Sugenheim's Franhreichs Einfluss, i. 78.
2 Concerning Paul III.'s unwearied efforts for the restoration of peace
between Francis and Charles compare Raynald, ad a. 1537, Nos. 48-59,
and ad a. 1538, Nos. 8-13. Weiss, ii. 515-518.
3 '. . . persuader aux desvoyez de notre ancienne religion de se reduire
et accorder amyableinent et par led' sr roy et moi par ensemble y tien-
drant la main, et que par traicte de notred' s* pere la chose sappoincte.'
. . . And further concerning the King : ' Et tiens pour certain, quil fera
bien entendre auxds devoyez ceste notre vraye et parfaite amitie, et les
6 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Charles now fed on the hope that nothing further
would stand in the way of an amicable settlement of
the religious disturbances.1
As soon as the chiefs of the Smalcald League heard,
in the spring of 1538, of the armistice between the
Emperor and Francis I., the}^ sent an embassy to the
latter. Hitherto, said the Elector of Saxony and the
Landgrave of Hesse, from deference to the Emperor,
they had not accepted the proffered alliance of France.
Since, however, they had obtained nothing from his
Imperial Majesty, and there was now talk of a treaty
between the Emperor and the King, they begged the
King to make known to them the full extent of what
they had to hope for or to fear from him. They, the
confederates of Smalcald, were the protectors of' German
freedom ' against the encroachments of the Emperor :
the salvation of France depended on the preservation
of this German freedom.2 But it could only be main-
tained by the King's rejecting all alliances with the
Emperor which were unfavourable to the Protestants,
and by his disclosing to them the Emperor's secret
fera induire et persuader, et tiendra main envers eulx, qui se reduisent et
appointent, cornme dit est. Et a la verite, ce sera bien le plus convenable
de se quay desire se feit.' ' II est aussi advise, que tout ce, non seulement
qui concernera les affaires publiques, niais les particulieres, sera toujours
avec la participacion, comme il convient a l'honneur et auctorite, de
notred1 sl pere, selon qu'il convient a noz devoirs, et merite la sainte,
bonne et honneste voulonte et office quil a fait pour parvenir a ceste paix
et arnitie.' To Maria, in Lanz's Correspondenz, ii. 286-288.
1 On September 15, 1539, the Emperor wrote concerning the King's
promise at Aigues-Mortes : ' Se ha voluntariamente ofrecido de enviar a
Alemania una buena persona espresa, para que tenga juntamente lamano
en la dicha redduccion y para entender segun la exigencia en lo demas
para eldicho concilio.' ' Respuesta ' of September 15, 1539, in Dollinger,
Documente, p. 23.
~ ' Salutem Galliae a conservatione libertatis Germanicae dependere.'
THE SMALCALD LEAGUE AND FRANCIS I. 7
schemes ; the)' would then be ready to enter into a
treaty of defence with the King.
To this they received the following answer : ' The
King of France would never sacrifice them to the
Emperor ; he would oppose the holding of a Council,
and he was ready to enter into an alliance with them.'
After the signing of the truce of Nizza the King gave
them his solemn assurance that their hitherto friendly
relations had undergone no change. ' On his word of
honour ' l he declared to a second deputation from the
confederates at Marseilles on June 30 that ' the Pro-
testant Estates were included in the armistice ; that he
had refused to agree to the General Council, although
both Pope and Emperor had been urgent in their en-
deavours to obtain his consent, and although, had he
yielded, he would at once have been rewarded with the
duchy of Milan. Affairs had now quieted down and
hopes of the grant of Milan had been held out to him ;
nevertheless he was still ready to conclude an alliance
with the Protestant Estates. Negotiations to this end
were already commenced.' Francis I. pledged himself
never to recognise the Council without the consent of
the Estates, and, in case of the decisions of the Council
being enforced against them with violence, he promised
to lend them active help. The confederates, on the
other hand, promised never to support the enemies
of the King, and granted Francis the right to levy troops
in their territories. But when the delegates stipulated
that the large sum of money which Francis had led
them to hope for should be deposited in some German
town, and should be at the free disposal of the League
for levying troops, then the French ambassador made
1 En foy de gentilhonime.'
8 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
the counter-stipulations that the confederates should
do as much for the benefit of their King. This brought
the negotiations to a standstill. After the interview at
Aigues-Mortes Francis once more assured the Estates,
on August 2, that in his transactions with the Emperor
he had included them as friends and allies, and that he
should continue his friendship for them and his alliance
with them.1 The French ambassador De Fosse informed
the Landgrave of Hesse that the King would preserve
intact ' the freedom of Germany.' 2
While the confederates of Smalcald were negotiat-
ing with France a formal treaty was also concluded
between them and King Christian III. of Denmark.
At the request of the Elector of Saxony and the
Landgrave of Hesse, Christian III. had sent envoys to
the Congress of Smalcald in February 1537. The
princes who belonged to the league urged on the town
delegates that the King of Denmark should be received
into membership. Christian III., they said, had abo-
lished the unchristian papal religion in his dominions
and had deposed the bishops from their ecclesiastical
posts ; he had encouraged the preaching of the pure
word of God in Denmark, and had consequently much
to fear from the bishops. He was also subjected to
unjust treatment on the part of ' the Burgundians ' — that
1 Seckendorf s Commentarius historians et apologeticus de Luthera-
nismo sive de reformatione religionis ductu D. Martini Lutheri . . .
recepta et stabilita, iii. 177-179. As to the Council, the French agent
declared that this was an ecclesiastical matter, concerning which the
King could not with propriety pledge himself to anything definite in a
public treaty. It was indeed his fixed determination not to accept any
other than a ' good and free Council ; ' but he could not reject one which
would be accepted by the whole Christian world. Regarding the negotia-
tions of the Smalcald leaguers with France see Baumgarten, iii. 321 sq.
2 June 25, 1538, from Strasburg, in Rommel, ii. 394.
THE KING OF DENMARK JOINS THE LEAGUE 9
is to say, on the part of the Emperor, who was endea-
vouring to procure the Danish crown for the Count
Palatine Frederick. If the Burgundians succeeded in
winning Denmark to their side, it would be all over
with the pure word of God in that country. More-
over Denmark was the country best fitted to serve the
Pope in fighting the Christian Estates and in damaging
their commerce ; therefore it was both Christian and
advisable that King Christian should be brought into
alliance with these Estates ; ' for then there would not
only be no fear of danger, but, on the contrary, certainty
of encouragement, help, and support from the kingdom
of Denmark and Norway and the principalities of
Schleswig and Holstein.' In the matter of the General
Council also they would then have a powerful monarch
on their side.1 The towns gave an affirmative answer,2
and on April 9, 1538, at an assembly in Brunswick,
where Christian III. was present in person, he was
received into the League of Smalcald for a term of
nine years. In a general treaty with all the members
of the league the King promised ' with regard to
matters of religion, and everything connected with
them, or resulting from them, to place on foot 3,000
soldiers, at his own expense, for a term of three months,
or else to pay down 40,000 florins.' The confederates
made a similar promise to the King. On the same day
the Princes of Saxony, Hesse, Liineburg, and Anhalt,
and the Count of Mansfeld concluded another special
treaty with the King, according to which ' mutual
assistance was to be rendered in all secular matters
1 In the Frankfort archives, ' Congress of Smalcald, 1587,' fol. 142.
See Waitz, iii. 562.
2 Letters in the Frankfort archives, Convolut, Mittelgewolbe, D. 41.
10 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
also ' so that the negotiations had resulted in an often-
sive and defensive alliance. Hamburg and Bremen
also joined this alliance for nine years
By these treaties with Denmark the League of
Smalcald materially altered its position, for it extended
its sphere beyond the confines of Germany and connected
itself with the general affairs of Europe. As a collec-
tive body the confederates guaranteed the Danish King
help and protection against the Catholics, who had been
persecuted for their faith and driven out of their
homes ; while the more influential members of the
League promised him assistance against every sort of
attack for any pretext whatever, without limitation —
even against the Emperor himself.
Within the borders of Germany also the strength
of the Smalcald confederates increased continuously.
In July 1537 Duke Henry of Saxony, the brother
of Duke George, had joined the league in his own
name and in that of his son Maurice ; at the Congress
in Brunswick the Margrave Hans von Brandenburg
had been made a member. In the year 1535 the
Margrave Hans had promised his father, the Elector
Joachim I., on his death-bed, ' by his honour and faith
of a prince,' which affirmation took the place of ' a
legally registered oath,' to defend and maintain the
Catholic religion; yet nevertheless, as early as 1537,
he announced that ' by a special dispensation of the
Almighty he had been brought to the acknowledgment
of the divine word and the pure doctrine,' and, in spite
of the opposition of the Bishop of Lebus, he embarked
forthwith on the work of suppressing the Catholics
and remodelling the Church in the Neumark.1 Philip
1 Seckendorf, iii. 234. See Droysen, 2b, 162-175.
PROGRESS OF PROTESTANTISM IN 1538 II
of Hesse had advocated the admission of the Margrave
to the League, because by this means he would be cut
off from his father-in-law, Duke Henry of Brunswick,
fc and the papist connection,' and also through his
example ' other people might be brought to join it.' x
Philip hoped especially for the accession of the Elector
Joachim II., the elder brother of the Margrave.
In August 1538 the League of Smalcald received
fresh additions through the admission of the Duchess
Elizabeth of Eochlitz and Count Conrad of Tecklen-
burg ; besides which the towns of Augsburg and Ulm
were to negotiate the admission of Schwabisch-Hall
and Heilbronn.2
Altogether ' the year 1538 was an extremely
fortunate one for the Protestants in the spread of their
Gospel.'
In the Upper Palatinate many of the leading towns
appointed preachers, and organised their Church system
according to the Nuremberg Church ordinances.3 On
November 17, 1538, Count George of Wiirtemberg, at
the bidding of his brother Duke Ulrich, issued an order
that in all the towns and villages of the county of
Montbeliard the Mass and the ceremonies of the Catholic
Church were to be abolished. Duke Ulrich, he said,
was acting in this matter ' as sovereign prince,' after
the pattern of ' several pious kings of the Old Tes-
tament.' 4 The canons of Montbeliard, who declared
1 Philip's letter to the privy councillors of Strasburg, Ulm, and Augs-
burg of November 8, 1537, in the Frankfort archives.
2 Recess of the Congress at Eisenach, August 8, 1538, in the
Frankfort archives.
3 Alting, Hist, eccles. Palat. p. 155.
4 It behoved the Duke ' en sa qualite du prince souverain, d'en agir
de la sorte a l'imitation de ce que plusieurs rois pieux ont fait sous l'ancien
testament.' Herminjard, v. 182-113.
12 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
that ' they were determined to stand by their faith,
and that they left others the free exercise of theirs,'
were taken prisoners. It was in vain that the Count
offered to leave them in the enjoyment of their benefices
if they would accept ' the Gospel : ' they gave up all
their possessions and left the country. Attendance at
Mass outside the county was laid under penalty ; within
the earldom itself both the towns and the country, the
altars and images were everywhere destroyed,1
In Wtirtemberg also the destruction of altars and
images went on unrestrictedly.
At an assembly of preachers and ducal councillors
at Urach, Brenz felt himself compelled by his conscience
to speak out in favour of preserving the pictures and
images that gave no offence, because, he said, their
destruction increased the insolence of the populace.
4 There were already several churches,' he complained,
' in which not even the Ten Commandments, which God
Himself had laid down, were taught ; if the pictures and
images were also turned out, the condition of things
would be still worse, for there would be nothing left " to
warn and to admonish." Now, in church, young men
stood before young women who were living idols and
therefore a scandal.' Ambrosius Blarer, on the other
hand, appealing equally to conscience, urged the
removal of the pictures, in order thereby ' to testify
their Christian thankfulness to God ; ' images were only
fit for taverns and other such places, not for churches."
Duke Ulrich voted on the side of Blarer. He ordered
that ' the images and pictures should be removed
1 Heyd, iii. 146-147. ' On abattit dans tons les lieux les images et les
autels.' Herminjard, v. 183, note 3.
2 At the ' Gotzentag ' at Urach, September 1537. [Besold Chr.]
' DocumenDa rediviva.'
MILITARY PREPARATIONS OF THE SMALCALD LEAGUE 13
wholesale from the churches, and that all the clerical
offices should be put up for sale.' All the exquisite
works of art were first stripped of every bit of gold that
was on them and then hacked to pieces.
Meanwhile Blarer had been dismissed by the Duke
in disgrace. ' 0 thrice accursed barbarity ! ' wrote
Bucer on the subject in June 1538. ' I certainly
expected something unpleasant, on account of certain
followers of Schwenckfeld, who are endeavouring to
curry favour with the covetous Duke by wholesale
plunder of churches ; but who would have expected
such brutality on the occasion of the dismissal?'
Ulrich wanted the church spoils to cover the cost of
his amusements, of his equipment as a member of the
League of Smalcald, and of the building of his fortifica-
tions. The churches that were pulled down yielded
him stones for these works, the bells metal for
artillery.1
All the members of the league were engaged in
active preparations for war.
At a congress in Coburg in August 1537, which
had been summoned to consider ' the organisation of a
system of military administration,' it was decided by the
military councillors of the different Estates that Saxony
and Hesse, in order to be enabled to resist the execution
of the sentences of the Kammergericht (Imperial Court
of Justice), should dispose of double the usual amount
of help from the members, and should also levy recruits.
The towns of Southern Germany, at a municipal
gathering at Esslingen, at the beginning of October,
voted in favour of this decision, with the proviso,
however, that the whole supply of new guns that were
1 Heyd, iii. 302-303.
14 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
to be cast and of munitions should not be made over
entirely to the leaders of the league ; they advised that
a fourth part should be deposited in Augsburg or
Esslingen.1 Philip of Hesse would not agree to this,
and to please him Ulm advised Strasburg not to com-
promise the interests of the league for the sake of the
guns, since victory and success depended on a
powerful expedition.
In April 1538, at a congress in Brunswick, the
resolutions of Coburg were agreed to by all the Estates ;
each was to pay up its share of money by Whitsuntide,
in order that the military preparations might proceed
without delay. In the year 1537 the Elector of Saxony
and the Landgrave of Hesse had secured in different
German territories more than thirty captains, with over
500 foot soldiers under each, and fourteen cavalry
captains, commanding each of them from 200 to 300
mounted soldiers. When Philip of Hesse heard in May
1538 that military preparations were also going on in
Bavaria, he notified to the town council at Augsburg
that if they found out that an attack on the Smalcald
confederates was intended, they were to employ the
able and experienced warrior Schartlin von Burtenbach
to stir up the Bavarian soldiers to mutiny. This
would be all the more easily accomplished as it was
certain that many among these soldiers were favourable
to the ' Gospel ; ' he authorised the members of the
town council to spend for this purpose as much as
10,000 florins, to the general account of the Estates.
But the Bavarian troops were destined for resistance
against the Turks, and Schartlin was consequently
1 Recess at Esslingen (Thursday after Michaelmas Day), October 4, in
the Frankfort archives.
MILITAEY PREPARATIONS OF THE SMALCALD LEAGUE 15
absolved from the task of raising mutiny in the
territory of his feudal lord.1
The Smalcald princes intended to inarch out ' in
formidable array ' the instant the Imperial Court should
pronounce the sentence of outlawry ' in matters of
religion ' against any Estate or any town belonging to
their League, and should call on any Catholic Estate ' to
enforce such a sentence.'
The Imperial Court was to ' hold its hands ' in all
matters which in the opinion of the Smalcald confederates
were considered religious questions. In a confidential
letter to Bucer Philip of Hesse acknowledged frankly that
it was ' amusing enough ' to compel the Emperor to sus-
pend the proceedings instituted against the Protestants,
and thus ' obstruct the course of justice.' 'For verily,'
he said, ' we have a whole string of religious matters on
hand which have as much resemblance to religion as a
hare has to a kettle-drum.'
His language to the Imperial Vice-Chancellor, Johann
von Naves, on the other hand, had quite a different
tone. He told the latter that at Smalcald the Vice-
Chancellor Held had ' exonerated and defended the
Imperial Court, and had remarked at the same time that
the Protestant Estates had incensed the Emperor by in-
cluding among questions of the faith many matters
which had nothing whatever to do with religion.' This,
however, was by no means the case. Held ' had com-
pletely distorted facts, so much so that they had all
been frightened out of their wits, just as if they had
had blows struck on their heads.' For thev had
expected proceedings of a gentle nature, and that the
1 Herberger, Sebastian Scliartlin von Burtenbach und seine an die
Stadt Augsburg geschriebene Brief e, lvi.-lvii.
16 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Emperor would be ready to establish a lasting peace,
and that he would repeal the measures instituted by
the Imperial Chamber.1
At the congresses at Brunswick and at Eisenach in
April and July 1538 some of the members of the
Smalcald League had moved a resolution that the
Imperial Court should be altogether repudiated. On
neither occasion, however, had the resolution been
passed definitely, although on several special points
the members had with one consent decided that the
authority of this court must be rejected.
Among other Estates that preferred grievances
against the Imperial Chamber the town council of Isny
stated that they had abolished ' Popish Masses and
dangerous abuses ' in the monastery of St. George ;
whereupon the Baron of Waldburg, as guardian and
cashier of the monastery, had obtained a mandate from
the Imperial Chamber ordering the abbot to be reinstated
and the ceremonies and Masses to be continued in the
monastery. And although the Council had . addressed
a letter to the Imperial Chamber, drawing attention to
the 'general repudiation of its authority in religious
matters,' the suit continued, and they were again
threatened with a sentence of outlawry. The abbot
had moreover refused to give any salaries to the pastors
and church officials appointed by the town, and had
said that the town must pay them at its own expense.
Finally the abbot and the monks ' had actually had the
audacity to hold Popish Masses outside the town, and
also on their way to the Mass to ride in and out of the
town, to the great annoyance of many people.' These
1 Report of Naves to Queen Maria, in Lanz, Staatspajnere, p. 263 ;
Baumgarten, iii. 335 ff.
CATHOLIC PERSECUTION BY THE SMALCALD LEAGUE 17
complaints were regarded as well grounded by the
notables at Eisenach. The council of Isny, it was said
in a subsidiary recess, was bound, ' for the prevention of
scandal and offence,' to forbid all toleration of papacy,
whether inside or outside the town ; if the monks would
not give in, it was the duty of the council to eject
them ; the abbot was bound to provide the necessary
maintenance for the Protestant preachers and church
officials. If the members of the council were placed
under the ban and treated with violence on account
of these proceedings by the Imperial Chamber, the
league would afford them help and protection, accord-
ing to its agreement.1
Persecution of the Catholics seemed a matter of
course to the confederates of Smalcald, and wholly in
accordance with ' the divine word and the holy Gospel.'
If the Imperial Chamber espoused the cause of the
Catholics, it was repudiated and accused of fostering
disturbance in the Empire and causing insurrection.
4 The Emperor,' said Conrad Braun, assessor to the
Imperial Chamber in 1539, 'has issued orders for
general peace, and has forbidden any person to attack
or do violence to another, either in body or property,
or in any other way, under pain of punishment accord-
ing to the rules of the public peace. Whereas, however,
the Protestant Estates and their associates are in the
habit of forcibly depriving churches and church officials
of their possessions, on account of the faith, and have
gone to the length of taking the property and lives of
even some of the laity, and whereas the oppressed and
injured individuals, on the strength of the Emperor's
1 ' Eisenachcr Nebenabschied ' of August 8, 1538, in the Frankfort
archives, Convolut, ' Diet at Eisenach.'
VOL. VI. C
18 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
orders to keep the peace, appeal for justice against
their persecutors, and receive redress for the wrongs
done to them, this legitimate fulfilment of the imperial
decree is, so I am informed, called a feud and a breach
of the peace and Heaven knows what, which is as much
as to call white black, light darkness, and clear
undeniable right aggression and wrong-doing. The
Protestants break the peace enjoined by the Emperor ;
the Imperial Chamber, in discharge of its duty,
institutes legal proceedings against these violators of
the peace and enforces the imperial mandate and peace
edict of Eatisbon ; and the Imperial Chamber forsooth
is accused of not conforming to the said imperial
mandate and of breaking the peace. It is precisely
the argument of the wolf against the sheep. The wolf
was standing at the top of the stream, and the sheep
further down ; the water was troubled, and so the
sheep had troubled it. It is almost the same sort of
logic' For of what but acts against the imperial
peace and truce are the protesting confederates
accused ? For instance, punishing people for their
faith with prison, stocks, and fetters ; maiming their
bodies and taking their lives ; plundering churches of
their treasures, and depriving their incumbents of all
revenues ; seizing houses and castles, and suchlike, all
of which are contrary to the aforesaid imperial peace
and truce.
Then they appeal to the words of the peace : ' all
judicial procedures that have been or shall be com-
menced against the Protestants in matters of religion in
the Imperial Court are to be suspended.'
But ' if these words are to be understood to mean
that in questions of plunder of Church property, and
CATHOLIC PERSECUTION BY THE SMALCALD LEAGUE 19
similar acts of violence, the Imperial Chamber was to
abstain from legal prosecution, the imperial mandate
would not have the effect of promoting peace in the
land, but it would lead to results exactly the opposite of
what it was meant to accomplish. If the evangelical
preachers are to be allowed to plunder Church property
at their pleasure, and to commit other acts of depre-
dation, and nobody is to have the right to call them to ac-
count, the opposite party must in common justice be
allowed to take reasonable measures for self-defence. And
what sort of peace would there then be in the land ?
There was not the slightest doubt that it could not
have been the Emperor's will and intention that under
the mere name of peace all sorts of injustice and
iniquity should be permitted, whereby so many ex-
cellent institutions and churches would be robbed of
their goods and revenues, and so many unfortunate
people in the Holy Empire deprived of the benefit of all
law and justice, natural, human, and divine. ' Forcible
measures came from the Protestant side only.' 'I have
hitherto heard of no acts of violence but those which
proceeded from them. Nobody has ever yet taken the
property of the Protestants by force ; but it is known
to everybody how several bishops, innocent of all
offence, have been attacked by the Protestants with
armed forces and compelled to pay large sums of
money ; how many churches with their officials and
overseers, both of high and low degree, have been for
some time past deprived of their goods or driven away ;
and all this may well be called iniquitous behaviour.'
' If the Protestant Estates,' says another Catholic
contemporary, ' consider themselves justified, on the
strength of so-called Divine truth, in confiscating
c 2
20 HISTORY OF THE GEEMAN PEOPLE
Church property, abolishing the ancient forms of
worship, and driving the followers of the old faith out
of their demesnes, have they any better arguments on
their side than the Anabaptists and other sects, who each
in their turn brag of being the sole possessors of divine
truth, and therefore entitled to confiscate all property,
secular as well as ecclesiastical, and above all to take
possession of the goods and chattels of those who
will not accept this divine truth and attach themselves
to their party ? ' 1
The Smalcald confederates were not merely bent on
the establishment of a separate religious creed within
their territories, but also on the wholesale suppression
of the old faith and its adherents. They insisted on
entire independence of the authority of the Emperor and
the Empire in all those matters which they were pleased,
on the sole warrant of their own caprice, to bring into
connection with the religious schism.
'The uninterrupted warlike preparations' of these
confederate Estates and ' their intrigues with foreign
potentates,' frightened the Catholic Estates out of
the lethargy they had hitherto manifested. As the
Emperor, owing to the war forced upon him with
the Turks and the French, was obliged to be absent
from the Empire for a long spell of years, it became
necessary for these Catholic Estates to seek safety and
protection for their religion and their possessions against
the oppression of the Smalcald League in a firmly
cemented counter-league.
An alliance of this nature for the defence and pre-
servation of the old faith had already been organised at
Halle, in November 1533, between the Elector Joachim
1 Dicta Memorabilia, p. 49.
CATHOLIC COUNTER-LEAGUES 21
of Brandenburg and the Dukes Eric of Hanover,
Henry of Brunswick, and George of Saxony. The
above-named princes, so the Elector Joachim informed
King Ferdinand, ' had met together at Halle, and
after they had discovered that the Lutherans were in
the habit of holding frequent private meetings, and
were engaged in extensive machinations for depriving
the Catholics of their lands, for stirring up insubordi-
nation among them, and drawing them over to their
own party in defiance of the Diet of Augsburg and
Nuremberg and the Peace of Nuremberg, they had
bound themselves together in a friendly permanent
league for the defence of the true and ancient faith.'
' We intend,' so the allied princes declared, ' to continue
in obedience and conformity to the Holy Catholic
Christian ordinances, ceremonies, and usages handed
down to us by our forefathers, together with our
subjects, tenants, and kindred, and to preserve them
unaltered, and not to allow ourselves to be deprived of
them by force. We shall not attempt to bring round
to our faith those persons who persist in their own
separatist opinions, and in disobedience to the general
Christian Church, neither shall we proceed actively
against them, but we shall confine this our alliance to
the protection of ourselves and our belongings, and to
the maintenance of obedience among our subjects.'1
Another association, formed for the same object in
the year 1538, was the so-called ' Christian Alliance ' of
Nuremberg, which the Vice-Chancellor Held, commis-
sioned by the Emperor, had been chiefly instrumental
in organising.
Already at the beginning of the year 1537, after
1 Bucholtz, v. 321-322.
22 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
the renewal and strengthening of the League of Smal-
cald, Held had urged on the Catholic Estates 'the
necessity of their uniting more closely ' if they did not
wish to fall a defenceless prey to the attacks of the
Smalcald confederates. ' God will help us wonderfully
with His grace,' he wrote in February 1537 to Duke Henry
of Brunswick, ' if only we on our part take some active
steps and do not remain idle, as we have hitherto done.'
He was delighted to find that the Duke was equipping
himself and making preparations in case of need ; he
urged him to do all he could to fire the Archbishop of
Mayence ' and other poor-spirited chiefs,' and not to allow
them to vacillate. 'Everything depends,' he said in a
later letter, ' on our being prepared for active resistance
and not dawdling on from day to day. Not till the
Protestants see that we are able to defend and protect
ourselves will they begin to grow circumspect and
cease to think so confidently and presumptuously that
everything must fall out according to their own will,
and that they have only to say that they want something
for it instantly to happen.' Held insisted on stringent
measures being taken against 'the unseemly proceedings
of the Protestants in violation of the laws of the Empire
and the treaties of peace.' When he received intel-
ligence of the banishment of the Bishop from Augsburg,
of the confiscation of Church property there, and the
suppression of the Catholic Church service, he wrote to
King Ferdinand : 'Your Majesty will see from this that
nobody becomes any better through his Imperial
Majesty's lenient and kindly treatment, but that, on the
contrary, his forbearance leads to still more criminal
insolence and audacity. What will be the final out-
come of all this your Majesty can well imagine from the
THE NUREMBERG COUNCIL 2.3
present grievous events. These and other similar occur-
rences might easily have been foreseen. Would God
they had been anticipated ! I at any rate did not fail
to give diligent and earnest warning.'1 The Smalcald
confederates, so Held remarked to the Bavarian councillor
Weissenfeld in the spring of 1538, do not 'call all those
who belong to their sect Turks, and worse Turks even
than the Sultan and his subjects.'
At the proposal of Held King Ferdinand resolved
in 1538 on summoning a meeting of the league at
Nuremberg.
To a friend of the Nuremberg council invited to
Prague Ferdinand gave notice that ' the Emperor
and the King were engaged in negotiations with some
of the Electors and Princes with a view to forming a
league, the object of which would not be to proceed
inimically against any law-abiding Estate of the Empire,
but to resist and restrain as much as possible all such
turbulent citizens who should stir up riots and tumult
against any one, and to protect and preserve every-
where the orderly loyal subjects of the realm, and to
maintain public peace and justice. In case the council
should be informed that this league had for its object
the suppression of the evangelicals, they must give no
credence to such a report, but must rest assured that
the Emperor would protect all his subjects according
to the terms of the Editions Peace of Nuremberg'.
The Emperor would shortly summon an assembly at
Nuremberg for the purpose of considering this league,
and he was convinced that the council would have no
cause for complaint on the subject. It might possibly
also be unavoidably necessary to hold a general Diet,
1 Bucholtz, v. 332, note.
24 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
and for this purpose Nuremberg was the fittest and
most convenient town. In such an emergency the
Emperor would expect the council to show itself
amenable and to take all necessary precautions for
preserving order and security during the meeting of
the Diet. The council need not be afraid that the
Emperor intended in any way to interfere with their
religious ceremonies or worship ; but, on the other
hand, they must consider that whereas the Diet could
not be hurried to a conclusion in a short space of time
the Emperor and King would have Masses regularly
said during its sitting.'
To such a pass had things now come in the Empire
that both the Emperor and the King were obliged to
entreat the council of an imperial city for leave to
carry on their Catholic worship.
To this communication of Ferdinand's the council
answered that ' Nuremberg, owing to its over-popula-
tion and to the increased prices of provisions, which
might easily lead to riots among the people, was
not a suitable town for an Imperial Diet. If,
however, it was decided to hold the Diet there, the
council would lay down no injunctions for their
Majesties with respect to the reading of Masses ; but
their Majesties and other princes might observe their
ceremonies in the imperial fortress or in their dwellings.
The council would be even willing, at the request of
the Emperor and the King, to place one of the churches
at their disposal for the celebration of their services on
high festivals, or at other times, and to suspend the
services of the new religion on such days in order to
make place for their Majesties. To the Electors and
Princes, however, no such permission could be granted
THE NUREMBERG COUNCIL 25
by the council ; they must hold their services in their
own courts and hostels only.' ]
The assembly in question took place at Nuremberg
the following Whitsuntide.
On June 10, 1538, a league was concluded for the
space of eleven years between the Emperor, King
Ferdinand, the Archbishop and Elector of Mayence, the
Archbishop of Salzburg, and the Dukes William and
Louis of Bavaria, George of Saxony, Eric the elder, and
Henry the younger of Brunswick- Wolfenbuttel.
The charter of the league began with the announce-
ment that ' now, as before, it was the Emperor's earnest
wish and command that the peace of Nuremberg
should be strictly observed and conformed to by all
his subjects. Whereas, however, in violation of this
treaty, several of the Protestant Estates had established
leagues and were carrying on all sorts of intrigues,
from which in the future fresh heresies, turbulence,
and insurrection might result, to the ruin of the
German nation, the Emperor had reminded his brother
Ferdinand, and the rest of the loyal Electors, Princes,
and Estates, of the promises they had made at several
former Diets, and he now called upon them to conclude
with him the present Christian alliance, not with a view
to aggression of any sort, but solely for defensive
purposes.' ' We have banded together collectively and
unanimously,' so ran the emphatic declaration, ' and
we are pledged that no one member of our Christian
confederacy shall, in violation of the Nuremberg treaty,
set about to attack, injure, persecute, or do violence to
any of the Protestant princes or their subjects ; and
1 F. v. Soden, Beitrage zur Geschichie der Reformation und der
Sitten jener Zeit, &c, pp. 458-460.
26 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
that none of us shall in any way proceed with force
against any of these said Protestants in their lands or
territories. But, on the contrary, this same treaty of
Nuremberg, which was drawn up by us, the Eoman
Emperor, and the Protestant Estates, shall in all respects
be steadfastly and inviolably observed.' The league, it
was stated, was an entirely defensive one, for the pro-
tection of the Catholic faith and the ecclesiastical
institutions and property within the dominion of its
members. These institutions and possessions were to
be guarded ' from injurious invasion and violence.'
' In case, then, any one,' the charter went on, ' be it
who it may, should dare, secretly or openly, in what-
soever manner, to attack any of us, lay or cleric, or our
dependents, and to endeavour criminally and with force
to deprive us of our true religion, ceremonies, ordi-
nances, and usages, or in other ways to distress us
with regard to our religion and all that is legitimately
connected with it, or to incite our people against us,
or to intrigue with them, against such persons we must
and will oppose resistance with all our united forces,
and protect ourselves from them in the practice of our
true religion, in accordance with right and justice.'
In case, moreover, any attack should be made by the
Protestants, not on any pretext of religion, but under
some other pretext, connected with secular proceedings,
or in case of insurrection arising among their subjects —
in such cases also they would mutually help and support
each other.
' Foreign realms, outside the pale of the German
nation and language,' were emphatically excluded from
this league ; but all German princes, prelates, counts,
and towns were to be admitted at their desire and
THE LEAGUE OF NUREMBERG 27
request. Efforts were at once to be made to gain the
accession of the Electors of Treves, Cologne, and the
Palatinate, the bishops in Franconia, Suabia, West-
phalia, and Saxony, besides several counts and towns.
Protestant Estates and towns were also to be invited
to join.
' And in order that the towns and other Estates,' so
ran an appendix of June 12, ' in which the Lutheran
doctrines have already taken root, may be persuaded
to join the league, we will allow them to abide by the
religion which they at present profess, until the General
Christian Council shall take place, or a reform be
instituted ; but on condition that, meanwhile, they
introduce no further innovations in religion, and that
they agree to submit to what shall be decided at the
General Christian Council with regard to reform.'
Duke Louis of Bavaria and Duke Henry of Bruns-
wick were respectively nominated chiefs of the league
for the South German and the Saxon provinces.
Already before the ratification of the League of
Nuremberg, King Ferdinand, threatened with a fresh
invasion of the Turks in Hungary and Austria, had
exerted himself through the agency of the Elector
Joachim II. of Brandenburg to come to terms with the
Protestants. Joachim had entered into negotiations
with the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse
concerning the help thej would be ready to give for
resistance against the Turks. That serious danger
from Turkey confronted the German Empire was by no
means unknown to the Protestant Estates. ' By credible
reports from many quarters we learn,' said John
Frederic of Saxony and Philip of Hesse in a despatch
to their fellow-confederates on June 7, 1538, ' that the
28 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Turks are ready to advance with more than one army,
and from more than one direction, to the work of sub-
jugating all the Christian countries, especially the
Austrian dominions ; or at any rate to injure and
devastate them as much as possible.' The two princes
dwelt on the difficulty of the Protestant situation. If
they refused to contribute any aids and the Turks were
repulsed by the help of the other Estates, ' especially
the papists,' several of which had already volunteered
help, and if perchance a treaty of peace or an armi-
stice was concluded with the Sultan, in either case it
would be matter for reproach against the evangelical
Estates, and would give their adversaries all the more
encouragement to proceed against them. Such success
over the Turks, however, ' was scarcely to be expected,
considering all current reports, which were indeed
depressing enough.' If, however, the campaign went
against them, and German towns and provinces were
lost, damaged, or devastated, the blame would be laid
on the Protestant Estates, because they had not con-
tributed any help.
It was resolved that the question of subsidies should
be decided at a congress at Eisenach.1
Meanwhile the heads of the Smalcald League, in a
letter of June 12 to the Elector of Brandenburg, made
the following stipulations : ' King Perdinand must give
them unequivocal assurance in the Emperor's name of
an unconditional peace, which should also include all
those members who had only joined them after the
truce of Nuremberg, and also all who should join in
future. Further, all proceedings of the Imperial
Chamber against them must be suspended, and these
1 Despatch of June 7, 1538, in the Frankfort archives.
STIPULATIONS OF THE SMALCALD LEAGUE 29
pledges and assurances must be ratified at a fresh Diet
by the collective body of Catholic notables.' In case it
should not be possible to hold this Diet at such an early
date, then they must receive a guarantee of this
' peace ' from the Dukes of Bavaria, the Duke of Saxony,
the three spiritual Electors, and other bishops specified
by name. If this guarantee could not be obtained at
once, the Emperor and the King must at any rate make
themselves irrevocably answerable for their sovereign-
ties and their hereditary estates.1
In this way the Protestants hoped to turn the
Turkish danger to their own ends.
At the Congress at Eisenach, at which Brandenburg
delegates were present, the confederated Estates reite-
rated, on August 5 and 6, the stipulations laid down
by Saxony and Hesse.
King Ferdinand could not be brought 2 to agree to
these terms, but he informed the Emperor of the trans-
actions with the Protestants, and begged for fuller
instructions. The Emperor, as usual, was anxious for
an amicable settlement, and he hoped, he said, that the
King of France also, in accordance with the promises
he had made at Aigues-Mortes, would do what he could
to further an accommodation. Fuller instructions from
himself, he wrote on September 22 to Ferdinand, were
not needed ; for everything must be done in agreement
with the Pope and the legate despatched by his Holiness
to Germany. Some concessions might be made to
those who had fallen away from the faith, either per-
manently or for a specified period ; nevertheless they
1 Planck, 3b, 5-7.
2 ' Articoli et petitioni di Lutherani tanto enormi et inhoneste ; ' see the
papal legate's letter of September 9, 1538, in Laeinrner, Mon. Vat. p. 192.
30 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
must be such as would not be detrimental to the sub-
stance of the faith and of religion. If this did not
satisfy the Protestants, Ferdinand was then at liberty
to arrange a temporary armistice with them on the
most favourable terms possible, subject always to the
Emperor's approval.1 As his plenipotentiary in the
transactions which were to begin with the Estates on
Februar}^ 20, 1539, under the mediation of the Electors
of Brandenburg and of the Palatinate, the Emperor
appointed the banished Archbishop of Lund, John von
Weeze.
According to the Emperor's orders, so Ferdinand
assured the legate Aleander, no concessions would be
made to the Protestants without the concurrence of the
Holy See. By means of the negotiations at Frankfurt,
whither he also intended to send his envoys, he hoped
to prevent the Lutherans from undertaking anything
which would disturb the peace of Germany.
' Levying of troops and other warlike preparations '
went on uninterruptedly in the Empire.
From fear of the Smalcald confederates the Dukes
of Bavaria expended 300,000 florins on the fortification
of Ingolstadt. From fear of Bavaria the people of
Augsburg tore down the most beautiful ornament of
their city — the towers (above a hundred in number)
built, in the German style, upon their walls — and em-
ployed Hessian workmen to erect new defence works
with bare naked walls.2 The towns belonging to the
Smalcald League resolved in December 1538 on holding
a municipal assembly at Esslingen, in order to consider
1 Charles V.'s letter to Ferdinand and instructions for his plenipoten-
tiaries at Frankfort, in Laenamer, Mon. Vat. pp. 193-195 ; Pallavicino,
lib. 4, cap. 8.
a Herberger, p. lvii.
MILITARY PREPARATIONS OF PHILIP AND ULRICH 31
the question of provisions, artillery, and, powder in case
of an attack. They deliberated also as to the advisa-
bility ' of applying for foreign help from other Christian
potentates.'
Philip of Hesse and Ulrich of Wiirtemberg were
unceasingly occupied in levying troops. There could
no longer be any doubt, wrote Matthias Held from
Worms to Duke Louis of Bavaria on December 5,
that Philip and Ulrich intended setting out on a march
in the following spring. ' They are drawing away the
Emperor's and the King's subjects ; they are determined
to settle everything according to their own will and
pleasure, and to be themselves lords and masters ; in
order that their " gospel " may be spread and propa-
gated, they mean to subjugate the whole German
nation. They are collecting as much money as possible ;
they pay and they promise any amount of interest that
people like to ask them for, and in consequence they tax
their subjects inordinately. Ulrich has now once more
imposed such heavy taxes that many of his subjects are
obliged to leave house and home and go away into
misery; I have seen such cases myself.' Held appended
to his letter the copy of an injunction issued by Philip
of Hesse in November with regard to the expedition he
had planned with Ulrich. But it was not known
against whom the attack would first be directed.
Count William of Fiirstenberg was the chief lieutenant,
Philip and Ulrich themselves the commanders-in-chief.
William of Fiirstenberg was at that time levying troops
in Strasburg, for which work, so King Ferdinand
believed, the necessary funds were supplied by Philip
and Ulrich. Jacob Sturm of Strasburg warned Philip,
on December 3, against a war of aggression.
32 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
It was feared that the Landgrave would take the
Archbishop of Mayence and other Catholic princes by
storm, and then, if fortune favoured him, make a bold
bid for the Empire, and attempt to make himself
emperor or king.
In Mayence the threats of the Landgrave had
created great consternation.1 Archbishop Albert had
also ' special fears of Saxony, on account of his bishoprics
of Magdeburg and Halberstadt,' because the Saxon
Elector had endeavoured in writing to make the Estates
of these dioceses disaffected towards him, and because
Luther ' had unexpectedly begun to rage against him
so furiously.' The humanist Simon Lemnius, who was
studying at the University of Wittenberg, having praised
the Archbishop extravagantly in Latin epigrams, Luther
had declared from the pulpit, on June 16, 1538, that he
could not endure that ' this self-condemned godless priest '
should be extolled by the Wittenberg press.2 In Decem-
ber he wrote a scurrilous pamphlet against Albert, in
which in the name of God he pronounced ' the supreme
judge's sentence' on the Cardinal, Archbishop, and
German Elector, as follows : ' Albert is a bloodhound,
a tvrant, a thief, and a murderer.' ' What shall I sav
of the accursed cardinals ? They themselves know well
that no cardinal can be in favour with God and man, any
more than the Pope can. They are people who blas-
pheme and mock at God and want to overthrow all kings
and magistrates, as says Daniel, ch. ix.' ' In short,'
wrote Luther of Albert on January 2, 1539, to Prince
1 ' In Moguntia si stava con tiinore per le minaccie qi;e detto 1' Angravio
havea fatto contra di loro.' Letter of the papal legate from Vienna,
January 24, 1539, in Laemmer, Mon. Vat. p. 215.
2 De Wette-Seidemann, vi. 199-200. At p. 199 Seidemann gives an
account of the whole transaction with Lemnius.
INTERCEPTED LETTERS 33
George of Anhalt, ' God has blinded his eyes and
hardened his heart.'
- An occurrence of a specially remarkable kind
aggravated the inharmonious state of things. '
On December 30, 1538, the Landgrave Philip had
caused a secretary of Duke Henry of Brunswick travel-
ling through Hesse to be seized and robbed of his
letters and papers. Among them was found an auto-
graph letter from the Duke to the Archbishop, in which
it was said : ' The Landgrave does not sleep much,
scarcely one hour in the night ; he has not a moment's
peace except when hunting. I fear that he is going out
of his mind. The matter deserves serious considera-
tion.' Bavaria, he continued, had already received
intelligence of the military preparations of the Land-
grave, who would fall upon either Mayence or
Brunswick. ' God on our side and the devil on that of
our enemies. May the devil carry them off! I wish
your Grace a happy and prosperous New Year.' This
secretary was carrying to the Vice-Chancellor Held
instructions to the following effect : ' Duke Henry
thought the best course would be for the Imperial
Chamber to order the Landgrave to keep the peace and
to discontinue his warlike preparations ; if he should
refuse to comply with this order, the court should
pronounce the sentence of outlawry and entrust the
enforcement of it to Duke Henry and Bavaria.'
Philip at once sent copies of these letters to King*
Ferdinand, to Duke George of Saxony, to Duke
William of Bavaria, and to other notables ; he received,
however, assurances from them all that there was no
idea of an offensive war on the part of the members of
the Nuremberg League.
VOL. VI. D
34 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
These assurances were bona fide.
At an assembly of the Nuremberg confederates at
Pilsen on February 12, 1539, it was resolved that
accurate information must be obtained as to whether
Hesse and Wiirtemberg had discontinued their military
preparations in compliance with Ferdinand's request.
If it were found that they had not done so, but that
they were equipping more busily even than before, and
that they were paying money to the soldiers and
making ready for war, then the chiefs of the league
* must also commence preparations on a scale pro-
portionate to that of the opponents, and must proceed
to levy soldiers.' An army of 4,000 cavalry and 20,000
infantry must be got in readiness, and each member of
the league must provide funds for the maintenance of
this army during three months. ' If, however, the
answer from Hesse and Wiirtemberg was that the
Protestants had suspended their preparations, or were
no longer so eager about them, then the chiefs of the
counter-league must also suspend their operations and
behave in such a manner that no occasion should be
given the adversaries for insurrection.'
Ferdinand ' feared nothing so much as a war in
Germany.' At his court such alarming news came
pouring in concerning the equipment of the Turks, who
were allied with the Tartars, that the overthrow of
Germany and of the whole of Christendom seemed at
hand. The King, accordingly, begged the Elector of
Brandenburg all the more earnestly to expedite the
attempts at an accommodation with the Protestant
Estates at the Congress of Frankfort.
The heads of the League of Smalcald had summoned
THE FRANKFORT CONGRESS 35
the Congress at Frankfort for the transaction of
4 weighty and urgent business.' The attendance of the
notables was very numerous ; * Duke Ulrich of Wiirtem-
berg, to the great annoyance of his co-religionists, was
the only absentee. Among the divines present was
the Frenchman Calvin, who here first made acquain-
tance with Melanchthon, whom he was able to greet as a
believer in his doctrine of the Lord's Supper. As to
any improvement in the administration of the Church
revenues for spiritual purposes, a question that was to
be discussed on the basis of Bucer's propositions,
Calvin had small hopes from the Princes, because the
latter wanted to use them according to their own fancy
and were not likely to restore what they had once got
possession of.'2 The theologian Myconius, on the other
hand, lavished abundant praise on the Princes in a
letter to Luther of March 3. ' They are accomplishing
steadfastly and bravely the work of Christian heroes ; '
but at the same time he could not look with approval
on the inordinate drinking bouts of the Princes.3
On February 14 the heads of the League informed
the Estates that ' the Catholic ojoponents must have
some extensive scheme in their minds,' because the
town of Minden, in spite of its appeal against the
Imperial Chamber, had been placed under the ban in
1 List of the members present in Lersner, Frankfort Chronicle, i.
341-342.
3 On March 16, 1539, Calvin wrote to Farel : ' Nemo erat qui non
indigne acciperet, Wirtembirgensem malle venatione sua et nescio quibus
lusoriis oblectarnentis frui, quam consultationi interesse, in qua et patria
ejus et caput fortasse agatur, quum biduo tantum abesset.' Calvini Opp.
x. 326.
4 '. . . Difficile videbatur impetrare, quoniam nihil id principes ad se
pertinere putant, qui bona ecclesiastica pro suo arbitrio administrant. Et
alii quidem aegre ferunt sibi de manibus excuti lucrum, cui jam assueve-
runt.' Calvin to Farel, March 16, 1539, in Calvini Opp. x. 324.
d 2
36 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
matters of religion, and Duke Ulrich of Wiirtemberg,
as lie had informed the Landgrave of Hesse, was also
threatened with the ban. King Ferdinand had indeed
written to the Landgrave that ' peace was to be main-
tained in the Empire and the terms of the armistice
observed,' but he had not made any allusion to the
ban pronounced against Minden. Duke George had
written that 'justice must have its course ; ' and several
others had also said that ' if they received orders to
enforce the sentence against Minden they would
have to obey them.' From the intercepted letters of
Duke Hemy of Brunswick they were now cognisant of
' the attitude of the opposite party ; ' if the Duke's
secretary had not been arrested, ' war and disaster
would have ensued.' Saxony and Hesse did not ' expect
much good ' from the contemplated negotiations with
the Elector of Brandenburg, who had offered himself as
mediator, and with the imperial ambassador, the
Archbishop of Lund ; for Mayence, Bavaria, and Bruns-
wick were continuing their preparations for war un-
interruptedly, and there was no doubt that they
meditated an attack on the Protestant Estates. There-
fore it would be well to consider whether they should
not take the initiative and be beforehand with their
adversaries. They declared themselves in favour of an
attack.
But all the notables were not of equally belligerent
minds.
Among others Duke Francis of Liineburg said he
could not really believe ' that the opposite party
intended to fight ; ' many friendly and gracious letters
had been received from King Ferdinand and the
Electors and Princes, and in the terms of the
THE FRANKFORT CONGRESS 37
Nuremberg League itself it was stated that the
armistice must be observed.
Hesse and Saxony ' were eager for war,' wrote
Balthasar Clammer, ambassador of Duke Ernest of
Luneburg, on February 18 ; but the resolution had
been greatly modified, and decision in the matter
postponed until the proposals of the mediating Electors
should have been heard. ' If the Electors did not
succeed in arranging for peace, or a delay,' ' nothing
was more probable than an outbreak of war.' At the
proposal of the Elector of Saxony it was resolved that
in order to impress the Electors while the negotiations
were proceeding further levying of troops was to go on ;
and efforts were also to be made to arrive at an
understanding with the English, French, and Danish
ambassadors who were present.1
At the commencement of the negotiations with the
Electors of Brandenburg and of the Palatinate, as
mediators, with the Archbishop of Lund, as the Emperor's
delegate, and with the envoy of King Ferdinand, the
Protestants made such immoderate demands that the
conclusion of a truce was out of the question.
They stipulated for ' an unconditional permanent
peace,' for the suspension of all pending, and the
interdiction of all future legal proceedings in the
Imperial Chamber with regard to matters of religion
' and everything connected with it,' and for sanction
for the confiscation of Church property. ' In addition
to these demands,' so Ferdinand's envoys reported, ' they
1 Fuller details concerning the transactions in Balthasar Clammer's
reports, in O. Meinardus, ' Die Verhandlungen des schmalkaldigen Bundes
vom 14. bis 18. Februar 1539,' in Forschungen zur deutschen Gescldclite,
pp. 626, 636-654.
38 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
want to appropriate all the tithes and usufructs which
belong to the churches and religious houses outside
their jurisdiction, and to dispose of all Church property
and revenues according to their own liking : and all
this, forsooth, is to come under the head of " religious
matters." ' ' They insist also that all future members of
their league, as, for instance, Denmark, the Duke of
Liegnitz, the Duke of Prussia, the towns of Eiga and
Eeval, shall be included in this treaty of peace.' None
of their party are to be punished by the Catholics, in
person or property, on account of their religion, and
the renegade priests, monks, and nuns, and their
children, are to be in no wise kept out of their
hereditary portions.
'Under such peace conditions only will the
Protestants agree to contribute their share of help
against the Turks, but they are of opinion that in
order to raise efficient supplies for this purpose it will
be necessary to summon an imperial Diet.'
Toleration of the Catholics the Protestants would
by no means agree to, because, said they, uniformity
of worship must exist in towns and provinces.1 But
the Catholics, on the other hand, were to allow the
new doctrines, i.e. 'the gospel,' free play in their
territories. And because the Catholics would not
agree to these terms Luther considered peace out of
the question.2
As late as March 2 Luther had expressed himself in
the most vehement language against the Landgrave of
1 '. . . contrarios enita cultus in una provincia aut urbe ferri non
posse.' Seckendorf, iii. 202.
2 ' Valde miror,' wrote Luther to Melanchthon on March 14, 1539,
' quomodo conditiones pacis possint firmari, quando vos petitis ostium
Evangelico apertum, et illi clausum velint.' De "Wette, v. 172.
THE FRANKFORT CONGRESS 39
Hesse ; 1 soon after, however, lie said : ' If I were the
Landgrave I would soon pitch into them and either
succumb or destroy them, since they refuse peace on
terms so good and righteous ; but it does not become
me as a preacher to give such advice, still less to act
up to it.' The Landgrave, he said, was ' a hero and a
wonderful creation of God.' He had ' sent the bishops
to the right-about in the year 1528, and now he is
going to speak with them in the gate, so that the
papists will be compelled either to do or suffer injury,
either to hold their tongues and sit still or to make
peace.'2 Eesistance must be opposed to the Emperor
as well as to the Turks, so Luther advised, if he
proceeded to make war on the evangelical Estates,
because then the Emperor could be regarded in no
other light than i a mercenary and a highway robber
in the service of the Pope : ' even the Turks were not
as bad as the Pope.3
The demands made by the Protestant Estates were
stigmatised by King Ferdinand as incompatible with
the claims of religion, and by the imperial ambassador
as irreconcilable with what was due to the collective
1 ' Thraso noster,' wrote Luther co Franz Burkhan, Vice-Chancellor of
the Saxon Elector, ' spargit rumores belli, et nescio quot locis, invadendas
esse nostras terras intra quatuor hebdomadas a rnilitibus clanculum dis-
positis, formidat seu fingit verms. Mirum est, quarn furiat verbis sese
dignis, cum sit corde et manu, sicut semper fuit, prorsus inutilis, et
tamen cupiat, suam operam summe necessarian! existimari.' Schirr-
macher, Brief e und Aden, pp. 379-880.
2 Collected WorJcs, lxii. 62, 86-87.
3 De Wette, v. 160, February 8, 1539. ' Aut igitur deponant Papa,
Cardinales, Episcopi, Caesar, &c., nomen Christi et fateantur, se id esse,
quod sunt, id est mancipia Satanae, tunc suadebo, ut prius, ut gentilibus
tyrannis cedamus, aut si sub nomine Christi contra Christianos ipsi ec
Antichristiani scienter jacerent lapidem sursum qui recidat in caput
ipsorum, ferant poenani secundi praecepti
40 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Estates of the Empire, without whose consent such
radical changes could not be attempted.
All negotiations seemed useless, and war was
momentarily expected.
On February 29, a few days after the commence-
ment of the transactions, Schartlin von Burtenbach,
the chief military commander of Augsburg, had been
instructed by Philip of Hesse to lay the following
proposal before the town council of Augsburg : ' That
the town of Augsburg should allow him to enter the
Landgrave's service for two months, in order to
command a regiment of infantry for him. In these
two months Philip hoped either to procure peace on
the conditions he wished for the Protestants, or else, in
conjunction with Schartlin, to defeat Duke Henry of
Brunswick, Duke George of Saxony, and the Arch-
bishop Albert of Magdeburg and Mayence.' Schartlin
took counsel with two envoys of the Smalcald confede-
rate princes at Ulm. They devised a plan for secretly
gaining over the miners of the county of Tirol, among
whom there were many excellent arquebusiers. An
'honourable fellow' known to Schartlin was to be
employed in the business of recruiting. The towns of
Constance and Lindau were to levy soldiers in the
Thurgau, the Forest Cantons, the Baar, and the Hegau.
Three places of rendezvous were fixed upon : the
camps were to be pitched between Augsburg and Ulm.1
On March 18, at a congress of the Five Cantons
held at Lucerne, it was announced that ' the Smalcald
confederates were making extensive preparations, and
seeking everywhere to draw their co-religionists into
the League ; from Strasburg they have addressed them-
1 Herberger, pp. lvii-lix.
THE FRANKFORT CONGRESS 41
selves to Berne and Basle, and have also endeavoured
to obtain members from Zurich, but have accomplished
nothing as yet. They are giving out that they are
pledged by their covenant to attack and injure nothing
and nobody but churches and cloisters and the officials
and people attached to them.'
The French general William von Fiirstenberg, who
was present in Frankfort, promised the Protestants the
support of Francis I.,1 and offered to supply them with
' 10,000 good fighting men.' The imperial ambassador
in London received intelligence from the French pleni-
potentiary there that Henry VIII. was contemplating
an alliance with the King of Denmark, the Duke of
Prussia, the Elector of Saxony, and the Landgrave of
Hesse, and that he was offering them all large sums of
money to make war against the Emperor.2
The Catholic Estates also carried on active prepara-
tions during the Frankfort congress, in order to be
ready for defence. Archbishop Albert of Mayence had
gone to great expense during the Frankfort Easter fair
to get his artillery into order. He intended to raise
about 5,000 or 6,000 foot soldiers and 400 horsemen.
But an unexpected turn of things suddenly took
place.
While the general preparations for war were going
on, Philip of Hesse was taken seriously ill with syphilis,
and on April 2 was compelled to leave Frankfort for
Giessen, where he was to go through a cure.
1 G. Ribier, Lettres et Memoires d'Etat des Boys, Princes, Ambassa-
dcurs et autres Ministres sous les Begnes de Francois Icr, Henri II et
Francois II, i. 449.
2 Chapuis to the Emperor, January 10, 1539, in Lanz, Correspondent,
iii. 303. '. . . oftrant grande quantite de deniers, encas quil fustbesoing,
soubstenir guerre contre votre rnte.'
42 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
It was this illness chiefly that hindered the outbreak
of war. Philip, who hitherto, as Luther wrote, had
been raising a war scare and had been all agog to fight,
now, to the indignation of Calvin, advocated peace.
' Contrary to all expectation,' wrote Calvin, ' the Land-
grave has protested against war. Although he did not
refuse to take the field if the confederates should be of
a different opinion, he has nevertheless damped their
ardour, for they relied chiefly on his enthusiasm and
courage. As it now stands, things point to an
armistice.' 1 For, as a great famine had broken out in
Saxony and Hesse, and as, owing to Philip's illness, there
was no suitable commander-in-chief available for the
war, the Elector of Saxony also was coming round to
Philip's opinion that it was best to agree to a truce.2
On April 19 the truce was concluded, and couched
in the following terms : ' Between the Emperor and
those who are believers in the Confession of Augsburg
and the particular form of religion embodied in it a
treaty of peace has now been ratified for the term of
fifteen months, beginning from May 1. In addition to
this the peace of Nuremberg shall remain unaltered in
substance and value, even after the lapse of the afore-
said term of fifteen months, until the date of the Diet
which shall be held after the expiration of this fifteen
months' truce. During the continuance of this truce
all legal proceedings against the Protestants in the above-
1 Calvini Opp. x. 330. ' Nunc ergo res ad inducias vergit.'
2 On April 30 Bucer wrote to Ambrosius Blarer concerning the Land-
grave : ' Quia pro indubitato habebat, repudiatis condicionibus bellige-
randum esse, se serio impeditum morbo, suos et Saxones fame, nee appa-
reret, cui imperium belli committeretur, inclinare coepit, inelinantem
impulit quidam, fregerunt etiam animnm tarn discordes aliorum sententiae.
Saxo aliquandiu fortis erat, tandem vero, ubi perstaret in sententia Cattus
. . . ipse quoque nutavit.' Lenz, Briefwechsel zwiselien Philipp und
Bucer, i. 78.
THE FRANKFORT 'AGREEMENT' 43
mentioned matters shall be suspended by special grace
of the Emperor and for the sake of peace. On the
other hand the Augsburg Gonfessionists promise on
their part not to attack or make war on anybody, or to
engage in other objectionable proceedings, on account
of religion, and not to deprive the clergy of the tithes,
rents, and other dues which they are still in receipt of.
Also they promise not to invite an3r new members to
join their league, nor to receive any into it during this
space of time, as the Emperor on his part promises
with regard to the Catholic League. With regard to
the Turkish aids the Protestants are to come to an
understanding with the other Estates of the realm and
to be prepared to furnish whatever contingent shall be
determined on at a Diet to be held at Worms on
May 18.' In reality, however, the truce was agreed
to for only six months. The Protestants on the one
side demanded that the proviso by which the benefits
of the Nuremberg Peace were limited to the present
followers of the Confession of Augsburg should be done
away with ; the imperial ambassador on the other
hand declared that the Emperor could not be bound
over to prevent the extension of the Catholic League.
For these reasons the validity of the Recess must be
restricted at first to only six months, and the Emperor
meanwhile must come to a decision on the disputed
points. If he decided according to the wishes of the
Protestants, the truce should then last, as before deter-
mined, for fifteen months ; otherwise, at the end of the
six months, the conditions of the Nuremberg Peace
only would come into force again.1
1 O. AVinckelrnann's Politische Corresjiondenz rfcr Stadt Strassburg
im Zeitalter der Beformation, ii. 601-603. ' Notula ' of the friendly
agreement ratified at Frankfort.
44 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
To these stipulations of a political nature there
was added one which endangered the very existence of
the Catholic Church, and which could not, therefore, be
accepted by the Pope and the Catholic Estates.1
It was the universal opinion that no ' lasting peace '
or ' real confidence ' could be attained without a mu-
tual understanding on matters of religion. Whereas,
however, the Catholics desired to bring about such an
understanding by means of a Council, the Protestants,
* discarding the Pope and the Council,' had aimed all
along at ' an accommodation between the secular
Estates and their theologians.' It was by means of
religious conferences, carried on in the presence of the
secular notables, who were to pronounce the final
decision, that they sought to extinguish the schism.
The Frankfort ' agreement ' was in harmony with
this wish.
In the month of August, so this document decreed,
delegates from all the different German Estates were to
assemble at Nuremberg and wTere to form themselves
into larger and smaller committees of learned divines
and pious, peaceable laymen for the purpose of
negotiating a religious accommodation. Imperial and
royal plenipotentiaries were to co-operate with them.
Whatever, then, was agreed upon and settled by the
notables and delegates who were present was to be
submitted to the opinions of the absent members, and
if these gave their consent the resolutions were to be
confirmed by the imperial orator, or the Emperor
himself was to be asked to ratify them, possibly by
means of a Diet.
' Since they did not recognise the Pope as the head
1 Dittrich's Gasparo Contarini, pp. 508-510.
THE FRANKFORT 'AGREEMENT' 45
of the Christian Church,' the Protestants said, ' they
would not mention his name in this agreement ; nor
did they consider it necessary that his orators should
be present at the assembly.' The ' mediating ' Electors
of Brandenburg and of the Palatinate, however, softened
matters down to the extent that it was to be left to the
Emperor's option to inform the Pope of the conference
and to leave it to his Holiness to decide whether he
would send representatives to it.
' The imperial orator, the Archbishop of Lund, who
had concurred in all this against the Emperor's orders,
or rather had himself brought about the decision, was
a splendour-loving mundane lord, who had not yet
been consecrated to the priesthood, and of whom it
was reported that he would gladly become secular
lord of the bishopric of Constance, where he was bishop
designate, and that he was minded to take a wife.' l
The Archbishop had long since aroused well-grounded
mistrust among the Catholics on account of his relations
with the Landgrave of Hesse and Queen Maria, sister
of the Emperor, who was in favour of the religious
innovations ; he was also supposed to have received
bribes from the Protestants.2 In Frankfort he assured
the latter that the Emperor would confirm the resolu-
tions in matters of religion upon which the Germans
should agree, even against the will of the Pope.3
1 Records for 1539. See above, p. 26, note 1.
* See the despatches in Laemmer, Mon. Vat. pp. 240-251 ; Raynald,
ad a. 1539, Nos. 9-17. See v. Aretin's Maximilian, I. i. 35-36.
3 Melanchthon, April 23, 1539, in the Corp. Reform, ii. 700. The
Strasburg delegates reported on March 21 that ' the orator, in a con-
versation with the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony, had strongly
advocated a full accommodation in religious matters, and also that those
who were chosen for the committees should have plenary power to decide,
and that whatever they decided should be confirmed by the Emperor and
the Estates.' Winckelmann, Polit. Corrcspondenz Strassburgs, ii. 575.
46 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
In spite of the concessions that had been made the
more zealous preachers were by no means satisfied
with the Frankfort agreement. As Calvin lamented
that matters had not come to war, so Bucer complained
seriously to the Landgrave of Hesse that the Pro-
testants had given in too much at Frankfort from fear
of the Emperor, from whom, after all, ' they had as little
reason to fear war as from the King of Calcutta.'
' And what all the rest of them might attempt, apart
from the Emperor, was not so very much to be dreaded.'
He reminded Philip of the good fortune which had
attended his expedition against Wiirtemberg, that
* great and precious work of Christian love.' And he
went so far as to say that they had been guilty at
Frankfort of robbery of the Church in that they had
left the priests in possession of the Church property.1
Philip defended the policy of the Frankfort agree-
ment in his answer to Bucer, but did not trouble him-
self about its stipulations.2
He had pledged himself with hit co-confederates
in this agreement to abstain from all violence against
the clergy and not to deprive them of their possessions.
But on May 18, only four weeks after the agreement
had been signed, he forgot his promises, and, accom-
panied by about 2,000 men of every condition, he
forced his way into the church of St. Elizabeth at
Marburg, belonging to the Teutonic Order, where up
till then the Catholic Church service was still held for
the benefit of the Teutonic knights. After the preacher
Adam KrafFt had delivered a sermon, and administered
1 Letter of May 28, 1539, in Neudecker, Urkunden, pp. 347-3G0;
Lenz, Briefwechsel, i. 68-80.
2 Lenz, Briefwechsel, i. 83-90.
THE FRANKFORT 'AGREEMENT' 47
the Lord's Supper in both kinds, Philip and his followers
went into the commandery of the knights, and, as the
district commander refused to surrender the keys,
broke open the costly sepulchre of St. Elizabeth, who
for centuries past had been piously venerated by the
people as the patroness of Hesse. It was in vain that
the commander, Wolfgang Schutzbar, entreated the
Landgrave ' to spare the precious monument.' After a
hole had been made in the bottom of the coffin, Philip
tucked up his sleeves, thrust his hands in, and pulled
out the venerated bones, saying : ' By God Almighty
these are the relics of St. Elizabeth ; they are my family
bones. Come along, Aunt Els. This is my own ances-
tress, my lord commander. It's precious heavy ; I only
wish it was a load of gold crowns, but it's nothing but
old Hungarian florins.' The relics were handed over
to a servant, who stuffed them into a sack which he
had by him and carried them off to the castle. ' If the
dome of the church falls in,' the Landgrave said mock-
ingly, whilst proceeding with his work of destruction,
* all the world will say that St. Elizabeth's relics have
worked a visible miracle.'
' If the former commander were still alive,' he said
to Wolfgang, ' he would have growled like a bear,'
whereupon Wolfgang retorted : ' If growling were
efficacious there would be some redress : but here we
deal with downright violence.' The head of this
saint also, with the heavy crown of solid gold, the gift
of the Emperor Frederic II., was taken out of a shrine
that was forced open, and carried away. The golden
crown was seen then for the last time. The Landgrave,
after first making an incision in the coffin, sent it to
be tested by goldsmiths, and when it was found that
48 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
the bulk of it was copper overlaid with gold he abused
the German Pfaffen, who had deceived the people.
The preacher Adam Krafft highly commended the
proceedings of the Landgrave.1
But it was not the opinion of all of the advocates
of the religious innovations that robbery of the
churches was in accordance with the Gospel. ' To
alter rites and ceremonies in churches is all very well,'
wrote Georg von Carlowitz, the Duke of Saxony's
Chancellor, and a decided enemy of the Pope, to Philip
of Hesse, ' but whether it is consistent with religion to
seize Church property I leave it to your Grace to con-
sider ; robbery is considered an injustice all the world
over.'
In the Duchy of Saxony this question was brought
to a decision soon after the conclusion of the Frankfort
agreement.
1 Rommel, ii. 177.
49
CHAPTER XI
THE PROTESTANTISING OF THE DUCHY OF SAXONY AND OF
THE ELECTORATE OF BRANDENBURG
During the Diet of Frankfort the Protestants learnt the
news of two deaths which seemed to them ' the most
highly auspicious events that had happened for many
years for the cause of the Gospel.' Duke Frederic, the
last son of the Catholic Duke George of Saxony, died on
February 26, 1539, and on April 17 Duke George
himself died. As late as the previous day, though
already feeling ill, he had attended to public affairs.
After his evening meal he had taken a dose of medicine,
which had been followed by violent pains. The next
morning the priest read the Holy Mass in the Duke's
sick-room and administered the Viaticum and Extreme
Unction. George repeated the Lord's Prayer and the
Ave Maria and the Creed of the Christian religion, and
passed away quietly and peacefully with the words :
' Praised be the Lord in all His works.' The event
caused great agitation among the inhabitants of Dresden,
who entertained the not unnatural but nevertheless
groundless suspicion that both the Dukes, Frederic
and George, had been poisoned by the physician.1
1 Letters of Cochlaus, in Raynald, ad a. 1539, No. 18, and Epist.
Miscell. ad F. Nauseam, p. 244. See Dittrich, Gasparo Contarini, pp. 513-
514, and Spahn, Cochlaus, p. 270.
VOL. VI. E
50 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Duke George of Saxorry had distinguished himself
above all princes of his time by truly enlightened
piety, purity of morals, and conscientious fulfilment of
duty in his office of ruler.1 Immovable in his Catholic
belief, he had from the very first opposed a firm and
obdurate resistance to the revolutionary movement
against the Church, and had endeavoured to keep far
from his duchy all religious innovations. It had been
his great desire that after his death also his country
should remain true to the old Church.
The next heir was George's only brother, Henry,
who since the year 1503 had ruled over the two Saxon
domains of Freiberg and Wolkenstein as one independent
principality. Henry was in every respect the opposite
of his brother. While George, self-disciplined and
serious-minded, was always actively engaged in the
duties of his office, Henry evaded all business and gave
himself up to the pleasures of the table. He had four
regular meals every day. Whenever he travelled from
Freiberg to Dresden he had two meals on the way.
* At his court at Freiberg,' says his secretary and
biographer, Frey dinger, ' it was just as it had been al
King Arthur's court ; open table was kept for all
comers, and a great deal of immorality went on at the
same time.' His councillors were often obliged to dog
his footsteps for days and weeks together in order
i
He deserved the epitaph composed for him —
' A man of honour, pious, brave,
He walked with Truth unto the grave ;
A friend of peace and unity,
A pillar of Christianity ;
Virtue's chanrpion, vice's terror,
Loyal to both King and Emperor.
Kapp, Nachlese, iii. 381.
PROTESTANTISING THE DUCHY OF SAXONY 51
simply to get his signature. The inordinate pomp and
extravagance of his court and the reckless expenditure
of his wife, Catharine of Mecklenburg, plunged the whole
country into debt.
Under the influence of the designing Duchess, ' a
haughty, ambitious, and covetous woman,' Henry had
been won over to the new doctrines and to the League
of Smalcald. He confiscated all the Church property
in his districts, and even refused at first to guarantee a
yearly income or any other maintenance to the ejected
monks and nuns. Again and again, but without any
result, his brother had exhorted him to have nothing to
do with the religious revolution, and to leave the clergy
in possession of ' what had been bestowed on them by
the benevolence of their ancestors and the contributions
of the people.' It was astonishing to him, George
wrote, that Henry should dare to usurp power over
ecclesiastical personages and property not under his
control ; if his ' conscience compelled him,' it was enough
that he should concern himself about his personal
salvation ; he might leave others alone.
In order to secure to his people the possession of
the ancient faith, Duke George had drawn up a new
will, in which, though he did not lay down any definite
directions as to the succession (which, by the way, he
was not entitled to do, either by imperial or provincial
right), he nevertheless gave it to be understood that he
hoped the Emperor would not bestow the fief on any
apostate from the Church ; all the other injunctions,
moreover, were inserted, with a view to make it as
difficult as possible for Henry to enter into possession.
Meanwhile, before George had been able to give to this
his last will and testament the authority of legal form.
TI 2
52 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
before any of the measures planned for the preserva-
tion of the old faith could have been carried out, death
suddenly overtook him. Scarcely had the government
passed into the hands of Duke Henry when the latter,
under the influence of the Saxon Elector, John Frederic,
began preparations for introducing the new religion.
His son Duke Maurice had already, both in his
father's and his brother's name, solicited the help of the
League of Smalcald in the event of any attempt being
made after Duke George's death to prevent their taking-
possession of the land or planting in it ' the Gospel and
the divine word.' At the Congress of Frankfort, on
April 10, 1539, he had received from the heads of the
league the assurance that in such a case they would
place ' their own persons and their goods, lands, and
subjects at his disposal.' Maurice, on his part, had
sworn that ' by the faith of his princely word, seal, and
signature he would stand by the Confession of Augsburg
till his death and would establish the dogmas contained
in it wherever he held rule and authority ; that he
would suppress the papacy and all that was opposed to
the Confession of Augsburg ; and that he would remain
a member of the Smalcald League so long as it lasted." '
On the news of the death of Duke George un-
bounded joy prevailed at Freiberg. ' Some of the
court people were ill at the time,' wrote the Duke's
'secretary, Frey dinger,' and Anton von Schonberg, ' the
most influential of the Duke's councillors,' was laid up
with gout and unable to move ; but this news restored
them all to health again. ' Not enough horses could be
found ; many joined in the race who did not belong to
the court. In short, it was a windfall for us ; all who
1 Von Langenn's Herzog Moritz, ii. 182-183.
PROTESTANTISING THE DUCHY OF SAXONY 53
were able to run did so, imagining that now our
troubles were at an end.'
And now forthwith, under the protection and with
the help of the Saxon Elector and the rest of the
Smalcald confederates, there began in the duchy of
Saxony the establishment of the new Church system
and the suppression of the Catholics. He was con-
vinced, Duke Henry declared, of the truth of the new
doctrines, and insisted therefore that everybody should
teach and recognise them. The Confession of Augsburg
and the Apology for it were now the code of
Christianity for the whole duchy. ' Every preacher,
the Duke enjoined, ' must teach that monastic vows can-
not be kept without offence to God and the conscience.'
Everybody ought to be thankful for the abolition ' of
popish abominations and idolatry.' ' To the no slight
joy of all right-minded people,' wrote the council of
Berne to that of Basle on May 13, 1539, ' the duchy of
Saxony has been snatched from the jaws of the
Popedom.'
The Wittenberg divines urgently counselled resort
to violence and coercion. Luther was indignant because
more than 500 clergymen who were all ' poisonous
papists ' had not been expelled. Everywhere force was
to override justice.
Bishop John of Meissen was also ordered ' to con-
form straightway to the Gospel,' although as a prince of
the Empire he was a member of the League of Nurem-
berg, and although the Smalcald confederates had
promised in the Frankfort agreement not to use
violence against any one on account of religion and to
leave the clergy in possession of their goods. ' There
was no call for discussion,' Luther wrote at the begin-
54 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
ning of July 1539. ' Duke Henry as prince of the land
and protector of the bishopric of Meissen must put
down ' the abominable, blasphemous, popish idolatry,'
no matter what means he used. ' Just as Duke George
had wittingly protected the devil and condemned Christ,
so Duke Henry on the other hand must protect Christ
and damn the devil. The German princes must, as
far as possible, make short work with Baal and all
idolatry, as the Kings of Judah and of Israel had done
in former times, and after them Constantine, Theodosius,
and Gratian.' 1
On July 14 inspectors appointed by the Princes in-
formed the cathedral chapter of Meissen that ' by solemn
orders of the Princes of Saxony they were forbidden any
longer to celebrate the Mass in the cathedral church ;
they were to do away with the sepulchre of St. Benno
and conform to the Protestant rites and ceremonies.
The canons answered that they could not comply with
these orders and that they intended to abide by the
usages of the universal Christian Church ; it was for
the Bishop alone, not the secular princes, to make a
visitation of the chapter. The foundation, being an
imperial fief, had joined the Emperor's Christian league,
and according to the decrees of Augsburg and other im-
perial mandates it was not allowed to introduce religious
innovations. The result of this answer was that armed
men, by command of the princes, forced their way into
the cathedral church, broke into fragments the richly
ornamented sepulchre of St. Benno, together with the
altar, decapitated a wooden statue of St. Benno, and
stuck it up as a butt for ridicule.
The Catholic form of worship was then abolished in
1 De Wette, v. 191-192.
PROTESTANTISING THE DUCHY OF SAXONY 55
the cathedral and replaced by Lutheran services and
preaching. These proceedings were called ' introducing
the freedom of the Gospel.'
' And so,' wrote the Bishop to the Emperor, ' I am
altogether robbed of and deposed from my cathedral
church ; my faithful priests are treated with ignominy
and compelled to forsake their churches and to go away
into misery.' When the Bishop complained to the
Duke that he had not even been consulted with re-
gard to the introduction of the new religion, he was
answered that he ought to be satisfied at being allowed
to carry on 'his godless papistical abominations and
practices openly in his own residence,' the castle of
Stolpen.
With regard to the university of Leipzig, which,
under the rule of Duke George, had been one of the
strongholds of Catholic teaching in North Germany,
the Wittenberg divines summoned the Duke forthwith
to depose every professor who did not at once subscribe
to the Lutheran doctrines — that is to say, to respect
and guard no rights, individual or corporate, nor any
of the ancient honourable privileges of the university.
The monks and sophists in the university, said
Melanchthon, ' were blasphemers, and as such must be
rigorously punished by the Christian rulers ; if they
would neither agree to the new doctrines nor keep
silent, they must be driven out of the country.' l At
Leipzig, Myconius wrote to the Elector of Saxony on
June 21, 1539, 'the blasphemous popish abuses ' had
been done away with ; he and Cruciger, in a disputa-
tion with doctors and monks, had won the victory over
' the devil and all his lying, blaspheming followers.'
1 Corp. Reform, iii. 712, 713, 847.
56 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
The Catholic professors were removed. The condition
of things that obtained after this in Leipzig is described
in a letter of complaint from the university to the Duke.
' The preachers spare no trouble in their sermons to
make the students and the whole university hated by
the people : they abuse and deride philosophical and
humanistic studies as pagan and diabolical, thereby
setting the students against their instructors and their
studies, and emptying and ruining the university ; they
revile the masters and doctors in the ears of the people
as ignorant asses who understand nothing whatever of
the Holy Scriptures, while they themselves all the time
cannot pronounce three words in Latin.' 1
The pulpit demagogues, who thrust themselves
everywhere to the fore, went to such extremes in vili-
fying in the minds of the people the memory of the
late Duke George and his friends, both clerical and
secular, that in the year 1539 the provincial deputies,
the knights, and the notables petitioned Duke Henry ' to
put a stop to these calumnies and to have the offenders
punished.' Two years later the notables lodged another
complaint ' against such wicked invectives and slander
of dead men.' 'The bulk of their preaching consists in
reviling deceased and even living rulers. Some of them
lead sinful lives, to the great scandal of the population.' 2
Nowhere in the duchy of Saxony were there any
signs of rejoicing over the new Gospel.
The Estates of the duchy, assembled at Chemnitz in
the year 1539, made known their displeasure at not
1 Winer, De Facult. Theol. Evangel, in TJniversitate Lijis. originibus
(Lipsise, 1839), p. 23.
2 Von Langemi. Herzog Moritz, ii. 104-110.
PROTESTANTISING THE DUCHY OF SAXONY 57
having been consulted with regard to such important
ecclesiastical changes. They demanded that nobody
should be molested on account of religion, and that the
monasteries and convents that had not yet been attacked
should not be abolished without their consent. With
respect to the bishops they stipulated that, since they
were their liege lords and blood relations, they should
not be called upon to attack and besiege them.
' Whereas Duke George, with the help and counsel of
the provincial Estates, had always kept his lands and
subjects in submission, and in favour with the Emperor
and King, and also in peace and well-being among
themselves and with their neighbours,' they prayed
that ' Duke Henry would in this respect follow in the
footsteps of his brother, and that with the help of the
Estates — not with that of people who did not share the
burdens of the land — he would carry on the govern-
ment in such a manner as to enable them to continue
in their former state of peace and prosperity.' Henry
was ready to meet them on some points, because he
wanted their consent to his schemes of taxation, but
he was indignant at being admonished to follow in his
brother's footsteps and to imitate his constitutional,
careful, and economical rule ; and he replied that he
would know how to keep himself free from blame
without the example of any ' footsteps.'
Blamable in the extreme, however, was his court
life from the moment of entering Dresden. The silver
treasures found in the plate room of Duke George
' would, if coined,' Henry estimated, ' amount to 128,393
florins.' But even this sum did not suffice him. In
the first three months only after Duke George's death
58 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
nearly 30,000 gold florins were squandered.1 ' I have
nothing good to write to you from here,' is the Duke
of Mansfeld's report from Dresden to Duke Maurice ;
' and no parchment or cow's hide would be large enough
to tell all that goes on in this place.' Churches and
cloisters were plundered, and sacred vessels melted
down. ' The court people were like gluttonous crows ;
everybody tried to get as fat as possible.' For the
people, many and burdensome taxes were the sole fruits
of the new Gospel and the new rule.2
On August 18, 1541, Duke Henry died. His son
and successor, Maurice, followed ' in his father's foot-
steps,' with the addition that he showed even greater
violence and disregard of all existing laws in his en-
deavours to exterminate the Catholic Church. He
extorted unconditional submission from the Bishops of
Meissen and Merseburg ; for these two, he said openly,
' were too feeble to resist the House of Saxony.'
Might only was to decide the question. The counts
1 ' Nos in aula nostra,' wrote Joachhn v. Heyden on August 9, 1539, to
Johann Hafenberger, ' tarn egregie pergrecamur, ut ab eo tempore, quo
dux Georgius mortem obiit, plus minus triginta millia aureorum absunrp-
serimus.' M. Denis, Codex Manuscr. Bibl. Vindobon. lb, 1302. See
Bollinger's Beformation, i. 572, note 292.
2 The Lutheran Arnold says, lamenting the squandering of Church pro-
perty : ' Quarn magnum detrimentum hac ipsa re Misniae allatum sit,
multae et maximae exactiones populo post mortem Heinrici hnpositae
satis docuerant. Erant enim omnia monasteria, templa quoque in
civitatibus auro et argento plena. Georgius quoque ingentem pecuniarum
thesaururn reliquerat. Haec omnia si fideliter administrata fuissent,
plurimum certe paupertatem populi temporibus necessariis sublevassent.
Sed quia Heinricus ob aetatern suam infirrnior erat, omniaque in suos
familiares rejiciebat, accidit, quod omnibus principibus, sua vel curare
nolentibus vel non valentibus, accidere solet, ut turn unusquisque
pinguescere studeat, reipublicae commoda negligat, eoque vehementius,
quo grandiores et magis edaces sunt aulici illi corvi.' Arnold's Vita
Mauricii, p. 1161.
PROTESTANTISING BRANDENBURG 59
and the nobles who still observed the Catholic form of
worship were threatened by Maurice with heavy punish-
ment ; the monks and the nuns who still remained in
their cloisters were ordered to throw off the o-arb of
their orders and to attend the services of the evan-
gelical preachers.1 It was said mockingly of the
Catholics, who looked to the Emperor for protection :
' The papists build their hopes on the Emperor, as the
Jews did on the Messiah.'
Almost at the same time that ' the Gospel light arose
in the duchy of Saxony ' the electorate of Brandenburg
also joined the ranks of the Protestant territories, and
one of the most zealous of its apostles was the Branden-
burg Bishop Matthias von Jagow. In the year 1528 he
had pledged himself by oath, not only to the Pope but
also to the staunchly Catholic Elector Joachim I., 'to
fight against the Protestant heresies, and to keep them
out of his diocese.' 2 But in the very same year he
appointed an evangelical preacher in the town of
Brandenburg.3 After the death of Joachim on July 11,
1535, he gave his sanction to the marriage of priests,
and began administering the Communion in both
kinds.
The Elector Joachim II., although he had long been
secretly inclined to Lutheranism, had promised his father
' on his princely honour and loyalty — equivalent to a
legally registered oath ' — ' to remain true to the Catholic
1 Brandenburg, Moritz von Sachsen, p. '. 84 ff.
' . . . observare volunius sub juraniento . . . haereses purgare et ne
ingruant, quoad possumus, obsistere.' Ph. Gercken, Ausfiihrliche Stifts-
historie von Brandenburg, &c, p. 692.
3 Schaffer, Beformationshistorie der Stadt Brandenburg , p. 71.
60 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
faith and to preserve it intact within the Electorate.'
Also on his marriage with the Polish princess Hedwig,
daughter of King Sigmund, in September 1535, he had
taken the oath ' not to introduce any innovations in
the faith.' But the Landgrave Philip of Hesse sought
to persuade him that he must disregard this oath, for
the sake of his soul's salvation ; for it was ' going against
God to remain in the Eoman Church, which teaches
doctrine manifestly opposed to God.' In spite of his
oath he was bound to ' start Christian innovations in
his country,' and if he was told that in so doing he
was acting contrary to the duties he had taken on him-
self he must answer : ' I care nothing for Luther, but
I allow the Gospel to be preached and disseminated ; I
have not pledged myself not to believe or to follow the
word of God.' The Landgrave promised the Elector
that if he allowed the ' Gospel ' to be propagated he
would ' serve him with person and purse.' ' We have
all of us,' he wrote, ' fixed our hopes on your Grace ;
do not let these hopes end in smoke.'
Joachim was playing a double game. To King Fer-
dinand and Duke George of Saxony he made earnest pro-
testations of his Catholic belief ; to the Landgrave Philip,
on the other hand, he wrote on April 24, 1537, that ' he
would not let himself be frightened by anybody ' and
that ' he would establish Christian ordinances in his
territory which would give pleasure to the Landgrave.'
It was not till the year 1539, however, after the con-
clusion of the Frankfort agreement and the death of
Duke George of Saxony, that the Elector embarked on
the execution of his plans. He then, as Calvin wrote to
Farel in November 1539, informed the Landgrave that
4 he had now made up his mind to accept the Gospel and
PROTESTANTISING BRANDENBURG 61
to exterminate popery.' ' And so,' said Calvin, ' no
slight gain has accrued to our side.' 1
In the year 1540 Joachim, in his own arbitrary
might as reigning bishop, issued a new code of ecclesi-
astical regulations, which he insisted should be recognised
as authoritative for the Church of the Mark. In this
code the ' ceremonies and good customs ' were as far as
possible retained ; even the Latin Mass ' in the usual
Church vestments,' and the elevation of the Host and
chalice ; also several festivals of saints, in especial those
of the ' blessed Mother of God.' It was decreed that
no meat was to be eaten during the forty days' fast,
under pain of punishment. Solemn processions were
to take place as before ; the clergy, when they took the
Sacrament to the sick, must wear white surplices, and
the sacristan must go before carrying a taper and a
bell. All these ' ceremonies ' were to be continued in
order that,' the people should be as little as possible
shocked or perplexed.' The people were not to be
allowed to perceive that the Catholic Church system
was being taken from them.2 When some of the
1 Calvini Opp. x. 431. Fr. Hipler et V. Zakrewski, Stanislai Hosii
S. B. E. Cardinalis Episcopi Varmiensis et quae ad eum scriptae sunt
Epistolae, &c. &c. i. 84. Herdemann's Beformationin der Mark Branden-
burg, pp. 212 ff.
2 Very pertinent is the remark of Droysen, Geschichte der preus-
sischen PoliWk, 2b, 188-189 : ' Since one of the objects aimed at in the
Kirchenordnung was the concealment of the profound alteration which
was taking place in the constitution of the Church in the Marks, it is
easy to understand that the masses of the population, especially the poor
people of the lowlands, did not at all realise what was going on.' Joachim
himself denied that he had, through his Kirchenordnung, introduced the
new doctrine into his territories : he maintained that he still stood on the
footing of the old Church, having simply abolished some abuses that had
crept in, and that he was only intent upon establishing good order in
religious affairs (Brandenburg, Moritz von Sachsen, i. 99). As a matter
62 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
preachers complained of the numerous ceremonies left
intact, the Elector said ' he did not intend to be bound
to the Church of Wittenberg any more than to the
Eoman Church.' ' My Church here in Berlin and Colin,'
he said, 'is just as much a genuine Christian Church
as that of the Wittenbergers.'
Luther by no means approved of the whole of these
Church regulations, but he advised the preachers not
to oppose the ' ceremonies.' ' If the Elector is willing
to let the Gospel be preached in its truth and purity,
without human additions,' he wrote to the preacher
Buchholzer, ' then in God's name walk about in the
processions to your heart's content, and carry silver
or gold crosses, and wear surplices and choir vestments
of velvet, or silk, or linen. If the Elector is not content
with one surplice or one choir vestment, then put on
three. If he is not satisfied with one procession, then
walk round seven times, as Joshua did with the children
of Israel, shouting and blowing trumpets.1 Let the
Elector too, if he be so disposed, lead the way, jumping
and dancing, with harps, kettle-drums, cymbals, and
bells, as David did before the ark.'
Luther did not think much better of Joachim
than he did of his court and cathedral preacher, John
Agricola of Eisleben, the ' Meister Grickel ' with whom
he had long carried on theological controversies.
'Meister Grickel,' said Luther in December 1540, in a
letter to Jacob Stratner, Agricola's colleague, ' could com-
pete with any mountebank ; my advice is that he should
give up the office of preacher for good and all, and hire
of fact Joachim, by his Kirclienordnung, constituted himself summus
episcopus throughout his dominions. See Bezold, p. 690.
1 De Wette, v. 235.
PROTESTANTISING BRANDENBURG 63
himself out as a harlequin ; he is worth nothing as
a teacher. We are delighted to have got rid of this
conceited, ridiculous man.' ' As is the prince so are
his priests. Great fools must have great bells. Their
minds and their morals agree well together.' *
Joachim demanded unconditional obedience to all
his Church doctrines and ordinances. ' Should any one,'
he announced, ' be so self-opinionated as to refuse to con-
form to this Christian ordinance, he shall be graciously
permitted to betake himself to some other place
where he may do as he likes.' Neither did he trouble
himself at all about the opinion or consent of the
Estates, but arrogated to himself the whole sum of
ecclesiastical power. For it belonged to his office ' to
administer right and justice everywhere, not in secular
affairs only, but also in things spiritual ; and also to
issue ecclesiastical regulations for the maintenance
of discipline and order, without requiring the consent
of the provincial Estates.' By means of his clerical
officials, his l clerical police, inspectoral and consistorial
organisation,' he also strengthened his sovereignty in
secular departments. With regard to the bishoprics
of Brandenburg, Lebus, and Haveberg, he made the
following agreement with his brother Hans at Kopnick :
' The bishops of these three dioceses were to be left in
the enjoyment of their offices and revenues until their
deaths, when their successors were to be chosen either
from the princes or from the near kinsmen of the
electoral house, so that the episcopal dignity and the
bishoprics might gradually fall into the hands of the
sovereign princes.' 2
1 De Wette, v. 320-328.
2 Droysenj 2b, 185-188 ; Muller's Reformation, pp. 296 ff.
64 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
On the occasion of an inspectoral visitation of
churches, schools, and cloisters in 1540-1541, there
were found to be multitudes of preachers who were
carrying on some handicraft as their chief business.
Tailors, masons, tanners, and other artisans filled the
office of pastors in towns and villages. Journeymen,
who in the course of their wanderings had heard Luther
preach, had learnt his catechism, had dipped into the
Bible, now set themselves to instruct the people.
Luther, who was applied to for preachers from many
different parts, ' ordained ' printers' journeymen and
gave them instructions to read his printed sermons to
the people.1
The Catholic prelates and clergy sent in a petition
to the Elector begging that he would at least grant
toleration to them and the monks and nuns, and leave
them all free to attend Mass according to their wont,
and compel nobody to receive the Communion in both
kinds. Formerly all the world used to declaim that
bishops, prelates, priests, and monks ought to preach,
for this was their business ; now, however, they were
forbidden to preach, ' which was very lamentable ; for
whereas nobody was allowed to preach, write, or teach
in opposition to the new doctrines, the Protestants had
gained ground and won the game.' If the towns
wanted Protestant preachers they ought to pay them
themselves, and not take their salaries out of the
revenues of the ancient Church. In defiance of all
charters and seals they robbed the bishops of their
jurisdiction, and without the knowledge or consent of
the latter appointed clergymen of their own choice.
' Shoemakers, weavers, smiths, and others presume to
1 MlUler's Beformation, pp. 208 ff.
PROTESTANTISING BRANDENBURG 65
celebrate the Holy Mass and to preach ; men who have
not authority to consecrate administer the Sacraments ;
and this surely is pure idolatry.' 1
The petition had no effect. All the clergy, both
secular and religious, who refused to conform to the
Elector's innovations were expelled without pity. In
the year 1540 Joachim, so one of his eulogists boasts,
'drove all the herds of sacrificial priests out of the
cloisters and cleansed the Mark from monkish pollu-
tion. -
The property of churches and cloisters and other
religious institutions was either confiscated or mort-
gaged to nobles or to towns. The poor folk alone
remained empty-handed, here as in other places, in the
partition of the booty, and were laden into the bargain
with heavy taxes ; the peasants succumbed to the ex-
tortion of the landlords and lapsed gradually into
slavish bond service. In a code of hunting regulations
the Elector rigorously decreed that ' whosoever caught
a young deer, or roe, or a wild sow in the forests
should have both his eyes put out.' The Elector's
extravagance and love of splendour, his frequent
hunting expeditions, horse races, and wild beast fights,
1 Der Prelathen und geistlichen ArticTcel, a.d. 1540, in Winter, Die
marTiischen Stande, xix. 306-307. Winter himself (pp. 268-269) does not
deny that the grievances are well founded. ' The Catholics of Branden-
burg,' he says, 'were forced by circumstances to adopt the platform of
absolute toleration : their aim is to permit each individual to receive
Communion, according to his conscience, under one or under both kinds.'
But, nevertheless, he adds : 'Naturally enough this petition could in no
wise affect the course of things. The ancient right had been once for
all rescinded by the new doctrine ; and it would have been an injustice to
endeavour to sustain it in the changed condition of affairs. This is
certainly an odd sort of reasoning.
3 'Ex monasteriis sacrificulorum greges ejecit et Marchiam a mona-
chorum impuritate liberavit.' Leutinger, in Krause, p. 168.
VOL. VI. I1
C6 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
together with his passion for gambling, his buildings,
and his mistresses, cost incalculable sums.1
On the death of Joachim I. the finances of the
Mark had been found in a satisfactory condition ; but
by the year 1540 the debts of his successor had
already mounted up to at least 600,000 thalers, which
sum the provincial Estates were expected to pay. ' Such
an accumulation of debts,' said the Estates, ' had never
occurred under former rulers, who had taken counsel
with their Estates ; they begged that his Electoral Grace
would follow the example of his predecessors and not
settle affairs with merely two or three advisers, and
then throw the burden on the country ; if a change
was not made in the mode of government, the Estates
would be ruined.' The towns undertook to pay about
400,000 florins of those debts, for which purpose the
Elector empowered them ' to seize the Church treasures '-
in order to raise money quickly ; the landed proprietors,
in return for promised help, were authorised to buy up
some of the peasants. Fresh taxes were imposed.
' The great impost — ah, God have pity ! ' laments a
contemporary — ' came simultaneously with the visitation
of the churches : the tax on the pound for every house
in the towns ; the tax on incomes ; the tax on every
hide of land for the country people. Some of the
villages in the Altmark declared that they could not
and would not pay the tax, even if their disobedience
1 ' He spent enormous sums on lions, bears, bulls, wolves, and other
animals. These were set to fight against each other, and thus they
afforded the country a costly and inhuman form of amusement.' G. T.
Gallus, p. 88. The Elector surpassed all the princes of Germany in his
passion for alchemy. ' It was calculated that in little more than ten
years there were eleven alchemists at his court, who squandered immense
sums.' Voigt, Fiirstenleben and Fiirstensitte, p. 344.
PROTESTANTISING BRANDENBURG 67
should cost them their lives ; or their landlords must
remit their ordinary rents.'
In the year 1541 fifty members of the lower nobility,
who owned no land, joined together in a vehement
protest ; the terrible taxes, they said, would bring them
to beggary. ' This impoverishment of the country,
this lamentable misery which had come about without
war, insurrection, or other adequate cause,' was occa-
sioned by certain persons who ' enriched themselves by
the ruin of the land ; ' ' the great people who are causing
all this evil live in great wealth, devour money, land,
and people, and feed on the sweat of the poor.'
Six years had passed by since the death of the
Catholic Elector Joachim. ' God have pity on us people
of the Mark,' said the nobles, ' who have become so
blinded ; it has come to this, alas ! that in these last six
years we have grown to be a laughing-stock to all
other countries.' In the following year at the provin-
cial Diet it was insisted that all the property, salaries,
and houses that had been squandered should be given
back. ' Shall we go on slumbering like this ? Let us
wake up and take counsel together before we sink to
the bottom of the abyss ; it is high time to bestir our-
selves ; we are looked on with scorn and derision by
all other countries.' The Elector answered with me-
nacing language : at former Diets, he said, ' certain
ill-advised and ill-behaved people had used all manner
of unseemly language against himself and his councillors
— yea, verily had addressed anonymous writings to them
of a scurrilous character, and had held gatherings of
a forbidden nature : for these offences he would cause
them to be tried and punished.' The county people
have lost all confidence in your Grace, said Councillor
r2
68 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
von Schlieben to the Elector : not one will go bail for
another or engage in legal transactions.
Mortgages increased in number from year to year.
The monasteries of the Dominican and Barefoot monks,
for instance, were made over to the magistrate of
Brandenburg ' in payment of the Electoral debts ' —
that of Boitzenburg, with all its possessions and title-
deeds, to the bailiff Hans von Arnim : while the mo-
nastery of Krewesen was passed over to that of Luderitz
for the sum of 1,500 florins, and afterwards by exchange
to that of Bismarck.
But neither the confiscated Church property nor the
taxes imposed sufficed to satisfy the Elector's need of
money. Joachim accordingly fell back upon the Jews,
who had offered to pay him a yearly sum of 400 florins
for his protection, and to deposit 3,000 marks of fine
silver in the mint, and admitted them into his territory.1
The Jew Lippold became the most influential man at
the Electoral court, Joachim's trusted servant, and chief
controller of his mint. In obedience to the Elector's
orders the different parishes were obliged to deliver up
all the Church treasures called for by the master of the
mint : monstrances, chalices, and other costly articles
all found their way into the mint. Lippold acquired
immense wealth and so commanding a position that the
most distinguished functionaries of State became soli-
citors for his favour and support. He lent money on
mortgages at 54 per cent. Within a few years the
Elector had accumulated a fresh debt of 800,000 florins
and ] 00,000 florins of accumulated interest.2
1 Agricola, who became the champion of the Jews in his sermons,
fell under the suspicion of taking bribes from them. Kawerau, p. 227.
2 Winter, Die markisclien Stande, xix. 259 ff. and xx. 508. ' A con-
sequence of the sales forced on the farmers was the growth of a country
PROTESTANTISING BRANDENBURG G9
' There was nothing but grumbling among the
clergy and the laity, and the people became more and
more demoralised.' When the superintendent-general,
Agricola, held a general visitation eighteen years after
the public inauguration of the new Church system, he
found the clergy ignorant and coarse. The patronage
of livings was for the most part in the hands of a set of
nobles who, as the Elector complained, only appointed
' stupid,' ignorant asses ' to the ministry,' only such people
as made presents to the nobles of ' pickings from church-
yards, meadows, rents,' &c. ' The nobles and the
burghers,' wrote Agricola, ' both endeavour to reduce
the incomes of the pastors ; the greater numbers of the
Gospel ministers have, alas ! no other motive for preach-
ing than to earn their tithes ; beyond this they care
nothing ; and the extent of their studies is what they
pick up about the Gospel from the peasants in the ale-
houses. The few well-educated pastors are altogether
depressed by this state of things, for they see plainly
that no good will come of it all, and that princes and
nobles think of nothing else than getting the property of
churches and cloisters into their own hands.1
At the same time at which the Elector Joachim
established his new Church system the archbishopric of
proletariate which, as early asil550, began to flood the towns and became a
burden on the poor rates. Other causes of the general distress were the
high taxes, the utter depression of trade, and the insecurity of the high-
ways' (p. 515.) The towns complained that 'much was wanting in the
churches ; stipends were urgently needed, the country was so impoverished
that not twenty families were able to maintain their children ' (p. 670).
The public currency was in such a miserable condition that, as the
Elector himself averred, ' in a few short years the value of our coinage
has become reduced to a fourth part, and truly our invasion of the
country, fires, and other calamities were easier to bear than this depression
of the currency.' Winter, xx. 578.
1 Kawerau, p. 241 ; Gallus, p. 40.
70 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Eiga was brought round to Protestantism by the agency
of another member of the House of Brandenburg. The
Margrave William, brother of Duke Albert of Prussia,
had been elected Archbishop of Eiga in the year 1539,
but had refused to accept episcopal consecration or
put on the habit of the order, because he was secretly
attached to the new doctrines. On being pressed by
the prelates, the Order, and the Estates of Livonia to
permit himself to be consecrated, he turned to his
brother Albert for advice. Albert applied to Luther
and Melanchthon, on August 13, 1540, for an opinion
as to whether or not the Margrave, in order to be
serviceable to the cause of the Gospel, could con-
scientiously receive consecration and take the oath of
allegiance to the Pope. Luther answered that ' the
Duke must be of good courage and help valiantly in
putting a final stop to the worship of the devil at Eome,
and in preventing any one from receiving confirmation
from him. For the papacy was near its end.
4 We see that no one is taking his part, and that he
himself feels this, although many kings are posing as if
they wanted to help him, but yet they do not do it.
This is the will of God, for the time of his end is at
hand. Therefore let your Graces proceed to business
and either have the Archbishop of Eiga elected and
confirmed by the chapter or else allow him to be,
under the title of Bishop, a perpetual " Electus " or
"Adjutor" until the waters subside.' Albert, however,
was of a different opinion. ' The chapter, the knights,
and the senate,' he wrote to Luther, insisted so strongly
on consecration and papal confirmation that his brother
would not be able to get off ' accommodating himself to
this mummery,' and he might do it quite conscientiously
PROTESTANTISING BRANDENBURG 71
in order to be in a position to help on the spread of
' the Gospel.' l
The ' mummery ' gained the day.
Of all the princes of the House of Brandenburg the
only one who still took the side of the Church in public
matters was Cardinal Albert, Archbishop of Mayence
and Magdeburg and Bishop of Halberstadt. But
throughout his long tenure of office he had never
rendered any service to his religion either by zeal for
the faith or by pious living, or by care in appointing
true spiritual shepherds over his people. On the
contrary he had always sought to excel the secular
princes in pomp and luxury, in brilliant court festivals
and spectacles. B}^ his ' more than royal expenditure,'
his rage for building, his patronage of the arts, his
munificent rewards to panegyrists, he heaped debts upon
debts. At a provincial Diet in 1541 the deputies of the
bishoprics of Magdeburg and Halberstadt promised to
contribute half a million florins towards the payment
of these debts, if the Archbishop would give them leave
to organise their religious worship and Church system
according to their own taste. Albert took the money
and granted the permission.2 In April 1544 he con-
cluded an agreement with Duke Maurice of Saxony,
the inevitable consequence of which could only be to
sacrifice the bishoprics to the new system of territorial
churches. He promised the Duke to exert himself
actively to procure for his (the Duke's) younger brother
Augustus 'the coadjutorship, with right of succession,
in Magdeburg and Halberstadt,' and for Maurice himself
' the hereditary protectorate and secular government over
1 De Wette, v. 308-309.
2 Seckenclorf, iii. 372. He adds : ' nihil constat de expresso pacto ;
a formal contract was naturally not made. See also Ranke. iv 1 18.
72 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
both the bishoprics.' For the first of these services he
was to receive 40,000 florins, for the second 15,000 thalers.
In order to show ' due respect ' to the outgoing
coadjutor, Margrave John Maurice of Brandenburg -
Culmbach, and to the cathedral chapter, Maurice gave
an additional sum of 80,000 gulden.
It was only at his place of residence, Halle, that
Albert insisted that the Catholic worship should be pre-
served unimpaired. But for many years past he had
been ' altering or destroying ' everything there which
had kept the inhabitants firmly attached to the faith
and traditions of their fathers. He had pulled down the
old churches and cloisters, and used the stones for his
new buildings, ' to the no slight scandal and embitter-
ment of the people,' says a Catholic contemporary, ' and
to the ruin of divine worship.' ' Half Halle was over-
thrown by the Cardinal.' After a tumultuous rising in
the place the new religion was introduced into Halle,
and without resistance Albert allowed it to have free
play. He transferred his residence to Mayence.
In the archbishopric of Mayence also, especially in
the Eichsfeld, the new doctrine was disseminated
under Albert. Its most active propagandists were a
section of the Church nobility who, wherever they had
the right of Church patronage, thrust in preachers who
were often inducted with the aid of ' spears and muskets.'
The nobles took upon themselves, says a later archi-
episcopal report, ' to use violence in gaining over the
churches of the Eichsfeld ; they ruled them also with
violence, forcing strange preachers on them and resort-
ing to all manner of offensive methods for getting
possession of Church property and for compelling the
poor country people to give up the Catholic religion.'
73
CHAPTER XII
MILITARY PLANS OP THE SMALCALD CONFEDERATION —
BIGAMY OF THE LANDGRAVE PHILIP OF HESSE — MORAL
CORRUPTION IN HESSE
In the Frankfort agreement of April 19, 1539, the
Smalcald confederates had promised ' within the next
six months, pending the Emperor's answer, to receive
no new members into their league.' But already on
June 16 Philip of Hesse was endeavouring to persuade
the Saxon Elector to hold an interview with his
brother-in-law Duke William of Julich-Cleves with
regard to the admission of the latter to the con-
federacy.1 The question of this interview had already
been discussed at Frankfort, and Calvin had been
delighted at the prospect of gaining so powerful a
prince as the Duke of Cleves for ' the kingdom of
Christ.' 2
Duke William himself was anxious for alliance
with the Protestant princes, because, regardless of the
claims of the Emperor, he had taken possession of
the duchy of Guelders, and was consequently threatened
1 Lenz, Briefivechsel Philipp's mit Butzer, i. 84, note 2.
2 ' Saxo ab hoc conventu Clivensem conveniet, cuius sororeni habet
in matrhnonio. Si ad suspiciendam religionem ilium adducere poterit,
magnum erit regni Christi incrementum. Siquidem hodie non habet
inferior Germania potentiorem principem et qui latius dominetur : nee
superior etiarn, excepto uno Ferdinando, qui amplitudine ditionis tantum
superat.' Calvin to Farel, Opp. x. 330.
74 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
with a war with the Emperor.1 He now entered into
negotiations for an alliance with King Henry VIII.
of England, who had sued for the hand of his sister
Anna.
On November 6, 1539, the Landgrave Philip pro-
posed to the Elector of Saxony that they should surprise
Duke Henry of Brunswick, the chief opponent of the
Smalcald League, with an army of 24,000 men. This
expedition was to be the joint enterprise of all the
members of the League. The religious attitude of the
Duke, his quarrel with Goslar, and other such matters,
it was urged, would furnish adequate pretexts for
gaining over the other confederates to the idea, even
though they should hesitate and hold aloof for a while.
In Brunswick it would be enough to take possession
1 Duke Charles Egrnont of Guelders by his letters and seal had pro-
mised the reversion of his duchy to the Emperor. Notwithstanding this
promise, which was first made in 1528 and again renewed in 1536, Charles
made a formal donation of his land to Francis I., King of France, and a
French deputy received the oath of allegiance from the officers in com-
mand of the fortresses. But, unwilling to pass under foreign domination,
the notables of Guelders threw off the rule of their duke, and bannerets,
knights, and towns asked Duke John of Cleves if he would take possession
of the land of Guelders, protect it from violence and injustice, and hold it
as part of the Empire. By a treaty of 1538 Duke William, John's son
and heir, was to have the principality of Guelders, the county of Zutphen,
and other possessions, and to hold them ' undivided, for ever.' In July
of the same year Duke Charles of Guelders died, and Duke William at
once occupied the land. William's father died in February 1539, and
WiUiam succeeding him to the duchy of Cleves became one of the most
powerful princes in the Empire. The Emperor, however, did not mean
to give ivp his own. To an envoy from Cleves who quoted some saying
of the Emperor Sigismund in favour of his master's pretensions to
Guelders he (Charles V.) answered : Other sayings were against him ;
at any rate the Duke ought not to have possessed himself of the land
without going through the legal proceedings ; he could and would not
hear it ; let those in Cleves remember that to retain the duchy of
Milan for the Empire he had waged war with France. (Reports of Carl
Harst to Duke William, in Ranke, iv. 129.)
MILITARY PLANS OF THE SMALCALD CONFEDERATES 75
of the open country, and leave the capture of the
fortresses to the neighbouring towns, to Liineburg,
Goslar, and others ; with the main division of the army
they could forthwith proceed to invade the archbishop-
ric of Bremen, in order to punish the Archbishop, the
Duke's brother.
The Elector was by no means disinclined to commit
this breach of the Public Peace, but he was anxious first
of all to have a personal conference on the subject
with the Landgrave at a meeting of the League which
was to be held at Arnstadt. In an undertaking such
as Philip proposed he could not, he said, leave the
Archbishop Albert of Magdeburg at Halberstadt ' in
his rear ; ' he would invite his brother-in-law, Duke
William of Jiilich and Cleves, to a conference at Pader-
born before Christmas.
Towards the end of the month Philip made the
following proposals to the Elector : He would range
himself on the side of the Duke of Cleves ; he would
also give assistance to the Elector ' if the latter should
want to prosecute his Magdeburg business and the
others refused to help him with it.' He would go so
far even as to help him to the imperial crown in the
event of his wishing for it. The proposal written down
in Philip's own hand runs as follows : ' If it should
happen that, either owing to death or other changes in
circumstances, or to a war of religion by which we gained
the mastery, there should be question of choosing
another ruler, he will find me disposed to further his
cause with all diligence.' *
Philip required the support of the Elector in order
that he might come off scot free from a crime which,
1 Lenz, Briefweehsel, i. 356.
76 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
according to all the ancient laws of the land, was
punishable with death.
Already in the year 1526, at the very beginning of
his religious innovations in Hesse, Philip had been
entertaining the idea of a double marriage. Luther, to
whom he had appealed at the time to know whether a
Christian might have more than one wedded wife, had
answered that the ' ancient fathers ' had certainly some-
times had several wives, but only out of necessity ;
' but when there was no necessity or reason for it the
ancient fathers had not had more than one lawful wife,
as, for instance, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, and many others
of them.' ' Therefore I cannot advise the step in this
case, but must rather object to it, especially among
Christians, unless the case be one of great necessity, as,
for example, if the wife have the leprosy or be other-
wise rendered unfit. In the case of non-Christians I
koow of no objection.' J
Since that time Philip had lived in uninterrupted
adultery and lasciviousness. On his own confession he
had at no time been faithful to his lawful wife for a
period of three weeks. In consequence of his excesses
he had in the year 1539, as we have already seen,
brought upon himself a shameful distemper. It was
during this illness that he matured the plan not only
of contracting a second marriage himself, but of legiti-
mising bigamy throughout his principality.
For a long time he had indulged in an illicit
attachment to Margaret von der Sale, a maid of honour
1 Luther's letter of November 28, 1526, in Heppe's ' Urkundliche
Beitragezur Geschichte der Doppelehe des Landgrafen Philippvon Hessen,'
in Niedner's Zeitschrift, p. 265. See De Wette and Seidemann, vi. 79-80.
BIGAMY OF THE LANDGRAVE PHILIP OF HESSE 77
in attendance upon his sister Elizabeth, the widowed
Duchess of Eochlitz, and this lady was now to become
his ' second wife.' Margaret's mother had been won
over to the plan, with the stipulation, however, that she
herself with her brother Ernest von Miltitz, besides
Philip's own wife, Christina, and the divines Luther,
Melanchthon, and Bucer, or at any rate two of them, and
also the Elector of Saxony and Duke Maurice of
Saxony should all be present at the wedding. The
last two might have the option of sending a trust-
worthy councillor to represent them. The Landgrave
had agreed to these conditions. Through the interven-
tion of the Augsburg physician, Gereon Sailer, he had
obtained, in November 1539, the consent of Bucer, and
the latter was now commissioned to persuade Luther,
Melanchthon, and the Saxon Elector to look favourably
on the proceedings.
' Bucer is of opinion,' Philip wrote to Frau von der
Sale on December 1, 1539, 'that while public affairs
are in such an abnormal unsettled state it would be
well, for the sake of some of the weaker Christian
brethren, to whom offence might otherwise be given,
that this marriage should be kept secret for a little
longer, until the preachers shall see their way better to
making it known to the people. But at the same time
he fully expects that Luther, Melanchthon, Bucer, and
others will give their consent in public writing (Bucer
anonymously). I have not said a word to him of your
daughter, however.' 1
On his journey to Wittenberg on December 3 Bucer
again begged the Landgrave by letter to keep the
matter quite secret, in order that ' all might be done to
1 Lenz, Briefwechsel, i. 354.
78 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
the glory of God and no unnecessary offence given
anywhere. May the Lord Jesus give you His grace.
Amen.' x
Bucer received from the Landgrave a letter of
instructions to the Wittenberg theologians, in which,
among other things, Philip said 'he was living in
adultery and sin, and that if he were called upon to
fight for the cause of the Gospel he should do it with a
bad conscience and under great fear lest he should be
slain in the midst of his sins and go straight to the
devil.' In order, therefore, to be released from the
* snares of the devil ' he now wished ' to take to himself
another wife in addition to the one he already had.'
He begged of Luther and Melanchthon to help and
advise him in this matter, in order that ' he might live
and die with a happy conscience, and also that he
might be in a position to labour for the Gospel in a
freer and a more Christian manner.' What he desired
wTas not, he said, opposed to God's commandments, for
4 neither God in the Old Testament nor Christ in the
New Testament, nor the prophets or apostles had ever
forbidden a man to have two wives ; nor had any king
or prince been chastised by any prophet or apostle, or
looked upon as a sinner who could not inherit the
kingdom of heaven, because he had more than one
wife. Paul also had enumerated many kinds of
transgressors who could not inherit the kingdom of
God, but of those who had two wives he had made no
mention.' ' Paul says clearly that a bishop must be the
husband of one wife, and likewise the deacons. Now
if it had been essential that every man should have only
one wife he would have laid down this commandment
1 Lenz, Briefweclisel, i. 119.
BIGAMY OF THE LANDGRAVE PHILIP OF HESSE 79
also, and would distinctly have forbidden all men to
have more wives than one.'
In order to prepossess the Wittenberg divines more
favourably in his cause, Philip told them that he was
aware that they had advised the King of England not
to get divorced from his first wife, but to marry another
one in addition.' *
Philip had had three sons and four daughters by
his wife, but he said that unless he had another wife
besides he could not refrain from violation of his
marriage vows. Luther and Melanchthon must give
him the assurance, if not in public print at any rate in
a written statement, that he would not be sinning
against God if he secretly contracted a double marriage ;
also ' that they considered it a genuine marriage and
would meanwhile consider as to ways and means of
bringing the matter openly before the world.'
If he did not get any help from them, he added in a
threatening tone, he would find some one to advocate
his case with the Emperor himself, let it cost what it
might. ' I have little doubt but that if I pay certain
imperial councillors good round sums of money I shall
get anything out of them that I want.' He would
certainly not fall away from the Gospel, he said, or do
anything prejudicial to it, but he might be of use to the
1 Melanchthon in his memorandum De Digamia Regis Anglie of
August 27, 1551, had written as follows : ' Si vult rex successioni prospicere,
quanto satius est, id facere sine infamia prioris conjugii. Ac potest id
fieri sine ullo periculo conscientiae cujuscunque aut famae jjer polygamiam,
Etsi enim non velim concedere polygamiam vulgo, dixi enim supra nos
non ferre leges, tamen in hoc casu propter magnam utilitatem regni,
fortassis etiam propter conscientiam regis ita pronuncio : tutissimum esse
regi, si ducat secundam uxorem, priore non abjecta, quia certum est,
'polygamiam non esse proliihitam jure divino? Corp, Reform, ii. 52G.
See also Zeitschr. fiir Kirchengesch. xiii. 576.
80 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
imperialists ' and assume obligations in other secular
matters which might not be advantageous to the cause
of the evangelical party.' x
Philip was most anxious to get the consent of the
divines, because Margaret's mother refused to give her
daughter to him without it. But it was evidently also
his intention to make the heads of the new Church
system participators in an action which by the laws of
the Empire was one of the greatest of crimes. It was
imperative also to win over the Elector of Saxony, in
order to make sure of his diplomatic and military
assistance in case of a declaration of war on the part of
the Emperor. It was for this reason that Philip made
such specious promises to the Elector with regard to
the Duke of Cleves, the archbishopric of Magdeburg,
and a future imperial election.
The appeal of the Landgrave threw Luther and
Melanchthon into great perplexity, and cost them bitter
struggles of conscience. In their answer on December
CO
10, 1539, they began by expressing their delight at the
Landgrave's recovery from his dangerous illness ; ' for
the poor unfortunate Church of Christ is small and
forsaken and needs truly pious rulers and lords.' With
regard to his question the first thing to be considered
was ' that there was a great difference between making
a general law and granting a dispensation (in con-
formity, of course, with the divine will) in a particular
case, for urgent reasons.' To make it a general law
' that every man should be allowed to have more than
one wife ' was out of the question, because such a
measure would cause endless disturbance in all married
life. They therefore humbly begged Philip first to be
1 Corj). Reform, iii. 851-856.
BIGAMY OF THE LANDGRAVE PHILIP OF HESSE 81
very careful in every way to prevent this matter from
coming openly before the world in the light of a law
that all men were at liberty to profit by ; and secondly
whereas it was not a law, but only a dispensation, to re-
member and consider the offence that might be given by
the enemies of the Gospel cr}dng out that they (Luther
and Melanchthon) were as bad as the Anabaptists,
who approved of polygamy, and that the evangelicals
were anxious for freedom to have as many wives as the
Turks. The Landgrave ought to guard himself most
earnestly against adultery and unchastity. ' If, how-
ever, your Grace cannot give up your sinful life, as you
write to us, we would rather that you should be placed
in a better position before God and that you should
be enabled to live with a good conscience.' If Philip
was determined ' to have another wife, we are of
opinion that the marriage should be kept a secret —
that is to say, that only your Grace and the woman in
question, with a few other trustworthy persons, should
know about it, and that they should be bound over
under seal of confession to keep the secret. This
would prevent all slander and offence.' ' But at the
same time no heed should be paid to what people say,
when the conscience is at ease : and we hold this to
be right. For what is sanctioned bv the law of Moses
with regard to marriage is not forbidden in the Gospel.
Thus your Grace has not only our certificate in case
of need, but also our admonition.'
In conclusion Luther and Melanchthon warned the
Landgrave most emphatically " not to let the matter
come before the Emperor. For ' pious German princes
must have nothing to do with the treacherous dealings
VOL. VI. G
82 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
of the Emperor,' who was ' a false perfidious man and
encouraged mutiny in Germany.' 1
The utter invalidity and impossibility of a second
marriage during the continuance of the first was no-
where alluded to in this document.
The answer which Bucer received from the Saxon
Elector ran as follows : ' The Landgrave would do well
to bring his great intellect to bear on the matter and
to consider all the trouble that would result from such
a step, and also to call on the Lord to help him to
overcome the temptation and to be satisfied with his
good and pious wife, Christina ; at any rate he advised
him not to hasten on the matter. If, however, he
could not pursue this course, the Elector would take
up the same attitude as the theologians, and would
faithfully help and support the Landgrave.'
Without waiting for the answer of the Wittenberg
theologians, Philip had settled the matter with his wife,
Christina, on December 11. He obtained leave from
her by unworthy means to take to himself a second
wife, and also the promise never to complain of his
behaviour either secretly or openly, either to the
Emperor, the King, or the Princes, or to his Estates ;
and also never to annoy or molest the person whom he
should take for his second wife.2
1 Heppe, pp. 266-270; De Wette, vi. 239-244; Corp. Reform, iii.
856-863. In private letters where Melanchthon was not afraid to speak
his true opinion he used very different language about the Emperor.
2 ' On her death-bed the Landgravine Christina disclosed secretly to
her son William, with inany tears, that it was in a state of unconsciousness
that her consent to this bigamous act had been obtained from her. The
fuller details given him later of the whole proceedings by his intimate friends
in Saxony — in especial by Caspar Peucer, a son-in-law of Melanchthon—
raised William's indignation to the highest pitch ' (Rommel, Geschichte
von Hessen, v. 20-21). Respecting a conversation she had had with
BIGAMY OF THE LANDGRAVE PHILIP OF HESSE 83
In return for this promise Christina received the
assurance from the Landgrave that he would look
upon her as his ' first and chief consort, and be more
faithful to her than hitherto, and that her children
alone should be recognised as the princes of Hesse.' 1
The Landgrave sent these written certificates and
agreements to Margaret's mother, and promised her
that he would manage to get a trustworthy councillor
deputed by the Elector as his representative, and
would persuade Luther and Melanchthon to attend the
wedding in person ; his own theologians and councillors
should also be present, but not Frau von Sale's brother,
Ernest von Miltitz, for the latter, said Philip, was a
papist, and as such not sufficiently well ' grounded ' in
the Holy Scriptures to be able to comprehend the law-
fulness of bigamy.2
Luther, Bugenhagen, and MelanchthoD, wrote the
Augsburg doctor Sailer on February 11, 1540, to the
Landorave, ' have brought out a little book on marriage,
in which they express themselves with greater license
on the subject than ever before. They make marriage
an entirely secular business, relegating it wholly to the
civil authorities, to whom they concede the right to
order, dispense, and pronounce judgment in this as in
the Landgrave William, the Princess Palatine Elizabeth wrote to her
mother, Princess Anne of Saxony : ' He began talking of Dr. Luther,
calling him a scoundrel, and saying it was he who had persuaded his
father to commit bigamy ; and he spoke extremely ill of Dr. Luther. Then
I said that Luther could never have done what he was accused of; to
which the Landgrave replied that he had Luther's own handwi'iting as a
witness. I answered that Luther's signature might have been affixed to
a letter the contents of which he was ignorant of. The Landgrave then
fetched the letter ; but Elizabeth would neither look at nor listen to it.
C. v. Weber, Anna Churfiirstin von Sachsen (Leipzig, 1865), pp. 401-402.
1 Dec. 11, 1539. Lenz, i. 358-359.
2 Lenz, i. 330-332.
g 2
84 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
other mundane affairs. Bugenhagen also says out
boldly that the Christians at Corinth had more than one
wife.1
On February 13, 1540, a daughter was born to the
Landgrave by his wife, Christina.2 The date of the
marriage witli Margaret had at the time just been
fixed between her mother and Philip.
But now it appeared that Margaret was not suffi-
ciently ' grounded ' in the Holy Scriptures. In order
to quiet her conscience John Lenning, one of Philip's
court theologians, addressed a special pamphlet ' to the
honourable and virtuous virgin, his beloved sister in
Christ,' in which he referred her to the scriptural
examples of Esther and Abigail.3 The Landgrave
himself caused Luther and Melanchthon's written state-
ment of opinion and the Elector's letter of consent to
be shown to her, and also sent an envoy to her with
instructions to tell her that if she attempted to escape
to any of her friends Philip would come himself and
lay before her all her love letters and promises, and
moreover show her up in such a manner that nobod}^
would ever agjain want her hand.
On March 4, 1540, the wedding took place at
Rotenburg, on the Fulda. It was attended by Bucer,
1 Lenz, i. 456. • Rommel, i. 582.
3 Rommel, ii. 4 7. Two preachers in Cassel boldly denounced the
Landgrave's proceeding : one of them went so far as to inveigh from the
pulpifc ' against those who take to themselves two wives.' Rudolph
Walter, a native of Zurich, who was a student at Marburg, wrote to.
Lullinger : ' Accersitus est a Landgravio theologus quidam, ut huic con-
nubio subscriberet, quod cum recusavit vix ab eo Princeps teneri potuit
ira et furore libidinoso commotus his verbis theologum increpans ; " Pox
take you 1 this has been subscribed to by men who have forgotten more
than you will ever learn till your dying day." ' See Fuesslin, Ejrist. HelveL
Be form. p. 205 ; Strobel, ii. 440-441.
BIGAMY OF THE LANDGRAVE PHILIP OF HESSE 85
Melanchthon, and Eberhard von der Thann (the last
two as representatives of the Saxon Elector), and a few
lay councillors. Philip's court preacher, Dionysius
Melander, who himself had three living wives, performed
the service. As ' a duty to which his office bound him,'
' and according to the grace that had been given him,'
the preacher in his sermon, like Lenning in his written
statement, endeavoured to quiet the still troubled
conscience of Margaret and ' to reassure and instruct
her out of God's Word, as far as he could in so brief a
time, to the effect that she might enter on such a
marriage with the blessing of God, with honour and
a good conscience. It was from misunderstanding of
the Holy Scriptures that Christians had hitherto been
forbidden to have two wives, just as marriage of the
jjriesthood, eating meat, and other such things, which
a few years ago would have seemed to us quite as
abominable and unheard of as the present ceremony
may now appear.' ]
Among the rules of the new Church system, freed
entirely from the fetters of popery, it was now the wish
of Philip and his preachers to see polygamy included.
In the certificate of his second marriage, which was
drawn up by the Hersfeld preacher Balthasar Eeid,
Philip stated that it was impossible for him 'to save
either his body or his soul ' unless he was allowed to
have a second lawful wife. For this reason several
pious Christian preachers had advised him to take this
step, and his first wife, Christina, had graciously given
1 Heppe, pp. 272-274. ' The numerous progeny of Philip and Margaret
all came to most tragic ends. Quarrels, bloodshed, and insanity, in most
appalling measure, dogged the footsteps of the children of this second
Hassencamp, i. 506.
86 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
her consent to it, in order that she might serve the body
and soul of the husband she loved so much, and ' in
order that the glor}^ of God might be promoted ! ' :
On April 5 the Landgrave wrote to Luther that he
had been able to go again to the Lord's Supper with a
' happy conscience,' and thanked him for his good
advice. ' I observe,' Luther answered on April 15,' that
your Grace is highly satisfied with the advice we have
given you, and which we would gladly have you keep
secret.' Otherwise ' it will possibly end in the rude
country-folk following your Grace's example, and they
might perhaps adduce as good if not better reasons,
which would cause us no little embarrassment.'
' I have received your Grace's present of a cartload
of Khenish wine,' wrote Luther on May 24, ' and I thank
your Grace humbly for it.' 2
To the Elector of Saxony, however, Luther expressed
his displeasure at the proceedings at Eotenburg,
assuring him that he had only given his consent on
account of the torments of conscience which Philip said
he was plagued with, and because the Landgrave had
declared himself unable to abstain from sin unless he
was allowed to have a second wife. ' If I had known
that Philip had long been in the habit of satisfying his
shameful lusts with her and others, very certainly not
even an angel from heaven would have persuaded me
to give him such advice, still less should I have consented
to the public celebration of such a union. Add to
which it was altogether concealed from me that a
princess, a young Landgravine, was about to be born.
1 ' . . Tit tanquani dilectissimi inariti animae et corpori serviret et honor
Dei promoveretttr ! ' Rommel, ii. 411-412 ; Hassencamp, i. 476.
3 Letters in Lenz, i. 361-363.
BIGAMY OF THE LANDGRAVE PHILIP OF HESSE 87
Verily it is not to be endured, and the whole Empire
will pronounce it intolerable.'
'I had understood and hoped that the Landgrave
(since the weakness of the flesh had compelled him to
use vulgar instruments of sin and shame) would keep
a respectable girl secretly in some house, in secret
wedlock. Though his intercourse with her might be
misinterpreted by the world, it would have saved his
conscience ; and besides this is an ordinary occurrence
with great lords.' 1
Philip's sister, the Duchess Elizabeth of Rochlitz,
was at first indignant at her brother's conduct. ' She
began to weep,' reports the messenger whom the Land-
grave had charged to communicate the news to her
with the utmost secresy, ' then she threw about all the
objects near her, uttering loud screams the while.'
For many years Elizabeth had been a zealous Protestant,
but nevertheless she reviled ' Luther and Bucer, and
declared they were rascals at bottom.' The Landgrave,
she said, had behaved to her like a villain, and she
even threatened to put an end to herself. When,
however, Philip threatened that if she did not hold her
peace he would make certain revelations concerning
her own conduct since her widowhood, the Duchess
quieted down. On Philip's writing to Bucer to express
his surprise at his sister's indignation, considering that
she had advised him ' to keep one concubine instead of
so many prostitutes,' Bucer answered : ' I had foreseen
all these attacks, but the Lord will lend us help pro-
vided we do and suffer all things for the sake of His
kingdom . ' 2
'.-
1 Seidemann, Lauterbach's Tagebuch, appendix, pp. 195-198, note
See Kolde, Analecta Lutherana, p. 348, note, for the date of this letter.
2 March 18, 1540. See Lenz, i. 159.
88 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Meanwhile alarm was caused by Melander's treachery
in not keeping silence on the subject. He had promised
at the wedding service ' to keep the proceeding secret
as a dispensation granted in urgent need of the con-
science,' but now he began to preach openly from the
pulpit that ' it was not wrong to have two wives.'
Bucer warned the Landgrave that Melander must be
compelled to keep silence. ' Very few Christians,' he
wrote, ' would approve of this dispensation. Above all
it must be a terrible shock to the women to hear such
language. Though your Grace's sister is of an excep-
tionally nervous temperament, yet there is no doubt that
among thousands of the best and most pious women
scarcely one would be found to whom such teaching
would not seem a death-blow. For they must tremble
at the consequences, especially if such a license is
allowed among the highest classes.' The best way out
of the difficulty would be, he thought, to keep silence.
But the news had already spread among the entire
population and ' terrible rumours ' were circulated in
town and country. The preacher Corvinus apprehended
' a great falling away from the Gospel.' The magistrate
at Lahr, he wrote to Philip, had said openly before the
peasants that the Landgrave had married another wife,
and in proof of the truth of his statement he told
them that ' your Grace had sent Luther a cartload of
wine, because he had given your Grace leave to have
a second wife.' It was even reported that Philip held
Christina immured, and that he was living in criminal
intercourse with Margaret's sister. Duke Maurice of
Saxony found himself compelled to defend the Landgrave
against these accusations.
The people of Hesse were horrified at the crime
BIGAMY OF THE LANDGRAVE PHILIP OF HESSE 89
which the Landgrave had committed, notwithstanding
the frightful demoralisation prevalent among them since
the religious revolution.1 A Hessian Church ordinance
of the year 1539 attributes this universal demoralisation
to the machinations of Satan, who had estranged men
from the communion of Christ ' not only by means of
factions and sects, but also by carnal wantonness and
dissolute living.' So wild and uncouth had men
become, says the Hessian chronicler Wigand Lauge,
writing of the year 1539, ' that one might think God
had given us His precious word and freed us from the
innumerable abominations of popery only that we
might be at liberty to do or leave undone just what
each one of us liked.'
' Everywhere sin and transgression against God's
commandments and teaching and immorality of all
sorts have gained the upper hand, until it has come
even to this, that numbers of abominable vices are by
many people no longer looked upon as sin and crime.'
There were still undoubtedly ' plenty of good Christian
laws and regulations,' but these were violated and dis-
regarded ' chiefly by the officers of the law themselves.
The great god Mammon is worshipped by preachers
and people as never before, not to mention other sins
and vices.'
The same tone was adopted by the theologians and
preachers of two Synods, at Cassel and at Eotenburg,
in an address to the Landorave : there was no want,
they said, of good laws and ordinances in Hesse, but,
1 ' Mores omnium corruptissimi,' wrote Rudolph Waller of Zurich to
Bullinger in 1540 concerning the people of Hesse. Francois Lambert had
already written to Bucer in 1530 : ' Horreo mores populi hujus.' Hermin-
jard, ii. 242.
90 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
owing chiefly to the remissness of ' officials and persons
in authority,' these laws were not enforced. ' Nearly all
the leading pastors and preachers complain unanimously
that all order and morality are disappearing.' ' Faith
and loyalty are met with nowhere.' Things had come
to such a pass that ' even religion was held in contempt.'
' We. have gained nothing from the Gospel,' says the
address, ' but carnal license and the material property
of the Church.'
The public officials, on the other hand, laid the
chief blame on the immorality of the preachers. i It
has come to our knowledge,' says the Landgrave in a
notification to the public superintendents, ' through
many of our officials, through reports from the common
people, and from the nobles and others, that there is
now a very considerable number of preachers and
ministers of the Gospel in our principality who conduct
themselves very badly, who lead very scandalous lives,
drinking, carousing, gambling, carrying on usurious
dealings, and even in many cases defiling themselves
with still worse vices.' The superintendents must
therefore look carefully into these matters, must keep
themselves free from such offences, and must prohibit
the preachers and church officials from practising them ;
if necessary they must depose offenders from their
offices and ' where the vices are inordinately great ' they
must punish them even more severely. Some of the
preachers, he had been told, ' did not preach more than
once or twice a year in the churches to which they
had been appointed.' 'Ah, God,' wrote Bucer from
Marburg to the Landgrave on Christmas Day, 1539,
4 there are bad ooinsrs on here and elsewhere ; for it is
known that your Grace does not trouble yourself to
BIGAMY OF THE LANDGRAVE PHILIP OF HESSE 91
punish and repress all this vice and iniquity. The
people are growing corrupt ; immorality is gaining the
upper hand.' 'Verily, my gracious Prince and Lord,
since there is such terrible contempt for God and for
the ruling authorities, it must be that the devil is
becoming too powerful.' * In Marburg, he said in a
letter of April 19, 1540, things were worse than any-
where. * The members of the council there are for the
most part innkeepers. They encourage drunkenness
to such an extent that the people lie about in the streets
daily like cattle.' ' At Ziegenhain this year 1,500
florins' worth of wine has been drunk ; at Marburg, in
three months, nearly 3,000 florins' worth. Is it not
pitiable ? It would indeed be no wonder if there were
no money left in the land.' He begged that the
Landgrave would, ' after the pattern of the pious princes
of old,' look personally into the affairs of his country
and not turn amusement, hunting, or what not into
' State business.' 2 It would be lamentable if he, ' who
had expended so much labour and money in the defence
of religion against the papists, should allow his subjects
to be so ill-used.'
As for work in resisting the 'papists,' the Land-
grave took good care that there should be no dearth
of it.
1 Lenz, i. 121-122.
2 The Landgrave's hunting parties were ' the universal terror of the
peasants.' Philip looked on the game in the fields of his peasants as
an equivalent of the right of pasture in the forests. Landau, Geschicht
dcr Jagcl in Hesse, p. 7.
92 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CHAPTEE XIII
philip of hesse's plan for making war on the emperor
protestant propagandists at the imperial court
religious conferences at hagenau and worms
proceedings among the protestants with regard
to philip's bigamy, lwo
At the same time that Philip was engaged in pre-
parations for his marriage with Margaret he was
also unremittingly active in trying to incite his fellow-
confederates of Smalcald to ' take up arms against the
Emperor.'
On January 1 and 3, 1540, he roused the fears of
Duke Ulrich of Wiirtemberg by informing him of the
reported military preparations of the Emperor. They
must not sit still and wait, he said, till they were
attacked, but they must take the initiative, especially
in the affair of Guelders-Cleves. If the Emperor was
allowed to get possession of these lands, he would also
become master of Minister, Osnabriick, and the whole
region as far as Paderborn, and he would then be
in a position to exercise unlimited influence over the
appointment to the archbishoprics of Treves and
Cologne. Moreover the best and most numerous sup-
plies of soldiers came from these districts, and would
then be at his disposal. For these reasons they must
rally round the Duke of Cleves : the King of Denmark
PHILIP'S PLANS AGAINST THE EMPEROR 93
also might possibly come to their assistance. He had
warned the King of England against the Emperor by
means of ' a trustworthy messenger.' 1 Already in
November 1539, according to a decision of the
Smalcald League, two ambassadors had been sent to
Henry VIII. to negotiate concerning the basis of a
treaty .2
On January 20, 1540, Philip made the following
proposals to the Elector of Saxony for an attack on the
Emperor : ' He himself, the Elector, Duke Henry of
Saxony, and Duke Ulrich of Wtirtemberg must join
forces ; each of them must contribute 4,000 foot and
500 horse, or more ; Duke Ulrich must raise 8,000
foot and as many mounted soldiers as he could. With
an army of this size they would be strong enough
to make an attack. The Emperor would undoubtedly
accept the battle, and he and his Spaniards would be
defeated. ' This first victory won,' they could easily
afterwards conquer the Netherlands, and once in pos-
session of these ' they would be supported by England
and Denmark and would be able to defy the King of
France. '
All these successes would be greatly to the advantage
of the evangelical Estates and the evangelical cause
generally, and would contribute to the maintenance of
the freedom of the German nation.3
On behalf of the preservation of this so-called
German freedom the princes had formerly appealed
repeatedly to the King of France. On April 19, 1539,
on the same day on which the armistice had been
agreed upon at Frankfort, the Elector of Saxony and
1 Stern, Heinrich VIII. wnd der schmalhaldisclie Bund, pp. 492-495.
2 Ibid. p. 497. " Lenz, i. 411.
94 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
the Landgrave of Hesse had made a fresh appeal to
Francis I. They represented themselves to him as
being the sole lovers of peace in Germany, and as
having suffered much injustice and wrong for their
attempts at preserving public tranquillity ; their ad-
versaries on the other hand were filled with bitter
hatred ; they said that they would accept no moderate
proposals, would hear no conciliatory explanations of
the disputed questions, but were making ready for the
slaughter of their fellow-citizens and kinsmen, and for
the destruction of all the churches. For this purpose
the enemies had formed alliances and raised armies.
They now begged the King of France, as the protector
of the general freedom of Europe, to stand forth also as
the defender of innocence.1 In July 1539 the people
of Strasburg had informed the Landgrave of Hesse
that they knew for certain how amicably Francis I.
was disposed towards the dear German confederates.
' From the special affection and good-will which he
bore to the Protestant Estates ' he had put obstacles
in the way of the Council which the Pope had decided
on summoning.
Since then, however, the political relations between
France and the Emperor seemed to have undergone a
change. On his journey to the Netherlands, where an
open insurrection had begun at Ghent, the Emperor,
by invitation of the French King, had passed through
France, and festivities and solemnities of all sorts had
been held there in his honour.2 The French nation
1 Corp. Reform, Hi. 695-697. Melanchthon also was obliged to draw
up a document of the same kind.
2 Du Bellay, Memoires, iv. 408, ' Passage de l'Empereur par la France.'
' II fut rem avec la plus grande magnificence et on lui fit tous les honneurs
imaginables. Les prisons furent ouvertes et il fit grace a tous les
PHILIP'S PLANS AGAINST THE EMPEROR 95
»
reverenced the Emperor as the supreme secular de-
fender of Christendom. The Smalcald confederates
feared that an alliance directed against themselves
would be concluded between Charles and Francis.
On February 9, 1540, the Elector of Saxony held
warlike deliberations at Paderborn with Duke William
of Jlilich-Cleves, who, on January 29, had concluded a
formal alliance, offensive and defensive, with England.1
On February 14 at Cassel, in the presence of the Elector,
the number of soldiers to be supplied by the princes
and towns was fixed more definitely, and envoys were
despatched in all directions to make arrangements for
levying troops for the league.2 In February 1540
bands of Swiss mercenaries from the Thurgau joined
the army of the Smalcald confederates.
The Chancellor Eck was also ' actively astir ' against
the Emperor. It was his wish that all the German
princes, Catholics as well as Protestants, should coalesce
and endeavour to effect a religious accommodation with-
out the Emperor. ' Eck behaved admirably,' wrote
Dr. Sailer, Philip of Hesse's delegate, on January 16,
1540, after a conversation with the Chancellor at
Munich, ' and I see that he is afraid that no agreement
in religious matters will be arrived at while the
Emperor is in the country ; for Charles would be sure
to strike in with altogether impossible proposals.' 3 ' If
you want to arrive at an agreement,' Eck had said to
Sailer, ' you must have respect to the ceremonies, not
for the sake of the wise people, but to propitiate the
prisonniers qu'il lui plut de delivrer, agissant avec autant d'autorite que
s'il eut ete dans ses propres etats.'
1 Bouterwek, Anna von Cleve, pp. 392-395.
2 Lenz, i. 413-415. 3 Ibid. i. 449.
06 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
foolish ones. Commenting on this utterance of Eck,
the confidential agent of the Landgrave remarked :
' If uniformity of worship and rites could be brought
about among all the confederates and a cut and dry
outward form of Church service held up to the eyes of
the vulgar, I verily believe that the Bavarians and
others would be much more likely to come round.'
In March 1540 the Chancellor spoke out even more
plainly to Sailer. ' Without exciting great suspicion
among his haters and enviers at the court,' he said, ' he
could not hold a personal interview with the Landgrave.
' And if he fell under suspicion he would not be able
to be of so much service to the Landgrave as he had
hitherto been, and still hoped to be in future.' Every-
body, so far, must still feel sure that he was not acting
at the suggestion or instruction of Philip, but purely
for the sake of truth. ' This excuse,' says Sailer, ' has
great weight with me, and I believe it to be true ; for
I know well that all who hang by the priests do not
trust Dr. Eck, and think that he is not a good Catholic,
but somewhat tainted with Lutheran knavery, as they
call it. Now the nobles in Bavaria also stick staunchly
to the priesthood, and they are not at all fond of Dr.
Eck, to whom every one must look for favours, and they
would rather that they themselves were entrusted with
all weighty and confidential matters.' All the real
State secrets ' in Bavaria are known only to the Dukes
William and Louis, to Eck and to Weissenfelder.
But at present Eck does not dare trust Weissenfelder
or Duke Louis in religious matters, or in anvthing'
that concerns the latter.' ' Louis is still much too
devoted an adherent of great people and of the parsons.'
Pack's secret advice to Philip was that there should be
PHILIP'S PLANS AGAINST THE EMPEROR 97
no attempt at reconciliation in religion ; for the priests
simply would not come to any agreement. ' They must
extort from the Emperor a Public Peace, in which the
question of religion should be included, obtain reci-
procal security with regard to this peace, and then
decide on holding a Council and fix the time and place
of its meeting.' Se^arding this Eck would consult
with Bucer.1
Bucer placed great hopes on the Bavarians. ' They
are restive under the predominance of Austria,' he
wrote to Philip of Hesse, ' and they know well what
is known about them ' — namelv, at the court of the
Emperor, where the Bavarian intrigues with the
Smalcald confederates had long been no secret. There
were many signs, so Bucer opined, that ' God had
ordained Bavaria to be His instrument for checking the
growth of other people's tyranny in the Empire.' 2
' We know the Bavarians better than you do,'
Philip answered ; ' they are thoroughly crafty, vacillat-
ing people.' 'We have had a great deal to do with
them, and whenever we imagined that we had got to
the right side of them they slipped out of our hands
again like eels.'
Not only did the transactions with Bavaria lead to
no conclusion, but the whole political situation shaped
itself unfavourably for Philip with regard to his plan of
attack against the Emperor.
The Dukes Henry of Saxony and Ulrich of
Wiirtemberg refused to join the league proposed at
Cassel on February 14. Neither could the towns of
South Germany and Saxony be prevailed on to become
1 Report of March 9, 1540, in Lenz, i. 457-459.
2 Lenz, i. 125.
VOL. VI. H
98 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
involved in intrigues concerning Jiilich and Guelders.1
The Count Palatine Frederic, who in December 1539
had entered into closer connection with the Smalcald
confederates 2 and had promised to be present at a
Congress at Eisenach, withdrew his promise on February
18, 1540.3 The Archbishop of Treves, Johann von
Mezzenhausen, behaved in like manner. In November
1539 he had proposed to the Landgrave to hold an
assembly of princes, at which Catholics and Protestants
should negotiate an agreement in religious matters
independently of the Pope and the Emperor.4 But
when the Landgrave tried to induce him to convene a
congress of Ehenish and Franconian princes at Coblentz
or Limburg the Archbishop said ' it was the business
of the Elector of the Palatinate to do this.' The Elector
on his part pointed to the imperial Chancellor as the
most proper person for the task. But Albert of Mayence,
who had held out hopes for some time, was now no
longer inclined for the undertaking. ' From which you
may see,' Philip had written to Strasburg on January 1,
1540, ' how poor-spirited the people have become on
the arrival of the Emperor, and how they chop and
change with the fluctuations of times and events.'
Philip's negotiations with Henry VIII. also came to
nothing.5 This monarch expressed the wish to the
Saxon Elector's ambassadors that ' they should first of
all form a political confederacy among themselves,
and then afterwards proceed to deliberations on the
1 Lenz, i. 448.
2 Lenz, i. 408-409. According to a letter of Calvin to Farel in
November 1539 Henry VIII. had urged the Count Palatine to ally himself
with the Protestants and to persuade his brother Louis, Elector of the
Palatinate, to do the same. Calvini Opp. x. 431.
3 Lenz, i. 417. 4 Ibid. 431. s Ibid. i. 421-422.
PHILIP'S PLANS AGAINST THE EMPEROR 99
religious question.' His minister Cromwell held out
hopes to the Smalcald confederates of a ' good big sum
-of money in case the religious accommodation should
become an accomplished fact.' *
After the fall of Cromwell the connection of
the Smalcald League with England was broken off.
Melanchthon even expressed the wish that Henry VIII.
might be murdered. ' The English tyrant,' he wrote
on August 24, 1540, to Viet Dietrich, 'has killed
Cromwell and committed adultery. How justly has it
been said, " There is no more acceptable sacrifice to
God than the death of a tyrant " ! Would that God
might inspire some brave man to do the deed ! ' 2
In March 1540 a general meeting of the confede-
rates took place at Smalcald, and the theologians who
were present urged on the Estates that they should
make a decided stand against the Emperor. Bucer
wrote to Philip of Hesse on March 8 that they must
positively keep Charles to the promises made at
1 Stern, pp. 497-499, 502. Bucer was the most zealous promoter of
a league with England, in order that ' English money and German
soldiers ' should co-operate. Lenz, i. 97, 107, 108.
2 ' . . . quain vere dixit ille in tragcedia : non gratiorem victimam
Deo mactari posse, quam tyrannum. Utinam alicui forti viro Deus hanc
mentem inserat ! ' Corp. Reform, iii. 1076. Melanchthon defended
tyrannicide on principle. In his exposition of Psalm lix. he says :
' According to the dictates of human reason it is lawful to defend one-
self against a tyrant who commits a public and flagrant injustice. In
the course of such defence, if the tyrant should be slain, one must con-
clude that the defendant acted justly.'1 Corp. Reform, xiii. 1128. Luther
too in his Table-Talk expresses himself as follows: 'If a sovereign
behaves tyrannically and unjustly, he then lets himself down to the
common level ; he thereby ceases to be a superior and loses his preroga-
tive as against his subjects.' When citizens and subjects ' can no longer
endure' the violence of a tyrant, they are 'justified in putting him to
death as a murderer and highway robber.' Collected Works, lxii. 201
202, 207.
VOL. VI. u -; *
100 HISTOKY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Frankfort of a religious conference and a national
council. ' The Catholics,' said a memorial of the
Wittenberg divines, ' must simply be made to accept-
and publicly confess the new doctrines.' ' They must
either make up their minds to strengthen and promote
idolatry, blasphemy, error, immorality, and other sins,
or they must declare themselves openly for the truth.'
Christ had said : ' He that is not with Me is against
Me.' J On the motion of the theologians it was resolved
at Smalcald that ' in all places where Masses and scan-
dalous abuses had hitherto been tolerated, and the
papist clergy in consequence strengthened in their
obduracy, to the grievous offence of pious and right-
minded people,' every member of the league in his
respective dominions ' should abolish such abuses in a
legitimate and orderly manner,' and also ' do away with
all remaining tabernacles, altars, and offensive pictures
and images.'
If the Catholic Estates and the Emperor would not
grant the Protestants security, so Bucer and Melan-
chthon wrote to the Landgrave, and would not allow
the ' Christian conference ' to take place, but ' persisted
obstinately in their own errors and in persecuting our
truth,' then the ' Protestant leaders, after invoking the
Spirit of God, must confer together as to what active
measures should be taken for promoting justice and
peace among their communities.' The Landgrave
must consider, urged Melanchthon, who was at that
time under the influence of Bucer, ' that this matter
concerned the honour and the word of God, and in
case of necessity he must do what ought to be done.'
1 Corp. Reform, iii. 928. See Melanchthon's letter to the Nuremberg
preachers, iii. 961.
PHILIP'S PLANS AGAINST THE EMPEROR 101
' This advice of yours,' Philip replied on March 15,
' would be all very well if the other Estates would follow
it as well as we ourselves and the Elector ; therefore you
must persuade the other Estates and towns to give their
consent, for what you recommend cannot be carried out
if none but the Elector and ourselves agree to your
proposal.' He had spared no trouble, thought, labour,
and expense, he said, to move the other Estates to action,
but without result ; ' for, as you have without doubt
understood, the other Estates and towns, with one
accord, declare that we Protestants must not take the
initiative.'
The Protestants were well aware that no attack was
to be feared on the part of their opponents. Thruogh
the death of Duke George of Saxony the Catholic League
had lost its chief supporter ; moreover the Catholic
Estates were divided among themselves and at variance
with the Emperor.
Meanwhile the Landgrave Philip had succeeded in
gaining ' influential friends ' even among the Emperor's
circle. In like manner as the Bavarian Chancellor Eck,
in return for Hessian bribes, was busying himself in the
cause of Protestants and endeavouring to further the
aggrandisement of Philip, so, at the imperial court, the
minister Granvell had special inducements to strive
after the aggrandisement of the Landgrave.
The Smalcald confederates had sent a deputation to
the Emperor, and on February 24 at Ghent, in the
presence of Granvell, the delegates submitted their
statement to him. 'It was only out of reverence for
God and in obedience to their consciences,' the deputies
had been instructed to say, ' that the confederates of
Smalcald had accepted the truth of the pure Gospel,
102 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
which God had revealed to thern by His Holy Spirit.
They were no disobedient rebels against the Emperor,
as had been falsely represented to him, and they did not
wish for war ; they had only equipped themselves for
defence because their adversaries were equipping.
They begged that the Emperor would pronounce a
favourable decision with respect to the Frankfort
amnesty, and also, with a view to expediting the pro-
posed ' Christian colloquy,' that he would suspend the
legal proceedings of the Imperial Chamber, especially
the sentence of the ban against Minden ; for the Electors
and princes felt themselves ' highly aggrieved in their
consciences by these proceedings.' Further, they
begged that the Emperor would summon a Diet for the
purpose of arranging a durable peace ; by this means
he would establish his august name for ever as that of
a peace-loving emperor.1
In a supplementary letter of instructions Philip of
Hesse charged the envoys to recommend the Smalcald
confederates to the special notice of the minister Gran-
vell, who was all-powerful at the imperial court.2 This
recommendation was sent exactly at the time at which
Philip submitted to the Elector of Saxony the plan
of a military attack on the Emperor.
Granvell gave George von Boyneburg, one of the
envoys, the warmest assurances of his friendly attitude
to the Protestants, and especially towards the Land-
grave of Hesse . ' He had hitherto rejected all proposals
1 On February 6, 1540, Calvin wrote from Strasburg to Farel : ' Nostri
Caesarem de sua pollicitatione appellant. Interim tamen non secus
tumultuantur, ac si bellurn esset jam indictum. Superiori mense visi
sunt nimis esse resides : nunc mirum est quam sint excitati.' Calvini
Opp. xi. 12.
- Lenz, i. 427.
PHILIP'S PLANS AGAINST THE EMPEROR 103
of warlike measures, but he cherished " especial love,
friendship, and good will " towards Philip, and would
gladly serve him in any way that was in his power.'
According to Boyneburg's report all business with his
Imperial Majesty was managed by Granvell, without
whose knowledge and consent ' nothing was decreed or
granted at the court.' l The Landgrave's advice,
therefore, to the Saxon Elector was ' to keep in ' with
Granvell, and to use him as a tool for extorting from
the Emperor a national council, a Diet, a religious con-
ference, or at any rate a semblance of peace.
Besides the minister Granvell, Philip had also won
the favour of the Archbishop of Lund, who was another
highly influential man with the Emperor, and who on
March 5, 1540, in an interview with one of the Land-
grave's envoys at Cologne, made all sorts of secret
disclosures concerning some of King Ferdinand's and
the Emperor's councillors ' who were instigators of war
against the Protestants ; but the Landgrave must not
betray their confidence, for he might picture to himself
how serious a matter it would be for the Archbishop if
he were known to have given this information.' He,
for his part, he said, was doing all he could to dissuade
the Emperor from war and to influence him in favour
of the Landgrave. When the Emperor had said to him
concerning Philip, ' They tell me that he is a profligate
man,' he had answered, ' That is not the case ; the
Landgrave is a lover of the truth, and he acts with
sincerity and uprightness of heart ; ' he is also a
consistent man ' who does not contradict to-morrow
what he has said or done to-day ;' ' he wishes to serve
the Emperor faithfully.' ' Thereupon the Emperor said,
1 Lenz, i. 156, note 8.
104 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
" Dear friend, do you mean this ? " and I answered,
" Yes." ' The Archbishop pledged himself to go on
supplying the Landgrave with secret information, and
to render him ' useful and good service.' l
The Elector of Saxony expressed his full satisfaction
at hearing that Philip had entered into friendly relations
with the Archbishop : ' it would be useful and profitable
in many ways ; ' the Landgrave would ' learn a great
deal from him.'
' We know very well,' Dr. Sailer wrote to Philip of
the Archbishop, ' that he is considered semi-Lutheran
at the imperial and royal courts.' It is therefore
important for him, being ' a spiritual prince of the
German nation,' to keep in favour with the German
Princes ; and whereas your Grace stands in higher
repute and distinction than other German princes, it is
not astonishing that he should be specially desirous of
propitiating you.'
Another man at the Emperor's court who was
; very favourably disposed towards the Protestants ' was
the Vice-Chancellor Naves, who also did not ' go un-
rewarded.' - 'I find this fellow Naves,' wrote one of
1 Conversation between Heinrich Lersner and the Archbishop on
March 5 and 6, 1540, in Lenz, i. 471-489.
3 Seckendorf, iii. 497. The burghers of Augsburg, fearing that the
Emperor would hold a Diet in their town and punish them for oppressing
the Catholics, had asked Philip how they might best avert the threatening
danger. Philip's answer was : ' To spend a few thousand florins in bribes
to Naves and the other imperial ministers : they would then find means
to prevent the holding of the Diet ' (Seckendorf, iii. 497). Bonacorsi, on
February 13, 1530, wrote from Toledo to the Dukes of Bavaria that Gran-
vell and Naves were easily gained over by bribes (Aretin, Maximilian I.
pp. 33-34.) Heyd, iii. 465, mentions the sums of money spent in 1546 by
Ulrich of Wurtemberg in bribing Granvell and Naves. Of Naves the
Zimmerisclic Chronik, iii. 475, relates ' that he was so ill at ease with his
conscience that, in order to get some rest, he had to be continually
PROTESTANTS AT THE IMPERIAL COURT 105
the new religionists to Jacob Sturm of Strasburg, ' a
first-rate man, who sees things in the right light, and
uses his influence in favour of Protestantism.' Naves
had told him that ' Granvell was always urging the
Emperor to keep peace with the Germans, so that he
might not lose his imperial sovereignty and have the
mortification of seeing one of his enemies exalted to it.'
The same argument was brought forward by Archbishop
of Lund, who urged that if it came to fighting it was to
be feared that the Protestants would set up the French
King as Emperor.1
Granvell, Lund, and Naves persisted unweariedly
in their attempt to dissuade the Emperor from all forcible
proceedings against the revolutionary movement, which,
under the cloak of the Gospel, was growing and spreading
from year to year, and recommended him to have
recourse to diplomatic negotiations, especially urging
the holding of the so-called ' friendly religious col-
loquies ' which the Protestants wished for.2
King Ferdinand also, although he was a staunch
Catholic, was ' in favour of conferences and procrastina-
intoxicated.' Even at King Ferdinand's court the Srnalcaldians had
their reporters and spies. ' Nous avons amis par tout et scavons bien les
secretz, mesrnes du roy ; et prenant line lettre en sa main : ceste lettre,
dit il, vient de la cour du roy, d'ung qui bien scait les secretz, et soubzrioit,
sans toutefois me montrer la dicte lettre, fors que de loing.' Thos.
Philip to Scepper, an envoy of Queen Maria, October 1541. Lenz.
Staatspapiere, pp. 313-314.
1 Laemmer, Mon. Vat. pp. 228, 229.
2 ' The attitude of Granvell towards Catholicism,' remarks Branden-
burg (Moritz von Sachsen, i. 96), 'was quite different from that of his
master. Being through and through a politician and a rationalist, he
prized the religious impulse only in so far as it might be of importance in
matters of State ; hence his contemporaries were in the dark as to the
extent and measure of his attachment to the teachings of the Catholic
Church. The religious conference of the year 1540 and the momentous
Ratisbon Colloquy of 1541 were mainly his work.'
106 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
tion,' because he wanted to prevent complications in
the Empire, ' in order to obtain help from the Protes-
tants against the Turks ; and also because he was
bare of pecuniary resources and could not obtain loans
from the usurious merchants without paying the most
enormous rate of interest. He feared, accordingly, that
if war broke out in Germany he would lose everything
— kingdom and hereditary lands. This was the reason
why he was always in favour of dallying with negotia-
tions and religious congresses.'
It was all in vain that the papal legates represented
again and again to the Emperor that religious con-
ferences with the Protestants, who rejected the authority
of the Church and of the Head of the Church, could
' produce no good fruit ; ' that, on the contrary, worse
acrimony could only result from them. Not one
of the agreements hitherto concluded, said the legate
Cardinal Farnese to the Emperor in April 1540, had
been observed by the Protestants. ' They destroy and
pull down churches, expel the bishops, desecrate
religion, and go unpunished.' The one canonical,
traditional, and only safe means in times of religious
confusion was a Council. Once more, in the name of
the Pope, he begged that this means might be resorted
to, and that steps in this direction should be taken this
ver}^ year. Let the Emperor summon a Diet, attend it
in person, strengthen the Catholic league, endeavour
by all possible measures to win the consent of the
Protestants to the Council, and conclude a solid peace
with France, for on such a peace the welfare of
Christendom and the conquest of the Turks depended.1
1 Raynald, ad a. 1540, Nos. 15-21. For light on the opposite stand-
point to that of the Pope and the Emperor see Pastor's Reunionsbestre-
PROTESTANTS AT THE IMPERIAL COURT 107
Charles had not ratified the Frankfort agreement,
because it was in opposition to the authority of the
Papal Chair, but on April 18, 1540, ' with a view to
the speedy and amicable settlement of the religious
question,' he summoned a Congress at Spires and
invited the two chiefs of the League of Smalcald to
attend it in person. Papal plenipotentiaries were also,
at the discretion of the Emperor, to take part in the
conference ; the Pope, said Granvell to the legate, must
adapt himself to it as well as he could.
' How little result ' was to be hoped for from this
conference was shown in the mere declaration made
by the Protestants to two imperial envoys at Smalcald
that ' they would abide unconditionally by the Confes-
sion of Augsburg, and that the religious schism could
not be healed if the adversaries would not renounce
their unscriptural nonsense, errors, and shameful abuse
of the Sacraments.' The Protestants flatly refused to
submit to any arbitrator on the points in dispute. ' The
will of God,' they said to the envoys, ' can never be
learnt from human opinions and speculations, but, as
St. John says, the Son of God, who is in the bosom of
the Father, has declared it unto us. Let then his
Imperial Majesty appoint this "Doctor," even our dear
Lord Jesus Christ, to be the judge in these religious
disputes.'
The reply of the Elector of Saxony and the Land-
grave of Hesse to the imperial summons was as follows :
6 It was not their fault that, in spite of all the negotia-
tions that had been carried on, the religious schism was
not yet healed ; the cause lay in the greatness of the
bungen, pp. 169 ff. See also Dittrich, Nuntiaturberichte G. Morone's, 1539.
1540. Paderborn, 1892.
108 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
matter itself, which concerned the honour of God and
the salvation of souls ; and also in the fact that the
Catholics, ' as his Imperial Majesty knew well, had not
suffered themselves to be instructed in any single point.'
As for themselves, they could not attend in person at
Spires, because the notice was too short ; but they
would send their ambassadors to the conference, and if
things seemed likely to lead to peace they would
then come themselves.
The Elector of Saxony, however, was determined
from the first not to go to Spires, and likewise the
Landgrave of Hesse. Philip wrote to Bucer : 'To avoid
falling into sin and wickedness he must take a wife
with him ; ' to take the Landgravine Christina would be
too expensive, and to take the ' other one ' too danger-
ous. ' If we had her with us the whole secret would
be out, and in such a place this might get us into
serious trouble.'
In June 1540 the congress at which the religious
reconciliation was to be effected was opened ; not at
Spires, however, where the plague was raging, but at
Hagenau. As had been expected, the negotiations led
to no result.1 All the efforts of King Ferdinand, who
implored for ' peace and reconciliation,' were mocked at.
For since, as Luther expressed it, ' he was not for Christ '
— that is to say, he did not accept the novel doctrines and
range himself on the side of the Protestants — ' he was
against Christ and an enemy to Him.' ' I am no
longer at all concerned about Ferdinand ; he is going
completely to ruin. But I do fear that, as I have often
predicted, the Pope will bring the Turks upon us, which
Ferdinand would hardly prevent, for he is reported to have
1 Fuller details in Pastor's Beunionsbestrcbungen, pp. 184-198.
THE CONFERENCE OF HAGENAU AND WORMS 109
uttered strange things, and affairs have a somewhat odd
appearance.' The Pope will not ' yield to Christ.' ' Then
may Christ confound them all — Ferdinand, the Turks,
the Pope, and the devil ! ' The cry was : Ferdinand
himself desires the Turks to be godfathers to the
evangelical princes ! We must pray against that swarm
of devils, now raging at Hagenau against God and His
anointed, that God may deride them and finally smash
them to pieces like a potter's vessel.1
Melanchthon, who was to have taken the lead
among the Protestant theologians in the conference
at Hagenau, was ill, and at death's door, with grief
over the Landgrave Philip's matrimonial proceedings.
Luther wrote to his wife from Weimar : ' I am very
flourishing here ; I eat like a Bohemian and drink like
a German, for which God be thanked. Amen. For
Doctor Philip has been dead and, like Lazarus, has
risen from the dead.' But Luther's happiness was dis-
turbed by the contemplation of the general demoralisa-
tion of the people everywhere. The constant increase
of suicide he looked upon as the work of Satan, whom
God had invested with power for the chastisement of
ingratitude and contempt for His word within the new
Church. On July 10 and 16 he wrote to Catherine
von Bora : ' In these lands too the devil rages with fear-
ful wickedness ; people commit suicide and arson.
The incendiaries are caught and quickly despatched.'
' The devil is loose, possessed himself by new devils,
causing fires and terrible damages. More than 1,000
acres of forest belonging to my gracious Lord have been
burnt down in the forest of Thuringia, and the fire is
still burning. The forest of Werda is also in flames
1 De Wette, v. 298. Burkhardt, Brief 'wechsel, pp. 498-499.
110 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
and cannot be saved. May Christ come down from
heaven and kindle for the devil and his companions a
fire which they too shall be unable to extinguish ! ' 1
The Elector of Saxony feared that King Ferdinand
would insist on terms of peace of such a nature that
the Protestants ' would be unable to draw any more
converts to their religion, or to enlarge their league, or
to depose any more of the clergy ; ' but that, according
to the Frankfort agreement, they would be obliged to
leave the clergy in the possession of their revenues.
To such conditions the Protestant Estates would never
agree.
When Ferdinand became persuaded that no satis-
factory result would be arrived at at Hagenau, he moved
the resolution that the assembly should be prorogued
for a few months and then be reopened at Worms, where
the heads of the Protestant party should again be pre-
sent. ' As far as lies in my power,' he wrote to his sister,
' I shall avoid war, and shall use all possible means for
reconciliation and for an amicable settlement of this
matter.' ' God knows it was not my fault that the
Hagenau recess was not more satisfactory.'
The Emperor agreed to the assembly's being pro-
rogued till the end of October and held then at Worms,
and he appointed his minister Granvell to be his repre-
sentative there. At the urgent request of Charles the
Pope also sent a legate, who was accompanied by
four theologians.
Luther wrote to the Duke Albert of Prussia on
October 10,1540: ' An assembly has been summoned by
the Emperor to meet at Worms on St. Simon and St.
Jude's Day, when the theologians of both sides are to
1 The letters in Burkhardt, pp. 357, 358 ; De Wette, v. 299.
THE CONFERENCE OF HAGENAU AND WORMS 111
hold a colloquy ; that is to say, they are to waste their
time, squander their money, and leave everything at
home to go to wrack and ruin. Well, we must let the
devil have his way ; but what the end of it all will be
is easy to understand.'
On October 22, shortly before the opening of the
congress, Protestant theologians and secular councillors
assembled at Gotha, and renewed their determination to
abide resolutely, without further explanation, by the
Confession of Augsburg ; not to yield in any single
matter, and not to allow any more harking back upon
points conceded at the Diet of Augsburg ; under no
form or modification whatever could they submit to
the authority of the Pope, for the Holy Ghost had
declared his teaching to be the devil's doctrine.
The Saxon Elector instructed his delegate at
Worms to hold firmly to this policy, even if some
members of their party showed signs of giving in ; even
also if it should cause a breach in the party.
Granvell opened the meeting at Worms with a
speech in which he described the misery which had
already resulted from the religious disturbances and
which was likely to become even worse in the future.
The papal legate also delivered a speech to the same
effect on December 8. ' Christ,' he said, ' in His supreme
prayer after the Last Supper, had prayed that all His
disciples might be one, as He and the Father were One.'
The bond of unity is love, the new law of the Lord by
which His disciples were known. If we had always kept
this commandment in mind, things would not have come
to such unholy wrangling and quarrelling, hatred and
schism, slandering and blaspheming, war and bloodshed,
and all the misery with which Germany had been
112 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
visited for the last twenty years. The Popes, with all
their anxiety to put an end to these evils, and with
all their prayers, warnings, and embassies, had been able
to accomplish nothing ; even the Council summoned by
Paul III. to meet at Vicenza had remained ineffective,
because it had not been sufficiently well attended. The
conference at Worms was to be the forerunner of this
Council, and he therefore exhorted them all to become
reconciled and to be at peace with one another.
Melanchthon composed an ' intrepid answer,' in
which he threw all the blame of the discord on the
crimes of the Church, above all on the opposition of the
Pioman See to the true teaching of the Gospel as pro-
claimed by the Protestants.
Bucer wrote to Luther on the day of the legate's
speech : ' How wonderful is the patience of our Lord
Jesus Christ in thus allowing Himself so long to be put
to shame and ridicule not only by the pestilential Church,
but by the human race as well ! '
' May the devil take Pope, legates, priests, monks,
and tyrants ! ' was the wish uttered by Justus Menius,
' and leave the Church at peace. Amen.' 1
For several months both sides went on wrano-lin£
over the conditions under which the religious conference
was to be held ; then they began holding short disputa-
tions, the result of which was summed up as follows by
the Frankfort delegate Ogier von Melem on January 3,
1541 : 'All that is being done here is to increase the
mutual acrimony of the two parties.'
On January 17, 1541, by command of the Emperor,
the meeting was prorogued to an imperial Diet at
Hatisbon, when Charles intended making another per-
1 Pastor, Beunionsbestrebungen, pp. 198-217.
PROCEEDINGS RESPECTING PHILIP'S BIGAMY 113
sonal attempt at restoring religious peace and unity in
the Empire.
It was not the religious question, however, which
had been the chief cause of distress and anxiety among
the Protestant notables and theologians since May 1510,
but the bigamy of the Landgrave of Hesse.
According to the ancient laws of the Empire, as
well as the new criminal code of Charles V., in force in
Hesse also, death was the penalty for bigamy. Both in
the earlier criminal courts of Bamberg and in the later
ones of Brandenburg persons found guilty of this crime
were publicly declared infamous, while one half of their
possessions was confiscated. The judges were also em-
powered, ' for the more effectual prevention of evil-doing,
to shut up such delinquents in prison for a time, and
also to inflict some kind of corporal punishment on
them, as, for instance, the pillory, the stocks, scourging
with rods, or exile, according to the circumstances and
status of the offender.' l
Now if the Imperial Chamber, whose legal processes
in all so-called matters of religion had been repudiated
by the confederates of Smalcald, were to proceed against
Philip as against a common criminal, such a public
exposure of one of the heads of the League would in-
volve the whole body in disgrace, and the ' Gospel, ' the
new teaching, would be thereby covered ' with unutter-
able shame and ignominy.'
Hence the indescribable alarm of many of the
fathers of the new Church, and of Philip's Protestant
compeers, when the fact of the double marriage ' be-
came generally rumoured abroad.'
1 See Boehmer, Meditationes in Constitutionem Criminalem Caro-
linam (Hals, 1770), pp. 469-482.
VOL. VI. I
114 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
The Elector of Saxony urged the strictest secrecy in
the matter, and refused to stand by the Landgrave, in
the event of the affair becoming publicly known.1 On
July 3 Bucer wrote to Philip from Hagenau begging
him, in compliance with the Elector's wish, to insist on
Duke Henry of Saxony and his sister Elizabeth keeping
silence about the business, or even contradicting it,
and himself preserving the strictest secrecy. ' Your
Excellency knows well how few people there are who
judge rightly according to the true word of God.' The
theologians Schnepf, Brenz, and Osiander, to whom
Bucer had confided the secret, were of opinion that he
ought to deny his marriage : ' for so long as in the
general opinion of the country such proceedings deserve
capital punishment your Excellency's adversaries would
be justified in having recourse to extreme measures.'
These theologians declared themselves ready not only to
defend the Landgrave, if the matter should become
public, ' but even, if necessary, to testify to the falseness
of the report ; ' for the rest, they felt the greatest pity
for him.
On July 8 Bucer again assailed the Landgrave with
an entreaty to make a public denial of his marriage with
Margaret.
' For such a course,' he urged, ' we have the
examples of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; of judges,
kings, and prophets ; of Christ and the Apostles ; yea, of
God Himself, who all in turn deceived their enemies in
order to save the chosen people.' ' In like manner it
is our duty not only to conceal the truth from our
enemies, when they may injure us through the know-
1 See the Elector's instructions to his councillors at Hagenau, June 19,
1540, in the Corp. Reform, iii. 1049.
PROCEEDINGS RESPECTING PHILIP'S BIGAMY 115
ledge of it, but also to mislead them by contradictory
statements.'
With this end in view Bucer inter alia advised
Philip to prevail on Margaret to sign a contract before
a notary and witnesses to the effect that ' she was only
a concubine whom God had permitted His beloved friend
to have.' Further the Landgrave was advised by the
same counsellor to issue the following declaration : ' He
was everywhere accused of having been forgetful of his
conjugal duty and princely honour, and of having taken
another wife, in violation of the universal laws of
Christendom and the decrees of the Emperor. Herein,
however, gross injustice was done to him ; whoever
had imagined and set about such things were liars and
could only have wanted to vent their personal hatred
and spite against him. He was not so utterly God-
forsaken as not to be aware that Christianity had
restored the sacred bond of marriage to its pristine
purity, and that not only the ministers of the Church
but all Christians, lay or clerical, were bound to have
no more than one wife or one husband. He would be
loth indeed, whether for himself or for others, to violate
the sanctity of God's blessed gift of marriage. He
begged accordingly that no credence might be given to
such false reports raised against him by his ill-wishers.'
In justification of such audacious lies Bucer said : ' It
is tempting God to expose oneself to danger when a
way of escape is prepared, especially when it is a question
of glorifying the name of the Lord and of extending
His kingdom, as it is the duty and the mission of every
Christian to do.' *
Thus Bucer, the apostle of the Gospel of truth !
1 Lenz, i. 175-180.
I 2
116 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Philip was greatly angered by this advice. The
approval of Brenz, Schnepf, and Osiander, he wrote,
was nothing to him. ' It is a cause of wonder to us
that they should feel so deeply for us in this matter,
which after all excludes nobod}^ from the kingdom of
God ; whereas when we were living in a state of open
sin they took no notice of it.' ' Do not let these three
insolent men lead you astray ; for you are well acquainted
with them and know how they have behaved in other
respects.' ' We are surprised to find how much per-
secution is heaped upon us on account of this step we
have taken, whereas our previous flagrant transgressions
brought no reproach on us. Since then it is, as a rule,
only righteous actions which are persecuted, and since
we have had to suffer so much on account of this
proceeding, we are forced to conclude that the matter
is not against God, but of God.' He declared that he
would neither contradict the matter nor deny it by a
public written statement. No one had yet got him in
his power. ' If ever things should come to extremities,'
he would raise several thousand cavalry and infantry.
He had ' a clear conscience ; if need were he would
proceed to arms, be the risk what it might.'
The Landgrave especially was surprised at the
behaviour of the Elector. The latter, he wrote, had
sent a representative to the wedding. Moreover, when
he had been on a visit to him in Cassel, he had not
dissuaded him from this course, but had laughed and
teased him on the matter, and had said more than once
that he should like to see the lady or to know who she
was.1
Bucer stuck to his dictum that ' had your Grace not
1 Lenz. i. 181-187, 204.
PROCEEDINGS RESPECTING PHILIP'S BIGAMY 117
had recourse every day to lies, as I advised, this
proceeding would long ago have led to much mis-
apprehension. It is often indispensably necessary that
the world should be kept from the knowledge of the
truth by the help of saints and angels. The Bible is
full of cases to the point.'
In Bucer's estimation the end sanctified the
means.1
Luther was of the same opinion.
On June 20 the Landgrave wrote to Luther and
Melanchthon that he had done all in his power to keep
the marriage a secret, but that, chiefly through the
fault of his sister and of Duke Henry of Saxony, the
public had got scent of the matter, and in Thuringia
and Meissen there had been a great outcry about it.
He begged them, accordingly, to give him their advice
as to what was best to do, and hoped that they would
stand by him in a loyal and Christian manner in case of
his undergoing any persecution from the Emperor or
tne King, or others ; ' for if, as we do not at all expect,
you should withdraw your support, we should feel
compelled to lay before our accusers your written
statement and signatures, in order that they might see
that we had had your consent.' 2
1 Lenz, i. 193.
2 Ibid. i. 363. See in Kolde's Analecta Ltitherana, pp. 353-355,
what four Hessian theologians wrote to Luther and Melanchthon on
June 23. See Brandenburg, Heinrich d. Fr. p. 114 ff. The Dresden
court, as is authentically shown here, hastened to inform other Protestant
princes that all the scandalous reports about the Landgrave were based
on truth. Henry expressed to the Landgrave his deep distress at what
had happened. Catherine wrote to the bigamist on June 13 : ' The
desire for secrecy shows plainly that you and the theologians are troubled
with bad consciences and fear the light : the matter, however, has become
too notorious to be hushed up.' She concluded with the pious wish that
God by His Holy Spirit might drive the evil spirit out of the Landgrave.
118 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Luther, however, stuck to it that the matter must
be publicly denied : for ' that which is a secret yes
must never become a public yes ; otherwise secret and
open would be all the same without any difference,
which must not be, nor can be. Therefore this secret
yes must become a public no, and remain so always.
' What harm is there,' he said in the middle of July at
a conference with Hessian councillors at Eisenach, ' in
telling a good bold lie for the sake of making things
better and for the good of the Christian Church ? ' This
question had nothing to do with conscience, he said, but
sooner than he would allow the confession made to him
by Bucer in the Landgrave's name to get abroad he
would declare that ' Luther acted like a fool and would
take the disgrace upon himself.' The Hessian Chancellor,
Feige, retorted, inter alia, that for Luther to say that he
had made a fool of himself would be fatal to the
estimation in which he was held. He should call to
mind what he had written thirteen years before in his
commentary on Genesis, and remember that these state-
ments of his had remained unchallenged by all his
disciples and followers.1 He should consider what
numbers of matters which were equally doubtful and
as little supported by Holy Scripture as this one was
had been justified and legalised, in spite of civil authority,
by the decisions of a Christian Council.
The Landgrave, highly indignant at Luther's utter-
Philip, on the other hand, wrote to Catherine quite openly that if the
matter had become notorious it was her doing, and expressed his hope
that God would purge out from her heart all evil spirit of pride, envy,
hatred, and lust.'
1 Collected Works, xxxiii. 322-324. See my pamphlet Ein zweites
Wort an meine KritiTcer, pp. 90-91, and vol. ii. of this History, pp. 402-
403 (Engl. Transl. iv. 98, 99).
PROCEEDINGS RESPECTING PHILIP'S BIGAMY 119
ances, wrote to the latter on July 18 that it was quite
false that, as was said of him, he had had guilty rela-
tions with Margaret before his marriage with her ; it
was true, however, that ' if he had not obtained this
person in marriage he would have taken some one else.'
* But that I preferred this one to any other,' he proceeds
to say, ' because she pleased me, is only human ; and
indeed I observe that you saintly people also like to
have the women that please you. You must therefore
suffer us poor sinners to do likewise.' ' You gave me
vour witness in your written answer that this step was
not at variance with the law of God, saying that what
was tolerated by the law of Moses was not forbidden in
the Gospel. You therewith gave me not only your
witness, but also the argument on which it was based.
But if this was all fool's play it was a most strange
kind of fooling ; for I did not ask you to play the
fool, but to give me your testimony that if I did this
thino- I should not be acting in an unchristian manner.'
If, as Luther still allowed, he might consider this
person as his legal wife in the sight of God, why might
he not recognise her before the world ? ' If we may
feel our consciences clear in this matter before God the
Almighty, the Eternal, the Immutable, why should we
trouble ourselves about the judgment of an accursed,
Sodomitic, usurious, and drunken world ? Oh, that it
might please God to move you and your associates
to condemn as rigorously all the crimes and vices —
adultery, usury, drunkenness — which at present are
scarcely looked upon as sins among us ! Would God that
you might attack these crimes, not only by books and
sermons, but by severe punishment and excommunica-
tion, as did the Apostles of old ! Would God that you
120 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
were as rigorous against those whom you consort with
daily and who pass as Christians, to the great scandal
of mankind ! But what do you and your comrades do
to remedy the evil ? Can debauchery be reconciled
with a Christian life ? If vou have the honour of the
Gospel so much at heart, clean out }^our pigstyes
conscientiously, and let it be seen that it is done in
good earnest and not as a mere joke.' l
' We have written a pretty sharp letter to Luther
with our own hand,' the Landgrave wrote to Bucer.
' We specially animadverted on the fact that he is so
narrow and precise in this matter, while at the same
time he connives at or only reproves verbally the
enormous drinking and other offences which he sees
going on daily around him.'
In threatening language Luther answered on July
24 : 'I have this advantage over you which your Grace
and all the demons must grant me, 1st, that my advice
was private and secret ; 2ndly, that I begged most
earnestly that it should not be made public ; 3rdly, if
it is published abroad I am certain that it has not been
done through me. So long as I have these three points
in my favour I advise even the devil himself not to
challenge my pen.' He was loth, he said, to enter on
a pen and ink fight with Philip, and it was not for his
own sake, but solely for the Landgrave's, that he
advised the matter being kept secret. ' It is verily
not on my own account, for if it came to a pen and ink
fight I should know well how to extricate myself and
leave your Grace sticking in the mire, which I do not
1 Lenz, i. 380-382. ' At the electoral court of Saxony,' the Duchess
Elizabeth of Rochlitz wrote to her brother the Landgrave in 1534,
' excessive drinking has become an hereditary vice.' Wilke, p. 25.
PROCEEDINGS RESPECTING PHILIP'S BIGAMY 121
wish to do, but could not help doing if it came to the
scratch.' 1
' It was not our intention,' Philip answered, ' to
engage in a pen and ink combat with you, nor even to
set your pen going, for we know well your skill with
that weapon. We are, moreover, firmly resolved not
to quarrel with you.' He promised that 'without
great and imperative necessity ' he would not publish
Luther's memorandum of advice. If, however, he
should ever be forced to this step, Luther was at liberty,
provided he confessed to having granted the dispensa-
tion, to choose his own means of extricating himself from
the scrape. He considered Luther * without flattery
the most distinguished theologian in the world,' and as
long as it was possible he should continue to answer all
questions and charges equivocally.2
Luther quieted down and thanked the Landgrave
in his wife's name for a present received.3
Luther by no means let the matter weigh heavily
on his heart, and he lamented Melanchthon's distress
1 De Wette-Seideinann, vi. 273-278. Bezold, animadverting on
Luther's conduct on this occasion, remarks : ' The man who once upon a
time had determined to sacrifice himself and the whole world rather than
the truth descends now to a frivolous justification of his apostasy from
his own self. " I will," he writes to Philip, " do with a safe conscience
what Christ did when He said in the Gospel, ' The Son knoweth not
the day ; ' or like the upright confessor who will and must say openly in
court that he is ignorant of the things about which he is questioned in
relation to a secret confession." ' Moller-Kawerau, p. 133, observe : ' The
Wittenberg divines (who had counselled Philip to lie to the world) were
forced to listen to the following admonition from the Landgrave : " I will
not lie ; for lying is a sin, and no Apostle ever gave such advice to any
Christian : yea, Christ has sternly forbidden it." As a matter of fact,
however, this same Landgrave had repeatedly deceived his own sister by
downright lying in connection with this same affair.' See Lenz, i. 332.
2 July 27, 1540. Lenz, i. 385-388.
3 Lenz, i. 388-399.
122 HISTOEY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
over it. ' He is terribly grieved about this scandal, but
I am a tough Saxon and a sturdy peasant, and my skin
has grown thick enough to bear such things. It's a
fine thing for us men to be kept occupied ; it makes us
use our brains, whereas otherwise we only care to eat
and drink.'
' How the papists will cry out ! Well, let them
scream, to their own perdition. If we have scandals
among us, so had Christ in Judas. Oh, how the
Pharisees must have mocked at the Lord Christ : see
what sort of friends and comrades the new Prophet has ;
what good can come from Christ ? ' With most jovial
countenance and hearty laughter he went on : ' God
wants to plague the people. Well, if my turn comes
I'll bring out my best weapons and let them see
Marcolpho in the . . . because they refused to look him
in the eyes. I am not going to make myself miserable
about this business.' In three months' time it will be
all forgotten. Would to God that Melanchthon could
see things in the same light ! ' 1
Melanchthon's distress bordered on desperation.
What grieved him most deeply was that the Land-
grave had deceived himself and Luther with hypocritical
talk, making it appear that he wished for their advice
to quiet the torments of his conscience. ' We were
drawn into this business,' wrote Melanchthon to Veit
Dietrich on September 1, 1540, ' not by Bucer, but by
1 From the records in Strobel, ii. 416-419. ' Luther attempted indeed,'
writes the Protestant theologian Hassencamp (i. 507), ' to get rid of his
scruples as if they were merely sophistical papist arguments, and to per-
suade himself that he had done right in giving the dispensation ; but he
succeeded very badly. Occasional utterances which he let fall at this
time respecting the Landgrave's bigamy show plainly that his state of
mind was more often that of one in despair. Jesting and vulgarity
alternate with words of prayer and threatenings.'
PROCEEDINGS RESPECTING PHILIP'S BIGAMY 123
the Landgrave himself, by means of his pretended piety.
He entreated our advice in a ' case of conscience,' and
swore that this dispensation was necessary to him.
We answered that the law was contained in the words,
" They two shall be one flesh," but that if his necessity
was so great he might resort to this means secretly
and without open scandal. Moreover he threatened to
apostatise if we refused to give him advice. Now I
see that he is a man capable of villany of every descrip-
tion.1 Nevertheless I liked him for certain merits of
his. I had heard him discuss questions of the faith
learnedly and eloquently, and I believed also that he
was an enemy of idolatry ' (that is, the Catholic Church),
' and for this reason I thought him a satisfactory leader.
But he is an Alcibiades by nature, not an Achilles.' He
spoke of the Landgrave in language similar to that
which Henry of Brunswick 2 had used a couple of years
before : ' I fear the beginnings of insanity which is
hereditary in the family.' 3 ' You know the man,' he
says to another friend, ' how cunningly and artfully he
can contrive the way to the most abominable deeds and
entice the unwary into his net.' 4
Duke Ulrich of Wurtemberg was as little disposed
as the Elector of Saxony to take up the Landgrave's
case publicly. In order to assure himself of ' the sup
port and encouragement ' of the Duke. Philip had con-
fided to him in October 1540 that God, in punishment
of his profligate life, had afflicted him with a shameful
disease, and that, with a view to relinquishing for ever
his evil courses, he had made a clean breast to Luther,
1 £ . . . est omnino iravovpyos fyvo-is.'1 ~ See above, p. 33.
3 ' . . . ac rnetno apxhv Tls pavias, quae est gentilitia illi familiae.'
Corp Reform, iii. 1079.
4 Ibid. iii. 1081. See iii. 1090.
124 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Melanchthon, and other excellent divines. He sent the
Duke a copy of their written advice, based on texts
from Scripture, and also a statement of his wife's con-
sent, who, he said, was then with child and living on
very good terms with him. But Ulrich would not
promise him any support, and exhorted him to abandon
the project, which might strike a deadly blow at ' the
Gospel.' Philip retorted that he could not comprehend
how the affair could so sorely shock the Duke, ' seeing
that your Grace on more than on occasion has made
carnal use of us.' 2
For the rest, the Landgrave said in a letter to Bucer,
January 3, 1541, he cared mighty little for Ulrich's
' snorting and puffing ; ' he would even be ready to
help expel him from the country, and set up his son
Christopher as duke, if he could only feel assured that
Christopher and the Dukes of Bavaria ' would maintain
the Gospel in the land.' 2
1 See Heyd's Ulrich von Wiirtemberg, iii. 226-232. A fierce con-
troversy arose between the Hessian and the Wiirtemberg divines respecting
Philip's bigamy. The pamphlet against the Wiirtemberg theologians
proceeded from the Landgrave's ' own head and impulse.' Referring to it
in a letter to Bucer on November 29, 1546, Philip wrote that he had been
obliged to ' lay it thick and fast on the backs of the theologians ' (Lenz, i.
249-250). The "Wiirtemberg theologians treated Luther and Melanchthon,
and the other divines who had counselled the Landgrave's bigamy, with-
out gloves. ' "Wherever the New Testament alludes to marriage,' they
maintained, ' monogamy is "taken as a thing presupposed. Self-willed and
stubborn must be the heads of those who, in opposition to the earnest
stern reproofs of Christ and to His words that strike like lightning and
thunder, throw to the winds the primeval institution of marriage, and
screen themselves with examples from the Old Testament like men who
strut about in worn-out hose.' It gives them no slight concern ' that we
play such frivolous jokes with the Gospel and venture to adorn and
defend carnal license, concupiscence, and lust with the name of God.'
Compare Heppe, UrhundlicJie Beitrdge zur Gescldchte der Doppelelie
des Landgrafen Bhilipp, in Niedner's Zeitschrift, xxii. 281, note 20.
2 Lenz, i. 302.
PROCEEDINGS RESPECTING PHILIP'S BIGAMY 125
Philip having heard that the Saxon Superintendent,
Justus Menius, was intending to proceed openly against
him and to celebrate the virtues of the Elector at his
(Philip's) expense, resolved to prevent this by making
a disclosure which would excite consternation.
He wrote to Bucer : ' If these saintly men — this
Junius and his crew — mean to amuse themselves by
writing against us, they shall be answered And we
shall not leave hidden under a bushel how this most
worthy and quite sinless Elector, once under our roof at
Cassel, and again at the time of the first Diet at Spires,
committed the crime of sodomy.' 1
Now the laws of the Empire punished sodomy more
severely than bigamy : death by fire was the penalty.
If such crimes on the part of the Elector came to be
known — the guiltiness of one of the chiefs of the
League of Smalcald brought to light by another of its
chiefs — then indeed would the Protestants have reason
to tremble for their cause. Therefore they must avoid
on their part anything which might provoke the Land-
grave to the accomplishment of this threat.
Justus Menius had written a pamphlet in which he
had said : ' In the Holy Eoman Empire and throughout
all Christendom God's ordinance holds good, that every
husband should have but one wife. If polygamy were
1 Lenz, i. 302. The above accusation of Philip against the Elector
is hard to reconcile with Ranke's statement (iv. 190) : ' John Frederic
was distinguished above all his contemporaries by the strict morality of
his conduct.' Egelhaaf in his Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der
Reformation (Berlin, 1885) feels himself authorised to remark (p. 352,
note) : 'It is significant enough that Janssen should believe this
passionate statement of .the Landgrave without further evidence. Ranke,
iv. 191, declares positively of the Elector ' that no profligate word ever
passed his lips.' This assurance of Ranke, however, scarcely disposes
at once of the Landgrave's clear and definite accusation.
126 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
to become lawful, hopeless anarchy would be intro-
duced into civil administration. If this license were
conceded to one of high rank, it could not be denied to
the populace, and the result would be to demoralise
and brutalise the nation. If, on the other hand, great
personages were privileged to have two or more wives
at the same time, while the common people were for-
bidden to have more than one, insurrection and blood-
shed would be the consequence.'
By the advice of Luther and Chancellor Briick the
Elector in 1542 prohibited the printing of this pamphlet,
because ' it would give rise to great disputation and
division among the theologians, which would be pre-
judicial to the word of God, while the papists would
make merry over the schism.' ]
The Landgrave Philip on his part had already at
the time published a defence of polygamy.
In July 1540 he had written to Bucer : * It is not
our intention to raise the question whether or not
bigamy should be made lawful for all. We will reserve
this point for the consciences of you learned doctors.' 2
It was ' a strange thing,' he said, to expect of him not
to allow his preachers ' to defend the legitimacy of
bigamy or polygamy as a dispensation of God in cases
of necessity.' 3
He then made arrangements for the publication of a
pamphlet which was designed to prepare the people for
a transformation of family life.
This treatise, composed by the preacher Lenning
under the assumed name of Hulderich Neobulus, was
entitled ' A Dialogue ; or, a Friendly Discussion between
1 Schmidt, J. Menius, i. 256-262 ; Corp. Reform, iv. 761.
2 Lenz, i. 203-204. 3 Ibid. i. 302.
PROCEEDINGS RESPECTING PHILIP'S BIGAMY 127
Two Persons as to whether it is in accordance with or
contrary to Divine, Natural, Imperial, and Ecclesiastical
Law to have more than One Wife at the same Time.' 1 It
states reasons and objections for and against polygamy,
and debates whether or not the prohibition of the
custom has arisen from a false interpretation of Holy
Scripture, and may not be traced back to popish
tyranny.
In the Old Testament we read that God allowed the
patriarchs to have several wives at the same time, and
polygamy, therefore, could not be sinful according to
the law of Christ. In none of the ancient canons was
it forbidden in express words to have more than one
wife. It was only after the times of the Apostles that,
owing to an exaggerated estimate of celibacy and false
views concerning abstinence and self-mortification,
human nature was debarred of the freedom permitted
by God. It was through misunderstanding that men
had arrived at the conclusion that holiness and the
heavenly life consisted in inflicting suffering and fatigue
on the body, in praying and living in solitude, and that
monasticism had come to be looked on with such
reverence. It was, therefore, not to be wondered at
that the good pious fathers had been filled with holy
horror at the idea of a man having two wives, and
that they had imposed special penance on offenders of
this sort. Then canons had been framed and Church
regulations, such as the rules of fasting, &c. But it is
not in any such ecclesiastical laws that true and eternal
1 There is no mention of place or time on the title-page. 3 sheets in
4to. At the end we read : ' Laetare ^Sunday [March 27], 1541.' This was
the day on which the*Landgrave arrived at the Diet of Ratisbon, bringing
the Dialogue with him. See Lenz, ii. 26, note 5.
128 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
right is to be found, but only in the canons that are
contained in Scripture.' ' As for the decrees and
ordinances of the holy fathers, they are just as likely
to be false and mistaken in what they enjoin or forbid
as in what they lay down as true or untrue, lawful or
unlawful.'
With regard to imperial legislation, the ' Dialogue '
points out, among other things, that the Emperor
Valentinian had expressly sanctioned bigamy, and that
there are instances of emperors and kings who had
more than one wife, and concubines as well. True the
Popes, after ' they had got the rope round the emperors'
necks,' would not tolerate such behaviour in these
' heroes.' But since the law of Valentinian allows what
God Himself has authorised and tolerated, let us recog-
nise its value and efficacy among ourselves, albeit
through misunderstanding and misdirected zeal it has
fallen into desuetude. A pious God-fearing woman
who discovers in her husband a leaning towards bigamy
should, in order to avoid scandal, graciously give her
consent. But in the case of her refusing it ' the call of
God and the heaven-sent impulse should be preferred
to all human promises, laws, claims, and ordinances.'
Bucer was universally regarded as the author of this
' Dialogue,' and, as he had received from the Landgrave
a present of 100 gold florins, he was accused of having
been bribed.1 He could indeed truthfully deny that he
1 Against the Dialogue, and against Bucer as its supposed author,
there appeared a pamphlet entitled ' Wider das unchristlich Gesprdcli-
biichlein von vile der Eeweiber, so dutch eynen geschwinden aufrilhri-
schen Sopliisten (der sich erdiclder weiss Huldreych Neobuhis nennen
thut) gemacJit ist, eyn hurz Gedicht, darinnen gemelter Neobulus mil
seinem eygenen Farben ganz artlich ausgestrichen wirt. Contra
adsertorem Polygamies (without place or year, 3 sheets in 4to, probably of
the year 1542). In this satirical poem Neobulus and an old and a young
THE 'BOOK OF NEOBULUS ' 129
had ' either written the pamphlet or caused it to be pub-
lished.' But he had looked it through and improved
man converse together. The old man laments that this new doctrine of
polygamy has come too late for him to profit by it ; the young man, on the
other hand, expresses his gratitude to Neobulus :
' Thou art a prophet of high worth ;
God give thee health upon this earth,
For in our age it is thy part
Of Venus' sons to cheer the heart.'
Neobulus explains his mission :
' To earth I'm sent by God's command,
A prophet in your German land ;
To sons of Venus I now bring
A message truly comforting.
So now, good pious man, go to,
And push the business bravely through.
I'll stand beside and succour you —
With God's commandments all compare,
And make the job with Scripture square.'
The following passage relates to Bucer, who is twitted with his Jewish
origin :
' A Jew by race, a Christian cheat,
Full of sophistical deceit,
Is he who wrote this Dialogue,
A " Doctor " false, a wily rogue
Who travesties God's word and work,
Quotes Moses wrong, and tries
To blind the world with lies.
He simulates a pious part,
But fain would imitate the Turk,
And worships Mahomet at heart.'
Neobulus then breaks out in a fury :
' So then like wild cats I will spit,
And bite, and scratch, and claw,
Use calumny and devil's wit,
And rage just like a savage boar :
Abuse and slander every man,
As Dr. Luther so well can,
Who no reviling spares
To any one who dares
Deny what he declares.'
Strobel, ii. 423-427, points out that the term ' wild cats ' is in allusion
to Bucer, ' whose Explanationes Psalmorum were published under the
name of Aretii Felini.' The passage ' Woher der Butz komm auf die
VOL. VI. K
130 HISTOBY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
it here and there, under promise from the Landgrave
that it should only be sent to trusted friends. Philip,
however, had the ' Dialogue ' disseminated through the
book trade and put up for open sale in Leipzig, and at
first he busied himself as much as possible personally
to procure numerous readers. ' I always had a horror
of the " Dialogue's " being printed,' Bucer wrote to the
Landgrave on November 30, 1541, ' for I have learnt
by plentiful experience that God in these days does not
bestow on all people a full understanding in this matter,
and that the situation is only made to appear worse in
the eyes both of the good and the bad by constant
explanation and justification.' Philip wrote to Bucer
on December 17 that he need have no anxiety. ' As for
the publication of the " Dialogue," we should have
regretted if it had not been made public. Here in our
land it has given satisfaction to many people. Let
the rest curse and rage against it as they like ; they
will not be able to upset it with any show of reason or
truth, especially if they have any regard for God and
His truth ; but the world and its wiselings care little
for the things of God, and much prefer reading Ovid,
Virgil, and other such poets to studying what God
has taught and permitted.' At the end of the letter he
repeated : ' We find verily but few people in these
parts, and also in the Saxon territory, who speak ill of
the " Dialogue : " it is much oftener praised than vilified.
We have not yet met any one who could say with con-
viction that this " Dialogue M was unrighteous and op-
posed to God.' 1 In Strasburg, on the other hand, there
Bau,' &c, is aimed directly at him. The author of this satire is probably
Michael Hahn of Strasburg; see Bucer's letter to Philip of Hesse of
April 14 and 15, 1542, in Lenz, Briefwechsel, ii. 81.
1 Letters in Lenz, ii. 26, 29, 38-39, 44-45.
THE ' BOOK OF NEOBULUS ' 131
was great fear among ' pious people,' as Bucer informed
the Landgrave on March 21, 1542, that this pamphlet
would cause great hindrance to the Gospel, and be as
great an obstacle to it as the peasants' insurrection, or
the dispute about the Sacrament, or the Mtinster
tumult.' 1
Luther had intended publishing a pamphlet which
he had written against the ' Dialogue.' In a still extant
fragment of his treatise he says, in resolute language :
' This is what Doctor Martinus has to say about the
book of Neobulus : Whosoever follows the teaching
of this rascal and his book, and on the strength of it
takes to himself more than one wife, and makes out
that it is lawful so to do, may the devil bless him in a
bath at the bottom of hell ! Amen. Thanks be to God
I shall know how to maintain and defend my opinion
even if it should rain down Neobuluses and Nebulones.
and Tulrichs and any number of other devils for a
whole year.' 2
But when the Landgrave Philip visited Luther at
Wittenberg, in order to prevent the publication of the
pamphlet, Doctor Martinus ' played a milder tune on
his lute.' On May 16, 1542, Philip wrote on the subject
to Bucer : ' Concerning Luther's pamphlet against this
" Dialogue " we will not conceal from you that we have
lately been to Wittenberg and discussed all these
matters with Luther himself, telling him how we came
to publish the " Dialogue " and conversing with him on
all manner of questions. He expressed himself satisfied
with us and promised to keep back the pamphlet. He
then proceeded to point out that the " Dialogue " was too
weak in some of its arguments. He had not known,
1 Lenz, ii. 65. a Collected Works, lxv. 209.
K 2
132 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
he said, that it had originated with us ; had he been
aware of the fact he would not have made an attack on
it. He remarked that the example of Lamech was a
feeble, insufficient argument, and said it would be best
to cite only instances from the lives of the patriarchs,
then the necessity which occasionally exists, and lastly
the authority of Moses, who writes : " If among the
captives of war thou seest a beautiful woman and
lovest her, she shall be thy wife." Married men are not
excluded, as they too went to war. And again : " If a
man seduce a virgin not yet espoused, and the father
will give her to him, he shall have her to wife." It
ought also to be mentioned that at one time it was a
recognised practice at Tubingen to add a second wife
to the first. These reasons would have been sufficient
to stop the mouths of opponents, without adducing so
many arguments which for the most part were not
solid ones.' It was better to say a few things well than
a great many loosely.1
1 Lenz, ii. 82, 83 ; ii. 68-70, 75-76. Letters of Philip to Bucer of
March 26 and April 3, 1542.
133
CHAPTER XIV
THE EMPEROR'S EFFORTS AT RECONCILIATION WITH FRANCIS I.
OF FRANCE FRANCIS I. AND THE SMALCALD CON-
FEDERATES, 1540 — DIET AND RELIGIOUS CONFERENCE AT
RATISBON, 1541
In order to ' restore lasting peace to Christendom and
to deprive the Protestants of the support of France,' the
Emperor, ever since the truce concluded at Mzza, had
devoted all his energies to bringing about complete re-
conciliation and a close alliance with the French King.
Before his departure from Spain he had, in
November 1539, drawn up instructions for his son
Philip, which in case of his own death were to serve
Philip as a political code. ' As regards the King of
France,' he says in these instructions, ' God knows that
we were not ourselves the originators of the wars which
we carried on with him, that we have always lamented
in the extreme all the evils consequent on them, and
that we have used all possible means to arrive at
amicable terms with him.' ' Philip was henceforth to
maintain and consolidate the good understanding
brought about with Francis I., to forget all the injuries
sustained from him, and to ascribe them solely to the
providence of God and the misfortunes of the age.1 On
1 ' . . . oblie entierement toutes les choses mal passees entre le dit roy
et nous, tenant que le createur l'aye permis et l'imputant a la malheurte
des temps.'
134 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
his journey to the Netherlands, the Emperor goes on,
he will make further endeavours in person to win the
heart of the King, in order that they may be able to
work conjointly for the general good of the Christian
nations. He was ready to give his daughter Maria in
marriage to the King's second son, the Duke of Orleans,
and to bestow the Netherlands on the young couple ;
the late Empress, Philip's mother, had approved of this
plan. He also intended, for the further cementing of
his friendship with France, to propose a marriage
between a daughter of the French King and the second
son of King Ferdinand, on whom he would then bestow
the duchy of Milan. And in order to put an end to
all strife with regard to Navarre Philip was to contract
a marriage with the heiress of Navarre. ' In nego-
tiating these alliances,' Charles reiterated, ' we shall
always have in view the healing and ordering of the
affairs of Christendom, as regards both the pacification
and conversion of the wanderers from the holy faith
and resistance against the Turks.' l
1 ' Et est nostre intencion, en traitant les alliances susdites, tousjours
joinctement articuler le remede et provision des affaires publicques de la
crestiente, tant de la pacisfication et reduction des desvoyez de nostre tres-
saincte foy que contre le Turcq.' Instruction de V Empereur Charles-
Quint, &c, dd. Madrid, 1539, Nov. 5, in Weiss, ii. 549-561. The Emperor's
wife, Isabella of Portugal, had died on May 1, 1359, to the deep grief of
Charles. ' During their short married life of thirteen years,' writes
Baumgarten, iii. 362-363, ' he was separated from her by distant journeys
for six years : it is not known that he was unfaithful to her. When, in
the following summer, the ambassadors from the other sovereign powers
came to express their sympathy at her death, his eldest sister, Eleonora,
thought fit to recommend another marriage for him ; but he rejected the
idea. He never entertained the thought of a second marriage. The
memory of his beloved wife went with him to the grave. Every year
he had a solemn service held on the anniversary of her death, and never
failed to attend it himself. Both these Habsburg brothers set an example
of immaculate conjugal fidelity to the world in contradistinction to the
unedifying stories of the French King's amorirs, of Henry VIII.'s brutal
THE EMPEROR'S NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCIS I. 135
King Ferdinand, who had joined the Emperor in
the Netherlands, strongly disapproved of the proposed
marriage between his son and a daughter of the French
King, and also of the cession of Milan. He had plenty
of good reasons for distrusting Francis, the ally of the
Turks. Charles, however, did his best to carry out the
plan laid down in his instructions to Philip. On March
24, 1540, he ordered his ambassador at the French
court to make the following proposals : He offered to
give his daughter Maria in marriage to the Duke of
Orleans, and to cede to him the Netherlands, Burgundy,
and Charleroi, and also the duchy of Guelders and the
county of Ztitphen, as soon as these should have been
taken from the Duke of Cleves with the assistance of
the French. The Emperor further offered to renounce
all his claims on the duchy of Burgundy : in return
the King- must renounce his claims on Milan and restore
to the Duke of Savoy the territories taken from him.1
But Francis I. was not inclined to renounce either
the imperial fief of Milan or those of Piedmont and Savoy.
He flatly refused indeed to give up the last two. With
regard to the Netherlands he stipulated for conditions
by which his right of possession over Milan would be
guaranteed.2 ' Milan had been wrested from him,' he
sensuality, and of the disreputable lives of some of the Protestant princes ;
and aniong the princesses of that period few could compare in purity of
heart with Isabella and Anna. The worth of a prince is not indeed
determined by his matrimonial life, but his personality is greatly influenced
by it. None more than Charles's contemporaries, Francis I., Henry VIIL,
and the Landgrave Philip, stand out as examples of the baneful influence
which a degraded sensual life exercises on princely politics.'
1 Charles V. to Bonvalot, in Weiss, ii. 562-572. Cf. the Emperor's
letter to Francis I. in Lanz, Correspondenz, ii. 309-310.
2 The Royal ' Instruction et Resolution ' in Ribier's Lettres et Memoires
d'Etat des Roys, Princes et Ambassadeurs, etc., sous les Regnes de
Francois Ier, &c, i. 509, 522.
136 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
said to the nuncio Ardinghello, who was commissioned
by the Pope to try to persuade him to accept the
Emperor's proposals, ' and therefore he wished that this
duchy should now be restored to him in the person of
his son.' :
In June 1540 the negotiations were broken off and
the imperial ambassador reported that ' in France
strange things were already being said against the
Emperor, and threats were uttered of doing him as
much injury as possible.' ' With the French people,'
wrote Ferdinand from Hagenau to his sister Maria, ' no
amount of reason or honour is of any avail ; if these
had been of any use the Emperor must have prevailed,
for he has shown more than enough of both.' ' I fear
France will go from bad to worse, for neither the King
nor his representatives with whom we have to deal are
of any good, nor is it likely that they will grow better
as they grow older.' 2
Already during the negotiations with the Emperor
Francis I. had contracted fresh alliances with the
Smalcald confederates, and had intimated to the people
of Strasburg, through Guillaume du Bellay, that he
would no longer remain on friendly terms with the
Emperor, least of all would he ally himself with him
against them.3 The Elector of Saxony, on June 24,
insisted that Strasburs" should inform itself more
definitely from ' the man from France ' whether ' the
split between the two great Powers was a certainty,
and how they could arrive at some sort of private
understanding with Francis L' He was not prepared
to send an embassy to France until this information
1 Bucholtz, iv. 387-388. - Ibid. iv. 395.
3 Seckendorf, iii. 258.
THE EMPEROR'S NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCIS I. 137
had been obtained ; for otherwise, he wrote to Philip
of Hesse, the same thing might happen as before ' when
we both sent our envoys to him, and when we thought
we should certainly come to a satisfactory under-
standing we found that matters had taken quite a
different turn, and our adversaries became very boastful
and scornful towards us.'
At the religious conference at Hagenau the Strasburg
delegates, Calvin and Sturm, were active in advocating
Francis I.'s ends with the Protestant notables, and
Calvin, in reward of his services, received a written
testimonial of thanks from the French King's sister,
Margaret of Navarre, with whom he was in correspon-
dence through his friend Johann Sleidan. Francis I.
caused Calvin to be requested to continue his good
services to the crown of France in the future also.1
John Sleidan, of Sleida, in the district of Cologne,
later on the historian of the Smalcald League, was, like
Sturm of Strasburg, in the pay of the French King, and
was sent by the latter to the convention of Hagenau for
the purpose of hindering the reconciliation of the
Smalcald confederates with the Emperor, and of in-
fluencing the Hessian councillors to move the Landgrave
to manage an alliance between these confederates and
France.2 Sleidan ' was a good Christian,' Bucer assured
the Landgrave, ' who would gladly help to get rid of
the Antichrist,' the Pope. A second delegate of the
French King assured the Hessian councillors at Hagenau
that his sovereign's endeavours were directed towards
healing the breach between the German Estates and
1 Margaret of Navarre's letter to Calvin, July 25, 1540, in Calvini Opp.
xi. 62. See also Kampschulte's Calvin, i. 331-332.
2 Schmidt, J. Sturm, pp. 49-50; Baumgarten, Sleidan, pp. 54-58.
138 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
' maintaining the freedom of the German nation and
the Holy Empire ; ' closer details as to the King's inten-
tions he would communicate to a confidential agent of
the Landgrave. Philip sent the following answer to
the French envoy : ' He was well pleased with the com-
munications received ; he was fully disposed to enter
into friendly relations with Francis I. and would send
an ambassador to France. He begged the French
plenipotentiary to inform him whether the King was
ready ' to enter into an understanding with several
princes, or with one alone/
To the Elector of Saxony, on the other hand, who
was urging him on to this alliance with France, Philip
declared in August that he could only consent to it if
the Smalcald confederates assured him of their support
in the matter of his double marriage.1 In a letter to
Bucer he accused the French King of ingratitude.
' When the Emperor was at war with Francis I.,' he
wrote, ' we gave him no help against the French, but,
on the contrary, we twice sent the French King soldiers,
which was no slight service at that time, and a service
which we should have refused to our neighbours on the
Rhine and to others. The Frenchman, however, never
thanked us for this help.' 2
In order to gain the favour of the Emperor the
Landgrave lost no time in acquainting him with these
intrigues of the French King with the Protestant princes.
In October he sent Doctor Siebert, of Lowenberg, on a
secret mission to the minister Granvell at Brussels. As
Granvell was absent at the time, Cornelius Scepper was
deputed by the Emperor to confer with Siebert in his
stead. Siebert disclosed to him the purport of his
1 Lenz, i. 491. 2 To Bucer, Dec. 3, 1540 ; Lenz, i. 254.
THE EMPEROR'S NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCIS I. 139
mission, which was as follows : ' If the Emperor could
receive the Landgrave into his favour and forgive him
his past offences, he, Philip, would be loyal and obe-
dient to him in war and in peace, and would give him
help against the Turks, or other foreign enemies. The
Elector of Saxony and other German notables, he
thought it right to reveal to his Majesty, had in July
last sent an embassy to Francis I. for the purpose of
negotiating an alliance between him and the Protestants.
The Landgrave alone had been the means of hindering
this alliance, although he was still daily urged by his
fellow confederates to consent to it.1 Philip was con-
vinced of the Emperor's good and pacific intentions,
and was ready to disclose to him all the secret machi-
nations of the French King.' ' It seems,' wrote Scepper,
overjoyed, to Granvell on October 20, ' that God has
changed the heart of this prince.' On October 28
Siebert received the following answer in the name of
the Emperor : ' Past experience shows that it has never
been the wish of the Emperor to proceed to force
against the German princes ; his undivided efforts have
always been directed towards the restoration of peace
and unity in Germany ; if the Landgrave intends to
persevere in his goodwill towards the Emperor, let
him enter into closer negotiations with Granvell at the
convention in Worms.'
At the end of November these negotiations took
place at Worms through the instrumentality of Siebert
and the Hessian Chancellor, Feige. Philip sent in to
the Imperial Minister the articles on which he desired
1 ' . . . que ne tenoit que audit Lantgrave seul que ladite alliance
n'avoit este piece concluyte et parachevee, et se trouvoit journellement
presse de ses complices pour la concluyre.'
140 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
to base an agreement with the Emperor. In the matter
of the double marriage secrecy was to be maintained
towards Granvell. Granvell made concessions of all
sorts — granted, by word of mouth in the name of the
Emperor and King Ferdinand, an assurance of favour
and forgiveness, and added the advice that Philip should
not fail to attend the Diet at Katisbon. ' At that
assembly,' wrote the agents on December 31, by order
of Granvell, ' all these matters will be transacted with
his Imperial Majesty himself, and your princely Grace
will leave the Diet with a contented mind.' *
But already during the transactions at Worms the
mind of the Landgrave underwent a change.
When Francis I. sent him, through a delegate on
November 28, a fresh proposal for an alliance ' on
behalf of German freedom,' he answered that the
matter was to be dealt with at the next assembly of
the Smalcald confederates.2 ' We do not wish the
embassy to France respecting the alliance to be stopped,'
he wrote to Bucer on December 30, ' but the difficulty
is to extricate ourselves with decency from the business
begun with Granvell.'
' Concerning the hue and cry about the double
marriage ' Philip wrote to King Christian of Denmark
on January 6, 1541 : ' The French King cares " no-
thing." ' 3 ' He has negotiated with us with regard to
our forming an alliance or an agreement with him ;
1 Lenz, i. 502-529.
3 ' . . . de foederis oblatione agendum esse in proximo foederatorum
conventu.' Seckendorf, iii. 259.
3 When the easy-going King of France, who had lived himself in open
adultery, heard of Philip's bigamy, he laughed and said : ' "Why, if such
men are to be banished, what will become of me ? I care nothing for it :
if the Protestants will only send me an embassy, the matter will be settled
in two days.' Lenz, i. 270.
FRANCIS I. AND THE SMALCALD CONFEDERATES 141
but we shall not come to any decision till we have
finished our transactions with his Imperial Majesty.'
Such was the state of mind in which Philip went to
the Diet at Katisbon.
On February 23, 1541, the Emperor made his entry
into Eatisbon without any state and with only a
meagre escort. ' I heard it remarked by many,' says
one who was present, ' that his horse was a most
costly one ; but otherwise he had little of value in his
apparel.'
Greatly to the Emperor's annoyance, the notables,
according to ancient habit, were so tardy in arriving
that the Diet could not be opened till April 5. Charles
had done everything in his power to remove all pos-
sible excuses that might keep the Elector of Saxony
from attending. He had temporarily suspended all
legal proceedings of the Imperial Chamber in matters
of religion, especially the sentence of outlawry against
Minden and Goslar; had personally invited the Elector
to attend the Diet, and had granted him unconditional
freedom to leave before the close of the meeting, which,
according to ancient usage, could not be done without
permission from the Emperor.
The Elector, however, was determined not to meet
the Emperor at a Diet, and he took the opportunity
for beginning preparations for an attack on the bishopric
of Naumburg-Zeitz, which necessitated his presence in
Saxony.
' To yield obedience to the Emperor,' Luther wrote
to the Elector, ' would be right and fitting if he were
really Emperor and the rightful Emperor.' ' The
Emperor is not Emperor in fact, but the devil at
142 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Mayence, whose wicked wiles are unfathomable, rules
with all his crew.'
The Archbishop Albert of Mayence, who cele-
brated the High Mass in the cathedral before the
opening of the Diet, ' was made the subject of especial
ridicule and insults.' ' There was an overpowering
concourse of people in the cathedral. The Smalcald
confederates carried on shameless mocking that cannot
be described.'
' This state of things went on all through the Diet ;
there was an inconceivable amount of jesting at all that
appertained to the worship of God and the ceremonies
of the Church.' In the very face of the Emperor the
populace jeered loudly and insolently when Charles went
through the ceremony of washing feet on Maundy
Thursday and joined in the processions. ' The Emperor
with his wonted moderation was like a lamb among
wolves compared with the feasting, carousing princes.'
* In short, it was plain to see to what licentiousness the
people had sunk, both high and low, now that nothing
sacred was any more respected. They were, however,
ever ready to discuss religion, thus increasing contempt
for it as containing nothing certain.'
The Emperor behaved with the utmost lenity and
long-suffering to the Protestant notables and theologians.
Melanchthon thought his whole demeanour admirable,
and had no doubt whatever that he was earnestly
desirous of bringing about an amicable settlement of
the religious dissensions.1
1 See Melanchthon's letters in the Corp. Reform, iv. 141-142, 146,
148. Bucer also did not doubt the Emperor's pacific intentions. See
his letter of January 10, 1541, to Joachim of Brandenburg, in Lenz, i.
FRANCIS I. AND THE SMALCALD CONFEDERATES 143
When the Dukes of Bavaria recommended measures
of force against the Protestants, Charles declared em-
phatically that he had not enough money to carry on
war, but that even if he had an abundant supply
he would not squander it unnecessarily in Germany ;
fighting of this sort would be all the more deplorable
as Germans would have to fight against Germans, and
all the more useless as the Protestants, even if defeated,
would not give up their opinions. It was also to be
feared that in the event of war they would summon the
King of France and the Turks to their assistance.1
The papal delegates, Contarini and Morone, were
convinced that the Bavarian Dukes were advising war
not out of zeal for the Catholic religion, but in order to
increase their own power. ' It has not escaped the
notice of these Dukes,' Contarini wrote to Eome, ' how
the Landgrave of Hesse and the Elector of Saxony rose
in greatness and importance by becoming heads of the
Lutheran party ; they wish, accordingly, to obtain
similar advantages by making themselves leaders of the
Catholic party, and, as they have no pecuniary resources
themselves, they mean to conduct the war with the
money of the Pope and the German clergy.' 2 ' The
Bavarians carried on dealings with both parties.' ' It is
1 To Contarini the Emperor remarked that he would have no league with
pretended Catholics, like the Dukes of Bavaria, who, in one way or another,
were always robbing the Church ; it would only involve him in wars for
their personal interests : no one supported him against the Turks ; every
man looked solely after his own, so would he. (Dittrich, Begesten, pp.
199-200.)
2 Pastor, Contarini, p. 23 ; Dittrich, Begesten, pp. 161-162, No. 642.
Amazing revelations concerning the diplomacy of Chancellor Granvell
and the plottings of the Catholic party chiefs appear in the reports of the
nuncio Morone, published by Dittrich hi Hist. Jahrb. der Gorres-
geselhchaft, 1883, pp. 401 ff. ,
144 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
impossible to rely on them/ said King Ferdinand, ' for
their ways are slippery and tortuous.' While the
Dukes William and Louis were advising the Emperor
to proceed to forcible measures against the Protestants,
and at the council board of the Princes at Ratisbon were
' handing in a fierce protest against them,' the Chancellor
Eck urged on the Landgrave of Hesse that they must
not consent to the friendly negotiations desired by the
Emperor in religious matters ; the Catholic and Protes-
tant nobles, he said, must arrive at an understanding
together independently of the Emperor.
A similar line of policy was pursued by Francis I.
of France. He called Eck - his dear and excellent
friend.' In July 1540 he had already proposed to the
Elector of Saxony that the Protestants and Catholics
should join together in an alliance with France, and had
then urged that the Protestants should, above all, en-
deavour by all manner of means to win over the Arch-
bishop of Cologne and the Elector of the Palatinate.
His object was to form a league of German princes
against the Emperor, under French protectorate, for
the preservation of so-called ' German freedom.' *
To Georg von Planitz, whom the Elector of Saxony
sent to him during the Diet at Eatisbon, * he made
promises of such a nature that we had no doubt what-
ever,' wrote the Elector to Philip of Hesse, ' that with
1 The Venetian Giustiniani wrote in the year 1541 that terror reigned
throughout Germany : ' Che casa d' Austria e ententa alia monarchia della
Germania . . . che sua maesta cesarea si vuoi fare libero signore della
Germania e dell' Italia con consentimento di Francia.' ' Tutti i principi
germanici,parlandouniversalmente, sono contrarj alia grandezza di Cesare ;
e par tal cagione hanno favorito e difeso questa setta lutherana eretica,
non perche zelus fidei li mova, ma perche con la religione hanno voluto
tirar nell' opinione loro tutti i popoli contro questi due gran fratelli, de'
quali molto temono.' Alberi, Ser. I. vol. ii. pp. 130-133.
DIET AND CONFERENCE AT RATISBON, 1541 145
the help of his Eoyal Majesty we should now be able to
oppose a substantial front to our enemies.'
Francis I. had accredited two envoys to the Diet at
Eatisbon, the one to dissuade the Catholics, the other
the Protestants, from any sort of accommodation. To
the papal nuncio at his court the King expressed fears
that Contarini was making too great concessions to the
Protestants at Eatisbon. The Pope and the Church
were in danger, owing to the obsequiousness shown to
the Emperor ; he would defend Pope and Church, he
swore, with his life and with all the forces of his king-
dom. At the same time he assured the Protestants that
their doctrines were not displeasing to him ; he was
anxious to come to an understanding with them in
matters of religion by the help of Melanchthon, whom
he had invited to his court.1
' The greatest service that you can render me,' wrote
Francis I. to one of his ambassadors, ' is to take care
that nothing happens, or is decided at the Diet, which
can be turned to the profit of the Emperor or the King
of the Eomans, or which can increase their greatness.'
Having possessed himself by force of arms of the im-
perial fief of Savoy, he now wanted to obtain a seat and
a vote among the princes of the Empire, and to this
end the Protestant notables were to be helpful to him.2
In spite, however, of the ardour with which
Francis I. strove to keep up the religious schism in
Germany, and the consequent feebleness of the Empire,
it was not he, after all, who was essentially to blame
for the failure of all attempts at accommodation. Neither
1 Ranke, History of the Pojjes, i. 167; Pastor, Beunionsbestre-
bungen, p. 251.
2 Report of the Saxon ambassador, Tune 11, 1541, in Seckendorf, iii.
366.
VOL. VI. L
146 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
was it the fault of the Elector of Saxony, although the
latter was open-mouthed about his abhorrence of the
idea of peace with the Catholics, ' those murderous,
idolatrous hordes.' 2
The cause of the failure lay deeper down than this.
In the imperial cabinet the religious question was
treated ' in too mundane a manner ; ' they wanted to
settle doctrines of the faith in the same manner as
political matters. The minister Granvell especially
took up this standpoint. On the Catholic side they
were afraid, and rightly so, of his ' unholy practices.' 2
As the Archbishop of Lund had done before in Frank-
fort, so now here Granvell told the Protestants in con-
fidence that if they came to an agreement the Emperor
' would have regard neither to the Pope's wishes nor
to those of the opposite party,' the Catholic Estates ; ' for
his Majesty,' he said emphatically, ' is the greatest
sovereign in Christendom, and he will act according
to his own interest, and will care for nobody.' He
believed he would be able to move the Emperor to this
course, but he did not wish to appear outwardly too
much in favour of the Protestant party, so as to avoid
exciting suspicion among the Catholics. ' Only leave it
all to me,' he said to the Hessian Chancellor, Feige ;
' you are always too anxious to make me compromise
myself; if I become suspected I shall be unable to do
anything.' 3
1 See Pastor, pp. 261, 264. The secretary of the legate Contarini
ascribed the blame of this to Francis I. and the Elector. They had sown
dissension among the theologians, and so managed that ' it was impossible
for them to agree on any single article.' See Pastor, p. 251.
2 Bucholtz, v. 387, note.
3 See Feige's remarkable report of December 30, 1540, in Lenz, i.
524-525.
DIET AND CONFERENCE AT RATISBON, 1541 147
The Protestants ' hoped to achieve great things
through so honourable a man as Granvell.' Thev were
delighted that the Emperor had chosen him, and the
Count Palatine Frederic, who was equally favourable
to this cause, as presidents of the religious conference
opened on April 27. ' The presidents of the conference,'
wrote Duke Christopher of Wtirtemberg to his mother
on the opening day, ' are Duke Frederic and von
Granvell ; let us hope that we shall now all become
Lutherans.'
As the Catholic collocutors of the conference the
Emperor had appointed the theologians Eck, Julius Pflug,
and Johann Gropper ; as the Protestant ones, Melan-
chthon, Bucer, and Pistorius von Nidda. On the basis
of the so-called ' Eatisbon Book ' laid before them by
the Emperor they came to terms about an equivocal
statement concerning justification, which was to cover
the existing breach ; also about a few other articles.
But with regard to the doctrines of the Church, the
Papacy, and the Councils, also the Eucharist and the
Canon of the Mass, it was as impossible then as in the
year 1530 to arrive at unification. On the Catholic
side Eck rent the web asunder with a firm hand, and
secured the gratitude of the orthodox party. The
Catholic ' middlemen ' played as shabby a role as those
of the Protestant party. Melanchthon and Bucer, wrote
Calvin from Eatisbon on May 12, ' drew up equivocating
and ambiguous formulas on transubstantiation, seeking
to hoodwink their adversaries. They were not afraid
to deal in equivocal phrases, although there is nothing-
more mischievous.' l Luther counted Bucer amon<?
the ' false brethren,' who are more dangerous ' than
1 Calvim Ojpp. xi. 217.
l 2
148 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
all enemies, like Judas.' ' There is no middle course,
and words are of no avail,' said Eck ; ' those who
wish to become one in the faith must submit to the
Pope and the councils, and believe what the Eoman
Church teaches ; all else is wind and vapour, though
one should go on disputing for a hundred years.'
The Eatisbon attempts at unification failed, because
they were bound to fail. The fault lay not in the
influence of this or that personality, but in the nature
of the business itself, in the effort to unite irreconcilable
opposites.
These religious conferences served to advance the
cause of the Protestants by affording them an oppor-
tunity for spreading their doctrines. On the other hand
it was disadvantageous to the Catholics, because it made
it appear necessary ' to discuss in the presence of secular
judges points of faith which had long ago been firmly
established by the Church.' ' These religious con-
ferences, private and public,' wrote Bishop Nausea,
of Vienna, in a memorandum drawn up for King
Perdinand, ' bring the Christian religion into ridicule
with foreign nations and with unbelievers, and are the
cause of incalculable injury to our faith.' 1
' Nobody, indeed, among the Catholics doubted the
honourable intentions of the Emperor, but Carolus was
entrapped, and somewhat inexperienced in German
affairs and in the German temper and character ; ' he
had not grasped the essential nature of the schism in
the Church and of the whole politico-clerical revolution.
Granvell, Naves, and Lund, ' those three evil spirits,' as
Vice-Chancellor Held called them, were actively engaged
at Eatisbon, endeavouring to keep the Emperor at the
1 Pastor, Reunionsbestrebungen, pp. 283 ff.
DIET AND CONFERENCE AT RATISBON, 1541 149
work, ' notwithstanding the manifest impossibility of
effecting a reconciliation, and egging him on to inter-
ference in matters of religion which do not belong to
his office.' They incited him to engage in further
transactions with the Elector Joachim of Brandenburg
and with the Landgrave of Hesse, who both declared
themselves willing to submit to mediation and repre-
sented themselves as ' loyal servants of the Emperor.
Philip's double marriage obliged him to adopt this
course of action.
In a secret compact with the Emperor Philip pledged
himself, on June 13, to do all in his power to bring about
a religious accommodation at the present Diet, and at all
future Diets to work for the Emperor's cause ; to recog-
nise Ferdinand as King after the Emperor's death ; to con-
tract no alliance with France, or England, or any other
foreign Powers, and not to consent that Francis I. and
Henry VIII. and the Duke of Cleves should be admitted
into the League of Smalcald. He promised not to make
an attack on either of the parties concerned in the Cleves-
Guelders dispute, nor to supply the King of France with
troops from Hesse or other German countries, to fight
against the Emperor or his sister the Governess of the
Netherlands. The Emperor in return took Philip ' into
his special favour, friendship, and protection.' He
granted him forgiveness ' for all his past proceedings,
and for all that he had been thought to have done
against himself and Ferdinand, or against the imperial
laws and the constitution of the realm,' and promised
that ' neither the Emperor nor his brother, nor the
imperial court of exchequer should proceed against the
Landgrave, his country, or his dignity.'
Thus Philip was secretly secured against all punish-
150 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
ment and every claim of justice on account of his
bigamy, and delivered from all anxiety with regard
to the worldly consequences of his crime.
This compact was an act of suicidal policy on the
part of the imperial cabinet.
Charles might flatter himself that he had bound the
Landgrave indissolubly to his cause. But the treaty
contained clauses which would give Philip at every
turn loopholes for fresh open defiance.
Philip had promised to conduct himself as an
obedient prince and feudatory towards the Emperor
and his brother ; but the saving clause was added,
6 except with regard to the religious question, the League
of Smalcald, and other leagues still to be formed by the
followers of the Augsburg Confession.' 1
Under the pretext of religion the Landgrave, in spite
of his pledges, could resume his former attitude of
antagonism to the Emperor and overthrow all existing
conditions of law and property. At the very same
time that he was making this agreement with the
Emperor he was secretly planning an overwhelming
attack on Duke Henry of Brunswick, which was to
deprive the Duke of his domains and his people of
their Catholic religion.
The Landgrave had got all he wanted by this
agreement. And whereas he had promised in it ' to do
all he could at the present Diet to promote unity in
religion ' he took his departure from Katisbon on the
very day after the signing of the contract.2
The Elector of Brandenburg still went on actively with
1 Rommel, ii. 434-436.
2 See Brans, Vertreibung HeinricJi's von Braunschweig, p. 74.
DIET AND CONFERENCE AT RATISBON, 1541 151
his efforts at mediation. At Gran veil's instigation he
proposed that ' those articles about which the theo-
logians had come to an understanding should be
proclaimed in the Empire as doctrine common to both
parties ; but that the others, which could not be
agreed about, should be left in suspense until the
meeting of a Council, or some other means of decision.'
Meanwhile, however, the ' Eatisbon Book ' had
become ' hated by both parties.' On July 25, in an
assembly of notables who accepted the Augsburg
Confession, Melanchthon said that he had taken this
book as the basis of the transactions, but that it was
' insidious to such a degree that he had been misled by
it himself, and had at first, albeit indeed reluctantly,
agreed to several things, and only afterwards discovered
at what they aimed, and what was involved in them.'
In like manner the book was rejected on July 1 by the
Catholic College of Princes, who declared that it was
' full of errors, of inadmissible doctrine, and of quite
novel expressions ; one could not tell whether the
author of it belonged to the Protestant or the Catholic
party.'
When the Emperor, on July 12, counselled the
Estates to consent to the resolution of the Elector of
Brandenburg, the Protestants answered that ' with regard
to the articles that had been agreed about they under-
stood them in the sense that had been explained and
settled in the Confession of Augsburg ; as for the others,
they simply could not deviate from their position.' On
July 14 they proposed, in order that ' the agreement
might be effected without delay,' that the Emperor
should institute a reform of the clergy, and should
consent to the Communion being administered in both
152 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
kinds, and to the marriage of priests. With respect to
the articles of faith still under dispute, all ruling
authorities were to be allowed to act according to their
own judgment ' based on the Holy Scriptures.' 'The
clerical subjects, or inhabitants, must conform to the
regulations of the civil authorities under whose iuris-
diction they dwelt.' 1
Thus the civil rulers were to have power to dictate
the religious faith of their subjects.
On July 17 the Catholic College of Princes also
rejected the ' harmonised articles,' and the cardinal
legate Contarini stated two days later that from the
first he had wished to remit the decision in this
matter to the Apostolic See and the Council, and that he
must abide by this intention.
At the council-board of the Catholic Princes a discus-
sion was raised on the subject of a document sent in by
Duke William of Bavaria, describing the acts of violence
and aggression committed by the Protestants during
many years. ' The Protestants,' it says, ' clamour for
peace and justice, but in their actions they violate
both.' The Catholic Estates are continually attacked
and molested by the Protestants ' on account of their
religion, and great loss and injury are inflicted on
them. Contrary to the commandment of God, in
defiance of law and Christian conditions, the Protestants
forbid them to preach the Gospel and the word of God
openly ; their churches and their monasteries are seized
by force, their subjects enticed away from them by all
manner of devices, and taken under the shelter and
protection of the Protestants ; their religious founda-
tions and property are torn from them mercilessly and
1 Corp. Reform, iv. 469-474.
DIET AND CONFERENCE AT RATISBON, 154L 153
used for alien purposes ; the graves and monuments of
the pious dead, both of high and low classes, are dese-
crated and destroyed ; the pictures and images of our
Saviour Jesus Christ, of the chaste Virgin Mary, and of
the dear saints are pitifully damaged and smashed to
pieces.' ' The Catholics had no dearer wish than for
peace and order and justice ; they too were clamouring
for these, and not, like the Protestants, trying at the
same time to upset them ; all that they asked was to be
left in the enjoyment of their holy Christian faith and
the ordinances of the Christian Church, and not to have
their goods violently taken from them.' *
The majority of the College of Princes voted for
submitting this document to the Emperor. They were
fiercely opposed, however, on the part of the clergy by
the Archbishop of Lund, who sat as Bishop of Constance,
by the Bishops of Miinster and Augsburg and the Abbot
of Kempten ; and on the part of the laity by the Count
Palatine Otto Heinrich, who was preparing to go over
to the Protestants, and by the ambassadors of the Duke
of Jiilich-Cleves. As ' the opinions of the Council of
Princes ' the document went up to the College of
Electors. It was, however, rejected by them ; 'neither
would they accede to Duke William's request that it
should be published, but answered that it should be
duly registered among the Acts.'
In the Electoral College the Protestants had the
upper hand. Treves and Mayence wished all the
articles indiscriminately to be held over for the decision
of the Council. Brandenburg, the Palatine, and the
deputies of the Archbishop of Cologne, who was
already at the time occupied in protestantising his
1 Corp. Beform. iv. 450-455.
154 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
diocese, wished to abide by the articles that had been
agreed about until the meeting of a free Council or a
National Assembly.
While these transactions were going on, news of a
more and more threatening nature concerning the ad-
vance of the Turks kept on pouring in from Hungary.
Great anxiety, therefore, prevailed ' to draw up a
recess as soon as possible.'
In order to cut short the contention about ' the
harmonised articles ' the Emperor made the same pro-
posal to the Estates that he had made nine years
before : ' That the decision of the committee of theo-
logians should be postponed to a General Council, con-
cerning the summoning of which he would confer in
person with the Pope on the occasion of his intended
journey through Italy. If a General Council could not
be held in Germany, he would endeavour to arrange for
a National Council, and if the latter could not be
assembled within the next eighteen months he would
convoke another Diet, which he would attend in person.
Meanwhile the Protestants must be bound over not to
go against, or beyond, the articles with regard to which
the theologians had come to an agreement at Eatisbon.
The prelates were to be required to reorganise and
reform their ecclesiastical regulations in accordance
with the arrangements made with the legate for the
better administration and control of the Church system.
The peace of Nuremberg must hold good till the meet-
ing of the Council or the Diet ; the cloisters and
religious foundations must henceforth be left undis-
turbed, and the clergy must not be deprived of the
taxes and revenues which they still possessed. Further-
more, the Protestants must not attempt to force or induce
DIET AND CONFERENCE AT RATISBON, 1541 155
anybody to come over to their side. All sentences and
legal proceedings in matters of religion or other matters,
concerning which it had been disputed whether they
were included in the Nuremberg treaty of peace, were to
be suspended till the holding of the contemplated meet-
ings. Exclusive of these matters the Imperial Court
was to retain its accustomed authority, and nothing-
was to be withdrawn from the Augsburg recess.
The Emperor wished all these articles to be recorded
in the recess.
The article concerning the clerical taxes and re-
venues, so the Frankfort delegate, Johann von Glauburg,
wrote on July 24, could not be objectionable to the
Protestant princes, ' since the clergy now scarcely
owned any of them ; ' therefore most of the towns lost
no time in subscribing to it.
The Protestant princes refused to agree to these
proposals, in spite of the efforts of the Elector Joachim
of Brandenburg, who remained true to the Emperor,
conformably with a treaty which he had concluded
with Charles and Ferdinand on July 24, and in which
he had pledged himself to do all in his power for the
furtherance of religious unity, the maintenance of the
election of Ferdinand as King of the Eomans, the
support of the Emperor in the Cleves-Guelders affair,
and the hindrance of French intrigues in the Empire.
Charles and Ferdinand, on the other hand, had promised
to allow the Elector to adhere to the confession of faith
and the Church ordinances which had been submitted to
the Emperor, up till the meeting of a future Council, or
until the Estates of the Empire should have thought of
something better or more Christian.1
1 Ranke, vi. 195-199.
156 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
' Joachim took particular pains to mediate with the
princes of his own faith ; as, however, the latter
persisted obstinately in their opposition to the imperial
proposals,' and as on July 28 ' the recess and the question
of Turkish help still seemed unlikely to be settled,' the
Emperor on July 29, at the instigation of Granvell
and Naves, and also the Brandenburg Elector, hastily
ratified a secret declaration of the recess.
This so-called ' Declaration ' did great injury to the
Catholic cause, and also to the Emperor's reputation,
both with Catholics and Protestants.
The stipulation of the recess that the Protestants
were not to go against, or beyond, the articles that had
been agreed about was altered in the ' Declaration ' to
' These articles are only to be binding on the Protestants
according to the interpretation put on them by their
own theologians ; the other articles are to be of no
authority.'
The decree that the cloisters and foundations were
henceforth not to be disturbed or abolished was added
to as follows : ' with reservation in each case to the civil
authorities under whose jurisdiction they lie of the right
to hold them in Christian reform,' which meant
reserving to the Protestants the right of reforming
according to their own ideas.
The article of the recess in which it was stated that
the clergy were not to be deprived of their dues and
revenues was stretched to include the clergy, chapters,
cloisters, and houses of the Augsburg Confessionists,
' regardless of earlier mandates.' By this means the right
of possession of the Protestants was established in defiance
of imperial complaints and mandates with respect to
confiscated Church property and ecclesiastical patronage.
DIET AND CONFERENCE AT RATISBON, 1541 157
The article forbidding the Protestants to coerce or
entice people to adopt their opinions was to mean only
that they were not w to entice away or take under their
protection the subjects of any Catholic State.'
The assessors of the Imperial Court were no longer
to take their oaths on the Augsburg recess, but on
this present ' Declaration,' and if they were adherents
of the Augsburg Confession they were not on that
account to be deposed or rejected on their presentation.
' In the appointment of persons ' at the next inspectoral
visitation of the Imperial Court the Emperor ' would
make no distinction on account of religion.' The
validity of the Augsburg decree was only to extend
' to matters not connected with religion.' 1
This alteration of the recess in favour of the
Protestants was made without the knowledge of the
Catholics.
When the ' Declaration ' came on for discussion at
an assembly of the Protestants on July 29, the Frankfort
delegates objected to its being passed. They thought
it a dangerous measure to ratify the recess on the basis
of this Declaration, for it would not be ' serviceable to
the Protestants in case of need,' because it had been
produced ' behind the backs ' of the other Estates, who
consequently would attach no importance to it. The
whole business had ' a strange look.' The delegate from
1 Walch, pp. 999-1002 ; Hortleder, Ursachen, pp. 556-557 ; Dollinger,
Documente, pp. 36-38. We get no very favourable impression of the
manner in which even questions of the greatest importance were dealt
with in the Imperial Cabinet, when we read in a letter from Charles to
Ferdinand, March 14, 1542 : Ferdinand must do all in his power ' pour la
bonne yssue de la diette, comme au semblable je feiz quant a la declara-
tion, que je doibs avoir faicte a mon partement de Regensburg (Ratisbon)
de laquelle ne suis Men souvenant.'' In v. Drussel's Karl V. und die
romische Curie, Abth. i. 220-221, note 2.
158 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Constance and the Saxon delegates sided with those of
Frankfort. The rest of the members, however, agreed
to the Declaration, and consented to give the Turkish
help mentioned in it. They promised the Vice-Chan-
cellor Naves ' to keep the Declaration a secret and not
to publish it.' *
The Catholics were deceived in another way also.
They had agreed to the recess, as the Archbishop
of Lund reported to the Frankfort delegate, Hierony-
mus zum Lam, only on condition that to the article
ordaining that ' evervbodv, both of high and low
degree, was henceforth to pay the clergy their rightful
rents, tithes, and incomes,' the words ' and also leave
to them their authority and jurisdiction' should be
added.
These important words, however, had been omitted
without the knowledge of the Catholics. Consequently
on the occasion of the solemn reading of the recess on
July 29, in the presence of the Emperor, ' there arose
great strife and contention.' The Catholic Estates in-
sisted that the words must be put back, but the Pro-
testants refused, because, they said, ' no communication
had been made to them in the matter.'
The discussion lasted four hours, the Emperor, the
King, and the Elector of Brandenburg all taking part
in it. Finally the Catholics, ' at the request of his
Imperial Majesty, gave in this time also and allowed the
words to drop out.'
' And thus be it noted,' writes the Frankfort delegate,
' the Catholics were publicly forced out of their juris-
diction, or rather they themselves withdrew from it.
Moreover, do not fail to notice how trickily and slyly
1 Ranke, iv. 162, note.
DIET AND CONFERENCE AT RATISBON, 1541 1-39
in this whole business both sides have been dealt
with.' x
For immediate help against the Turks half of the
supplies voted for the Eoman expedition of 1521 were
promised for three, or in case of need for four months,
and with this money an army of infantry and cavalry
was to be raised and sent to Hungary.
On the same day on which the Emperor presented
the ' Declaration' to the Protestant Estates with the
imperial seal and signet affixed, he also concluded
a treaty with the papal legate and the Catholic princes,
which was, so far as the words went, a renewal of the
league of Nuremberg. 'No member of the Christian
union was to dare, in violation of this peace concluded
and renewed with the Emperor at this Diet, to invade
or molest any of the Protestant princes or their
subjects.'
The legate and the Catholic notables could only
understand by ' this treaty of peace ' the recess that
had been drawn up with their approval. It was im-
possible but that their confidence in the Emperor
should be shaken when they learnt of the secret
declaration of this peace, made without their know-
ledge, which was an altogether one-sided version of
the formal recess, if not the very opposite of it, and
which granted far greater concessions to the Protestants
than had ever been made before.-
' The Catholics took fright at the strange intrigues
1 Protocol of Hieronymus zum Lam, fol. 106.
2 It was a flagrant and most ominous violation of the constitution of
the Empire that the Emperor presumed, without the consent of the
Estates, to tack on to an imperial decree declarations which were directly
opposed to the sense in which the decree had been drawn up,' says
Planck, hi. (2nd ed.), 170, note. See also C. A. Menzel, i. 356.
160 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
going on at the imperial court, and became distrustful
of what the influential people at court said, because
they did not know what might lurk behind. Thus this
ill-fated Diet did the Emperor more harm than can
be expressed. For while he had made the Catholics
mistrustful he had not won the loyalty of the Pro-
testants ; for they did not yet think they had got
enough, and they would not rest till they had obtained
everything that they wanted, and could lord it over the
Holy Empire as if there were no other right or justice
but what they chose to call by these names.'
The Catholic League, which scarcely deserved the
name of a defensive alliance, was reduced to complete
nullity.
Already in September the Bavarian Chancellor, Eck,
had entered into a fresh alliance with Saxony and
Hesse.1 The Landgrave Philip had found out that Eck
' was to be moved with money to use active influence
with the Dukes in favour of the Smalcald confederates.'
The Saxon Elector doubted whether reliance could be
placed on Eck. ' If, however,' he wrote to the Land-
grave, ' the Chancellor perseveres in co-operating with
us secretly against the Emperor and King Ferdinand,
he may be rewarded by a handsome present.' Eck
was to manage that the Dukes of Bavaria should with-
draw from the Catholic League. In December Eck
informed the Augsburg doctor, Gereon Sailer, the
Landgrave's agent, that ' if the German princes did
not put their heads together they would become more
abject than the pashas under the Turks. King
Ferdinand was a desperate bankrupt creature, like the
Archbishop of Mayence, poorer than any beggar in
1 Lenz, iii. 180 ff.
ECK'S INTRIGUES AGAINST THE EMPEROR 161
the land ; it was impossible to help him without ruining
the German nation. The Emperor was not true to the
Germans and was befooling them ; he had promised
the Pope to annul the declaration provided his Holiness
would withdraw his friendship from France ; he had
spoken of the Protestants as beggarly people whom he
should soon subdue to his will.' It was obviously in
order to extract a substantial reward from the Pro-
testants that Eck declared that he had been promised
o0,000 florins ' if he would become a loyal Austrian ; '
but he would rather forfeit life and everything he
possessed than desert the cause of ' German freedom.'
The Catholic League ' had been formed in opposition to
his advice ; Bavaria would have nothing to do with it,
nor support Duke Henry of Brunswick against the
Landgrave.' 1
Free scope was afforded to the intrigues in the
interior of the Empire by the unfortunate issue of the
wars against the Turks.
1 Rommel, ii. 444-445 ; Lenz, iii. 190 ff.
VOL. VI.
M
162 HISTEOY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CHAPTER XV
WAE AGAINST THE TURKS, 1541 DIETS AT SPIRES AND
NUREMBERG — WAR OF THE EMPIRE AGAINST THE
TURKS IN HUNGARY MILITARY AGGRESSIONS OF
FRANCE, 1542
In February 1538 King Ferdinand had concluded a
treaty at Grosswardein with his opponent Zapolya,
according to the terms of which the latter wTas ' to rule
in peace and with full regal authority over that part of
Hungary which he had in his possession, nevertheless
under the condition that after his death, even should
he leave male heirs, the whole realm, with all its
dependencies and subjects, should revert to Ferdinand
and his heirs,' Zapolya, however, violated the treaty
When a son was born to him from his marriage with
Isabella, daughter of the King of Poland, he attempted,
with the help of the Turks, to secure the succession
to this infant. Before his death, which followed on
July 23, 1540, he exacted an oath from the council of
regency appointed for his son that they would make
sure of the favour of the Sultan.
Solyman, who considered himself the ' lord and
ruler ' of Hungary, promised effectual protection ' to
the son of his vassal and slave Zapolya.' He gave
orders to his pashas to support Isabella with arms
against Ferdinand. In October the young Zapolya
was proclaimed King of Hungary, and at the end of
WAR AGAINST THE TURKS 163
November it was notified to an ambassador of
Ferdinand at Constantinople that ' the Sultan was
now going to Adrianople, in order to learn what were
the intentions of the Emperor and Ferdinand ; he would
visit the brothers at Eatisbon.' J
In order to save Hungary, Ferdinand had solicited
imperial help against the Turks at the Diet at Eatisbon
and had made known to the notables through Francis
Frangipanni that the Turks had already invaded the
country, both by water and by land ; that this was not
a time for the Germans to be succouring strangers, but
that they must defend Germany itself in Hungary.
But the help obtained in return for the concessions to the
Protestants was of no use. Before the imperial troops
reached Hungary the royal army had been defeated, after
an unsuccessful attempt to take possession of Buda. On
August 26, 1541, Solyman was encamped in front of
Buda, and he forthwith ordered 400 captive Christians
to be beheaded, ' because dead men cannot wage war.'
He commanded Zapolya's son to be brought into the
camp, and then announced to the magnates who had
come into his presence that he did not mean to leave
Buda in the hands of Isabella, for women were as change-
able as the wind ; he intended to appoint a Turkish
governor over the country.2 Isabella was compelled
to hand over to a barbarian conqueror the seat of
empire which she had refused to its Christian and
1 Bucholtz, v. 145. On June 20, 1541, Solyman wrote to King Ferdi-
nand that he had made over the sovereignty of Hungary to the son of John
(Zapolya). ' Quia dictus rex Joannes fuit fidelis servus mens et mancipium,
etiam ipsius Alius est servus et mancipium meum, veluti filius mancipii
et servi, ideo visum est mihi concedere adrninistrationem et regiam dicti
regni ' (Gevay, 1541, p. 148).
2 Bucholtz, Urhundenband, pp. 318-319.
M 2
164 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
lawful sovereign. Transylvania alone was left to her.
Solyman transformed the church of St. Mary at Buda
into a mosque, turned the whole country up to the
Theiss into a Turkish province, and set a three-tailed
pasha over it as governor.
While the greater part of Hungary was being made
over to the Turks and to barbarians the Emperor
had undertaken an expedition to Algiers, which under
the Turkish pasha Hassan Aga had become a centre
of sea piracy. After having completed at Lucca his
transactions with the Pope concerning the summoning
of a Council he set sail from Porto Venere and reached
the African coast on October 22. But on the second
night after his landing a tremendous storm arose,
accompanied by torrents of rain and hail, and a large
portion of his fleet was destroyed, damaged, or dis-
persed. In the morning the coast was strewn with
the fragments of the ships and the corpses of the crews.
Moorish cavalry now began their onslaughts. Owing
to entire want of provisions the Emperor was compelled
to return to Europe. A fresh storm scattered the
fleet, so that the ships arrived only singly in the
Spanish and Italian ports. On December 1 Charles
landed at Carthagena. ' We bow to the will of God,'
he said, ' who knows well that from the best of motives
we wished to act for the welfare of Christendom, but
who is punishing our sins and shortcomings.' In
Constantinople there was great rejoicing. Francis I.
'laughed and piped for joy when he heard of the
Emperor's disaster,' and sent congratulations to the
Sultan on the ' defeat of the common enemy.' 1
1 Relations Secretes, p. 73. A medal struck in France bore on one side
the Turkish crescent, and on the other the French lilies with the inscrip-
DIET AT SPIRES 165
On his return to Spain the Emperor made every
preparation for carrying on the war against the Turks
by land and by sea. Meanwhile Ferdinand betook
himself to the Diet at Spires, where, according to the
decision at Eatisbon, the question of permanent Turkish
supplies was to be discussed.
The Diet fixed for January 14, 1542, could not
begin till February 9, owing to deficient attendance of
the notables. Of the princes of the League of Smalcald
not one came in person : they sent ambassadors to
represent them.
' That the Turks were close on the throats of the
Germans was by no means unknown ' to the Elector
of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse. They had
written to the council of Strasburg on October 24, 1541,
that ' whereas the Turks had made themselves masters
of the town of Buda, the capital of the kingdom, and
contemplated becoming lords of the whole of Hungary,'
there could be no other result than ' irreparable injury
and ruin to the whole of Christendom and to the
German nation.' They had taken counsel with the
Elector of Brandenburg concerning the help that each
was to give the other in case Bohemia also should fall
into the hands of the Sultan and the latter should
make a direct attack on Germany.1 They had also
summoned the Smalcald confederates to attend the
Diet, but they again wanted to make use of the Turkish
danger for their political and sectarian ends.
tion : ' Non contra fidem, sed contra Carolum.' Seckendorf, iii. 474. The
Emperor had undertaken the Algerian expedition ' ex proprio capite et
contra la opinion de tutti li sui conseglieri et principalis and was deter-
mined to lead it himself. Report of Marino Giustiniani, Nov. 10, 1541,
in the Venetian Despatches, i. 434-435.
1 Ranke, iv. 171-172.
166 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
At the opening of the Diet King Ferdinand repre-
sented to the notables that after all the conquests
which the Turks had made in Hungary ' all the gates
and doors stood free and open to the Sultan against
the Empire, and he could walk over Germany as
over a level plain.' The Estates of Bohemia and the
countries belonging to them, and also the Austrian
hereditary lands, had effectually coalesced for resistance
against him, and the prelates, lords, knights, and towns
had agreed to contribute one for every hundred florins,
the country people each one for every sixty florins of
their fortunes : it would be well if the Estates of the
Empire did the same, for the danger was so great that
they must either drive the enemy out of Hungary or
find themselves shortly exposed to the greatest misery.
The Catholic notables ' without any parleying '
declared themselves ready to grant help ; but not so
the Protestants.
In a memorandum on the royal ' Proposal ' and in
a ' Petition ' which the latter addressed to the King on
February 27 they made fresh impossible demands.
The Turkish supplies, they said, could not be of any
profit if contributed before ' a solid peace ' had been
established in the Empire. To this end it was especially
necessary that the articles of the Augsburg Confession
should everywhere be freely preached and taught ; for
if in some places it was forbidden to teach and to hold
these doctrines ' this mig;ht lead to all sorts of disunion
and put obstacles in the way of general peace.' This
was ' over again the old stipulation ' that the Catholics
were to tolerate the free exercise of the Protestant
religion, while the Protestants claimed for themselves
the right to suppress the Catholic religion altogether
DIET AT SPIRES 167
in their territories, and to expel the Catholics from the
country.
Among the conditions of this ' lasting peace ' the
Protestants wished it to be stipulated that the rents
and tithes of the churches and abbeys which they had
seized accruing from Catholic territory should be given
over to them, and that in the parishes situated within
Catholic jurisdiction their right should be recognised
to appoint Lutheran pastors wherever they should
think it desirable.
They insisted, further, on ' equal justice for both
parties,' and claimed, in furtherance of this end, that
' the Imperial Court, whose members they suspected,
should be temporarily suspended, and that at a fixed
date this court should be reconstituted and a fresh staff
appointed, consisting of persons wholly above suspicion
and chosen by the Emperor, the Electors, and the
Estates, without respect to religion.' Otherwise, they
declared, they would no longer contribute anything to
the maintenance of the Imperial Court, nor would
they recognise its juridical authority either in religious
or in secular affairs. If the Catholics would not agree
to these demands, it would be they, not the Protestants,
who would be impeding the grants of Turkish aid.1
1 Der Stend der Augsburgisclien Confessions-Verwandten-BedenTcen
aus der Tc. Majestdt Proposition. 'Petition to his Rornan Eoyal Majesty
and to the Imperial Commissioners from the whole body of Protestants.'
In the Frankfort Archives, Reichstag sacten, 49, fol. 36-44, 74-83. Con-
cerning the demands of the Protestants the legate Morone, who was
present at Spires, writes on February 28, 1542 : ' A poco voler intrar in
1' administratione della Justitia del Imperio . . . et se potessero ottenere,
o per faculta del Ee o per la presente necessita contro il Turco, tali articuli
sotto specie di justitia injustissima, distruerebbono in breve tempo tutto il
stato ecclesiastico di Germania, et in un medesimo tempo si trovarebbono
padroni del esercito armati con gran potenza, et padroni della justitia.'
M. Laemmer, Mon. Vat. p. 422.
168 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
The Elector of Saxony had instructed his envoys to
stipulate, as a further condition of granting the required
help against the Turks, that no further protest should
be made on the part of the Emperor against his (the
Elector's) attack on the bishopric of Naumburg-Zeitz
and appointment of a Lutheran clergyman as bishop.
The delegates were to make an obstinate fight for all
these stipulations.1
At Spires the Saxon and Hessian envoys actually
suggested to the Smalcald confederates that for several
reasons it would be well for them to keep themselves
apart from the Catholic army in their help against the
Turks, and ' to have their own separate commanders,
military councillors, paymasters, and other officers.'
This proposal, however, did not at the time commend
itself to the confederates, who thought that such a
division of the army would cause great displeasure
among the soldiers and in the camp, and moreover
were very doubtful whether ' according to this plan
the Protestants would be able to obtain their full com-
plement of men ; for the clergy, the nobles, and other
free subjects would not help them with their quotas.'2
On March 20 King Ferdinand answered the Pro-
testants as follows : ' Whereas this Diet, as the notables
knew, had only been convoked on account of the
Sultan's alarming invasion of Hungary and the con-
sequent necessity for permanent supplies, they them-
selves might well conjecture that it would not be fitting
in him and the imperial commissioners to go further,
or to act otherwise in matters of religion than it had
1 Seckendorf, iii. 382.
a Protocol of Hieronymus zum Lara on the Diet of Spires, 1542, fol.
vol. Mittel-Gewblbe D. 42, fols. 96-97.
DIET AT SPIRES 169
been decided to do by the last Eatisbon imperial
recess ; for they had neither order nor authority to
act thus. Neither had they power or authority to
suspend or stop the action of the Imperial Court.
With regard to the question of equal justice in the
Imperial Chamber, the usual method of inspectoral
visitation was promised at Eatisbon, and the Emperor
had appointed suitable commissioners for the discharge
of this office. Time and place would promptly be
made known.' Ferdinand begged the notables, by
word of mouth, that ' they would not insist on anything
that was impossible or that might hinder the granting
of Turkish help.'
The Protestants persisted in all their demands. As
to an inspection of the Imperial Court, they would
only give their consent on condition that all the
assessors swore to the imperial ' Declaration,' and that
the form of oath, was altered in such a manner that
everybody could take it with a good conscience.
Further, ' no priest or clergyman was any longer to be
appointed assessor or admitted into the chancellery ; '
and the chancellorship of the Empire must be taken
from the Archbishop of Mayence. If these demands
were not satisfied they would not agree to any inspec-
tion, and they would not obey the present members of
the Imperial Court.
They felt sure beforehand that the King under ' all
these circumlocutions and conditions would as little
consent to the inspection as to the suspension or
abolition of the court.' But they hoped that from
their repudiation of its authority in secular matters
also ' the end of it would be that his Eoyal Majesty
and the notables of the opposite party would at last
170 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
become alarmed, and possibly themselves offer to the
Protestants what the latter could not at present extort
from them.'
' If Ferdinand does not agree to the terms of the
Protestants,' the Frankfort delegates wrote home, ' it
will mean the loss of the whole of the Turkish aids.'
The Frankfort deputy was at his wits' ends : he wished
in God's name, he wrote, ' to stand by his associates of
the Augsburg Confession, but he did not know what
was best or most expedient to do.'
The acrimony and ill-feeling at Spires became so
great that not only was it feared that the Diet would
break up without a recess, but there was even
' apprehension of a civil war breaking out in Germany,
which would afford fine sport and diversion to the
French. An evil spirit possessed the members present
at the Diet.' 'The proceedings that go on,' wrote
Justinian von Holzhaufen of Frankfort, ' are so in-
sufferable and unprecedented that they are incompre-
hensible not only to my poor understanding, but also
to the wisest of heads ; and I verily believe that
Almighty God is allowing all this to happen as a special
judgment on us, or that Satan is ruling personally
among his own people.'
Not only did the Protestants ' oppose all grants of
help against the Turks, and behave insolently when all
that they demanded was not conceded to them, but
there was also bitter strife, irrespective of all dis-
tinctions of creed, between the princes and the towns,
the latter refusing to give any help at all, because
everything was settled independently of them.' ' The
towns were treated with contempt by the Electors and
princes,' the Frankfort delegates complained ; ' they shut
DIET AT SPIRES 171
them out from all the deliberations and refused them
seats and votes ; therefore the towns will not give any
help against the Turks or take part in the choice of
counsellors of war : and so they withdraw, and things
are in a pretty strange condition.' 1
King Ferdinand, yielding to this pressure, ceded inch
after inch of his ground. On March 28 he offered to
give the Protestants a special written document
guranteeing the validity of the imperial Declaration.
On March 30 he gave in with regard to the assessors
of the Imperial Court taking their oath on the ' De-
claration,' and also to the complete cancelling of the
sentence of outlawry against Groslar.
Then some of the Protestants showed themselves ' so
weak and soft ' that others of the party ' became no little
alarmed.' Elector Joachim of Brandenburg especially
assumed the part of mediator and obtained promises
of help from several members of the Smalcald League.
But on April 2 the position of affairs was still such that
one of the Frankfort delegates wrote : ' They say that
the recess is to be read out to-morrow. But it is
positively certain that some of the electors, prelates,
and free lords, the Protestants, the Catholic Union, and
every one of the towns will object to the recess ;
indeed, they are already prepared with protests com-
piled and sent in.'
Nevertheless a recess was drawn up on April 11,
after Ferdinand had agreed to still further concessions.
The Eatisbon armistice, together with the ' sus-
1 See Bucer's letter of March 16 to Philip of Hesse, in Lenz, ii. 59-62.
' The princes,' he says, ' maintain that they form the council of the
Empire, while the cities are mere subjects, and that as co-regents with
the Emperor they have the right to impose on cities and peasants whatever
burdens they please.'
172 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
pension of the lawsuits and sentences which had been
commenced and issued by the Imperial Court in religious
and other matters,' was extended to a term of five years
from the end of the present campaign against the Turks.
' Thus the Protestants, for the next five years, had
nothing to fear in consequence of all that they had
done, and the Catholics, with their lawsuits, were put
off. And so they too became discontented and com-
bative, and both parties were anxious to dissolve the
meeting. If at this juncture both sides promised
considerable help against the Turks, it was with many
of them, as the issue will show, nothing more than
promises on paper, as the greater number of them
appeared by no means willing to carry out in action
what they had agreed to.' *
On paper it had been resolved, 'in defence of
Christian blood and the common Fatherland, to strain
every nerve and to contribute such substantial help '
that the Turks would be defeated in a pitched battle,
or else compelled to evacuate the country, and Hun-
gary, with its capital, Buda, recovered. In levying
these forces the Matrikel of the year 1521, and the
regulations for rapid mobilisation against the Turks in
1532, were to be the basis of operations, and the costs
were to be covered by a property tax raised all over
the Empire. The Elector Joachim of Brandenburg-
was appointed commander-in-chief, with ten military
councillors — according to the number of the circles of
the Empire — to assist him.
According to the decision at Spires the imperial
arnry was to assemble at Vienna in May 1542, and
' work together for six months,' four out of which, it
1 Clas Helmholt, April 17, 1542, in Senckenberg, Acta et Pacta, p. 592.
DIET AT SPIRES 173
was hoped, would be spent on the actual operations of
the war. But as late as June 20 ' one third of the
infantry and three fourths of the cavalry were still
wanting.' The Saxon captain Erasmus von Konneritz
lauded King Ferdinand's thoughtfulness in providing
for the commissariat and materials of war ; but as the
commander-in-chief delayed so long in coming, and
' there was a lack of orderly government,' insubordina-
tion reigned among the troops. ' The soldiers, who
have been lying idle for the last three weeks,' writes
Konneritz, ' are drinking themselves to death in the
camp ; there is no interruption to it and punishment
is scarcely of any use.' 1
On June 6 Joachim appeared before Vienna. When
Ferdinand invited him to take part in the Corpus
Christi procession, he answered that ' he was not there
for the purpose of joining in such fool's play, but to
exercise himself in fighting against the enemy of
Christianity.' But this military practice of his was in
itself mere fool's play. He was ' a warrior in women's
apartments ' is the lament of contemporary writers,
4 a womanish general who, Dr. Luther says, has never
seen a bloody sword,' ' but sees a great deal of banquet-
ing.' ' The commander-in-chief of the army could not
dispense with luxury and gambling even in the battle-
field, and there was rare talk as to what money would
be left over for the soldiers ; for he played monstrously
high and had larger gambling debts than any one
would believe.' 2 His passion for gambling was so great
that in the year 1542 at Nuremberg ' he lost 40,000
florins at two sittings.'3
1 Konneritz, pp. 85-86.
2 Curiense Nachrichten, p. 103. 3 Voigt, Fiirstenleben, p. 387.
174 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Joachim on his part complained, and not without
reason, of the dilatoriness of the Estates. If means
were not forthcoming, he wrote on June 21 to the
military councillors at Eatisbon, there was great danger
lest the soldiers should take possession of the field-
artillery, ravage the country, and possibly even go over
to the King of France. Already in July the Elector of
Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse, who, profiting by
the Turkish danger, had at that time set out on the
conquest of the duchy of Brunswick- Wolfenbiittel, had
instructed their commanding officers to levy 5,000 men
in case the imperial army should disband itself.1
While all was inactivity in the camp, 20,000 Turks
were skirmishing about in single detachments, burning
and plundering all around. A violent storm destroyed
part of the camp ; ' in every direction things went
differently from what had been intended.'
King Ferdinand was obliged to spend 30,000 florins
of his own money in order ' only to make a show of
moving out.' He would gladly have led the troops
away in person, Ferdinand wrote to the Emperor, but
he was obliged to go off to a Diet at Nuremberg, to
which he had invited the princes, in order to procure
the help of the imperial Estates.2
When Ferdinand opened this Diet, on July 24, not
one of the secular princes was present in person, and
of the spiritual princes only three bishops ; ' it was an
assembly of representatives without any result.' Some
of the provincial Estates, the King complained, had
sent no troops at all for the Turkish campaign, others
only a part of the number they had promised ; some of
the soldiers had no munitions, others no pay. Again
1 Konneritz, p. 100. 2 Bucholtz, v. 168.
DIET AT NUREMBERG 175
and again Ferdinand implored the town delegates to
contribute some help to the Empire and to Christendom :
he intended afterwards, he said, to discuss and settle
all matters with them, and he would also give them
a written statement to the effect that the dispute about
seats and votes at the Diet should be settled on the
approaching arrival of the Emperor ; without their
help the whole enterprise would be a failure, and the
troops would take themselves off. But the town dele-
gates closed their hearts against the needs of the Empire
and of Christianity. ' And so, with regard to the towns,'
the Frankfort delegates reported, ' the decision still is
that they refuse the contributions asked for, and will
not agree to the new impost.'
The Elector Joachim, meanwhile, had begun the
march to Hungary with the imperial army, without
any definite plan of war or any knowledge of the
enemy's position, trusting solely ' to fortune and the
guidance of God.' The army numbered about 25,000
infantry and 5,000 cavalry, but it was ' diminished by
hunger and cold, sickness and desertion.' l ' We lack
field-artillery, food, and above all money,' Joachim
wrote. ' The cry of the soldiers is nothing but money,
money, money ! which lowers us in the estimation of so
many foreign nations, all of whom mature their plans
in secret. Day by day we see numbers of our soldiers
dying miserably of starvation before our very eyes.'
In the recess of the Nuremberg Diet of August 26
it was decreed that the Imperial Court of Exchequer
would proceed swiftly and stringently against all
persons who did not send the promised help against
the Turks. But ' who would give heed to this deci-
1 Konneritz, p. 93.
176 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
sion ? ' ' Nowhere in the Empire was there any longer
the slightest regard for justice and right, because there
was no longer any religion, but only quarrelling and
wrangling over dogmas and sects. Might was right.
Each one did as he liked. How could the Exchequer
help ? ' x
Still in September the military councillors who
were ' to bring all the incidental liabilities incurred
by the expedition before the district authorities ' had
not been appointed.2
Not till September 27, towards the end 'of the fifth
month of the expedition,' when, according to the
original decision, the campaign ought to have been
concluded, did the imperial army, greatly enfeebled
and in a wretched condition, arrive before Pesth.
It was only through Ferdinand's handing out 20,000
more florins ' that it had been possible to advance so
far.' ' His Eoyal Majesty,' wrote Joachim, ' on his
part has left nothing undone ; he has sent his troops,
and equipped the flotilla well ; he has also supplied a
great array of field artillery, with all the necessary
appurtenances, and he has spent enormous sums
of money ; he has given diligent attention to the
commissariat department and is providing pay for the
imperial troops, and likewise powder, as we ourselves
and the councillors of war can testify.' 3
But ' how could the Emperor manage everything
1 See Alberi, Series I. iii. 139, where Marino Cavalli of Venice gives
the following general criticism, in 1542, of the German Diets : ' Per le
molte divisioni e diversity di voleri, che ora sono fra le Germani, tutte le
loro Diete si risolveranno in nulla, ovvero, deliberisi quello che si voglia,
sara eseguito da ognuno quello che si vorra o potra.'
2 Joachim's despatch to King Ferdinand (from the camp before Buda),
September 27, 1542, in the Reichstag sacten, 52, fol. 117-119.
3 Reichstagsacten, 52, fol. 128.
WAR AGAINST THE TURKS IN HUNGARY 177
when the others did nothing ? ' The Duke of Liine-
burg, the Landgrave of Hesse, and the towns recalled
their men. Ferdinand began to have ' strong sus-
picions of wicked intrigues.' !
The Danube fleet, under the command of the
Italian admiral Medici, took the islands of St. Mar-
garet above Buda and drove away the Turkish fleet.
3,000 well-paid Italians under Vitelli, who had been
sent by the Pope, adventured an assault against
Buda, but were not supported by the imperial forces.
During this assault Joachim had to look on, inactive,
at a distance.2 Although ' the Hungarians and the
Italians were ready to do anything that was possible,'
he determined to retreat without making any further
attempts. 'They retreated under mocking and ridicule,
and to the detriment of all Christendom ; over 15,000
excellent soldiers were simply thrown away.' 3 ' It is
my opinion,' wrote Ferdinand to the Emperor, ' that
such disgrace and ignorance has never befallen the
Empire before, not to speak of the damage done and
the danger of still worse damage.' 4
Joachim went back to Berlin and ' let himself be
drawn round the town on a sledge, as if he had car-
ried the expedition out successfully.' He expressed to
Granvell his wish to receive the Golden Fleece as a
reward, also ' a pension or something else,' in order
that ' he might be compensated for all his losses and
heavy expenditure.' As legal proceedings were being
1 Despatch to the Emperor, October 17, 1542 ; Bucholtz, v. 170.
2 Konneritz, p. 99.
3 Schartlin's autobiography. See Karolyi, Anemet birodalom magy
hadi vdllata Magyarorszagon 1542 ben (' Der grosse Feldzug cles
deutschen Reiches in Ungarn 1542 '), Budapest, 1880.
4 Bucholtz, v. 171.
VOL. VI. N
178 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
instituted against the Dukes of Pomerania, he said he
would prefer to undertake ' the execution of the Pome-
ranian sentence ; ' if it brought in 100,000 florins, he
would hand over 10,000 to Granvell, and if this was
too small a sum double the number.
After Charles's disastrous expedition against Algiers,
and ' during the ignominious proceedings of the imperial
army in Hungary,' Francis I. thought ' the time had
come in which a complete annihilation of the imperial
power might be effected.' l
As a pretext for war he availed himself of an oc-
currence in Lombardy.
In order to arrange with Sultan Solyman a plan for
a concerted attack on the Emperor, he had despatched
a Spaniard in his service, Antonio Eincone, as fully
accredited ambassador to Constantinople, and with him
a Genoese of French proclivities, Csesar Fregono, who
was to win over the republic of Venice to join the
extensive league planned against Charles. Eincone
had for some time past been known as the most active
agent between Francis I. and the Sultan. Accordingly
the Marquis Guasto, imperial governor of Milan, on
hearing that Eincone and his companion were about to
travel through Lombardy secretly and without escort,
gave orders to a band of soldiers to arrest them and
seize their papers. Both the ambassadors were over-
taken at Pavia, and on their attempting to defend
themselves were killed ; whereupon Francis I. com-
plained of violation of international and diplomatic
rights, and demanded satisfaction of the Emperor.
Guasto declared himself innocent of complicity in the
1 See Relations Secretes, p. 81.
MILITARY AGGRESSIONS OF FRANCE, 1542 179
murder and proposed to submit himself to the Pope
for trial and judgment. The Emperor gave orders
that the assassins, who had taken flight, should be
pursued.
But Francis wanted war, and found plenty of allies.
At his request Solyman had a fleet equipped to harass
the Spanish coast. In November 1541 Francis con-
cluded a treaty with King Christian of Denmark,
who agreed to supply him with six war ships and
1,000 men. In July 1542 King Gustavus Vasa of
Sweden promised to raise an army and a fleet for
France. Francis had already assured himself of the
help of Duke William of Cleves. In the spring and
summer of 1542 five armies were equipped to attack
the Emperor simultaneously in five different places.
Martin von Eossem, one of the captains of the Duke of
Cleves, penetrated into the Netherlands with Clevish,
Danish, and French troops, exacting contributions and
plundering the country as far as Mechlin. A French
arm}^ under the Duke of Vendome invaded Artois, and
a second, under the Duke of Orleans, conquered a great
part of Luxembourg. In Piedmont French troops
captured several places from the imperialists. Forty
thousand men under the command of the Dauphin
attacked the Spanish frontiers and encamped in August
1542 in front of Perpignan. At Constantinople
Solyman made ready for another march, and Francis I.
sent enormous sums of money for the pay of the
Turkish army. The King of France, so the Sultan
boasted, ' pays more than all the other tributaries.' l
' Ibrahim has touched Vienna with his finger,' said the
1 ' . . . plus omnibus ceteris tributariis praestitisse.' Report of the
French envoy Paulinus from Constantinople, Bucholtz, v. 196.
u 2
180 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Grand Vizier Eustan to Ferdinand's ambassador, ' but
I will seize it with both my hands.'
The whole dominion of the Emperor and of King
Ferdinand had been in jeopardy since 1541 through
the Turks and the French. Neither of these sovereigns
was in a position to interfere in the internal affairs of
Germany ' except by Diets, mandates, and orders to
which no one paid any attention.' The occasion of
* this foreign pressure on the rulers ' was taken advan-
tage of by the chiefs of the Smalcald League for the
subjugation of the Catholic Estates, the suppression of
the Catholic faith in districts which till then had
remained faithful to the ancient religion, and for the
introduction of the new Church system. The measures
adopted towards these ends by Saxony and Hesse in the
bishoprics of Naumburg-Zeitz, Meissen, and Hildes-
heim give a clear insight into the whole character of
the politico-ecclesiastical revolution.
181
CHAPTEE XVI
FORCIBLE MEASURES FOR PROTESTANTISING THE
BISHOPRICS OF NAUMBURG-ZEITZ AND MEISSEN
The Electors and the Dukes of Saxony possessed a
secular protectorate over the three bishoprics of Naum-
burg-Zeitz, Meissen, and Merseburg, either lying within
or surrounded by their territories. The protectorate
over Naumburg-Zeitz was vested in the Electoral or
Ernestine branch of the House, that over Merseburg in
the Albertine branch, while that over Meissen was
possessed by both branches in common. But neither
the Elector John Frederic nor Duke Maurice would
rest satisfied with this secular protectorate ; both of
them wished to convert their dominions into ' a com-
pact and united' territory, to make the ecclesiastical
districts subject to their sovereignty, to ' incorporate '
them, and to protestantise them.
John Frederic took his stand in the matter on his
conscience. ' He could not conscientiously,' he said,
' keep any " refractory bishop " in his land ; he could
not be the patron of papist prelates. The word " patron,"
or protector, was a very meaningless, unsatisfactory
one : the title of sovereign carried much more weight.'
This title was to come into vogue first of all in
Naumburg-Zeitz.
On the death of the bishop in charge, the Count Pala-
182 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
tine Philip, on January 6, 1541, the Elector submitted
to his councillors and theologians the questipn whether
it was not permissible to deprive the chapter of the
right of electing a new bishop, and to give the
bishopric to the preacher Mcolaus Medler, appointed
by the magistracy of Naumburg, paying him a yearly
income of about a thousand florins out of the revenues
of the diocese, and using the remainder in some
' Christian manner.' : Fearing the interference of the
Elector, the chapter had already on January 19 unani-
mously chosen Julius Pflug, provost of the cathedral of
Zeitz and a man of blameless life and great learning, to
be the successor of Bishop Philip. ' Verily they are
desperate people,' wrote Luther to the Elector on
January 24, ' and the devil's own bondservants. But
methinks Doctor Briick will give some good advice in
this matter, and that your Grace also with God's help
will hit on something better. Where we cannot reach
the goal by an open run we must contrive to slip in.
But the Almighty will certainly in the end play into
your Grace's hands, and let the devil's sophists be
caught in their sophistry.'2
Nevertheless neither Luther nor Bugenhagen nor
Justus Jonas counselled a forcible confiscation of the
bishopric, for they feared that all the collective Estates
would be thrown into consternation by such a pro-
ceeding, and that in all that resulted from it even the
Elector's own fellow-confederates would be rather
against him than for him.
John Frederic, however, did not let himself be
frightened off. Again appealing to his conscience, he
informed the theologians that he intended to appoint
1 Seckendorf. iii. 288. 2 De Wette, v. 330-331.
BISHOPRIC OF NAUMBUEG-ZEITZ PROTESTANTISED 183
a truly ' Christian ' bishop and to place over him a
' protector ' who would administer the temporal govern-
ment in the name and with the prestige of the Elector.
The kings of England, Denmark, and Sweden had also
brought their bishops under control, in part actually
done awav with them. The Duke of Prussia had ' re-
formed ' the bishops in his territory without having
been devoured by the papists in consequence. He
intended to act after the pattern of these princes.
He forbad the instalment of the newly elected
bishop. Julius Pllug, as one of the Catholic theologi-
cal mediators at the religious conference at Eatisbon,
had adopted an extremely conciliatory attitude towards
the Protestants. Nevertheless the Elector wrote to the
magistracy of Naumburg that 'nobody was more dis-
pleasing and objectionable to him than this Pflug, of
whom he knew for certain not only that he was an out-
and-out opponent of the new doctrines, but also that
he was acting against his own conscience and better
convictions. In spite of the imperial command of
July 18, 1541, that he was not to hinder the bishop in
taking possession of his diocese, and above all not
further to infringe the free electoral rights of the
chapter and the rights of the imperial bishopric, John
Frederic caused the castle at Zeitz to be laid siege to in
September, and he appointed a governor of his own
over the episcopal lands.'
The month before he had in like manner, without
the slightest foundation of right, caused the monastery
of Dobrilugk, in the Niederlausitz, to be besieged, and
thirty-one villages, together with the small town of
Kirchheim, to be coerced into allegiance to him. In
the district of Wurzen, belonging to the bishopric of
184 HISTOEY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Meissen, he drove the Catholic clergy out of the land
and forcibly confiscated the property of the cloister.
' Thus the poor,' wrote the bishop to the Emperor, ' are
robbed of the alms which they have hitherto received
from the cloisters.' The bishop commended himself
and all his clergy and his poor monasteries and con-
vents to the mercy of the Emperor.1
Before the close of the Eatisbon Diet the Elector
and all the Saxon princes had written with ill-concealed
sarcasm to the Catholic monarch : ' Your Imperial
Majesty will scarcely require to be informed how in-
tolerable to us an alien and godless religion in our
dominions must be, and how fatal it must be to the
eternal welfare of the people under our sovereignty.'
It was their princely duty to liberate the ' Christian
people ' from ' the idolatry, error, and abuses ' in which
the bishop wished to retain them by criminal means.
The bishop's claim, ratified by the Emperor, that he
was an immediate feudatory of the Empire, was false
and baseless ; it was known throughout the Empire
that the bishops of Meissen, Merseburg, and Naumburg
belonged to the House of Saxony.
As soon as the theologians found that the Elector
was determined to persist in his decision with regard
to the bishopric of Naumburg, they altered their minds
and sanctioned the measures he had resolved to adopt
there.
On November 9 they pronounced the following
judgment : ' The Elector had justifiably opposed the
election of Pflug, and the chapter had thereby lost its
right of election.' If it should proceed to make
1 1541, April to June, in Gersdorf's UrJmndenbtich des Hochstiftes
Meissen, pp. 362-365.
BISHOPRIC OF NAUMBURG-ZEITZ PROTESTANTISED 185
another election, ' it would be certain to choose a
papist,' and it was not to be tolerated ' that a
persecutor of the true doctrines should be appointed.
The proper course would be for the Elector to propose
a suitable person to the nobles and the towns, and if
' the nobles and towns, called upon to decide,' voted
unanimously for the said candidate, it would then be
' a real and truly valid election.' The candidate
elected must then ' be ordained by the preachers with
laying on of hands and with prayer ; ' there was no
need ' of any other spectacular ceremony.' 1
On January 20, 1542, the Elector John Frederic
had Nicolaus Amsdorf, the Magdeburg superintendent,
consecrated as ' bishop ' by Luther, assisted by three
clergymen of Naumburg. Afterwards the proceeding
was justified in public pamphlets.2
Among his secular councillors the jurist Melchior
von Ossa had expressed his opinion strongly against
the illegal seizure of the bishopric. He was above all
afraid that in consequence of this act of violence the
rest of the bishops would join the league of Nuremberg
and ' other confederacies opposed to the Elector.' In
his heart he approved of the election of Pflug. But by
command of the Elector he was obliged to defend the
proceedings against this bishop and the freedom of the
bishopric. He complied with the orders he received,
but he said nevertheless in his diary : ' I pleaded thus
1 Corp. Reform, iv. 692-694.
2 ' The Elector and his councillors and theologians easily reconciled
to their consciences the forcible measures resorted to in Naumburg by the
merit of having robbed the papacy of a seat,' says Voigt in his Moritz von
Sachsen, p. 23. Luther himself described the episcopal consecration per-
formed by him on March 26, 1542, as an ' audax facinus et plenissimum
odio, invidia et indignatione ' (De AVette, v. 451).
186 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
against my will ; but with all my arguments I could
not succeed in convincing myself.' ]
Luther published a vindication in which he gave
the following reasons as proof that the Elector had
acted rightly and justly in depriving the chapter of the
right of election and in appointing a 'Christian'
bishop.
' By the three first divine commandments, above all
by the first, " Thou shalt have none other gods but
Me," not only the bishop and chapter of Naumburg,
but also the Pope, cardinals, and all connected with
their rule have not only been deposed, but eternally
relegated to hell, with all who obey them.' On penalty
of everlasting damnation every Christian is commanded
to flee from a false prophet, preacher, or bishop, and
to separate himself from them, and ' not to look upon
them as bishops, but as wolves or devils.' It was
impossible for the Elector to recognise Julius Pflug as
bishop, for he could not ' help on the persecution of
the Gospel and worship the devil.' As the chapter
would not elect a ' Christian bishop,' the election was
in itself null and void. Possession, privilege, tradition,
to which the chapter might appeal, all counted as
nothing before God ; God conceded ' to none of His
creatures either privileges or traditional rights against
Himself or against His word, for He is eternal, and
eternity outweighs all privileges and traditions.' ' It is
ordained by commandment of God that a wolf shall not
be a bishop over a Christian Church, even though
Emperor, kings, Pope, and all the host of devils
should insist upon it.' The Naumburg Estates, who
1 Von Langenn, Moritz von Sachsen, i. 130, and Melchior von Ossa,
pp. 30, 58, 64.
BISHOPRIC OF NAUMBURG-ZEITZ PROTESTANTISED 187
broke their oath towards the chapter, must not be
condemned as perjurors, for they had broken their
oath long before this — namely, on the day and at the
hour when they ' accepted the Gospel.' If Julius Pflug
accuses the Elector of having subjugated the bishopric
to his own authority, robbed it of its freedom, and
withdrawn it from the Empire, this is ' a public and
scandalous lie. This I know for certain.' The
bishopric will not be dismembered, but will remain a
free corporation, as before, with all its former juris-
diction.1
So wrote Luther. But the Elector acted very
differently. He wrested the bishopric from the Empire.
Those of the Naumburg Estates that refused to conform
to his orders were punished by him with confiscation
of goods, and even imprisonment ; he transferred the
secular government to a lieutenant, and from the
revenues of the diocese he paid the new bishop,
Amsdorf, only 600 florins a year, in addition to free
maintenance. But as to any organisation of the Church
system, nothing was done on the part of the Electoral
court.2
The theologians were the puppets of the princes
and were obliged to conform to their will and defend
their acts of violence in public. In their private letters
1 Collected Works, xxvi. 77-103. On April 3, 1542, Philip of Hesse
wrote to Bucer : ' We will not conceal from you the latest news, viz. that
Amsdorf wields not only spiritual but also secular sway in the bishopric
of Naumburg, and has himself called ' gracious Lord ! ' to which Bucer
replied : ' I am sorry that Amsdorf has assumed temporal authority, for
it is dead against what we have said in our answer to the Emperor's book.'
Lenz, ii. 76, 80.
2 On January 13, 1543, Luther wrote to Amsdorf : " Male me habet
aulae nostrae negligentia, quae tanta praesurnit audacter et postea nobis in
lutum conjectis stertit otiosa et nos deserit.' De Wette v. 532.
188 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
only were they able to compensate themselves by the
bitterest complaints of their slavery and of the conduct
of the princes, who, under the cloak of the Gospel,
thought of nothing but plundering churches, gam-
bling, and other pleasures. ' Maybe, the Turks,' wrote
Melanchthon in the year 1541, ' will drive these things
out of our heroes.' * ' I have served now for so many
years at courts, and to my detriment have been
employed in the most difficult tasks, but I see now how
true are the words in the canticle of canticles. " The
watchmen on the walls have wounded me and taken
my raiment from me," says the Church. The princes
wound the Church with unspeakable offences and take
her raiment and possessions from her. Meanwhile the
ministration of the Gospel is neglected no less than the
pious and well-deserving servants of the same. These
complaints grow worse and worse.' 2 A year later he
reiterated : ' The princes, absorbed in their own interests
and a prey to their passions, neglect and tolerate the
Church. Hence the complications and perplexities in
the government in nearly all places are so great that
one cannot look on without unspeakable sorrow.' 3
' The Church,' Luther laments, ' is being robbed and
despoiled. People give nothing, but only take and
steal. In former times our kings and princes gave
benevolently and lavishly ; now, however, they do
nothing but plunder.' ' If we are destined to become
one day the slaves of Turks, it is better that we should
be subjugated by those hostile foreign Turks than by
1 October 16, 1541, in the Corp. Reform, iv. 679. April 7, 1542, to
Camerarius : ' Ita rne excruciariint dm principes ipsi, ut vivere inter has
rnolestias non libeat. Scio qualem servitutem tulerim ' (iv. 801).
2 Corp. Reform, iv. 695. 3 Ibid. iv. 882.
BISHOPRIC OF MEISSEN PROTESTANTISED 189
the Turks who are our friends and fellow-citizens.'
' Those who pretend that they are evangelical are
calling down the wrath of God by their covetousness,
their robbery, their plunder of churches.' :
' The princes,' wrote Luther's friend Johann Lange,
cathedral preacher at Erfurt, in the same year 1542,
' the princes are either asleep or else given up to the
gratification of their lusts, and seeking by all manner of
means to amass money. The people lead Epicurean,
Sardanapalian lives. Nearly all of them revel in
Greek — yea, more than Greek — luxury, while to us poor
preachers there falls nothing but misery.' 2
Encouraged by the rapid success of the proceedings
against the bishopric of Naumburg, the Elector forth-
with embarked on further projects of the same
kind.
The ' nearest objective point ' favourable to the
' propagation of the Holy Gospel ' was the bishopric of
Meissen. In order to ' incorporate ' this district also
John Frederic resolved to begin by taking possession
of Wurzen, which was the property of a collegiate
chapter founded by the Bishops of Meissen. The
possession of this would be peculiarly advantageous to
his schemes of future aggrandisement by reason of the
strength of its castle, which commanded the passage of
the river Mulde. The plan of seizing the stronghold
emanated from Chancellor Briick, Luther's most zealous
friend. Melchior von Ossa once more, as previously in
the case of Naumburg, ' fiercely opposed so violent a
measure, denouncing it as a violation of the public
peace and an affront to the Empire.' Ossa, however, was
1 De Wette, v. 439, 462, 485.
3 To W. Link in Verpoorten's Sacra superioris aevi Analecta, p. 116.
190 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
unsuccessful even in his contention that the Bishop of
Meissen ought at least to be informed of the intention
to seize upon Wurzen.1
Under pretence of wishing to collect a Turkish tax
the Elector gave orders on March 22, 1542, that Wurzen
was to be occupied by military forces. He informed
the council and the community that the position of
the town marked it out as the property of the Electoral
House. The nobles also who owed no feudal allegiance
must take the oath of obedience to the Elector. On the
following day Asmus Spiegel, the Electoral councillor
and governor of Wurzen, summoned the prebendaries
into his presence, and informed them that the Elector
had loner tolerated their ' idolatrous behaviour : ' but it
was now time for the chapter to be ' reformed,' the new
form of worship to be introduced, and an inventory of
the Church property to be made. All who set them-
selves against these measures not only would be deposed
from their offices, but would also suffer corporal
punishment.2 It was in vain that the clergy defended
the teaching of their Church, and declared that they
must be true to their duty to God. The Elector
ordered the Catholic Church service to be suppressed,
made over the keys of the collegiate church to Pro-
testant preachers, caused those of the clergy who
administered the Sacrament in one kind to be put in
prison and the images and altars to be thrown out of
the church. He then personally directed the construc-
1 V. Langenn, Herzog Moritz, i. 133, and Melchior von Ossa, pp. 32-33 ;
Voigt, Herzog Moritz, p. 24.
2 Burkhardt, Wurzener Fehde, pp. 64-65. ' One seizure followed
another,' says this impartial Protestant author. The House of Ernest ' no
longer recognised the right of free will ; fanaticism drove them further
and further into paths which ought to have remained untrodden by them.'
BISHOPRIC OF MEISSEN PROTESTANTISED 191
tion of fortifications and the occupation of the passes.
Chancellor Briick was overjoyed that the Elector ' had
really struck the blow.'
But success did not follow here so quickly as in
Naumburg ; for Duke Maurice of Saxony was not
disposed to renounce ' his share in the protectorate
over Meissen.'
Hitherto, since the death of Duke George, both
branches of the House of Saxony had worked together with
the best understanding for the spread of ' the Gospel ; '
the Elector had laboured zealously towards this end in
the dukedom of Saxony. Now, however, personal
interests began to clash. Maurice was not willing to
leave all the booty to his cousin. He had not expected,
he wrote on April 1 to the Elector, the actual seizure of
Wurzen. ' We can only understand your Grace's
behaviour to mean that your Grace's intention is to
augment your territory and add more and more to
it.' The Elector, he went on, had already illegally
seized the monastery of Dobrilugk, and he still retained
it in his possession ; he was harassing the town of
Erfurt, and he had planted his foot in the bishopric of
Naumburg, and had profited by the age and infirmity
of the Saxon Dukes George and Henry to carry on
raids for the extension of his principality. But, Duke
Maurice threatened, in spite of his youth, which the
Elector thought to take advantage of, he would not
suffer any more of these aggressions.1 He was equipping
himself in order to come with a strong hand to the
relief of the besieged town of Wurzen, which was of
such importance to his own land.2
1 Von Langenn, Herzog Moritz, ii. 224-226.
2 Brandenburg, Moritz von Sacliscn, i. 197 ff.
192 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
The armies of the Saxon princes were on the point
of coming into collision, when the Landgrave Philip of
Hesse hastened to the scene as mediator between the
disputants. Luther, who, as he himself allowed, was quite
in the dark as to the rights of the question, took up
the cudgels for his Elector : he declared Maurice to be
an arrogant, quarrelsome youngster, full of the spirit of
Satan. 'I wrote to the Landgrave early yesterday
morning,' he informed the Chancellor Briick on April
12, ' and spoke in the strongest terms against that
mad bloodhound Duke Maurice. May God comfort,
strengthen, and preserve my most gracious Lord, and
all of you, and shower down on the heads of those
hypocritical bloodhounds of Meissen all that such
Cains, and Absaloms, and Herods, and Judases deserve !
Amen.' In his letter to the Landgrave Luther called
Duke Maurice an impenitent bloodhound, who had
devilishly contemplated the murder of cousin, brother,
stepfather, yea, own father and son.
At the expense of the rightful possessor, the defence-
less Bishop of Meissen, Philip brought about an agree-
ment at Grimma, on April 10, by which the Elector
was to retain a free hand in the district of Wurzen and
the adjoining territory, and Duke Maurice in the other
parts of the bishopric. The bishop was not even in-
formed of the treaty that had been concluded. ' The
bishop,' it was mockingly said, ' had nearly gone off
his head with vexation ; but he could not help him-
self.'
As soon as the compact was settled the Elector had
all the images in the church of Wurzen destroyed,
except those which were overlaid with gold or which
represented ' serious events,' and the rest buried in
BISHOPRIC OF MEISSEN PROTESTANTISED 193
the vaults ; and then he had the new doctrines intro-
duced through the whole bishopric.
Maurice on his part carried off from the cathedral
of Meissen all the gold and silver vessels, richly studded
with jewels and precious stones, and all the treasures
of art. He was taking them, he said, under his pro-
tection, 'because the times were so full of risk and
danger.' In the catalogue of art treasures prepared
by the sub-custodian, Blasius Kneusel, there were the
following entries among others : ' One gold cross valued
by Duke George at 1,300 florins ; in the same there is
a diamond valued at 16,000 florins, besides other
precious stones and pearls with which the cross is
covered.' * A second gold cross worth 6,000 florins.
A third is worth 1,000 florins, besides the precious
stones and pearls of which the cross is full. I value
the golden table and the credence table, without the
precious stones, at 1,000 florins in gold. The large
bust of St. Benno weighs 36^ pounds ; it is set with
valuable precious stones ; it was made by order of the
church, and all the congregation contributed towards
it. The small cross with the images of the Virgin
Mary and St. John weighs about 50 pounds.' The
number of these treasures of art amounted to fifty-one.1
After Maurice had taken them into his ' care ' all traces
of them disappeared for all time.
On November 15, 1541, Duke Maurice informed
the provincial Estates with respect to the confiscated
church and monastic property that ' the administration
of the latter had lapsed into the greatest confusion.
1 Arndt, Archive, ii. 333-339. Gersdorf's TJr~kundenbucli des Hocli-
stiftes Meissen (part 2 of the Codex diplomaticus Saxoniae Begiae),
pp. 375-376.
VOL. VI. 0
194 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Buildings had fallen in, forests were devastated, pro-
visions were squandered.'
Luther's views of the propagators of ' the Gospel '
in the duchy were by no means favourable. ' The
sudden and unexpected news of this war,' he wrote
after the seizure of Wurzen, ' has revealed to us the
thoughts of many hearts, and made manifest what
sham and humbugging " lovers of the Gospel " Meissen
and Leipzig are swarming with. May God in His own
good time give the reward they deserve to these
accursed tyrants, who are given up to revelry, greed,
extortion, pride, hypocrisy, hatred, godlessness, insur-
rection, deceit, and every description of injustice and
wickedness ! ' x
As with the Elector of Saxony in the bishopric of
Naumburg, so Duke Maurice was given a ' free hand '
in the diocese of Merseburg. Already in February
1542 he inaugurated his temporal 'guardianship' of
the bishopric by attempting to force the bishop and
chapter to accept the Lutheran doctrines, and he
wrung from the chapter the promise never in future to
elect a bishop without his consent.2
In order to satisfy his brother Duke Augustus's
claims as inheritor he promised him to do his part to
settle on him the dominion over the bishopric of Merse-
burg, with the rights always enjoyed by the bishops,
on condition that Augustus would pay the future
holder of the episcopal office a yearly salary of 3,000
florins out of the revenues of the monastery of St.
Peter in Merseburg. On the death of the excellent
1 To H. Walter, April 19, 1542 ; De Wette, v. 465.
' Voigt, Moritz, p. 71. See the letter of Bishop John Morone of Modena
of February 10, 1542, in Laemmer, Mon. Vat. p. 405.
BISHOPRIC OF MEISSEN PROTESTANTISED 195
Bishop Sigmund of Lindenau Augustus was forced
upon the diocese as administrator, and very soon there
were rumours of ' wanton prescription or enclosure of
districts, cloisters, and manor lands, and of the scrapes,
follies, and extravagances in which his Princely High ■
ness was everywhere perpetually involved.' 1
The contract of Grimma of April 11, 1542, by
which the partitioning and protestantising of the
bishopric of Meissen had been arranged for, was con-
cluded on the same day on which the Diet at Spires
decided to contribute help against the Turks. ' Under
the pretext of the Turkish need ' the proceedings in
Meissen had gone on. Under the same pretext still
further measures of violence were to be carried out.
At the time of the congress at Grimma the Land-
grave Philip had again brought forward a proposal for
his long-planned attack on the duchy of Brunswick-
Wolfenblittel. Melchior von Ossa, who at the council
board of the Elector of Saxony had pronounced this
scheme also to be unlawful, stood in danger from his
outspokenness. Things in Germany, he wrote in his
diary, had come to such a pass ' that no honourable,
God-fearing man could speak in defence of right and
justice without exposing himself to the greatest
danger.' 2
At an interview in Weimar the Elector and the
Landgrave came to a mutual understanding respecting
the ' expedition ' against Duke Henry of Brunswick.3
1 Wenck, Moritz und August, pp. 394-404.
2 Von Langenn, Melchior von Ossa, pp. 36-37.
3 Von Langenn, Moritz von Sachsen, i. 146-147.
o ■*.
196 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CHAPTER XVII
CONQUEST AND PROTESTANTISING OF THE DUCHY OF
BRUNSWICK-WOLFENBUTTEL
Duke Henry of Brunswick was a ' peculiar man/
' He stood by the old faith and on the side of the
Emperor because it was very advantageous, and for
the sake of advancement ; whether also from sincere
promptings of conscience and conviction God alone
knows ; but he was not greatly trusted among his
associates in religion, for he was of a turbulent dis-
position, and his language and behaviour were so vari-
able that people did not like to have any dealings with
him.'
After a serious feud with the bishopric of Hildes-
heim substantial Church lands had fallen to his house,
and the Emperor had invested him with them at the
Diet of Augsburg. At the very same time, however,
Duke Henry, in concert with the Landgrave of Hesse,
was scheming to reinstate Ulrich of Wurtemberg in his
duchy by military force, in return for which Philip
and Ulrich had guaranteed him their support against
the town of Goslar, with which he was at constant
strife concerning his right of inheritance to Rammels-
berg.1 In the year 1530 he had still stood in the
friendliest relations with Philip, ' his dear Lips,' as he
1 See Bruns, Vcrtreibung Hcinricli's von BraunscJiweig, i. 13 ff.
DUCHY OF WOLFENBUTTEL PROTESTANTISED 197
called him. But after the Smalcald confederates had
taken his place of residence, Brunswick (with which
town, as with Goslar, he was at strife), under their
protection, and had actually held a meeting there
in 1538 without his leave, Henry had conceived the
most violent antagonism to them, had become the most
zealous member of the League of Nuremberg, and had
written those famous letters against the Landgrave
which had been ' intercepted and published, and had
caused so great a storm in the Empire.' x These letters
became the motive of a long series of polemical writings
in prose and verse of the most virulent and personal
character between Henry, Philip, and the Elector of
Saxony, who exceeded all bounds of decency and
princely dignity in their cross fire of calumny and
abuse.2 Philip had already in 1539 proposed to the
Elector to ' take their enemies by surprise ; ' the
personal offences he had sustained were to serve as
justification for violation of the peace; the war,
however, was to be carried on as a war of religion.
Goslar furnished the first opportunity. During
the contest with Duke Henry this town had allowed
different churches and cloisters to be destroyed, and
' several of the workpeople in the smelting houses to
be thrown into the furnaces and burnt to death.'
For this reason the Imperial Court had laid the town
under the ban in October 1 540. The council thereupon
appealed to the confederates of Smalcald, begging them
to treat the affair against the Duke as a ' religious
1 See above, pp. 33, 34.
2 Schlegel, ii. 129, note. This correspondence ' forms an interesting
item in the literature of the Reformation period ; an exhaustive study of
it would be profitable and useful.' Koldewey, Reformation, p. 327, note 3.
(For full note see German original, vol. hi. p. 539, note 1.)
198 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
question ' and to come to the succour of the town.
The Estates, however, did not wholly comply with the
request of the council, ' although the Saxon and
Hessian councillors,' wrote the Frankfort delegate
from the convention at Naumburg, ' had pleaded their
cause vehemently for two whole days, and had tried
with many arguments and much persuasion to make
them look upon the business as a matter of religion;'
the South German towns ' for manifold reasons would
not give in.' At the end of January the Emperor, at
the instigation of Granvell, suspended the Act against
Goslar, in order to prevent the occurrence of war and
bloodshed in the Empire during the meeting of the
Eatisbon imperial and religious Diet. All the same
Duke Henry, so the people of Goslar asserted, pro-
ceeded with open hostility against the burghers ; and
' the Duke must therefore be crushed, let it cost what
it will.'
At the Diet at Eatisbon the Augsburg Confessionists
submitted to the Emperor a written document in
which they designated the Duke as the originator ' of
frightful and unprecedented incendiarism in the Pro-
testant territories ; he was especially to blame for the
reduction to ashes of the town of Einbeck. As a proof
of the Duke's guilt they alleged that the incendiaries,
who had been caught, had confessed on the rack that
they had been bribed with money to commit these
terrible crimes ; many of them said that they could
not name the real author of the misdeeds ; ' others, on
the contrary, mentioned the Duke as the real criminal
who had given orders that 'the evangelical princes and
towns were to be burnt ; and when this had been done
an invasion was to follow, and all the lands to be
DUCHY OF WOLFEXBUTTEL PEOTESTANTISED ] 99
seized ; the whole of Cassel must be burnt to the
ground.' Confessions of this sort, extorted on the rack,
were read out publicly at the Diet.
The Duke repudiated all accusations as false,
hateful, and abominable calumnies ; torture, he said,
was a dangerous and detestable practice, for many
people were so afraid of bodily pain that, rather than
undergo it, they would lie to any extent.
'Many outrageous lampoons against Duke Henry
are daily issued from the press,' wrote the Frankfort
delegate, von Glauburg, from Eatisbon on May 18,
' and things are said of him which have never been
heard or read concerning any other prince.' :
Luther's pen especially was 'stirred to activity.'
Under the title of ' Wider Hans Wurst ' he published
a lampoon against the Duke, in which, among other
things, he said ' Henry had gorged himself full of devils,-
daily and hourly, like Judas at the Lord's Supper ; ' * he
emitted devils from every part of his body,' and so forth.
The Elector of Saxony was a party to the publica-
tion of this lampoon, and had it distributed by his
councillors at the Diet.
Among the heavy charges against the Duke was
that of an illicit connection between him and Eva von
Trott, one of his duchess's maids of honour. It was
said that he kept her concealed at his hunting castle of
Staufenberg, but that to deceive the world he had held
a solemn funeral at her pretended death, and caused
many Masses to be read for her soul, though she was
still alive. The Duke in his reply denied this crime,
1 Koldewey,i7em^, pp. 14 ff. Pope PaulIII. was also accused in libellous
pamphlets of having paid the incendiaries in Germany. See 0. Schade,
Satiren unci Pasquille cms der Rcformationszeit, i. 210-212.
200 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
and insisted that his accusers must either make good
their charge by the evidence of trustworthy witnesses
or documents, or else be punished as defamers and
libellers.1
1 For the episode of Eva von Trott consult Das vaterldnclische
Arcliiv fur Hannoverisch-Braunschweigische Geschichte, edited by
Spilcker and Bronnenberg (Luneburg, 1830-1833), i. 90 sq., ii. 216, par-
ticularly iv. 608-631. For latest researches consult Wachsmuth, Nieder-
sdchs. GescJdchten (Berlin, 1863), pp. 48 sq., and Heinemann, Geschichte
von Braunschweig unci Hannover, ii. 356-357. Heinemann makes the
following observations with regard to Eva von Trott and the alleged
solemn funeral : ' The accuracy of the details of this narrative, which in
substance has been borrowed from John Sleidan, the well-known historian
of the Reformation, is a subject for controversy. We are told that Henry
himself, on reading Sleidan's narrative, exclaimed : " Who told all this to
the annalist of Strasburg ? However the rascal has not got to the bottom
of the affair." Certain it is that the story found universal credence, and
was eagerly made use of in their writings against Duke Henry by the
heads of the Smalcald League, who employed it as a serviceable weapon
against Henry's attacks on the Landgrave of Hesse for his bigamy. It
was in this sense that Luther rang the changes on it in his pamphlet
Wider Hans Wurst. He " stinks like asafcetida spread all over Germany,"
and, like all the devils, he is chained to hell with the bonds of divine
judgment. For " the Lord God has proven by so many witnesses and
judgments that this fellow, Heinz, is condemned to hell fire, a murderer,
a bloodhound, and an arch-assassin, that it is impossible here on earth to
whitewash him." Let every one " for the honour of God " spit on the earth
whenever he sees this Heinz, and hold his ears whenever his name is men-
tioned, just as he does at the sight or mention of the devil." " And particu-
larly you, O pastors and preachers, let your voices resound most powerfully,
and know that our God-given authority binds us to do so, and that in doing
so we are doing a service to God." However, let not the preachers con-
fine their pulpit denunciations to the person of the Duke. " Make it
clear to the people, O ye preachers," cries out Luther, " that not Heinz
alone, but Pope, cardinals, bishops, priests, monks, and the whole crew are
included in this judgment of God." ' *
* Collected Works, xxvi. 1-75. The passages cited are found at pp. 58-61 and
69-70. John Pistorius has drawn attention to the fact that in this little pamphlet ' the
devil is mentioned by name no less than 146 times.' We shall return to this in a later
volume. Yet Luther did not think he had been violent enough. On April 12, 1541,
he wrote to Melanchthon : ' I have reread my book against the devil Mezentius ' (Duke
Henry), ' and wonder how it happened that I could write so tamely.' De Wette, iv.
342. Koldewey (Heinz, p. 31) omits the most violent passages in his citations from
the pamphlet, with the observation : ' The nineteenth-century pen rebels against
DUCHY OF WOLFENBUTTEL PROTESTANTISED 201
The transactions at Eatisbon led to no result, and
the hostilities between the Duke and the towns of
Goslar and Brunswick still continued. Brunswick,
which, though legally belonging to the sovereign of the
land, was practically an almost independent town, had,
contrary to the Duke's will, suppressed the Catholic
Church service in the abbeys and cloisters under its
jurisdiction, and refused obedience to an imperial
mandate ordering the restoration of the confiscated
churches and cloisters. The town was encouraged in
its refractoriness by Saxony and Hesse. ' In matters
of religion,' the Elector wrote to the town council,
' there was no obligation to obey the Emperor's
commands.' At the instigation of the Elector and the
Landgrave the confederates of Smalcald 'pronounced
setting before the eyes of the reader in their naked realistic coarseness expressions
and phrases which were of ordinary occurrence in that rude age.' But Luther's
pamphlet was by no means limited to ' realistic coarseness.' Koldewey's delicacy
does not prevent him from setting before the eyes of his readers extracts like the
following from Duke Henry's reply (p. 32): 'That this prince of cheats, the arch-
heretic, the godless arch-scoundrel and desperate knave Martin Luther, has been
incited to write his godless, mendacious, unchristian, calumnious, and filth-reeking
diatribe against us we owe to the Grand Sacrilegious Ruffian of Saxony, a traitor
blued as Judas. Surely no great skill is needed to reply to this infamous and devilish
fabrication. Since the godless Ruffian of Saxony dared not attack us himself he
was forced to resort to his tactics on previous occasions and stir up the unfrocked
monk and perjured apostate against us.' ' Many a man has now discovered that this
godless monk is not concerned about theology or solicitous for the advancement of
God's honour. Rather he is implicated in all sorts of selfish, wicked, ungodly,
invidious, and underground intrigues. His aim is not peace and concord ; he seeks
to stir up ill-will, dissensions, and bloodshed, and studies how he may best ruin the
German nation, destroy its faith, its honour, and its well-being, and bring it under the
yoke of its horrible foe, the Turk. As a fitting reward may God grant that the per-
fidious apostate may receive from his father, the devil, who, as I can prove, begot
him per rnodum incubi, the well-deserved recompense of everlasting damnation !
For how else can we explain the eagerness with which the apostate monk rushes
into affairs like these ? ' A scurrilous pamphlet of the year 1541 presents to the
Pope the following nosegay : —
' Dein Heiligkeit verfluchtet ist,
Du Mensch der Siind und Widerchrist ;
Demi eitel Liigen ist dein Lehr,
Die von dem Teufel kommet her.'
See Schade, i. 44-47.
202 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
the Brunswick affair to be a matter of religion,' and
sent the town 400 cavalry and two companies of foot
soldiers ' for its defence against the Duke.'
After the two principal heads of the Smalcald
confederates had come to a mutual understanding
respecting a military attack on Henry, they concluded
a treaty with Duke Maurice on May 1, 1542, by which
the latter guaranteed a considerable sum of money
towards the expedition against Brunswick, and pro-
mised to defend the territories of Johann Friedrich
and Philip with very strong forces in case of their
being attacked during this campaign.1 The Bavarian
Chancellor, Eck, had assured the Landgrave of Hesse
that Bavaria, in spite of the League of Nuremberg,
would give Henry no help.2 On May 15, 1542, the
Landgrave and the Elector of Saxony submitted to
Eck a proposal for an alliance with Bavaria.3
The opportunity was ' most highly favourable ' for
an attack : Duke Henry was not prepared for war, and
had sent ' the contingents of cavalry and infantry due
from him, with the necessary money for their pay, to
Vienna for use against the Turks.' 4
' We have heard on trustworthy authority that the
Duke is not yet prepared with the necessary troops for
defence,' said the town representatives of the League
of Smalcald, assembled at a congress in Ulm, to an
ambassador from Saxony and Hesse. The town
council of Frankfort at the municijDal assembly
1 V. Langenn, Herzog Moritz, i. 140-147.
2 Report of Sailer, December 18, 1541, in Rommel, ii. 446.
3 Stumpf, p. 247.
4 Henry's instructions of July 31, 1542, to the Estates at Nuremberg,
in the Frankfort archives, ' Acta Protest.' D. 42, No. 11, fol. 81. Letter of*
the Frankfort delegate of August 9, 1542, fol. 20.
DUCHY OF WOLFENBUTTEL PROTESTANTISED 203
strongly deprecated any measures of force. ' It would
be inconvenient in the extreme, and also dangerous, to
embark on such a war at a time when not only is the
Empire heavily burdened with preparations for resisting
the Turks, but all sorts of other serious troubles and
disquietude are rife both within and without the
country.' A military expedition against Brunswick
'might easily be the cause of the failure of the
necessary operations against the Turks, which would
bring shame and discredit on the Estates.' Saxony and
Hesse had acted in violation of the constitution of the
League and had ' begun the work of equipping and
recruiting without the sanction either of the Estates or
of the board of war.'
On July 11 the town representatives wrote from
Ulm to the board of war at Strasburg, Augsburg, and
Ulm respecting this unconstitutional and inopportune
action of Saxony and Hesse : ' There was nothing to
show that Henry had done anything in the way of
equipping or recruiting to necessitate so swift and
hasty an attack ; it was much more conceivable that
the Elector's and Prince's own interests and wishes had
prompted them to this course.'
The Elector John Frederic and the Landgrave
Philip, on the other hand, maintained that ' all had
been done in conformity with the rules and rights
of the League.' The expedition against Henry was
necessary ' for the security of the public peace and the
preservation of order and justice in the Empire. They
were going to make war on him in the name of God
and for the glory of the Eedeemer and his Holy
Church.'
Duke Henry, being unequipped, was not in a
204 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
position to withstand the Smalcald confederates in
open battle. After taking care to strengthen the
garrisons in the principal castles of his land, and to
collect in Wolfenbtittel sufficient provisions to last out
a three years' siege, he left the country accompanied
by his two eldest sons, and went to Landshut in the
hope of obtaining help from the Bavarian dukes,
4 according to the terms of the Nuremberg League.'
Duke Ludwig was ready to give him help, and repre-
sented to his brother William that when Henry of
Brunswick was completely subjugated Bavaria would
be the next victim. William, however, preferred
Eck's opinion ' that they should not interfere in the
Brunswick affair.' x
' The Christian troops ' of the Smalcald confederates
took possession of the duchy without any trouble.
On July 21, 1542, 5,000 burghers and mercenaries
of the town of Brunswick, bearing the town banner,
with the motto ' God's word endures for ever,' marched
on the monastery of Eiddagshausen and took posses-
sion of it in conjunction with Saxon auxiliaries under
Bernhard von Mila. They destroyed the altars, images,
and organs ; carried off monstrances, chalices, sacred
vestments, and other Church treasures ; trampled the
sacred Host under foot, tore up the archives, maltreated
and drove out the monks, and turned the church into
a stable for their horses. On July 23 the first evan-
gelical sermon in Eiddagshausen was preached. The
Brunswickers appropriated the farms, rents, and tithes
belonging to the monastery.2 Bernhard von Mila was
recompensed by the gift of the village of Unseburg, in
the archbishopric of Magdeburg, which belonged to
7 Stunipf, p. 246. 2 Koldewcy, Reformation, pp. 296-299.
DUCHY OF WOLFENBUTTEL PROTESTANTISED 205
the monastery, together with all its dependencies, farms,
and mills.
From Eiddagshausen the troops proceeded to the
Augustinian convent of Steterburg, ' took it by surprise,
desecrated the church, destroyed the altars, together
with the font, the choir stall, and the organ, defaced
and damaged the pictures and images, dragged the
dead bodies out of their graves, and threw them to the
swine to devour. Among the corpses were those of
the Duke's wife and sister, who had only lately died :
these bodies had not yet undergone decomposition.'
In this place also the church was turned into a stable.
The convent buildings were torn down ; all movable
goods, all jewels and provisions carried off, and the
convent forests devastated.' x
Things did not fare much better with the abbey
of Gandersheim, which was a direct fief of the Empire.
The subjects of the monastery complained to the
Emperor that ' Lutheran preachers had been set over
them, who daily and without ceasing, in the presence
of the congregation, and without any cause, scandal-
ously abused individual persons by name in order to
force them to renounce the true and ancient Catholic
religion and become Protestants. All the crucifixes
and images of saints and others that were in the abbey
church and outside in the churchyard had been
destroyed.' 2
Plundering and setting fire to churches and monas-
teries, the Elector John Frederic and the Landgrave
Philip traversed the land with an army of 22,000
1 Koldewey, Reformation, p. 296.
2 Petition of grievances in Koldewey's Reformation, p. 197.
206 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
men. Several villages were completely burnt to the
ground.1
' At no other time,' wrote the princes to their fellow-
confederates from the camp before Wolfenbiittel, ' could
the land have been taken from Duke Henry so well and
so easily.' Nobody had offered any resistance. The
costs of the war had been ' recouped with facility and
with a good surplus residue ; ' the conquered territory
must not be let slip out of their hands again, ' if only
Almighty God, through this His gracious work of the
victory vouchsafed unto them, deigned to extend His
mercies ! ' They invited the members of the League to
a congress at Grottingen on August 20.
The southern towns, however, were ' not yet quieted.'
The council of Ulm, in a despatch to Strasburg, re-
commended caution and circumspection, because King-
Ferdinand and the notables assembled at the Diet at
Nuremberg ' would undoubtedly have a hand in the
transactions,' and would contrive ways and means
' against the untimely insurrection that had been
started.' The council of Frankfort, in its instructions
to its delegate to Gottingen, again repeated emphati-
cally that ' everything had been undertaken contrary
to the wish and without the knowledge and consent of
the collective Estates,' and expressed its fears of further
proceedings of the confederate princes against other
Catholic Estates.
Meanwhile Wolfenbiittel, the chief stronghold of
the land, had fallen into the hands of the enemy on
1 Lichtenstein, p. 22. It is significant that the poet Burkard Waldis,
who was in the suite of the Landgrave, was ordered to sing of the occasion :
' Where the Smalcald confederates passed not even a cock was scared
away.' Koldewey, Heinz, p. 57, cornp. p. 51.
DUCHY OF WOLFENBLTTEL PROTESTANTISED 207
August 13. 'There was very considerable booty there
in provisions, artillery, silver vessels, and other costly
articles.' 1 Even the private chancellery of the Duke
' was greedily ransacked.' Schartlin von Burtenbach,
who had served the Landgrave actively in these opera-
tions, received as his share of the booty a monthly pay-
ment of 400 florins, a present of 400 gold florins from
the Landgrave, a war-horse and a coat of Duke Henry's
embroidered with silver. ' In this war,' he wrote, ' I
have gained at least 4,000 florins ; praise and thanks to
the Almighty in eternity.'
The Wittenberg theologians looked upon this most
successful conquest and breach of the Landfriede as a
ufreat work of God. God Himself had overcome the
Brunswickers, Luther wrote ; He had worked wonders.2
' The holy angels have kept guard over our troops,'
wrote Melanchthon to Duke Albert of Prussia.3
The congress summoned to meet at Gottingen was
removed to Brunswick. At this assembly the heads of
the League submitted to those members who had before
declared the expedition against Brunswick to be a
1 Bucholtz, v. 390 ; Haveniann, ii. 240. According to Handeln (the
historian of Brunswick), i. 4G7, the property and stores in the castle which
fell into the hands of the conquerors consisted of ' 80,000 silver florins,
0,000 bushels of rye, 3,000 bushels of flour, 9,000 tons of powder, wine to
the value of 6,000 florins, and a large supply of beer, 500 tons of butter,
300 tons of cheese ; abundance of wheat, and oats, 250 sides of bacon, a
quantity of large barrels of salted meat, a right royal supply of guns and
other weapons.' Rehtrneier, Chronik, ii. 901.
2 Letters of August 27 and 29, 1542 ; De Wette, v. 493-494. ' Summa,
Deus est in hac re totus factor seu, ut dicitur, Fac totum.' ' Recte scribis
miracula Dei esse.' But on September 3 we find Luther already com-
plaining of the robberies perpetrated by the conquerors : ' Tanta et nos-
trorum et magnorum rapacitas narratur, ut mihi rnetus incidat, ne
quando blandis conditionibus potius suum Mezentium [Duke Henry]
repetant provinciales, quani istas ferant rapinas.' De Wette, v. 490-496.
3 Corp. Beform. iv. 879.
208 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
breach of the terms of the League that, ' whereas now
the success of the enterprise, through divine grace,
sufficiently proved that it had been undertaken for the
glory of God and the extension of His holy word, and
that the Christian population of this district had been
rescued from the clutches of the devil and from the
insatiable tyranny of the peace-breaker of Brunswick,'
they now expected from all and every one of the mem-
bers of the League that ' without further objections
they would be pleased to approve and commend this
great work accomplished by the providence of God.'
They obtained their wish. The whole body of
Estates assembled at Brunswick declared that the
chiefs of the League had acted in this expedition en-
tirely in conformity to the stipulations of the League ;
they were quite ready to give their entire approval to
this great work of God's providence, and to praise and
thank the Almighty for it ; they would loyally support
the cause, and stand by each other with life and pro-
perty. The Estates, so the Frankfort delegates wrote
home, tendered ' their most subservient thanks to the
leaders, as indeed was right and fitting after the accom-
plishment of such a work.'
The town of Bremen was authorised by the members
of the League to suppress the Catholic Church service
wherever its jurisdiction extended. The town of Gos-
lar was granted permission to confiscate church and
monastic property and to put down ' all popish cere-
monies in the minster.'
The town of Hildesheim was also included in the
arrangements. In the resolutions of the congress we
read : ' Whereas the result of this expedition has been
so fortunate, Saxony and Hesse have not intermitted in
DUCHY OF WOLFENBUTTEL PROTESTANTISED 209
their endeavours, by influential deputations and other
suitable means, to persuade the people of Hildesheim
to embrace the Protestant religion and to join the
Christian union.' The council of the place had yielded
to persuasion, and Hildesheim was to be admitted into
the League.1
Fearing the invasion of the Smalcald army, the
bishop had left the town, and the confederates set to
work freely ' to root out the papist devil's doctrines from
the people, and to plant among them the divine word,
heedless of the grumblings of high and low.' The mob
plundered the churches and cloisters, ransacked the
graves of the dead for treasures, destroyed the pictures
of Christ and the statues of the saints, tore down the
side altars in most of the churches, stole chalices,
monstrances, crucifixes, and even the silver casket
containing the bones of St. Bernhard, and travestied
the Catholic rites and usages with mock performances.
For instance, on the first Thursday in Lent 1543 a
profane procession, carrying a cross, candles, and
censers, marched through the streets, and a litany was
sung which began with ' Kyrie eleison ' and then went
1 Recess of the Brunswick congress of September 12, 1542. On
August 27, 1542, envoys from the towns of Magdeburg, Brunswick, and
Goslar had proposed to the assembled burghers of Hildesheim to join the
Smalcald League against the Emperor and to adopt the reformation : it
was an honour to belong to a league composed of Electors, princes, and
important towns ; it would be most profitable to introduce the reforma-
tion in a town with so many richly endowed churches, monasteries, and
other foundations, whose revenues would all fall into the hands of the
burghers. The excited mob in full jubilation cried for the reformation :
' Give us the pure word of God and we are all right ! ' At first the coun-
cil made some opposition, but was soon compelled to yield to the threat-
ening populace. Some of the councillors gave up their office rather than
their faith. On September 2 the preacher John Winkel incited the mob
to plunder the churches, &c.
VOL. VI. P
210 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
off into blasphemous jesting. Jews, Turks, and Saracens,
says a contemporary, could not have mocked our
crucified Lord and Saviour more grievously. At the
end of the proceedings the burgomaster, Christoph
von Hagen, indulged in a large drinking bout with a
company of men, women, and young girls. ' After they
had drunk lustily they fell to dancing in the precincts
of the cathedral. Hagen gave orders to open the
cathedral door, because he wanted to dance under the
grand corona (of lights). But, as all the doors were
fastened with strong locks and bolts, he was unable to
gratify his godless desire.' Proceedings of this sort
were the natural and necessary consequence of the
sermons of the new religionist preachers, who, like
Bugenhagen, for instance, openly nicknamed the holy
Sacrament of the altar ' the great Baal,' and threatened
to trample under foot the most sacred elements. The
poor misguided populace thus felt themselves at liberty
to commit the worst offences. It is a fact that in
1543 adherents of the new faith took an ' Ecce Homo '
picture to a dance in the guildhall, drank its health,
and receiving no answer threw the beer in its face.
The Catholic parish priests were driven out of Hildes-
heim. Later on it was enacted that every person who
thenceforth communicated in one kind ' should be
banished in perpetuity from the town, and in case
of death should be buried in the knacker's yard.'
All the goods, moneys, and bonds of the churches
and cloisters, together with all the jewels, chalices,
monstrances, and costly crucifixes, were carried off.
The complaints and remonstrances of the bishop
and the commands of the Imperial Court were all
unavailing.
DUCHY OF WOLFENJ3UTTEL PROTESTANTISED 211
In the imperial city of Miililhausen also there was
a complete subversion of ecclesiastical conditions.
After the battle of Frankenhausen, Mtihlhausen,
with reservation of the rights of the Emperor and the
Empire, had been obliged to surrender to the Elector
John of Saxony, Duke George of Saxony, and the
Landgrave Philip of Hesse ; it still retained its character
of an imperial cit}T, but these three princes ruled over
it alternately for a year at a time. After the terrible
experiences under Thomas Mtinzer the town council
and the burgesses showed themselves staunchly loyal
to the Catholic faith, in spite of all attempts at
proselytising them on the part of the Elector and the
Landgrave. ' As long as my father-in-law, Duke George,
is alive,' Philip said once to a deputation from the
Council, ' I will let them alone ; but when he dies
things must be altered.' After Duke George's death
the villages within the jurisdiction of the town were
protestantised without regard to the remonstrances of
the Council. The Emperor, as immediate overlord of
the town, had taken it under his protection, and the
Diet at Spires had announced the full restoration of
its freedom as an imperial city ; but the Elector of
Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse would recognise
no foreign rights, no imperial rights. After the
conquest of Wolfenbiittel they sent ambassadors to
Muhlhausen charged with the threat that ' the town
would be laid waste and given over as booty to the
soldiers if the council did not submit unconditionally.'
The council knew well how the undisciplined hordes
had behaved in the duchv of Brunswick, and being
unarmed and defenceless was obliged to yield. The
freedom of the town was forfeited and the Catholic
p -2
212 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
faith was forcibly suppressed. Commissioners ap-
pointed by the princes shut up the schools and
monasteries, took away the church treasures, and in-
troduced a new church system. On September 14
Justus Menius preached the first Protestant sermon in
the church of St. Mary.1
A new form of government had already at that
time been established in the duchy of Brunswick and
an ordinance of ecclesiastical visitation drawn up.
The Q-overnment consisted of one Saxon and one
Hessian stattholder, with two temporal and two spi-
ritual councillors, besides which the Saxon and South
German towns were each to nominate one councillor.
On September 1 the stattholders received orders to
send Johann Bugenhagen and Anton Corvinus on a
tour of inspection through the land ' to put down idola-
trous practices everywhere and to appoint Christian
preachers.' 'All that came to hand in the way of
ready money or jewels, or was found in churches
and ecclesiastical institutions, was to be brought to
Wolfenbiittel.' All the servants and officials of Duke
Henr}^ and all his adherents in Wolfenbiittel were to
be sent out of the country.
The whole population of the duchy was compelled
to swear to the Landgrave and the other members of
the League of Smalcald ' that they would recognise
them and their heirs and successors as their rightful
lords and rulers and would obey them as loyal subjects.'
They were obliged to swear ' to pursue as an enemy
1 Schmidt's Justus Menius, i. 273-289. This writer thus defends these
proceedings : ' The Elector, John Frederic, believed it his conscientious
duty, being lord of Muhlhausen by divine appointment, to reform the
place.'
DUCHY OF WOLFENBUTTEL PROTESTANTISED 213
and join in condemning to outlawry ' their hereditary
lawful Sovereign, Duke Henry, and his kinsmen.1
The Elector of Saxony especially appeared in the
light of ' a gallant hero of evangelism.' At the very
beginning of the campaign, when the first town was
entered, ' the pious prince,' so says a contemporary
song, ' planted the word of God, visited the temple of
God, and drove the devil out of it,.' 2 Everything that
was Catholic, John Frederic declared, ' was more
venomous than devil's work ; he would suffer none of it
to remain in the land, even if he had to use harsh
measures ; for he was a lover of Christ.'
' This does not agree,' says an account by a Catholic
of the proceedings in Brunswick, ' with the wild drink-
ing orgies at the castle, which went on daily in a man-
ner that had never been witnessed before, although
Duke Henry had loved a jovial life ; still less does
it agree with the vices and outrages against nature
indulged in by the Elector at the castle, as is commonly
reported, and concerning which there is much talk
among the court people.' This report repeats the
charge of sodomy made by Philip of Hesse against
his fellow- confederate.
' The Gospel ought not to be made a cloak for
shame,' the writer goes on to say. ' It is all very well
to say : " Faith alone insures salvation ; works cannot
do it." No verily, works cannot do it without
faith ; but works of shame are not covered and
cancelled by faith, however loud people may cry out :
"The Gospel! the Gospel!'" 'What they have got
to do is to attack the devil in their own bosoms and
1 Formula of the oath of allegiance in Lichtenstein, pp. 91-92.
s Koldewey's Reformation, p. 258.
214 lilSTOEY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
root him out from their own natures, and not go
on thus denouncing as abominable and as emanating
from Satan all that the holy Church has taught for
so many centuries, and what the holy Fathers too
have taught, and the wisest men and the greatest
kings and princes and multitudes of other people of
high and low degree have practised, the very fore-
fathers even of those princes who now call themselves
evangelical.'
In the name of a set of doctrines which pretended
to be ' the newly developed faith in the Gospel of
eternal love,' it was said in the introduction to a new
code of Church ordinances that the teaching of the
Catholic Church concerning the way of Christian
perfection, concerning vows, the hory sacrifice, Com-
munion in one form, the veneration of saints, Purgatory,
and other points, was ' godless devil's doctrine and lies
of antichrist. Those antichristian papists do not
even deserve to have their devilish doctrines reformed
by a Christian council.'
The looting of churches and cloisters now became
almost universal. Not only were all the jewels stolen
from the churches, but also all the ' superfluous ' bells,
under the plea that they had ministered to ' idolatrous
superstition, pride, and pomp.' Even the ' strongly
evangelical ' town of Helmstadt opposed this step ; but
all in vain. Such a quantity of bells were stolen from
the cloisters, towns, boroughs, and villages, that nearly
2,500 cwts. of bell-metal were sold for 20,000 florins.7
The monastic property was all confiscated and
squandered. The abbot of Eingelstein estimated the
extent of the losses sustained at more than 10,000
1 Koldewey, pp. 301, 336, note 38.
DUCHY OF WOLFENBUTTEL PROTESTANTISED 215
florins.1 An army of greedy and well-paid officials, like
a flight of hungry vultures, swooped down upon the
country to devour its substance. Members of the
nobility who had been 'busy' against Duke Henry
received, besides the castles allotted to them, ' gratifica-
tions' of as much as 2,000 florins.
Eespecting the condition of Church affairs, two of
the visiting inspectors wrote to Bugenhagen in 1543 :
' In all the churches and country parishes, although they
lie close together, each different clergyman teaches,
preaches, and administers the Sacrament according to
his own ideas and methods. Many of them complain
that the people cannot be brought to attend the Lord's
Supper, and that they despise sermons and the sacra-
ments, and even say openly that " the parsons them-
selves do not agree about the Gospel ; why therefore
should we listen to them? We will stick to the old
ways." In some parishes the stipend is so small that
no clergyman can exist on it. There are some livings,
now vacant, which nobody is willing to accept ; and if
pastors are put into them poverty soon compels them
to resign. If we apply to the lord of the district for
help and suitable remuneration for the clergy, I need
scarcely tell you how little such a course pleases the
people at court ; moreover there is such constant
revelling and carousing going on at court that the
Lord Christ and His people are everywhere and always
forgotten.' 2
1 Koldewey, p. 298 : ' An enormous sum when it is considered that a
barrel of March beer was sold for 3 florins, a plough-horse for 10, a cow
for 4, a pig for 1, and so forth.'
2 Koldewey, pp. 302 306. Fuller details about the inspectoral visita-
tions of 1542 to 1544 in Koldewey, pp. 257-289, 306-316. Burkhardt,
Sdclis. Kirchen and ScliuIvisitatio?ien, pp. 297-320. Already under
216 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
The peasants refused all dues and payments to the
preachers and other new Church officials, ' because they
do more harm than good with the Church revenues,
which they misspend and squander in drink, while they
will not give anything to the poor.' l
' There is nothing but division and discord in the
land nowadays,' says a report of the year 1545.
' Those who are determined to stand true to the old
faith are persecuted and driven away. The poor nuns
in the convents are treated more contemptuously than
if they were bad women ; they are persecuted to make
them abjure their vows, and their bodily sustenance is
taken from them. Nowhere is there any justice or
order. The churches are empty, but the public-houses
full ; the lower classes imitate the upper, and there is
no end to drinking and profligacy of all sorts.'
From the Empire the Smalcald confederates had met
with no resistance to their measures of violence in
Brunswick. On August 6, 1542, Duke Henry notified
to the members of the Diet assembled at Nuremberg
that ' neither against Goslar, since the Emperor had
suspended the ban, nor against Brunswick had he
undertaken any hostile proceedings, and also that at a
provincial Diet he had given orders to his subjects to
see that no injury was done to either of these towns.'
He had sent his due contingent of troops, cavalry and
infantry, with the necessary money and supplies, against
the Turks, and ' had remained tranquil in all matters ; '
the ' forcible violent invasion ' of his territory had been
Duke Henry the larger portion of the parochial clergy had had to struggle
with want of bodily provision. There were some livings the annual
income of which did not exceed from two to three florins.
1 Koldewey, Beformation, p. 311.
DTJCHY OF WOLFENBUTTEL PROTESTANTISED 217
a most flagrant violation of the Landfriede and of the
armistice settled by the Emperor.1 In response to this
appeal the Estates of the Diet sent ' influential com-
missioners ' to the chiefs of the Smalcald League ■with
* inhibitory instructions ' from King Ferdinand and the
Empire. But the invaders did not suffer themselves
' to be in any way checked.' Their undertaking, they
said in a despatch of August 11, 1542, wTas an act of
4 legitimate defence.' On August 13 the Diet at Nurem-
berg decided that ' as this question appertained to their
Imperial and Eoyal Majesties ' it should be referred to
them. In order to prevent ' still greater disturbance of
the peace ' and delay in sending in the Turkish aid,
Ferdinand informed the invaders on August 24 that
' no forcible measures w7ould be instituted against them
on account of their warlike proceedings until after a
fair trial had taken place, or a friendly explanation had
been made, and he guaranteed their security against
all aggression.' The Dukes of Bavaria promised the
Elector and the Landgrave ' to engage in no measures
of violence against them and their associates, and to
give no help to the Duke of Brunswick.' 2
The forcible seizure of a territory over wdiich the
invaders possessed no shadow of a right was provision-
ally recognised as a legitimate proceeding. The Smal-
cald confederates were left undisturbed to ' root out '
the Catholic faith in this foreign land.
The Imperial Court alone asserted its authority,
and on September 3 summoned the Elector of Saxony,
the Landgrave and his fellow-confederates to Spires
1 Frankfort archives, ' Acta Protest.' D 42, No. 4, fols. 81-86.
- Melanchthon, October 14, 1542, to Duke Albert of Prussia, Corp.
Reform, iv. 878.
218 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
to answer for their breach of the Landfriede com-
mitted against Duke Henry on November 17, ' and
either to be laid under sentence of outlawry or else to
show sufficient cause for their proceeding.'
' A citation of this sort ' from the highest imperial
tribunal appeared to the Protestants ' an abominable
proceeding.' Luther had already in former years called
the Imperial Chamber ' eine Teufelshure! And now the
Landgrave Philip wrote to Georg von Carlowitz :
' Whereas the Imperial Court is made up of a crowd of
wicked, dissolute, popish rascals, whose behaviour to-
wards us and our Estates is altogether corrupt and
factious, you can well understand that such a court
cannot be tolerated by our Estates, and that we are
justified in altogether repudiating it.' On December 4,
1542, the whole body of confederates handed in at
Spires a formal document of recusation. They endea-
voured to justify their renunciation of obedience on the
plea that the promised inspection and reform of the
tribunal had not been carried out and that the jurisdic-
tion of the Court over the Protestants had thus been
forfeited ; besides which all the members of the tribu-
nal were radically opposed to their interests, because
they were all adherents of a different religion, and had
all sworn allegiance to the Augsburg recess of 1530,
in which the Protestants had been declared renegades
and heretics, and had been excluded from all benefit
of law.
By this act of repudiation ' all justice in the land,'
as Philip of Hesse said, ' was obstructed,' and the bond
loosened which linked the Protestant with the Catholic
Estates, and with the whole body corporate of the
Empire.
DUCHY OF WOLFENBUTTEL PROTESTANTISED 219
The fact that the renunciation of obedience to the
supreme tribunal of the realm was irreconcilable with
the constitutional laws of the Empire was also recog-
nised by Protestant jurists.
'Whereas the repudiation of the Imperial Court,'
we read in a ' Eathschlag ' and memorandum of Ham-
burg, ' is based on the consideration that the judges and
assessors of the Imperial Court are not of the same
faith as the Protestant Estates, there would follow this
inconvenience and absurdity, that until the ending of
the Council the Protestants would not tolerate any one
of the opposite party as a judge. And vice versa the
judgments of Protestants would not be accepted by the
Catholics. And thus the subjects of the Holy Empire
would be left without judges and magistrates, which
would be contrary to divine justice.' l
3 Bucholtz. v. 307.
220 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CHAPTER XVIII
DIET AT NUREMBERG FURTHER STRENGTHENING OF THE
LEAGUE OF SMALCALD ATTEMPT TO PROTESTANTISE
THE ARCHBISHOP OF COLOGNE, 1543
A few weeks after the repudiation of the Imperial
Court by the Smalcald confederates King Ferdinand
opened a fresh Diet at Nuremberg, on January 31, 1543,
in order to obtain subsidies for war against the Turks.
He informed the Estates of Solyman's gigantic prepara-
tions by land and by water and of his intended ex-
pedition with a view to subjugating the Austrian
crown lands and hereditary possessions. The Elector of
Saxony, to whom the King had sent two successive
deputations to invite his attendance at the Diet, had
refused to come ; and indeed not one of the Smalcald
princes appeared in person.
On January 10 the delegates of the Protestant
Estates at Nuremberg had decided ' to take no part in
any transactions whatever, whether respecting the
Turkish aid or other matters,' unless all their previous
demands were satisfied. Saxony and Hesse had declared
menacingly on January 25 that ' if the King and the
imperial commissioners would not put a stop to all the
proceedings of the Imperial Court, especially those
instituted in punishment of the necessary and legitimate
defensive expedition against Duke Henry of Brunswick,
they would recall their delegates from the Diet, and
DIET AT NUREMBERG 221
the rest of the Protestant members would probably do
the same.'
6 To restore his territory to the Duke was im-
possible,' the delegates of the confederate princes
signified to the Bavarian councillors, ' because Henry
was a tyrant and had stirred up war against Saxony
and Hesse, as had been discovered from the papers
found at Wolfenbitttel. It had also been learnt from
these papers that it was Henry's intention ' to tolerate
only one religion, to stake life and fortune on the
venture, and to brave all danger.' ' If he were to be
received back again in his territory he would at once
begin to restore the old religion and to extirpate the
Protestant doctrines and rites, to the great distress of
many excellent persons.' Therefore, until the arrival of
the Emperor, they would not let the country go out of
their hands.
'It was a most extraordinary and remarkable
thing,' said the Catholics, ' that the Protestants should
think they had a right to alter the religion in a Catholic
country at their liking and by force, while they would
not allow a Catholic prince to stir an inch in defence of
his own religion. Nevertheless they did not wish to
impede or delay the help against the Turks.' Accord-
ingly, in order to satisfy the Protestants, the Catholics,
in concert with the King and the imperial commis-
sioners, urged Duke Henry in the ' recess ' of the Diet,
' in view of the present necessity of Christendom, to
have patience with regard to the complaints he had
lodged with the Imperial Court, and to pause until the
arrival of the Emperor.' ' But in spite of this the
Protestants still refused to give any help against the
Turks.'
222 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
On April 23 Ferdinand described ' personally and
with tears in his eyes ' to the Saxon and Hessian
delegates ' the extremity of need in which the country
stood on account of the Turks.' He complained
' so bitterly and supplicatingly that they had felt
especial pity for him,' but, in obedience to orders,
they had promised nothing. The King also laid his
entreaties for help before the delegates from Strasburg,
Augsburg, and Ulm, begging them to remember how
favourable both he and the Emperor had always shown
themselves to the towns. But the delegates answered
with a list of grievances and declared their inability to
give any help. ' When they complained of this inability
to help,' says a report, ' his Majesty answered that the
towns had always money enough to help in raising dis-
turbances in the Empire and driving out princes ; if
they were able to do this they ought also to help in the
other case ; they had better take care that they were
not drawn into a barren enterprise by the Princes of
the League.'
When Ferdinand realised that there was nothing to
be got out of the Smalcald confederates, he at once
ordered the promulgation of the recess in which con-
tingents of 20,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry were
promised for resistance against the Turks. The con-
federates entered a formal protest against it, and at the
instigation of Granvell the King actually allowed this
protest to be read out in open Diet and to be handed
over to the Chancellor of Mayence, whereby the recess
lost its entire force.1
' Granvell and Naves were the masters.' After the
1 F. D. Haberlin, Neueste teutsche Reiclisgeschichte vom Anfange
des schmalkaldisclien Krieges bis auf imseren Zeiten, xii. 403-413.
DIET AT NUREMBERG 223
protest had been read out Ferdinand told ' some of the
delegates of the protesting members that, in spite of its
having been rejected, the recess must nevertheless be
obeyed in all points, including the suspension of the
proceedings of the Imperial Court.' Naves was des-
patched to the members and assessors of the Imperial
Court with stringent orders to them that they were to
conform to the recess and to refrain entirely from all
legal procedure and sentences against the Protestants,
and this not only ' in all matters which concerned these
present parties,' but also ' in all future cases.'
The representation of the Imperial Court that the
imperial jurisdiction in the realm ought to be main-
tained and treated with respect, that this chief tribunal
should not be shorn of its power and dignity, that
justice should be allowed free course, and that they
should not be sentenced without trial, met with no con-
sideration whatever. Granvell gave the delegate of the
Elector of Saxony the distinct assurance that ' the
persons who constituted the Imperial Court would not
be allowed to remain in office. The Emperor, un-
doubtedly, would be further discredited in consequence,
in the opinion of many, but they might brand him
(Granvell) as a liar if this did not come to pass.'
In consequence of Ferdinand's having said to some
of the delegates of the protesting members that ' he felt
convinced that the latter, in spite of their protest,
would, as Christians, in consideration of the extreme
urgency of the case, grant him help in comformity
with the terms of the recess,' the Smalcald confederates
passed, on April 28, the following resolution : ' No
member must consent to contribute help against the
Turks, whether secretly or openly, however much it
224 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
might be begged for, until the demand for the settle-
ment of a lasting peace had been acceded to.'
1 The more the Catholics humbled themselves the
higher did the Smalcald confederates raise their
demands. There was only too much truth in what
was said by many at the Diet, that the Empire had
already been for years past almost entirely under the
dominion of the League, and that no one dared utter a
word of complaint. The members of the Smalcald
League were all the more vehement in their opposition
to the Emperor, the King, and the submissive States
because of their success in capturing the bishoprics of
Naumburg and Meissen, and, above all, the duchy of
Brunswick, and because no punishment had followed
these illicit proceedings, and also because their con-
federacy went on steadily adding to its numbers.'
At the Diet at Nuremberg Franz von Waldeck,
bishop of Mlinster, Minden, and Osnabrtick, offered
himself at once, through a representative, for admission
into the League. As late as in 1540 and 1541 Franz
had received sacred orders, but in secret he had long
cherished Lutheran opinions and had allowed Hessian
preachers undisturbed license to preach the new
doctrines in his different dioceses. He had contributed
troops towards the expedition against Henry of
Brunswick.1
Now he wanted to embrace the ' Gospel ' openly,
and he hoped, ' in the event of a successful issue of the
war, that one or other of his bishoprics would be made
over to him as an hereditary possession.' ' The
profligacy of his life gave great offence to the Catholics
of Westphalia.' He was also ' inordinately addicted to
1 Lenz, ii. 102 ; Varrentrapp, Hermann von Wied, p. 123.
DIET AT NUREMBERG 225
drinking.' The councillor of the Saxon Elector,
Melchior von Ossa, who once had a personal interview
with him in Saxony respecting business of the Smalcald
League, gives the following account in his diary of the
unworthy behaviour of the bishop : ' All day and all
night almost he went on drinking, chiefly in company
with Hermann von der Malsburg, so that when he
wished to go to bed in the morning it needed four or
five people to help him in. Once he fell headlong.
When he had well drunk, order was given to blow the
trumpets and beat the kettle-drums.' 1
Franz promised the Smalcald confederates, in case
of need, to place monthly at their disposal 400 fully
equipped cavalry with all necessary appurtenances ;
and if he could come to any agreement with his subjects
concerning religion, he said, he would contribute even
more. Saxony and Hesse advocated the admission of
the bishop into the League. * Those who are acquainted
with the conditions of these bishoprics,' says the pro-
tocol of the meeting, ' report that in no other district
of the Saxon lands are the soldiers, both infantry and
cavalry, so easy to collect and also to maintain as in
these bishoprics, for which reason the bishop may be
able to render this Christian union much service in its
time of need.' The bishop, it was true, had not yet
come to an understanding with his people in respect of
religion, but it was rumoured that the nobles and the
1 Von Langenn, Melchior von Ossa, p. 74. Concerning the dissipated,
immoral life of this bishop see the memorials of Caspar Scheie von
Schelenburg (1525-1578) in the Mittheilungen des histor. Vereins zic
OsnabrilcTx, 1848, Jahrg. i. pp. 85-134. Anna Poelmans, the Bishop's
mistress, was in later times reduced to poor circumstances. In 1555 she
begged Bishop Wilhelm von Ketteler, 'for the sake of her poverty and of
her poor children,' to see that some money due to her by the late bishop's
doctor be paid.
VOL. VI. Q
226 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
common people ' were very eager for the Gospel : '
in Minden and Osnabrtick ' the Gospel was already
preached in its purity ; ' if the bishop received
Christian protection and help from the League against
4 the obstructionists,' there was no doubt that he would
everywhere root out ' the misleading popish errors and
abuses.' He would then be regarded ' by many other
bishops as a Christian example.' However the com-
mittee of the members did not think fit to admit the
bishop apart from his diocese and people. If only
some of the Estates and towns would coalesce with him,
the enrolment might take place even if the ' chapters
and the whole diocese were not of the same opinions ; '
whether or not the three cathedral chapters were
amenable ' was not of much importance.' The Land-
grave of Hesse was to be appealed to to negotiate with
the bishop concerning the matter.
A second Prince of the Empire who, at the Diet at
Nuremberg, renewed his already uttered request to be
received into the League of Smalcald was the Count
Palatine Otto Heinrich of Pfalz-Neuburg. He described
himself as ' a newly awakened zealot in the cause of
the evangel.' By his extravagance in building, the
pomp and splendour of his court, his love of gambling,
and his ' epicurean mode of living,' Otto Heinrich had
plunged so deeply into debt that he was reckoned ' the
most impecunious prince in the whole Empire.' ' From
pressure of debts ' he and his brother, the Count
Palatine Philip, had found themselves constrained in
the year 1542 to sell the lordship of Heideck and the
two districts of Stein and Allersberg to the town of
Nuremberg. ' There were many people,' says a Pro-
testant writer, ' who would gladly have hindered such a
DIET AT NUREMBERG 227
sale, especially the Bavarian princes; for the papists
were talking unpleasantly about it and saying that the
princes had become Lutheran, in order to despoil
churches and seize ecclesiastical property, and thus
enable themselves to face their expenses at the Imperial
Diets.' In Nuremberg ' at the same time a whisper
went round that the districts of Aniberg and Sulzbach
also would soon begin to waver.' ' And so things here
are in a very bad way. The towns are absorbing
everything into themselves, and are growing daily
richer and more powerful, while the princes grow
poorer and poorer.' ' The debts which the two brothers
have incurred with the Ebners and other tradespeople
in Nuremberg amount to no less than a million florins.' l
The provinces ' pawned ' to Nuremberg were forth-
with compelled to become Protestant. Notwithstand-
ing the sums thus procured Otto Heinrich was still
' besieged with creditors ' even after he had sold all his
admirable artillery to Augsburg. He resolved accord-
ingly to have recourse to confiscation of church goods,
and by the advice of his treasurer, Gabriel Arnold, a
man of ill fame, who later on was convicted of perjury
and common thieving, he caused a new scheme of
church regulations to be drawn up by Osiander and two
other preachers, and had it proclaimed in his princi-
pality in 1543. 2
It was decided by the Estates that the question of
the admission of the Count Palatine into the League, as
also that of the King of Sweden, who was anxious to be
1 Voigt, Fiirstenleben auf den deutschen Beichstagen, pp. 406-407.
2 S Winter, ' Die markischen Stande zur Zeit ilirer hochsten Bliite '
(1540-1550), in the Zeitschrift fur preussische Geschichte und Landes-
Tcunde, ii. 107.
q 2
228 HTSTOKY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
made a member, should be discussed at the next
meeting of the League. The town of Hildesheim was
formally enrolled, with assurance of help against the
Imperial Chamber and against the bishop (who had
received an imperial mandate in his favour). ' The
town,' so ran the promise, ' was not to let itself be
frightened by anything, but to persevere in the divine
truth and doctrine, and the League would never for-
sake it.'
The Archbishop of Cologne, Hermann von Wied,
also begged to be received into the League.
do o
For }^ears past this Archbishop had shown a pre-
dilection for the new religion. In the year 1539 there
had been a plan for Melanchthon's coming to Cologne.1
At the religious conference at Hagenau Hermann
entered into closer relations with Bucer. ' The Arch
bishop of Cologne,' wrote Duke Louis of Bavaria from
Hagenau on June 30, 1540, ' is reported not to have
heard Mass for about ten years past, and to have no
respect for the Church or for divine worship.' That
Hermann, as the Emperor said, ' had not said Mass
oftener than three times all his life long ' was the more
readily to be explained because he did not understand
the Latin language. For the same reason all serious
theological study was alien to him. But he was
known to be ' an excellent sportsman.' Although he
was already long past sixty, he was still thinking of
taking to himself a wife. So at least the Protestants
said.
On the strength of the Eatisbon recess, which
enjoined imperatively on the prelates the institution of
' Christian regulations and reforms,' Hermann proceeded
1 Varrentrapp, Hermann von Wied, pp. 83, 85-93, 99.
DIET AT NUREMBERG 229
to the work of establishing the new creed and Church
system in his archbishopric. The first steps to ' reforma-
tion ' were to be the ' unalloyed preaching of the Gospel,'
the administration of the Sacrament in both kinds, and
the marriage of the priesthood.1 Bucer, whom he had
summoned from Strasburg to his court to conduct the
work of reform, delivered his first sermon in Bonn to-
wards the end of the year 1542. The Clwrbischof of
Cologne, Count Christoph von Gleichen, who was also a
canon of Strasburg, and who had become more closely
acquainted with the progress of the new religion in the
latter town, made it his business for the sake of warning
to give an unedifying description of the state of things
there. ' The heaviest charge which the adversaries can
bring forward against me with well-disposed persons,'
wrote Bucer from Bonn to Blarer on February 18, 1543,
' is that we receive people at the Lord's table without
examining them beforehand, and without knowing who
they are, and that most of our flock have altogether
given up receiving the Communion. And they say,
and not without some plausibility, that the same sort
of fruit which my preaching produced at Strasburg is
also to be looked for here. Here in this land especially,
where the pastors of souls are held in high estimation,
and the people are distinguished for willing obedience
in Church matters, there is great alarm among all who
have any Christian feeling, because in a well regulated
republic and Church there are such numbers of people
— and many of them distinguished people — who do not
communicate at all, while those who do communicate
are admitted without previous examination. All this
has been exposed by that one-eyed Count von Gleichen
1 Varrentrapp, Hermann von Wied, p. 125.
230 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
at Cologne ; and so I am in disgrace, humiliated and
obliged to keep silence.' *
Immediately after Bucer had begun his sermons
the cathedral chapter of Cologne remonstrated strongly
with the Archbishop. They represented to him most
seriously that ' in every street of the town there was a
loud outcry against foreign preachers having been
called in ; the Archbishop had promised at his election
to undertake nothing without consultation with the
chapter, and, so long as he had observed this promise,
he had maintained his land and subjects in peace.
The new preachers would disturb this peace and destroy
the old religion and the ancient usages. Anarchy and
dissolution, decay of spiritual authority and loss of all
our privileges, rights and immunities; together with
insurrection and riots in the town and the diocese of
Cologne, are in the highest degree to be feared, and
indeed are to some extent already going on.1 The town
council of Cologne demanded the removal of Bucer and
appointed a bench of magistrates who, in conjunction
with the chapter, were to provide for the safety of the
old Catholic faith.2
In order to strengthen the Archbishop's hands the
Elector of Saxony and the Landurave of Hesse guaran-
teed him their help and counsel in case of his being
assailed by the Catholics on account of his proceedings.
At the end of February 1543 Hermann thanked the
Landgrave for this assurance of aid, and said that ' in
case of need he would accept the help of the evangelical
princes and notables.' 3
1 DolKnger, Reformation, ii. 28-29. See Bucer's letter of Sep-
tember 20, 1543, to Philip of Hesse in Lenz, ii. 159-162.
2 Varrentrapp, pp. 126-131, 142-143, and Appendix, p. 61.
3 Neudecker, ActenstiicJce, pp. 289-291 ; Varrentrapp, pp. 139-140.
THE BOOK OF COLOGNE 231
At a Provincial Diet held in the month of March
the majority of the temporal Estates of the diocese made
over to the Archbishop the privilege of choosing for
himself the men he thought suitable for ' carrving on
the work of Christian reform,' and offered to take part
themselves in the examination of the reform regulations.
Melanchthon also came to Bonn and co-operated with
Bucer in drawing up a new code of Church ordinances,
which the Archbishop thought of laying before the
Provincial Diet in July.
At the request of Bucer and Melanchthon the
Smalcald confederates determined on sending a deputa-
tion to the chapter, the Estates, and the town of
Cologne, with the threefold object of complaining to the
chapter of a libellous pamphlet that had been published
in Cologne against the members of the League, of seeking
out among town councillors the persons designated by
Bucer and Melanchthon in order to influence them in
favour of ' evangelical truth,' and of admonishing1 the
members of the Provincial Diet ' to go forward valiantly
in the work of religious reform and not to allow them-
selves to be thwarted ; the Smalcald League was ready
to help and advise them.'
With special reference to the Archbishop of Cologne
Philip of Hesse recommended that the Bishop of
Minister, who was ready, in the event of war, to main-
tain 500 cavalry, should be admitted into the League.
' If this bishop could be gained over to the Gospel, it
would be of great advantage to many people, among
others notably the Bishop of Cologne.' 1
At the Provincial Diet at Bonn the deputies of the
1 Philip's instructions to his envoys, July 8, 1543, in Neudecker,
Urltunden, pp. 668-670.
232 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Smalcald League experienced an agreeable surprise.
The Cologne cathedral chapter had stipulated that the
reform regulations drawn up by Bucer and Melanchthon
' should not be laid before the Provincial Diet until they
had been jointly considered by the Archbishop and the
chapter,' and the chapter had pronounced itself ready
to ' consent to all suitable reforms.' The Archbishop,
however, would not agree to this demand, and the
temporal Estates left ' the matter of reform ' entirely in
his hands.
Nevertheless the Cologne Book of Reform by no
means met with undivided approval from the Protes-
tants. Luther, who had again come into angry collision
with the ' Sacramentarians,' expressed his particular
displeasure with the teaching of this book on the Lord's
Supper. ' Nowhere,' he wrote to the Saxon Chancellor
Briick, ' does it enlighten us as to whether the veritable
body and blood are partaken of with the mouth.' ' The
book is not merely tolerable to the Sacramentarians,
but quite acceptable, as it is conformable rather to their
doctrine than to ours. The whole thing, moreover, is
so lengthy and spun out that I plainly detect in it the
hand of that babbler Bucer.'
Melanchthon wrote to friends abroad that Luther was
going to publish a rabid pamphlet against himself and
Bucer ; when it happened he said he should leave Witten-
berg. At the intercession of the Elector of Saxony and
the Chancellor Briick Luther consented to be satisfied
with Melanchthon's explanation that he had not written
the offensive chapter on the Lord's Supper, but had
drawn Bucer's attention to the seriousness of the matter.
In his ' Kurzes Bekenntniss vom heiligen Sacrament '
(' Short Confession of the Holy Sacrament ') he did not
THE BOOK OF COLOGNE 233
direct his attacks against Melanclithon and the Cologne
book, but principally against Zwingli, Oecolampadius,
and Schwenckfeld, whom he denounced as ' eingeteufelte,
durchgeteufelte, liber •geteufelte blasphemers and liars.'
The action of the Archbishop of Cologne in the
spring of 1543 had awakened all the greater hopes in
the minds of the Protestants because Duke William of
Jiilich-Cleves had promised to associate himself with
the ' reform work ' of Hermann. ' The Elector of
Cologne, a right worthy bishop,' wrote Yeit Dietrich
on April 30 to Duke Albrecht of Prussia from Witten-
berg, ' is throwing himself energetically into the work
of having God's word preached in all purity and sim-
plicity, and yet among all his councillors, as I know for
a fact, he has not more than two who help and support
him in his endeavours. But the good old lord does not
let himself be deterred or frightened by anything or
any one, neither by the Pope, the chapter, nor the
Emperor.' There is a report that ' he too intends to
marry.'
' The Bishop of Minister is following this example.
The Duke of Cleves has during this Lent for the first
time received the Sacrament in both kinds, and is full
of hopes, as his councillors here have given out, that
he will be able to bring the whole country round to
our doctrine.'
While Philip of Hesse had advocated the admission
of the Bishop of Minister to the League of Smalcald,
the Elector of Saxony recommended his brother-in-law,
the Duke of Jiilich-Cleves, for membership,1 and also
assisted him with troops for war against the Emperor.
1 Ranke, iv. 208.
234 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CHAPTER XIX
MILITARY EVENTS — NEGOTIATIONS WITH PROTESTANT PRINCES
DEFEAT OF THE DUKE OF CLEVES — POSITION OF THINGS
IN GENERAL, 1543-1544
The position of the Emperor and of the whole Austro-
Burgundian House had been a most perilous one
since the renewed outbreak of war with the Turks and
the French.
In April 1543 Solyman, goaded on by the French
King, had set out from Adrianople at the head of a
formidable army to wage ' the holy war.' It was at
the very time when Ferdinand, with tears in his eyes,
had in vain implored the Protestant members of the
Diet for help against the Turks. Francis I. gave the
Turks money aid to the extent of 300,000 ducats, and
the Venetian Republic gave them 1G,000 ducats in gold.
In June Solyman marched into Southern Hungary,
where Ferdinand had not been able to raise any troops
to oppose him. Within a few weeks he conquered
Valpo, Siclos, Ftinfkirchen, Gran, Tata, and Stuhl-
weissenburg, while the Tartar hordes deluged the
plain country, burning and plundering everywhere and
carrying off thousands of inhabitants into slavery.
It was only with great difficulty that Ferdinand, by
means of an army raised in his hereditary dominions
and strengthened by 4,000 men sent him by the Pope,
MILITARY EVENTS 235
succeeded in keeping the Turks back from the invasion
of Austria.
While Solyman was invading Hungary Barbarossa
landed with the Turkish fleet at Beg£-io in Calabria.
He devastated the coasts, joined the French fleet at
Toulon, and with the help of the latter, on August 20,
captured Nizza, the last refuge place of the Duke of
Savoy. The town was completely sacked by the
Turks and the French and in great part destroyed.
All women and children whom the Turks could get
hold of were turned into slaves. Barbarossa sent
5,000 Christian slaves in four ships as a present to
the Sultan ; these ships, however, fell into the hands
of the imperial squadron, and the prisoners were set
at liberty.
Already before the Turks had set out on this march
the flames of war had broken out in the Netherlands
and in Jiilich. The Duke of Cleves, with the help of
the troops furnished by the Saxon Elector at the end of
March, had beaten an imperial army of 10,000 men
at Sittard.1 His general, Martin von Eossen, at the
head of 25 companies of infantry and 1,200 cavalry, in-
vaded the bishopric of Utrecht, and by the conquest of
Amersfoort in July gained a secure base for his looting-
expeditions. Francis I., the ally of the Duke of
Cleves, had, meanwhile, captured several towns in
Hainault, and fortified Landrecy as being the key of
the county.
' Turks, French, and German-French had the upper
hand again everywhere.' The Germans, wrote Donato
de Bardi on April 14, 1543, ' are as disunited as they
can be, and they themselves are predicting their own
1 Seckendorf, iii. 427.
'236 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
disastrous ruin.' l While the Protestants were not
to be prevailed upon to contribute any help for the
Emperor and for King Ferdinand, the Bavarian
Chancellor, Eck, was inciting the heads of the League
•of Smalcald against Charles V., whom he described as
' envious, faithless, insufferably haughty, and as wishing
to reduce all the German princes to bond-service,' and
against the Pope, who was ' a wicked man, cunning and
false.' Saxony and Hesse should, he said, ■ form an
alliance with Bavaria for the preservation of German
freedom.' 2 For the sake of this freedom Francis I.
meditated making himself master of imperial hereditary
lands.
At the Diet of Nuremberg Granvell, as imperial
speaker, did his utmost, but all in vain, to obtain help
against France. He promised ' great things ' to the
envoy of Duke Maurice of Saxony, Christoph von
Carlowitz, if Maurice would support ' the Emperor
as his liege lord ' in the war, whether it were against
Francis I. or the Duke of Cleves, and would accept a
post of command ; by so doing he might render services
to the Emperor which would rebound, more than he
could imagine, ' to his glory and advancement.' Maurice
was ready to agree to the proposal on condition that
he received security for the payment of the troops
placed under him and a personal monthly salary of
5,000 florins. He further stipulated that the Emperor
should transfer to him the protectorate of the bishop-
rics of Magdeburg and Halberstadt, and enjoin the Car-
dinal Archbishop Albert and the cathedral chapters to
1 A. Desjardins, Negotiations Diplomatiques tie la France avec la
Toscane, iii. 57.
~ Seckendorf, iii. 422-423.
NEGOTIATIONS WITH PROTESTANT PRINCES 237
comply with the arrangement ; and finally that he
should bestow on him and his heirs the bishoprics of
Merseburg and Meissen unconditionally as ' their own
hereditary possessions ; ' he should then bestow ' hand-
some pensions ' on the present Catholic bishops and
appoint other (that is to say, Lutheran) bishops in their
place.
Thus did Maurice plainly disclose his immediate
political intentions. Granvell expressed his opinion
that the Duke ' was standing in his own light ' by
advancing such demands at present, but he did not
reject them unconditionally. 'This military service, he
said, would be a preparation for many great things.' :
Granvell and Naves also endeavoured to win over for
the war against France Schartlin von Biirtenbach, who
was in the service of the Smalcald confederates. They
proposed to him to enter Lorraine with an arnry,
offering him the lordship over Metz, Toul, and
Verdun. On Schartlin's answering that if he agreed
to this he should drive out the Catholic clergy from
all three of the towns and appoint evangelical preachers
Granvell replied : ' He was at libert}^ to do this, but he
must not say much about it.' The negotiations with
Schartlin led to no result. The Landgrave Philip
forbade him as his paid knight to take part in a foreign
campaign.
Lively intercourse was going on between the Land-
grave and the imperial councillors. There was even a
talk of appointing Philip commander-in-chief in the
campaign against France. But after the Emperor had
1 Transactions of February and March 1543, in von Langenn's Her-
zog Moritz, i. 158-162 ; Voigt's Moritz, pp. 54-55; Brandenburg's Moritz
von Sachsen, p. 236 tf.
238 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
decided to take the chief command himself Granvell
informed the Hessian envoy at the Diet at Nuremberg
that ' the Landgrave, to whom a subordinate post in
the war would not be agreeable, had better be satisfied
with the task of maintaining order in Germany, under
the Emperor's authority, while the war lasted, and that
at the end of it the Emperor would confer with him and
his stepson, Duke Maurice of Saxony, with regard to the
settlement of the religious question.' 1
Ail these transactions are significant as regards the
part played in religious affairs by the imperial minister
Granvell, who had been sent to Germany by the Em-
peror as advocate of the Catholic cause. They explain
also how the Protestants could entertain the opinion
that ' everything in the Empire would fall out accord-
ing to their wishes.' Philip now evolved a plan ' by
which the great heads and potentates might be brought
to agreement.' The Emperor was to hand over Milan
to France, but in return to confiscate all the papal
provinces, and ' instal the Pope with suitable mainte-
nance ' as ' Overseer and Bishoj) of Eome.' Immediately
afterwards a council must be held for the settlement of
the questions of religion. ' Without humbling the
Pope to his primitive position ' there could be no peace
between France and the Emperor. -
Before long, however, it began to seem as if affairs
in Germany were taking a favourable turn for the
Catholic cause.
At the end of July 1543 the Emperor arrived at
Spires, ' splendidly equipped ' and with the determina-
1 Rommel, i. 468.
2 Despatch of November 30, 1542, to Georg von Carlowitz, in Rom-
mel's TJrhundenhuch, p. 91.
DEFEAT OF THE DUKE OF CLEVES 239
tion to bring Duke William of Cleves to submission.
All the means resorted to for bringing the contention to
a friendly issue had been fruitless. Charles had offered
the Duke the stattholdership of Guelders if he would
renounce the title of a prince of the land, but the Duke
persisted obstinately in his refusal. Grown overbearing
through his victory at Sittard and led astray by French
promises, he again in August gave an answer in the
negative to fresh advances on the part of the Emperor.
Thus there was no alternative left but the sword.
With an army of more than o-5,00U men the
Emperor advanced down the Rhine.' On August 24
Dtiren, the chief stronghold of the duchy of Jiilich,
was taken by storm and frightfully devastated and
pillaged. In the course of a few days the whole
country was subjugated. Francis I. at the critical
moment left his ally in the lurch. He took possession
of the town and province of Luxemburg, in order to
' incorporate them in his crown.' He made also simul-
taneous efforts to incite the Smalcald princes to take up
arms against the Emperor. On August 30 he urged
his ' trusty friend and old ally ' the Elector of Saxony
' not to submit to let the Emperor destroy the freedom
of Germany and subjugate the German princes to his
yoke.' l His son, the Duke of Orleans, offered to join
the League of Smalcald with the conquered duchy of
Luxemburg, and to ' introduce the holy Evangel ' in
the duchy.2
1 J. G. Droysen, GeschicJite der %ireussischen Politih, 2b, 465-208.
See the King's despatches of September 10 and 12, 1543, to Philip of
Hesse in Lanz, Correspondenz, ii. 645-048.
2 In September, 1543 ; see Lanz, Correspondenz, ii. 644. See also
the remarks of the Emperor against the Venetian Navagero in Gachard's
Trois Annees, pp. 268-269.
240 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Henry VIII., King of England, had long ago given
up the Duke of Cleves and dissolved his marriage with
the Duke's sister.
' Deserted by the world,' the Duke made his appear-
ance in the Emperor's camp at Venlo on September 7,
clad in mourning, threw himself at Charles V.'s feet, and
implored for mercy. Charles gave him back his ancient
hereditary lands, but compelled him to renounce
Guelders and Zutphen and his alliances with France
and Denmark, and also to promise to maintain the
Catholic religion intact in his territory and to do away
with all ecclesiastical innovations that had already been
commenced.
The Emperor took Guelders under his suzerainty,
binding himself by oath to govern the lands with full
regard to their rights and privileges, and to respect the
liberties of the Estates. He then marched on into
Hainault, in order to drive out the French from Lan-
drecy, the key of this country and of Picardy. Eein-
forced by an auxiliary army from the English King,
with whom he had concluded an offensive and defensive
alliance against France on February 11, 1542, he
began the siege of the fortress. But, as the winter was
approaching, he raised the siege and removed his troojis
to winter quarters.
The immediate result of the defeat of the Duke of
Cleves was that the Archbishop of Cologne's attempts at
religious innovation came to a standstill. The Emperor
commended the clergy and the council of the town for
their resistance to these innovations and encouraged
them to persistent defence of the old faith. He insisted
on the Archbishop's dismissing Bucer.
Bucer was fiercely indignant with Charles. ' The
DEFEAT OF THE DUKE OF CLEVES 241
Emperor,' lie wrote to Calvin on October 22, 1543,
' delights in superstitious nonsense which is only fit for
old wives ; he repeats long prayers daily on his knees ;
he tells his beads, lying on the ground with his eyes
fixed on an image of the Virgin. He is now openly
striving against Christ.' x
The Emperor had summoned a Diet to meet on
November 30 at Spires, and it was hoped by the Catho-
lic party that ' now at last a term would be put to the
long-continued attacks and molestations of the Smalcald
confederates, that the Catholics in the Protestant dis-
tricts would be guaranteed the free enjoyment of their
religion, and that the question of the unlawful seizure
of the bishoprics of Naumburg-Zeitz and Meissen and
the raid on the duchy of Brunswick would be settled/
' Since the defeat of the Duke of Cleves,' wrote Doctor
Carl van der Plassen from Cologne, on December 17,
1543, to a canon of Treves, ' great depression and fear
have prevailed among the leaders of the Lutherans —
both princes and others. If only the Emperor knows
how to profit by this state of things, and acts with de-
cision, there will be no need for him to draw the sword
even for a moment in order to restore justice and order.
The opponents are only strong because no resistance is
offered to them, but, on the contrary, they are yielded
to at every turn ; they are disunited and torn by fac-
tions and without any mutual trust in one another.
But, nevertheless, I entertain slight hopes of improve-
ment in matters ; for the Catholic princes are quite as
1 Calvini Opp. 11, 634. That the Emperor should wash the feet of
twelve poor people on Maundy Thursday seemed utterly contemptible to
the preacher Brenz. ' Haec spectacula films Dei diu perferre posset ?
Non feret.' April 24, 1544, to Melanchthon, in the Corp. Beform. v.
368.
VOL. VI. H
242 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
much at variance among themselves ; the bishops, to
say the least, are destitute of manly feeling and most of
them anxious only about their personal goods ; the
Emperor, whose will-power has been weakened by con-
stant illness, is surrounded by traitors.'
The result of the Emperor's military proceedings
against Cleves had indeed produced a deep impression
on the Smalcald princes. On September 23, 1543, at
a meeting of their League at Frankfort, they declared
themselves ready, in a despatch to the Emperor, to con-
tribute a Turkish aid, and promised, what they had
before refused, to send their commissioners to be pre-
sent at the visitation or reorganisation of the Imperial
Court. To the Brunswick affair they did not allude,
but they begged the Emperor that he would not sanction
any active measures being taken against them by their
adversaries.
When Bucer urged on the Landgrave of Hesse that
the Protestant members at the Diet of Spires ought to
take a decisive line against the Emperor and the ' par-
sons,' and come to an agreement among themselves in
matters of faith, Philip dilated on the want of unity
that existed among the members of the League and the
Confession.
' How it will be possible,' he wrote on November 11,
' to get three or four princes to vote together we have
no idea.' The Elector of Saxony and many of the
South-German preachers, besides the Margrave George
of Brandenburg and the town of Nuremberg, would
not be likely to accept Bucer's proposals ; Duke
Maurice of Saxony would not ' seriously offend the
priests ' because ' a bait had been thrown out to
him in the shape of a bishopric for his brother, Duke
DEFEAT OF THE DUKE OF CLEVES 243
August ; ' the Elector Joachim of Brandenburg was not
to be counted on, for this prince, so he heard, 'was
quite ruined and deeply in debt ; ' as for the Elector's
sister, the Duchess Elizabeth of Brunswick-Calenberg,
her rule was so disorderly, and her self-conceit so
boundless, that one could not tell what to expect from
these people ; the Duke of Wtirtemberg did not under-
stand such great matters and was much more concerned
at having to give back his ecclesiastical possessions,
' which were the main source of his Grace's mundane
prosperity.' The Archbishop of Cologne was still
deficient in right understanding of many matters
appertaining to religion, and was withal poor-spirited ;
and, finallv, the South German towns were also difficult
to win over. ' From all which you can judge for
yourself what a hopeless condition we are in, and how
much chance there is of our coming to an agreement
among ourselves, how much reliance is to be placed
on our fellow-confessionalists, as well as on those who,
though not followers of the Augsburg Confession, are
still to some extent partakers in our faith.' x
In the Leaoue of Smalcald there no longer existed
' a friendlv understanding ' between the leaders and the
towns. The towns complained that ' grievously unjust
burdens were laid on them by the princes ; ' the Land-
1 Rommel, Urhundenhuch, pp. 97-104. Lenz, ii. 191-197 ; answer to
Bucer's proposals, ii. 174-189. The Venetian Marino Cavalli had already
hi 1542 pronounced the following judgment on the confederates of Smal-
cald : The princes of the League ' si sono scoperti lutherani piu per poter
tiranneggiare e far il Dominus in Germania, servendosi del favor e
danaro di esse [the towns], che per desiderio di riformazion d' Evangelic'
Princes and towns ' ora si ritrovano in molta confusione e discontentezza.'
. . . ' Per questi rispetti e altre diversita di par ere la Germania e tanto
disunita, che reputo cosa facillima che 1' Imperatore, con autorita e forze
sue, ne disponga come gli piace.' Alberi, Ser. I. iii. 113-114.
E 2
244 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
grave of Hesse was accused of having squandered the
funds of the League. With regard to a bill of charges
handed in to the League by Saxon}^ the Frankfort
council remarked that it was surprising that ' such an
account should be laid before intelligent people.' ' The
princes of the League,' wrote some of the Frankfort
delegates, ' think only of their own interests and are
intent only on turning political matters to their own
private advantage, in consequence of which the
towns are placed in all manner of difficulties and
dangers, and have £ood reason for seriously considering
their situation.' ' It is well that our adversaries do
not know how discordant and disunited we are ; for
otherwise, if they acted with daring, they could easily
bring us into evil plight. Our whole fabric has become
rotten.'
Melanchthon also, in private letters, spoke almost
despairingly of the condition of affairs. In particular
he reiterated his complaints about the princes. These
men, he said, had no solicitude for ecclesiastical matters ;
under the cloak of religion they were merely indulging
their passions and exercising tyranny. Almost all of
them were burdened with debts, and they ground down
the people with intolerable taxes : the new Church was
like a ship without rudder and sails, tossed hither and
thither on the stormy waves.1
Affairs everywhere, the town council of Constance
complained on February o, 1544, were in such con-
fusion that no human means could any longer avail.
' Germany is altogether sunk and steeped in all sorts
1 Letters in the Corp. Reform, v. 62, 82-83, 219; see also v. 46,5(3.
Similar complaints from Luther concerning the princes occur in De Wette,
v. 548, 552, 703.
DEFEAT OF THE DUKE OF CLEVES 245
of sin and vice ; ' in the towns all the old respectability
and civic discipline had died out ; everything was
made to minister to pride, luxury, and insolence ; the
k word of God ' had been nominally accepted, but it
brought forth no fruits of Christian chastity, godliness,
and piety.1
Bucer wrote to Philip of Hesse on January 8 of
the same year : ' All this extravagance, drinking,
grinding of the poor, squandering of the money
" sweated " from them, and all the rest of the prevalent
sin and immorality which exist among our people are
a source of great scandal. I have heard from trust-
worthy authority that the Emperor himself is indig-
nant at our constant parading of our conscience and
the word of God ; for he says : " If we really attached
so much importance to the word of God, and our
consciences were so much arrested by it, we should
show this first of all in our dealing with these iniquities,
for the abolition of which we should have blame from
no one, but praise from all ; and we should not confine
ourselves, as we do, to altering religious ceremonies and
seizing Church property, whereby we grievously offend
his Majesty and the other Estates." ' 2
If the Protestants, after Charles V.'s victory over
Cleves, had feared vigorous interference from his
Majesty in German affairs and a ' coalition of the two
great heads, the Pope and the Emperor,' Granveil and
Naves on their part had again striven, even before the
beginning of the Diet at Spires, to remove all appre-
1 Frankfort archives, fols. 40- 50. An original document of 20 folio
pages, ' Der erbaren Frey- und Beichstatt-Handlung und Abschied des
gehaltenen Tages zu Speyer.'
2 Lenz, ii. 242.
246 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
hension from them. ' The Emperor was obliged to
proceed cautiously,' said Naves to the Saxon Elector's
Vice-Chancellor, Burkhard, ' because he was surrounded
by priests, with whom many of the secular princes were
in league ; but the artifices of the Pope were known to
the Emperor, and this was a dispensation of God in
order that the teaching of the divine word might be all
the more promoted.' The Emperor was determined, so
Granvell assured Burkhard, to conclude an agreement
with the Protestant members, ' whether the Pope ap-
proved or not.' Duke Henry of Brunswick had deserved
what had happened to him : he was himself to blame
for it all.1
'Strengthened by such assurances,' the Smalcald
confederates assembled at Spires.
1 Despatch from Burkhard, January 21, 1544, in Seckendorf, hi.
473-474.
247
CHAPTEE XX
DIET AT SPIKES — PEACE WITH FKANCE, 1544
In his first address to the Diet at Spires on February 20,
1544, the Emperor described the hostile proceedings of
the Turks and the French, and asked for help to fight
against both these enemies of the Empire. Owing to
the war with France, he said, he would not be able to
attend the council convened by the Pope. He also
asked the members of the Diet to point out to him the
best means for getting rid of the religious troubles.1
' What the aspect of things was among the members
of the Diet the Emperor learnt at this first sitting.'
Saxony and Hesse, for instance, entered a protest
against the presence of Duke Henry of Brunswick :
they could not, they said, any longer regard him as a
Prince of the Empire, and therefore they could not
agree to his having a seat and a vote in the imperial
assembly. Henry instantly retorted that the Elector
and the Landgrave, with their fellow-confederates, had
robbed him of his lands, contrary to divine and human
justice and in defiance of the laws of the Empire and
1 The ' imperial proposition ' in the Frankfort Eeichstagsacten, 55,
fols. 77-85. See Haberlin, xii. 473-475, and Winckehnann, hi. 458 ff.
One of the members of the French deputation instructed to sow discord
among the German notables at the Diet at Spires was Sleidan, later on
historian of the Protestant opposition. Sleidan remained behind in Ger-
many as French spy and reporter. . . . Ulmann, in the Zeitschr. fiir
Gescliichte des Obcrrheins, 1895, pp. 552 ff.
248 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
the public peace, and by so doing they had put them-
selves in the position of violators of the public peace,
who had no longer any right to a place in this assembly.
A new document which had been drawn up against
Henry by Saxony and Hesse, and which was handed to
the Emperor and read publicly at the Diet, gave little
satisfaction to the town delegates of the Smalcald
League. The Duke, said the Frankfort delegates on
March 3, ' is accused in this document of many strange
and wicked doings, which are foreign to the defence.'
Among these charges was the renewed complaint
respecting Eva von Trott. Moreover, ' to make matters
worse,' other princes, such as the Elector of Mayence,
the Palatine, and the Bavarian lords, had been drawn
in, so that ' it was greatly to be feared that rupture
and all sorts of annoyance and injustice would take
place.'
In answer to the document read at the Diet on
April 5, Duke Henry sent in a vindication, in which
he attacked his opponents in the fiercest manner and
put several bitter truths plainly before the Emperor.
The Smalcald confederates had surprised himself and
his land at a time when 'his troops were engaged
in an expedition against the Turks ; ' they had sup-
pressed the old faith in his duchy, turned out the
clergy, destroyed the cloisters, stolen, sold, and melted
down church jewels and bells. The Elector of Saxony
had snatched the diocese of Naumburg by force
from the Empire and subjugated it and himself,
and had set up ' a German Lutheran bishop ' in
opposition to the rightful bishop. It was lamentable,
Henry represented to the Emperor, that ' these people
should be allowed to carrv on such violent, uncon-
DIET AT SPIRES 249
stitutional, unchristian proceedings, especially as they
grew more and more aggressive and went to greater
and greater lengths.' They had ' got up conspiracies
with the Turks, the Yoyvode Zapolya, the King of
France, and other potentates.' The Strasburg delegate,
Jacob Sturm, had expressed himself in threatening
language against some of the envoys at the present
Diet, saying that ' the Frenchman was a good lord and
master : ' he, the Duke, could mention by name the
men who had heard these words from Sturm's lips.
The Eatisbon ' Declaration ' was also used by the
Duke as a butt for his attacks.
The ' nature, scope, and character of anything in
the shape of a declaration demanded that nothing new
should be introduced, nothing altered, nothing objec-
tionable stated ; the only legitimate alterations were
such as were necessary for clearing up obscurities :
and the orioinal substance must remain intact.' The
declaration in question, however, was in many places
contradictory to the Eatisbon recess and ' the plain,
lucid, unambiguous language thereof.' The Emperor
had no right to introduce alterations ' in things which
had been settled and recorded in the recess by the
joint operation of himself and the Estates of the Empire.'
Moreover, the Emperor even at the present day had
not acknowledged the so- called ' Declaration ; ' in like
manner the Catholic members have not only not sub-
scribed to it, but are of opinion that ' whatever its merit
may be it must certainly have been managed in
rather a suspicious manner.' 1
When the Smalcalders attempted to make another
reply, the Emperor stopped them with the remark that he
1 Hortleder, TJrsaclwn, 1805 ft'. ; Winckelmann, iii. 488 ff.
250 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
had ' heard enough with the two first documents.' x ' The
whole Brunswick business and this statement of Henry
about the " Declaration " was a thorn in the side of the
Emperor. The more the Protestants saw that by means
of this Declaration they could drive in a wedge between
the Emperor and the Catholics the more obstinately
they persisted that it must be adopted in the recess.'
On this condition only would the Smalcald con-
federates consent to contribute their share towards the
army of 24,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry promised to
the Emperor and Ferdinand.
' And yet the need was so near and urgent.' In
' Carniola,' wrote Caspar Hedio on May 11 to Duke
Albert of Prussia, ' the Turks have either murdered
or carried away 24,000 Austrian subjects.' ' The
princes are wrangling and quarrelling at Spires,' said
Melanchthon, ' as to whether they shall send help
against the French, while the latter are burning and
ravaging in German territory, close to the town.' 2
In order to gain the Elector of Saxony the Emperor
had made several concessions to him. He had ratified
his marriage contract with Sibylla of Cleves, through
whom on the extinction of the House of Cleves the
duchy would revert to John Frederic, or to his descen-
dants, and he had settled disputes about boundaries
between him and King Ferdinand behind the backs of
the Smalcalders ; indeed, the marriage of the Saxon
Electoral Prince with a daughter of Ferdinand was
actually talked of in case, meanwhile, the vexed religious
question could be brought to a Christian accommoda-
1 This rejoinder was handed to them in writing and afterwards
printed ; it occurs in Hortleder, 1860 ff.
2 Corp. Reform, v. 331-372.
DIET AT SPIRES 251
tion. But in spite of all John Frederic stood to his
demands. He and the Landgrave Philip took their
departure from Spires without having given their con-
sent to the recess.1
' The Princes of Saxony and Hesse,' so Carl van der
Plassen, of Cologne, thought, ' knew through Granvell
and other bribed imperial councillors that the less they
gave in the more they would obtain in matters of
religion, for the Emperor had set his mind determinately
on the war against France, and in order to get help for
this purpose he would be ready to concede all that was
possible.' 2
With the Electors of Brandenburg and of the Palati-
nate, who had offered themselves as mediators, the
Emperor and his councillors had had lengthy negotia-
tions, in the course of which Charles informed the Pro-
testant members, on May 24, that ' he had gone so far in
concessions for the maintenance of peace and tranquillity
that the Catholics were in the highest measure annoyed
with him ; they (the Protestants) would find that as a
mild and benevolent Emperor he had done his utmost
for them, and they ought therefore to agree to the
recess. If they did not he would be driven to think
that it was their intention to counteract and upset all the
transactions that had hitherto taken place and to hinder
(to the detriment of the Emperor) a satisfactory issue
of the Diet.' 3
1 See de Boor, p. 74 ff. Cf. Navagero's report on Philip and his preacher
at Spires who held forth on polygamy, in Gachard, Trois Annees, pp. 276-
277.
- Letter from Spires of May 19, 1544, in the Trierischcn Sachen unci
Briefscliaften, fol. 216.
3 Fuller details in Schmidt, Geschichte der Deutschen, xii. 333-339.
See letter of Paulus Jovius to Cosmo I., June 7, 1544, in Desjardins, iii. 49.
252 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Now at last, on June 10, 1544, the recess was
actually passed. The Catholics at any rate had good
reason for feeling aggrieved by it, for it amounted
pretty nearly to a renunciation of the Catholic stand
point.1
It was settled that the right way for healing the
fatal schism in the faith lay in ' a general Christian free
council of the German nation.' As, however, it was
uncertain whether and how soon it would be possible
to arrange for such an assembly, another Diet should
be held in the following autumn or winter, in the
presence of the Emperor, and meanwhile a scheme of
Christian reform should be drawn up by learned, good,
honourable, and peace-loving men. To this Diet the
Emperor promised to summon, without distinction, the
notables of all parties, in order to consider in a Christian,
amicable spirit ' what line was to be pursued with
regard to the articles under dispute until such time as
a General Council could be held in the Holy Empire of
the German nation.'
Thus ' the complete settlement ' was not to be left
only to a general free Christian council, but the matter
was also to be taken into consideration by a National
Assembly or a Diet, which was tantamount to giving
silent recognition to what, just twenty years before, on
July 15, 1524, the Emperor had most emphatically
denied, viz. that a Diet had power also to settle dis-
putes in questions of religion and the sacraments.
This recess afforded practical warrant for the
assurance given by Granvell to the Protestants before
the opening of the Diet that ' they meant to conclude
an agreement, whether the Pope approved of it or not.'
1 This opinion of Janssen is confirmed by Bezold, p. 747.
DIET AT SPIRES 253
Concerning the Pope and his attitude towards the
arrangement planned there was no word of mention in
the recess. Neither was anything said with regard to
restitution of episcopal jurisdiction.
' The Articles on religion, peace, and justice hang
together and flow one out of the other,' said the Em-
peror in the recess, ' and the members who profess
the Augsburg Confession have reserved these three
articles to our discretion.' As a matter of fact no
word concerning the three Articles had been inserted
in the recess without consultation with the Protestant
Estates.1 'Imperial plenary power,' alluded to by
Charles, was not present in reality.
All legal proceedings and sentences of excommuni-
cation against the Protestants were suspended in this
recess, and a remodelling of the Imperial Court was
promised. New assessors were to be chosen at the
next Diet, without distinction of religion, by all the
members qualified to vote, and these assessors were to
be sworn in either, according to the old usage, ' to God
and the saints ' or else ' to God and the Gospel.' Until
the ' religious reconciliation ' had been accomplished
1 So says Schmidt, GescJiichte der Deutschcn, xii. 339, who used the
Aden des Beichstagcs in the Vienna State Archives. According to de
Boor, 77, who used the Acts of the Stuttgart archives, the Protestant
party were all the more able to leave the drawing up of the decree to the
Emperor ' because Charles V. informed them in secret that he should
know how to alter the text secretly where desirable, in a manner favour-
able to the Protestants, and also to make supplementary changes after-
wards, even if he were obliged at the time to lay it before the Catholics as
unalterable. The Elector of Brandenburg then made himself personally
answerable on this point. One thing, nevertheless, the Protestants stipu-
lated for : they wished, on the publication of the recess, to add a written
statement to the Acts in which it should be more fully explained how and
in what sense they had accepted the recess.' A. de Boor, Beitrdge
zur GescJiichte des Speirer Beichstages vom Jahre 1544, pp. 77-78, 94.
254 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
the Augsburg recess and others, as well as the legis-
lative measures against the Augsburg Confessionists, so
far as they concerned the religious question and their
armistice, were also to be suspended.
On the part of the Catholics, the clergy especially,
one might have expected decided opposition, at any
rate against the right of a National Assembly, or a Diet,
to settle questions of dogma and ecclesiastical juris-
diction. They contented themselves, however, with the
protest that ' for manifold reasons already adduced '
they could not constitute the Emperor arbiter of the
three articles. Nevertheless, ' in order that peace,
tranquillity, and unity should be maintained in the
Empire,' they herewith declared in all submissiveness
that whatever the Emperor, ' by right of his supreme
authority, should propose relatively to themselves they
would agree to, and would not in any way frustrate.' l
The Catholic notables had been for decades past
'so accustomed to giving in,' and were so disunited and
wavering among themselves, that nothing manly could
be expected from them. Eespecting the ecclesiastical
1 Beichsabschicd, § 82. See Duke William of Bavaria's Instructions
to his delegates, of May 29, 1544, in v. Druffel, Karl V. und die romiscJie
Curie, Abth. i. 265-266. According to a report of Navagero of May 30,
1544, the Emperor had silenced the Catholic Estates by assuring them
' che riputava esser offesa da loro ogn' hora, che pensassero, che 1' animo
suo fosse per convocar alcuna dietta, nella quale si tratasse di religione
senza la volunta del pontifice et intervento di qualche suo legato.'
Respecting the Ratisbon Declaration he had said ' che S. M. havea nell'
anima sua quella dichiarazione per nulla, essendo statu in quel tempo
ingannata ' (see above, extract from Charles's letter, p. 510, note 1), ' et che,
quando si trattara, se la dovesse valer o non valer, promettea in verbo
Caesaris d' annullarla, ma che hora, sendo nel termine che e, non li pareva
tempo di mover questa difficulta.' In Gachard, Trois Annees, p. 286.
Such a policy could not inspire confidence. See de Boor, 78 ff., who
mentions that Henry of Brunswick, on May 26, entered a formal protest
against the Emperor's concessions.
DIET AT SPIRES 255
princes the papal legate, Morone, had already in 1540,
with full knowledge, reported to Home : ' The Bishops
are rushing at full gallop to a compromise. They
want to live in peace, if it is only for their own life-
time, and they are delighted at learning that the
Lutherans no longer intend to confiscate Church
property.' Morone also gave reasons for this — ' the
drunkenness and concubinage of so many of the bishops,
their ignorance of theological matters, their want of
respect for the Apostolic Chair, and their anxiety
to liberate themselves from the yoke of obedience
to the Pope.' x
In the recess at Spires the Emperor himself said he
had agreed to more ' than he could reconcile to his
conscience.' 2 The concessions made by him to the
Protestants are only explicable by the situation in
which he then stood towards the Pope.
In 1542 Paul III., with the approbation of the
Catholic Estates of the Empire, had convened the
General Council at Trent, a town half German and
half Italian, but belonging to Germany and under
the authority of Ferdinand. The Council was to meet
on All Saints' Day ; but the war which Francis I., in
conjunction with the Turks, had raised against the
Emperor put a stop to it.
Paul III. had refused to comply with the Emperor's
request that he would openly declare himself against
France.3 In the hope of reconciling the two monarchs,
as he had done in 1538, he had invited them both to a
1 See Morone's despatch in Laemmer, Hon. Vat. pp. 275-278. Com-
pare^Dittrich, Gasparo Contarini, p. 521.
2 Conversation with the Elector of Saxony; see Schmidt, Geschichte
der Deutsclien, xii. 333 ff.
3 Despatch of August 28, 1542, in Weiss, ii. 633-644.
256 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
personal interview with him in Lombarcly for the
purpose of negotiating a peace, being prompted to
this step, as he said, by the sense of the greatness of his
office and the duty it laid on him of acting as father
and arbiter. Francis I. had refused the invitation ;
an interview between the Pope and the Emperor at
Busseto had remained without results for the cause of
peace. That the Pope should have postponed the
Council to a more favourable time, seeing that his
legates had waited six months in vain at Trent for the
arrival of the bishops, was quite comprehensible to
the Emperor, but he was annoyed because Paul III.
persisted in his neutrality towards France and even
seemed to favour Francis I.1 This resentment of the
Emperor, by which Granvell and Naves had known
how to profit, was the secret of the decisions in the
religious question at the Diet of Spires.
Against these decisions the Pope, ' in discharge of
the highest dutv of his office,' entered a solemn
protest in a brief addressed to Charles on August 24,
1G44. He complained that the Emperor should have
proposed a general or a national council in such a
manner that the name of him who alone, by divine and
human right, had the power to convene councils and
settle religious matters was not even once mentioned.
The Emperor had accorded to laymen, and even to
leaders of heresies that had been condemned, the right
of judgment in ecclesiastical affairs ; he had restored to
their former dignities clergymen who had been ejected
by the Church and proscribed by his own orders, and
had settled the strife respecting clerical property in
1 See von Druffel, Karl V. unci die romische Curie, part i. 150-159,
and the report in Gachard, Trois Annees, pp. 273-275.
PEACE WITH FRANCE, 1544 257
an arbitrary fashion. In so doing he had usurped
the office of high priest and violated the constitu-
tion of the Church. The Emperor's endeavours to
abolish the abuses in the Church were laudable,
but the Apostolic See had taken the best means
in this direction in the projected General Council
which had been repeatedly announced, and all Charles
had to do was to support his Holiness with all his
energies.
' We call on you and cry unto you and the other
princes in the words of David : " Come, let us adore
and fall down and weep before the Lord that made
us," for in what better way could the Council begin ?
and in the words of Daniel : " We have sinned,
we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly
and have revolted ; and we have gone aside from
Thy commandments and Thy judgments. We have
not hearkened to Thy servants the prophets, that
have spoken in Thy name to our kings, to our
princes, to our fathers ... 0 Lord, to us belongeth
confusion of face, to our princes, and our fathers.
who have sinned, but with Thee is mercy and for-
giveness." '
Paul III. implored the Emperor earnestly not to
deal with religious questions at Diets, and to retract
all that he had conceded to the Protestants in violation
of justice and. equity. In order that it might be
possible for the Council to meet he begged him to
make peace with France, or at least to conclude an
armistice : the disputed questions could be better
settled at a Council than by force of arms.1
1 Pallavicino, lib. v. cap. 6. See also v. Drufl'el, Karl V. und die
romische Curie, part i. 217-218.
VOL. VI. S
258 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
When the Emperor received the papal brief1 he
had already concluded peace with Francis I.
With scanty support from the Empire, in spite of
the succour promised in the Spires recess, he had
entered France with his army and had scattered terror
through the whole land.L' Francis I. had given orders to
put Montmartre in a state of defence in case of necessity.
' But during this campaign,' said Charles V. in his
' Memoirs,' ' the King's ministers did not cease negotiat-
ing daily and making peace proposals, and the Emperor,
to whom peace was ever the most precious of things, had
not rejected the proposals. When the ministers saw that
the Emperor had advanced with his whole army towards
Chalons they spoke still more urgently of peace.'
Charles made this known to his ally, the King of
England, who had just made his appearance on French
territory with an army and had taken possession of
Boulogne. ' Henry VIII.,' the Emperor goes on in his
' Memoirs,' ' having neither money nor troops for pressing
on further into France, readily agreed to the Emperor's
concluding peace.' 3
At Crespy, near Laon, on September 18, 1544,
Charles granted his inveterate enemy Francis I. an
honourable peace.4 In order to settle the dispute
respecting Milan, Charles Y.'s earlier proposals were
agreed to, viz. that the Duke of Orleans, the French
King's second son, should marry either the Emperor's
eldest daughter, Maria, or a daughter of Ferdinand,
and that in the first case he should receive the Nether-
1 v. Druffel, Karl V. u. die romisclie Curie, part i. 215.
2 v. Druffel, pp. 176-177 ; Gachard, Trois Annees, p. 316.
3 Aufzeichnungen Carl's V. pp. 78-80. See also von Druffel, p. 178
ff. ; Gachard, Trois Annees, pp. 313-333.
4 Egelhaaf, ii. 435 ff.
PEACE WITH FRANCE, 1544 259
lands as a dower, in the second case Milan. The
Emperor renounced Burgundy ; the King gave back
Savoy and waived his claims to Milan, Naples, Flanders,
and Artois ; both monarchs pledged themselves to
co-operate in the war against the Turks and to lend
each other mutual help ' towards the reunification ' of
religion.
But Francis I. had as little intention then as on
former occasions of keeping his promises. Least of all
did it enter into his calculations to assist in healing the
anarchical condition of Germany by the promotion of
religious unity. And though, in accordance with the
agreement at Crespy, he intimated to Eome his wish
for a speedy opening of the Council, he plotted secretly
against its realisation.
To the Papal brief of August 24 the Emperor had
only answered verbally that in due time he would make
it plainly manifest that the incentive to the evils and mis-
fortunes which had overwhelmed Christendom had not
proceeded from him, but that, on the contrary, he had
persistently endeavoured to avert them, in conformity
with the duty he owed to his own imperial dignity and
to the Apostolic See. If everybody, according to his
rank and capacity, had acted similarly, the present
calamities would not have occurred.1 He solicited a
speedy reopening of the Council.
The Pope, who had celebrated the peace of Crespy
with thanksgiving festivals, revoked the suspension of
the Council on November 19, 1544, and fixed its
reopening for March 15, in the following year.
1 Pallavicino, lib. v. cap. 6. See Maurenbrecher, Karl V. u. die
Protestanten, p. 61, note 2, and v. Druffel, Karl V. a. die romisclie Curie,
part i. 222-225.
s 2
260 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
In Eome, however, there was great anxiety on
account of the Emperor, whose ambassador there had
said to Cardinal Farnese that if his sovereign was
victorious over France he would settle and put in order
the affairs of Christendom generally and of the Eoman
See in particular.1 The proposals made by Charles
in regard to the Council awakened in France also the
fear that he intended to rule over Church and State, to
be Pope and Emperor in one.2 Paul III. instructed his
legates at Trent to open the Council — even if only a
very small number of bishops had arrived — as soon as
they learnt that at the Diet which was to be held at
Worms on the strength of the Spires recess any
resolutions damaging to the Catholic faith would again
be entertained.3
1 Banke, iv. 229.
2 Despatch of the English plenipotentiary from Calais, October 18 to
21, 1544, in the State Papers, x. 131, 140.
3 Pallavicino, lib. v. cap. 10. See Bucholtz, v. 40.
26]
CHAPTER XXI
diet of worms mutual embitterment of the members
— luther's last pamphlet against the papacy,
1545 — luther's death, 1546
In January 1545 the Diet was opened at Worms by
imperial commissioners. The Emperor, who was
suffering from an attack of gout, was obliged to post-
pone his journey to Worms, and he authorised King-
Ferdinand to assume the leadership of affairs until he
should be able to come in person.1 In spite of his
repeated invitations to all the Electors and Princes,
Frederic of the Palatinate was the only Elector who
attended ; of the temporal princes not a single one
appeared in person ; of the spiritual princes only three
bishops were present.
' How it was possible to deal effectually with religious
questions, when only delegates were present, each one
may judge for himself. It was also easy to see how little
respect there was for his Imperial Majesty, for, in spite
of his frequent earnest entreaties to the electors and
princes, nearly all of them absented themselves from the
1 Despatch of the Frankfort delegate, Ogier van Melem, January 25,
1545, in the Beichstagsacten, lvii. fol. 7-9, with the declaration of the
imperial commissioner of January 21, fols. 120-122, with a letter of the
Empress, fol. 150. Ogier van Melem, February 14, 1545, in the Beichs
tagsacten, lvii. fol. 18-21.
262 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Diet, and no one could tell what they were secretly
intriguing ; for, notwithstanding the peace concluded
by the Emperor, an ambassador of the French King
had been in Saxony and Hesse, and what were the real
intentions at the court of Munich was not known.'
The Bavarian Chancellor, Eck, had said to Gereon
Sailer, the confidential friend of the Landgrave Philip,
in the presence of Duke William (October 1544), that
' the Pope would certainly hold a council, but it was not
to be expected that this meeting would lead to unity.
Ways and means would be proposed which would be
agreeable neither to the Lutherans nor yet to the
Catholics. The Emperor would propose a form of
creed, but only in order to set the Germans more than
ever at variance, and to be able himself more speedily
to accomplish their ruin. It would be better for the
Catholics to go over to the Lutherans, and declare
themselves all Lutherans, for otherwise it was to be
feared that when the Protestants were oppressed the
turn of the Catholics would come next. An alliance
between Saxony, Hesse, and Bavaria was much to be
desired and would be very useful.' * Eck kept back
Duke William from attending the Diet, and the Duke
blindly trusted his Chancellor. ' For myself I should be
very glad,' wrote William's brother, Duke Louis, ' if
Eck's " intrigues " were thoroughly brought to light ;
but my brother trusts him entirely and will not believe
a word against him ; whatever is said to him, he
always thinks this man in the right.' 2
On March 24 Ferdinand, in the name of the
Emperor, announced to the assembly that, in com-
1 See the protocol of this interview in Stumpf, pp. 262-264.
2 Stumpf, p. 265.
DIET AT WORMS 263
pliance with the recess of Spires, ' the Emperor had
instructed learned, honourable, and peace-loving persons
to confer together concerning religious reform, and had
received from them a written statement of their con-
clusions : he hoped other Estates had done the same.
Whereas, however, these great and weighty matters
required careful and thorough treatment, and the near
approach of the opening of the Council, together with
the advance of the Turks, left no time for mature
deliberation, the Emperor considered it best to leave
the business in abeyance for the present, and to wait
and see whether the Council would really take place,
and how the question of reform was viewed by it.
Should the Council after all not be held, or should no
measures be instituted respecting reform, the Emperor
promised, before the close of the present Diet, to fix the
date for another, at which the question should be settled
with the advice and consent of the Estates.' With
regard to the Turks, he beo-ged that the Estates would
at any rate decide on defensive measures and supply
the necessary money.
The Catholics declared themselves ready to confer
at once on the question of subsidies, but they thought
it unnecessary to trouble the Emperor with any trans-
actions respecting the religious controversy, seeing
that the regular and most convenient way for settling
the war was at hand in the Council which was now
in session.
But the Protestants, to whom the Elector Palatine
and the delegates of the Archbishop of Cologne had
now joined themselves, answered that they could not
regard the papal assembly at Trent in the light of a
Council ; they must be guaranteed a peace which
264 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
should be independent of such a Council and should
last until the religious question had been settled in a
Christian manner. ' If their wishes with regard to
peace and to the Imperial Court were not fulfilled, they
could consent to no subsidies for defence against the
Turks ; for they could not suffer their subjects to live
in dread lest, when they had paid their contributions,
they should have to see their wives and children
expatriated or led into utter ruin on account of the
religion which they held to be the only Christian one.'
' In fact the help against the Turks would be promised
in order that they should not be driven away from
their wives and children, and in order that they might
be allowed to retain the true religion. What use was
there in defending themselves against the Turks if
afterwards they were exposed to equal danger among
themselves ? '
' The Protestants paint the devil on the wall,' replied
the Catholics, ' for where in their territories or jurisdic-
tions has any one lost a hair of his head ? They have
made themselves masters of churches and monasteries,
and have driven into misery all who wished to abide
by the old faith. They have invaded bishoprics and
have been reckless of justice and peace ; have con-
strained the poor inhabitants to embrace their religion,
as, for instance, in the land of Brunswick, when they
had no other right than the might of the sword. They
trample under foot and oppress everything, and
then complain of being themselves oppressed.' ' The
Catholics would willingly grant peace if they could
only have peace themselves. But how can they hope
for it since the experience of long years shows that the
Protestants invariably create Protestant parties in all
diet at worms 265
the Catholic sovereignties, support them with their
own power, and aim at being sole lords and masters
over the faith and the goods of the Church ? They are
insatiable in their demands and are for ever producing
fresh cards to play, at every Diet putting forward fresh
claims, which they insist on having conceded to them
before they will take part in the transactions and
subsidies.' l
At the meetings also of a committee, appointed i for
the framing of better police in the Empire,' violent
reciprocal complaints arose. The Protestants brought
charges against ' the temporal rule of the bishops, and
their inordinate domestic expenditure, which was so
exasperating to the people ; against the open rascality
of many clerical personages, and their gross neglect in
teaching the word of God.' The Catholics replied that
' scandals and abuses innumerable certainly existed and
were openly flaunted, and were growing worse and
worse nowadays, because, owing to the perilous times
and the teaching of novel sects and preachers, all good
works were being abandoned, and unbelief and contempt
for religion were becoming the custom among high and
low. Many thousands of livings had fallen empty, and
the people were without helm or rudder.' ' Where were
the schools and the Church services ? where the founda-
tions and endowments for the poor, which had been
so numerous twenty or thirty years ago ? ' ' What the
Protestants call proclaiming the word of God is for the
most part, as they themselves complain, mere slander
and abuse of the Pope and the clergy and a general
reviling of mankind.' The pulpit has ' degenerated
into a chair of scurrility at which foreign nations are
1 Frankfort Reichstag sacten, lviii. fols. 125-140. See Springer, pp. 22 ff.
266 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
shuddering.' ' All secular affairs and quarrels are
brought to the pulpit.' Not many years before Luther
had openly exhorted the preachers to ' denounce the
Duke of Brunswick in their sermons as a servant of the
devil ; likewise also the Archbishop of Mayence and all
followers of the Pope.'
In the debates concerning usury and the Jews the
Catholic party spoke with decision against Luther's
' seditious pamphlets and books.'
' The prevalence of usury in German lands is a sure
token of how Christian charity and righteousness are
everywhere going to the ground : stringent measures
should certainly be adopted against usurers, but it
would not be acting in a Christian manner to do
as Luther charges the preachers in a public pamphlet,
and put them to death, and let the devil devour them
soul and body, and let them be persecuted, tortured,
expatriated, or beheaded.' l Luther's pamphlet against
the Jews, lately published, ' is a rabid book, breathing-
hatred and venom, and written as it were in blood, and
it makes the common people thirst for plunder and
bloodshed.' ' In many places indeed it has been seen
from experience how greatly the people revel in this
book and how much innocent life is sacrificed in con-
sequence of it.' 2
1 Collected Works, xxiii. 232-338. Luther's pamphlet An die
Pfarrer ivider den Wucher zu predigen.
2 Trierische Saclien und Brief schaf ten, fols. 223-227. During the
deliberations respecting the Jews ' the committee charged with evolving
a good and effectual policy ' passed the following resolution : ' Whereas
through the usury of the Jews many citizens and subjects have been
thrown into irremediable distress and ruin, and whereas by them the Turks
are kept informed of all that concerns us Germans, and of our exact situa-
tion, the committee pray the Estates to consider whether it would not be
better to drive the Jews altogether out of the Empire of the German
DIET AT WORMS 267
' For myself,' wrote the Frankfort delegate on
April 20, ' when I contemplate the wretched state of
public affairs and the bitterness of spirit and want
of loyalty among the members of the Diet, I feel I
would rather be dead than alive.'
The Protestants moved that the Emperor should not
trouble himself about the Council convened by the Pope,
but should, on his own authority, summon a council or
national assembly in Germany. They even rejected
the proposal of Ferdinand that they should at any rate
postpone the religious question till the Emperor's
arrival and take part in the debate on the subsidies
without necessarily committing themselves in any way.
On April 24 the King and the imperial com-
missioners assured them ' with regard to the renewal
and ratification of the article in the Spires recess
relating to peace and an armistice ' that ' they had
no reason to entertain suspicion lest in future they
should be molested or coerced in spite of the promised
peace and armistice ; ' as for the Council of Trent, the
King advised them to wait at any rate for its decisions
before repudiating it formally. If it should not adop t
a satisfactorv course, ' so that no reconciliation could
be effected, nor any reformation corresponding to
justice, to reason, and to the general necessities be
carried out,' the Emperor and the King would then hold
further deliberations on these matters with the Estates
of the Empire and take action thereon.1
The Protestants, however, persisted in their un-
nation than, for the sake of a little profit which they bring the civil
authorities, to tolerate and bear with them any longer.' Frankfort Beichs-
tagsacten, lviii. fol. 95.
1 Schmidt, Neuere GescJdcJite der Deutsclicn, i. 10-13.
268 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
conditional rejection of the Council. ' If the King does
not give in to their demands,' wrote the Frankfort
delegate on April 29, ' it is to be feared that they will
choose themselves some other convenient place to meet
in and confer as to the best means for organising in
self-defence.'
On May 16 the Emperor, who had ' forced himself
to shake off his illness,' arrived at Worms. He was
still inclined to conciliatorv measures and was anxious
for the personal attendance of the Protestant Princes,
in order that ' the matter might be finally clenched.'
In order to induce the Elector to undertake the journey
to Worms he caused him to be assured through a
special envoy that he would not allow the Pope to
constitute himself supreme judge at the Council, and
that he should be offended by any further refusal to
come. The Elector answered that he would only come
on condition of the Emperor's summoning a free
Christian Council instead of the Council of Trent.
Naves, in the name of the Emperor, assured the
Protestants that they could bring forward their com-
plaints and grievances at the Council ; that the Emperor,
at this assembly, would neither give up a hair's breadth
of his own authority nor allow that of other Estates
to be in the slightest degree infringed ; but to prevent
the Council's taking place was not in his power, seeing
that he himself, at the oft-reiterated wish of all the
Estates, had personally pleaded for it, and that the rest
of the Powers had given their consent to it. They
must not exact impossibilities of him, as they had partly
done at the last Diet.1
1 Springer, pp. 32-33 ; Seckendorf, iii. 544 ; Schmidt, Neuere Geschiclite
der Deiitschen, i. 13-17 ; Ranke, iv. 259, and Winckehnann, iii. 602 ff.
DIET AT WORMS 269
All these declarations made no impression whatever
on the Protestants. Their watchword now was that
' the time was come when the man of sin, the Anti-
christ, the Pope, who has established himself in the
temple of God and exalted himself above God Himself
and all that appertains to His worship, was to be hurled
headlong down.' Therefore it behoved every one to
work with all his might ' to confound this evil one and
all his followers.' l
To this end John Sleidan, at one time the spy of the
French, and afterwards the historian of the Smalcald
League, published two letters, one to the Emperor, the
other to the Estates, in which he urged forcible pro-
ceedings against Eome. The Pope, he declared, was
the Antichrist and wanted to compass the downfall
of Germany ; he had ruined and corrupted everything,
and there were more than sufficient and justifiable
grounds for taking back from him, by means of a
righteous war, all that ' with criminal artifices ' he had
CD '
purloined from the nation. The Emperor was at
present a mere vassal of the Pope, and he ought to
emancipate himself from this tyranny and abjure the
oath which he had sworn to Eome. ' When they cry
out, " The Fathers, the Councils, the decretals, the
canons, the old and venerable traditions, the Keys
of St. Peter, the Holy See, and the Apostolic Church,"
this is only the voice of the siren at which your
Majesty must stop his ears, as did Ulysses, so that he
might not be allured by the seducers and baulked in his
voyage.' The Popes were ' sedition-mongers and
1 Despatch of the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse to
the allies, Frankfort Reichstag sacten, lviii. fol. 58 ; letter of Melem,
March 20, 1545, lvii. fol. 45.
270 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
mischievous members of the Christian body ; ' all that
the Pope possessed he had acquired by begging and
thieving ; ' as a servant of the Church it behoved him
to be content with food and raiment, and not to aspire
to dominion over lands and people, castles and towns." l
The Emperor was extremely angry at these letters,
and still more so at a ' virulent lampoon' which Luther
had published at the instigation of the Elector of Saxony
and his Chancellor, Briick.
The latter had written to the Elector on January
20, 1545, that if the Council really resumed its sittings
it would be necessary for Luther ' to put the axe in
good earnest to the root of the tree, a work for which
by the grace of God he had received higher qualifica-
tions than other men.' 2
These 'higher qualifications' displayed their true
1 Sleidan's Reden, 26, 39, 77-78, 124, 144, 214-224, 229. In the
year 1544 Bucer recommended his friend Sleidan to the Landgrave of Hesse
as historian of the Reformation. ' The wonderful things which God has
wrought through your Princely Grace have been duly chronicled and written
down.' With his commission Sleidan received from the Elector of Saxony
and the Landgrave of Hesse the order ' not to make public his chronicle
before it had been examined and approved either by themselves or their
deputies.' Baumgarten, Sleidan, lxvi. fols. 113-114. On December 11,
1545, Sleidan wrote to the King of England : ' Principes ordinesque Protes-
tantes confoederati, in ea conditione, qua me sibi devinxerunt, inter alia
mihi mandarunt, ut totam historiam renovatae religionis . . . ordine con-
scribam ad hodiernum usque diem.' . . . ' Primum ejus historiae librum
absolvi. Nihil autem evulgabitur a me, nisi de consensu et mandato
Principum. Nam et hoc mihi ab illis injunctum est.' State Papers, x.
764, 765.
2 Letters of the Elector and Briick in the Corp. Reform, v. 655, 662.
See Schmidt, Melanchthon, 443. The immediate object of Luther's pamphlet
was the refutation of the papal brief of August 24, 1544, to the Emperor,
which, unknown to the Emperor, had fallen into the hands of the Protes-
tants. According to Hans Jacob Fugger, a man intimately connected
with the imperial court, the minister Granvell had conveyed this brief to
Luther by the hands of a confidential agent. See von Druffel, Karl V. u.
die romisclie Curie, part i. 231-233.
DIET AT WORMS 271
character in Luther's pamphlet 'Against the Pontifi-
cate at Eome, founded by the Devil' ('Wider das
Papstthum zu Eom, vom Teufel gestift '). In it he pro-
claimed a challenge, and this time with the approval of
the Elector, to a war in the name of religion, and the
language in which his challenge was couched was akin
to that which he had used in the first years of his
crusade, when he had exhorted Emperor and kings to
fight with all their weapons against the Pope and the
cardinals and ' all the vermin of the Eomish Sodom,
and to wash their hands in the blood of this accursed
crew.'
' The Popes,' he said now, ' are the descendants
of the regicide Emperor Phocas, their founder. They
are a set of desperate, thoroughgoing arch-villains,
murderers, traitors, liars, and the most utterly debased
and depraved beings on earth.' No Council could
improve the Pope and his followers ; ' for while they
believe that there is no God, no hell, no life after this
life, while they live and die like cows, pigs, or any other
beasts, it is utterly ridiculous that they should set their
seals and briefs to a reformation. Therefore it would
be best for the Emperor and the Estates to leave these
abominable, villainous scoundrels and the accursed
devil's crew at Eome to go headlong to the devil ; for
there is no hope of amelioration ; there is nothing to
be done by Councils.' What steps ought to be taken,
however, in order to annihilate the devil-founded
papacy, Luther expounds as follows : ' Now go to,
Emperor, King, princes, and lords, and whoever has
limbs to fight with ; may God withhold His favour from
all hands that remain idle in this matter ! And before
all things let every fragment be taken away from the
272 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Pope which he retains in his capacity of Pope — Eome,
Eomagna, Urbino, Bologna — for he got these into his
possession with lying and with frand. With fraud and
lying, did I say ? With rank blasphemy and idolatry he
purloined them and subjugated them iniquitously, and
all the reward the poor victims have got is to be dragged
into everlasting hell-fire by his abominations, and the
kingdom of Christ has been subversecl, and therefore
he is to be called an abomination of desolation. There-
fore he should be seized, he (the Pope) and his cardinals
and all the scoundrelly crew of his Holiness, and their
tongues should be torn from their throats and nailed in
a row on the gallows tree, in like manner as they affix
their seals in a row to their bulls, though even this
would be but slight punishment for all their blasphemy
and idolatry. Afterwards let them hold a council, or
whatever they please, on the gallows, or in hell with all
the demons.' 1
Language of this sort from Luther against the
Pope and the Catholics excited veritable horror among
many of his contemporaries. In Catholic writings and
letters of the time we often find utterance of the same
opinion that was expressed by Wilibald Pirkheimer,
that Luther appeared either to be quite demented or else
possessed by a demoniacal spirit, for otherwise he could
1 Collected Works, xxvi. 108-228. See the passages quoted, pp. 124,
127, 155. The judgments of Protestant historians on this pamphlet vary
greatly. Carl Adolph Menzel, ii. 401, says with regard to it : ' Luther
delighted in scurrilous invectives for which there should have been no pen,
certainly no printing press forthcoming. In the midst of these passionate
outbursts there are evident signs of decay and exhaustion, which excite a
feeling of pity that the diseased condition of the old man, worn out with
spiritual and physical suffering of all sorts, should have goaded him to
such an effort.' Kostlin, on the contrary, ii. 588, calls Luther's pamphlet
' his last great witness against the papacy.'
LUTHER'S LAST PAMPHLET 273
not have cursed and sworn in such a manner. Luther
even carried his cursing into his prayers. He could
not pray, he said, without cursing. ' Whereas I say,
" Hallowed be Thy name," I am forced to add, " Cursed,
damned, dishonoured be the name of the Pope."
Whenever I say, " Thy kingdom come," I am constrained
to say also, " Cursed, damned, destroyed be the papacy."
Verily in this wise I pray day after day, unceasingly,
with my lips and with my heart.' l Prayers such as
these could not do any harm to the Catholics. But it
was most disastrous that Luther should thus publicly
rouse the passions of the multitude and sectarian
hatred, and actually incite princes and people to deeds
of murder.
He himself, however, considered this pamphlet
' pious and useful.' He wrote to a friend on April 14,
1545, that the Elector of Saxony had been so much
pleased with it that he had bought copies to the value
of 20 florins.2 During the Diet at Worms, to the dis-
gust of the Catholics, the Elector caused these copies
to be distributed among the members,3 thus showing
that he approved of their contents. The force of the
pamphlet was augmented by a picture of the Pope
on his throne, in all the splendour of pontifical array,
but with asses' ears and surrounded by demons, who
from above were crowning him with a chamber pot
and from below were dragging him down into hell.
Influenced by the written remonstrance of one of the
Emperor's ministers, the Saxon delegates themselves
urged on the Elector that at least the frontispiece
1 Collected Works, xxv. 107-108.
2 To Amsdorf, de Wette, v. 727.
3 Seckendorf, iii. 556 ; Schmidt, MelancJitlion, pp. 443-444.
VOL. VI. T
274 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
should be suppressed. John Frederic, however, refused
their request. Luther, he said, ' was endowed with a
very special gift of the Spirit. Moreover we are our-
selves of opinion that the Pope deserves not only all
that has been said of him but a great deal more
besides.' x
Luther had indeed intended to write a great deal
more against the Pope, but the pains he suffered from
stone prevented his indulging any further in the fury
of the hatred which was consuming him. He was
obliged to content himself with wishing that the Pope
and the cardinals might suffer as much pain as he was
tortured with from his disease.2
The last days of his life were crowded with ' inde-
scribable torments and anxieties.' The future of
Germany seemed to him utterly hopeless. The outward,
1 Seckendorf, iii. 556. Still more vile and degraded are several of the
woodcuts executed by the caricaturist Lucas Cranach for the purpose of
reviling the Pope at Luther's instigation and accompanied with explanatory
phrases devised by Luther. On one of these leaflets the Pope is seen in
full pontificals, riding on a hog and blessing with his right hand a reeking
heap of dung, towards which the hog stretches forth his snout. Beneath
appears Luther's envoi :
' Satv, du musst dich lassen reiten
Und tvold sporen zu beiden Seiten ;
Du wilt han ein Concilium,
Ja dafilr hob dir mein Merdrum.'
Another cut in which the Pope and three cardinals are represented as
chained to the gallows by a hangman, while four devils fly about them,
carrying off their souls, is inscribed by Luther, ' Worthy Eeward of the
Most Satanic Pope and his Cardinals.' See Schuchardt, i. 176 and ii.
248-255. In Schuchardt's book these vile productions, with which
Cranach dishonoured art, are given under the description of ' Holy and
Religious Representations.'
2 De Wette, v. 743. On the very evening before his death, writes the
physician Ratzeberger, Luther wrote the following line of verse in chalk
on the wall : ' Pestis eram vivus, moriens ero mors tua, papa.' Ratze-
berger, p. 138.
LUTHER'S LAST DAYS 275
material victories and conquests of the new Gospel lie
had preached increased and multiplied from year to
year ; one prince after another, one town council after
another, came round to the doctrine of justification by
faith alone, confiscated churches and monasteries,
denounced ' the venomous papacy and the old doc-
trines as idolatry and the dregs of all wickedness.'
But Luther's spirit was a prey to the deepest distress
by reason of the depraved inward condition of the new
Church organisation, the discord among the preachers,
the tyranny of the secular officials, the growing con-
tempt for the clerical body, the subservience of the
latter to the civil authorities. He saw with consterna-
tion the daily increasing fatal consequences of the over-
throw of the old Church discipline, the rupture of the
organic bonds of the Church, the deterioration of moral
and social life, the spread of all manner of vice in his
own immediate neighbourhood, in and around Witten-
berg. ' We dwell in Sodom and Babylon,' he wrote to
Prince George of Anhalt ; ' things get worse and worse
every day.' 1
In the whole district of Wittenberg, which comprised
two towns and fifteen villages, with resident clergymen,
he said he knew only ' one peasant and no more who
exhorted his household to read the word of God and
the Catechism ; all the others were going the straight
way to the devil.' ' It is the general complaint, and,
alas ! all too true, that the young people of the present
day are utterly dissolute and disorderly, and will not
let themselves be taught any more ; the}* do not even
know what God's Word is, or baptism, or the Lord's
Supper. Sin of all sorts is becoming rampant, because
1 De Wette, v. 722.
t 2
276 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
the world, of late, has grown so insolent and has brought
down on itself the wrath of God.' ' Who among us,'
he exclaimed in despair, ' would have thought of
preaching as we have dene, could we have foreseen how
much misery, corruption, scandal, blasphemy, ingrati-
tude, and wickedness would have resulted from it ? '
' Only see how the nobles, the burghers, and the
peasants are trampling religion under foot, how they are
driving the preachers away by sheer starvation ! ' : If
Wittenberg seemed to him as a new Sodom, the town
of Leipzig, a hotbed of Lutheranism, was ' worse even
than any Sodom.' ' They are bent on being damned,' he
wrote in January 1546 ; ' well then, let them have their
wish.' 2
In Wittenberg immorality and irreligiousness gained
the upper hand to such an extent that Luther felt com-
pelled to leave the town. Towards the end of July he
told his wife that she must sell everything, for he did
not mean to come back. He would rather live like a
vagrant and beg his bread from day to day than have
his poor last days ' tortured and disturbed by the dis-
orderly scenes at Wittenberg.' At the wish of the
Elector, however, he returned ; but in December he
recommenced his threats of leaving for good.
He had fallen out with his colleagues and former
brothers in arms, for they would not all of them accept
his statements and interpretations of Scripture unre-
servedly. The least contradiction made him frantic.
4 Scarcely any of us,' wrote Cruciger to Veit Dietrich,
' can avoid provoking Luther's wrath and getting a
1 Lauterbach's Tagebuch, pp. 113, 114, 135. See also Dollinger's
Reformation, i. 293 ff.
2 De Wette, v. 773.
LUTHER'S LAST DAYS 277
public thrashing from him.' A complete rupture would
have been inevitable, had not Melanchthon with his tact
and moderation managed to keep them together. Still
there was always danger of a sudden fatal explosion.1
Melanchthon deplored Luther's passionate vehemence,
his obstinacy, and his love of dominion ; he compared
him to the demagogue Cleon ; he was obliged to sub-
mit to a servile bondage under him.- Luther suspected
nearly all his friends of departure from the purity of
his doctrine. ' When I am dead,' he said, 'none of the
Wittenberg theologians will remain steadfast in the
truth.' Shortly before his end he said in utter despair :
' If I were to live for another hundred years, and had
not only, by the grace of God, assuaged all past and
present storm winds and riots, but could also lay all
that were to come, I see plainly that even then no peace
would be secured to our posterity, for the devil lives
and reions.' 3
As for himself, ' the devil ' left him ' not a single
day of rest.' The nocturnal fights which he had to
wage with him ' exhausted and shattered his bodily
frame to such an extent that he could scarcely draw
his breath,' and he would say to himself : ' Am I then
the only one who is so sad at heart and must be thus
cruelly assaulted ? ' 'If any one else had been forced
to encounter such attacks he would long since have
been dead. I have had no greater or severer subject
of assault than my preaching, when the thought arose
in me : Thou art the sole author of all this movement.'
1 Corp. Reform, v. 314.
2 Ibid. iii. 594 andvi. 879. Such was the language of Melanchthon,
who was described by Luther as ' homo tenerrimus et patheticissimus.'
De Wette, iii. 494.
3 Keil, pp. 243, 252.
278 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
His incessant anguish of mind, his doubts and qualms
of conscience with regard to the correctness of his
course of action, he ascribed to the temptations and
suggestions of the evil spirit. Even the protests of
reason seemed to him to proceed from Satanic influence,
and were only to be overcome by making faith wring
the neck of that wild beast, reason.1 In his very
last sermon, delivered at Wittenberg on January 17,
1546, he warned his hearers in the liveliest terms
against ' Eeason.' ' Usury, drunkenness, adultery,
murder,' he said, ' these crimes are self-evident, and the
world knows they are sinful ; but that bride of the
devil, " Eeason," stalks abroad, the fair courtesan,
and wishes to be considered wise, and thinks that
whatever she says comes from the Holy Ghost. She is
the most dangerous harlot the devil has.' 2
1 Collected Works, lix. 296, lx. 6, 45-46, 108-109. Ill, and lxii. 16.
' For the consolation of others,' says his disciple Mathesius, p. 183,
' he thought well to depict his mortal combats with hell and his internal
anguish of soul ; but the world has not shown itself worthy of his confi-
dence.' ' Ofttimes it seemed to him that the devil was torturing his inmost
being with a devouring pain which drew the very marrow out of his bones
and consumed the strength of his whole body.' ' The evil spirit,' he said,
' has even sought to frighten me by a visible apparition. Many a night
while I was in my Patmos have I heard him raise a disturbance. At
Coburg I saw him take the form of a star, and in my garden he appeared
as a black wild boar.' ' Once as I was standing with the Doctor in his
garden,' says this panegyrist of Luther, p. 128, ' he exclaimed that the
conduct of his own people was such that he would be constrained to ask
the Elector to build a dungeon for the parsons, into which to thrust this
wild and dissolute rabble.' ' Satan, moreover, sowed great scandals
among the protectors and followers of the new doctrine. The populace
became uncouth and insolent, and began to depise and revile the ministers
of the Church. In very truth the soul of the pious old master suffered
excruciating torments day after day ; for he was compelled to see and
hear unrighteous deeds almost as numerous as the pious Lot witnessed in
Sodom.'
2 Collected Works, xvi. 142-148.
LUTHER'S LAST DAYS 279
On that same day he wrote to a friend that he was
' old, decrepit, inert, weary, cold, with but one good
eye,' and still they left him no repose.1
A very disagreeable task was now imposed upon
him. For a long time past he had been grievously dis-
tressed by the condition of things in his native county
of Mansfeld, where, ' to the disgrace of the Gospel, the
people had gradually sunk into all sorts of vice.'
' Terrible and abominable deeds were committed there
among the people.' The Counts of Mansfeld, as a con-
sequence of their profligate and reckless conduct, had
brought ruin upon themselves, and, owing to dissensions
of all kinds regarding their respective rights, were
engaged in a bitter strife, which Luther, it was thought,
might smooth over. With this end in view he journeyed
to Eisleben. Passing through Halle on the way, he
was roused to anger by the sight of the monks, who
still made their appearance there in their religious
habit. To Luther, who had broken his vows and for-
saken his monastery, the monk's cowl was ' a cursed
and abominable thing.' Accordingly on January 25
he addressed the following reproach to the town
council from the pulpit : ' I am beyond measure
astonished that you gentlemen at Halle should still
tolerate among you these rascals, these mean lousy
monks, when you know full well that even at this very
day they do not desist from reviling and blaspheming
God and his sacred word. The insolent villains have
no delight but in the tomfooleries and monkey tricks of
the accursed Cardinal Albert of Brandenburg, which
we know now are nothing but blasphemy and idolatry.
You, gentlemen, ought to pluck up courage and drive
1 De Wette, v. 778.
280 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
these senseless wretched monks out of the town.' !
Further on the Jews awaken his indignation. In a
former pamphlet he had insisted that the Jewish
synagogues or schools ought to be burnt down with
brimstone and pitch and fire of hell, that the houses
of the Jews should be pulled down, and all their
treasures and money taken from them ; and if this
did not mend matters they should be driven like mad
dogs from the land. ' This ought to be done for
the honour of our Lord and of Christianity, so that
God may see that we are really Christians.' He had
ended his exhortation with the words : ' I have done
my part ; let others see to it that they do theirs.' 2 Now
he wanted to attack the Jews from the pulpit. ' When
once the quarrels which he had to deal with were
settled he must,' so he wrote to his wife from Eisleben
at the beginning of February, ' turn his mind to driving
out the Jews.' ' Count Albert is hostile to them and
has already given them up, but nobody takes any active
measures against them.' ' For the rest,' he writes, ' we
eat and drink heartily, and might have pleasant days
were it not for this disagreeable business.' ' I should
think that hell and the whole universe must now be
empty of all demons, who perhaps have all collected
together here in Eisleben on account of me, so tough
and unmanageable is this business. The Jews also
swarm here, fifty to a house.'3 He set to work to
prepare a sermon against the papacy, and also ' a
warning against the Jews.' They must be turned out
of the country, he said, if they would not be baptised.
1 Collected Works, xvi. 126-127.
- Ibid., xxxii. 217-233, 252, 259.
3 De Wette. v. 784 -787.
LUTHER'S DEATH 281
But the hoped-for ' further work against the Pope and
the Jews ' was denied him. Exhausted in mind and
body, he died in the night of February 18, 1546. *
1 In many churches his portrait was hung up with the inscription,
' Divas et sanctus Doctor M. Lutherus.' Treatises were published with
titles such as 'Luther, a Prophet,' with collections of his prophecies;
' Luther, the second Samuel ; ' ' Luther, the third Elias ; ' ' Luther, a worker
of miracles,' and so forth. See Goebel, Die religiosen Eigenthilmlich-
heiten, p. 137 ; Gillet, i. 45. All sorts of medals were struck in honour of
Luther, one of them with the inscription, ' Propheta Germanise, sanctus
Domini ; ' on another Luther is depicted trampling under foot a triple
cross, a papal crown, and a bishop's crozier. See Junker, pp. 149, 211-213,
221. It is remarkable that in the midst of all this homage his widow and
children were left in misery and want, and no one troubled himself about
them. Catharine von Bora appealed for alms to the King of Denmark.
He was the only sovereign, she wrote to him in October 1550, to whom
she dared apply for help. She received no answer. In January 1552
she renewed her request, with the assurance that her late husband had
always looked upon the King ' as a Christian monarch.' ' Imperative
need alone,' she said, ' drives me to petition your Majesty humbly in the
hope that your Majesty will benevolently listen to the prayer of a poor
widow, abandoned by every one.' At last she received a present of fifty
thalers ; but it was of little profit to her. An infectious disease having
broken out at Wittenberg, she fled with her three children, intending to
go to Torgau. On the way the horses took fright ; she jumped out of the
coach and fell into a ditch where the water had frozen. On December 20,
1552, she died of consumption. In January 1553 her eldest son, John,
appealed again to the King of Denmark for help for himself, his brother,
and sister. ' In Germany,' he wrote, ' they had but few friends ; he
hoped the King would be merciful to them, as very few in their own
country took any interest in them.' See Hofmann, Catharina von Bora,
pp. 126-138. In June 1555 the King sent forty thalers to Luther's son.
Kolbe, p. 443, note 1. Dr. Pastor adds the following note to the seven-
teenth edition : 'The suspicion advanced lately by Dr. Majunke (Luther's
Lehenende, Mayence, 1890) that Luther ended his life by suicide has been
shown to be unfounded, being clearly opposed alike to Protestant and
Catholic sources of information. See Kolde, Luther's Selhstmord,
Erlangen, 1890 ; Kawerau, Luther's Lehenende, Barmen, 1890 ; also the
Catholic Dr. Paulus in the Historisches Jahrhuch, sv. 811 sq. and xvi.
781 sq. ; furthermore Paulus, Luther's Lehenende und> der Eislehener
Apotheher Johann Landau, Mayence, 1896, and Paulus, Lehenende :
cine hritische Untersuchung, Freiburg, 1898. Although Majunke still
adheres to his opinion, as his pamphlet against Paulus testifies, neverthe-
less the controversy has been definitely decided in the estimation of all
282 ursTORY or the German people
Justus Jouas and Michael Coelius preached his funeral
orations.
The latter told his hearers that Luther had been
a great prophet, and had ' filled the same office in the
Church which in their own days Elijah and Jeremiah,
John the Baptist, or the Apostles had filled.' Now he
was dead, but they must not fail to assume, like Elisha,
the mantle of Elijah — that is to say, secure Luther's
books, which he wrote by the inspiration of God, and
other historians by the discovery that the narrative of the alleged valet
de cliambre, upon which the story of the suicide of Luther is based, is a
manifest forgery. Dr. Paulus in his latest work on the subject goes one
step further and shows that it is most probable that although Luther's
death was rather sudden and unexpected yet he was not found dead in
his bed, but departed tranquilly about three o'clock in the morning of
February 18, 1546, after some prayers and in the presence of several
persons. This is maintained by Paulus against "Wedewer's assertion in
the Literarische Rundschau for 1892 that Luther was discovered dead in
his bed from a stroke of apoplexy. My esteemed colleague Professor
Schlecht remarks apropos in the Histor. Jahrbuch,xxx.. 639: "Of decisive
moment is the report of the ' Mansfeld burgher,' whom Paulus has already
identified with the Eisleben apothecary John Landau. Since this man
was a physician by profession, and made a personal inspection of the
remains, it would be of interest to consult some expert with regard to the
cause of death." Acting upon this suggestion, I had recourse to my
valued friend Arminius Tschermak, M.D., who has very coui'teously given
me the following opinion on the case : " Luther's constitution, the details
of his decease communicated by eye-witnesses, finally the symptoms of
the disease, however meagrely described, quite sufficiently sustain the
opinion of the single physician present (see Paulus, p. 70) that ^Luther
died in consequence of an apoplectic stroke. Luther was obviously
(owing to his pathological condition) predisposed to apoplexy. In this
connection it would be of importance to ascertain whether or not Luther
had suffered from frequent fainting spells, a circumstance which Luther
specialists could easily discover. The case mentioned by Paulus (p. 71)
is not to the point, for the faint might readily be caused by nephritic colic.
The sudden development of symptoms of disease (for Luther had been in
lively spirits during supper and had set the whole company laughing by
his merry anecdotes), the temporary apparent accesses of unconscious-
ness, and the rapid denouement all point to apoplexy. The contortion of
the features and the turning black of one half of the body (congestion of
the veins) are clear indications of a partial hemorrhage on the brain."
FUNERAL ORATIONS ON LUTHER 285
left behind him in order that through them his spirit
might be transmitted to us.'
' In language and preaching similar to the utterances
of Noah,' said Justus Jonas in his turn, 'Luther had
often in the last years of his life lamented that " in the
full clear light of the Gospel " — that is to say, of the
new doctrines, proclaimed by Luther, of justification by
faith alone and of the non-freedom of the human will —
" the world had come to such a pass that no mere ordi-
nary transgressions and shortcomings were the rule
among most people, but vices of the grossest nature ;
none now acknowledged themselves to be sinners, none
would humble themselves before God." Not till the
Day of Judgment would Luther make known to us
" what glorious revelations he received when he first
began to preach the Gospel," and then how shall we be
lost in wonder and amazement ; but of these things no
Satanic monk or other stiff-necked papist knows even a
single word.' For ' the Pope, the bishops and cardi-
nals,' the preacher went on to inform the mourners,
' call us Germans and idiots and foolish people because
we preach, believe, and are convinced that we shall rise
with our bodies at the Day of Judgment and behold
God with our eyes.' All Catholics, indeed- were deniers
of the great mystery of the resurrection of the dead, and
therefore ' we must flee from the papists and shun them
like the devil himself ; for an obdurate, hardened papist
is the very devil himself.' But there would be an end
of them all, as Luther had often predicted : ' after his
death all papists and monks would vanish from the
earth and perish.' Great things were in store for us.
The death of Luther, like the death of all prophets,
would have special power and efficacy against the ' god-
284 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
less, stiff-necked, blinded papists ; ' before two years
were over they would all be overtaken by a ' terrible
chastisement.' 1
1 ' Two consoling sermons over the dead body of Dr. Martinus Luther,
at Eisleben, February 19 and 20, preached by Doctor Justus Jonas and
M. Michael Celius, Anno 1546. Printed at Wittenberg by George Rhaw.'
Master John Stigelius celebrated ' the holy theologian ' Luther in Latin
and in German verse. When all the world was sunk in error, God's grace
forgotten far and wide, and faith eclipsed and robbed of its power by the
darkness of ' good works,'
' Then God the Father did appoint
Thee, Luther, His high priest to be,
Thee with His Spirit did anoint,
And with a trumpet furnished thee.
Gave thee the tongue of holy Paul,
That thou might'st preach the truth to all.
And thou wast such a valiant priest,
Thou didst haul down that haughty beast,
And all the wicked crew who sold
High heaven for unlawful gold.'
All human teaching and inventions had been confounded by Luther's true
doctrine, and Luther had adorned this truth by a noble life of spotless
virtue, and was now living in the enjoyment of celestial bliss.
' And now from Paradise thou seest
That shameful and accursed beast,
That damned Rome, that robbed and fleeced
Mankind of body, sold, and goods.
Thou seest too the anguish dire
Prepared for Rome in hell's hot fire.'
' De viro sancto Martino Luthero purae doctrinae Evangelij instauratore, ex
hac mortali vita ad aeternam Dei consuetudinem evocato. Auff das
christliche Absterben des heiligen Theologen Doctoris Martini Lutheri.
By M. Johann Stigelius.' Without mention of place. 1546.
285
BOOK III
CHAPTER I
OEIGIN AND CHARACTER OF THE SMALCALD1C WAR
At the time of the negotiations at Worms ' the
terrible and universal embitterment of spirits,' the
growing religious animosity, and the continued oppres-
sion of the Catholics by the Protestant towns and
princes made it clear to everybody that between the
Emperor and the Smalcald confederates it must in the
end come to a decision by the sword. Otherwise the
whole ancient order in the Empire would inevitably be
overthrown, and the Emperor would lose all his power
and prestige.' So wrote Dr. Carl van der Plassen, of
Cologne, from Worms on May 29, 1545.
' If we wish to discover the causes of the war which
is undoubtedly at hand,' he wrote later on, 'we
must bear in mind all that has happened in Germany
since the subjugation of the peasants by the princes and
municipal authorities, all the countless violations of
divine and human law, of the public peace, of property,
civic rights, conscience, and honour. Let us but
reckon up the number of churches and monasteries
which have been destroyed and pillaged during these
286 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN POEPLE
twenty years, and all the accompanying crime and
iniquity. And to what purposes have these stolen goods
been applied ? What has become of all the Church pro-
perty, all the treasures ? There is scarcely a single land
in the Empire in which the taxes and imposts have not
been trebled or quadrupled. And not only have the
people been oppressed by all manner of taxes, but a
new religion has been forced upon them by might and
by stratagem, and they have been forbidden under threat
of punishment to carry on the old service of God, with
its rites and Christian usages. Is this the vaunted free-
dom of the Gospel, to persecute and coerce others, to
imprison them, or drive them into exile ? Everything
that was formerly reverenced has now fallen into con-
tempt, with the result that right and property are no
longer respected ; the endless disturbances in matters
of religion have upset the whole national equilibrium ;
discipline, loyalty, and respectability have vanished and
vices of the most abominable kind increase and multiply,
to the horror of all rulers and all well-disposed persons.
What hatred and schism do we not see everywhere !
what misery resulting from want of clergy and schools,
even in the lands which have remained Catholic ! Princes
and towns, making their boast of the Gospel, have not
been satisfied with introducing the new Church system
into their own territories, but they invaded Catholic
bishoprics and secular dominions and turned everything
topsy-turvy in order to set up their own institutions.
The Smalcald confederates extend their operations from
year to year and grow more and more audacious.
At this moment they are actually preaching a war of
annihilation against the Pope and his adherents.
There will be no checking them if the sword of the
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 287
Emperor is not used to restrain them, as it ought to
have done lon^ ao-o.' x
1 The Protestants,' writes another Catholic contem-
porary, ' began with the poor monks and nuns and
unfortunate village clergy, and waited to see if any
notice was taken of their doings. None was taken.
Then when they found it so easy to unfasten the
shoe-strap they proceeded to remove the Avhole shoe
and attacked the large abbeys. Then, too, there was
not much to fear, for those to whom the Mass was
interdicted did not after all care much about it, and
liked much better to hear themselves addressed as
' gracious Lord ' than as ' your Eeverence.' The next
step was to assail the bishops. Then there was a great
outcry. As soon as it was realised that the oppressors
were tired of ox flesh and wanted venison — that is to
say, were not satisfied with despoiling the poor, but
intended to plunder the rich also — then there arose
clamour and lamentation and a cry for 'justice, justice,'
and a prating of peace and restitution, and appeals to
Diets and the Imperial Court. But lo, the preachers
were installed there, and they taught that each prince
in his own territory, each burgomaster in his own city,
was himself emperor, king, pope, and bishop. And in
order that their artifice may not be seen through, they
write that the Emperor and his Eoyal Majesty are also
not bound to keep the oath they have sworn to the
Pope. If any attempt is made to enforce justice against
them, they say they will submit to no judge who is
not of their own persuasion. ' The Protestants are not
content with plundering the bishops and prelates,
but they extend their aggression to the secular princes of
1 ' Trierische Sachen und Briefschaften,' fols. 234, 239.
288 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
the Empire, drive them out of their dominions, appro-
priate their territories, and then denounce them as
incendiaries and murderers. Item, if the bishop of a
diocese expires, even if it be a prince of the Empire,
they let the chapter murmur and the Pope confirm the
election and the Emperor confer the regalia ; x but
meanwhile they take possession of land and people, set
up a Nicolaus - as bishop, and snap their fingers at the
Emperor.'
' Thus religion is perverted, all obedience to the
Emperor destroyed, justice set aside, and insolence of all
sorts everywhere encouraged.' The Emperor had now
; tried many and various means for putting a stop to
this insubordination,' but all measures had been fruit-
less and he must now ' wield in earnest the sword that
God had put into his hands to bring back his and our
fatherland to peace, order, and unity.' 3
' Things had come to such a pass in Germany,' said
the imperial Chancellor, Granvell, to the papal legate
Cardinal Alexander Farnese, ' that neither the Emperor's
nor the Pope's name any longer carried any weight ;
indeed it was to be feared that the Protestants looked
upon the opening of the Council as a signal for
war, and that they would at once begin to equip them-
selves not merely for the sake of being ready for
any emergency, but rather in order to suppress the
1 As happened in the case of Bishop Julius Pflug in the bishopric of
Naumburg.
2 Anasdorf.
3 Hortleber, Bechtmassigheit, book iii. 468-472. George Schutten
wrote from Nuremberg to Duke Albert of Prussia on June 10, 1545,
that a barefoot friar had appealed as follows to the Emperor in a sermon :
' Strike them, Emperor, strike them down ! Have no pity on the blood
of the Lutherans ! ' Springer, p. 34. See also von Drussel's Karl V.
unci die romische Curie, part ii. p. 18.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 289
Catholics and to make an attack on Italy, the object of
their bitter hatred.' x
But the Emperor was already considering on his
part whether it might not be possible to ' put down the
great arrogance and obstinacy ' of the Protestants by
recourse to the sword.
After the success against the Duke of Oleves, he
says in his ' Memoirs,' it no longer seemed impossible to
him ' to restrain such presumption by force : indeed it
appeared quite an easy task if undertaken under
favourable circumstances and with adequate means.'
With the concurrence of King Ferdinand, Charles
notified to the legate Farnese at the Diet at Worms
that ' if the Pope would lend them the support of his
spiritual and temporal power they were now prepared
to resort to forcible measures for meeting the obsti-
nate and shameless insolence and defiance of the Pro-
testants : for all gentle and peaceable measures had
been proved to be useless.' ' Cardinal Farnese,' the
Emperor goes on in his ' Memoirs,' ' was so terrified by
this announcement that although he had previously
declared that he was invested with plenary power to
negotiate in all matters relating to the relief of the
existing evils he now refused to proceed with the
settlement of the question.' 2
Farnese suspected at first that the Emperor was
simply desirous of getting money from the Pope, and
that then he would make concessions to the Pro-
1 Schmidt, Neuere Geschichte der Deutschen, i. 23-24; von Druffel,
p. 21.
2 Memoirs of Charles V. pp. 87-90. See von Druffel, pp. 22-24 (and
Le Mang, Die Darstellung des schmalkaldischen Krleges in den Denlc-
wiirdigheiten Kaiser Karl's V. : eine quellenkriiische UittcrsncJiung, I.
Dissertation, Jena, 1890).
VOL. VI. U
290 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
testants in order to obtain subsidies from them for the
Turkish war.1 Later, however, he became convinced
that Charles was in earnest with regard to war against
the Protestants. Farnese now returned to Eome, where
he arrived on June 8.2
In June 1545 the Pope promised Charles 'very
substantial pecuniary help and a considerable body of
troops ' for the war against the Protestants.3 But the
Emperor began to reconsider matters, and ended by
postponing the whole business, and on August 4 he
confirmed a recess which 'reflected entirely the cha-
racter of the Spires recess,' and in which, without any
allusion to the Tridentine Council, a fresh Diet at
Ratisbon was announced, out of the fulness of imperial
power, for the discussion and settlement of religious
affairs. Before the opening of this Diet a religious
conference was to be held, for which the Emperor and
the Protestant Estates were to nominate an equal
number of debaters. The delegates of both parties
were to aim at genuine Christian union and reform of
the Church, and not to let themselves be hindered oi-
led astray by any considerations whatever. The Con-
ference was to begin at the end of November, the Diet
on January 6, 1546.
During the protracted negotiations at Worms, and
after the close of the Diet also, the Catholic cause
sustained one rebuff after another.
1 Famese's letter of May 22, 1545, in von Druffel's Karl V. und die
romische Curie, part ii. p. 57. See Pallavicino, book v. chap. xii.
2 Nuntiaturbericlite 1, 8, 37.
:i Granvell to Queen Maria, July 8, 1545, in Gachard's Trois Annees,
pp. 442-443, and the letters in Maurenbrecher's Karl V. und die deutschen
Protestanten, Appendix pp. 23-24. See von Druffel, pp. 24-25, and
Nuntiaturbericlite, loc. cit.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR *291
Duke Maurice had promised his brother Augustus,
who claimed his own share of the paternal inheritance,
to do all in his power to procure for him the arch-
bishopric of Magdeburg and the bishoprics of Halber-
stadt and Merseburg. On May 12, 1544, Augustus
had been appointed administrator of Merseburg, and
the Emperor had confirmed the appointment on condi-
tion that Maurice would not introduce any religious
innovations in the diocese.1 Maurice, however, in the
family compact drawn up with his brother had already
made stipulations 2 for ' evangelising ' the bishopric, in
which intention he was encouraged by his father-in-law,
Philip of Hesse.3
On May 21, 1545, during the sitting of the Diet at
Worms, the Emperor had ratified the contract, but he
had been duped with a spurious copy in which Maurice
had not only left out all that related to Magdeburg and
Halberstadt, but also all allusions even to the stipula-
tions about Merseburg.4 Duke Augustus, after enter-
ing into possession of the bishopric, had appointed the
Protestant Prince George of Anhalt as his coadjutor in
ecclesiastical affairs, and the latter, two days before
the passing of the Worms recess (August 2), had been
consecrated ' evangelical bishop.' 5
In the diocese of Meissen also Maurice made pro-
vision for ' continuous further extension ' of the ' divine
1 Seckendorf, iii. 497. 2 See above, p. 194.
3 'ne occasionem rei ad religionis coinniodum gerendae arnitteret.'
Seckendorf, iii. 497.
4 Wenck, Moritz und August, pp. 316-391.
5 Fraustadt, pp. 153-181. Through Luther, wrote George on August 7
1545, ' sacro ordinationis mysterio per impositionern manuurn initiati
sumus.' Corp. Beform. v. 830. Horawitz, C. Bruschuis, pp. 103-104,
note 8. Luther presented the Prince with a ' certificate of ordination ' as
bishop of Merseburg.
xr 2
292 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
word.' The bishop's sphere of activity was already
limited to his residential town of Stolpen and the still
entirely Catholic district of Lausitz. But here too he
was obliged to give in, for it was intolerable to Duke
Maurice that his subjects, when they visited this district,
should receive the Sacrament in one kind only ; he
informed the bishop that ' he should not allow him to
obstruct the free course of the Gospel.'' l
' Just as if Germany had gone back to the palmiest
days of club law (Faustrecht2), there was no justice to
be had anywhere, no respect for imperial commands or
for the laws of the realm.'
With regard to the duchy of Brunswick Charles
had agreed with the Smalcald confederates at the Diet
at Worms that the conquered land should be placed
under imperial sequestration, that the Duke should be
commanded, under penalty for violation of the Land-
friede, to remain tranquil until the final settlement, and
that until such settlement no alteration should be made
in the religion of the protestantised country. 'The
whole terms of the agreement were unpalatable to the
Duke, and the last clause of it to all the Catholics.'
After the example of the Smalcald princes Henry
determined to resort to ' self-help.' He raised a con-
siderable army, marched into his duchy in September
1545, and made himself master of the largest part of it.
But his opponents mustered in such force that it was
thought by the Protestant party that the ' sacerdotal war'
[Pfaffenkrieg) which had been threatening for twenty
years was now at hand.3 Henry soon found himself
1 Protocol of Jan. 26, 1545, in Gersdorf, pp. 382-383.
2 « Right of fists.'
3 Luther's letter of Oct. 21, 1545, in De Wette, v. 764.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 29
o
face to face with ' overpowering enemies.' After a
fortnight's campaign he was hemmed in, compelled to
surrender, and taken in strong custody to Ziegenhain 1
as a prisoner of the Landgrave of Hesse. The Bruns-
wick nobles, who had flocked round the Duke, were
deprived of their goods and fiefs and expelled from the
country ; 2 the people were burdened with fresh taxes ;
religious foundations were again mulcted.3 Unmindful
of their own offences in the shape of violent acts of
aggression, the chiefs of the Smalcald League demanded
of the Emperor that he would pronounce the ban
against the Duke and his supporters.4 What they had
in view was the division of his territory among them-
selves.
This victorious campaign heightened the self-con-
fidence of the confederates and excited vivid apprehen-
sion among the Catholics with regard to the future
proceedings of the League. The Protestants indulged
in the liveliest hopes for the spread of the ' holy evangel '
in the two archbishoprics of Mayence and Cologne.
After the death of Albert of Brandenburg, Arch-
bishop of Mayence, on September 24, 1 54 5, 5 Philip of
1 See Brandenburg, Die Gefangennahme Herzog Heinrich's (lurch
den schmalkald. Bund, 1545, Leipzig, 1894.
2 Lichtenstein, p. 35 ; Winckelmann, iii. 675 ff., 697 ff
3 Koldewey's Eeformation, pp. 323-324.
4 ' You will rejoice with us over this successful campaign,' wrote the
Landgrave Philip in his first letter to the Emperor concerning the
victory, ' and not have much pity for the man who has disobeyed your
Majesty : no doubt, by the time our despatch reaches you, you will
already have pronounced the ban against him and his adherents.'
5 He died ' almost penniless and forsaken ' on Sept. 18, 1545. During
his illness he caused the cathedral chapter of Mayence to be informed
that ' his Electoral Grace had come into power at an unfortunate time,
when neither money and jewels nor the natural products of wine, fruits,
&c, were forthcoming ; his Grace now lay on his death-bed, and had
scarcely anything to eat or drink.' He begged the chapter to allow him
294 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Hesse tried to secure the electoral ermine to a man of
evangelical proclivities ; for then he would be able to
count on five votes in the College of Electors.' At first
he even entertained the idea of placing one of his own
sons on the electoral throne ; but when he saw that
this could not be managed he exerted himself, in con-
junction with the Protestant Elector Palatine Frederic,
in favour of the appointment of the canon Sebastian
of Heusenstamm, who had secretly assured him that
he was favourable to the ' evangel ' and wished to
introduce marriage of priests and the lay chalice.
At a meeting of the Smalcald confederates at
Frankfort-on-the-Main the members of the League
took up the cause of Hermann von Wied, Archbishop
of ColoQ-ne.
The Emperor had granted the cathedral chapter
and the clergy of Cologne a letter of protection against
the innovations of Hermann, and he had repeatedly
warned the latter, both in writing and by word of
mouth, to desist from his proceedings, because he was
in danger thereby of losing his archbishopric, and with
it his electoral dignity, the latter being dependent on
the former. As Hermann had persisted obstinately in
his innovations, legal measures had been instituted
against him at Eome, and the Emperor had summoned
him to appear and answer for himself at his court at
Brussels. The Archbishop, on the other hand, had
appealed to a free council, to be held in Germany, and
had again called on the League of Smalcald for help.
8,000 florins out of the public treasury for payment of his debts. The
chapter refused the request, because ' the archbishopric was so greatly
burdened with debts that not only Albert but his successors also would
not be able to derive suitable maintenance from it.' May, ii. 478-482.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 295
. At the Frankfort meeting the Smalcald confederates
pronounced the Archbishop's case to be the general
concern of all his co-religionists, gave their solemn
approval to his appeal, and resolved to represent to the
Emperor by means of a deputation that ' the Arch-
bishop had full right to proceed as he had done, and
that no penal sentence ought to be pronounced against
him.' They also determined that in case the Arch-
bishop was threatened with any forcible measures they
would forthwith come to his succour with all their
power. Concerning the measure and form of this help,
and concerning a war tax to be levied on all the
inhabitants ' for the preservation of the word of God
and for the eternal welfare of themselves, their wives
and children, and the security of their goods and
chattels,' further discussion was to take place at a
congress at Worms on the first day of the following
month of April. Philip of Hesse considered it of
special importance that ' the town of Cologne should
be enticed away from the opposite party and brought
over to the Protestant side, no matter by what means
or intrigues,' for, said he, ' if it really comes to war
much will depend on this town.' Owing to scarcity of
provisions the Hessian delegates thought it most im-
portant that ' the war should not be carried on in our
lands, but in those of other sovereigns.'
The advocacy of the Archbishop's cause by the
Smalcald league was a source of great anxiety to many
of the Protestants, who feared that the Emperor would
be greatly displeased, and that if the confederates
persisted obstinately in this course war might easily be
the result. ' The case stands thus with the Archbishop
of Cologne,' wrote the Margrave Albert of Brandenburg-
296 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Culmbach in a confidential letter to Duke Albert
of Prussia : ' the bishopric does not belong to him by
risrhts ; and he swore at his consceration that he would
faithfully respect all its statutes, traditions, &c, and
also observe them himself. He has no power to act
without the consent of the diocese. The bishopric
is attached to the Emperor and the Empire. The right
of appointing or deposing a bishop is vested in the
bishopric. If the bishop chooses to adopt another
religion the Emperor and the diocese may condone the
matter as far as the person of the bishop goes, but they
must not allow the bishopric and the Empire to suffer
thereby.' ' If the Archbishop had been a temporal
prince, with hereditary dominions of his own, he would
not have been molested thus any more than other
princes and Estates have been. None the less, however,
is the safety of the Empire greatly endangered by
people of this sort and their aiders and abettors. Imperial
majesty is brought into contempt by them, and its arm
and authority curtailed, in a manner hitherto unheard
of. Thank God, the Emperor has always behaved
towards the Germanic Empire in a fatherly, peaceable,
and Christian manner. For some time past, however,
the Diets have been constituted and conducted in such
fashion as best suited the purposes of the League
of Smalcald. Yet the leaguers are not satisfied. We
have heard recently how in Saxony our legitimate
temporal sovereign, the Eoman Emperor, has been
excluded from the public prayers of the country. And
yet we call ourselves evangelical princes ! I greatly
fear that we are behaving in Germany in such a
manner that the Emperor and other nations will turn
from us in disgust and wash their hands of us.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 297
What sort of strange government we shall then carry
on amongst ourselves, how Ions it will last, and whether
we shall not soon be driven to holding out our hands
to the Turks — these are questions we shall do well to
consider.'
Later on Philip of Hesse, ' the leader in the defence
of the bishop,' himself recognised that this ' Cologne
affair ' had been the Emperor's chief incentive to war,
and that it had ' greatly incensed ' him against the
Smalcald confederates. Because ' these Protestants,' he
wrote, ' supported the bishop's appeal and opposed the
Emperor so stoutly in the matter, the Emperor, no
doubt, feared that our Protestant religion would also be
introduced into his hereditary dominions, and that the
other bishops would follow the example of Cologne,
and that all the electoral princes would become Pro-
testants,' the result of ail which might be ' that they
would depose the Emperor and elect another.' l
But at the time of the Frankfort congress, ' on the
strength of the daily increasing power of the League,
they went boldly on in all their demands, and flattered
themselves that they could easily overcome Charles — for
were they not powerfully supported both in their own
country and by the help of foreign potentates ?
At the congress of Frankfort the Palatine Elector
Frederic, the successor of Louis, entered into alliance
with the Smalcald confederates.
As chief provost of the imperial towns in Alsace he
had already since 1544, although in the service of the
Emperor, secretly favoured the Protestant cause. The
preacher Erb at Eeichenweier expressed the most
1 Letters to Bucer of January 7 and April 13, 1547, in Rommel,
Urkundenbuch, pp. 170, 225 ; Lenz, Brief weclisel, ii. 475, 486-487, 498.
298 HISTOID OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
confident hope that Frederic would succeed in winning
over the towns of Kaisersberg, Spires, Hagenau, Schlett-
stadt. and Colmar.1 From fear of the intrigues of
Otto Heinrich of Pfalz-Neuburg, who had been expelled
from his territory, Frederic had openly embraced the
new religion, and on January 3, 1546, he received the
communion in both forms.2 At the instigation of
Jacob Sturm and Schartlin von Burtenbach Philip
of Hesse had an interview with Frederic, and terrified
him by representing what a loss it would be to the
Empire, and what disastrous complications might ensue,
if the archbishopric of Cologne were annexed to the
House of Burgundy. Frederic promised, in case of
need, to support the Archbishop of Cologne, and. to
announce at the forthcoming meeting of the League
at Worms how much he would give in the ' general
contribution ; ' meanwhile he would proceed in a
' Christian manner ' with the propagation of the
' Gospel ' in his own country.
The English ambassador, Mont, who was present at
the Frankfort congress, reported to head-quarters in
London on the great strength and unity of the Pro-
testants, and of their firm determination to resort, if
necessary, to force of arms for the maintenance of their
religion.3
1 Rocholl, p. 88.
2 That he did this out of fear of Otto Heinrich, ' qui sibi domicilium
Heidelbergae constituerat resque novas, seu favens evangelicae veritati
seu popularem captare volens auram, moliebatur,' is related by Frederic's
private secretary, Thomas Leodius. Vita Friderici, lib. xiii. p. 263.
Seckendorf, iii. 616. Von Druffel's Karl V. unci die romische Curie,
iv. 496.
3 Mont (Jan. 7 and Feb. 10, 1546) to Paget, in the State Papers, ix.
1, 40 : ' Animadverto horum statuum magnam consensionena et concor-
diani esse ; hancque confoederationem multo melius habere ac sperare
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 299
The confederates were reckoning on bringing
France, England, and Sweden into their League.1
In September 1545 the chiefs of the League, so the
papal internuncio reported from Paris to Cardinal
Farnese, had asked the French King to take up arms
against the Emperor, promising to help him in the
conquest of Milan and the subjugation of the Austrian
House, and to place him on the imperial throne.2 ' In
order to pave the way ' they sent an embassy with
instructions to endeavour to effect a reconciliation
between the kings of France and England, who were
still at war with each other. At the head of this
embassy were Johann Sleidan and Johann Sturm, both
of them in the pay of Francis I. and active in Germany
for the advancement of French designs.3 The delegates
did not attain their object. Francis I. would not con-
clude an alliance with the Smalcald confederates,
because he entertained hopes at that time (in view of
the death of the Duke of Orleans, to whom the Em-
peror had intended transferring the duchy of Milan)
of securing Charles's son and heir, Philip, in marriage
quam antehac unquam : cum enirn modo quatuor electores in confessione
hujus doctrinse conjunct! sint, spes est et in consilijs et alijs suffragationi-
bus eos adversariorum multitudine non praegravari.'
1 See Schartlin von Burtenbach's despatch of December 12, 1545, in
Herberger, p. 40, and State Papers, x. 822.
2 ' . . . . Lutheranorum principum oratores honorifice exceptos a rege
et quinquies ab eo auditos, vehementissime ilium ursisse, ut signa attolleret
in Caesarem, ac pollicitos arma Germanica conjunctum iri, ut Mediolano
potiatur atque Austriaca familia deprimatur, Protestantes quoque omnes
ilium Germanicae nationis caput ac principem constituturos.' Eaynald,
ad a. 1545, No. 33.
3 See Barthold's Deutschland unci die Hugenotten,^. 40, 42. Sturm
himself confesses that he received a yearly salary from France. State
Papers, x. 709. ' This Sturmius,' wrote William Paget to Henry VIII. ,
' is e great practisioner, and whatsoever he sayth is altogither French.'
State Papers, x. 747.
300 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
for his daughter. In January 1546 he solemnly
promised the imperial ambassador St. Mauris, accre-
dited to his court, that ' as long as he lived he would
never do anything which was in the least degree at
variance with the treaty of Crepy and his brotherly
relations with the Emperor.' ' Six times at least,'
wrote St. Mauris to the Emperor on January 4, ' did he
repeat this assurance : if ever he acted contrary to this
promise, he said, the ambassador might tell him to his
face that he had broken his word.' 1 Meanwhile, how-
ever, he continued ' in friendly connection ' with the
Smalcald confederates, and ' held out great hopes ' for
the future. In order to kindle the flames of war in
Germany he disclosed the Emperor's plans to the
Estates, while, on the other hand, he made the
Emperor acquainted with the dangerous intentions of
the Protestants,2 and left nothing undone, as Henry VIII.
declared he knew on good authority, to bring Charles
to the point of arming against the Protestants.3
While the Smalcald confederates were assembled
at Frankfort, and had repudiated in two successive
State Papers the Council of Trent, which had been
opened on December 13, 1545, the religious conference
4 destined to prepare the way for true Christian union
and reformation ' was opened at Eatisbon. This
colloquy degenerated into a bitter and rancorous
quarrel. Without even waiting for the arrival of the
Emperor the Saxon delegates, by order of their
1 Baumgarten's Schmalkaldischer Krieg, pp. 45-46.
8 Baumgarten, p. 46.
3 ' His Majesty is credibly advertised from a good place that the
Frenche King useth all the meanes he can, to induce the Emperor to make
warre against the Protestants.' The Privy Council to Paget, Nov. 22,
1545, in the State Papers, x. 699.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 301
Elector, left the town on March 20, 1546, and the other
Protestant theologians followed the next day.1
Charles made the journey to Eatisbon ' without an
army and with only a small escort ; for although he
had decided to go to war in case of necessity he
nevertheless considered it advisable, as he says in his
memoirs, ' to try mild and temperate measures for
restoring order in Germany, before having recourse to
arms.' 2
On March 18 he had an interview with the Land-
grave of Hesse at Spires, and did all in his power to
persuade Philip to consent to the Council ; he assured
him that ' its decisions would not be precipitate and
that they would in no way prejudice the interests of
the Protestants.' Philip, however, insisted on a national
council, and told the Emperor that the best thing he
could do would be to raise the sword against that
' wicked usurper ' the Pope. A general council, he
said to Vice-Chancellor Naves, was certainly much to
be desired, but only such a one as would conform to
the Augsburg Confession.3 Granvell informed him on
March 29 that it was the Emperor's wish that the
discussions of the theologians at Eatisbon should be
resumed in the presence of the Electors and all the
Estates of the Empire ; the attendance of the Elector
and the Landgrave was imperatively necessary. The
Landgrave refused to appear. The Emperor begged
him personally, three separate times, to come to the
Diet at Eatisbon, if not at the beginning at any rate
1 Pastor's Reunionsbestrebungen, pp. 305-329 ; Heyd, iii. 323-324 ;
Spahn, Cochlceus, p. 307 ff.
• AuszeicJinungen, p. 97.
3 See Philip's letter to the English ambassador Mont (March 30,
1546) in the State Papers, xi. 87.
302 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
later on. Three times the Landgrave obstinately refused
the request of Charles.
On April 10 the Emperor arrived at Eatisbon.
None of the princes had yet made their appearance,
and only a very small number of delegates.1
Charles sent out letters and messages to repeat the
summons, but the Smalcaldian chiefs kept at a dis-
tance. Not till June 5 was the Emperor able to open
the session, and then only with a very small gathering.
In his address to the members he reminded them of the
efforts he had made for years past for the healing of the
religious schism, complained of the breaking up of the
Eatisbon conference and the absence of so many of
the princes, and asked for the opinion of the meeting
on the questions of Turkish subsidies and the organisa-
tion of the Imperial Chamber.
The Catholics begged him to refer the religious
question in its entirety to the Council at Trent, and to
bind over the Protestants to accept the Council's deci-
sions. But the Smalcald allies declared they could
only entrust the decision of religious matters to a
German national council and to an Imperial Assembly,
and they added that the Catholics also must submit to
this decision. They would not even agree to the
request made to them by the Emperor at the Diet of
Worms, and now reiterated, that they would at least
1 On May 10, 1546, Melanchthon wrote to Mythobius : ' De conventu
Ratisbonensi nihil significatur, nisi Carolurn irnperatorem aegre ferre
principurn absentiam, quod certe consentaneum est.' Corp. Reform, vi.
132. On June 25, 1546, the English ambassador John Masone wrote to
Paget from Spires concerning the Emperor : ' He is undoughtedlye
concitatissiino animo in illos [the Protestant Princes] as well for the
absenting of them selves from this Dyett, as the sudden departing of their
lerned men from the same, and for their dysobeying of such processes as
passe ex Camera.' State Papers, xi. 266.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 303
come to Trent and themselves lay their objections and
the reasons of their ' recusation ' before the Council.
On his arrival at Eatisbon the Emperor was over-
whelmed, as he had been at every Diet he had attended
since 1530, with complaints from the Catholics of Pro-
testant molestation.
The Bishop of Hildesheim asks in his petition 'with
what right they have invaded his bishopric, which in
no way belongs to the Protestants and where they have
no tittle of authority, and plundered and destroyed
churches and cloisters, expelled monks, nuns, priests,
and schoolmasters, forced a new religion on the people,
and acted in every respect as if they were lords of the
territory, although he was bishop and a Prince of the
Empire.' ' Because we wish to remain true to our
faith and to continue in obedience to our bishop,' com-
plained twenty-three clerical members of the diocese
of Hildesheim, ' they have driven us into misery, and
have even robbed many of us of our patrimonies.'
' Our parents and we ourselves,' wrote some of the
burghers of Miihlhausen, in Thuringia, on May 16,
• have founded Masses and given endowments for schools
in which the young of the land might be instructed in
the true Catholic faith, but the town council, from
terror of Saxony and Hesse, have embraced the new
religion, inhibited our Catholic faith, and confiscated all
the endowments or appropriated them to the use of the
new religionists. Our remonstrances and our prayers
that at least they would give us back the goods that
belong to us have met with no response. We now
appeal for help to the Emperor, as the guardian of peace
and justice.'
The Franciscans inHalberstadt complained as follows
304 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
on January 20 : 'By the orders of the town council they
suddenly fell upon our monastery, stole all the sacred
vessels and ornaments, destroyed the images, carried
away our archives, and committed acts which our pens
refuse to describe.' *
The Bishop of Eatisbon renewed the petition which
he had drawn up against the town council at the last
Diet at Worms, and in which he complained that,
' contrary to the promise made to the Emperor to
remain true to the old faith, and in defiance of the
imperial mandate of May 23, 1544, which forbade all
encroachments and attacks on the authority of the
bishop, the council had changed the religion of the
town, had appointed laymen and married men to be
preachers, had placed secular teachers iu the three
schools which from antiquity had been under the
government of clergymen, had set up brothels, confis-
cated the monasteries of the Mendicants, closed several
old house-chapels, withheld ecclesiastical benefices,
insolently refused to pay tithes, cited a priest before a
civil tribunal while he was officiating at the altar, and, so
to say, coerced the whole population into adopting the
new doctrines.' 2
1 In the Memoirs of Father Greitner we read: '. . . mulieres
saltantes,nudasac omni pudore exutas, congregatis sub mensa Franciscanis,
immiserunt, verbis et gestibus istos ad illicita invitantes. Detestandi
sane fructus novi Evangelii et purioris, ut Lutheran! jactant, doctrinae.'
Gaudentius, p. 341, note.
2 Gemeiner, Reformation, pp. 110, 171, 181. Widmann, pp. 199-200,
211-213, records some disgusting details of the times when the new doc-
trines were introduced. Before the Reformation suicide was of extremely
rare occurrence in Germany. "Widmann, wishing to impress upon posterity
the misery of his own times, quotes (in his Chronicles, pp. 147-148) the
fact that in one single year three suicides occurred — one in Augsburg,
another in Ratisbon, and a third in Traublingen. Canon Konigstein, of
Frankfort, in his Diary from 1520 to 1548, p. 120, records a case of suicide
in his town as an event of special interest.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAB, 305
From Kaufbeuren and Donau worth also complaints
poured in of the violent oppression and molestation of
the Catholics, of destruction of altars and images,
confiscation of church property and charitable institu-
tions.1
In order that no proceedings should be taken
against the religious innovation in Donauworth, the
town council of Augsburg had taken the precaution of
sending the Protestant party a company of soldiers,
and on April 26, 1545, had suggested to the Landgrave
of Hesse that it would be well, ' in view of the distress-
ing state of things,' to send an influential deputation
to the confederates to ask for help.
' When the Emperor,' wrote Carl van der Plassen on
June 17 from Eatisbon, ' remonstrated with the Protes-
tants on account of the despotic manner in which they
had suppressed the Catholics all over the Empire, even
in districts where they had no authority whatever ;
had taken possession of churches, monasteries, land,
property, charitable institutions, and schools ; circulated
libellous writings of all sorts against the Pope, the
clergy, and all the disciples of the old faith, to which he
himself belonged, he received for answer : " They were
not conscious of having done anything illegal or at
variance with the Gospel ; to punish idolatry and openly
heathenish conduct was commanded in Scripture by
the Holy Ghost." '
The Emperor's patience was now exhausted.
' You know, dear sister,' Charles wrote to Queen
1 Trierische Saclien unci Briefschaften, fols. 229-231. Concerning
the proceedings in Kaufbeuren see Stieve, Die Beichstadt Kaufbeuren,
pp. 9-15. Concerning Donauworth see Steichele's Bisthum Augsburg, iii.
722 ff.
VOL. VI. X
306 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Maria on June 9, 1546, 'what I said to you on my
departure from Maestricht — that I would do everything
in my power to restore order and peace in Germany by
amicable means, and if possible avoid going to war.'
On his journey he had used his utmost exertions in this
direction, he said, with the Landgrave and the Elector
Palatine Frederic, and at Eatisbon also he had spared
no pains ' to effect a friendly reconciliation with the
Lutherans and other erring people.' ' But nothing that
had been done had been of the slightest use. In spite
of letters and entreaties the Princes no longer came to
the Diet. As I have been informed from many quarters,
after the close of this Diet, at which, according to
Protestant prognostication, nothing will be accomplished,
and affairs will be left in the same hopeless confusion as
at the beginning, it is their intention to establish a
government of their own to which, setting aside the
Emperor's authority, they will compel the whole of
Germany to submit ; they will completely annihilate
the spiritual princes, and above all they will do their
very worst against myself and King Ferdinand. Unless
some means are found, without further delay, to
put down these Protestants, all the Catholics ever}^-
where will be exterminated. I have very great
sympathy with the complaints that they are raising in
all directions. After long consultation with my brother
and with the Duke of Bavaria, our cousin, we have
decided that no other means will serve than to use
force against the seceders and to compel them to submit
to reasonable terms.' The position of affairs, he went
on, was highly favourable for taking drastic measures,
for the opposition party were at the present moment
very much disheartened and exhausted by the expenses
CAUSES OF THE SUALCALDIC WAR 307
of their wars. ' Moreover discontent and ill-will were
rife in Saxony and Hesse and in other Protestant princi-
palities, both among the nobles and the people, because
their rulers fleeced them down to the bone and held
them in worse servitude than before. The nobles and
some of the princes were incensed against the Elector of
Saxony and the Landgrave — especially against the latter
— on account of the capture of the Duke of Brunswick
and the seizure of the duchy. Added to all which they
were divided into a varietv of dissentient sects.' x
There was also hope of bringing some of the Princes,
especially Duke Maurice of Saxony, the Margrave
Albert of Brandenburg-Culmbach, and others, to sub-
mission to the Council. Moreover the Pope had
offered considerable help in troops and money.2
Two days before the despatch of this letter, on
June 7 a secret treaty against the Protestant Estates
had been concluded between the Emperor, King
Ferdinand, and Duke William of Bavaria, who had been
left sole ruler by the death of his brother Louis. Chan-
cellor Eck, whose ' honorarium 'of 2,000 Italian crowns
had this time come from the Emperor, had bestirred
himself actively in the matter. Duke William promised
to pay 50,000 gold florins and to procure artillery,
munition, and provender ; in return for which, if the
Palatine Elector Frederic, who had joined the Smalcald
confederates, did not of his own free will return to
allegiance, but had to be coerced by arms, the Duke
was to be invested with the electoral dignity. William's
1 ' The division among the Protestants,' wrote Charles on Feb. 16,
1546, to his son Philip, ' is so great that house is at enmity with house '
(' . . . la division que hay entre los protestantes, no solo en los pueblos,
pero aun en sus mismas casas '). Dollinger's Documente, p. 42.
2 Lanz, Correspondenz, ii. 486-491.
x 2
308 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
heir, Duke Albert, was to marry Anna, the elder
daughter of Ferdinand, and on the failure of male heirs
of the King the Bohemian crown was to pass to the
House of Bavaria. William declined to bind himself to
a war of aggression.
On the same day the Emperor signed the protocol
of a treaty with the Pope, in which it was stated that
' whereas Germany had long been plunged in great error
and perversion of faith, and the ruin of the German
nation was to be apprehended, with a view to the
restoration of unity a council had been convoked at
Trent, which council had already been opened and had
held several sessions. As, however, the Protestants,
including the confederates of Smalcald, had repudiated
the said council and had refused to attend it, the Pope
and the Emperor had thought it well and advisable to
agree together on the following points : first, that the
Emperor, with the help and concurrence of the Pope,
should equip himself with all his might, by the following
June, against those who had protested against the
council, against the League of Smalcald, and against all
those who in the German Empire are persisting in this
error and perversion, in order to bring them back to
the old, true, undoubted faith and to obedience to the
Hoby See. Before arming himself, however, the
Emperor would use all diligence and try every possible
means to bring back the renegades in a peaceable
manner. The Pope pledged himself to pay down
200,000 florins, which were to be returned to him if
the war were not prosecuted. He further made himself
responsible for 12,000 Italian infantry and 500 light
cavalry, which were to be maintained at his expense
for the space of six months. He also agreed to allow
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 301)
the Emperor, during one }'ear, half of the revenues of
the churches in Spain and 500,000 ducats from the
monasteries there ; these sums, however, were only to
be expended on the war, and the Emperor was to con-
tribute as much from his own purse. Finally, member-
ship in the League was to be open to every prince and
every territorial lord, both temporal and spiritual, in
Germany and elsewhere.1
This treaty, however, was immediately violated on
the part of the Emperor by the promises which he gave
the Margrave Hans of Brandenburg-Ciistrin and Albert
of Brandenburg-Culmbach and Duke Maurice of Saxony
in matters of religion, in order to draw them away from
the Smalcald League and entice them to himself.
Ever since the dispute concerning Wiirzen the
relations of cordial friendship between Maurice and the
Elector John Frederic of Saxony had been replaced by
feelings of rivalry and suspicion, because both princes
had an eye to succeeding to the bishoprics of Magdeburg
and Halberstadt.2
1 Goldast, BeichsJiandlungen, pp. 139-141.
3 Maurice had joined the League of Smalcald in 1589 ; nevertheless in
the year 1542 he told the Landgrave of Hesse that the Estates of his
duchy would have nothing to do with the League ; if, however, it should
be a question of defending religion, he would lend help. Voigt, Herzog
Moritz, pp. 58-59. In March 1545 he made a proposal that in place
of the former League a closer union should be concluded between himself,
the Elector, and the Landgrave ; for there was increasing danger, he
wrote to Philip, ' that Satan would prepare obstacles in the way of the
word of God.' He was of opinion that the Princes should give powerful
aid to the Emperor against the Turks, and should in return demand from
him full mastery over the possessions of the spiritual Estates of the
Empire. The princes would divide the booty amicably, he thought,
among themselves. Philip approved of the proposition : not so the
Elector. He could not agree to any closer union until the disputes
between himself and Maurice regarding their boundaries had been
adjusted. Philip reproved the Elector for preferring his petty personal
310 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
In April 1546, at the Diet at Eatisbon, Maurice,
through his delegate, Christopher von Oarlowitz, inti-
mated to the imperial minister Granvell that in return
for the hereditary protectorship of the above two
bishoprics he was ready to enter into an agreement with
the Emperor. Granvell answered that the Duke had
better come himself ; the Emperor would behave to him
as a father and a friend. On May 24 Maurice entered
Eatisbon on horseback and negotiations were begun.
The Emperor finally decided on going to war against
the Smalcald confederates, and the transactions with
Maurice were brought to a conclusion on June 19.
In spite of the treaty with the Pope, Granvell assured
the Duke that ' it was the Emperor's intention to con-
voke a Christian general council from all the different
Christian nations, to which the Pope would have to
submit ; and that the Emperor was ready to permit
a free discussion at which the evangelicals would obtain
a hearing and be treated without prejudice according
to Divine Scripture.' In the transactions with Maurice
the imperial parties contented themselves with the
affirmation that ' Maurice would submit to the decrees
grievances to great public interests which concerned the religion of all
countries. In the autumn and towards the end of the year 1545 took
place the final ' friendly interviews ' between the two Saxon cousins at
Torgau, Schweinitz, and on the Schellenberg, near Chemnitz. Through-
out ' mighty great drinking bouts ' were a feature. The Elector, who
was a past master in the art, challenged the company to a ' Wettsaufen '
(drinking match). To many the result was disastrous. Count George
of Mansfeld after the Schweinitz carousal lay at death's door. Several,
amongst them Ernest von Schonberg, drank themselves to death.
Maurice himself, although he belonged to the category of the ' Tollen
unci VollenJ and could put any ordinary antagonist under the table, was
no match for his cousin. He had to be carried in a chair from the
Schellenberg to Dresden, and for a long time his condition remained
serious. See v. Langenn's Melchior von Ossa, pp. 67-68. Arnold, Vita
Manritii, 1174-1175, 1253-1254.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 311
of the Council in so far as the other Princes of Germany
would do likewise.' If all the disputed articles of
religion were not amicably settled at the Council, but
two, three, or four of them remained unsettled, Maurice
was to be guaranteed perfect security and freedom from
anxiety until a further settlement. A similar assurance
was also given to the Margrave Hans von Ciistrin.
By concessions of this sort the Emperor again
sacrificed the authority of the Council which he had
promised to uphold at his meeting with the Pope.
Granvell's attitude towards ecclesiastical affairs was
still exactly the same as in 1541, when Matthew Held
wrote of him : ' He wants to traffic and bargain in
religion, to haggle, to buy and to sell, as if it were a purely
secular business, and as if God had entrusted the doc-
trines of the faith and the government of the Church
not to the successors of St. Peter and the other apostles,
but to politicians, jurists, and pettifoggers.' With regard
to the doctrine of justification, said Granvell to Duke
Maurice's councillors, they had already come to an
understanding ; about the marriage of priests and
Communion in both kinds they need not trouble them-
selves ; and as for the Duke's raids on cloisters and
misappropriation of church revenues and endowments,
there is no fear of the Emperor's visiting him with
chastisement on that score.
Maurice was invested with the protectorship over
the bishoprics of Magdeburg and Halberstadt and their
lands and subjects, on condition that he would leave the
Archbishop, the Bishop, and their subjects in the enjoy-
ment of their old faith and maintain the chapters in
possession of their liberties and privileges, including the
right of election. The latter, however, were only to make
312 HISTORY OP THE GERMAN PEOPLE
choice of such persons as were approved of by the
Emperor and the King and were not hostile to the
Duke. The Emperor secured the neutrality of the Duke,
not his co-operation in the war. Maurice promised
that he would in all respects behave towards the
Emperor, the King of the Eomans, and the Empire as a
loyal and obedient Prince of the Empire, seeking always
to further their best interests ; in especial he would
always show friendship and devotion to the Houses of
Austria and Burgundy. Ten days later, June 29, he
assured the Landgrave of Hesse that he would do all in
his power to avert the danger which might threaten the
Houses of Saxony and Hesse from the part of the
Emperor ; Philip might rely on ' all faithful friendship '
from him.1
Meanwhile delegates from the Smalcald allies had
been holding meetings at Worms and at Ulm. At the
first of these the Archbishop of Cologne, the Palatine
Elector Frederic, and the Bishop of Minister declared
themselves in favour of the enlargement and extension
of the League ; the town of Eavensberg was received
into it. At Ulm it was decided in June that if war
broke out with the Emperor the bishoprics of the
Empire should, for the benefit of the League, ' be pro-
vided with good Christian government,' be secularised
and evangelised. There was to be no more questioning,
said the Saxon Elector's V ice-Chancellor, Burckhardt, ' as
to how they were to behave with regard to the clergy and
their property, but, as the " Pfaffen " were the enemies
of the League, they must pitch into them at once and
let each man take and keep whatever he could.'2
1 Instructions for Dr. Fachs in v. Langenn, Moritz, ii. 266-268.
2 Voigt's Moritz, p. 137.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIO WAE 313
Philip of Hesse had sketched out the plan of procedure.
i When the moment arrived,' he wrote on June 26 to
Ulrich von Wiirtemberg and to the towns of Augsburg
and Ulm, ' they must set about the business in good
earnest and not stop till all the priests had been ex-
pelled from the whole of Germany ; let them all stead-
fastly resolve on this course.' T
Thus then, as the well-informed Emperor wrote to
his sister, the Smalcaldians intended not only to sup-
press the ecclesiastical princes, but also, if fortune
favoured them in the war, to drive the whole of the
Catholic clergy bodily out of the Empire.
' The Emperor is now thoroughly incensed,' wrote a
Hessian emissary from Eatisbon on June 14, ' and he
is determined to push matters through. He is spe-
cially incensed against the Landgrave and Cologne.'
' A great and pious man has carried on a dispute
with the Bishop of Augsburg, who is outspoken in his
denunciations. He denies that religion has anything
to do with the business in hand ; he lays the blame on
your Grace's insubordination, especially your failure to
obey the Emperor's summons to appear at the Diet.
The Emperor will declare war for secular, not for
religious causes.'
The Emperor himself wrote to this effect to the
towns of Strasburg, Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Ulm,
to Duke Ulrich of Wiirtemberg, to the Archbishop of
Cologne, saying that for the welfare of the Empire he
must have recourse to arms in order to restore order
and justice, to assert his own dignity, and to put to the
rout certain insurrectionary people who would other-
wise turn the Empire upside down. Certain disturbers
' Rommel's UrleundenbucJi , p. 135.
314 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
of peace and justice, he said in a letter addressed to the
four towns on June 16, had for a long time past availed
themselves of the Christian religion and the glory of God
as a mantle and excuse for their unlawful attempts to
subjugate the other Estates of the realm and to rob them
of their goods. Now these said persons had actually
presumed to assail the Imperial Majesty and authority,
and had proclaimed that they intended to raise the
sword against the Emperor, and indeed it had already
long been their practice to embitter the lower classes
against him by means of scurrilous pamphlets and
lampoons, and to stir them up to open rebellion. To
disregard and connive at such behaviour any longer
would only mean the complete subversion and ruin of
the Empire, especially of the imperial cities. He had
accordingly resolved to bring his disobedient and refrac-
tory subjects to condign punishment, and thereby to
re-establish the German nation in peace and unity.
On both sides preparations for war were begun.
But whereas the Emperor at Eatisbon ' was not
yet furnished with adequate troops,' the Smalcald
League could everywhere count on plenty of efficient
companies and regiments. The town of Augsburg
especially was in a fever of activity, its general, Schartlin
vonBurtenbach, busying himself indefatigably in recruit-
ing soldiers throughout the districts of Wurtemberg,
Alsace, and the whole surrounding neighbourhood.
Schartlin, in the spring of 1546, had ' suppressed
popery ' at Burtenbach, and he was now burning with
longing to ' put down the " Pfaffen" and their adherents.'
When, on July 19, the Emperor ordered him, on pain of
forfeiture of his estates, to suspend his military prepara-
tions and to make over to his Majesty's service the
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 315
troops he had levied, he answered, with insolent reliance
on his superior might, that ' he was only recruiting
soldiers to protect the town of Augsburg and to save
the fatherland.' On June 25 he came to Augsburg
with 4,000 soldiers, the very same day on which the
town had given the Emperor the deceitful assurance
that ' your Majesty may at all times confidently
expect from us, as a community ever loyal and obedient
to your Majesty, nothing but dutiful and submissive
allegiance, and surrender of all means at our disposal
for resistance to the enemy.' *
Schartlin was appointed commander-in-chief by the
towns of Southern Germany, and he advised beginning
the attack at the very earliest date possible, surprising
the imperial mustering-places and cutting off the
Emperor's connection with Italy by the occupation of
the Grisons and the Tyrolese passes. After seizing the
gaps of Ehrenberg and Finstermuntz they would
have no difficulty in taking possession of the bishopric
of Augsburg. Duke Ulrich of Wilrtemberg on July 4
promised the help of his infantry, but he would not
place his cavalry under the command of the town
commander-in-chief. ' We are well assured,' he wrote
to his councillors on July 9, ' that Schartlin would be
only too glad that we should lend him our cavalry, and
would not shed a tear if they were annihilated. But
we would see the villain drawn and quartered rather
than do anything of the kind.' 2
On this same July 9 Schartlin, with twenty-four
companies and twelve pieces of larger and smaller
artillery, stood before the gates of Ftissen, captured the
town, and initiated the religious war. He abolished the
1 Herberger, pp. lxxx-lxxxiii. 2 Heyd, iii. 373.
316 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Catholic worship, threw the * idols ' out of the churches,
commissioned a preacher ' to free the pious citizens from
the bonds of the devil.'
In the night of July 10 a successfully accomplished
assault gained him the castle of Ehrenberg, nearEeutte.
He then prepared ' with all his forces and artillery ' to
disperse the Council of Trent, and hoped in a short
time to have made himself master of the Tyrol as far as
the frontier of Italy.1
But the town of Augsburg, which feared an attack
from Bavaria, recalled him. The Smalcald board of
war assembled at Ulm insisted that he should march
along the river Iller back to Ulm, because they wanted to
collect all the forces together at that point, in order to
make an immediate attack on the Emperor's camp at
Eatisbon. Before leaving Ftissen, however, he plundered
all the churches and clergy of the town. ' He set the
peasants on to massacre the idols in their churches '
and ' appropriated chalices and church silverware to
base uses.' Fearful atrocities were committed in the
monasteries and convents.2 All the boroughs of the
bishopric of Augsburg, in the Oberland, were compelled
1 See Ladurner, ' Der Einfall der Schmalkaldener in Tirol, 1546,' in
the Arcldv fur Geschichte unci Alterthumskunde Tyrols, i. 145 ff. For
Ferdinand's preparations in Bohemia, where for a long time past many
people had become reconciled to the new religion, and the attitude of the
Bohemians at that critical period, see Bucholtz, vi. 352 ff. ; Huber, iv.
114 ff., 120 ff.
2 The nuncio Verallo describes some of these atrocities in his despatch
of July 11 : ' Entrati in un monasterio de frati . . . li pigliorno tutti et
alzaronli li panni alia cintura, che mostravano tutte le parti vergognose ;
et cosi li menavano per il campo et exercito loro con infinite ingiurie,
dandoli delle botte.' Professor Lenz, in his Kriegsfiilirung der Sclimal-
haldener, p. 441, has nothing further to say regarding these occurrences
than that Schartlin ' forthwith permitted his preacher, John Finner, to
proclaim the evangelical doctrines and to remove the images from the
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 317
' by order of the League ' to do homage to Schartlin. In
his ' Memoirs ' he relates with unction what part of the
booty he secured for himself, and what lands he appro-
priated. ' From the provost of Wettenhausen,' he
writes, ' I have taken the two boroughs of Kemnat and
Schonenberg, and Hagenried from the provost of the
Sacred Cross, and made him swear fealty to me ; and I
have confiscated the rents, tithes, and dues starting
Martinmas of this year. At Burtenbach I appropriated
all the goods of the chapter and other " Pfaffen." ' 1
All this was imperative ' for the advancement of
the Gospel'.' Schartlin repeatedly urged the Council
of Augsburg to take possession of all neighbouring
monasteries. Southward as far as the Alps, and west
ward as far as the Giinz, all the land must swear
allegiance to the town and the people be protestantised
in all haste.' He wished that the commanders of the
army should be furnished with a formula by which
they might command the knights of the margraviate
of Burgau ' to abolish all the papal abuses and to intro-
duce godly Christian rites and ceremonies.'
On July 20 Schartlin allied himself with the Wtirtem-
berg troops at Gilnzburg, which were under the command
of Hans von Heideck, and which had also ravaged the
' monasteries and clergy in the Danube provinces and
done all in their power to bring the people over to the
" Gospel." The town of Dillingen, belonging to the
Bishop of Augsburg, and the imperial city of Donau-
churches.' Nothing else ? ' Of course the occupation of the bishopric
was followed by its evangelisation, the more so as the population desired
nothing so eagerly." In the vocabulary of a Schartlin ' evangelisation '
was synonymous with plunder and sacrilege.
1 Lebensbesclireibung, pp. 93-95.
318 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
worth were seized ; the preacher Frecht, of Ulm, was
instructed to convert the Catholics in ' hot haste.'
The work of ' sweeping up ' churches and cloisters
was proceeded with vigorously.1
While these conquests and raids had been carried
on in the south by members of the League, without
any previous declaration of war, the heads of the con-
federacy had also been equipping on a large scale. A
few days before his interview with the Emperor at
Spires, Philip of Hesse had solicited the King of Eng-
land for help to the amount of 100,000 crowns, and
also for a private pension for defence ' against the
papists.' He appealed simultaneously, at the end of
March, to Francis I. for ' money to carry on necessary
preparations.' The nobles were not to be reckoned on,
he wrote on June 4 (still before the opening of the
Eatisbon Diet) to the Elector of Saxony ; ' it was
necessary therefore to have foreign cavalry always in
readiness.' In a short time he had collected ten
squadrons of foreign troops. After Francis I. had
concluded peace with Henry VIII., at the end of May,
Philip hoped for active help from him against the
Emperor. On June 24 he requested the council of
Strasburg to represent to the King of France that now,
since the war was on against us, it was the very time
for him to renew his hostility, and that he ought not to
overlook his opportunity.' 2
At a meeting at Ichtershausen John Frederic and
Philip, on July 4, drew up the letters of credit for their
ambassadors to England and France. They begged the
English Kins that he would not withhold from them
1 Keim, Ulm, p. 365.
2 Baumgarten, Schmalkaldischer Krieg, 88, note 2.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAE 319
in this extremity ' his counsel, help, delivery, and
support.'
The Landgrave, especially, entreated for money
help, reminding Henry VIII. ' that his interests were
the same as those of the League, as he was engaged in a
like struggle against the Eoman Antichrist.' r Writing
to Francis I. he said he was able to add to his prayer
for support his thanks for favours conferred on the
confederates, for the French King had sent them,
through Johann Sturm of Strasburg, all sorts of in-
formation respecting the Emperor's military prepara-
tions and levying of troops. ' The towns of the south,'
Philip assured the King in a letter which fell into the
Emperor's hands, ' had already collected more than
20,000 efficient soldiers ; he himself in a few days
would have got together a powerful armament in
addition to the Saxon and Flemish troops. But the
King must send him supplies as soon as possible, for a
large army required in the long run a great deal of
money to maintain it.' 2
At Ichtershaufen the heads of the League made the
necessary arrangements for massing together in the
neighbourhood of Meinigen and Fulda by July 20 an
army of 16,000 infantry and 9,000 cavahy, with 1,400
sappers and sufficient artillery. On July 4 they sent,
with their credentials for the ambassadors to England
and France, a letter to the Emperor, to the effect that
' having become aware that the Emperor was equipping
in great force and that his army was intended for
war against them, they could not refrain from declar-
ing their innocence. They were not conscious of any
1 Baumgarten, 39-42.
2 Schmidt, Neuere Geschichte der Deutsclien, i. 75.
320 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
disobedience towards him ; on the contrary, they had
been more faithful than other Estates in the discharge
of their duties and had borne their share in the
national burdens. They could prove before any one
that they were innocent of all disobedience, and that
his Majesty's forcible and warlike proceedings, resorted
to at the instigation of the Eoman Antichrist and his
unchristian council at Trent, had no other intent than
the extirpation of the true Christian religion and the
divine word, and also the suppression of the rights and
liberties of the German nation.' 1
The preachers also were enjoined to use their in-
fluence with the people in the spirit of this protest, and
to rouse them to enthusiasm for the fight ' against the
Eoman Antichrist and his supporters, and in favour of
the Gospel and the ' word of God.'
On July 4 John Bugenhagen, superintendent of
Wittenberg, sent orders to the preachers throughout
the Electorate of Saxony to instruct the people from
the pulpit that ' their enemies were seeking to exter-
minate divine truth, to perpetuate open idolatry and
debauchery ; ' that they intended ' to lay waste the
principalities and towns in which the right doctrine
was preached, to massacre numbers of pious and
learned people, and to dishonour women.' They were
' intoxicated with the blood of the saints already shed,
and they grew more and more bloodthirsty the longer
they went on, and were now only panting for further
slaughter of true Christian preachers, women, children,
and others.' The preachers were ordered to insert the
following prayer in the Litany : ' That Thou graciously
preserve us from the blasphemies and abominable
1 Hortleder, Bechtmds sig~ke.it, pp. 280-281.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDJC WAR 321
slaughtering and profligacy of Thy enemies, the Turks
and the Pope.'
' To all those who forsake the Elector of Saxony,'
said the Bishop of Naumburg, Nicolaus Amsdorf, in the
preface to a ' Christian Prayer ' published by him,
'be it known that they are taking part with the
Emperor and the Pope against God and His divine
word, and that they are haters and persecutors of the
truth.' ' Diligently and repeatedly it was to be im-
pressed on the people,' such were the orders of the
superintendent and preachers of Magdeburg ' that all
this raging of the Devil, the Pope, the Emperor, and
the whole pack of godless tyrants had no other aim
than to extinguish the Christian faith, to destroy the
Church of Christ, to rob disquieted consciences of
every vestige of hope and consolation, to overthrow all
Christian discipline and instruction among the young,
to abolish schools, to uproot all order and government
in town and country, to introduce a condition of
perpetual wretchedness among clergy and laity, and to
reduce the German nation to shameful bondage under
a system of diabolical, blasphemous idolatry.'
The Smalcald confederates went forward with such
unbounded confidence because ' from all quarters they
had massed together so laree a number of admirable
warriors,' and ' were still expecting large accessions of
help from foreign potentates.' On July 9 secret
emissaries from Liibeck gave information that King
Christian III. was recruiting every third man in
Holstein and Denmark, and forcing into his service all
the farm labourers and boatmen he could lay hands on.
He had closed the Sound and detained four hundred
large and small vessels laden with corn, oats, and
VOL. VI. Y
322 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
merchandise belonging to Holland and the Netherlands.
The King of Sweden also was making great preparations
for helping the League ; in like manner Liibeck, Ham-
burg, Eostock, and the other towns ' were equipping in
such force that' it was beyond all measure ; ' in the
bishoprics of Bremen and Minden also preparations
were on no less extensive a scale. ' In a short time
you will hear wonders also of us poor Saxons,' one of
the messengers declared. ' There need be no fear any-
where,' said another on July 13, 'but that we shall put
utterly to the rout both the Antichrist and the Emperor,
who has become the hangman and beadle of Anti-
christ, and that we shall set up a new order of things
in which there will be no place for all the swarm of
priests and their followers.' In the eyes also of the
Hamburg burgomaster, Matthias Raders, the Emperor
was only ' the hangman and beadle of the Pope.' A
popular song against the Emperor ran as follows : —
He swore the Empire to augment,
But on destruction now alone
The Emperor is bent ;
He'll skin us to the bone.
He's grown into a traitor base
To God and to the German land ;
He'll slay the Germans with his hand,
To his perpetual disgrace.1
' It has been said,' writes a Protestant, ' that the
Landgrave of Hesse affirmed in the presence of wit-
nesses that if once he got his Majesty in his power he
would have him crucified, with a cardinal hanging on
either side of him.'
' Before he came back again,' Philip said openly
before his departure for the war, ' he would have won
1 Von Liliencron, iv. 340-341.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 323
himself a better country than Hesse.' At Frankfort a
gilt cuirass, ' on which was an eagle with a gold crown,'
was made for the Landgrave.
'Forty-three companies, amongst which are two
companies of Swiss,' wrote the town of Constance to
Zurich, 'took their oath at Ulm (July 22) on the code
of articles, and promised full obedience ; these numbers
do not include the other Swiss soldiers and Lands-
knechts stationed at Kempten, Memmingen, and
Eavensburg, who make up seventeen companies.
News has come that the King of France is equipping
to march with an army to Milan. The Emperor and
his priests are making merry at Eatisbon, feasting and
dancing, just as if there were no danger at hand.'
According to the account of the town delegate who
had been present at the meeting of the League at
Memmingen the Emperor had with him no more than
thirty companies of German soldiers and not above
eight hundred mounted soldiers. It was all in vain
that the Emperor, on July 13, besought the Swiss
assembled in Diet at Baden to recall the Landsknechts
from the service of his enemies and not to allow them to
fight against him.1
' Had the confederates of the south, together with
Saxony and Hesse, marched straight on Eatisbon and
surprised the Emperor in his palace, as had at first
been intended, the Emperor would have been in the
greatest personal danger, and the war from the very
commencement would have been decided against him.
On July 30 a messenger from the Lord of Basse-
Fontaine, the French ambassador at the imperial
1 Charles's despatch from Eatisbon, July 15, 1546, in the archives at
Lucerne, section ' Reichssachen.'
t 2
324 HISTOKY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
court, was sent from Eatisbon to the camp of the
confederates with the announcement that ' the King-
was wholly on the side of the Protestants, and not on
that of the Emperor ; he had sent an ambassador to
Switzerland to persuade the Swiss to contribute help
and to decline the overtures of the Emperor and the
Pope.' The Emperor would not do anything : the
allies had better march on Eatisbon without delay, and
then Charles, who had only a very few troops with him,
would be obliged to abandon the town and ' desist
from his whole intentions.' The following year he,
Francis, would raise a revolt against him in other
lands, and the Smalcald confederates would have rest.1
Driven to desperation by the bandit raids of the
confederates in the Tjrrol and along the Danube, and
having become informed, through the seizure of some
letters, of the conspiracies going on with France, the
Emperor at last decided on the ' final step.'
After receiving from the chiefs of the League, on
July 15, a fresh manifesto in which they again attempted
to prove their innocence, and accused the Emperor of
violating his capitulation oath and of usurping un-
constitutional prerogatives, Charles pronounced the
sentence of the ban against John Frederic of Saxony
and Philip of Hesse. He declared them both to be
disobedient, disloyal, undutiful, and perjured rebels,
insurgent contemners of his Imperial Majesty, violators
of the public peace, and just objects of his chastise-
ment. Their subjects and vassals were pronounced
free from their oaths of allegiance to them ; their
partisans and adherents were threatened with the same
punishment as themselves. In order to justify and
1 Lenz, Kriegsfiihrung tier Schmalkaldener, p. 459.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 325
account for this proceeding on his part the Emperor
alleged that both these princes had done all in their
power to nullify the persistent efforts he had for years
past been making to heal and bridge over the unhappy
and dangerous religious schism with which the nation
was afflicted, and to transform the mutual mistrust that
had grown up among the imperial Estates into good-
will and friendship. They had not been content to
restrict their insubordination to themselves, but had
also endeavoured to incite other princes and Estates to
join in intrigues and conspiracies ; they had driven one
prince of the Empire out of his territory and taken
possession of it themselves ; they had made themselves
masters by fraud and violence of bishoprics, whose
occupiers had from time immemorial had seats and
votes at the Diets ; they had robbed many persons of
their property and yearly incomes, and had taken
foreign subjects under their protection. Their audacity
went so far as to repudiate all laws and recognise no
civil authority ; through their fault alone the Kammer-
gericht had been suspended, and, for a long time past,
a thing unheard of in any country, there had been no
tribunal of justice in the land. And the worst of it all
was that whatever they did was done under the sweet
and plausible names of religion, peace, and liberty,
although in reality the very last things they wished for
were the settlement of religious disputes and the peace
and liberty of the Empire. On the contrary they
made no secret of their determination to deprive him
(Charles) of his crown and sceptre and all his authority,
and usurp them to themselves, and in the universal
confusion that would ensue to augment their own
power and prestige, and subjugate the whole nation to
326 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
their tyranny. With this object they had endeavoured
by lampoons and caricatures to make him contemptible
in the eyes of the people ; they had formed alliances
against him at clandestine meetings ; they had incensed
foreign monarchs against him and supported these
potentates with counsel and active service ; yea, more,
it could actually be proved that they had endeavoured
to jeopardise the safety and welfare of the nation by
means of the Turks. Although, by right of his
sovereign power, he might long ago have punished
these two princes for their crimes, he had nevertheless,
from love of peace, overlooked many offences, and
often made greater concessions to them than was
fitting ; indeed, he had more than once compromised
his conscience and injured his reputation on their
account. For instance, five years ago he had been far
too lenient towards the Landgrave at Ratisbon, two
years ago towards the Elector of Saxony, in the hope
of winning them by forbearance and consideration and
without having recourse to forcible measures. But
he had obtained no result in this manner. The princes
had treated all the agreements that had been concluded
as mere means for tying the hands of the loyal and obe-
dient subjects, and depriving them of the natural right of
self-defence, while to themselves, the rebels, all manner
of illegal, unconstitutional acts against the unoffending
Catholics were to be allowed. If these refractory sub-
jects were not kept in check, the whole constitution of
the Empire would be subverted, and there would be
no possibility either of adjusting the religious disputes or
of restoring order in the other affairs of the Empire.1
1 Hortleder, pp. 312-318. The pronouncement of the ban is dated July
20, but it was executed later on. See v. Druffel, Viglius' Tagebucli , p. 50-
CAUSES OF "the smalcaldic WAR 327
Out of regard for the Protestant princes allied with
him and for the Protestant population the Emperor
made no mention in this declaration of the religious
motives which had actuated him in going to war. He
observed the same reticence in other public documents
in which he enumerated the reasons of the war.
Consequently it was a cause of extreme annoyance to
him — and he made complaints on the subject — that the
Pope informed the Swiss of the alliance between himself
and the Emperor, in which the recovery of the apostate
members to the obedience of the Catholic Church and
to submission to the Council was laid down as the
actual motive of the war, and invited their accession to
it. The Pope was astonished at the Emperor's com-
plaints, because the clause in question had been inserted
in the compact at Charles's own request, and because
nobody who saw the apostolic legate in attendance on
the Emperor with so large a body of troops could be
hoodwinked, by allegation of political reasons, as to
the true object of the war.
Charles imagined that he was displaying skill in
tactics by this attempted dissimulation as to the real
reasons of the war.
' Even if this subterfuge,' he wrote on June 9 to
Queen Maria, ' does not altogether prevent the renegades
from thinking that religious questions are at stake, it
will at any rate serve the purpose of dividing them ;
they will at least hesitate to join forces with Saxony
and Hesse.' l He spoke more plainly in his private
letters to his son Philip. ' Although, as you are aware,'
he wrote to the latter on August 10, 1546, ' my aim
and object was and is to prosecute this war for the
1 Lanz, Correspo'iideuz, ii. 491.
o
28 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
restoration of the Catholic religion, I nevertheless
caused it to be announced and proclaimed, because
this course seemed advisable at first, that my motive
was to punish my refractory subjects, above all Hesse
and Saxony.' 1
But by his silence as to all religious motives in
pronouncing the sentence of the ban Charles exposed
himself to the charge of inconsistency with his previous
behaviour towards the outlawed princes.
Saxony and Hesse in answering him could adduce
that the Emperor, by his friendly declarations and
tokens of favour to them since the perpetration on
their part of these possibly ill-advised actions, had
given them to understand that they were in some
measure forgiven and restored to favour ; and since
the last Diet at Spires, when he had assured them both
of his good-will towards them, nothing had happened
to occasion so great anger on his part. Their absence
from the Imperial Diet was not in itself sufficient reason
for the Emperor's behaviour towards them ; for they
had excused themselves for their non-attendance and
had sent representatives. The real ground of the pro-
ceedings, which, however, the Emperor was silent
about, was ' the true Christian religion,' they said, ' and
their obligation to propagate it.' By this sentence
pronounced against them, in opposition to all the rights
of the Empire as well as to the imperial capitulation
oath, ' Charles, who called himself Emperor,' had for-
feited all imperial dignity.
Without any proof of their charges they went on
heaping accusation after accusation on the Emperor.
In a written document drawn up by order of Briick,
1 Maiirenbrecher, Karl V. und die Proiestanten, Appendix, p. 47*.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC AVAR 329
Chancellor to the Saxon Elector, it was declared that
1 the Emperor, from the very commencement of his
reign, had turned all his thoughts to transforming the
Empire into an hereditary monarchy and reducing it
to perpetual servitude ; and that he had aimed at
crushing the freedom of the German nation under pre-
tence of punishing the destroyers of the true Christian
religion. The edict of Worms itself had been directed
against God and against the imperial office, which
Charles was bound to exercise for the protection and
defence of the true worship of God, and not for the
maintenance of unchristian doctrine and open idolatry.
Tyranny and oppression of this sort, the work of the
evil spirit, must at all costs be withstood. The}^ had
learned from trustworthy sources that the Emperor
was in conspiracy with the Turks, the invaders of
Germany, to exterminate all the Protestants, while the
followers of the Pope were to be spared." * The Emperor
had made an agreement with the Pope, and had given
orders, wrote Bugenhagen, ' the Apostle of the North,'
to the King of Denmark, that not only all the adult
Protestant population but even all children of two
years and upwards were to be massacred. ' To this
intent they have been conspiring together for many
years.'2
' The lamentable extent to which all sense of reason
and moderation had disappeared, and the unhappy
people had been stirred up to hatred and discontent by
the preachers and others, was conspicuously shown in a
pamphlet which George Major, preacher and doctor
of theology at Wittenberg, published under the advice
1 Hortleder, BecJdmdssigkeit, pp. 442, 450-453.
2 Dollinger, Reformation, ii. 142.
330 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
and approval of other Wittenberg divines. It was
destined, according to the author's preface, ' to keep all
manner of things alive in the memory of pious hearts.' 1
Chancellor Brlick thought it ' most Christian and ex-
cellent reading,' and sent sixty copies to a son of the
Elector of Saxony, remarking that ' your gracious Lord
and Father will be delighted to see and to read this little
book.'2
This ' Christian booklet ' bore the title ' Sentence of
the Ban pronounced by the Eternal, Divine, and Almighty
Majesty against the Emperor Charles and against Pope
Paul III., the Devil's Yicar in Rome.' Emperor and
Pope, so the book stated, had ' risen up against the
Divine Majesty with criminal audacity and presumption,
and hence had long deserved to be cast alive into the
fire of hell, which burnt with brimstone.' They had
' drawn the Estates and subjects of the Empire into
conspiracy with intent to destroy the German nation
by fire, sword, and poison.' The Emperor, like Herod
and Nero, ' was the servant and magistrate of the devil.'
' Whosoever, therefore, withstands this authority, which
abolishes true divine doctrine, worship, discipline,
honour, peace, and unity, and persecutes the righteous,
while it upholds false teaching, idolatry, adultery,
anarchy, robbery, and all wicked people, such a one is
not opposing God's ordinances but the devil's.' ' Under
the devil's banners are ranged Cain, Pharaoh, Ahab,
Antiochus, Herod, Annas, Caiaphas, Judas, Pilate, Nero,
Maxentius, Mahomet, the Turks, the Popes, the bishops,
the monks and the priests, and last of all the Emperor
1 Hortleder, p. 123. Major's letter to the Elector of Saxony, dated
Wittenberg, Tuesday after Michaelmas Day, 1546.
2 Hortleder, p. 123.
CAUSES OF THE SMALCALDIC WAR 331
Charles.' Whoever serves the Emperor is a servant of
the devil. Moreover it was not enough now to remain
neutral ; for if all hands did not help in the protection
of divine laws and ordinances ' the temporal power
would become nothing less than diabolical tyranny, like
the o-overnment of the Turks.' l
o
1 Hortleder, pp. 124-136
332 history of the German people
CHAPTER II
WAR ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY THE ROUT AT
MUHLBERG PHILIP OF HESSE TAKEN PRISONER, 1546-
1547
After the capture of Donauworth the army of Southern
Germany, well equipped and provisioned, and entrenched
in its camp, awaited, full of hopefulness, the arrival
of the Saxons and Hessians, intending on the spot to
strike a decisive blow, and, as the Esslinger delegate
expressed himself on August 2, 'to sweep the papal
Antichrist from the face of the earth.' On Schartlin's
banner was inscribed the jeering question : ' What has
become of the Emperor ? ' On August 3 and 4 the
Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse came
up with their troops, and the collective forces of the
League now counted nearly 30,000 infantry, 46,000
cavalry, and about one hundred pieces of artillery.1
The heads of the League divided the command between
them ; Heideck, with the Witriemberg forces, was under
the Elector, Schartlin, with the troops of the imperial
cities, under the Landgrave.
1 ' Si excopiisjudicare voluinus,' wrote Melanchthon, ' certe imperator
succumbat necesse est, adeo enim, lit quidam existimant, nostri principes
instructi sunt, ut iis nemo resistere possit. Si vero astra hac in re con-
sulantur, certum est, quod imperatori magis quam nostris faveant.'
Corp. Reform, vi. 184. The strength of the Smalcaldic forces is given
according to the calculation of Le Mang in his narrative of the Smal-
caldic war, DenJcwiirdigheiten KarVs V. i. 25, note 7, and p. 61, note 1.
WAR ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY 333
1 But almost at the outset want of unity, insight,
and valour became apparent among the members of
the League, and also a dearth of the necessary funds, for
the ecclesiastical booty and the contributions levied on
abbeys, priests, and Jews did not suffice.' ' The con-
federates fell a prey to a disease which has been called
the disease of Demosthenes, or cupidity. It spread to
such an extent throughout the camp that not only were
the Landsknechts heard unceasingly crying out, " Money !
money ! " but many of the most distinguished cavalry
officers and others did not scruple to say out loud that
they were serving for money, that money they would
have, and if they did not get it at once they would
leave the field.' x Such behaviour was scarcely con-
sistent with the device on their banners : ' With God,
for the Fatherland ! '
The Princes of Saxony and Hesse brought no money
with them, as they thought they were doing enough
in contributing their armies to that of the Oberland.
The imperial cities, which were to supply the funds,
'became more and more mercantile and miserly.' At first
their imagination revelled in the speedy possession of
episcopal States and other possessions of the ' PfafFen,'
and each was fearful that the avarice of the others would
defraud it of its fair share of the booty ; but when they
,saw that instead of sharing in booty there came a demand
for money to defray the expenses of the war the town
councillors shrugged their shoulders, and began to think
that the word of God was entirely too high-priced, and
that they would have done better to stay at home and
come to terms with the Emperor, who after all had never
been a hard master, and had never really suppressed
1 Lanze, ii. 204.
334 HISTOEY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
the word of God, as he was now accused of having done.
' We have made our bed, and we must lie upon it,'
wrote Besserer, the military councillor of Ulm, on
September 1 to the members of the town council of
Ulm. ' But money we must have or our cause is lost.'
' With unpaid, unclothed, disaffected soldiers,' nothing-
can be carried through. Neither the Saxon nor the
maritime towns, neither Pornerania nor Litneburg paid
their contributions.1 Hermann, Archbishop of Cologne,
left his fellow-confederates in the lurch, published the
threatening letter sent him by the Emperor, in which it
was forbidden under severest penalty to lend any help
to the enemy, and gave orders that this letter should be
strictly obeyed. King Christian of Denmark, ' who had
been lavish in promises, showed himself to be almost a
rascal.' ' His mone}7 was scanty,' and the hopes placed
on his preparations had been idle. ' The King of
Denmark is not equipping at all,' wrote the town
council of Brunswick on August 15 to that of Frank-
fort- on- the-Main .
' There was a want of unity between the com-
mander-in-chief, John Frederic, and Philip ; ' the ex-
citable temper of the latter did not agree with the
stubbornness, slowness, and indecision of the Elector.
'You know the Elector,' Philip had written years
before to his chancellor, ' and what sort of a man
he is ; wherever he can't have a finger in the pie
he throws every imaginable obstacle in the way, so that
nothing may be accomplished.' Now he complained of
him : ' When we wanted to fight he would not ; when
we should have been glad to see all hands joining together
1 Philip of Hesse to Ulrichof Wurtemberg, Oct. 19, 1546, in Rommel,
I ' ikundevbucJi, p. 161.
WAR ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY 335
in the cause, he would not agree ; when we were of
opinion that relations should be kept up with the
Emperor he thought differently ; when we wanted one
of the generals to govern in the field, and the other
to rule the affairs of the Chancellery and the Council
Board, again he differed from us. And so there was no
good in having two commanders.'
At an early stage in the proceedings the imperial
cities became discontented with the manner in which
the war was being carried on.
'By the capture of the defile of Ehrenberg, and
bv the invasion of the Tyrol,' wrote the town of Mem-
mingen to Ulm, ' they have kindled a great fire ; but
they have gone away, leaving the fire to burn behind
them, and leaving the imperial troops a free passage to
Eatisbon. They placed their troops where they could
not be used, and they only displayed courage against
monasteries and Jews, out of whom they squeezed money.
The leaders also soon began to quarrel over the booty.'
' As soon as things began to go favourably,' wrote
Schartlin von Burtenbach respecting the expeditions
for booty and conquest on the Danube, ' Duke Ulrich
of Wiirtemberg came on the scene and wanted to have
for himself alone Dillingen, Burgau, and the margraviate
of Bureau ; but Zusameck with the Eeichenau I would
not give over to him. And if the war had ended
fortunately for us Wiirtemberg, Augsburg, and Ulm
would also have been at loggerheads.' Y
' The whole chances of the war for the confederates
depended on a swift defeat of the Emperor, before the
papal auxiliary troops from Italy and the soldiers
recruited in Hungary and the Netherlands could have
1 Lebensbeschrcibung, p. 98.
336 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
time to come up. But instead of promptly making
a charge the Smalcald confederates employed them-
selves in discussing the plan of a campaign and the
terms of a manifesto to be sent to the Emperor.
Schartlin advised that the armies should make them-
selves masters of the towns of the Danube and all the
districts on the Inn and the Isar, cut the Emperor
off from Landshut, devastate the whole of Bavaria with
fire and rapine, and ruthlessly destroy all the small
towns and boroughs. Another experienced Saxon
officer also advised the Elector to concentrate his forces
on Bavaria : ' when Bavaria is reduced you will have
no more opposition anywhere in Germany ; there is no
better way of humbling your enemies and bringing
them to the " rope." ' *
The irresolute tactics of the Smalcald confederates
were in great measure due to their want of certainty as
to the attitude of Bavaria. The Venetian envoy
Mocenigo rightly emphasised the great advantage to
the Emperor, both strategically and politically, of the
secresy of his alliance with Bavaria. ' Charles V. did
not wish Bavaria to declare itself openly as the enemy
of the Protestants,' remarked the above-mentioned
envoy. ' The ruse proved as useful to the Emperor as
it was ruinous to the antagonists not to have seen
through it. For had the Duke proclaimed himself
openly the enemy of the Protestants the troops which
at the outset entered the field in great force could
easily have pushed into Bavaria and taken possession
of its towns and fortresses and all its provisions. The
Emperor would then have had no convenient place left
him for collecting his army ; he would have been
1 Hortleder's Beclitmcissigkeit, 427, 430.
WAR ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY oo7
obliged to do it at a great distance from the enem}T, and
then for want of provisions he would not have been
able to advance further. But as it was the Emperor
was able to assemble his army most conveniently in
Bavaria, and then for four months, during which time
he was halting in the country or close on its frontier,
he could in great measure maintain his troops on the
resources of this land alone.
Before the members of the League had come to a
decision the Emperor had left Eatisbon with twelve
companies of Spaniards, who had till then served in
Hungary, and contingents of German troops which
the Margrave Albert of Brandenburg-Culmbach, the
Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Wolfgang Schutz-
bar, and other generals had supplied to him. On
August 12 he effected a conjunction at Landshut with
an army of 11,000 men contributed by the Pope and by
Florence and Ferrara, under the command of Octavius
Farnese, Captain-General of the Eoman Church. German
soldiers from different districts flocked also to his
standard, so that in a short time the Emperor had at
command an army of 34,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry.
Charles conducted all his undertakings with circum-
spection and decision. ' His Imperial Majesty,' wrote
the Swiss Doctor Jorg Part from the camp, ' receives
the Sacrament every day at dawn, and day and night
he personally directs all business.' l On August 26 he
took position in a fortified camp on the plain in front
of the Bavarian frontier town of Ingolstadt.
Already in July the confederates of Smalcald had
received secret information through the French King
1 Newe Zeitung aus Kaiserl. Majestdt Lager vor Ingolstatt, Sep-
tember 1546 ; archives of Lucern, fasciculus, ' Deutsche Eeichskriegc.'
VOL. VI. Z
338 HTSTORY OF THE UERMAJN PEOPLE
that Duke Ferdinand of Alba had advised the Emperor
not to engage in a pitched battle with the Protestants,
but to drain their resources by procrastination and
negotiations. The confederates found, to their bitter
cost, that Charles profited to the full by Alba's advice.
On August 28 they pitched their camp in the neigh-
bourhood of Ingolstadt, fired on the town and the
imperial camp, but did not venture an assault. In this
way they let victory slip out of their hands and threw
the moral ascendency on the Emperor's side.1
Instead of fighting the Smalcaldians again had
recourse to a policy of writing. On August 30 the heads
of the League had addressed an exhortation to all the
Christian believers in the Augsburg Confession of the
following' extraordinarv contents : ' The Antichrist at
Eome, at the instigation of the wicked one, has resolved
on exterminating them all with the sword. Not content,
however, with such a murderous and bloodthirsty pro-
gramme, he has issued a decree that all the wells,
fountains, and other bodies of stagnant water in
Germany shall be poisoned, in order that by joint malice
of Emperor, Pope, and Devil the slaughter of man and
beast may be accomplished.'
On September 2 they sent the Emperor a fresh
letter of defiance, with the insolent announcement that
they were stationed outside the camp awaiting the
enforcement of the fulminated ban. ' In case, however,
you and those who are with you should not present
yourselves to carry out your threatened punishment
we shall all of us be driven to think that your reason
for holding back is that whereas under pretence of
1 Criticism of Riezler (Bayerische Politik, p. 211), who compares the
bombardment before Ingolstadt with the cannonade of Valmy.
WAR ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY 339
obedience to God's word and our Christian religion you
have forgotten your vows made to God, your Lord and
Creator, at your baptism, and have also violated your
oath to the whole German nation, God has visited
you with especial chastisement, and that you have not
sufficient noble and princely German blood and valour
on your side to give you strength and courage to carry
out the threats which you have launched against us.' 1
* This letter caused the greatest pain to the Emperor,'
says the Lutheran Sastrow, ' and it also did great injury
to the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse,
for throughout the whole of Germany the innocent with
the guilty had to expiate this offence.' ' On September 4
they marched away from Ingolstadt. As the}7 meant
to take themselves off, they might have spared them-
selves the trouble of sending this letter, which indeed
was not written by man, but by Lucifer himself with
the characters of hell. This letter cost the German
nation tons of gold, the lives of many thousands of
citizens, and the shame and dishonour of multitudes of
women and girls, all which might have been spared had
the letter remained unwritten ; they challenged the
Emperor with it, and then they ran away.' 2
The Smalcaldians had retired from Ingolstadt by a
backward route through Donauworth towards Wemding-
with the intention of cutting off from the Emperor
access to the Dutch troops under Count Maximilian von
Btiren. But in this stratagem also they were not
successful. On September 14 Bitren united his troops
1 Hortleder, Rechtmassig'keit, 420 ; B. Sastrow, Herkommen, Geburt
und Lauf seines ganzen Lebens, i. 428-430.
2 Sastrow, i. 430. ' As this letter,' he adds, ' was found to be the
occasion of great disgrace and mischief, either it never came into Sleidan's
hands or he deliberately passed it over in silence.'
z 2
340 HISTOEY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
to the imperial army at Ingolstadt, and Charles was
in a position to take the offensive with 50,000 infantry
and 14,000 cavalry. By the conquest of Neuburg he
obtained the mastery of the Danube and transferred the
war from Bavaria to Suabia.
The confederates placed all their hopes on foreign
help, but in this respect too they met with bitter
deception.
Philip of Hesse's four successive applications for
help to the King of Denmark met with no response.
The Kings of France and England also proved them-
selves less amenable than the confederates had hoped.
On August 21 the Dauphin Henry offered to enter into
alliance with them, and inquired of them on what con-
ditions this could be arranged. When the Strasburg
delegate, Johann Sturm, was at the French court at the
end of August, the King himself asked what the terms
of treaty would be, and the Duchess d'Etampes, the
King's mistress, informed the delegate that Francis I.
was ready to conclude an offensive and defensive
alliance with the confederates of Smalcald, on condition
that they would depose Charles and elect the Dauphin
Emperor.1
At the end of September the chiefs of the League
negotiated with a French delegate ' an amicable agree-
ment and treaty,' of which the principal stipulations
were that the King of France should immediately, or at
latest in the spring, make an attack on the Emperor in
Milan, and that he should do his utmost to persuade
Henry VIII. of England to attack him simultaneously
in the Netherlands, while the Swiss were to march upon
him in the Tyrol, Burgundy, the Sundgau, and the
1 Schmidt, J. Sturm, p. 66-
WAR ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY 341
Breisgau, retaining possession of all their conquests in
these territories. In order to facilitate to Francis I.
his enterprise against Milan, Saxony and Hesse were at
the same time to invade Holland, Guelders, Brabant,
and other imperial dominions. They were to turn their
efforts especially to conquering as much territory as
possible in Flanders, so that the King might recover
' his rights ' there. The imperial vicariate over Italy
and the German territory on the left side of the Ehine
was to be transferred to the King. If God gave them
victory, the Smalcald confederates were to try and
prevail on the other Electors and princes to have another
Emperor elected. The King, on his side, pledged
himself to pay 100,000 crowns per month as long as
the war lasted ; and in return for the promise of the
confederates to facilitate his operations against Milan
and help him in the recovery of his rights in Flanders
by attacking ' the aforesaid places of the German
nation,' also to propose the election of a new Emperor,
to bestow the vicariate on him, and not to conclude
any treaty without his and the Dauphin's consent, he,
Francis I., agreed to pay them down at once 300,000
crowns for their present war. To the Council of Trent
the King would not agree, but he would recommend
the holding of a free council in Germany. This treaty
was to last for four years.1 With a view to further
negotiations on the subject Sturm was sent again to
France, but, owing to the exhausted condition of the
King's treasury, no settlement was effected.2
While Francis I. was continually making new
overtures of peace and friendship to the Emperor he
1 Baumgarten's SchmalJcald. Krieg, pp. 61-65.
2 Bamngarten, pp. 65-69 ; Schmidt, pp. 66-67.
342 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
was at the same time inciting the Sultan, with whom
Charles had concluded an armistice, to fresh war, and
in October he set about to organise with England,
Denmark, Venice, and also the Pope a great coalition
of the European States against the Emperor.
No less deceitful was the policy of Henry VIII.
He took the Landgrave of Hesse into his ' friendship
and service ' at Philip's own request, and guaranteed
him a salary of 12,000 florins in return for a promise of
cavalry and infantry troops in time of war.1 He also
carried on active negotiations with the Smalcald con-
federates respecting a defensive alliance, though at the
same time he revealed to the Emperor the whole net-
work of hostile plans formed against him and betrayed
to him also the intrigues of the French King.2
At the beginning of October the Emperor had
succeeded in enticing the confederates out of their
strong position at Donau worth. Donau worth was taken
by storm on October 9 by a division of the imperial
army, and after the capture of the towns of Dillingen
and Lauingen the bishopric of Augsburg was wrested
from the enemy. The confederates, irresolute and
destitute of plans, under the command of generals at
strife with ' one another, loitered about hither and
thither for a long time, and then remained for six weeks
inactive in a camp at Giengen, to the utter despair of
Schartlin, who again and again urged them to make a
bold assault. Charles, in his camp at Lauingen, did
not allow himself to be drawn into battle. ' The
1 ' Thanswer of the Kinges Majesteunto,' &c. State Papers, ii. 280-281.
Concerning Philip's English pay see Mont's letter of Dec. 15, 154G, p. 371,
and Rommel, ii. 477.
2 Banmgarten, Sclimalkald. Krieg, pp. 72-75, 80.
WAE ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY 343
Emperor always chooses his position so advantageously,'
wrote Ahasuerus Brand from the camp at Giengen,
' that one cannot get at him without great danger. It
is a war which everybody is growing weary of. We are
leading such a life with eating, drinking, blasphemy,
and debauchery that unless God preserves His elect by
special grace it will be no wonder if we are punished
for our sins.' x ' They gorged and they soused,' wrote
later on Theobald Thamer, who had been with the army
as field preacher to the Landgrave, ' they gambled and
caroused, they quarrelled and swore and blasphemed to
such an extent that I think the devil in hell could not
have invented such execrable curses against God and
His dear Son Christ. They robbed and plundered the
poor people of the land, friends as well as foes. In
short, there was nothing from morning to night but sins
and abominations which were nothing short of dia-
bolical. I was grievously distressed within me, and in
my sermons I exhorted them most earnestly, reminding
them that we called ourselves evangelical, and that we
ought to be like good seed from which other Christians
might grow up and attain to the right faith ; but if the
seed was of such a degenerate kind what would the
fruit that sprang from it be like ? But one swore at me ;
another jeered at me, calling me a fool and a chatter-
box ; a third shot at me with my own arrows, saying :
" You yourself teach us that men can do nothing good,
nothing which can justify them in the sight of God ; and
that it is only by the merits of Christ, which are
reckoned to our account through faith, that we can be
saved and become children of God."'
Terrible epidemics broke out in both camps, and the
1 Voigt, Albrecht Alcibiad.es, i. 129.
344 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
imperial troops, as well as those of the League,
devastated the land far and wide and committed all
manner of crimes and atrocities. The Emperor him-
self one day belaboured the rapacious Spaniards and
Germans with his club, pierced some of them through
with his rapier, and ordered several of them to be
hanged.
Already in September the Elector of Saxony had
several times expressed his intention of returning home,
' from fear of the Duke Maurice and on account of a
strong hankering after the bishoprics of Magdeburg and
Halberstadt.'
Up till October Maurice had maintained a dubious
attitude. He had surrounded himself, the Elector
wrote, ' with lies and frauds and malice of all sorts.' ' In
order to win him over to the Smalcalders, Elizabeth von
Eochlitz, sister of Philip of Hesse, had suggested to
him in August that he could easily become king of
Bohemia. ' We have no doubt whatever,' she wrote to
him on August 25, ' that, since you have strong claims
on the country, you might be fully as acceptable to the
Bohemians, and become as dear to them, as the present
King.' The decisive change in the policy of the hither-
to neutral Maurice was caused by King Ferdinand's
announcement of his firm resolution to march into the
Saxon Electorate from Bohemia and take possession of
the land for himself. Thereupon Maurice resolved to
seize the territory of the outlawed Elector for himself,
and thus to be beforehand with every other competitor.1
On October 27, the same day on which the Emperor, by
a solemn decree, conferred on him the title of Elector
of Saxony, he sent his cousin a declaration of war,
1 Brandenburg, Moritz von Sachsen, i. 485-492.
WAR ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY 345
saying that he was bound to interfere for the main-
tenance of the rights of the House of Saxony, and to
prevent the electoral lands from passing into the hands
of strangers : when once his troubles with the Emperor
and King Ferdinand had been settled he (Maurice)
would comport himself towards John Frederic and his
sons according to the dictates of duty and equity.1
After an agreement had been arrived at between
Maurice and Ferdinand respecting the districts of the
Electorate held by John Frederic in fief from the
Bohemian crown the royal and ducal troops at once
fell upon the Electorate. As if by magic the whole
land was conquered almost at one swoop ; with the
exception of Wittenberg and Gotha all the strong-
places fell into the hands of the Duke. A salvo of guns
from the Emperor's camp announced to the Elector on
November 8 the loss of his electoral dominions.
It was not this auspicious event, however, which
ended the war in the south, but the scarcity of money
among the Smalcald confederates.2 Without fighting
a single battle, without as much as an encounter even,
the Emperor became conqueror and master of the field.
' We had no money left,' wrote Philip of Hesse later
on ; ' the promised French crowns did not arrive ;
Wiirtemberg and the towns could and would give
nothing ; neither would they tolerate our presence with
soldiers in their districts. Saxony and I had no
money ; therefore we were obliged to withdraw.' 3
1 Voigt, Moritz, pp. 182, 191-192, 207, 257.
2 Brandenburg, Moritz von SacJisen, i. 500 ff., where the over-estima-
tion of the influence of this Saxon episode on the issue of the war is
controverted.
3 Rommel, UrJcundenbuch, pp. 262-263. Before the army of the
Smalcald League broke up at Giengen on Nov. 22, 1546, and John
346 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
With 2,000 cavalry the Landgrave hurried back
home through the Wtirtemberg district, ' back to his
two wives,' as Schartlin scoffingly remarked. It was
reported of him that he had said that ' if all was lost he
should raise an insurrection of the common people and
bring on a " Bundschuh." At Frankfort, so said a trust-
worthy informant, he had ordered the manufacture of
a large number of banners, on each of which were
to be painted two flails, a plough, and other peasants'
instruments ; all this was done to stir up a new peasant
war, or an insurrection of the common people.
The Saxon-Hessian army on its departure on Novem-
ber 22, said the town council of Ulm, had caused the
poor inhabitants of the town more injury and ruin by
their plundering and other enormities than they had suf-
fered from the Spaniards. ' In consequence of all this and
of the behaviour of Saxony towards the imperial city
of Gmiind, which was on friendly terms with Ulm, the
common people were so much incensed that they had
very little affection or loyalty left for the princes.'
The princes, wrote Ulm to Constance, ' first of all
emptied the purses of the nobles of the South, and then,
in spite of their promises, they took away with them
the infantry and cavalry troops provided for their
winter campaign, and have nevertheless left the enemy
at our door.' Philip of Hesse, on the other hand, laid
the chief blame of the disaster on the towns.1
Frederic of Saxony and Philip of Hesse set out on their way home, the
Landgrave endeavoured to extort an armistice or peace. But the Emperor
insisted that both the princes should surrender unconditionally. Charles V.
put no faith in the promises of the Landgrave and had not forgotten the
latter 's arrogant presumption. See Turba, Verhaftung cles Landgrafen,
p. 5, note 1, and Turba, Verhaftung u. Gefangenschaft des Landgrafen,
pp. 4 ff.
1 Letter to Bucer, March 19, 1547, in Lanz, ii. 487.
WAR ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY 347
The Elector of Saxony on his way back ' performed
certain military exploits which savoured of brigandage.'
At Gmiind, so the council of Constance informed Zurich
on December 4, besides ransacking the treasury of the
council and carrying off a keg of gold, John Frederic
took all the cash, jewels, and other effects belonging to
the well-to-do Catholic burghers. He also robbed the
cloisters and the clergy and emptied the churches of
their chalices, monstrances, vestments, and so forth.
Similar depredations were committed at Aschaffen-
burg by the Saxon army on its march homeward. The
commanders gave their word of honour that if the gates
were opened to them they would march through peaceably
and pay for the food of their troops ; but scarcely had
they been let in when they demanded a contribution of
40,000 florins ; and when objections were made they
set the soldiers on to plundering the houses of the clergy,
the town officials, and the wealthier burghers. The
Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the convent of the
Beguines were completely looted, and the Beguines were
most shamefully maltreated. Still more execrable were
the atrocities committed in the open country. When
the burgomaster of Aschaffenburg represented to the
Elector at Frankfort that his army was on neutral
ground (for the Elector of Mayence had taken no part
in the war), he was answered that ' in a papistical
country nothing was neutral.' From the Abbot of
Fulda the Elector extorted 30,000 gold florins, from the
Elector of Mayence 40,000, and the same sum from
Frankfort, although this town was friendly to the
League. The house of the Teutonic Knights at
Sachsenhausen was ransacked.1
1 Kriegk, Geschichte von Frankfort, p. 216.
348 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
' In military deeds of this sort,' said the sheriff of
Frankfort, Johann von Glauburg, ' the Elector excelled ;
but other exploits, such as might have been expected
from valiant princes who were defenders of the Gospel,
we looked for in vain. It was the same with the
Landgrave of Hesse, who boasted so greatly of his
prowess.' When Philip was at Frankfort at the begin-
ning of December, and the council addressed him on the
subject of help for the town, he answered : 'Each fox
must take care of his own skin.'
After his return to Saxony the Elector at once re-
commenced ' his deeds of prowess.'
He had at heart above all things the possession of
the bishoprics of Magdeburg and Halberstadt. On
January 1, 1547, at the head of a large body of cavalry,
he broke in upon Halle, the residence of John Albert
of Brandenburg-Culmbach, Archbishop of Magdeburg,
and exacted homage as sovereign lord. Chalices, mon-
strances, episcopal crosiers, and other costly treasures
were, by his command, sent off to Eisleben, to be sold
or coined. The Elector's Landsknechts, joined by the
town mob, forced their way into the monasteries of the
Dominicans and Barefooted Friars, maltreated and drove
out the monks, smashed the altars and images of the
churches, and robbed the monasteries of all the money
which nobles and burghers from the neighbourhood had
deposited in them. All the burghers who were known
to be Catholics were pillaged and tortured. ' The pre-
sident of the council, Querhammer, who was a good
Catholic and had formerly written against Luther,1 was
stripped of his clothes and drowned in his own fountain.'
The Elector treated the Archbishop like a prisoner of
1 Dollinger, Beformation, i. 530-532.
WAR ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY 349
war and compelled him to vacate the bishoprics of
Magdeburg and Halberstadt in return for a yearly pen-
sion of 10,000 florins. His sovereign, said the Elector's
Chancellor, 'had acquired possession of Halle.' On
January 2, 1547, the town council of Magdeburg declared
a feud against the cathedral chapter, and forthwith took
possession of the cathedral, the collegiate churches and
monasteries, and the houses of the clergy.1 At the
beo-inning of January Merseburg also was occupied by
the Saxon troops. The leaders robbed the cathedral
church of its oldest and most valuable art treasures,
amongst others of the gold table which Henry II. had
presented to it. The houses of the canons were also
pillaged.2
After the departure of the Smalcald confederates the
Emperor marched triumphantly through Lower Suabia
and the adjoining territory of Franconia, and received
the submission of the towns of Bopfingen, Nordlingen,
Dinkelsbiihl, Eothenburg on the Tauber, Hall, and
Heilbronn. He not only abstained from all violent
proceedings against the new religion and its followers,
but granted the towns permission ' to abide by their
existing religion.'
On December 22, 1546, Ulm sent delegates to the
Emperor at Hall, who sued for grace on bended
knee, and confessed ' that in taking up arms against him
they had sinned against the Almighty Himself, and
could only hope for mercy because for Jesus Christ's
sake all sins, even the most heinous, would be for-
1 ' Stadtischer Bericht liber die Besetzung Halle's,' in Dreibai;pt,
Beschreibung des Saalkreises, i. 240 ff. ; Franke, pp. 178-186 ; Voigt,
Moritz, p. 249 ff. ; Brandenburg, i. 513.
2 A. Fraustadt, Die Einfiihrung der Reformation im Hochstiftc
Merseburg, pp. 200-201.
350 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
given.' Charles punished the people of Ulm by a fine
of 100,000 gold florins, took from them twelve pieces
of their artillery, and imposed on the town a garrison
of ten companies of infantry. All the other towns
also were constrained to pay, according to their means,
considerable sums for the cost of the war. The town
council of Frankfort was thrown into such consternation
by the report of its delegate, Philip Ort, that ' the
Emperor was more incensed against Frankfort than
against any other town,' that they despatched a formal
request to the Count von Biiren, whom Charles had
ordered with his troops to the Netherlands, begging him
to come back and take possession of Frankfort in the
Emperor's name. The council had all the more reason
to fear ' the especial wrath ' of the Emperor because the
preachers in the town had vilified him from the pulpit
and had printed and sold lampoons and caricatures
ridiculing and slandering him. On January 7, 1547, a
deputation from Frankfort threw itself at the Emperor's
feet at Heilbronn and begged for mercy, saying that
' the town had let itself be led away with other towns,
but would in future abstain from all such iniquitous
proceedings.' The town had to pay 80,000 gold florins
for its pardon, besides handsome bribes to the Chancellor,
Granvell, and other imperial councillors. Granvell, ' to
whom the management of affairs at his Imperial
Majesty's court was almost wholly entrusted,' received
a silver gilt goblet containing 1,000 gold florins.1
' And then there was nothing but fear, cowardice,
ill-will, and quarrelling among the confederates, who
had intended to plunder everything and everybody, and
to drive out the Emperor with all his priests and to
1 Kriegk, Geschiclite von Frankfurt, pp. 223-224.
WAR ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY 351
confiscate all their goods ; and yet the Emperor had
not fought a single battle against them. They had
everywhere succumbed and collapsed of their own accord,
as if they had been beaten by their own consciences.
How would it have been if ten or twenty years earlier
the Emperor had put his foot firmly down on the
insurrectionary, disorderly proceedings of such princes
and towns ? All the discord, schisms, anarchy, destruc-
tion of churches, convents, schools, all the war and
misery and oppressive taxation might well have been
avoided. So long as the Smalcald allies had been
suffered to go on confiscating churches, abbeys, and
cloisters, helping themselves freely to gold and silver
and goods and chattels, seizing unprotected lands like
Brunswick, so long they were looked upon as omnipo-
tent ; they were mighty lions, and everything in the
Holy Empire fell a prey to them. As soon, however, as
the Emperor showed himself to be in earnest, and swords
were drawn, it became at once evident that they were
not lions that need be dreaded, but merely timid hares.'
At Hall the Emperor also received his cousin the
Elector Palatine Frederic, who did obeisance to him
with many expressions of penitence. ' It has grieved
me most of all,' said Charles, ' that you should have
gone over to my enemies in your later years, for we
grew up together in youth.' But he was ready to forgive
him, feeling confident that in any future extremity the
Elector Palatine would act more in accordance with his
duty.
Through the mediation of the Elector Palatine it was
agreed to conclude a treaty with Duke Ulrich of
Wiirtemberg, whose territory had been entered by the
imperial troops, on the conditions that he would
352 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
support the Emperor in the enforcement of the ban
against Saxony and Hesse, that he would abandon the
League of Smalcald, pay a sum of 300,000 florins for
the war expenses, and make over his fortress castles of
Hohenasperg, Schorndorf, and Kirchheimto the imperial
troops as security. It was further stipulated that he
should satisfy any claims which King Ferdinand might
have against him, and, finally, that he should in person
fall at the Emperor's feet and beg forgiveness. Ferdi-
nand would have much preferred that the Emperor had
restored the duchy to the House of Austria ; for, he
urged, Wurtemberg was, as it were, in the very heart of
Germany, and the holding of it was the most efficacious
means of maintaining peace and tranquillity in all the
other German territories ; the hostile conduct of Ulrich
and his son furnished ample justification for such a
proceeding, the more so as no reliance could be placed
on either of them as to his future behaviour.1
Ulrich was generally detested in his own country.
' Nobody is loyal or attached to the Duke,' the Esslingen
delegates had written a year before the war. ' All men
cry out against him, and it seems to us that his banish-
ment and ruin are at hand.' 2 Now, after the events of the
war, the imperialist feeling of the people became plainly
evident. ' The Wllrtembergers,' says the writer of a
letter, ' would gladly be imperialists ; I hear that they
are by no means loyal to their Duke. The nobles wish
to be entirely dependent on his Imperial Majesty. The
peasants everywhere hang white cloths with red Bur-
gundian crosses out of their windows, to show where
their affections are placed.'
But the Emperor did not accede to Ferdinand's
1 Bucholtz, v. 546-548. 2 Heyd, iii, 313.
WAR ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY 353
wish respecting the deposition of Ulrich and the seizure
of his territory, for the war with Saxony and Hesse was
not yet at an end, and danger was to be apprehended
from the King: of France and the Swiss. He wrote to
his brother, however, that what had specially induced
him to conclude this treaty with Ulrich was the desire
not to swerve from the actual object of the war, which
he had undertaken for the glory of God and the restora-
tion of imperial and royal authority in Germany, and
also ' that it may not seem as if we were seeking our
own advantage, a reproach which might easily be
incurred, considering the jealousy always entertained
towards the House of Austria.' *
The Elector of Saxony was highly indignant with
Ulrich on account of his treaty with the Emperor. ' If
he was stuck in the pillory,' he wrote to Philip of Hesse,
' the Duke could not have signed a more disgraceful,
godless treaty.' 2 From Ulrich's court the comforting
message was sent to Constance that it was hoped that
the agreement with the Emperor ' would be more
damaging than profitable to the devil's crew; ' ' the
Duke was persisting determinately in his Christian
resolution.' The Landgrave of Hesse endeavoured
to incite the Duke to a fresh rising, but Ulrich backed
out with the remark ' that he could not speak because
his mouth was gagged.' 3
1 ' . . . et qu'il ne semblat, que nous tachissions a nostre interest
particulier, avec lenuye que Ion a tousjours heu a notre niaison Daustriche.'
Bucholtz, Urkundenba/nd, pp. 403-407 ; Lanz, Correspondenz, ii. 524-528.
2 Rommel, UrTcundenbuch, p. 198. Under incredibly ignominious
conditions, Calvin wrote to Farel on Feb. 20, the town had submitted to
the Emperor, ' sed omnium turpissimus "Wirtebergensis. Haec scilicet
tyrannorum merces.' Calvini Opp. xii. 479.
3 Letter of the French ambassador, Lacroix, from Cassel (March 17,
1547) to Francis I. Ribier, i. 632.
VOL. VI. A A
3
54 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
From Heilbronn the Emperor proceeded on Janu-
ary 18 to Ulm, stopping on the way at the imperial cities
of Lindau and Esslingen to bestow his pardon on them.
An attack of gout obliged him to make a protracted
stay at Ulm, and while there he received the submission
of the town of Augsburg, which was obliged to pay
150,000 florins and to consent to being garrisoned by
imperial troops ; its general, Schartlin, who urged con-
tinuance of the war, was compelled to flee from the
town. ' In this war,' he writes, ' I realised 30,000 florins
in pay, presents, and booty.' 1
' His Majesty,' wrote the Ulm delegates to Augsburg
on January 31, ' has no designs upon our religion, but
stands to his manifesto and concessions ; and he has no
grudge against any particular Estate, and is only
anxious for a reasonable and peaceful reformation ; he
will see that no prejudice is done to religion.' 2 Four
Zurich preachers who, in ' obedience to their council,
had gone to Augsburg to proclaim the free unfettered
word of Christ,' begged the council to recall them.
For ' it was against God and their consciences ' to obey
the order enjoined on them to offer up public prayers
for the Emperor, since the Emperor was ' the true Anti-
christ's defender and protector,' but they were ' servants
of Christ ' and could not ' wear the sign of Antichrist
1 Lebensbeschreibung, p. 151.
2 Herberger, cix. On Jan. 15, 1547, the English ambassador Thomas
Thirlby, bishop of Westminster, wrote from Heilbronn to Henry VIII.
that Granvell had said to him : ' I assure you thEmperor never mindid
other in thies warres, but to repress thaudace of theym, that wolde have
been tyrannes in Germany, and to bring thEmpire in good order of
justice ; and-nowe ' (said he) ' thies Cities and States, which hathe bene
otherwise persuaded of Him, begynne to knowe the same, and shall do
every day more and more ; and nowe therfor they be come yn and
rendred.' State Papers, ii. 408. See also Venetian Desjiatches, ii. 142.
WAR ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY 355
on their foreheads ; ' it was contrary to the duty of
their office ' not to speak evil of the Emperor,' as they
had been commanded by the magistracy of Augsburg.
On March 4 Ulricli came from Wiirtemberg to Ulm
to beg the Emperor's pardon in person. As he was
suffering from an attack of gout, he was carried in a
chair to the Emperor's throne. He took off his biretta
and held it down to the ground. His councillors, in his
name, repeated a sorrowful confession of sins with
heartrending entreaties for forgiveness. When Charles
released the Duke from the obligation of prostrating
himself before him Ulrich broke out into personal
utterances of gratitude to the most exceedingly gracious
sovereign who had had pity on his age and infirmity.
Meanwhile in the archbishopric of Cologne also
the whole order of things had been restored by imperial
delegates. The excommunicated Archbishop, Hermann
von Wied, found himself compelled, on February 25,
1547, to resign his office. His successor, nominated by
the Pope and installed by the Emperor, was Count
Adolph von Schaumburg, who swept away all the
religious innovations and consigned to oblivion the
scheme of Church government devised by Bucer and
Melanchthon.
Strasburg also was obliged to give in. The town
council had long hoped for help from France. In a
supplicatory letter to Francis I. the councillors stated
that the Emperor was most especially enraged with
Strasburg, because this town had at all times been more
favourably disposed and more serviceable to the French
King than any other town. The possession of the town
of Strasburg would be very advantageous to the
Emperor in every future war against France ; it was,
A A
356 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
therefore, to the King's own interest not to let it pass
into the hands of Charles, and the council most humbly
begged for speedy succour and for the sum of 70,000
or 80,000 gold florins.1 In January 1547 Johann Sturm
proposed to the council to ally themselves with the
Swiss and to place the King of France at the head of
their league. 2 He made the same proposal to the
French Chancellor. But Francis I. only made vague
indefinite promises, and Strasburg was reduced to the
necessity of submitting. The council's delegates did
obeisance to the Emperor at Nordlingen on February 19,
and the town was received back into favour on the
most lenient conditions : only 30,000 florins were
exacted, and no garrison was imposed on it. Johann
Sturm was inconsolable. A sum that would have been
quite trifling in proportion to the means of France, he
wrote to the French' Constable, would have averted
this great disaster from Germany ; he specially lamented
the fact that a firm alliance had not been cemented
between Strasburg and France.3
Meanwhile John Frederic of Saxony and Philip of
Hesse kept up persistent and active negotiations with
Francis I.
They hoped to obtain help against the Emperor
from the Turks. The King wrote to the Landgrave
that he had received trustworthy intelligence that the
Sultan intended invading Hungary in March with an
even larger army than before. He himself, he said,
1 ' . . . supplient tres humblernent au Roy tres-chrestien que son bon
plaisir y soit avecquez secours et ayde hastive. . . .' The letter in Calvini
Opp. xii. 436 (Calvin to Viret, Dec. 3, 1546), in which the hope is expressed
that Francis I. would soon send the money.
2 Schmidt, J. Sturm, p. 71.
3 April 1547, in Ribier, ii. 3-5.
WAR ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY 357
would be in the field by April 1 with the Swiss auxiliaries
and other troops, besides 600 Landsknechts who, by
the advice of the Landgrave, were to join him under
the lead of a gallant German captain.
Philip expressed his gratitude to Francis for this
promise : he was very anxious, he said, for the arrival
of the Sultan, but feared he would not come in time ; l
if the King of France would afford him sufficient help
to keep the war going till the arrival of the Turks, he
would do all in his power to expel the Emperor from
Germany. Philip, at that time, had already embarked
on peace negotiations with the Emperor ; nevertheless
he assured Francis I. on March 13 that, ' whether he
obtained peace or not, he should always be at the King's
service, and if he found the Turks ready to "go ahead "
he too would join in the work.' 2 On March 14 the
Abbot of Basse-Fontaine wrote to Francis I. that the
Landgrave had pledged his oath to him that if he con-
cluded peace with the Emperor it would be under
compulsion, entirely against his will, and that in course
of time he would settle affairs in such a manner that
all the world would recognise how little desire he had
to be a servant of the Emperor. Let the King only
send help as quickly as possible.3
Francis L, although ' already quite infirm and near
to death,' still went on with his double-dealing policy
of ' playing off one Power against another and setting
them all by the ears.' He assured the Emperor on
February 17 that he loved nothing so much as peace
1 Extract from the answer of the Landgrave to the proposals of the
King, Feb. 10, 1547, in Eibier, i. 624-626.
2 Lacroix to Francis I., March 13, 1547, in Eibier, i. 624-626.
3 Ribier, i. 631-632.
358 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
and tranquillity, and that he placed unlimited reliance
on the Emperor's friendly intentions.1 On the same day
he sent instructions to his ambassador at the Elector of
Saxony's court to do all in his power to keep up war
between the Elector and the Emperor. He could not
do him a greater service, he wrote, than to find means
of hindering peace in Germany.2 In answer to an
appeal for help from the Elector of Saxony he offered,
on March 2] , an immediate sum of 200,000 thalers,
which was to be payable at Hamburg : the Sultan, he
said, was proceeding with his gigantic preparations for
an advance on Vienna.3 He sent the princes of the
League the promised money, but the campaign he had
announced for April 1 did not come to pass.
Eestless in mind and body, tormented by qualms of
conscience, a prey to the fear of death, he had for
months past been moving backwards and forwards
from one of his castles to another, seeking to drown
remorse and disquietude in hunts and masque-
rades. On March 31 he was a corpse. What
his predecessor Louis XII. had said of him had
come to pass : ' This fat boy will ruin everything.' By
his wars, his extravagant expenditure, his pomp and
luxury, the maintenance of his mistresses, his passion
for grand buildings, his senseless liberality to flatterers
and courtesans, he had exhausted the resources of the
country, heaped up an enormous national debt, and
overwhelmed the people with taxes and imposts.
His successor, Henry II., ' went further still in the
same footsteps.' In the very first days after his acces-
sion his mistress, Diana of Poictiers, appropriated the
1 Ribier, i. 616-617. 2 Ibid, i. 609, 617, 618.
3 Ibid. i. 628-630.
WAR ON THE DANUBE AND IN SAXONY 359
400,000 gold thalers which Francis at his death had
bequeathed for the further support of the Smalcaldic
League. ' The same immorality that had disgraced the
court of Francis I. went on openly and shamelessly
under the new reign. Unprecedented luxury and
extravagance of every description continued to eat out
the marrow of the people.' The credit of the court
sank to such a low ebb that Henry II. was once obliged
to mortgage his whole kingdom for a loan of 50,000
thalers, which' loan was obtained with the greatest
difficulty from the Canton of Solothurn.1 For the pre-
vention of peace in Germany and with the object of
fomenting wars and schisms, Henry II. followed the same
policy as Francis I. His ' dearest friend and ally ' was
the ' Grand Turk.' 2
Whilst the Emperor, during the winter, was receiv-
ing the submission of the towns of the south, John
Frederic of Saxony was continuing his war against
Duke Maurice. On January 4, 1547, he left Halle and
appeared before Leipzig with twenty-two efficient com-
panies. By the capture of this town, abundantly stored
with rich merchandise, he hoped to replenish his ex-
hausted coffers. The beleaguered citizens became aware
that the electoral forces were resolutely bent on uni-
versal plunder. They surnamed the Elector in derision
' the black Hans ' or ' Hans of the Empty Pocket.' In
1 Thibaudeau, Hist, des Etats Generaux, i. 424 ; Lacretelle, Hist, de
France pendant les Guerres de Religion, i. 7, 70-81 ; Eaumer, Brief e, i.
273 ; Alberi, Vita di Caterina de' Medici, pp. 263-264 ; Sngenheim,
Frankreichs Einfluss, i. 111-112, 135.
2 After his accession to the throne Henry II. wrote to Solyrnan, ' en
qui tout honneur et vertu abonde, notre tres-cher frere et parfait amy,
Dieu vous veuille augmenter vostre grandexir et prosperite avec fin tres-
heureuse.' Ribier, ii. 43.
360 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
popular songs the fact was emphasised that his vocation
of champion of the Gospel accorded ill with his plunder-
ing and burning. The three weeks' fruitless siege and
bombardment of the town cost the Elector, in conse-
quence of the winter cold and the plague that broke out
in his camp, more than half of the soldiers he had
brought with him from Suabia. Whilst he was lying
before Leipzig Duke Maurice was equipping himself in
the rear of his antagonist.1
At the request of King Ferdinand the Emperor had
sent Maurice 2,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry, under
command of the Margrave Albert of Brandenburg-
Culmbach. But on March 2 the Elector was successful
in surprising the Margrave at Eochlitz. Albert was
taken prisoner ; his troops were compelled to give up
their arms and baggage and to swear that they would
not serve against the confederates for the next six
months. The mining towns of Annaberg, Marienberg,
and Freiberg opened their gates to the Elector. From
the district of Lausitz he was reinforced by a number
of hereditary vassals who had seceded from King-
Ferdinand ; the Utraquist party among the Bohemian
Estates entered into open negotiations with him respect-
ing a military alliance, and held out to him the prospect
of the Bohemian crown. Many of the Bohemian nobles
adopted yellow, the Elector's colour, for themselves and
their soldiers. All the military resources of Saxony
were placed at his disposal. Some bold and adventurous
policy might now have been expected from him ; but
he contented himself with proclaiming to the world
that Maurice, with all his forces, was driven off and
1 Voigt, Belagerung Leipzigs, pp. 233, 266-267, 298-299; Yoigt,
Herzog Moritz, p. 255.
THE ROUT AT MUHLBERG 361
discomfited, and with calling on France for help and
begging the French King to expedite as much as
possible the invasion of the Turks in the Emperor's
hereditary lands, while he himself remained all the time
inactive in his camp at Altenburg.
The defeat at Eochlitz determined the Emperor's
advance against Saxony. In spite of his gout and
against the advice of his physicians, who considered
a cure at Ulm essential for him, he formed the
resolution to hasten as fast as possible, with all his
forces, to the help of his brother and Duke Maurice.
It was known to him that the Bohemians were in revolt,
that the maritime towns had sent aid to the Elector,
that France herself was supporting the latter with
money ; and last, not least, that the French King was
instigating the Sultan to invade Germany. For all
these reasons he was anxious himself to strike the
decisive blow, and by the defeat of John Frederic and
Philip ' to restore peace and tranquillity in Germany.'
In the south Charles had managed to evade a
fight, and, profiting by the want of unity and the
impecuniosity of his opponents, had succeeded in
wearying them out, and by means of skilful opera-
tions in obliging them to give in. But in Saxony he
proceeded with great rapidity and with uninterrupted
activity. In the Elector's camp, on the other hand,
* all was irresolution, neglect, and inertia.' On April
24 the imperial troops crossed the Elbe at Mlihlberg.
While the enemy's artillery was beginning to play, John
Frederic was listening to a sermon, after which he sat
down quietly to enjoy a meal. ' Although he was reign-
ing prince of an Elbe country, the Elector,' said the Vene-
tian Mocenigo, ' had no knowledge of the fords along
362 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
the river : he gave away the river to his enemies with
scarcely a show of resistance, and was so slow in giving
the signal for retreat that he could not avoid falling
into their hands. If he had been half an hour earlier
the Emperor could not have overtaken him.'
The action at Miihlberg, says Wilibald von Wirsberg,
cannot rightly be called a battle, not even a skirmish.
It was a rout during a scandalous flight, The
imperial army lost only about 50 men, including those
who died afterwards from their wounds. The Elector
lost all his banners and the chief standard of the
general ; more than 2,000 foot and 500 mounted sol-
diers were cut down by the imperial troops; 21
pieces of artillery and 600 wagons laden with powder,
munition, and baggage, were taken from them.
Charles summed up the victory over his enemies
in the words : ' I came, I saw, and God conquered.' 1
In plain and dignified language he says in his
' Memoirs : ' ' On the news that Duke John Frederic of
Saxony was taken prisoner the Emperor charged the
Duke of Alba to go and bring him to him, and the Duke
brought him into the Emperor's presence. The Empe-
ror delivered the Elector into the watchful guardian-
ship of the said Duke, and surrounded him with a suffi •
cient number of soldiers to keep him in safe custody.
' 2
1 ' Vine, y vi, y Dios vencio.'
* When the Elector John Frederic was brought into the presence of
Charles he began to beseech the Emperor to pardon him ; but scarcely
had he opened his lips with ' Most Gracious Emperor ' when Charles
broke in with the remark : ' So I am now a most gracious Emperor : how
much better it would have fared with you if you had discovered this fact
sooner ! ' When the Elector had concluded his prayer the Emperor dis-
missed him with the assurance that ' he should be treated as he had
deserved.' See the Venetian Despatches, ii. 235 sq., also Turba, Verliaf-
tung und Gefangenscliaft, p. 20 sq.
THE ROUT AT MUHLBERG 363
The Protestant Elector Joachim II. of Brandenburg
expressed to the Emperor his ' special delight ' and
congratulated him heartily on having put the enemy to
the rout at Mithlberg, and taken the chief offender
prisoner. Joachim's court preacher, Agricola, held a
solemn church service at Berlin on the news of the
Emperor's victory. In former years he had taught the
school children to say that ' the Emperor and the Pope
and many wicked lords and princes have joined with
the heathens and the bishops in German lands to
persecute the Holy Child Jesus.' Now he declared in
his sermon that ' God had delivered his enemy the
Saxon into the hands of his Imperial Majesty. Just as
God had worked a miracle for the children of Israel in
the Eed Sea, so He had done now for the pious Emperor,
and had led him across the Elbe, so that he was able to
vanquish his enemy.'1
At first, indeed, the Emperor had intended to treat
the captive Elector ' as a perjured rebel who had
incurred all the penalties of lese-majeste and of viola-
tion of the Laiidfriede, and have him put to death by
the sword ; ' but by the advice of the younger Gran-
vell, the Bishop of Arras, and of the Duke of Alba, and
on the intercession of some of the princes, he cancelled
the sentence of death and concluded with the prisoner
the Capitulation of Wittenberg.
Duke Maurice after the victory of Miihlberg had
claimed, besides the electoral title and its appendages,
most of the lands belonging to the Ernestine line. To
this, however, the Emperor would not agree. Maurice
was obliged to guarantee the children of the prisoner
a yearly income of 50,000 florins and to make up this
1 Kawerau, pp. 246-247.
364 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
amount by ceding to them a number of towns, boroughs,
and districts, chief among which were Eisenach, Wei-
mar, and Jena. It was further stipulated that after the
demolition of the fortifications the children were also
to receive Gotha and the fief of Saalfeld, belonging
to the Bohemian crown. John Frederic renounced the
dignity of Elector, consented to surrender his fortresses
to the Emperor, and promised to remain at the court
of Charles or of his son as long as it should please his
Majesty.1
The Capitulation was signed by the Emperor and by
John Frederic on May 19. Of the council and the re-
ligious question there was no mention in the document.
The victory of Mtihlberg and the subjugation of the
Elector threw the French court into extreme agitation ;
in its immediate circle there was no doubt but that
Henry II. would declare war against the Emperor.2
The King placed himself in communication with
Schiirtlin von Burtenbach3 and charged the German
general Sebastian Vogelsberger to levy ten companies
of infantry in Germany. The French ambassador at
Constantinople used every possible endeavour to bring
the Sultan to arms. In a short time 12,000 German
soldiers were at the French King's disposal, and he could
have 24,000 more, it was rumoured at the French
court; indeed he might count on the half of Germany.4
1 'This item of the capitulation,' says Turba (p. 22), 'was worded
ambiguously for a twofold purpose : it could not make the prisoner
apprehensive of undergoing a lifelong sentence of imprisonment, whilst
it authorised the Emperor in 1550 to put this construction upon it.'
2 ' . . . non si ha a dubitare die costoro muovino guerra.' Ricasoli
from Paris (May 25, 1547) to Cosmo I., in Desjardins, iii. 187.
3 Schartlin's Lebensbeschreibiing, p. 160.
4 ' . . . che in somma avrebbero mezza la Germania.' Ricasoli,
June 27, 1547, in Desjardins, iii. 196.
THE LANDGRAVE PHILIP OF HESSE 365
' There will shortly be great events in the field of
battle,' Henry II. wrote on May 21 to the Nether-
Saxon towns of Magdeburg, Brunswick, Hamburg, and
Bremen, which had joined in a fresh alliance at the
beginning of April, and had placed a contingent of
cavalry and Landsknechts in the field under the
command of the Counts Christopher of Oldenburg and
Albert of Mansfeld. He exhorted them to make a
gallant stand, promised them as large a sum of money
as Saxony and Hesse had received from his father, and
urgently counselled them to unite their military forces
with those of the Landgrave of Hesse, his dear friend
and allv, and to fis;ht under command of the latter
until he himself should appear with his troops at the
head of the army. In Italy ' the great war ' was very
soon to begin against the Emperor, and then the Sultan
would immediately invade Hungary and march on
Vienna with a formidable armament, in order to strike
at the heart of Charles and Ferdinand's dominions.
Before this announcement was received the imperial
arms had sustained a severe rebuff in Lower Saxony.
Christopher von Wirsberg and Duke Eric of Brunswick-
Calenberg, who were besieging Bremen, had been
compelled to raise the siege on the approach of a
strong body of the enemy's troops. The soldiers under
the command of the Counts of Oldenburg and Mansfeld
had joined those of the Saxon Elector's general,
Wilhelm von Thumshirn, who, after the defeat of John
Frederic, had made his way back from Bohemia to
Lower Saxony, and in the middle of May the united
troops had marched into the Brunswick territory,
intending to levy contributions there and then march
down the Weser towards Bremen.
360 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
On May 23 Eric had been surprised on his return
march in the neighbourhood of Drakenburg and com-
pletely routed before his colleague could come to his
assistance, 3,500 bodies of the slain covered the field of
battle ; 2,500 prisoners, besides munition wagons and
the whole of the artillery, fell into the hands of the
conquerors. On June 16 Philip of Hesse made the
cheering announcement to the generals of the Nether-
Saxon League that ' France has sent us a deputation and
offered to help us with cavalry, infantry, and money.'
But after the news of the Wittenberg capitulation
came in, the troops of the League dispersed, and the
members, one after another, submitted to the Emperor.
Hamburg especially was ' grievously disheartened,''
for the plague had been raging there ever since
Whitsuntide, and had often carried off from seventy to
eighty inhabitants in a day. After the usual ceremony
of suing for grace on bended knee the town obtained
the Emperor's pardon in return for a suitable payment
of money. Liibeck was required to pay 200,000 florins.
Magdeburg alone persisted in stubborn resistance,
and would not surrender to the Elector Maurice. The
Emperor had at first intended to besiege the town and
reduce it to obedience, but in an unlucky moment he
changed his mind and went away, leaving it behind
unconquered. Fear of the French intrigues with Hesse
and Switzerland, of which he had obtained knowledge,
determined him to proceed to South Germany. Leaving
Wittenberg he made his entry into Halle on June 10.
From thence he despatched troops to Naumburg to
reinstate Bishop Julius Pflug in the diocese which had
been taken from him by force.
The chief question now to be settled was the sub-
mission of the Landgrave of Hesse.
THE LANDGRAVE PHILIP OF HESSE 367
Since his return from the unfortunate campaign
on the Danube Philip had been wellnigh desperate.
' Everybody,' he wrote to Bucer, ' is abandoning us.'
If at one moment he had really contemplated stirring
up a peasant revolt against the Emperor, he was now
more inclined to fear an insurrection against himself.
His people's resources, so he complained to the Elector
John Frederic, were so completely exhausted that ' they
neither could nor would contribute anything towards
the maintenance of a fresh army.' He met with ' great
reluctance among the nobles, and was also aware of
strange intrigues going on among them.' ' We had
not even money enough to keep up our fortresses, and
if the French subsidies had not arrived we should have
been obliged temporarily to disband our soldiers.' The
confederates of Southern Germany reviled him and
threw on him the whole blame of the military disasters.1
The defeat and capture of the Elector completely crushed
him. He had already before, through the mediation
of Duke Maurice, made repeated advances towards
negotiating terms — not indeed with any honourable
intention of peace or of lasting reconciliation with the
Emperor, but from sheer necessity and in the hope of
some better opportunity for war later on. But the
conditions laid down by the Emperor — surrender of all
fortresses and submission ' in Gnade und Ungnade ' 2 —
had invariably been rejected by him as too hard.3 The
most dire necessity now drove him to a decision, On
1 His letters of January, March, and April in Iiommel, Urhunden-
buch, pp. 198-205, 221, 225-227, 264 ; Lenz, ii. 488, 497-500.
2 ' Favour and disfavour.' As this passage and the following turn on
the omission of the word ' Ungnade,' a literal translation of the phrase is
necessary. — Translator.
3 See Turba, Vcrhaftung des La?idgrafew, pp. 4 ff., and Verliaftung
und Gefangenschaft, pp. 4-23.
368 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
May 27 and 28 Philip entered into personal negotiations
at Leipzig with the two arbitrators, Duke Maurice and
the Elector of Brandenburg. The transactions were
painful for all parties. The Landgrave declared himself
' excessively astonished at the great unkindness of the
Emperor,' raised baseless charges against his plenipo-
tentiary, Lersner, and then endeavoured to secure the
mildest possible terms ; whereupon the princes reminded
him that the Emperor could easily enforce the sentence
of outlawry against him, and that the Imperialists were
reckoning on the desertion of the Hessian nobility.
Under no circumstances, Philip said, would he surrender
at ' favour or disfavour ; ' he struck the word disfavour
out of the draught of the treaty with his own hand.
The mediating princes thereupon explained that, in their
opinion, the Emperor would be satisfied with an entreaty
for pardon on bended knee ; indeed, they even assured
him in a light-hearted manner that the word ' disfavour '
was only used for tradition's sake and had no importance.
The Landgrave, nevertheless, insisted on having ' seal
and letter ' as to the signification of the word. When
the princes took their leave of him on May 28 he told
them emphatically to ' have a care ' with regard to
this expression. On the same day Philip instructed his
lieutenants and councillors to call out all the troops,
to man the fortresses, and to enter into alliance with
the towns and captains of troops in Lower Germany,
because his negotiations with the Emperor had been
broken off. The following day he wrote to Duke
Maurice that he must retain the fortress of Ziegenhain,
in order to be secure against his neighbours and his
own subjects.1 Charles V. considered Philip's proposals
1 Issleib, Gefangennahme, pp. 208-213 ; Turba, Verhaftung und
Gefangennahme, p. 25.
THE LANDGRAVE PHILIP OF HESSE 369
thoroughly unsatisfactory. It was well known, he
said to the mediating princes, that the Landgrave never
meant to keep his promises ; he must have nothing less
than ' the Landgrave's own person,' as his assurances
could not be relied on ; he intended to retain him in
his power, so that he might not breed disturbance in
Germany.1 To the suggestion of the two princes that
a sovereign lord who surrendered of his own accord
could not be treated as severely as one who was taken
prisoner with arms in his hand, the Emperor answered :
' Philip, who is now threatened simultaneously from the
Wetterau, from Nassau, from the Netherlands through
Btiren, and by the troops marching out from Saxony,
will only yield to force and to the fear of banishment
and loss of his dominions.'
Charles stood all the more firmly to his conditions
because it had come to light through letters of Philip
which had been seized that he was continually plotting
fresh intrigues against him.2
The princes themselves handed over to the Emperor
on June 2 the article in which it was stated that Philip
must give himself into Charles's hands ' zu Gnade und
Ungnade ; ' they begged for an assurance that this
' Ungnade ' would not lead to corporal punishment or
perpetual imprisonment-3 The Emperor then gave
1 ' . . . quy ny avoit aueune assurance que peust valoir, sinon celle
de sa personne que sa mae entendoit de tenir pour sheurte du traicte, et
empescher, que en apres il ne troublast Lallemaigne.' See Turba,
Verhaftung unci Gefangenschaft, pp. 26-27.
2 Official report in Lanz, Corresponclenz, ii. 589-595 ; additions to
above by Turba, Verhaftung, pp. 31-32.
3 The article in Bucholtz, Urkunclenband, pp. 423-424. ' II se renda
a S. M. en genade et ongenade, sans aueune condition, touttefois led.
marquis et due Maurice adjustent a cesluy article, qu'il leur est necessaire
davoir intelligence avec S. M. que telle condition ne tournera a paine
VOL. VI. B B
370 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
them the assurance, but with the proviso that Philip
should know nothing about it, and should ' give himself
up freely and unconditionally.'
Actuated probably by the hope that at the last
moment the Emperor would be moved to grant the
complete liberation of the Landgrave, the two princes
' of their own accord ' assured Philip in a letter of June 4
that he would certainly not be subjected to punishment
or imprisonment. They even pledged themselves, if
any violence of this sort were offered him, to become
substitutes for him and to undergo in his stead what-
ever penalty should be decreed. To this letter Philip
answered, on June 7, that he would accept the article
with a few unimportant alterations and would come
and surrender himself to the Emperor ; the princes, he
hoped, would so arrange matters that ' he should not
be detained above five or eight days.'
When on the point of starting Philip, on June 15,
addressed to Henry II. a letter which plainly shows
how rightly the Emperor had judged as to his sincerity.
corporelle ou perpetuel emprisonnement dud. Lantgrave.' The original
German text of the article of June 2 was first made known by Turba
(Verhaftitng, pp. 29-30). This important document was, as comparison
with other acts shows, written out clearly in the Imperial Chancellery by
Paul Pfinzing, of Nuremberg, afterwards Secretary for German affairs to
Philip II., and served as supplement to two letters of Bishop Granvell's,
June 20 and 21 (also lately published by Turba, loc. cit. pp. 21-28,
corrected of the many errors, due to imperfect copies, in the text as
printed in Lanz, ii. 585, and v. Druffel, i. 61), in which Granvell retails
to Queen Maria, the Emperor's sister, all the discussions which arose out
of the Landgrave's imprisonment, and informs her of the most important
part of the negotiations. The text of the decisive passage is here as
follows : ' He [Philip of Hesse] will give himself up freely and without a
single condition to his Imperial Majesty in Genadund Ungenad, provided
my most gracious Lords the Elector of Brandenburg and Duke Maurice of
Saxony add to this Article that for persons of rank an agreement should
be obtained from his Majesty that by such surrende r the Landgrave will
not be subjected to corporal punishment or to perpetual imprisonment.'
THE LANDGRAVE PHILIP OF HESSE 371
He had been resolved, he wrote to the King, ' under the
protection of God and of his Majesty,' to defend himself
somewhat further, but he had not succeeded in drawing
to his standard the troops serving under Mansfeld and
Thumshirn, nor in procuring the French gold deposited
for his use with the Elector of Saxony ; he himself had
no money ; the Saxon towns and the marine towns had
returned no answer to his repeated appeals for help ;
as for his own subjects, he could not trust them. For
all these reasons, foreseeing a complete defeat, he had
decided on peace with the Emperor. According to the
terms proposed from the Emperor's camp by the
Electors Joachim and Maurice, he was in no way obliged
to give up his fortresses or a single morsel of his land
to the Emperor, or to put himself in the power of the
latter ; it seemed, therefore, the most advantageous
policy, both for himself and for the French King (at
whose service he stood ready for all future emergencies),
to close with these conditions.1
On the same day the Emperor gave his brother
Ferdinand his version of the transactions with the two
Electors. It was explicitly stated in them that the
Landgrave was ready ' to surrender himself uncon-
ditionally auf Gnade mid Ungnade.1
' It is true that the two Electors demanded my
assurance that I would not allow Philip to be punished
corporally, or by perpetual imprisonment ; they used
the term " perpetual," and they also promised that the
word should be used in the document presented to me.
I agreed to their demand, but I nevertheless think it
advisable to retain the Landgrave in my hands, at least
for a time longer, and to make a prisoner of him when
1 Lanz, Correspondenz, ii. 653-655.
B B 2
372 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
he arrives ; and the Electors will not be able to com-
plain on this score, for I shall be doing nothing contrary
to the promise I made "not to subject him to perpetual
imprisonment." ' l
On June 1 8 Philip arrived at Halle with an imposing
escort. Duke Henry of Brunswick also, whose release
from the prison at Ziegenhain the Emperor had stipu-
lated for, arrived the same day.
When Maurice on June 19 (a Sunday) was sitting
down to table with Joachim of Brandenburg he
charged his councillor Fuchs to ask Bishop Granvell,
son of the Chancellor, whether the Emperor would hold
out his hand to the Landgrave after the latter had
begged for pardon. Granvell answered that he did not
know. Fachs reported this answer to the Elector at
table.2 The presenting of the hand after the apology
was the generally recognised sign of reconciliation.
Maurice himself, when he put this question, was aware
that the Emperor had not given a promise to set the
Landgrave free, and from this evasive answer he could
foresee what was likely to follow.
On June 19, at 6 o'clock in the afternoon, Philip
made his apology on bended knee, but he could not
conceal the laughter on his lips. Charles, perceiving
this, lifted a threatening finger and said ominously :
' Wait, wait, and I will teach you how to laugh.' 3
Vice-Chancellor Seld read out the declaration, which was
to the effect that ' in consideration of the Landgrave's
submission, and at the intercession of the princes, the
1 The Emperor's letter and Ferdinand's answer, in Bucholtz, Urkun-
denband, pp. 427-429 ; Turba, Verhaftzmg und Oefangenschaft, pp. 61 ff.
2 Despatch from Fachs, v. Druffel, i. 487.
3 ' Wei, ik sal u leeren lachen.' Sastrow, ii. 29.
THE LANDGKAVE PHILIP'S SUBMISSION 373
Emperor withdrew the sentence of the ban, and the
penalty of death incurred by rebellion, and would not
punish him either by perpetual imprisonment or by
confiscation of property and effects, according to the
articles which had been approved by him.'
' While the Landgrave was going through the cere-
mony of begging pardon,' the Emperor wrote to Ferdi-
nand, ' I caused the Elector of Brandenburg, who had
asked me whether I should hold out my hand to Philip,
to be told that I should not do so at present, but should
wait till he was set entirely at liberty ; from the answer
that I should give the Landgrave he would see that I
had fulfilled all that I had promised. Indeed, after he
had heard my answer he seemed perfectly well satisfied
with it.' ' Later on,' Charles continues, ' after the
Electors had conferred with the Landgrave and also
with their councillors, they declared that they had not
understood that the Landgrave would be detained in
captivity, and that they had told him this. Their
mistake was proved to them from the text of the articles
and from the statement repeatedly made to them that no
other guarantee for the fulfilment of the conditions would
suffice than the person of the Landgrave ; for the
Emperor could not depend on his word of honour, which
he had broken so often ; the promise which, according
to their statement, they had made to him they had no
power to make against my will, all the less so as they
themselves by their written statements had also promised
precisely the opposite.' 1 There was no question, the
Emperor said to the princes, of its being a misunder-
standing ; for the document in which the words ' per-
petual imprisonment ' occurred had been drawn up by
1 ' . . . ayans clerement par leur escript promis le contraire.'
374 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
themselves, and moreover in the German language.
Eather, however, than that any doubt should remain as
to whether he could retain the Landgrave in captivity,
he preferred that all should be considered as not having
happened, and that Philip should return under their
escort to his own country. Finally the princes declared,
by a threefold asseveration, ' that the Emperor, accord-
ing to all the terms of the agreement, was entitled to
retain the Landgrave in captivity, but that his im-
prisonment must not be perpetual ; ' they said that they
would assert this against any one who should maintain
the contrary opinion, and owned that if any mistake had
been made it was they who were to blame.1
On July 3 the Emperor issued writs for a Diet to
meet at Augsburg on September 1.
Owing to the war which had been stirred up by a
few insubordinate princes and notables, he said in his
summons, he had not been able to hold a Diet earlier ;
now, however, that ' the two ringleaders by whom the
rebellion has been mainly fostered have submitted to
the demands of equity and are at present with us, we
will no longer delay taking measures for the tranquil-
lisation and unification of the Empire.'
1 Letter of Charles V., June 28, 1547, v. Druffel, i. 63-67. Letters of
Granvell to Maria, June 20 and 21, Lanz, ii. 585-588, 592-595.
375
CHAPTEE III
THE EMPEROR OPPOSES THE AUTHORITY OF THE COUNCIL
— DIET AT AUGSBURG, 1547-1548 — THE IMPERIAL
' INTERIM RELIGION '
The Emperor was at the climax of his power. Except
in the case of a few towns, all open resistance in the
Empire was at an end ; for in Bohemia and Suabia
also the insurrection had been put down by King
Ferdinand, and at a Bohemian Diet at Prague a new
order of things had been instituted, by which the royal
power, whose subversion had been aimed at, was
materially extended and strengthened. Among the
Protestants anxiety and discouragement prevailed.
' The whole world, either in hope or in fear, stood
expectant that after such great events Charles would
interfere vigorously in the internal affairs of the
Empire, that the religious question would be settled
on a lasting basis, and that the territorial Church
system, with its usurped rights and prerogatives, would
be abolished. Both parties, however, were dis-
appointed, both those who hoped and those who feared.
Those who imagined that the Emperor would profit by
his victory for the consolidation of his authority and
power, and the establishment of a monarchy, were
forced now to recognise that this had not been the
Emperor's intention ; for in the main everything
376 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
remained in the same condition as before. In matters
of religion decisions were made which satisfied nobody,
and only served to fill some minds with suspicion,
others with resentment. The blame for this must be
chiefly laid on the Emperor's quarrel with the Pope
and the Council.' 1
In his treaty with the Pope the Emperor had
promised with regard to the Protestants who were
opposed to the Council of Trent that if all gentle
measures failed he would reduce them to obedience by
force of arms, supported by the papal troops and
money, and compel them to submit to the council and
the Apostolic See. He had further pledged himself
not to conclude any treaty disadvantageous to the
Catholic faith and interest with the Protestants and
the Smalcaldic League without permission from the
Pope.
These pledges he by no means kept.
He had indeed already violated them by the treaty
which he had concluded at Eatisbon before the out-
break of the war with Duke Maurice and the Margrave
Hans of Brandenburg-Ctistrin. In his agreements
with the towns of the South he did not make the
recognition of the Council a condition, but only re-
quired their submission to the decrees of the Diet and
of the Imperial Chamber. Without taking the Pope
or his nuncio at all into his confidence, he gave the
towns his assurance that ' he would leave them in the
enjoyment of their present religion.' In the compacts
with the Smalcald princes there was no mention at all
of religion. The Pope complained of this, and so did
1 Dissertation on the ' Interreligio imperialist 1549, by the Carmelite
Westhof, who was present at Augsburg.
THE EMPEROR OPPOSES THE COUNCIL 377
his representative the nuncio Yerallo, whom Chan-
cellor Granvell treated in consequence with great
rudeness.1
Thus the opinion entertained by Alexander Farnese
before the conclusion of the treaty with the Emperor,
viz. that the Emperor would use the supplies granted
by the Pope solely for the extension of his political
power, and that he would proceed to the settlement of
the internal affairs of the Church without reference to
his Holiness, and would make concessions to the Pro-
testants, gained fresh confirmation in Eome.2
Added to this was the ancient deep-rooted mistrust
of the imperial policy on the part of Italy.
Ever since Charles, in violation of earlier oft-
repeated assurances, had attempted to unite the duchy
of Milan directly with his own House (which already
owned Naples and Sicily), instead of settling it on his
heir presumptive, Philip, fear had reigned in Eome that
nothing short of the complete ruin of the independence
of Italy, and especially of the Apostolic See, was at
hand. The feudal dependence of the duchies of Parma
and Piacenza on the Papal See was not recognised by
the Emperor ; the Imperial Governor at Milan, Ferrante
Gonzaga, a bitter enemy of the Pope's family, raised
conspiracies in these duchies in the year 1546, in order
to get them out of the hands of Duke Peter Louis
Farnese and to attach them to Milan.
The Pope on his part was far too much concerned
1 See v. Druffel, Viglius' Tagebuch, pp. 183, 185, 217, 221-223; State
Papers, ii. 379.
2 Cardinal Cervino repeatedly expressed the fear that the Emperor
would deceive the Pope ; the latter, he said, appeared to him to have fallen
into the claws of a great crab. V. Druffel, Kaiser Karl V. und die
romische Curie, 1344-1546, division ii. 26, 36.
378 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
with the aggrandisement of his own family.1 His
dissatisfaction with affairs in Italy and with the
management of the war in Germany was so great that,
if the reports of the French ambassador, dn Mortier,
can be trusted, he rejoiced over the resistance which
the Emperor met with from the Protestants, and
actually talked of giving help to the latter. His
promised subsidies to Charles were only furnished in
the most dilatory manner ; and very soon disagreement
arose between them respecting the sale of Spanish
Church property which had been taken into considera-
tion in the compact. When the six months' treaty
expired in December 1546 the Pope withdrew his
auxiliary troops, and on the plea of France's military
preparations, and the necessity of maintaining European
peace, refused the Emperor any further support.
The Emperor's pretensions went on increasing :
from all his dominions and States, without exception,
from all churches, monasteries, and convents, he
exacted the half of their possessions in gold and silver
and valuables, and from all ecclesiastical confraternities
the half of their yearly incomes. Kome was in con-
sternation at such demands and refused them with the
utmost decision, not knowing, however, that divines at
the Emperor's council board had expressed their
readiness, ' if need were without waiting for the
consent of the Pope, to accomplish the contemplated
work of secularisation.' 2
Most disastrous of all, in its consequences, was the
1 V. Druffel, p. 31 ff.
2 Manrenbrecher, Karl V. und die Protestanten, pp. 123, 131-132 ;
G. de Leva, Storia documentata di Carlo V. in correlaziove alV Italia,
iv. 210 sqq.
THE EMPEROR OPPOSES THE COUNCIL 379
quarrel between the Emperor and the Pope with regard
to the Council.
Since the ratification of the Spires recess of
1544, in which the right had been acknowledged of a
Diet to pronounce judgment in matters of faith, the
people of Eome lived in constant apprehension as to
Charles's intentions. ' The treaty with the Emperor,'
said the nuncio Verallo to the Carmelite Werthof, ' had
quieted the Holy Father's anxiety, which, however, has
returned again, because the Emperor does not keep to
the engagements he made. There is no doubt what-
ever that he is most eager for a council, but if we may
believe the utterances of Granvell and other influential
people at court there is grave reason to fear that the
Emperor will make the Council feel his power and will
attempt to influence its decisions.' 1
The papal legates at Trent were of the same
opinion. The Emperor's wish that, out of considera-
tion for the Protestants, all decisions concerning
dogmas should be postponed, and only the question of
reform of discipline be discussed at the Council, had
been stubbornly opposed on the part of the Church ;
they wanted to begin ' with the most essential matter,
the groundwork of the whole.' In the end, however,
it was decided to deal with the two questions, dogma
and discipline, side by side. In the year 1546 the
decrees respecting the canonical Scriptures, the editions
and proper use of the same, as also concerning original
sin, were published, and the dogma of justification was
defined and formulated. It was in vain that the
Emperor protested against the promulgation of these
decrees. It was not unknown how scoffingly Granvell
1 See above, p. 376, note.
380 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
had spoken of the ' Italian bishops,' to whom the most
important decisions should not be relegated. The
Catholic dogma of justification, as defined by the
Council, did not fit in with Granvell's views, who was
of opinion that this question had been already settled
in a satisfactory manner at the religious conferences
held with the Protestants.1 In order to forestall every
possible attempt of the secular powers to influence or
control dogmatic definitions, the Pope enjoined the
legates to proceed without delay with the promulgation
of the dogma. This was finally done on January 13,
1547. On the Emperor's complaining of the ' precipitate
haste ' by which the Protestants had been inopportunely
irritated, Paul III. answered that the reproach was
unfounded, since the Council had devoted six months
to the exclusive consideration of the decree respecting
justification ; there was no reason to hope that the
Protestants would be brought to reason by delay in the
pronouncement of judgment on their erroneous
teaching.2
On March 3 the decisions on the Sacraments in
general, on baptism and confirmation in particular,
were made publicly known. Decrees respecting clerical
reform, above all the duty of episcopal residence, the
question of plurality of benefices, were published
simultaneouslv with the decrees on dogmas. The next
session was to be held on April 21, but a contagious
disease broke out at Trent, and the general of the
Franciscans, a bishop, and several other people died of
it. There was talk of cutting- off all communication
with the neighbourhood, whereupon twelve bishops
1 See above, p. 311.
2 Pallavicino, lib. ix. cap. 3, no. 4.
THE EMPEROR OPPOSES THE COUNCIL 381
took their departure, some of them without asking
leave of the legates. Many of the prelates advocated
the adjournment of the synod, as the legates had already
proposed to the Pope at the beginning of the Smalcaldic
war. The legate Cervino especially had dwelt on the
fear that the Emperor with an army at his back would
be able to dictate his own terms to the Council. The
imperial ambassadors had often enough threatened that
Charles would come in person to take the management
of the Council into his own hands. What would be
the consequences if the Emperor, flushed with victory,
should carry out his threat ? The Pope, ' because it
seemed impossible to keep the bishops together at
Trent,' sent the legates at the beginning of August 1546
plenary authority to adjourn to Lucca if the majority
of the Fathers were in favour of this step. But the
project must first be communicated to the Emperor.
As Charles, however, was vehemently opposed to this
course, and threatened, in the event of their removing
to Lucca, ' to come to terms with the Lutherans and to
think henceforth solely of his own advantage,' 1 the
plan was given up.
Soon after the outbreak of the epidemic, when two
distinguished doctors discovered symptoms of the
plague in it, the legates, on the strength of their plenary
authority, laid the matter before the Fathers. On
March 14 it was decided by the majority, against the
opposition of fifteen out-and-out imperialist prelates,
to remove to Bologna. These fifteen, by Charles's
order, remained at Trent.
1 Cataneo's report :'.... quod alias concordabit cum Lutheranis et
ea agit quae expedire ei rnagis videbuntur.' See v. Druffel, Viglius' Tage-
buck, p. 52.
382 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
It soon became evident that the sickness at Trent
would soon be over. The removal of the Council
proved a misfortune for the Church.
As soon as Charles heard of it he flew into a violent
rage and was carried away into uttering words of abuse-
to Verallo about the octogenarian Pope. ' But,' he
added indignantly, ' we shall not fail to have a synod
which will give satisfaction to all parties and set every-
thing straight.' He insisted on the immediate return
of the Fathers from Trent, threatening that otherwise he
would protest formally and solemnly against every con-
ciliar measure at Bologna. The Pope represented to
him that the Council alone had power to recall the pre-
lates, and that for this purpose those who had remained
behind at Trent must also go to Bologna ; he was
ready himself to attend the Council in person with the
Emperor, in order that by their presence greater weight
might be given to any measures passed for the extirpa-
tion of heresy. Charles answered that he would come
fast enough without the Pope's invitation. He would
send his prelates not to Bologna only, he exclaimed,
but also to Eome, and he would accompany them him-
self : he himself, the all-powerful Emperor, would hold
the Council in Eome.
His bursts of passion and his threats, however, were
without effect. They were not willing at Eome to
concede to a secular potentate, even the mightiest of
the earth, an authoritative or decisive voice in purely
religious questions. Not to Caesar, the Pope said to
the imperial ambassador, Mendoza, but to St. Peter had
Christ spoken the words : 'On this rock will I build
My Church.'
The suspicions against the Emperor and his inten-
THE DIET AT AUGSBURG 383
tions were aggravated by an event which caused the
Pope also the deepest personal grief.
On September 10, 1547, in consequence of a
conspiracy planned and executed by Gonzaga, imperial
governor of Milan, Duke Peter Louis Farnese, the son
of the Pope and an enemy of the Emperor, was assas-
sinated in Piacenza and the town occupied by imperial
troops. Charles had consented to this plot of his
governor, but had nevertheless expressed the wish
that the Duke's life might be spared. Gonzaga, how-
ever, had assured the conspirators in a separate
contract that they would be exempt from justice in
the event of any murder which might happen during
the fray.1 The Pope notified to the Emperor that
prompt restoration of the town was the only proof he
could accept of the uprightness of his intentions.
Charles refused this, and Paul III. accordingly declared
in a consistory of the cardinals that ' he would forgive
the offence perpetrated against himself as a man,
leaving to God the punishment of the criminal, but the
outrage offered to God and the Church he could neither
put up with nor forget, but must take the chastisement
thereof into his own hands, even though he should
have to expiate the act by a martyr's death.'
Under such auspices the religious negotiations were
commenced at the Diet at Augsburg.
On September 1, 1547, the Emperor opened the
Diet with a speech in which, 'just as though no war or
victory had taken place,' the very same tone was
adopted with regard both to temporal and spiritual
affairs as at former Diets. On many members present
the question forced itself, ' How would the Smalcald
1 Ranke, pp. 5, 9 ; Maurenbrecher, p. 158.
384 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
confederates have spoken, and how would they have
acted, if the fortune of the war had fallen to them and
a vanquished Emperor had stood before them ? ' 'It
was certainly their intention, as they themselves allowed,'
said the Carmelite Werthof, ' to bring the Empire under
their own rule, to suppress the spiritual princes and
expel the clergy, and what then would have been the
fate of the Emperor himself is easy to be imagined.' l
The Emperor's intention with regard to the
Council was first and foremost to carry out his own
will against the Pope and the Fathers assembled at
Bologna. Whereas the schism in religion, he said in
his opening address, was the root and origin of all the
disturbance in the Empire, and without the healing of
this division peace could not be restored, and whereas
it was for this purpose that the Council had been con-
voked, the first and most important business was to
consider how these religious disputes could be amicably
settled, and what course meanwhile should be pursued
with regard to religion.
The three spiritual Electors answered that ' the
Emperor had better leave the whole religious question
to the Council at Trent and let it be settled there.'
The Protestant Electors of the Palatinate, of Saxony,
and of Brandenburg petitioned for ' a free and
apostolic Council ' to which the Pope also should be
subject. At such a Council all the bishops must be
released from their oath to the Pope ; the Protestant
theologians must be allowed a definitive vote, the
resolutions already passed at Trent must be ' recon-
sidered,' and all erroneous doctrines abolished, and all
business carried on according to Divine Scripture, in a
1 See above, p. 376, note.
THE DIET AT AUGSBURG 385
godly manner and without party spirit. The college of
princes, prelates, and counts was of opinion that the
Council of Trent should be continued, and that Pro-
testant representatives should be sent to it ; but at the
same time, at the instigation of the Bavarian Chancellor,
Eck, they called in question the validity of the decisions
so far passed by the Council. Duke Ulrich of Wtir-
temberg had instructed his ambassador to protest
firmly against the continuance of the Council of Trent,
' because it had hitherto shown itself so strongly
biassed against the Holy Scriptures that it was quite
lamentable.' 1 The imperial cities were of opinion that
a fresh religious conference would be the best means of
settling the disputed points, or else a national Council
at which all Christian believers on whom God should
bestow His Holy Spirit should freely express their
opinions, while learned God-fearing persons, chosen
from every station, should draw up the final decision.
The Council of Trent, they said, had assumed an
unheard-of position in the matter and had taken upon
itself to pronounce judgment on all the leading articles
of dispute in the religious question : nothing but grave
injustice and annoyance was to be expected from this
Council in future, and the Emperor, therefore, had
better not prolong it.
After listening to these opinions of the different
Estates the Emperor proceeded to negotiate with the
Protestant Electors and princes, and brought them to
the point of agreeing with the Catholics to ' leave the
matter of the Council to him.' 2 He promised to make
1 Sastrow, ii. 142-144.
2 It is not known whether the Emperor made any special promises to
the Protestants for the purpose of securing this concession.
VOL. VI. C C
386 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
provision for Christian procedure and fair treatment of
the Protestants : ' the whole regulation and method
should be pious and Christian, all party spirit should
be set aside, everything should be begun and concluded
in conformity with Holy Scripture and the teaching
of the early fathers, a salutary reform should be
instituted and all abuses and erroneous doctrines be
abolished.' He would arrange and order all these
things ' in keeping with his imperial office ; ' the Estates
could and should trust to him.
It was not without a struggle that the towns con-
sented ' to leave the management to the Emperor.'
Once again they declared that they could only agree
to this with good will on condition that the business
was carried on in conformity with divine teaching and
those writings of holy fathers which were in accord-
ance with divine teaching ; to the majority of them
it would be ' painful in the extreme to submit to the
Council of Trent if the decisions already made by it
were to be regarded as decrees of a General Council,
or if the assembly took a different line with regard to
the word of God and the doctrine of the fathers from
what the Emperor had led them to expect.'
From all these ' provisoes and reservations ' it was
plain to see that anything like a real submission to the
decrees of the Council was not to be expected.
All the same the Emperor informed the Pope on
November 9 that ' what he had laboured for so long
and zealously had now come about : Electors, princes
spiritual and temporal, and towns had agreed to submit
to the decisions of the Council now summoned, and
indeed actually opened at Trent.' The Fathers must,
therefore, at once return from Bologna to Trent.
THE DIET AT AUGSBURG 387
The Pope informed the Fathers at Bologna of the
Emperor's wish, and they answered that they were all
ready to go back if they could do so without prejudice
to the cause of Christianity. First of all, however, it
was necessary that those who had remained at Trent
should come to Bologna to agree with the rest on this
point. Further, they must be assured that the Emperor
did not contemplate an innovation in the form of
conciliar deliberations, of which mention had been
made in Germany. Finally, it was requisite to concede
to the Fathers full right to determine, by a vote of the
majority, where they would assemble and when they
would bring the Council to a close.
On December 20 the Pope delivered to the imperial
plenipotentiary this answer of the Council as his own.
The path on which the Emperor now elected to
enter definitively shaped the future course of Germany.
Had the two supreme chieftains of Christendom
gone forward together working in intimate and un-
broken harmony for the removal of the blemishes and
abuses which disfigured the external life of the Church ;
had they united their energies to carry into effect the
reformatory decrees already enacted at Trent as well
concerning the duty of the bishops to reside in their
sees and to attend to the office of preaching the word
of God personally and by the appointment of capable
preachers, as also concerning the visitation of dioceses,
the erection of theological chairs in cathedral and
collegiate churches and in monasteries, there is no
doubt that their combined labours, at a time when
Charles had succeeded in crushing the opposition of
the two chief leaders of the religious revolution, would
have issued in a triumphant consolidation of the
388 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
ancient faith and of the imperial constitution so
intimately connected with the faith, and in a revival of
religious life, morality and discipline, justice and peace.
Over against the Pope and the Council the Emperor
assumed a position which was altogether unbecoming.
He autocratically persisted in his demand that the
Fathers at Bologna should immediately come back to
Trent. He would not even agree to the first condition
insisted on by the Fathers, that the Spanish prelates
who had remained behind at Trent should reunite them-
selves to the main body in Bologna before the Council
migrated. He caused a solemn protestation to be made
in Bologna on January 16, 1548, in which it was de-
clared that the original transfer of the Council, with all
its attendant consequences, was null and void. The
papal legates, he protested, and the bishops here assem-
bled, most of whom were dependent on the nod of the
Pope, had no right to prescribe laws to the Christian
world in matters concerning the faith and the reforma-
tion of morals ; the answer given to him, the Emperor,
by the Fathers and by the Pope was unbecoming, un-
lawful, and replete with falsehoods. Since the Pope
neglected the Church it was necessary that the Emperor
should look after it and do for it all that devolved on
him, rightfully and lawfully, and according to the
public opinion of the world, by reason of his office of
Emperor and King. The President of the Council, the
Cardinal Legate del Monte, instantly replied that he
would rather suffer death than consent to the secular
power's arrogating to itself the right to convoke Coun-
cils or to deprive the assembled Fathers of their freedom
of action : the Emperor was only the son of the Church,
not its lord and master.
THE DIET AT AUGSBURG 389
At Charles's behest his ambassador Mendoza re-
peated at Eome, in the presence of the Pope and in
full consistory, the declaration of ecclesiastical war.
He received the dignified answer that ' the Pope could
not believe that the Emperor meant to protest against
the person of the Pontiff : his intention evidently was to
appeal to the Pope against the legates for their transfer
of the Council. The Emperor must be of opinion that
the Pope was the sole lawful judge in the matter, and
that he must inquire into the behaviour of the legates,
and not issue an order at the Emperor's wish without
an examination. If it was said of the Fathers at
Bologna that they were specially bound to the Pope,
his answer was that beyond the relations by which he
was bound as chief shepherd to his flock he recognised
no special party, nor had he yet felt the necessity of
attaching a party to himself : on the contrary he had
particularly enjoined on his legates to respect the free-
dom of the Council. Four cardinals had been invested
with plenary power to inquire into the legality of the
removal. If it should be found to have been illegal,
the Pope would exert all his authority to effect the
return to Trent as soon as possible.'.
The endeavours to come to an understanding with
Mendoza were fruitless. On February 15 the ambassa-
dor left Eome. The following day the Pope, in order
to prevent a rupture, issued a brief to the legates and
bishops at Bologna, commanding them to suspend all
synodal transactions until definitive judgment had been
given.
The Emperor had made up his mind to put in
action his threats against the Pope and the Council —
that is to say, by right of his supreme imperial authority
390 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
to effect a temporary settlement of the religious ques-
tions, in co-operation with those notables who had
committed to him the task of organising a provisional
Church system. Apart from the supreme ecclesiastical
authority he intended to make enactments which the
Catholics as well as the Protestants were to be guided
by up to the end of the Council.
An imperial ' Interim religion ' was to be established
in the Empire.1
At first Charles had intended to accomplish his pur-
pose by consultation with the Estates — that is, by allow-
ing the Diet to deal with and decide religious questions
as well as political affairs. ' But any one acquainted with
the sort of life that went on in the towns during the
sitting of the Diet,' wrote the Carmelite Werthof, ' must
have been convinced that with princes and delegates
such as were gathered together there no resolutions
could be passed respecting matters of the faith, even
were it considered fitting that secular members should
settle such questions. The gambling, drunkenness,
profligacy, and vice of all sorts that were practised
daily baffled all description.'
The princes, who, in answer to the imperial sum-
mons, appeared at Augsburg in greater numbers than
scarcely ever before, surrounded themselves ' with pomp
and splendour, as if a time of great abundance had
come and gold had rained down from heaven ; and the
1 ' Interreligio imperialis ; ' see v. Druffel, i. 179, note to p. 242. See
above, p. 376, note. B-eutel in his dissertation on the Origin of the
Interim, p. 11, and Egelhaaf in his Deutsche Geschichte, ii. 505, both state
emphatically that it was far from the Emperor's intention to found a
Germanic Church after the model of the Gallican (or Anglican) Church.
"Wishing to do away with the religious disturbances which were paralysing
the imperial authority, he strove to reform what he judged to be the most
crying abuses.
THE DIET AT AUGSBURG - 391
hardships and sufferings of the war being over they
gave themselves up to such inordinate luxury and self-
indulgence as though there were nothing else to do but
to revel and feast, and although the people, wherever
the war had raged, had been thrown into misery by fire,
plunder, and devastation, the princes behaved as if all
want and wretchedness had taken flight to the moon.
The Emperor with his temperate habits was in the
highest degree disgusted by all this, but of what use
was it for him to entreat the profligate to return to
chastity and the drunkards to behave with decency ? '
' For the honour of God and to gratify himself, the
Emperor,' Charles expostulated with the princes, ' they
might, at any rate during the session of the Diet, abstain
from their worst excesses : such self-denial would be pro-
fitable both to their bodily and spiritual health, and also
to their purses.' But all entreaties were vain. 'I have
nothing much to write about,' says Georg von Heideck
in a letter from Augsburg, ' except that in my opinion
the life that goes on here day after day is as godless as
it can be, with its gluttonous banqueting, drinking,
gambling, and blasphemy.' 1
One of the most famous of these ' tippling heroes '
was Duke Frederic III. of Liegnitz, who boasted of
' his firm evangelical faith ' and used to spout long pas-
sages from the Bible even in the midst of his drunken
revels. On the journey to the Diet at Nuremberg he
had already distinguished himself publicly as a drinker.
' He was always the worse for drink,' says Sastrow,
an eye-witness, ' and, as his official councillors would
have nothing to do with him when he was drunk, he
1 Voigt, Albrecht Alcibiades, i. 165 ; Voigt, ' Wilhelm von Grumbach,'
in Raumer's Histor. Taschenbuch, 1846, p. 13.
392 * HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
surrounded himself with the Margrave John of Bran-
denburg's court folk, who were never loth to join in his
carousals.' Once, being very drunk, the Duke and six
of the Margrave's courtiers cut off the sleeves of their
doublets and shirts, leaving their arms quite bare ; then
they pulled out their shirts between hose and doublet,
took off their shoes, and in their stockings marched out
into the town. A band of musicians, hired to go with
them, were ordered to ' blow their loudest.' It being
the middle of the day, a multitude of people, especially
foreigners, Italians and Spaniards, assembled to see
these German inebriates. Henry of Brunswick, one
day after a banquet, fell flat on the ground in his
hotel, and had to be carried to bed by four noblemen.
' The Emperor cannot have been very well pleased to
see the Germans disgracing themselves thus before the
representatives of other nations.'
The Duke's chief companions at the Diet of
Augsburg were the Elector Maurice of Saxony and
the Margrave Albrecht of Brandenburg-Culmbach ;
these three ' led such a life that verily the devil must
have laughed, and there was much talk about them all
over the town.' l
1 B. Sastrow, Herhommen, Oeburt und Lauf seines ganzen Lebens,
ii. 89. Sastrow's Memoirs and also the Begebenheiten des sclilesischen
Bitters Hans von Schweinichen, published by Biisching (3 vols., Breslau,
1820-1823) are among the most important contributions to the knowledge
of the terrible demoralisation of society which followed so rapidly in Ger-
many on the track of the religious revolution. We shall give but one
instance of the consequences of the ' Trunksiichtigkeit ' of the German
princes. ' At Liegnitz, in his own territory,' Sastrow reports concerning
the above-mentioned biblical student, the Lutheran summits episcopus of
his dominions, Frederic III., ' whilst he was deep in his cups, it happened
on a certain occasion that two students were passing through Liegnitz on
their way to visit their parents and friends. They sat up till the small
hours, and sang so lustily that the Duke heard them, sent for them,
THE DIET AT AUGSBURG 393
The Elector Joachim of Brandenburg and his wife
' also kept up great state and magnificence at Augsburg
' during the Diet.' Notwithstanding that everything was
enormously dear at the time, there was never any dearth
of the most dainty and expensive dishes at their table.
The Elector had very soon run through all the money
he had brought with him. He could not procure any
more from any quarter, and did not know how to get
out of his difficulties.1
His debts and impecuniosity had an important
bearing on the ecclesiastical transactions at Augsburg.
By the Emperor's request a committee of the mem-
bers was appointed for the purpose of negotiating with
the imperial delegates concerning measures for a Christian
accommodation. The Protestant members of this com-
mittee demanded on February 11 'that a national coun-
cil should be held, or else a Christian assembly at a Diet.'
Now that an agreement had been arrived at, they said,
on ' the most essential point of justification,' and that
ordered them to be conducted outside the castle gates and to have their
heads struck off. The next morning, before resuming his carousal, he
rode out to take the air with several of his councillors, who led him to
the spot where the two students had been decapitated. Seeing the blood
he asked what this might be, and being told it was the blood of the two
students whom he had ordered to be beheaded the previous day he
expressed surprise and inquired what they had done.''
1 Sastrow, ii. 302. ' Dr. Conrad Holde had advanced the sum of 5,713
thalers to his Grace the Elector seven years previously, at the Diet of
Ratisbon. During the interval he had frequently dunned him for repay-
ment, but without receiving a penny. At this Diet too the Elector gave
him no money, but gave him, instead, a sealed note powerful enough to
poison snakes with, promising to pay him in four instalments at Frank-
fort fairs. Nothing came of it, however. There was nothing left him,
therefore, when the time expired, but to sue the Elector before the
Imperial Chamber, as the note indicated, and obtain executoriales.
Think of an electoral prince of the German Empire brought to judgment
for a paltry debt of 5,713 thalers !
394 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
' the present dissension related only to ceremonies and
abuses, further agreement in the principal articles at
least might well be hoped for.' So long as it remained
unsettled ' which was the right Church ' and which
party's religion and ceremonies were to be adopted,
the restitution of Church property demanded by the
Catholics could not be dealt with. It would be very
wrong to give property and revenues back to those who
had abused them. ' Above all, nobody had any right
to complain of a prince making fresh regulations
respecting churches and monasteries in his own terri-
tory. To rebuild the demolished churches, or to refund
the hundreds of thousands of florins that had been
taken from their revenues, would be impossible.'
The Catholic members of the committee, who formed
the majority, insisted that ' in the disputed points of
doctrine they must abide by the decision of the Council.'
' All such side-ways as. national councils or other
meetings must not be thought of for a moment.' The
first would lead to a schism ; the other, as past experience
had shown, would have no result at all. ' The great
cause of all the discord, ill will, anarchy, and perversion
of justice lay in the fact that many people, both clergy
and laity, simply because they adhered to the old faith,
had been prevented by violence from the exercise of
their religion and deprived of their possessions, while
abbeys, monasteries, and churches had been plundered
and the new religion forced upon them. Not till these
injustices had been redressed and the plundered and
oppressed victims reinstated in possession of their
immemorial rights and emoluments, goods and chattels,
and allowed the practice of their ancient rites, and
restored to their offices, not till then would peace and
THE 'INTERIM RELIGION' 395
unity return to the land.' If the Protestants urged so
vehemently that they could not do violence to their
consciences in the matter of their religion, which was
barely thirty years old. with how much more reason
might the Catholics say the same with regard to theirs,
which had come down to them from the time of the
Apostles ! ' Moreover ' there was no question of obliging
any one to adopt or retain the forms of the old Church ;
if the Emperor was willing to tolerate the new religion,
they on their part would also leave its adherents undis-
turbed.' *
The Catholics considered demands of this sort
' Christian, honourable, and reasonable.' But they did
not correspond to the promises which the influential
statesman Granvell had made to several Protestant
princes with regard to questions of doctrine and to
ecclesiastical foundations and property.2 Already in
October 1547 the younger Granvell, bishop of Arras,
had told the papal legate Sfondrato that the Emperor
certainly wished for a restitution of Church property,
but that such a thing was an impossibility. Such a
restitution, said the councillors of the three Protestant
Electors, ' was against their consciences.'
To every one's surprise the Emperor dissolved the
committee and appointed a mixed commission of
theologians to compile a system of temporary religious
regulations, to which the name ' Interim ' was given and
which was to form a bridge over the chasm between
the old and the new religions.3
As early as the beginning of 1547 King Ferdinand
1 Bucholtz, vi. 221-225.
2 See above, p. 310.
3 See Pastor, Reunionsbestrebungen, p. 369, and Beutel, pp. 6-7.
396 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
had recommended the Bishop of Naumburg, Julius
Pfiug, and Michael Helding, suffragan Bishop of
Mayence, to the Emperor as suitable persons for draw-
ing up a scheme of new Church regulations. These
two men had handed in to Charles a document to this
effect, and they were now appointed members of the
6 Interim ' commission. In the treatise they had pre-
pared the dogmatic statements were essentially Catholic,
but in the exposition of the crucial doctrine of justifica-
tion, the main point of difference between the new faith
and the old, and one which the Council of Trent had
already authoritatively defined from the Catholic stand-
point, their statement lacked the requisite precision.
The Emperor, personally, held the Tridentine dogma
to be ' essentially Catholic and sacred,' and yet without
regard to the authority of the Council he allowed the
hazy version of his mediating theologians to be em-
bodied in the ' Interim.' In the doctrine of the Mass
also these theologians, out of consideration to the
Protestants, had used less precise and sharply defined
language. Moreover they had conceded the lay chalice
and the marriage of priests.
By yielding in certain points Julius Pflug, an
Erasmian, thought to win over the opponents of the
Church ; it would be easy for the Emperor, he said, after
such a brilliant military success as he had achieved, to
' bring round ' the Protestant princes, either in a body
or else singly one after the other. He reckoned
especially on the co-operation of the Elector Joachim
of Brandenburg, who was disposed to conciliatory
measures.1
1 Pastor, Beitnionsbestrebungen, pp. 351-352, 357 ff. See Paulus in
the Katholik, 1894, ii. 417 fl., and Beutel, On the Origin of the Augsburg
THE 'INTERIM RELIGION' 397
Joachim's court preacher,' Agricola, was nominated
by the Emperor as Protestant member of the religious
commission, and he worked with Pflug and Helding at
the Augsburg Interim, which coincided in the main
with the document drawn up for the Emperor by the
Catholic members. Only in the statement of the doc-
trine of penitence is any trace of Agricola's influence
to be discovered. It was Agricola who made the
German translation of the document, which had been
drawn up in Latin.
In order to induce the Protestants to accept the
Interim it was decided not to present it to them as
emanating from the Emperor, but as ' a scheme sub-
mitted to his Majesty by a Protestant prince.'
It was at this point that Joachim's impecuniosity
proved useful.
' When the Elector,' says Sastrow, ' found that he
Interim. To enable us to pass a fair judgment on the Interim, Dr.
Paulus draws our attention to the following important facts : ' First of all
let it be duly considered that, as regards dogma, the resolutions were
drawn up in conformity to the Catholic teaching, though enunciated in
the mildest and at times in somewhat indefinite terms.' ' Secondly, it
ought not to be forgotten that the Interim was formulated not for the
Catholics, but for the Protestants.' ' It has not been my intention, how-
ever,' says Paulus in conclusion, ' to defend the arbitrary procedure of the
Emperor, whose most obvious duty it was to come to an understanding
with the Pope.' As to the personnel of the collaborators on the Interim,
Beutel comes to the following conclusion : The principal authors of it were
Bishop Pflug and the Spanish theologians Soto and Malvenda. The broad
foundation, the matter of it, is the creation of Pflug ; the Spaniards gave
form to it. Beutel is of opinion that, from the original conception of the
Interim, Charles kept the Protestants alone in view. The latest investi-
gator of the subject, G. Wolf, in his dissertation inserted hi the Deutsche
Zeitschrift fur Geschichtsivissenscliaft, New Series, ii. 39 sq., returns to
the opinion of Eanke and Janssen that Charles V. originally intended to
impose his Interim as a general law upon the Empire, and did not mean
that it should be merely a piece of exceptional legislation for the Pro-
testants.
398 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
could not raise money and was at his wit's end how he
might bring home his wife and great retinue without
being disgraced,' the Archbishop of Salzburg offered
him a loan of 16,000 Hungarian florins on severe terms,
'nevertheless on condition that he would present the
book which Pflug, Helding, and Agricola were com-
piling to the Emperor as coming from himself, and
that he would promise that he and all his subjects
would conform to it. Joachim agreed to this condition,
and not only presented the book as his own gift, but
used his utmost endeavours to persuade others to
subscribe to it.'
Agricola, Sastrow goes on to say, worked thus
zealously for the Interim because ' he was very anxious
to become bishop of Cammin and had good hopes of
gaining his wish through the Elector of Brandenburg's
intrigues with the Emperor.' At any rate, as Erasmus
Alber jestingly said, ' Talerus and his brother Florinus '
were not without influence on Agricola's zeal. On his
own confession Charles gave him 500 crowns, and
King Ferdinand 500 thalers, besides which he had
been promised at starting that his daughters should be
provided with handsome marriage portions.
At the same time it was not only for the sake of
money that Joachim and his court preacher constituted
themselves the champions and panegyrists of the
Interim, but also in the hope that this scheme would
serve as a meeting-point for both parties, Catholic and
Protestant. Agricola was already rejoicing at the
thought that henceforth the bishops everywhere in
Germany would proclaim the ' Gospel.' ' Although the
bishops,' he wrote on April 13, ' are fiercely opposed
to this compromise, the most pious Emperor Charles
THE 'INTERIM RELIGION' 399
has lately treated them in such a manner that they will
no longer be able to fix their hopes on him.' 1
But the Catholic members, both lay and clerical,
were not disposed, most of them at any rate, to ac-
commodate the Emperor by the surrender of religious
principles expected of them, and, in place of the
infallible Church, to recognise the secular power as
supreme in matters of the faith.
' More than once of late years,' wrote Werthof,
' and especially at the Diets at Spires and Worms,
bishops and temporal princes of the old faith had made
concessions which threatened to undermine the founda-
tions of the faith. But when at Augsburg the audacious
attempt was made to induce them to accept definitely
formulated proposals, which constituted the Emperor,
though only temporarily, supreme arbiter of religion
for the Catholics, they boldly and resolutely withstood
the demand. God grant that their courage may not
soon evaporate again ! ' 2
Nobody but the Pope and the (Ecumenical Council,
said the Archbishops of Mayence, Cologne, and Treves,
when the Interim was presented to them, had power ' to
sanction, to dispense with, or to tolerate any regulations
with regard to the marriage of priests and Communion
in both kinds : ' any decision in these matters outside
the recognised spiritual authority was null and void.
' In order, however, that the Emperor's efforts might not
be altogether fruitless, and that, pending the decisions
of the Council, peace, tranquillity, and unity might be
1 ' Quarnquam enim episcopi veheruenter huic negotio adversentur,
tanien piissimus Carolus sic nuper eos tractavit, ut nihil spei porro in euni
collocare queant.' Kawerau, p. 258.
2 See above, p. 376, note.
400 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
maintained in the German Empire, and the distrust
and estrangement between the different Estates be put
an end to, they begged that his Majesty would accept
the articles on which agreement had been arrived at
from the hands of those who had subscribed to them
and who wished to return to the bosom of the universal
Christian Church, on the condition that the said
articles should only be regarded as concerning the
Protestants, and not those who up till now had re-
mained unalterably attached to the true and ancient
Church, and that they should only be held valid for the
places and people who had already given in their ad-
hesion to the new doctrines.' Further, they stipulated
that ' nobody who was a priest already, or who in-
tended to become one, should be allowed to marry ;
also that no member of the old religion, either lay
or clerical, should conform in any respect to the new
religion, either by communicating in both kinds, or in
any other matter, but should adhere faithfully to the
Catholic religion.' With regard to the question of
restitution, of which no mention was made in the
Articles, necessity imperatively demanded that if the
old religion was maintained, and restored wherever it
had been abolished, restitution should in all cases be
made at the same time, and churches, foundations,
cloisters, &c, with all their liberties and privileges, be
restored to their original owners ; for otherwise the
service of God and other things connected with it could
not be properly carried on.1
Still more emphatic was the protest of the prelates
and secular princes, who gave the Emperor distinctly
to understand that lie was exceeding the limits of
1 Sastrow, ii. 320-327.
THE 'INTERIM RELIGION' 401
his prerogative by pronouncing judgment in matters of
doctrine which were the business of the Council; it
was to be feared, they said, that this Interim would
lead to all manner of disturbance and ill-feelino- and
also to the collapse of the Council. They begged that
the Emperor would endeavour to dissuade the Protest-
ants from their heretical doctrines, and from adherence
to the Augsburg Confession. The lay chalice and the
marriage of priests were contrary to the usage and
commands of the Church ; the Emperor ought not
therefore to demand such concessions from the
Catholics and to impose such burdens on their con-
sciences ; a general insurrection and a falling away
from the faith must be the inevitable result of such
a course. If the Protestants would pledge themselves
to abide by, and not to alter, the articles of the
Interim, the Emperor might safely allow them the
concessions therein specified, pending the decision of
the Council, nevertheless, only in those places where
secession from the Church had already begun. They
also insisted that the clergy who had been molested
and expelled by the Protestants should be reinstated in
their rights, ' and especially that all those persons, in
districts where a change of religion had taken place,
who either remained true to the old relio-ion or who
wished to return to it, should not be in any way pu-
nished, molested, or disturbed.' l
The Frankfort delegate sent this ' manifesto of the
princes and prelates, spiritual and temporal,' to the
council of his town, with the words, ' The parsons
call the Interim the Interitum,' i.e. ruin. The Emperor
1 V. Druffel, iii. 98-102. See Pastor, Reunionsbestrebungen, p. 383.
VOL. VI. D D
402 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
was greatly displeased with the manifesto and gave the
princes a sound tongue-lashing, informing them at the
same time that ' His Majesty had had the Articles
communicated to them in order that they might give
their opinions about them, but that they must accept
and submit to them just as they stood.1
But the demands were too exorbitant.
All that the Emperor succeeded in obtaining was
that the Council of Princes, ' for the avoidance of weari-
some procrastination and for speedy despatch of the
business,' agreed to the more moderate protest of the
spiritual Electors, after having first received the as-
surance that the Interim was not intended for the
Catholics and that the Emperor ' had no other object
than by this means to win back the seceders to the holy
Catholic religion.'1
In all this business Charles showed not the slightest
regard for Eome. He had given the manuscript of the
Interim to the legate Sfondrato to send to the Pope,
not, however, as the legate had hoped, in order to
procure the Holy Father's opinion, but only to make
the matter known to him. Charles actually refused
for four whole days to give audience to a nuncio whom
Paul III. sent to him to plead for a temporary suspension
of his religious edict. He only granted him an interview
some hours after the edict had already been publicly
announced. As a reason for his behaviour he said that
he had not wished to prolong the Diet any further ;
in the matter of the Interim he had done nothing that
1 Bucholtz, vi. 235-242. The Bavarian Chancellor, Eck, deserved the
vehement reproaches made against him by the Emperor in the address to
the spiritual princes communicated by Bucholtz. The plausible Chancellor
succeeded in deceiving even a man like the Jesuit Canisius as to his
religious attitude.
THE 'INTERIM RELIGION' 403
exceeded the rights of a legitimate and Catholic
prince.1
On May 15 the edict was proclaimed at the Diet,
but not until several passages objectionable to the
Catholics had been altered without the knowledge of
the Protestant party. After some talk and counter-
talk the Elector of Mayence stood up and said that
' the members were grateful to the Emperor for all
the trouble and labour he had taken. Whereas
they had made over to him the temporary manage-
ment of the religious disputes, pending the decision
of the General Council, it was only fitting that they
should obey the imperial decree.' From this declara-
tion, which met with no opposition, the Emperor
concluded that his edict was unanimously agreed to.
But this was by no means the case.
The proclamation of the Interim, wrote the Frank-
fort delegate, ' struck terror to the hearts of all God-
fearing and sincere Christians.' ' Nobod}^,' said Gerhard
Veltwyk, one of the Emperor's leading councillors, on
June 26, ' likes this Interim.' 2
Maurice lost no time in testifying his displeasure,
and already on May 18 raised objections to the edict.
The Margrave Hans von Ciistrin and the Count Palatine
Wolfgang of Zweibrucken were also vehemently
opposed to the ' poisonous mixture.' The most reso-
lutely antagonistic answer was that of the captive
Elector John Frederic. Duke Ulrich of Wiirtemberg
only submitted to it because imperious necessity com-
pelled him ' reluctantly to let the devil have his way
in this matter.' Philip of Hesse's policy was to
1 Pallavicino, lib. x. cap. 17, no. 7.
" V. Druffel, iii. xiii-xiv.
D B 'J
404 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
deceive the Emperor by giving his consent in order to
obtain release from imprisonment. In a letter to
Charles he said that ' he would abide loyally by the
Interim and use all diligence to enforce it in his country,
if his Majesty would graciously allow him to return
home.' 1 At the same time he assured the Hessian
preachers who were opposed to the Interim that ' if he
came home he would act in such a way as to make
them entirely satisfied with him ; they would find him
a very gracious lord ; time altered all things ; every-
thing would soon mend.' The Margrave Albert of
Brandenburg-Gulmbach received the Interim favourably,
in spite of the opposition of his preachers. ' Our
preachers,' he wrote to Duke Albert of Prussia, ' say
that in the Interim the accursed, abominable papacy is
set up against the Holy Scriptures, and also against the
lawful usages of the ancient Catholic Church. But
when we ask at what date this abominable papacy began,
and demonstrate from Dr. Luther's books that it is not
more than 500 or 600 years old, then it is clearly seen
that all the articles that are included in the Interim
were held by the universal Christian Church, alike
respecting doctrine, administration of the sacraments,
and ceremonies, before the beginning of this detested
papacy. This being so, we may well ask with what
semblance of right these people presume to try and
hoodwink us laymen, as they have so long done, in
order that they may hug their arrogance and pride and
refuse to admit that they have been in error. Mean-
while neither in themselves nor in those who are led by
them do we see any special signs of grace or improvement.
But, owing to the appalling amount of vice and carnal
1 Hassencamp, i. 663 ; Pastor, p. 392.
THE 'INTERIM RELIGION' 405
liberty engendered by the new Gospel, we have become
a prey to one insurrection after another, to endless
bloodshed, mistrust, and dissension amongst all classes,
and we see plainly and are convinced that something
very wicked and unholy must be at the bottom of
all this, which goes by the name of the holy word of
God. As your Grace is a prince of great intelligence,
you will see yourself that, if we listen to our spiritual
advisers, we shall never attain to anything like Christian
unity, but must for ever be condemned to discord and
bloodshed. Seldom does it happen that any two of
them agree fully on any single point. If we bring
their conduct to the light, we shall be convinced that
their main purpose has been to erect a new popery on
the ruins of the old : we have all manner of glaring,
open examples of this, particularly the new disputes
which crop up from all sides, and which are dearer to
them than the Holy Gospel. It would have been well
for us if we had adverted to this long ago. Verily all
is not gold that glitters.' 1
The Emperor met with the strongest opposition from
the Protestant towns, whose delegates drew up a petition
against the edict, in which amongst other things it was
said that, ' as the new doctrines and usages had now
been taught and practised in their churches for
upwards of twenty-five years, and whereas the people
altogether approved of them, no change could be
attempted.' The Emperor, however, caused the peti-
tioners to be severely rebuked. ' You must not
suppose,' said the Vice-Chancellor Heinrich Hase to the
Frankfort delegate, Doctor Conrad Humbracht, ' that
his Imperial Majesty will give up an iota of the
1 Voigt, Albrecht Alcibiacles, i. 192-193.
406 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
authority that has once been ceded to him.' On
Humbracht's answering, ' In so far as my lords can do
so with a good conscience they will show themselves
obedient in all things,' Hase exclaimed, ' Conscience,
forsooth ! Your consciences are like the sleeves of the
Barefooted Friars ; they are large enough to swallow up
whole cloisters. You had better make up your minds to
obey the Emperor, for he is firmly resolved to abide by
the Interim even if it should cost him another war.
If it has been possible to give up what has existed for
many centuries, it cannot be so difficult to renounce
what has only lasted a quarter of a century. You must
relearn the old lessons.' ' And he went on angrily,'
Humbracht relates : ' you will have people sent to you
who will be able to instruct you ; you will have to learn
Spanish.' l
However the condition of affairs called for far other
measures than a resort to military force for the purpose
of compelling the seceders from the Church to accept
' the Caroline religious edict.' No good result could be
hoped for so long as the education of the people in the
Protestant towns and countries remained in the hands
of those who for years past had been decrying the
papacy and the whole body of Catholic doctrine as
idolatry and blasphemy, and who lost no opportunity
of stirring up the passions of the mob by word and by
writing, and of sowing and fomenting hatred and
contempt. The people could not ' relearn the old
lessons ' if they received no Catholic instruction and
had no Catholic priests, schoolmasters, and professors,
if nearly the whole influence of the press continued to
be exerted on the side of the anti-Catholic system. In
1 Ranke. vi. 284-288.
THE 'INTERIM RELIGION' 407
order to oppose a clam to the heresies that had grown so
rampant and to accomplish the reunion of the Church,
it was above all necessary, as the papal legates
Aleander, Campeggio, and Contarini had repeatedly
declared, to organise a band of pious orthodox clergy,
to hold missions for the people, to rebuild schools of
different grades for the people, to compile and circulate
Catholic books of instruction and devotion. ' Why,"
asked the Jesuit Father Faber, who as a zealous
missionary had become acquainted with German con-
ditions from personal observation, ' why do we not
aim at reforming morals and life itself, instead of
wasting our efforts on a reform of doctrine and codes
of morals which is not needed ? Why do we not return,
by means of the old doctrine, which is both old and
new, to the early works of older times and the holy
fathers ? ' The chief cause, Faber said, of the apostasy
of so many towns and provinces lay in the scandalous
lives of the clergy.1 'Had we bishops like those of the
ancient Church,' wrote Father Canisius, ' an Athanasius,
an Ambrose, Germany would soon present a changed
appearance ; princes and people would gladly listen
to the voice of a true shepherd of souls.' 2
The Emperor had a scheme of Church reform
drawn up and proclaimed at the Diet. It contained
much that was very good, but it could not be of any
thoroughgoing efficiency, because it lacked the legiti-
mate sanction and authority which is the soul of all
legislation, ecclesiastical and other. To lay down
regulations about the selection and ordination of the
1 R. Comely, Leben des seligen Petrus Faber, ersten Priesters der
Gesellschaft Jesu, pp. 72, 75.
3 Riess, Der selige Petrus Canisius, p. 57.
408 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
clergy, about the administration of the sacraments,
about Church discipline, censures, and so forth, was
not the province of the Emperor.1
'With wonderful tenacity,' as Verallo said to
Werthof, the Emperor still held firmly to his religious
edict, even long after it had been shown to be quite
ineffective. When the Pope humoured him so far as to
dissolve the Council at Bologna and to announce his
intention of holding another at Borne, at which he
meant seriously to take in hand the necessary reforms,
Charles made the stipulation that no resolution was to
be passed at this Council which should be in opposition
to the articles of his Interim or to the scheme of reform
prescribed by him to the ecclesiastical Estates.2
In political questions, however, where tenacit}^ of
this sort would have been quite appropriate, Charles
did not show it.
But, in spite of all the great accession of power
which his victory over the rebel towns and princes had
brought him, any idea of subverting the constitution of
the Empire and establishing a centralised monarchy
was far from the Emperor's thoughts. On the contrary
he contemplated organising a ' great imperial league of
all the different Estates ' by means of which the
undisturbed existence of the Constitution, and of all
laudable ordinances, liberties, rights, and usages handed
down from the past, and which emperors and kings had
sworn to respect and preserve, should be safeguarded,
by which lasting peace and tranquillity should be
secured in the realm, the Landfriede and the Imperial
Chamber with its executive power be guaranteed respect,
1 Pallavicino, lib. 2. cap. 2 ; Raynald, ad a. 1548, no. 57.
2 Ranke, v. 79.
THE 'INTERIM RELIGION' 409
and all oppressors, molesters, and agitators be handed
over to condign punishment.
The Emperor had already had this object in view
at the time of the Smalcaldic war, when, previous to his
leaving Suabia for Saxony, he had summoned an assembly
of the imperial Estates at Ulm on March 25, 1547,
and sent the Cardinal-Bishop Otto of Augsburg and
the Margrave Hans of Brandenburg-Ciistrin to it as his
commissioners. As, however, very few of the members
put in an appearance, the Diet had been postponed to
June 13. The Emperor and King Ferdinand, so the
commissioners informed the delegates of the notables,
had done their best at that time to preserve the
Landfriede inviolate in the Empire, but the Elector of
Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse by their rebellion
and their turbulence and by inciting other princes and
notables to insurbordination had thrown the whole of
Germany into the utmost confusion ; they had refused
to be ruled by any recess, they had repudiated all
legitimate tribunals of law, had robbed the knights and
nobility — that is to say, ' free personages and tenants in
immediate fief of the Emperor and the Empire — of their
liberties and treated them like ordinary subjects, and had
inordinately oppressed their own poor subjects as well as
those of other independent lords. For these reasons, and
in order that all things should be re-established on an
amicable footing, and violence and molestation be
henceforth prevented, the Emperor wished to organise a
general league on the model of the Suabian League, whose
dissolution had been most disastrous to the Empire.
The Emperor would join this league with his hereditary
dominions of Flanders and Burgundy, King Ferdinand
with his Austrian hereditary lands. This new con-
410 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
federacy was to bind together all the Estates in one
common cause, and all other associations which might
have been previously formed must therefore be dis-
solved. Further, for the pacification of Germany it
was necessary that a certain number of troops, both
cavalry and infantry, should be jointly maintained by
the Emperor and the Imperial League.
The Emperor's power would undoubtedly have been
materially strengthened b}^ such a league as this.1 The
matter was pushed so far as to have a plan drawn up
for the best means of forming an ' Imperial League ; '
but further transactions were then postponed to the
Augsburg Diet.
' But here too the desired end was not accomplished.
The object declared to be of the greatest importance —
viz. that peace, justice, order, and unity should be
re-established — was set aside because all the members
preferred discussing the question of religion, in which
respect, as soon as the Emperor was out of the land
again, each one would do whatever he liked and what-
ever he could.' All that the Emperor and King
Ferdinand succeeded in obtaining was that the plan for
a five years' imperial league, with a covenant of sixty-
four articles, was discussed by the Electors and com-
municated to the princes and notables ; but when it
came to the point of passing resolutions ' they could not
manage to come to any agreement.' Charles contented
himself with having his hereditary dominions in the Low
Countries incorporated in the Empire under the name of
the Burgundian circle, but exempt from all obligation to
the laws and constitutions of the Empire, the only stipu-
lation being that in the distribution of imperial taxation
1 Ranke, v. 13.
THE 'INTERIM RELIGION' 411
they should pay double the amount assessed upon an
Elector. The Emperor also succeeded in establishing a
general imperial military treasury ; and he explained at
the same time that the Estates of the Empire were to
have the care and use of this treasury and thus be supplied
with means for opposing any one who either within or
without the confines of the Empire should disturb the
general peace or endeavour to deprive the Estates of
their liberties. A grant of 50,000 florins was voted to
Kino- Ferdinand for defence of the frontiers against the
Turks. ' The chief burden of all these subsidies fell
not on the Electors and princes, but on the towns, in
spite of all their complaints and protests.' ' There is
no help or council at hand,' wrote the Frankfort
delegate on May 21, 1548, 'to save the poor towns
from ruin. May God Almighty have mercy upon
them ! Amen.'
Among the measures passed at this Diet were bills
for a new and improved system of Landfriede, and for
the remodelling of the Imperial Chamber, the right of
appointing its officials being for the present vested in
the Emperor. When during the debate on this point
the word ' Catholic,' which was used in connection
with the appointment of assessors, roused lively re-
criminations, the Emperor declared that ' for the pre-
vention of all misunderstanding he had decreed that by
the word " Catholic " should be meant all those who con-
formed to the new system of religion, i.e. the Interim.'
At the urgent entreaty of the Electors Joachim of
Brandenburg and Maurice of Saxony, Charles appointed
a fixed day on which the case of Philip of Hesse and
his release from captivity should be tried. But ' through
these same Electors' own fault everything fell through.'
412 HISTORY OF THE GEKMAN PEOPLE
' If your Graces,' Philip wrote to them, ' were as
assiduous in my interests as in feasting and revelry, my
affairs would have been amended long ago.' Maurice,
says Sastrow, had become enamoured of the Bavarian
court ladies. ' On the Sunday morning before the day
on which the long begged for decision was to be made
Maurice set off in a sledge, for it had frozen hard and
there was a sledge track. His minister Carlowitz came
from the chancellery and exclaimed : " Where is your
Grace going to ? " The Elector answered : " I am going
to Munich." I was standing in front of the door, so
that I and others who were passing to and fro heard
everything. Carlowitz said : " Has your Electoral
Grace forgotten that to-morrow is the day on which
his Imperial Majesty's decision is to be pronounced in
the very important affair which your Grace and the
Elector of Brandenburg have on hand ? " The Elector :
" I am going to Munich." Whereupon Carlowitz : " I
have been the means of obtaining for you the dignity
of Elector ; but you behaved with such culpable levity
during this Diet that you have brought on yourself
the contempt of all worthy people of all nations, as
also of their Imperial and Eoyal Majesties." Where-
upon Maurice put the whip to his horses and drove
through the gate. Carlowitz called loudly after him :
" Go, then, in the name of all the devils." ' ' Neither
of the two princes,' Sastrow goes on, ' appeared on the
day fixed by his Imperial Majesty, and no decision
has yet been pronounced in the case of the captive
Landgrave. For, as the excursion to Munich and the
dialogue between Duke Maurice and Carlowitz were
not kept secret from the Emperor, who began to think
the reiterated appeals to him had been made more in
THE 'INTERIM RELIGION' 413
jest than in earnest, no other day was fixed for hearing
the case.' x
Philip and John Frederic remained in captivity.
The latter was treated with respect, because he himself
maintained a dignified attitude in his misfortune. But
Philip did not gain the Emperor's esteem. With the
people he had never been held in honour, neither had
he deserved to be. But the manner in which he was
* treated awakened pity and indignation in many minds.
His Spanish guard made a practice of publicly humiliat-
ing him. ' They were with the Landgrave in his room
the whole day long,' writes Sastrow ; ' whenever he
looked out of the window, and was seen from outside,
two Spaniards were invariably seen beside him stretch-
ing out their heads as far as he stretched his.' 2 Night
and day the guards were relieved to the sound of fife
and drum. Everywhere in the Emperor's cortege the
Landgrave was seen on a pony between Spanish soldiers
with long muskets and fully equipped.
' Why,' it was asked, ' did the Emperor subject the
Landgrave to the humiliation of a public apology on
bended knee if he meant to treat him thus ? ' A false
report, originating with the Emperor's enemies, spread
rapidly through the Empire that a fraud had been prac-
tised with a view to surprising Philip in Halle. When
Carl von der Plassen, of Cologne, returned home after a
long absence, he heard how very generally the belief in
this * surprise ' had spread even in the Catholic Ehine
1 Sastrow, ii. 560.
2 Ibid. 47-48. Bezold surmises (p. 793) that Charles's severe treatment
of the Landgrave was in retaliation for the former threat popularly
believed to have been made by Philip, ' that if he got his Imperial
Majesty in his power he would crucify him between two cardinals.'
This speech may have reached the Emperor's ears.
414 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
districts. The complaints of 'foreign policy ' became
all the louder because the Spanish troops on their way
back were guilty of so much plundering, immorality,
and barbarity, in Saxony and also in the Catholic
territories.1
' What fruit we have reaped from the great Diet at
Augsburg, which all the world was awaiting either in
hope or in peace,' says a writer on ' the Imperial Interim
religion,' ' we see daily before our eyes. The schism in*
religion, which was to have been healed by this Diet, is
greater than ever. The hoped-for protection for the
Catholics has not been secured. The Protestants
either vehemently oppose the imperial decrees or else
submit to them only in outward appearance. The
Catholic clergy refuse from conscientious scruples to be
" Interim " priests and to dispense the Communion in
both kinds. What has been done in the heretical
districts to secure the enforcement of the decrees ? ' 2
Against some of the towns the Emperor proceeded
with firmness, even with rigour. In Ulm he actually
caused the preachers who opposed his edict to be
thrown into prison. Here, as in many others of the
South German towns, the Emperor instituted a com-
plete change in the municipal regulations, in order to
break the resistance to the Interim. Constance was
placed under the dominion of Austria and became
once more a Catholic town. In the larger principalities,
on the other hand, the imperial edict remained in-
operative. Duke Ulrich of Wtirtemberg proclaimed it
as a code which 'nobody was prevented from con-
forming to.' The only enduring traces of its existence
1 Sastrow, ii. 32, 35, 36.
2 See above, p. 376, note.
THE 'INTERIM RELIGION' 415
in Suabia were the Simultangottesdienst, or common
occupation of sacred edifices by both confessions
in Biberach, Leutkirch, and Eavensburg, and the use
of surplice and alb in Wiirtemberg. In the latter
territory the Catholic Church was positively injured
by the new regulations.1 Even Joachim of Branden-
burg, the so-called ' Father of the Interim,' only
conformed to it in outward appearance, in spite of
the reports he sent the Emperor of his zeal and
activity in its cause. Not even in his cathedral church
did he revive private Masses and the canon of the
Mass.2 Maurice of Saxony proclaimed in his territory,
as the authorised code of religion for Saxony, an altered
form of the Interim which had been drawn up by
Melanchthon and other divines and electoral councillors,
and passed by a provincial Diet at Leipzig. In this
edict there was no mention of the Pope and the
bishops. In spite of the imperial Interim and the
Leipzig Interim everything in the Electorate remained
just the same as before the war. ' In Saxony,' wrote
Melanchthon, ' the condition of the Church is the same
as twenty years ago. Nobody thinks of any change.' 3
Affairs shaped themselves somewhat better in
Upper Germany, where the influence of the Emperor's
near presence and of the Spanish soldiers quartered
about was very noticeable. Nobody dared to make
any violent opposition to the ^Interim, and in many
1 Boffert, Das Interim in Wiirtemberg, pp. 172 ff.
2 Fuller details on the introduction of the Interim in Kawerau,
pp. 273-291. It was only a question of a ' figrnentuni obsequii' towards
the Emperor.
s Pastor, Reunionsbestrebungen, pp. 400-410. ' At the Convention of
Leipzig,' wrote Flacius Illyricus, ' Anton Lauterbach said of the Interim to
Melanchthon: "Est collusio cum Satana." To which he answered:
" Quite true ; but what are we to do ? " ' Salig, i. 633.
416 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
places the new religion was actually suppressed. In
many towns the Catholic Church service was revived,
cloisters were restored, and episcopal jurisdiction again
recognised. Numbers of other towns, however, ob-
served only a semblance of obedience which had not
the remotest likeness to real conformity to the Interim.
This was notably the case with the influential town of
Nuremberg, where neither a single monastic building-
was restored, nor any concessions made to episcopal
authority. The Catholic Church service remained
tabooed, as before, and only in a few externals was any
approximation to the old Catholic institutions and
ceremonies perceptible. The example of Nuremberg
was followed by all the Franconian and Suabian free
cities under its influence. The correspondence that
was carried on among these towns is very characteristic.
The Nuremberg council, for instance, recommends
that it be represented to the contumacious hot-blooded
preachers that the lesser of the two evils was to be
preferred, and that they were to remain at their posts
and not drive the towns to the necessity of restoring
the old faith. The regulations adopted by Nuremberg,
in feigned obedience to the Interim, were made known
to a number of amicably disposed towns, which then
for the most part conformed to them. Nordlingen,
Weissenburg, Windsheim, and Nordhausen, in the
Harz region, were among the Dumber of these.
The most terrible state of confusion resulted from
this temporary religious system. It might happen, for
instance, that in Nassau a clergyman would perform
the Protestant Church service in one place and read
the Mass in an affiliated district.1
1 Boffert, loc. cit. p. 172.
THE 'INTERIM RELIGION' 417
In many of the towns the attempt to introduce the
Interim provoked the populace to disgusting outrages.
In the Church of St. Elizabeth at Marburg, where the
Catholic service was revived, acts of gross indecency
were committed during the reading of the Mass.1 In
the cathedral of Strasburg the bishop when he ap-
peared before the altar was attacked by a mob and
driven out of the church with stones and mud. At
Frankfort-on-the-Maine ' it was all the council could do
to restrain the turbulent people, inflamed by the
preachers.' At the request of the council that, for the
avoidance of riots, the preachers would refrain from
incensing their congregations against the Pope, bishops,
priests, masses, monks, and cowls, the preachers
answered that they had nothing to do with the
Interim ; they only wanted to preach the pure Gospel,
pointing out at the same time all that was opposed to
it. Equally futile was the council's appeal to them
that they would spare his Imperial Majesty and the
members of the council denunciations from the pulpit.
' The agitating parsons and lampoonists stood
everywhere in the same high honour and repute with
the people as before the Smalcaldic war, and the reign-
ing lords,' as the Saxon electoral councillor, Melchior
von Ossa, says in his diary, ' were obliged to submit to
all sorts of slander and abuse from their clergy ; they
were completely in awe of them and did not dare say
a word.' One of the preachers ordered Ossa's wife
whenever she heard the Interim mentioned to spit and
say, ' Fie on that Interim ! ' while all the time the poor
woman did not know what the Interim was or meant.' 2
1 Kolbe, Reformation in Marburg, pp. 67-69.
2 V. Langenn, Melchior von Ossa, pp. 146-148.
VOL. VI. E E
418 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
All the bookshops overflowed with squibs, lampoons,
and caricatures of the most virulent nature against the
Interim.1 Again and again the Emperor enjoined the
council of Frankfort to forbid the sale of so many
scurrilous pamphlets and blasphemous poems on the
Mass.2
' The devil himself,' it was said, had ' invented the
Interim,' and the Pope, the devil's lieutenant, wanted to
introduce it into Germany by force.
The Pope would Germany seduce
None other to obey but him,
God's word remove, and introduce
That odious devilish Interim.
From God far off he would us drive
And falsehood make us learn ;
Yet not unpunished will he thrive ;
O Christian folk, to God return !
The people were taught to pray as follows : —
Deign, Lord, Thy people in Thy truth to keep,
And grant we may not fall among the devil's sheep ;
Nor let us dare submit unto the Interim
To serve the devil and for ever be with him.
In churches these words were sung : —
The Turk has got his Alcoran ;
We have the Interim— or the Ban !
Now everywhere Christ's teaching shall
Be joined to that of Belial.
God was entreated to deliver His people from the
perfidious artifices of the Emperor :
Lord God of heaven, stand by us
And scourge this Emperor tyrannous.
Confound his raging bold !
1 J. A. Salig, Vollstandige Historie der augsburgisclien Confession
tindlderselben Apologie, &c, i. 609-611.
2 Imperial mandate of September 9, 1548, and August 19, 1551, in
the Frankfort archives
THE 'INTERIM RELIGION' 419
He makes himself like God in heaven ;
From out this realm let him be driven ;
God from above, behold . . .
Maurice the murderer, Count Hans George,
These wicked scamps, we pray Thee, scourge,
And drive them far away.
The Emperor and King Ferdinand
Send to the devil from this land,
And all these monsters slay !
As a ' God-inspired instrument, filled with the spirit
of the holy Luther,' Flacius Illyricus was the principal
author and disseminator of these scurrilous publica-
tions. Magdeburg was the centre from which he
worked. He declared that the Interim was a device for
' betraying Christ and liberating the Eoman Barabbas.'
He called down maledictions on the Emperor, who as a
persecutor of Christ had no part in the Church of God,
and all his adherents, ' those blind stiff-necked tyrants,
and their Epicurean courtiers and panegyrists, who
cannot see the terrible blasphemy and abominable
tyranny they are guilty of, and do not tremble before
the wrath of God.' l Amongst other things Flacius
brought out a new edition of ' The Holy Doctor Luther's
Eepresentation of the Antichrist,' mentioned in Bk. II.
ch. xxi., in which the Pope is depicted riding on a
hog and blessing human dung, together with Luther's
explanatory verses and inscriptions. This allegorical
figure, he said, was not, as had been asserted, ' the
wanton fantasy of an old fool,' but was the offspring
of divine wisdom. ' No stench is so offensive to our
nostrils as the papacy, that disgusting devil's dung,
which stinks before God and His holy angels. Hence
the bitter spirit which breathes in this picture and in
my speech is thoroughly inadequate to denounce the
1 W. Preger, Matthias Flacius Illyricus und seine Zeit, i. 85-111.
E E 2
420 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
abominable ungodliness and spiritual degradation of
the Mamelukes who are now apostatising from the
Lord Christ to the Antichrist and the devil through the
papacy, the Council, the Interim, the Adiaphora, and
every other kind of excrement.'
As early as October 1548 the Emperor expressed
his fear to his brother Ferdinand that the war and all
his efforts for the tranquillisation of Germany might
prove after all to have been useless.1
1 ' Ce seroit un grand mal, si toute la paine que avons priese pour
reduyre ces affaires d'Allemaigne se perdoit apres avoir fait le principal,
par faulte de le poursuyvre.' V. Druffel, i. 171.
42]
CHAPTEE IV
FRESH LEAGUES OF PRINCES AND REVOLUTIONARY PLANS
1548-1551
While the Emperor was busy passing religious decrees
and all manner of regulations and orders, the hostile
party was again in full activity.
Plans for the complete subversion of the Empire
were being forged.
While still at Augsburg Charles had been informed
by St. Mauris, his ambassador at Paris, that the Pukes
Ulrich and Christopher of Wtirtemberg had been
soliciting a sum of 200,000 thalers from Henry II. of
France in connection with a large confederacy which
had been formed against the Emperor.1
Simultaneously, in February 1548, Otto the Elder
of Brunswick -Limeburg proposed to the French King
to join the German princes in a league which should
' protect the true Christian religion and the liberty of
the Fatherland.' Transactions anent this alliance were
going on when Otto died.2
Hatred against the Emperor was to Henry II. as his
daily food, and if he could not succeed in drawing the
Turks on Germany again 3 he was at least determined
1 Despatch of February 15, 1548, in v. Druffel, i. 99.
2 Voigt, Filrstenbund, p. 20, and Albrecht Alcibiades, i. 213.
3 In September 1547 he had sent his ambassador d'Huyson to the
Porte to try to incite the Sultan to war against Charles V. Charriere,
ii. 30.
422 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
to try to kindle a fresh great conflagration in the land.
His court harboured large numbers of needy and
rapacious German adventurers and soldiers, amongst
others Hans von Heideck, Friedrich von Eeifenberg,
George von Eeckerode, Count Christopher von Eog-
gendorf, and John Philip, Ehinegrave zu Daun. The
Strasburg scholars, Celius and Johann Sturm, still
continued in the pay of the French King. In August
1548 the King instructed the abbot of Basse-Fontaine
to treat with those two men and ' with other servants
of the crown ' concerning a defensive league, and the
question of appointing Schartlin von Burtenbach to the
command of French auxiliary troops. He offered the
town of Strasburg money and soldiers if it would
place itself under the protection of France.1
The soul of the conspiracy for the next few years
was the Margrave Hans von Brandenburg-Custrin.
He had already at Augsburg given vent to the senti-
ment, ' Eather the sword than the pen, rather blood
than ink ! ' He was furious with the Emperor not only
on account of his behaviour in Church matters, but
also from private causes. In various disputes which
had arisen in connection with the lordships of Crossen
and Cottbus the Margrave had not been able to get his
own way, and he apprehended the loss of these posses-
sions.2 Ever since then his policy had been, as he
said, ' to trap the Emperor's footsteps.'
In October 1548 Hans had an interview at Torgau
with Duke Albert of Prussia and Maurice of Saxony,
and agreed with the latter to negotiate, through the
1 See Barthold's Dcatscliland unci die Hugcnotten, pp. 44-59
Sugenheim, FranJcreiclis Einfluss, i. 128 ; Schmidt, J. Sturm, p. 80.
2 Voigt, Filrstenbund, pp. 33 and 177, no. 46.
FRESH REVOLUTIONARY PLANS 423
Starost of Poland, a treaty with the Polish crown on
the basis of reciprocal help. Maurice had cherished
secret resentment against the Emperor ever since the
Wittenberg capitulation, on account of his failure to
compass the wished-for destruction of the Ernestine
branch. He lived in constant dread of the Emperor's
being able one day to make use of the Ernestines,
especially the prisoner John Frederic, against himself.
In the spring of 1549 Hans and Duke Albert
entered into negotiations with Denmark, and despatched
Count Volrad von Mansfeld and George von Heideck
as their agents respectively to England and France.
In October George's brother, Hans von Heideck, wrote
from the French court to the Duke of Prussia : ' Let all
possible means and ways be resorted to for hastening
on the formation of the league against the Emperor ;
the King of France was mightily pleased with the
scheme, and his orders were that it should be zealouslv
proceeded with.' l In January 1550 the Margrave Hans
was informed by Heideck that Henry II. had secretly
intimated to Schartlin von Burtenbach at Basle that
he had trustworthy intelligence that the Emperor was
going to Italy and thence to Spain ; everything, how-
ever, had been so arranged that he would not come
back from these countries alive.
From which it is seen that an attack on Charles's
life was intended.
The Emperor therefore, said Henry II., ' must not
be hindered from this journey, and everything must be
kept as secret as possible, so that Charles might not
grow suspicious.' 2
But the conspiracy was not merely directed against
1 Voigt, Fiirstenbund, p. 34. ~ Ibid. p. 37.
424 H1ST0PY OF THE GEKMAN PEOPLE
the Emperor ; the expulsion of the spiritual princes of
the Empire and of the whole ' priestly crew ' was also
aimed at now, as before the Smalcaldic war.
In February 1550 Duke John Frederic II. of
Saxony, son of the captive Elector, planned a great
military enterprise for rooting out the ' popish parsons '
in Germany by means of the princes of the Augsburg-
Confession. An army of about 10,000 cavalry was to
assemble in the neighbourhood of Erfurt, to take
possession of the town, overrun the bishoprics of
Wiirzburg, Bamberg, and Eichstatt, and ' massacre the
bishops with all the priests and monks and all the
execrable popish vermin.' ' Care, however, must be
taken that no hand was laid on a single evangelical
preacher.' When the work had been accomplished in
the bishoprics the town of Nuremberg, which was the
fountain of all the evil (saving the preachers in it), must
be destroyed and levelled with the ground. In order
to avoid bringing the nobility down upon them, it was
to be announced in a public document that ' this
Christian zeal of the confederates by no means aimed
at the suppression of the nobles, but, on the contrary,
at defending and protecting them in their ancient
" traditions, privileges, and immunities."
As soon as they had attained their object in
Germany they must ' turn their arms towards Brabant,'
for the protection of the oppressed Christians there,
and negotiate with the Duke of Jlilich for a free
passage of the army through the duchy of Guelders.
The papists in Brabant must be treated in precisely the
same way as in the German bishoprics, and when all
the lands and bishoprics had been seized they must be
made to swear fealty to the confederated princes.
FRESH REVOLUTIONARY PLANS 425
We must also take into consideration how to
proceed with ' the devilish mob of South Germany.'
They must come to an understanding with the princes
of the Palatinate, of Wtirtemberg, and of Baden, that
these three, when the business in hand had been finished
in the bishoprics of Wiirzburg, Bamberg, and Eichstatt,
and Nuremberg had been conquered, ' should march
straight upon Salzburg and the other places that were
ruled by priests and deal with them in the manner
indicated above.' *
The next step was taken on the occasion of Duke
Albert of Prussia's wedding at Konigsberg on Fe-
bruary 26, 1550, when Albert, the Margrave Hans,
and Duke John Albert of Mecklenburg entered into
alliance for mutual help in case of an attack either
on religious or on secular grounds.2 These princes
placed themselves immediately in connection with
England and France. In the course of the summer the
Dukes Henry of Mecklenburg and Francis Otto of
Liineburg joined the alliance, and great efforts were
made to gain the accession of Denmark, the Duke of
Pomerania, and the maritime towns. The latter declared
that they were ready to sacrifice life and goods in
withstanding the Emperor.3
The Margrave Albert of Brandenburo--Culmbach,
' finding himself less liberally rewarded by Charles than
he had expected, ' also joined at the same time as a
secret enemy of the Emperor.' In spite of the
imperial order to the contrary Albert had raised an
1 Memorial of February 15, 1550, in v. Druffel, i. 359-362.
2 See Kiewning, ' Herzog Albrecht's von Preussen und Markgraf
.Tohann's von Brandenburg Antheil ani Furstenbund gegen Karl V.,' in
tbe Altpreuss. Monatsschrift, xxvii. (1889), 615 ff.
3 Voigt, Furstenbund, pp. 46-47 ; Schirrmacher, JoTi. Albrecht, i. 76 ff.
426 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
army of 4,000 cavalry and 20,000 Landsknechts to fight
for England against France, and on March 11, 1550, he
held a consultation with the Elector Maurice at Zwickau
concerning the use these troops should be put to if
England should not need them. In such an event he
promised the Elector not to join in any other intrigues,
or enter the service of any other sovereign without his
knowledge and consent.
A few days before, Maurice, in order that he might
have a freer hand in his proceedings against the
Emperor and secure a more trusty ally, had made up
all differences with his brother Augustus and concluded
a secret compact with him ' in view of the peril to
land and people.' Augustus, who was initiated into all
his brother's plans, informed the Margrave Albert of
the intrigues going on between France and Maurice,
and received from him the assurance that he would
help him with action and counsel.1 France need not be
at a loss for a reason for making war on the Emperor,
Albert wrote to the Elector in March. Henry II. could
allege that the Emperor ' was setting about to deprive
the whole realm of its liberty and to subjugate it to his
yoke, a proceeding which he as a Christian king could
not contemplate calmly.' But ' besides this,' said Albert,
' there are many excuses which may serve for war.
We need have no anxiety on this score. If both the
sovereigns are ready to fight, we will soon help them to
make the start.'2
In a postscript added to this letter the Margrave
speaks in detail of the ways and means to be proposed
1 Voigt, Albrecht Alcibiades, i. 207-214 ; Wenck, Moritz unci August.
pp. 422-427.
3 Raiike, vi. 297-298.
FRESH REVOLUTIONARY PLANS 427
to the French King for dethroning the Emperor and
putting himself in his place. Maurice and Albert were
to be the two principal agents ; each of them was to
solicit his neighbours in the interest of France and to
be well paid by Henry II. for the services rendered.1
In June Maurice sent an ambassador to Henry II.
and offered himself as the ' out-and-out friend and
servitor of the French King.' He asked at the same
time what compensation he might expect from France
in return for ' the contingent he should bring ' in case
of war between Henry and Charles. The King only
answered vaguely that he had made peace with England
in order that he might be in a position to come to the
help of any German prince who happened to be
oppressed.2 Margrave Albert, who had a further per-
sonal conference with Maurice about the French alli-
ance, was inconsolable at war not beino- at once declared.
' The summer, alas ! is going by,' he wrote after his
return to the Plassenburg on July 23 to Agnes, the wife
of the Elector, ' and peace seems established every-
where ; it it most unfortunate. All thought of war
appears to have died out. May God have pity on us ! '
But the Margrave Hans von Ctistrin received
through Schartlin von Burtenbach more comforting
news from the French court than had been imparted to
Maurice, whom Henry II. mistrusted. The King, so
wrote Schartlin in June, had declared himself ready to
support the German princes with money and troops ;
but they must not be too long getting under way»
1 Von Druffel, i. 376-382.
2 Instructions of the Elector Maurice, in Cornelius's Kurfiirst Moritz,
pp. 27-28 ; letter of Henry II. to his ambassador Marillac, July 5, 1550,
in v. Druffel, i. 433. 10.
428 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Hans caused inquiries to be made through Heideck as
to what would be the amount of the King's help in
money and troops, and when they were to expect it.
Heideck was above all to insist ' that a name should
be given to the child.' The Swiss also, so the Mar-
grave was informed, intended to place an army in
readiness for Henry II. against the Emperor; and
the Duke of Wilrtemberg was anxious to join himself
to the party. Therefore, he emphatically urged, ' they
must set to work at once,' or the best soldiers might
be taken away from the confederates, for ' misery
and need were everywhere abroad, and the devil
and his godly children would certainly not waste any
time.' 1
While these conspiracies against the Empire were
gaining ground daily the Emperor opened a fresh Diet
at Augsburg on June 26, 1550.
Since the autumn of 1549 a more friendly under-
standing had been established between Charles and the
Apostolic See. Paul III., two months before his death
in September, had dissolved the Council at Bologna.
His successor, Cardinal del Monte, formerly chief legate
at the Council of Trent, who ascended the pontifical
throne as Julius III. on February 7, 1550, assured the
Emperor in his first despatch that he was ready to do
everything that his Imperial Majesty thought desirable
for the restoration of peace in the Church, if only his
Majesty would be loyal to him and would help to re-
move the obstacles which, according to his (the Pope's)
opinion, still stood in the way. If the Protestant mem-
bers would promise to submit to the decrees of the
1 Voigt, Fiirstenbund, pp. 63, 180 no. 104; Schirrmacher, -Toll.
Albreclit, i. 83, and ii. 69, no. 21.
FRESH REVOLUTIONARY PLANS 429
Council, he would be willing to reopen it, either at
Trent or wherever it pleased the Emperor.1
This declaration was to be the subject of debate at
Augsburg.
During the last two years, however, the power and
prestige of Charles V. had considerably diminished. In
spite of his earnest entreaties to all the spiritual and
secular notables to attend this Diet in person the only
ones who made their appearance were the archbishops
of Mayence and Treves and the bishops of Wiirzburg
and Eichstiitt among the ecclesiastical princes, and
Dukes Albert of Bavaria and Henry the Younger of
Brunswick among the secular ones. As the Emperor
had been particularly anxious for the presence of the
Electors Maurice of Saxony and Joachim of Branden-
burg, the two heads of the Protestant party, he had
sent a special envoy to them, the knight Lazarus of
Schwendi, to beg them most urgently to take a personal
part in this Diet. Both, however, excused themselves
on various pretexts, Maurice saying that he was over-
whelmed with most important business at home, and
Joachim that he had incurred so much expense through
attending the Diets that he had been obliged to impose
heavy taxes on his subjects, and his resources were
almost exhausted, and also that he could not leave his
country on account of the hostile invasion of the Mag-
deburg rebels.2
' With regard to the religious question,' the Emperor
said, in his address to the Assembly, ' it had been agreed
by the members at the last Diet that there was no better
1 G. de Leva, Storia documentata di Carlo V. in correlazione all'
Italia, v. 92 sqq.
2 Schmidt, Neuere Gescliiclite der Deutsclien, i. 219-232.
430 HISTOEY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
way of settling it than by a general Christian Council.
Whereas the present Pope had graciously signified, his
willingness that, in accordance with the wishes of the
Emperor and the Estates, the Council should be con-
tinued and ended at Trent, it seemed now to his
Majesty that nothing remained to be done but to apply
to the Pope for the fulfilment of his promise. With
regard to the Interim which had been agreed to at the
last Diet, he now found, to his great distress, that by
some of the members and the subjects of the Empire it
was opposed, by others treated with indifference. The
scheme of Church reform also which had been passed
was only conformed to by the minority. He therefore
asked for the advice of the members as to what was to
be done to bring into force the measures that had been
resolved upon.' 1
Eespecting the Interim the spiritual Electors
answered that ' in the places where they had the
patronage of livings they could not procure worthy
priests to substitute for the preachers who opposed the
Interim. With a view to enforcing the prescribed
reform system they had held provincial and diocesan
synods, but they had been hindered in the execution of
their measures by all sorts of exemptions, privileges,
dispensations, and indults.' The envoys of the secular
Electors said that their lords had taken a great deal of
trouble in the matter of the Interim, but that they had
not been able to procure its adoption in all places,
because their subjects did not consider this system
altogether in conformity with the Holy Scriptures ; if
they should now use strong measures they would have
to fear riots, turbulence, and insurrection. The college
1 V. Druffel, i. 454-456.
FKESH REVOLUTIONARY PLANS 431
of princes gave as ' reasons for non-observance of the
Interim ' that in the universities and schools too little
provision was made for instructing the pupils in this
scheme of religion. The people could not be won over
to it, because the preachers inveighed openly against it,
and because, in spite of the Emperor's injunctions, so
many scurrilous pamphlets were published against it.
With regard to Communion in both kinds and the
marriage of priests, no opinion had yet been pronounced
by the Pope.
The Emperor did not give himself much farther
trouble for his Interim, for he was beginning to be per-
suaded that it was of no use. In the recess he con-
fined himself to a general exhortation to the members
to further its adoption as much as possible, and promised
to take measures for removing all present obstacles
and hindrances to its adoption.
But he was all the more eager in pressing for the
recognition of the Council, the re-opening of which at
Trent had been fixed by a papal bull for May 1, 1551.
The members present gave their consent that the
former unanimous resolution to consign the settlement
of the religious disputes to the Council should be
confirmed afresh in the recess. Maurice, through his
representative, was the only member who objected,
but his protest was drowned in the majority of votes
and not recorded in the Acts of the Diet. The
Emperor, as the supreme secular guardian of the
Church and the Council, put down in the recess his
assurance that he would use all diligence to ensure
to those members who had been adherents of the
Augsburg Confession and their envoys a safe escort
to and from the Council, and to enable them, at the
432 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Council, to put forward everything that they deemed
necessary for the quieting of their consciences. He
intended to give his personal attention to the Council,
so that matters might be brought to a satisfactory
conclusion.1
Meanwhile the secret conspiracy of the princes had
made further progress and gained a firm footing.
The French ambassador, Marillac, who was present
at the Diet, was unremitting in urging his sovereign to
foster Protestant opposition to the Council, to do his
utmost to prevent its reopening, and to ally himself
with the princes against the Emperor. ' Several
princes and town delegates,' he wrote in July 1550,
' have often told me that they cannot be sufficiently
thankful that the King is at peace with all his neigh-
bours and has nothing to distract him from considering
in what ways, either directly or indirectly, he can
thwart the Emperor's plans.' 2
Johann Sturm of Strasburg also spared no pains to
induce Henry II. to form an alliance with the Pro-
testants, encouraging him in the hope of becoming
emperor himself. If, however, he would not compete
for the crown himself, Sturm urged him to favour the
candidature of the Duke of Cleves and to lend the
Protestants substantial help in case the election should
cause a war.3 In September the Elector Maurice
proposed to the King of France that they should ally
themselves against the Emperor. The real object of
the war was to be resistance to the undue power of the
1 Recess of the Diet at Augsburg, February 14, 1551, § 4, 6-7.
2 Marillac' s letters in Ribier, ii. 280-283 ; Raumer, Brief e, i. 22-23 ;
v. Druffel, i. 451, 466, 543.
3 Schmidt, J. Sturm, pp. 86-87.
FRESH REVOLUTIONARY PLANS 433
Emperor ; the captivity of the Landgrave of Hesse was
to serve as a pretext. ' We mean honestly by his
Royal Majesty,' the Elector assured Henry II., ' and by
our Fatherland,' he added, ' whose freedom is being
crushed.' l
Maurice at the same time gave the Emperor
hypocritical assurances of unflinching loyalty, as a
proof of which he told him that it should be his en-
deavour to bring back to obedience the town of
Magdeburg, lying under the sentence of the ban.
Magdeburg had become the rallying-place of the
Protestant zealots, ' the Heaven-blessed centre ' from
which emanated all lampoons and caricatures against
the Emperor and the Pope and all the subscribers to
the Interim. ' Here,' wrote Aquila to Duke Albert
of Prussia, ' here is the chancellery of God and His
Christ.' 2
This town, since it had been declared under the
ban, had suffered much injury ' from neighbouring
scjuires,' and in retaliation ' for the protection of the
true Christian religion and the Holy Evangel ' it had
attacked churches and cloisters and committed execrable
atrocities against defenceless clerics both within and
without its jurisdiction. The canons described these
horrors in a written document which they sent in to
the Diet at Augsburg. Even the dead had not been
left undisturbed. The corpses of priests and monks
were ' hacked about with spades, axes, and shovels ; '
even the sepulchre of the Emperor Otto, the founder
of the archbishopric, 'was inhumanly and brutally
1 Memorial of August 14, 1550, in Cornelius, Kurfurst Moritz,
pp. 29-31.
2 Voigt, Briefwechsel, p. 30.
VOL. VI. F F
434 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
broken open and desecrated with great tumult.' ' In
short, such brutality was practised both towards the
living and the dead as has never been heard of even
from the Turks.' Specially barbarous and inhuman
was the behaviour of the town of Magdeburg against
the monastery of Hamersleben, in the bishopric of
Halberstadt. A bodv of some thousand armed men
forced their way into the building one Sunday during
divine service, ' fell on the priests officiating at the
altar, wounding some and slaughtering others ; trampled
under foot the consecrated wafers, ransacked church
and monastery, and did damage by robbery and destruc-
tion to the amount of 600,000 florins.' After stripping
the monks of their clothes and maltreating them in
the most abominable manner, tearing up manuscripts
and documents, destroying works of art — ' amongst
others the beautiful glass paintings of the Via Cruris ' —
the marauders loaded 150 wagons which they had
brought with them with their booty and then ' dressed
up in sacred vestments and monks' frocks, accompanied
by jingling music and with shouts of triumph, as if re-
turning from a victory, they went back to Magdeburg.'
' To these people,' said the Catholics, ' frantic with
religious hatred and greed of plunder, neither the lives
nor the property of the orthodox believers were any
longer sacred.'
Just as Duke John Frederic II. of Saxony
insisted that the massacre of bishops, monks, and
priests should be considered a work of ' Christian zeal,'
so these people of Magdeburg in perpetrating their
robberies and atrocities designated themselves ' instru-
ments of the divine wrath chosen for the rooting out
of idolatry and idolaters.'
FRESH REVOLUTIONARY PLANS 435
During the sitting of the Augsburg Diet rather
serious fighting had gone on before the town. On
September 22, 1550, the inhabitants of Magdeburg had
sustained a serious defeat from Duke George of Meck-
lenburg, who had been ravaging the town district with
an army of several thousand men. ' But they had by
no means lost heart or courage.' When the Duke,
after his victory, sent envoys to the corporation to beg
that * the town would desist from its unchristian, brutal
proceedings and return to obedience,' he received for
answer : ' The burghers will not entertain the idea of
submitting until they have obtained the assurance that
they will be allowed to remain in the enjoyment of their
true religion and privileges, and also that their adver-
saries will be converted to the said Christian religion.' *
The imperial notables at Augsburg, who, on Septem-
ber 22, had required the town of Magdeburg to send
plenipotentiaries to the Diet to negotiate a reconcilia-
tion with the Emperor, were in like manner decisively
rebuffed ; ' not till the troops before the town had been
removed,' answered the council and the corporation on
October 15, would they send an embassy to Augsburg.
After all friendly advances had been thus repelled
the Emperor appealed to the members of the Diet for
immediate help against the town. ' To contribute such
help against the good people of Magdeburg,' wrote
Daniel zura Jungen, the Frankfort delegate, on Novem-
ber o, ' was verily in many ways most painful.' But
to refuse to do so would be ' to excite great displeasure
and ill-will in the mind of his Imperial Majesty, seeing
that the Emperor already entertained suspicions that
1 Letter of Daniel zum Jungen, Oct. 28, in the Frankfort Reichstagsac-
ten, 63, fol. 27.
F F 2
436 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
some of the Estates, the towns especially, had helped!
and encouraged Magdeburg in its rebellion.'
Meanwhile the Elector Maurice had also entered
the field. He had appeared before Magdeburg, had
taken the troops of Duke George of Mecklenburg into
his pay for three months, and in conjunction with the
Elector Joachim and the Margrave Albert of Branden-
burg had begun a regular siege of the town. At
the request of the members at Augsburg, and with
the consent of the Emperor, he was appointed imperial
commander against Magdeburg. The war was to be
carried on in the name and at the expense of the
Empire.1 Prompt assistance, Maurice wrote to the
Diet on December 8, was imperatively needed. It was
the bounden duty of all members of the Empire to join
in stemming the defiant proceedings of the outlawed
city, or there would inevitably be a general insurrection
of the whole Empire. At least 200,000 florins must be
sent to him as quickly as possible, so that he might not
be obliged to raise the siege and disband his army,,
which would place the whole country in the greatest
danger. The members of the Diet instructed the town
of Nuremberg to send the Elector 100,000 florins at
once and to pay him a further sum of 00,000 florins
during the siege.2
On November 28 Maurice had taken possession of
the suburb of Neustadt, after which, ' by order of the
Emperor,' he had marched with the Margrave Albert
against a Christian army of from 4,000 to 5,000 infantry
and 500 cavalrv, which had assembled in the neigh-
1 See Issleib, Magdeburgs Bclagerung church Moritz von Sachsen, in
the new archives for Saxon History, v. (1884), 177 ff.
2 V. Druffel, i. 542, note 1.
FRESH REVOLUTIONARY PLANS 437
bourhood of Celle under Count Volrad von Mansfeld
and Baron Hans von Heideck, and was plundering and
burning in all directions. When called on to surrender
they answered the Margrave that ' God's word and the
freedom of the Fatherland were now being oppressed
and persecuted by tyranny, falsehood, and insolent
arrogance, but the time would come in which the
Christian army would proudly unfold its banners, and
the enemies would learn to their cost that God Almighty
was their sovereign Lord and Euler.' After several
sham fights near Verden, Maurice took Hans von
Heideck with four companies of Landsknechts into his
service and initiated him into all his plans against the
Emperor^
The negotiations with France were activelv con-
tinued, and Heideck contrived an interview between
the Elector and the Margrave Hans von Custrin,
which took place at Dresden on February 20, 1551,
a few days after the publication of the Augsburg
Eecess. Maurice assured the Margrave that he would
consider by what means he could draw the young
princes of Saxony, Coburg, and Hesse and other terri-
torial lords into this association, and what measures
should be taken for the liberation of the two prisoners,
John Frederic and Philip. Philip of Hesse, who in the
summer of 1550 was brought to Mechlin and condemned
to pay for an unsuccessful attempt at flight by still
stricter custody, had instructed his sons to support any
enterprise against the Emperor with all their might.
Of the sons of the captive Elector, John Frederic II.,
who had already in February 1550 sketched out the
plan of warfare for exterminating the ' popish priests,'
was ready to join in the conspiracy of princes after
438 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Maurice bad given his word that he would take active
measures for the release of John Frederic, and to pro-
cure the Ernestine branch a share of the possessions of
the spiritual princes of the Empire as a compensation
for the lands they had lost.1
Margrave Hans, on his part, pledged himself in the
interview at Dresden to negotiate further in the matter
of the league with the Dukes of Prussia, Pomerania,
and Mecklenburg, and with other princes, and to bring-
to the Elector a statement signed in their own hand-
writings to the effect that he had authority to conclude
a treaty with the French King in the names of them all.
He estimated the help expected from France at 100,000
florins a month, that from England, which he was-
equally sanguine of receiving, at 50,000 florins. Alto-
gether they reckoned on a military force of 5,000 heavy
and 2,000 light cavalry, and 20,000 infantry.
' If the Turk came on further,' said Hans — ' and he
has already entered Hungary — King Ferdinand would
have to stay at home. France would be able to deal
with the Netherlands, and our army would devote itself
to driving the priests and monks out of Germany.' 2
Thus the great idea again was to wage universal war
asrainst the Catholic clergv, whom Hans denounced as
* Priests of Baal, children of the devil.' 3
As a proof of his evangelical zeal the Margrave, on
June 15, 1551, directed Johann von Minckwitz to pil-
lage and destroy the Church of the Virgin at Gorlitz.
All the altars, images, and carving were hacked to
i
Wenck, Moritz und die Ernestiner, pp. 7-8, 24-27.
2 Transactions at Dresden on February 27, 1551, in v. Langenn,
Maurice, ii. 323-325.
3 Letter of March 27, 1551, to Maurice, v. Druffel, i. 601.
FRESH REVOLUTIONARY PLANS 439
pieces, all the costly treasures stolen. Minckwitz had
great difficulty in rescuing the treasures of gold and
silver from the hands of a drunken mob of peasants,
who were helping in the work, and conveying them
safely to the Margrave at Ciistrin.1
Hans would not agree to the wish of Duke Albert
of Prussia that the Margrave Albert of Brandenburg-
Culmbach should also be drawn into the league. Mar-
grave Albert, he wrote, ' in his life and writings shows
an ungodly disposition ; he does nothing but revile
religion, and he has only lately been heard to say he
does not wish to serve God, but the devil.' 2
At a meeting at Torgau it was resolved by Maurice,
Hans, Duke John Albert of Mecklenburg, and the
Landgrave William of Hesse to solicit help from
France and England with their joint names and signets.3
1 Wohlbriick, Geschichte des Bisthums Lebus, ii. 326.
2 Voigt, Albrecht Alcibiades, i. 236. Writing in solemn earnest to
Duke Albert, Claus Berner, commander of the forces, informs him that at
a banquet the devil had appeared to the Margrave Albert, Elector Maurice,
and Duke Augustus in bodily shape. ' That the devil showed himself
visibly is a veritable fact, for my gracious Lord has told me so himself.'
Duke Albert directed Count George Ernest of Henneberg to make a
thorough investigation of the occurrence, and learned that the devil had
appeared to the princes in the form of a maiden, fair to behold, wearing
green apparel, and with long claws. Voigt, i. 237.
3 Schirrmacher, Joh. Albrecht, i. 133 ff.
440 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CHAPTER V
HIGH TREASON OP THE ELECTOR MAURICE OF SAXONY AND
HIS ALLIES — THE 'EVANGELICAL WAR ' OP ALBERT OF
BRANDENBURG, 1552
On May 25, 1551, the conspirators of Torgau prepared
a letter of instructions for Frederic of Reifenberg,
whom they sent to France as ambassador to Henry II.
The Emperor, it was therein stated, aimed at
reducing the German nation to ' perpetual brutish
servitude,' When he had subdued the princes it
would be the turn of the French King and other
Christian potentates. In order to throw off such a
tyrannous yoke they had put their backs together,
but they were not strong enough by themselves for
such a great undertaking. Thev begged therefore that
Henry, whose predecessors had always shown good will
and favour to the German nation, would come to their
assistance in this urgent need, and would at least
furnish them with a monthly sum of 100,000 crowns,
and also at once make war in person on the Emperor.
For such a service they would show him lifelong
gratitude, either ' in the election of another temporal
head ' or in other ways : they would place land and
people, life and goods at his Majesty's disposal. They
begged further that the attack on the Emperor might
take place before the winter.1
1 V. Langenn, Moritz, ii. 327-328. See the '■Artikul, ivie die Beiffen-
berg geendert,' v. Druffel, i. 697-701.
TREASON OF THE ELECTOR MAURICE OF SAXONY 441
'At such promises,' wrote Maurice to William
of Hesse on June 12, ' Henry's father would have
licked his ringers ; Henry will undoubtedly be caught.' 1
The conspirators also sent an ambassador to King-
Edward VI. of England to ask him what amount of
help in money or otherwise he ' as a Christian poten-
tate and member of the community of God ' would
contribute in case they should venture anything ' for
the sake of the Divine word,' the extirpation of which
the adversaries were bent on. If Edward would enter
into an agreement with them and would furnish them
from 10,000 to 12,000 infantry, or else a monthly
sum of 75,000 florins as long as the war lasted, they
would give him equal succour in all his future wars or
campaigns.2
The Elector Maurice entered at the same time into
relations with the King of Denmark, and it was hoped
that the King of Sweden also would be induced to join
the league.3
While the threads of the conspiracy were being-
spun out in all directions, Maurice was persistently
striving to deceive the Emperor by solemn assurances
of his loyalt}T. He would behave towards him as an
obedient prince, he swore to him on August 18 and 28,
and do everything in his power for the welfare of the
Empire. He stood in notorious ill favour and repute,
he said, with many people, only or principally because
he had not been willing to betray or desert the
Emperor and his brother, 'but had always stood so
staunchly and faithfully by them, and had at all
1 V. Druffel, i. 659.
2 V. Langenn, Moritz, ii. 328-332 ; v. Druffel, i. (359, note 1.
3 Voigt, Fiirstenbund, p. 125.
442 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
times been ready to be employed in his Majesty's
service.' l
At the beginning of August Reifenberg returned from
France and brought from Henry II. an answer which
' pleased the Elector right well.' The King commended
the scheme of the conspirators and promised in a
short time to send a man of note as ambassador to
them, with a view to negotiating and concluding a
treaty.2 John of Fresse, bishop of Bayonne,3 came
over as the French agent. He was well acquainted
with the German language and had already often trans-
acted diplomatic negotiations with Protestant notables.
On October 3, at the hunting castle of Lochau, the con-
spirator princes concluded an offensive alliance with
Henry II. for the purpose of throwing off ' with armed
force and a powerful hand ' the Emperor's ' brutish
yoke of servitude,' of recovering their ' ancient freedom '
and liberating the Landgrave Philip of Hesse. But
that very evening, at table, a quarrel arose between
Maurice and the Margrave Hans von Ciistrin, and the
latter severed himself from the conspirators, not on
account of any changed opinion concerning the league
but solely from personal grounds.4
On October 5 a new draft of the league with
France was prepared by Maurice, John Albert of
1 V. Druffel, i. 712, 722. Maurice sought in like manner to deceive
the Pope, whom he denounced as Antichrist, with secret assurances of
devotion to him. Schonherr, pp. 3-4.
2 V. Druffel, i. 697-701.
3 See Des Moustiers-Merinville, Un Eveque Ambassadeur au XVI
siccle. Jean des Moustiers, Seigneur de Fresse, Eveque de Bayonne,
Ambassadeur en Allemagne et chez les Orisons sous les Begnes de
Francois Icl et Henri II, sa Vie et Correspondance. Limoges, 1895.
* V. Druffel, iii. 264-275 Meyer, pp. 243-244 ; Schirrmacher, Joli.
Albrecht, i. 140-151
TREASON OF THE ELECTOR MAURICE OE SAXONY 443
Mecklenburg, and William of Hesse. It "was specified
in it that any members of the Empire who wished to
join them in ' their laudable and honourable under-
taking ' would be gladly welcomed ; those, on the other
hand, who opposed the league, or who intended, either
secretly or openly, to render any assistance to the
Emperor and his partisans, would be punished with fire
and sword. ' We also declare that we have especially
agreed together that in case of the sons of John
Frederic the Elder, Duke of Saxony, wishing to take
part in this enterprise we shall require them to give us
a written assurance, ratified by their Estates, that they
will in no way proceed against us, and also to give us
good security ; if they refuse these conditions we shall
regard them as our enemies. After we have received
the said assurance we will use our endeavours to release
their father from the hands of the Emperor ; but the
Duke, John Frederic, shall not be set at liberty, nor
restored to the government of his land, until he has
pledged himself to us to such extent as the good of the
common cause requires.' The King of France, as his
contribution to the work of ' recovering German
freedom,' was to pay 240,000 French thalers for the first
three months of the war and 60,000 French thalers for
every following month. But Henry II. was to be well
remunerated for this help. ' It is considered advisable
that the King should as promptly as possible make
himself master of those towns which have belonged to
the Empire from antiquity, but in which the German
language is not spoken — namely, Cambray, Toul in
Lorraine, Metz, Verdun, and several others — and that he
should hold these as vicar of the Empire. Under this
title we are ready to be serviceable to him in the future,
444 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
while at the' same time reserving to the Empire all
rights it may have over these said towns, our aim
being only to withdraw them from the hands of our
enemy. It will be well also that the King should
kindle a fire in the Netherlands, so that the enemy
may be kept busy in several places at once and be
compelled to divide his forces.' ' Whereas the King is
behaving towards us Germans in this matter not only
.as a friend but as a father, we shall all our lives
remember his kindness with gratitude, and shall help
him with all our might in the recovery of his heritages
which have been wrested from him ' — namelv, Franche-
Comte, Flanders, and Artois — ' and in future we shall
elect no emperor who is not a friend of the King and
pledged to be a good neighbour to him ; and if it should
•chance to be the King himself on whom such an office
devolved we should be more loyally disposed towards
him than towards any other.' 1
With this monument of German shame and German
treachery to Germany the Margrave Albert of Branden-
burg-Culmbach appeared at the French court ' to bring
the matter to a final settlement.'
Opinions as to the ways and means of prosecuting
the war against the Emperor and King Ferdinand were
sent in by several military experts.
Gabriel Arnold, who had entered the service of the
1 Bezold (p. 837) says : ' The actual price of the French help lay less in
the promise of the princes to be guided unconditionally by the wishes of
the French King at the next election of an emperor than in the sever-
ance of the towns of Cambray, Metz, Toul, Verdun, which belonged to the
Empire although speaking a foreign language. Almost more scandalous
than this utterly unjustifiable rending away of territory was the abject
flattery that the Most Christian King had behaved in this matter ' not
merely as a friend but as a father, together with the wish for a "perpetual "
French protectorate.'
TREASON OF THE ELECTOR MAURICE OF SAXONY 445
Elector Maurice at the same time as Hans von Heideck,
advised that ' their Majesties, as the chief enemies of
the Empire, must be attacked in their most vulnerable
point, and above all, their principal adherents, the
clergy, both of high and low degree, together with the
merchants and suchlike, must be utterly exterminated
and not one of them spared.' Special mandates must
be issued ' for the plunder of priests' property and
stores of gold and provisions.' In a public manifesto
it must be declared that the war was being undertaken
for the benefit of all classes of the country, and that
they were coming as deliverers to oppose resistance to
those ' antichristian hordes who hinder the glory of
God and wish to bring the Germans to perpetual
bondage.' l
' In God's name,' Schlirtlin von Burtenbach urged
the commander-in-chief, Hans von Heideck, * manage
that the Emperor be struck in the heart, and then we
shall soon bring the matter to a conclusion.' The
princes, he said, must not make too high demands
on the French King's purse. ' I am the faithful
Eckhart of the German nation, and my advice is
that you offer acceptable terms, and at first avoid
giving too much prominence to money matters.
Otherwise you will upset the whole bargain. In my
opinion the King is sincere. If the princes so desire,
1 Before the end of September 1551, in v. Druffel, i. 750-751. Ranke,
Avho had the document before him, modifies the text concerning the extir-
pation of the clergy and the shop people to making Gabriel Arnold merely
say : ' In no way must the Emperor's adherents in Germany be tolerated ;
if there were any people who could not be drawn away from him, and
won over to the league, such persons must be persecuted and extermi-
nated.' To what people Arnold was alluding Ranke does not say.
Arnold made -no secret of the fact that he had special designs on the pro-
pertied classes.
446 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
he will join his forces to theirs at any point they may
fix on.
' My advice is to stipulate firmly for his personal
succour, and not to delay too long, lest he change his
mind.' 1 ' If Maurice and his allies,' said Schartlm von
Burtenbach in November in a memorandum of advice,
' agree with the King to inarch on Southern Germany,
his Majesty of France will also send me in that
direction with twenty companies of infantry and 1,000
cavalry to reinforce Maurice and obstruct the defiles, so
that the Emperor may be hemmed in. I hope also to
send men to Augsburg who will enable you and me to
enter the town.' With ' a couple of thousand crowns '
he hoped to bribe these said men to open the city
gates. The Emperor then would be about to see his
South German dominions slip from him. The next
step to consider would be his deposition. All the
Estates of the Empire must assemble in conclave to
decide upon another form of government for the
Empire ; the whole nation must join in contributing
funds for the necessary expenses, and all who did not
come forward willingly must be compelled to do their
share. For this purpose Henry II. offered to supply
3,000 Landsknechts and 2,000 Swiss, to lead these
troops in person through Lorraine and Strasburg, and,
in case of need, to unite with the princes themselves in
the South. He further promised to send an army into
the Netherlands, and another large one to Italy. ' In
short, he was ready to stake the whole strength of his
resources on the venture. His final decision is that all
the operations are to begin on February 1.' 2
1 V. Druffel, i. 778-779.
2 V. Prnffe], iii. 302:504. See Schartlin's memorandum for the
TREASON OF THE ELECTOR MAURICE OF SAXONY 447
At the same time, in November 1551, the Margrave
Albert of Brandenburg-Culmbach, in a memorandum
drawn up at the request of Henry II., gave it as his
opinion that it was most essential that the King should
shut the Emperor out of Germany by blockading the
Alpine passes, and that he should gain the adhesion of
the Dukes of Bavaria and Wurtemberg and the Palatine
Elector by dividing the lands of South Germany among
them. France would then obtain rich booty. ' If the
King,' he said, ' agrees to divide Southern Germany
among the princes, they will all be easily won over to
the cause, and then all the Italian lands, all the towns
named in our treaty, the Netherlands, and all the Em-
peror's hereditary dominions will be open to the King
of France. The princes at all times and at their own
expense will lend their help in seizing them by force.' 1
Meanwhile, on November 3, Maurice, who had only
been making a pretence of besieging Magdeburg,
concluded a treaty of capitulation with the garrison,
on terms which, while seeming from the literal wording
to demand surrender, in reality secured peace to the
city on favourable conditions. Magdeburg did homage
to the Emperor and the Elector, and swore to recognise
the latter as its rightful lord until he and the Emperor
should be pleased to place over it another suzerain.
Maurice had thus become lord of Magdeburg. ' The
town and the fortress are in our hands,' John Albert of
Mecklenburg wrote to the Duke of Prussia, ' and will
henceforth stand open to us for all our needs. Duke
French King, pp. 310-312. ' If the Emperor remains in Italy or at Inns-
bruck, he must be surrounded, and all the Estates of the Empire instantly
called together to help get rid of him, and then we will elect another, and
whoever objects shall be declared an enemy.'
1 V. Druffel, iii. 307-308.
448 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Maurice is holding back the cavalry and infantry until
the post comes from France, so that we may then begin
the campaign at once without hindrance. ' x
But to the Emperor Maurice wrote on November
12, 1551, that ' he had effected an entrv into Magdeburg
and was entirely at his Imperial Majesty's service ; if
he wished it he would come to him in person and with
the help of God would give him such proofs of his
devotion that his Majesty would be well satisfied with
him.' He begged his Majesty ' not to believe the
reports of those who calumniated him, but to be and
to remain his most gracious Lord and Emperor.' 2 On
December 28 he thanked the Emperor for the efforts he
had made respecting the payment of the troops, and
promised very shortly to send his councillors and
theologians to attend the Council at Trent, which had
resumed its activity in the beginning of September.
In Northern Germany savage bands of mercenaries
were beginning to assemble, ' as in the middle of the
most gruesome war.' ' I found all districts,' we read in
the diary of Melchior von Ossa, ' bristling with warlike
preparations.' The troops encamped before Magdeburg
not having been paid after the raising of the siege
marched off towards Thuringia, levied contributions
from the bishopric of Magdeburg, destroyed several
villages belonging to Count Giinther von Schwarzburg,
committed endless acts of villany in the neighbourhood,
and when the town of Erfurt refused to open its gates
to them they moved on to Miihlhausen, where they
remained a long time and did terrible damage to the
town.3
1 Voigt, Filrstenbund, pp. 149, 192, no. 282.
2 V. Druffel, i. 799-800.
s V. Langenn, Melchior von Ossa, p. 124.
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 449
After the difficulties respecting the money supplies
to be granted by France had been settled, Henry II.,
on January 15, 1552, at the castle of Chambord, near
Blois, concluded a treat}^ with the German princes.1
The Margrave Albert acted as representative of the
German nation in swearing to the articles of the
treaty.2
And now, under the pretext of ' German liberty '
and ' the pure Word of God,' there began against
Catholics and Protestants a war of such ferocity and
barbarity as had never before been waged on German
soil. ' Even the savage peasants,' writes a contemporary
and eye-witness, ' who stamped the year 1525 with their
atrocities, were not guilty of such execrable barbarity,
such inhuman gloating over the torment and martyrdom
of the unhappy people, as was exhibited in the war of
1552. And they were princes of German blood who per-
petrated these horrors on members of their own nation,
1 V. Druffel, iii. 340-348.
2 HchUvtlm's Lebensbeschreibung, p. 194. Bartholdin his Deutschland
und die Hugenotten, i. 74, says concerning this treaty between the con-
spirators and France : ' From the moment when these princes, blinded
by passion and goaded by self-interest, enticed the foreign King into their
domestic quarrel, greeting him as the benefactor of the nation, the
saviour of German freedom, from that moment political hypocrisy and
venality became universal in the Empire. If, alas ! the history of the Ger-
man people and princes has more than one chapter for which it has cause
to blush, there is none which is capable of exciting bitterer grief than this
first monstrous act of self-treachery.' Wilter, pp. 45-46, writes : ' Ought
not the price asked by France to have deterred Maurice and his allies, even
at the last hour, from rebelling against the Emperor ? To suppose this
would be to misunderstand Maurice's character. What did that " Judas
of Meissen " care for the loss to the Empire of beautiful bishoprics as long
as his personal interests were well served '? No, neither the Gospel nor
the captivity of his father-in-law moved Maurice to consent to the cession
of four bishoprics to France : considerations of personal advantage were
so powerful with him that he did not hesitate to betray German lands in
order to extend his territories.'
VOL. VI. G G
450 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
and who heaped such plentiful curses on their heads
that their descendants will have to suffer for their
iniquity for generations to come.'
' Foremost of all in brute insensate conduct in this
war was the Margrave Albert of Brandenburg. He
was a slave of Venus and Bacchus such as only a few
of the princes were even in those unhappy times. He
was generally dead drunk the first thing in the morning,
and day after day he ordered some poor peasants'
village to be set on fire. His principalities of Ansbach
and Baireuth were utterly bankrupt, so that he could
no longer exist but by plunder and pillage.'
Albert's predecessor, the Margrave George, had
robbed the churches and cloisters of his land, and
sent the gold and silver monstrances, the chalices, and
other treasures of art to the mint to be coined into
money, while all the time he had gone on heaping up
debts. In the year 1533 the latter had amounted to
five million florins.1
All the chief abbeys in the principality, with their
appurtenances of farms, manors, and forests, had long
as;o been confiscated for the use of the sovereign
lords. Nevertheless ' no prosperity had followed any-
where, but only misery and want.' In the year 1551
the expenditure in the country was equal to three times
the income.1' The extravagant court expenditure of
1 See Lang, i. 168, and ii. 24, 47, 71 ; Droysen, 2b, 197 ; Voigt,
Albrecht Alcibiades, i. 21, 30.
3 The following tabular statement shows the financial decrease : —
Income
Expenditure
1535
90,805 fi.
137,053 fl
1537
80,840 „
142,638 „
1538
79,917 „
157,075 „
1551
59,049 „
so
184,758 „
In Lanz, ii. 116, 232
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 4 51
the Margraves, their * bestial carousings, ' their ' hunting
and gambling, their wars and their feuds,' had reduced
the people to the most abject misery. The members of
the provincial Diet had already complained on January
1541 that the burden of taxes was intolerable, 'the
hearth tax, the tax for pasture, the hundredth penny,
&c.,' and that the decline of commerce and industry,
owing to the prevailing scarcity and poverty, was
compelling multitudes of people to leave the country.
Concerning the religious and moral condition of the
people the protocols of the district inspection, the public
decrees of the Margraves, and the reports of their
councillors give us a terrible picture. ' It was not
without a shock ' that the Margrave George learnt that
' blasphemy, swearing, and cursing were growing more
and more common, and were even frequently indulged
in by little children.' ' In all the parishes and districts
of the principality,' says the Lutheran abbot Melchior
Wunder, ' there is a fearful amount of blaspheming,
swearing, drinking, and other forms of immorality.' In
the Inquisition Acts of the year 1548 relating to the
village of Weissenbronn it says : ' In every house of the
village there is a public prostitute.' At Grosshaslach
the wife of the pastor was found guilty of flagrant
immorality. At Ammendorf the peasants denounced
their preacher as a villain, thief, and whoremonger.
At Petersaurach three consecutive preachers and their
families gave the greatest scandal ; one of them com-
mitted the administration of the Sacrament to the
village-barber. At Linden, says the protocol, the
people lead such godless lives against the holy ministry
and the word of God, and show their pastors such
ingratitude, contempt, and impudence, that we never
G G 2
452 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
heard the like ; and all this in spite of the rare light
of the Gospel and so many Christian ordinances. The
peasants of Erlbach and Wallmersbach miserably
murdered their preachers ; at Buchheim the preacher
was stabbed to death during the village feast. Such
was the lawlessness at Ammendorf that no honest man
dared show himself in the streets. The inns had
become dens of quarrels, fights, and blasphemies. In
the course of three years the public executioner of
Onolzbach ' had punished 104 individuals by the rack,
nine by " territion," nine by the thumb-screw, thirty-
eight by the rod, one by cutting off his fingers, another
by loss of ears, two by drowning, and fifty-four by
other modes of torture, especially the wheel.' *
It was inevitable that the people in the principalities
and elsewhere should grow demoralised when every-
thing that they had formerly held in veneration was ridi-
culed and reviled, when there were no longer any
schools, when the preachers were no longer respected
and individual rights and property were no longer safe,
and when the worst possible example was set at the
profligate court of the Margraves. Of what use, foi
instance, were decrees against excessive drinking whei
' it was manifest to the whole principality ' that Mar-
1 For fuller details see Muck, i. 332, 394, 535-539, and ii. 7-42, 73
103. ' In reading the complaints,' says this writer, a Protestant pastor
' of abbots (that is, the Lutheran directors of the monasteries of Heilsbronn)
of margraves, and of their councillors concerning the increase of irreligious
ness and immorality in the age of the Reformation, the question is force
upon one whether the complainants did not take too black, a view an<
pass too severe a judgment. To answer this question truly and impar
tially it is necessary to study the exhaustive documentary transaction
which give full particulars concerning the life and habits of the time i
families and parishes. Such study, alas ! confirms the opinion that tl
religious and moral condition of the people in the Reformation age w;
very melancholy.' Vol. ii. 1, 103.
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 453
grave Albert was ' constantly in a state of bestial
intoxication ' ? When a mere lad of fifteen lie had
drunk to such an extent at the wedding of his sister
Maria that for several days he did not recover his
senses and his life was despaired of. On this same
occasion his tutor, George Beck, his bailiff, Hans
von Knorringen, and two other court officials drank
themselves literally to death, and all the ladies of
the court ' had to be conveyed home the worse for
drink.' x
Albert's expenditure was boundless. To the poor
inmates of the hospital he gave nine florins a year,
while he paid his favourite Grumbach the annual sum
of 12,000 florins, and an equal amount flowed into the
coffers of his broker. The people were taxed and drained
with utter recklessness. The officials whose business it
was to collect the imposts told the Margrave that they
found everywhere the greatest poverty and miser)',
' want and wretchedness that were heartrending.' 2
By the middle of March, while Maurice was still
managing to hoodwink the Emperor, the conspirators
had completed their preparations.
On March 19 the Landgrave William of Hesse
appeared with his troops before Frankfort-on-the-Maine,
intending to take possession of the town. He only
demanded free passage through the town, so he wrote
to the council. When this was refused him he called
out in a threatening voice as he rode off: ' The people
of Frankfort shall be made to feel the power of God ! '
The French ambassador also, who was with the army,
threatened angrily that this would be remembered
1 Sec Lang, ii. 152-153; Voigt, Albrecht Alcibiades, i. 43.
2 Lang, ii. 231-233.
454 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
against the burghers.1 At Bischofsheim William joined
the army of the Elector Maurice. The Margrave
Albert had written to Maurice on March 17 that if he
made haste Augsburg would be won, for that ' all of
them, and Bavaria and Wiirtemberg also, had grown
faint-hearted ; the Bishops of Bamberg and Wiirzburg
would pay him 100,000 florins in cash, after which he
too, the Margrave, would pluck their feathers.' 2
On March 26 Maurice and William summoned
Nuremberg to join the league. The inhabitants paid
down 100,000 florins for the guarantee that military
force would not be used against them and that the town
and its whole jurisdiction would be secure from violence
of all sorts. In order to raise the money the Nurem-
bergers took nearly 900 pounds' weight of gold and
silver treasures out of the churches of Our Lady, St.
Lorenz, and St. Sebald, and had them melted down and
sold.3
At Eothenburg, on the Tauber, the Margrave Albert
joined the confederates with his Landsknechts and
cavalry, and the united force stood before Augsburg on
the morning of April 1, 30,000 men strong.4
Maurice, William of Hesse, and Duke Albert of
Mecklenburg published a joint manifesto in which they
sought to justify their war on the ground that the
Emperor was setting the Estates one against the other,
was endeavouring to extirpate the true religion, would
not release the Landgrave Philip of Hesse from cus-
tody, was robbing the Germans of land and goods, and
1 Kriegk, Geschichte Frank/arts, p. 234.
2 v. Druffel, ii. 257-258.
3 See our remarks, i. 196 (Eng. trans., vol. i. 187, 188).
4 See Issleib, Moritz von Sachsen gegen Karl V., 1552, im Neuen
ArcMv fur sachs. Geschichte, vii. (1886), 19 ff.
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 455
sucking out their lifeblood, and that he contemplated
reducing the whole nation to brutish servitude.1 The
Margrave Albert issued a separate manifesto, in which
he described himself as a disinterested servant of the
Fatherland, indignantly repudiated the charge of having
' brought foreign nations to subdue Germany,' and
made known with greater openness than the other
conspirators the intention of effecting a general secula-
risation of the bishoprics in favour of the temporal
princes, reserving at the same time to the nobility all the
benefices that belonged to them. Whereas this most
important and necessary undertaking would possibly,
he said, be the means of weakening and breaking
the overweening might of the clergy, who now defied
all law and justice, human and divine, no lover of right
and honour would condemn his actions, ' seeing that the
highest and most distinguished bishops and prelates in
the Empire had been and still were the chief cause of
all the grievous oppression and manifold intrigues in
the Holy Empire.' 2
Whereas the misery of the German Fatherland, we
read in a manifesto addressed by the princes to Augs-
burg, is known to all justice-loving Christians, every-
body, men and women, old and young, must join in
praising and thanking the Father of all mercies for
that He has vouchsafed to send His Holy Spirit into the
hearts of men, and aroused several most laudable
Christian potentates, Electors, princes, and notables,
and inspired their hearts and minds with the desire for
the glory of God and the ancient national prestige.
The people of Augsburg were exhorted to be 'good
1 Hortleder, Bechttnassigheit, pp. 1294-1298. See von Dmffel, iii. 874.
2 Hortledev, Rcchtmassigkeit, pp. 1298-1302.
450 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Christian furtherers ' of this work as ' loyal, honourable,,
and valiant citizens and born Allemanians.' ' The town
surrendered on April -5 ; the municipal council, which
had been deposed by the Emperor, was reinstated and
the Lutheran Church-service restored.
The first resolute opposition that the confederate
princes met with was from the Protestant town of Ulm,.
which persisted in loyalty to the Emperor and the
Empire, repudiating the summons to surrender and to
pay 300,000 florins.2 ' In punishment of this outrage '
the Margrave Albert stormed about the town with his
hordes, burning and ravaging all the district round.
In a short time more than thirty villages and boroughs
lay for the most part in ashes. The people of Ulm, he
said, were enemies of the ' divine word.'
'They devastated the district of Ulm,' wrote the
Emperor, ' with more inhuman brutality than even the
Turks had ever been guilty of." 3
After the fruitless beleaguerment of Ulm, Albert
separated from the other princes in order to prosecute
' the holy evangelical war ' by fire and sword according
to his own method. He extorted 18,000 gold florins
from Greislingen, burnt the Cistercian monastery of
Konigsbronn to the ground, and then directed his
steps towards Franconia. At Geisslingen he had an
interview with Duke Christopher of Wurtemberg.
who posed as an out-and-out devoted adherent of
the Emperor,4 while in secret he had granted the
1 Von Druffel, ii. 309.
2 Haberlin, Neneste Reichsgeschichte, ii. 163-165 ; Voigt, i. 279-282.
3 Cornelius, Zur Erliiuterung der Politih des Kurfilrsten Moritz,
p. 275.
4 See B. Kugler, Christopli, Herzog zu Wirtenberg, i. 182-184;.
Lanz, iii. 134.
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 45 T
Margrave a loan of 60,000 florins for his military
equipment.1
On April 30 Albert summoned the counts and
knights of Franconia to ally themselves to the French
King and the league of princes. All who refused to
join were to be punished by the burning .of their
property and expulsion. Whoever dared appeal to the
Emperor, to the King, or to his feudal lord for protection
would be looked on as an enemy. For the ' welfare and
freedom of the Empire were at stake, and everything-
must give wav to that.'
It was above all things of consequence to the
Margrave * to chastise the insolent shopkeepers of
Nuremberg ' and ' to utterly demolish the bishops of
Bamberg and Wiirzburg with all their documents.'
The princes, Albert announced on his departure from
Ulm, had commissioned him before everything ' to
make a clean sweep of the bishop of Bamberg, and to
pitch into him in good earnest.'
On May 11 he encamped before Nuremberg with
an army of about 12,000 infantry, under the pretext
that he had nothing to do with the former compact
arranged between the town and the confederates ; that
the supplies of money granted by the town did not
satisfy the demands for ' the maintenance of the liberty
of the Holy Empire and the establishment of the true
Christian religion.' The burghers ' were not at liberty
to buy themselves off.' ' The whole business had been
an abominable and perfidious trafficking with German
freedom.' While the siege dragged on from week to
week separate detachments scoured the country for
miles around, carrying with them fire and devastation.
1 Voigt, Albrecht Alcibiacles, i. 259, note 2.
458 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
1 For two miles round Nuremberg,' wrote the Margrave
Hans von Brandenburg-Ciistrin, ' all the villages,
boroughs, summer residences, and woods are burnt down
to the ground.' Three thousand acres of the town
forest were destroyed by fire.1
From the camp before Nuremberg, Albert, on
May 12, summoned the bishop of Bamberg to give
help and encouragement for the ' maintenance of the
liberties of the German nation,' and to unite himself
with France and the German confederates. On the
bishop's declaring that such a step was incompatible
with his duty to the Emperor, the Margrave despatched
into the bishopric a strong body of cavalry, which took
possession of Forchheim and other towns and districts,
plundered them right and left, and ' set fire and flames
lustily at work in them.' If the bishop did not renounce
his allegiance to the Emperor, Albert announced, he
would drive him out and set the whole bishopric in
flames. In order to prevent the execution of this
threat the bishop agreed to a treaty (May 19) by
which he made over to the Margrave twenty towns
and districts of his diocese — more than a third of the
whole bishopric — with all rights and revenues, and
promised in addition the payment of 80,000 florins.
The bishop of WiArzburg was compelled by Albert, on
May 21, to pay down 220,000 florins and to make
himself answerable for the repayment of a sum of
350,000 florins which the Margrave owed. The
burghers of Wiirzburg were obliged to give up all
their household plate, the churches and monasteries
their treasures, the cathedral itself the silver statue of
St. Kilian, in order to raise the necessary funds.2
1 Voigt, i. 283-284 ; Lanz, ii. 235. • Voigt, i. 296-302, 318.
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 459
' Sucli proceedings,' Albert boasted, ' were incum-
bent on an honourable prince who had the glory of
God at heart, and was zealous for the spread of the
Divine Gospel which God the Lord in our age has
allowed to shine forth with such marvellous light.'
The siege of Nuremberg went dragging on. ' We
remain encamped before Nuremberg,' wrote the Mar-
grave to Duke Albert of Prussia on June 1, 'in the
fixed determination to bring the town over to the
confederate princes, and to compel it to enter into
alliance with the most laudable King of France for the
maintenance and unification of the holy, true, and
apostolic religion, and the rights and liberties of the
German nation.' :
' In the cause of the holy evangel " the evangelical
inhabitants of Nuremberg were treated ' with Turkish
brutalitv.'
An ambassador of King Ferdinand, Ulrich Zasius,
who appeared in Albert's camp to urge him to come to
terms, reported on June 12 that ' the pitiable havoc
which the Margrave is so wantonly and outrageously
spreading everywhere round about Nuremberg with
fire and sword is enough to melt a heart of stone.
I have heard that the poor peasant folk are dying in
swarms in the woods and forests from sheer hunger
and wretchedness. Dead bodies of peasants are also
found with their mouths full of grass. But all this
misery only serves the Margrave and his soldiers as
food for laughter. The Margrave himself is debauched
and dissolute beyond all measure both in speech and in
action, and there is scarcely any kind of immorality
which does not count as virtue with him and his crew.
1 Voigt, i. 308.
460 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Above all they glory in interlarding their talk with
the names of Satan and the devil, and in inventino- all
sorts of new oaths and blasphemous language. The
execrable brutal slaughter and incendiarism which he
perpetrates everywhere he calls his favourite pastime.
This I have heard from his own lips.' l
In the level country round Nuremberg about 4,000
places had been reduced to ashes. In addition to two
small towns and three monasteries ninety castles and
manor-houses, seventeen churches, 170 boroughs and
villages had been pillaged and burnt down. Murder,
outrage, shameless immorality ' formed the daily sport
of the so-called Christian robber prince and his inhuman
hordes of soldiers.'
On June 11) Nuremberg paid the price of 200,000
florins to secure the departure of the ' robber prince.'
From the towns of Bamberg, Wiirzburg, and Nuremberg
Albert had within two months realised a gain of
1,000,000 florins ' for the maintenance and unification
of the holy, true, and apostolic religion.'
After the conclusion of the treaty with Nuremberg-
he announced to the people of Ulm on June 20 that if
they continued in their obedience to the Emperor,
6 thus separating themselves from the German nation,'
he would visit them with fire and sword for their
criminal rebellion, ' would conquer the town with the
1 Bucholtz, vii. 81-82 ; v. Druffel, ii. 588-590. The Margrave said
' he would set all Germany on fire, so that the angels in heaven would
have their feet warmed by the flames.' Rudhart, Gescli. der Landstiincle
in Bayern, ii. 186, note 7. Ranke, v. 230, has the following remarkable
words about Albert : ' His was a character in which one forgave all
faults because they were not traceable to malice. In his hatred of
the ecclesiastical potentates he was the echo of popular passions. He
knew this very well, and traded on it.' Do these words altogether suit
the atrocities committed against Ulm and Nuremberg ?
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 461
help of God, and would spare no human being above
the as?e of seven.'
But instead of encamping before Ulm he went off
at the end of June in the direction of the Main, burning
and devastating on his way. ' I find,' wrote Zasius to
King Ferdinand on July 10, ' that the Margrave has
little faith in the bishop of Wiirzburg, and is not even
satisfied with the 60,000 florins and the large consign-
ment of artillery he has received.' 'It is pitiable to hear
that at Wiirzburg, and indeed throughout the whole
diocese, they have now taken all the gold and silver
treasures, all the jewels, caskets, chalices, monstrances,
images, and relics out of the churches and cloisters,
and turned them all into money. At Neumiinster one
casket was melted down which was estimated at over
1,000 florins. It is indeed a terrible state of things.
Duke Maurice's troops are lying at Mergentheimb and
in the Tauberthal. As far as I can hear they cannot
go to sufficient lengths in tyranny and brutality. One
demon is as bad as the other. But God will know how
to punish and make an end of them.'1
Simultaneously with the German princes Henry II.
had also appeared in the field.2
1 Von Druffel, ii. 668.
2 ' Unfortunately,' says Ehrenberg in the Zeitalter der Fugger, ii. 98,
concerning the robbery of Metz, Toul, and Verdun by the French King,
' it can scarcely be doubted, not only that it was German disunity which
made this conquest possible, but also that German capital had a share in
the government loans which Henry II. took up at that time in spite of
the sternly reiterated inhibition of the Emperor. Meanwhile we lack
further authentic reports for the year 1552. On the other hand, however,
we are in possession of a complete statement of the sum of money which
the King owed the tradespeople of Lyons at the Easter quarter.' The
list is among the papers of Paul Behaim in the Germanic Museum
(Nuremberg). Ehrenberg (ii. 99) gives the complete list of the German
and Swiss creditors of the French Crown. The loan amounts to 714,425
462 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
The French King, according to the English ambas-
sador, Eoger Ascham, in order to do the Emperor as
much harm as possible, was ready ' at one and the
same time ' to pledge himself most solemnly both to the
Protestants and the Papists, to the Turk and the devil.1
While Henry II. was concluding his league with
the Protestant princes he issued the most sanguinary
decrees against the new religionists in France and
sentenced them to the additional punishment of having
their tongues torn out before they underwent their final
torture.- His alliance with the Protestants in Germany,
he caused the people to be told, had no other object
than ' the salvation and re-unification of the Church,
the welfare and exaltation of the Catholic faith.' 3
At the same time he assumed towards the Pope and
the Council of Trent an attitude which made Julius III.
fear that the King of France, after the example of
crowns. Thus not merely Protestant auxiliary troops but German capital
provided by Protestant bankers assisted the French King in his hostile
proceedings against the Empire. The reward for such transactions was
not forgotten. The German tradespeople in Nuremberg, Augsburg, and
other towns, who even after the bankruptcy of 1557 had within 1| year
lent the French King 1| million francs, were 'the laughing-stock of the
board of finance ' (Ehrenberg, ii. 166) : they got back none, or only a
trifling part, of the loan. Ehrenberg, a Lutheran (says Ratzinger in Hist.
Pol. Blatter, pp. 118, 184), furnishes us with materials for the apprecia-
tion of Protestantism in the sixteenth century more damaging than those
produced by our much-abused Janssen. The effect of this documentary
evidence of the Protestants' treason to their country will make itself felt
in the long run.'
1 ' For to do hurt enough to the emperor, woulde become at once by
solemn leagece protestant, popish, turkish, devilish.' Nares, Memoirs of
William Cecil, Lord Burghley (3 vols., London, 1828-1831), i. 522.
- Before his departure for the war in Germany he gave orders to his
Parliament on January 12, 1552, rigorously to enforce the edicts against
the heretics, ' sans aucune exception de personne, longuers ny dissimula-
tions quelconques.' Ribier, ii. 377-378.
3 Ribier, ii. 390.
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 463
England, would break entirely with the Eoman See.1 To
the great indignation of the French people he had made
a fresh league with the Turks and was inciting them
again to war against Charles : he wrote to the Sultan
that he would raise an insurrection in Germany against
the Emperor by means of the German princes.2
On February 3, 1552, in a manifesto written in the
German language, he announced to the Empire his
advent as ' avenger of German liberty and the captive
princes.' 3 The title was accompanied by a picture of
the 'hat of liberty ' between two daggers, typical of
Brutus and Julius Caesar.
In this manifesto Henry said that for a long time
past the Emperor had been endeavouring to bring on
war, but that he (Henry) in his devotion to peace had
not, like other monarchs, been solicitous for military
revenge and the glory of arms ; on the contrary, his
whole care and anxiety had been to govern his kingdom
with good laws and with justice. Since, however, it
had come to this, that the Emperor was seeking to
annihilate German liberty, and by insufferable tyranny
to reduce the whole nation to perpetual bondage, he
had now, by divine direction, resolved to assist his
German allies in defending and saving German liberty.
He swore by Almighty God that for himself he asked
no further reward than the eternal gratitude of those
1 Cosmo I. to Pandolfini on April 15, 1552, in Desjardins, iii. 303.
Henry II. wanted to set up a patriarch of his own in France ; see the
letter of Luigi Capponi from Orleans, August 7, 1551, in Desjardins, iii.
283, and Schiirtlin von Burtenbach's letter from Fontainebleau, Sep-
tember 11, 1551, in v. Druffel, i. 735. In September the King sent word
to the Council of Trent that the French Church would not submit to the
Council. Maurenbrecher, Karl V. und die deutschen Protestant en, p. 265.
2 Ribier, ii. 294-300, 310-312.
3 Von Druffel, iii. 370.
4G4 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
whose deliverer he should become, and the immor-
tality of his own name. Nobody, moreover, need fear
violence from him. But, on the other hand, * wherever
he met with any persons so lost to all sense of honour
as to be the enemies of their Fatherland and to pre-
sume to hinder and obstruct his and his allies' righteous
undertaking, or to support the cause of the Emperor,
such persons lie would pursue with lire and sword and
cut off as dead members from the healthy body.' *
' 0 thou noble Fatherland,' so runs a pamphlet of
the day, ' open thine eyes and see with what cunning
devices the French King and his allies are luring thee
on to anguish and wretchedness of body and soul.
They are thrusting on thee a " gospel " which is of such
insurrectionary nature that in his own country the
King of France denounces and persecutes it with fire
and blood. But he knows well that numbers of Germans
are entirely in favour of their so-called gospel ; and so
the crafty, designing man, hand in hand with his allies,
is enticing our poor peasant folk with sweet poison and
tempting baits, in order to ensnare and enchain them,
and wean away the most excellent German nation from
the merciful yoke of the pious Emperor into the bitter
servitude of perpetual French bondage.' 2
On March 13 Henry began his ' disinterested work
of deliverance ' with violence and perfidy. He advanced
into Lorraine with an army of 25,000 infantry and
10,000 cavalry ; he besieged the imperial cities of Toul
and Verdun, deposed Christina, the reigning Duchess
-of Lorraine, placed a garrison of 4,000 men in the town
•of Nancy, and then proceeded to Metz, which town had
1 Hortleder, Recht?/uissigkeit, pp. 1290-1294.
2 Von Druffel, iii. 384 ff.
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 465
meanwhile been treacherously captured by the Con-
stable Montmorency, who had promised only to march
peaceably through the streets.1 On April 18 the King
of France ordered the burghers to disarm, and com-
pelled them to swear fealty to the crown of France
and to appoint a new municipal council. He behaved
altogether like an absolute sovereign. ' I shall treat
you as my own subjects,' he said to the inhabitants.
6 Now that he was in possession of Lorraine,' he wrote
to the confederates, and had become their neighbour,
he would show them faithful friendship.
As ' Protector of the Holy Eoman Empire and
avenger of the liberty of Germany ' he now resolved,
after these bloodless achievements of French heroism in
Lorraine, to extend his dominions as far as the Ehine,
and first of all to bestow his disinterested assistance on
Alsace. But the people of Alsace were German to the
core and they rebelled against foreign oppressors.2
The King's next step in his ' holy war ' would be to
march to Strasburg, wrote. Montmorency to the
council there on April 12, and then on towards the
Rhine to fight the common enemy of all ; he begged for
supplies of provisions adequate to the prosecution of
such a work.3 Henry II. advanced with his whole
1 Sherer, Der Raiib der drci Bisthiimer Mctz, Toul and Verdun, in
Raumer's Histor. Taschenbuch, Jahrg. 1842, pp. 287 ff. Concerning the
wretched plight of the Protestants of Metz under French rule see
Winckelmann's Aufsatz im Jahrbuch fur lothringische Geschichtc,
1888-1889, i. 133 ff.
3 Francois Rabutin, who commanded a division of the French army
in Alsace, relates : ' Les gens des communes commencaient a se mutiner
et s'assembler, et ou ils trouvaient les soldats escartez, en despechaient
le pays et les assomaient coinme pourceaux.' In the collection of
memoirs relating to the history of France, by Petitot, xxxi. 138 (Paris,
1823).
3 Kentzinger, Documents Jiistoriques, pp. 44-45.
VOL. VI. H n
466 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
army to within a few miles of Strasburg, ' the strong
bulwark of the Upper Ehine,' assured the council of
his great love for the German nation, and demanded
permission for his troops to revictual within the walls
of the city. Warned, however, by the fate of Metz,
the Strasburgers did not accede to his request,, but
strengthened the town garrison and threw up fresh
fortifications, in spite of the invectives of the Constable?
who accused them of not being worthy to understand
the good intentions of the King and the tyrannical aims
of the Emperor. ' If we had got in,' says the German
field marshal Schartlin von Burtenbach, who rendered
assistance to the French in the conquest of German
towns, ' we should never have got out again as friends.' 1
Disheartened by the failure of his attempt, Henry,
fearing to risk the honour of his army against the
strength of Strasburg, retreated back again to Weis-
senburg. Here, at the beginning of May, he received
the ambassadors of the Rhenish Electors and the Dukes
of Wiirtemberg and Jtilich, who, in answer to the mani-
festo addressed by Henry to the Empire, proffered the
request that he would avoid further bloodshed in
Germany ; the country was utterly impoverished by
war and scarcity, and besides was constantly menaced
by a Turkish invasion. He, the Most Christian King,
they urged, would certainly not desire that Germany,
followed as it would be by the whole of Christendom,
should come under the yoke of the Turks. They
begged to be exempted from joining the league, for
they were so closely bound to the Emperor and the
Empire that they could not possibly accede to it with-
out loss of honour and reputation. The King replied
1 Lebensbeschreibung, p. 212.
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 467
to the princes, who had sent their deputation from
Worms, where they were holding a Diet, that he hoped
in four or five days to be with his army at Spires.
Till then he begged that they would either remain at
Worms or else come to Spires.1
The Turk, like the King of France, 'had already
begun war against the Emperor.' Henry II. had com-
menced operations trusting to the help promised him
by the Sultan, and in May he summoned the republic
of Venice to join the alliance formed between himself
and the Sultan, with a view to wresting Naples from
the Emperor.2 The Turkish fleet was to advance
against Naples in June ; at the same moment the Vizier
Achmed appeared with a powerful army on the Danube,
captured Temesvar, and seized Lippa, the key to
Transylvania and the country above the Theiss. The
Sultan, so Casim-Begh announced, after the capture of
this town, had never gained a greater victory than this,
for he had captured a fortress which was more impor-
tant than Buda and Belgrade, and the possession of
which made him lord of all Hungary and Transylvania.3
He had instructed his general, Solyman wrote to the
German princes allied with France, to attack the
Emperor and his brother Ferdinand with all his forces
both by land and water. They, the princes, the friends
of his dearest friend Henry II., were also his own true
friends and allies : he hoped they would remain faithful
to the alliance with France and do as much injury as
possible to the lands of their common enemies Charles
and Ferdinand : by this course they would win them-
selves great honour and renown for all future time.
1 Kngler, i. 203-208. 2 Charriere, ii. 195.
3 Bucholtz, vii. 302-308.
h h 2
468 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Henry II. hoped that an era of dazzling victories and
vast extension of power had come for France. His
galleys, he caused the Sultan to be informed on June
22, would join the Turkish fleet on the coast of Naples ;
he would also send a land-force of 20,000 infantry and
2,000 cavalry to Naples and gain fresh allies against
the Emperor in Italy. He had sent the Sultan's letter
to the German princes ; he himself had already accom-
plished great results in his campaign. ' I have made
myself master,' he boasted, ' of Metz, Toul, and Verdun,,
three wealthy and important towns, which I am now
having fortified in order to make use of them in future
against the Emperor. Besides which, I have so far
secured Lorraine that I hope to meet with as loyal
obedience there as in my own kingdom. And by
means of this province I shall have a free and safe
passage through which to press on to the Rhine when-
ever I wish.' 1
All this had been brought about by the ' solicitude r
of German princes for German liberty.
The Emperor, against whom all these martial move-
ments were directed, had betaken himself to Innsbruck
to be nearer to the Council of Trent. He was intent
only on general peace and on the attainment of that
luckless heart's desire of his which had already made
him the victim of so much manoeuvring as well from
the House of Habsburg itself as from the Elector, viz.
the succession of his son Philip to the Empire.2 To all
warnings addressed to him respecting the Elector
1 '. . . par ce nioyen auray le passage ouvertetseur pour allerjusqnes.
au Rhin qtiand je voudray.' (Ribier, ii. 390-394.)
2 Von Druffel, iii. 161 ff. Egelhaaf, ii. 527 f. Soldau, Die pro-
jectirte Succession Philipp's II. auf dem Kaiscrthron.
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S ' EVANGELICAL WAR' 469
Maurice and his intrigues in Germany he turned a deaf
ear. He could not and would not believe in the
treachery of a man on whom he had conferred so many
benefits, and who persisted in his assurances of fidelity
and in declaring that he loved him (the Emperor) as
dearly as his own father. When the Archbishops of
Mayence and Treves were anxious to go away from the
Council at Trent and return home, on account of all
the warlike doings they had heard of, the Emperor on
January 3, 1552, strongly dissuaded them from leaving:
there was no cause for alarm ; it was only the work of
a few turbulent individuals, he said ; no reasonable
people would allow themselves to be drawn away from
their allegiance to him by such senseless proceedings.
He had instituted inquiries, through his ambassadors,
of princes, notables, and councillors in all directions and
had heard everywhere of nothing but loyal and sub-
missive obedience. Notwithstanding that all manner of
reports were current about Maurice — possibly because
the troops had not been disbanded after the siege of
Magdeburg and had committed ravages in many places
— the Elector had nevertheless, both by letters and
deputations, given such assurances of loyalty ' that if
there is any faith and sincerity left on earth,' Charles
said, ' we may reasonably hope for perfect submission
and good will from him ; what your Graces appear to
be suspicious of would be an altogether unheard-of
proceeding on the part of a German prince. And
indeed we cannot for a moment believe anything of the
sort.' 1
The Emperor had invited Maurice to his court and
1 Voigt, Fiirstenbund, pp. 159-160, 193, no. 305. Planck, 3b, 503-504.
Von Druffel, ii. 7.
470 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
pledged himself to set the Landgrave Philip at liberty.
' In short,' the Elector wrote on January 7, 1552, to
Philip's son, William, ' they implore me to come, and
assure me that they will grant me anything I ask for
your Grace's father.' 1 He had no intention, the
Emperor reiterated in a letter to Maurice on March 8,
of indefinitely delaying Philip's release. If Maurice
and the Elector Joachim would come to him they would
find him ' so gracious aud equitable that they would be
fully satisfied with him : he would not only be immacu-
lately true to his word and honour, but he would at all
future times show favour and kindness to Maurice.' 2
But it was only personal interest and profit, not the
liberation of his father-in-law, which led Maurice to
make war against the Emperor. Philip himself com-
plained to the Elector that it was he who was to blame
for his long captivity. ' If the Electors of Saxony and
Brandenburg wished it,' he had written to his son
William and his councillors on March 17, 1551, ' they
could easily set me free. They ought to be compelled
to do as they promised and to go bail for him ; if they
refuse to do this, tell them that it is they who obliged
me to sue for pardon by their refusing to arm against
the Emperor, and breaking the promises they had made
me. If they go on consulting nothing but their own
interests, and are base enough to desert me, when it is
only through my excessive loyalt}r to them that I have
come to this dire misfortune, I shall feel constrained to
tell His Majesty the truth, and to do things. . . .' 3
1 Yon Druffel, ii. 16.
* Yon Langemi, Moritz, ii. 335. Lanz, Correspondenz, iii. 109-111.
Von Druffel, ii. 188-189, and ii. 191.
3 Yon Langenn, ii. 326-327. "What things Philip meant to do
von Langenn indicates with ' etc' To the imperial ambassador, VigHus,
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 471
' The more threatening the war-clouds grew, so
much the more helpless seemed the Emperor's position.'
' My sources of help are completely exhausted,' he
wrote to his sister, Queen Maria, on January 28, 1552.
Spain, Naples, and Milan are on the brink of ruin ; to
embark on a war in Germany would be impossible for
him ; if war should be forced upon him, he would
indeed be driven to the extremity of despair.1
Never before, he said to his sister in another later
letter on February 24, had he been so powerless as now.2
On February 26 he sought the intervention of the
Elector Joachim of Brandenburg on behalf of the main-
tenance of public peace. There were all manner of
intrigues and conspiracies at work, he said, to attack
him, the Emperor, in defiance of all justice and reason,
and to throw the German nation into confusion and
misery at the perilous moment when an invasion of the
Turks was dreaded. He begged the Elector to contra-
dict and allay the current reports concerning the
alleged sinister intentions of the Emperor against the
freedom of the Empire ; to assure the other electors and
princes that the Emperor, whatever might falsely be
said to the contrary, had in reality no dearer aim than
to secure general peace in the land and the traditional
freedom of the German nation ; as indeed everybody
must have seen and experienced ever since he had been
in Germany, and even after the victory he had lately won.5
Philip spoke indignantly of Maurice and Joachim, who had deceived him.
'Et tourna a se courroucer contre les deux electeurs qui lavoient trompe.'
(Viglius to the Emperor, March 25, 1551, in Lanz, iii. GG.)
1 Von Druffel, ii. 70-71.
- ' . . . me trouvant despourvu du pouvoir, plus que je ne fus oncques.'
(To Maria, in von Druffel, ii. 150.)
1 Voigt, Albrccht Alcibiades, i. 267, and Fiirstenbund, pp. 166-167.
472 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
In his public manifesto also, Charles gave the same
assurances ' on his imperial word and honour.' The
King of France, he said, was spreading false accusations
against him, in order to make him hated by every one.
and to incite the Germans to insurrection and civil
war ; he was lavishing promises on those whom he
gained to his side, and holding out great hopes to
them, but when he had satisfied his rapacious greed,
and, profiting by the general chaos, had subdued the
Empire to his yoke, the people of Germany would
meet with their just recompense as others had done
before.1
The Emperor plainly saw that he could not count
on help within the Empire. All the princes had grown
cowardly and pigeon-hearted. Duke Albert of Bavaria,
who had succeeded to the government on the death of
his father in 1550, played a double game after the
manner of Christopher of Wiirtemberg. He gave the
Emperor assurances of devotion and allowed his vassals
to levy Landsknechts for Charles, but at the same time
he granted them equal permission to recruit for the *
incendiarv Albert. ' We have maintained so strictlv
neutral a position,' he wrote to the latter, ' that our
subjects have been left free to serve whom they would,
at their own risk and peril.' 2 The Ehenish electors
showed themselves ' beyond measure feeble and
cowardly.' In spite of all the Emperor's solicitations,
not one of them resolved to oppose a manly front to
the incendiary, devastating hordes of the conspirators,
1 Imperial manifesto, in Voigt, Fiirstenbund, pp. 160-162, 193,
no. 306.
~ Von Druffel, ii. 545. W. Gotz, Die Layer. Politik im ersten
■TahrzeTmt der Begierung Herzog AlbrecliVs V. von Baiern, 26 f., 43 f.
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 473
and to equip for resistance against the French army
which was advancing on the Ehine. ' The Archbishops
of Mayence, Cologne, and Treves are writing, lamenting,
and entreating for grace,' wrote Schartlin von Burten-
bach from the French camp at Damvillers to the
Elector Maurice on June 9, ' and begging to be excused.' 1
These three Archbishops, conjointly with the Palatinate,
Wiirtemberg, and Jiilich, sent an embassy to Maurice
and his allies on May 7, to inform them that they were
ready to act the part of traitors to the Church. The
ambassadors were instructed to declare that although
these three Archbishops, like all the other Estates, had
so far done their best to promote the success of the
Council of Trent, they would nevertheless approve of
some other means being tried if all hopes were at an
end of any good result being achieved by this Council ;
and they would suggest a General Council which should
be held in Germany under the direction of an impartial
German president, to whose authority the Pope also
should submit. At such a council it would be necessary
that, in matters relating to unification in religion, all
ecclesiastics should be released from their oaths and
duties to the Pope, and that ' all questions should be
decided conformably to the divine, prophetic, and
apostolic scriptures, and the teaching of the holy
Fathers of old.' Their Graces undertook to negotiate
all this with the Emperor. If Maurice and his asso-
ciates would not assent to this plan, the Archbishops
' would be further willing to agree to a National Council,
which, however, must be held within a vear at the
latest.'
The Emperor, deeply dejected and ' in a hopelessly
1 Von Druffel, ii. 581.
474 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
helpless plight,' addressed himself, at the beginning of
May, to his brother, asking him what he, as Elector and
King of the Eomans, could do towards suppressing the
disturbances, and whether he would be disposed to act
as mediator between himself (Charles) and the Elector
Maurice. Ferdinand replied that it would be im-
possible for him to furnish adequate help against ' these
abominable and disastrous intrigues,' for he was obliged
to prepare for resisting a renewed attack from the
Turks. If Hungary fell a prey to the Sultan, Bohemia
and Silesia would be the next victims, and two years
would see him denuded of all his dominions. As to
mediation with Maurice, however, he was ready with
all his heart to attempt it.
He invited Maurice to an interview at Linz on
April 18, the same day on which Henry II. entered the
imperial city of Metz as a triumphant conqueror.
Maurice simulated a desire for peace and stipulated
the following terms, subject to the consent of his co-
conspirators : ' The liberation of the Landgrave Philip,
friendly lreations with France, reform of all short-
comings in the imperial court-government, and settle-
ment of the religious question, not at a general council,
but at a National Council, or at another religious
conference.' The Emperor, Ferdinand answered, would
not refuse to release the Landgrave on proper security,
and if arms were laid down. The affairs of religion
and of the State were about to be discussed at a Diet.
Although it was hard on the Emperor to oblige him to
show any consideration towards the King of France,
who had seized German territory, he would nevertheless
concede this much, that the Elector should find out
from Henry II. on what conditions he would be ready
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 475
to make peace.1 The Emperor, interrogated by Ferdi-
nand, persisted in his determination that the religious
disputes should not be settled at a national assembly,
but at an oecumenical council.- The result of the
interview at Linz was an agreement that a lame
gathering of princes should take place at Passau, on
May 26, for the purpose of ; abolishing the dissensions
and abuses of the German nation,' and that there
should be a fortnight's armistice dating from May 11.
But, after consultation between the Elector and his
allies, this armistice was postponed till May 26, because
it was intended meanwhile to strike a decisive blow
against the Emperor.
Already on March 28 the government officials of
Innsbruck had represented to the Emperor how very
necessary it was that he should equip in earnest, for
the enemy were intending an immediate attack on the
person of his Imperial Majesty ; if no resistance was
made, this might easily be accomplished. An invasion
of the Tyrol by the confederate princes was all the
more certain, as they had declared in their public mani-
festo that they meant to liberate the Elector, then in
custody at Innsbruck. Bishop Granvell was instructed
to tell these officials that they would do well to make
provision for the safety of the land, but as for the
Emperor, he was already in readiness to march.
1 Transactions at Linz in von Druffel, iii. 394-415. Barge, Die
Verliandlungen zu Linz und Passau und der Vertrag von Passau i»i
Jahre 1552: Stralsund, 1893. This book, dedicated to the memory of
W. Maurenbrecher, shows how rightly Cornelius judged when he wrote in
1866 : ' It would not surprise me if ere long, by the skilled hand of some
impartial historian, the Elector Maurice of Saxony were exhibited in the
midst of our Walhalla as the actual hero of the German nation and a
shining example for those who come after him.'
2 Charles's answer to Schwendi and his despatch to Ferdinand, April 25,
1552, in v. Druffel, ii. 427-430, and Lanz, iii. 185-186.
476 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
On April 6 Charles left the town with the intention
of going secretly to Flanders, where, as he said, ' he
possessed at this moment most power and most means
of assistance.' He was thwarted, however, by the
proximity of the hostile army, and he went back to
Innsbruck. The Eegency began the necessary pre-
parations, but found itself unequal to coping with the
advancing enemy.
On May 18 Maurice and his confederates routed
the imperial troops at Eeutte, and on the following day
they gained possession of the Ehrenberg defile, the last
bulwark of security for the Emperor. Maurice sent as
a present to the French King six banners taken from
the enemy. On May 20 the princes were preparing to
march on Innsbruck ' to snare the fox in his hole,' as
they scoffingly said. But a mutiny in Maurice's camp
delayed their start and saved the Emperor.
When the first news of the fall of Ehrenbero; reached
Innsbruck, the Emperor instantly prepared to leave the
town. Ill with gout and carried in a litter, he crossed
the Brenner in pelting rain at 9 o'clock on the evening
of May 19. Ferdinand, who accompanied him, had in-
formed the Elector John Frederic that he would be
released on condition of his continuing at the Emperor's
court a little longer of his own accord. On the way to
Villach the Elector visited the Emperor on May 24,
thanked him for setting him free, and renewed his tender
of service and obedience. Charles uncovered his head
and held out his hand to the Elector from his litter.
' There was no need for thanks,' he said to him in
German, ' for he had been very glad to release him and
would henceforth be and remain to his highness, as well
as to his sons and his vassals, a most gracious Emperor.'
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 477
' All the world,' wrote Zasius, King Ferdinand's coun-
cillor, to John Frederic on June 1, ' rejoices in your
highness's liberation, even the priests.' Maurice, how-
ever, did not rejoice. One of his suite ' had given in-
formation, under seal of secrecy, that he had seen a
paper in the Elector's chancellery giving directions that
if your grace was found at Innsbruck you were to be
taken into Duke Maurice's custody.' *
The march of the princes to the Tyrol had been
facilitated by King Ferdinand, who for some time past
had been playing a treacherous game behind the
Emperor's back. He was in secret relations with
Maurice, and he had caused the passes of the Tyrol to
be left open to the conspirators.2
On May 23, Maurice, Duke George of Mecklenburg,
and the Landgrave William of Hesse, accompanied by
the French ambassador, had entered Innsbruck at the
head of two regiments and four hundred cavalry. The
troops displayed the lilies of France on their standards.
Maurice took possession of all the effects and property
belonging to the Emperor and his court, having already
in the winter obtained precise knowledge of the extent
of their possessions. The Duke of Mecklenburg was
not slow in appropriating his share of the booty.
Although the princes had solemnly promised not to
touch the property of the king or of his subjects, the
Duke forced his way into the royal palace, broke open
1 Von Druffel, ii. 543-544.
2 Schonherr, pp. 91-92. Further details in J. Witter's Die Beziehun-
r/cn und der Verkehr des Kurfilrsten Moritz von Sachsen mit dem
rinnisclien Konige Ferdinand, pp. 41 ff., 54, 61, 67, 73-74. Ferdinand
had allied himself with Maurice to secure his help for the protection of
Hungary against the Turks and to thwart the Emperor's plans for the
succession.
478 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
two travelling trunks with his own hands and emptied
them of their contents. The Landgrave William also
fell on the booty and took possession of the king's
cannons, bullets, and arquebuses.1
At Trent there was great apprehension lest the
movements of the Protestant armv should be directed
against the seat of the Council. At the news of the
warlike proceedings in Germany, Pope Julius III. had
decided to prorogue the Council. The assembly itself
announced its own adjournment on April 28, under
protest of only twelve Spanish bishops, and most of the
Fathers left the town. After the capture of Ehrenberg,
prelates and inhabitants fled from Trent and took refuge
in the mountains and forests, or in fortified cities.
Maurice, as it appeared, had meditated a march to
Trent, but as he had not succeeded in taking the
Emperor prisoner, he desisted from further enterprises
and notified to Kino- Ferdinand that he was willing to
allow the armistice to begin on the day fixed, May 26,
and to come to Passau.
On May 25 the princes withdrew from Innsbruck,
but their promise to spare Ferdinand's subjects, with
whom they were not at war, was by no means respected
by them. The retreating troops spread fire and devas-
tation far and wide. Whole villages were reduced to
ashes, churches innumerable plundered, tabernacles
desecrated, sacred hosts trampled under foot. The
worst outrages were those committed in the monastery
of Stams. After the soldiers had ransacked or destroyed
everything it contained, they broke open the vault in
which the earthly remains of the ruling princes had
1 Schonherr, Der EinfaU <lcs Karfilrsten Moriiz von Sachsen in
Tyrol, 1552, pp. 96-99.
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG'S 'EVANGELICAL WAR' 479
rested for centuries, dragged the corpses out of their
coffins, and stripped them of their jewels. In the district
of Zwischenthoren, between the two passes of Ehren-
berg and Fernstein, the whole population was plundered
and driven out, like cattle, from the Alps. The houses
were all pulled down, ' and what the soldiers could not
smash up with their own hands was damaged and de-
stroyed in other ways, so that it was piteous to behold.
And in this way four thousand people, young and old,
were plunged into misery ; they barely escaped starva-
tion.'
It was thus that the promise of sparing Ferdinand's
subjects was kept, and the armistice respected.
1 Schonherr, pp. 105-106.
480 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CHAPTER VI
THE TREATY OF PASSAU, 1552 THE ' INCENDIARY PRINCE *
ALBERT OF BRANDENBURG - CULMBACH, 1552-1554
The transactions at Passau, opened on May 27, were
personally participated in by Ferdinand and Maurice,
by the ecclesiastical princes of Salzburg, Eichstatt, and
Passau, and by Duke Albert of Bavaria. All the
electors, the Dukes of Wiirtemberg, Cleves, Pomerania,
and other princes contented themselves with sending
delegates. Ferdinand's son, Archduke Maximilian, was
among the number of those who attended in person.
Maurice presented the King with his list of stipulations
and of complaints concerning the innovations which
had been introduced in violation of ' the freedom of the
German nation,' and which, as he asserted, had given
rise to the present war. The Emperor, he complained
amongst other things, had, contrary to his election
capitulation, appointed foreigners to administer the
affairs of the Empire, and filled the country with foreign
soldiers, who even in time of peace had behaved with
incredible turbulence. His Majesty had treated the
Electors with contempt and conferred imperial fiefs and
rights of jurisdiction without their knowledge and con-
sent ; it was even rumoured that he intended to establish
hereditary succession in the land. The Estates of the
realm met with little support from the Emperor. Diets
TREATY OF PASSA.U, 1552 481
were convoked too frequently and were of too long
duration, and the Emperor at these assemblies had
recourse to all manner of artifices for procuring a
majority in his favour. He had also forbidden his
nobles to serve foreign potentates in time of war.
Maurice also made complaints against the Imperial
Chamber. He demanded that the King and the princes
at Passau should forthwith proceed to scrutinise his
grievances and pronounce judgment concerning them.
He reiterated the stipulations he had made at Linz
respecting the Landgrave of Hesse and full acquittal
for all who had taken up arms, and insisted further
that all who had been laid under the imperial ban since
the Smalcaldic war should be absolved from punish-
ment. He stipulated that any further mention or dis-
cussion of the Interim should be prohibited. With
regard to religion, he said, the country was now in agree-
ment on all important points. An agreement on the
disputed articles could not be attempted at an oecu-
menical council, but only at a national congress, or at
another religious conference. But even if no agree-
ment was effected, a perpetual religious peace must be
concluded, with a view to preventing any further moles-
tation on account of religion.
Under the above conditions Maurice was ready to
make peace, and to answer for the concurrence of his
fellow-confederates.1 These conditions were decidedly
moderate compared with the ideas originally entertained,
and which were to have been carried out by means of
1 Transactions at Passau in v. Druffel, iii. 444 ff. Goetz, p. 50 ff..
and G. Fischer, Die personlicJie Stellung und die politische Lage Kbnig
Ferdinand's vor und ivdhrend der Passauer Verliandlungen, Konigsberg,
1890 (Dissertation).
VOL. VI. 1 I
482 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
a conspiracy against Emperor and Empire ; viz. a
wholesale subversion of the constitution by the aboli-
tion of the spiritual princes, the confiscation of all
church property, and the complete suppression of the
ancient faith by the extirpation of the Catholic clergy.1
Many circumstances conspired to make it advisable
to abandon this comprehensive scheme.
When Melanchthon at an early stage in the pro-
ceedings had warned Maurice aerainst rebellion and
unlawful violence, and had implored him not to take
part in an enterprise conducted by people ' who openly
avowed that their object was to exterminate the bishops,
to partition the bishoprics, and to establish a new
empire,' he urged among other reasons that ' as soon
as France perceived that the people of Germany
wanted to abolish the episcopate there was no doubt
that the Pope, the Emperor, and France would coalesce
again, for the French King would not be able to endure
the annihilation of the bishops.' 2 Melanchthon had
judged rightly. Henry II., as monarch of a Catholic
country, was not in a position to join in the complete
suppression of the Catholic Church in Germany, which
the conspirators had planned. If he had not succeeded
in prevailing on his German allies, in their public
manifesto, to promise protection to the ecclesiastical
Estates of the Empire, he had at any rate made this
promise in his own proclamation.
The Margrave Hans von Ciistrin, who advocated
the expulsion of the priests from the Empire, had
grumblingly withdrawn from the conspirators and
1 Cornelius, Erlciute.rung, pp. 2G6 ff. Pastor, Beunionsbestrebungen,
p. 425 ; and Fischer, loc. cit. p. 62 f.
2 Corpus Beform. vii. 903.
TREATY OF PASSAU, 1552 483
formed a coalition with the Emperor, in the hope of
receiving in reward the lands of his relative Albert of
Brandenburg-Culmbach .
Duke John Frederic the Second (der Mittlere), who
had been one of the first among the princes to concen-
trate his energies on compassing the wholesale massacre
of the Catholic clergy, was crippled in his action by his
father's orders not to assist in any scheme against the
Emperor.
Instead of the three armies which the conspirators
had expected to raise, onry one appeared in the field,
and the whole nation raised a cry of indignation at
the horror of such a war.
The plan of surprising and capturing the Emperor
at Innsbruck had miscarried, and this failure had
wrecked Maurice's hope of getting the captive Elector
into his hands. The release of John Frederic, who was
denouncing him to all the world as a treacherous Judas,
was a terrible blow to him. He feared that the
Emperor would place him (Maurice) under the ban and
restore the electorate to its former possessor. His own
rule was detested by the land which had fallen to him
as booty. His parliament warned him, with suppli-
cating entreaties, against prosecuting a war which would
' cause the subversion of all order and discipline in the
Empire, and for which the instigators would have to
answer heavily before God and the world.' To the
members of the provincial Diet who had objected to
his scheme for garrisoning the fortresses, he had given
the fraudulent assurance that ' he had no other object
than defence against the Turks ; they must not suspect
him of any other intention, nor must they give occasion
for animadversion.' Maurice had indeed, as King
i i 2
484 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Ferdinand said, ' reason to be afraid of his own sub-
jects.' Were lie to be outlawed by the Emperor, and
John Frederic sent back to Saxony as the reinstated
Elector, the latter would be sure of a numerous
following among his former subjects, and the Albertine
branch might easily share the fate which Maurice had
destined for the Ernestines, namely complete ejection
from their dominions and inheritance.
All these reasons actuated Maurice to give up, for
a time at any rate, the original comprehensive scope of
the conspiracy ; moreover the French King had dis-
appointed his hopes and had not fallen in with the pro-
posal of his ambassador Glaris, viz. that he should cross
the Ehine and by remorseless prosecution of the war
reduce the Emperor to a powerless condition ; instead
of this he had remained content for the present with
the unsanguinary results in Lorraine and the seizure of
the three bishoprics.
King Ferdinand, hard pressed by the Turks, and the
notables assembled at Passau, who were all for ' peace
at any price,' recommended the Emperor to accept
Maurice's conditions.
But Charles was anxious to secure uniformity of
faith in German}^ and to prevent as far as possible the
continued existence of different religious parties in the
land. Also he had no intention of giving up the
whole imperial prestige to ' the insurrectionary French
conspirators ' * and the other princes at Passau, no one
of whom had afforded him help against the rebels. He
wrote emphatically on the subject to King Ferdinand
and to his sister Maria. He declared himself willing
to leave the settlement of the religious discussions till
1 See the imperial manifesto in v. Druffel, ii. 559.
TREATY OF PASSAU, 1552 485
the next Diet, but he could not, he said, make any
agreement with the Protestants which would bind him
in future to renounce all attempts at healing the dissen-
sions in the faith. t It grieved him especially that Arch-
bishops and bishops should advise him to make
concessions which he considered at variance with his
duty, and which, without any regard for the Estates of
the empire so deeply concerned in the matter, would
entirely upset the decrees of both the last Diets. ' I
have no right to do this,' he said, ' and in no case what-
ever, and for no earthly consideration, will I act against
my conscience and my duty.' ' The adversaries
demand of me on the one hand that I should assume
unlimited despotic powe.r in defiance of the laws and
the decrees of the Empire, whenever such a course
fits in with their particular personal wishes and require-
ments ; and on the other hand they complain of my
exercising arbitrary power in other directions.' The
assembly at Passau is not at liberty to set up its
authority over that of the Diet. ' In order, however,
that these members may see that I am determined not
to be myself in any way the cause of war in Germany,
I am ready in all respects, as they shall require of me,
to agree in matters of religion to what shall be decided
at the next Diet.'
Charles could not be brought to renounce his
imperial dignity and prerogative to such an extent as
to allow that the complaints raised against him should
be adjudged during his absence, and that, moreover,
under the pressure of rebellion. ' I see plainly,' he
wrote, ' that the majority desire nothing more eagerly
than the weakening of imperial authority. But if this
is to go to the ground it shall not happen under my
486 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
rule, if I can prevent it. I am ready, however, to
promise, and to give security for the exact fulfilment of
my promise, that if any one has any matter against me
I will give him a hearing at the next Diet, six months
hence, and will gladly agree to any ameliorations that
may be necessary. I shall then exonerate myself from
all unjust reproaches that have been made against me,
and act in all respects in such a manner that it will be
recognised that I am more concerned about the general
good of the Holy Empire and the well-being of the
Estates than about my own interests.' But ' against
duty and against conscience,' he reiterated, he would
never act. ' I will rather gather about me the small
remnant of forces which still remains at my disposal,
and make a stand against my enemies. And if I cannot
muster sufficient numbers to give me reasonable ground
for expecting success, I will rather leave Germany and
go to Italy or Flanders, and wait there to see whether
during my absence the mediating princes, who are
showing so much party-spirit, will arrive at any better
measures. For I am determined not to pledge myself
to leave the religious schism for all future time without
some sort of remedy.' 1
' We are in the highest degree disposed to all friendly
negotiations,' Charles assured the members of the Passau
assembly on June 30, ' and you are well aware how
earnestly we strove through the past winter by all
means in our power to meet the present rebellion in a
conciliatory manner ; how many amicable concessions
we made, and what forbearance and patience we showed
1 Letter to Ferdinand of June 30, 1552, in Lanz, iii. 318-327 ; also
v. Druffel, ii. 654-655. Letter to Maria of July 10, v. Druffel, ii.
681-686.
TREATY OF PASSAU, 1552 487
during the whole transaction, in the hope that we
might influence the originators of the insurrection and
dissensions to come to terms. It is not we, therefore,
but our opponents, that you should call upon to desist
from all subversive proceedings, to sheath the sword,
and to agree to a treaty which shall guarantee all
estates of the realm a lasting and equitable peace.
The princes must aim at making it impossible that
under the semblance of a treaty of peace, affairs should
remain in the same state of disturbance as before,' or,
indeed, ' should become involved in greater and more
grievous disorder and confusion."
While negotiations concerning the articles of the
treaty were going on with the Emperor, Maurice went
back to the camp of the princes, and Ferdinand
despatched Dr. Zasius to them to try to obtain
their consent to the prolongation of the armistice which
had been decided on at Passau. On June 25 Maurice
invited the ambassador to dine with him at Straubing.
The ' PfaffengasseJ l i.e. the Ehenish bishoprics, he said
to him, had better beware of the Margrave Albert, ' for
wherever the Margrave appeared it was just as if a
tremendous storm were rao-ins;.' ' To which I answered,'
so Zasius reports to Ferdinand, " Without doubt a
tremendous hurricane ; no thunder, lightning, hail, and
fire could be more terrible than what I myself have
seen of the Margrave's doino-s." His Electoral Grace
answered with a lauoii.'
The Margrave himself boasted to Zasius of ' the
abominations of the tyrannical incendiary ; ' he called
them ' his favourite sport.' Maurice treated it all as
1 ' Parsons' Street.' A name given to this part of the Rhine district on
account of its numerous ecclesiastical settlements. — Translator
488 H1ST0EY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
a matter for laughter. For the excruciating sufferings
of these poor, plundered, persecuted, tortured people,
these princes who posed as the champions of the German
nation and of true Christianity cared not a jot.1
On the following da}', Zasius goes on to write, ' all
the warrior princes breakfasted with the Elector, and
they all drank heavily and were very jovial. After
breakfast they proceeded to gambling and did not leave
off till it began to grow dark. Then they commenced
their evening libations ; they had their late supper with
George of Mecklenburg and sat on till eleven at night.
Duke Otto especially found it a hard matter to stand
upright on his legs.' L>
Amid these princely diversions the business of the
treaty received occasional slight attention. Maurice
told Zasius that he approved of the prolongation of the
armistice till July 3 ; that he thought the chief point
had been gained ; and that he hoped in a short time
to return to Passau with the ultimatum of the princes.
On the Elector's return to Passau he found matters
exactly at the point where he had left them with the
Emperor. Ferdinand now resolved to obtain his
brother's consent to the treaty by personal persuasion
at Yillach. Maurice went back a second time to the
1 This utter want of feeling was the cause of the cruelties inflicted by
the princes on the peasants by their hunting expeditions. Respecting
Maurice, see Arnold, pp. 1171-1172. Although otherwise a panegyrist of the
Elector, he says, concerning the punishment of a peasant who had killed
the Elector's stags for the protection of his fields : ' Mauritius, ut poenae
atrocitate alios deterreret, vivum cervum adduci et rusticum inter cornua
ejus ligari jussit. Quo facto liberum dirnisit cervum et canibus in sylvam
fugavit, ut crudeli mortis genere miser ille inter arbores et dumeta discer-
peretur.' — ' Quod passus sit agrestium hominum agros hortosque delecta-
tionis suae causa, praeterquam aequitas suaderet, belluis devastari, nemo
c< rte probare potest.'
2 Bucholtz, vii. 97 ff. ; v. Druffel, ii. 632, 635-636.
THE 'INCENDIARY PRINCE' ALBERT 489
princes' camp, not without the secret wish that the
peace negotiations might fall through on account of the
Emperor's hesitation. To the King of France, who was
' anxious and perturbed," he wrote reassuringly : ' The
congress at Passau will be of no more profit to the
Emperor than was the one at Linz.' x
At the end of June Albert of Brandenburg-Culm-
bach had separated from the rest of the princes and
marched off towards the Main. ' Plundering, burning,
and slaughtering, he traversed the southern section of
the archbishopric of Mayence with his worthy com-
panion Count Christopher von Oldenburg, reducing to
ashes all the towns, villages, and manor-houses from
which he could not obtain all that he demanded.'
From the Archbishop of Mayence he exacted as
much as five tuns of gold, and as the money was not
instantly forthcoming he burnt down the towns of
Bischofsheim, Miltenberg, and Amorbach, levied a con-
tribution of 100,000 florins on Aschaffenburg, and set
fire to the castle there and the houses of the nobles and
those of some of the clergy. ' In Aschaffenburg,' we
read in the ' Chronicle of Zimmern,' ' Albert burnt down
the beautiful old imperial chancellery, which can never
be restored, and it is a pity that a beam did not fall on
his infamous head.' 2
The poor peasants were tortured in the most
barbarous manner, and the most terrible outrages
committed against women and young girls. In the
neighbourhood of the town eight villages completely
disappeared, even to the effacing of their Dames.3
1 Barthold, DeutscJdand und die Hugenotten, p. 95.
2 Chronicle of Zimmern, iv. 166.
3 Kittel, Die Euinen des IV onnenMosters im Thiergarten, pp. 24-25.
490 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Albert, by the instructions of the King of France,,
summoned the Archbishop of Treves to deliver up to
him the town of Coblentz with the fortress of Ehren-
breitstein. On his refusing to obey, the Margrave
threatened to come himself and oret rid of all the
insolent priests. He had nothing to do, he said, with
the transactions at Passau and the armistice of the rest
of the princes. ' He intended to act in such a way
that Germany would be too hot to hold him, and he
should cover himself with the protection of France as
with a hood.'
Meanwhile the other princes, to whom Maurice had
repaired at Mergentheim, had broken up their camp,
and, after ravaging and burning the territory of the
grand-master, had stationed themselves before Frank-
fort-on-the-Main in order ' to take possession of the
capital city of the empire.' The town was garrisoned
by 16 companies of imperial infantry and 1,000 cavalry
under Curt von Hanstein, ' the defence-works were all
in good condition, and the burghers were loyal to the
Emperor and hostile to the rebels and the friends of the
French.' Maurice, who summoned the beleaguered
citizens to surrender, was answered that he must first
become pious and renounce his Judas colours. On
July 17 Margrave Albert joined the confederates before
Frankfort and the signal was given ' for the work of
storming and pillaging to begin.'
On the evening of July 24, delegates from King-
Ferdinand and from the notables assembled at Passau
entered the camp to solicit the princes' acceptance of
the terms of peace which Ferdinand had obtained from
the Emperor. They received a hearing on the 25th,
but before an answer had been given to them Maurice
THE ' INCENDIARY PRINCE ' ALBERT 49 1
and Albert, on this and the following day, attempted
' two great assaults ' against the town. Both assaults
failed ; the princes were ' so utterly discomfited,' it is said
in a report, ' that they were not in a hurry to come
back again.'
This defeat was decisive as regards the action of the
Elector. If Maurice had remained master of the town,,
he would scarcely have agreed to the Emperor's
amended version of the treaty of peace. There were
two points on which Charles had adhered firmly to his
resolutions in spite of all his brother's arguments.1 He
would not agree to promise a perpetual treaty of peace
in the event of the attempts at religious unification
failing, but insisted that it must be the business of a
future Diet, under his own presidency, to settle what
should be the next best means for healing the schism.
Any other course, he said, would be at variance with
his conscience and prejudicial to his religion ; the
matter, moreover, concerned all the Estates of the
empire. If Ferdinand felt that he could conscientiously
act as they wished, he would leave the whole business
to him and would withdraw from Germany. He
remained firm also on the point of not allowing any
decision respecting the complaints against himself to
be made during his absence : w these matters also were
to be postponed to the next Diet and discussed by
himself and the Estates together.'
On July 31 Maurice informed the delegates in the
camp before Frankfort that he and his allies would
accept the treaty in the form in which they had
presented it. On August 2 it was signed. But
1 Concerning Ferdinand's fruitless endeavours, see the report of Roger
Aschani in Katterfeld, pp. 183-184.
492 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Maurice had only yielded unwillingly to the pressure
of necessity.1 On the very same day, in concurrence
with the Landgrave William of Hesse, he began negotia-
tions for a fresh treaty with France.
The Margrave Albert of Brandenbum-Culmbach
alone remained ' thoroughly true to the French crown.'
After the last unsuccessful assault against Frankfort
he had invaded the bishoprics of Worms and Spires,
' from which Count Christopher von Oldenburg had
already extorted 80,000 florins.' Albert visited the
towns and villages with fresh pillage, incendiarism, and
extortion. Eighty thousand thalers were exacted from
the bishopric of Spires ; the churches were robbed ; the
ships in the port burnt. It was with great difficulty
that the town council succeeded in saving the leaden
roof of the cathedral. 'We must have no mercy
on those wretched priests,' wrote Albert to Maurice
from Spires on July 28 ; 'we must take all we can lay
hands on and confiscate the rest.' 2
On the same da}7 he demanded of the council at
Strasburg that the gates of the town should stand open
at all hours to himself and to the King of France : that
the town should submit to be garrisoned, and should
swear the oath of fealty. Spires and Worms were
instructed to do homage to the King of France.3
On his return to the camp before Frankfort the
Margrave learnt ' with unspeakable indignation that
the confederate princes had been treacherous to the
crown of France and intended to enter into relations
with the tyrannical Emperor and his rabble.' Now
1 See his letter to his councillors, Aug. 1, 1552, in v. Druffel, ii. 713.
Also Trefftz, Kursachsen und Frankreich, p. 3, note 1.
3 Von Druffel, ii. 704. 3 Maimer Relation.
THE 'INCENDIARY PRINCE' ALBERT 493
that Satan had joined in the work they would see, he
said, that he would only be ' more intractable.' ' Now
and always,' he wrote to Duke Albert of Prussia, ' he
would stand up for German liberty and the Christian
religion.'
From this moment Henry II. singled out Albert
as the only one of the princes on whom to place . his
hopes. 'We are well disposed,' he informed the
Margrave through his ambassador de Fresse, ' to carry
out the work we have begun with constancy and
heartiness, so that Germany may reap lasting good
fruits from our clemencv.' He ' held in the highest
possible esteem ' the Margrave's ' valiant and laudable
deeds,' and promised him ' eternal friendship.' He
advised Albert to make an attack on the imperial
Netherlands, where he would find rich booty ; the King
would help him substantially in the campaign, and
would co-operate with him in such a manner ' that they
would both of them come off with honour and glory.'
On July 29 Albert signed an agreement with the
ambassador to the effect that ' he would not withdraw
his forces from union with France, that he would
command them for some few months in the interests of
the Kins, in order to convince the Germans of his
sincerity and constancy.'
' In the cause of sacred liberty ' the German people
were to be ' further mercilessly pillaged, burnt out, and
massacred,' and the Empire, as the Emperor expressed
it, ' thrown under the heels of France.'
' The confederate princes,' wrote Christopher von
der Strassen on August 4 to the Elector Joachim
von Brandenburg, ' are managing affairs in such a
manner that nearly all the best part of the Empire
494 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
is being ruined ; the Suabian, Franconian, and Khenish
districts are almost completely laid waste. The fruit
lies rotting in the fields, and the vineyards are un-
cultivated ; nearly all the towns and boroughs are
deserted, and goods of all sorts have been packed off to
the Netherlands. I in my simplicity do not believe much
in this liberty, for I see nothing else than ruin and
corruption of the German nation. At one point we are
opening the door to the Turks to bring, not Hungary
only, but all Germany under their dominion ; at another
point we are letting in the French. And before long
we shall be so completely crushed that we shall not be
able to help ourselves, however much we may wish to
do so. It is lamentable that you great lords should
look on calmly at your own downfall and do nothing to
stop it, but, on the contrary, tolerate all manner of
outrageous insolence. It concerns nobody so much as
you great lords and princes, and you will soon see
whether it is really the freedom of the German nation
that is being aimed at, or your own suppression and
rum. J
' On the infamous, accursed head of the Margrave
of Brandenburg lies the chief blame of the poverty and
wretchedness which befell the people on the Main
and the Khine, and of the utter destruction of twenty-
seven villages.' 2
Maurice was now anxious, according to his promise
in the treaty of Passau, to lead his army into Hungaiy
against the Turks. But Albert, who reviled him as
a treacherous Judas, stirred up mutiny among the
Elector's soldiers encamped outside Frankfort, and
Maurice saw no other way of escape than to set fire to
1 Von Druffel, ii. 723- 726. 2 Mainzer Relation.
THE 'INCENDIARY PRINCE ' ALBERT 495
his own tent and to the whole camp. About four
hundred sick and wounded men are said to have
perished in the flames. The cavalry alone followed the
Elector in his flight to Donauworth ; part of the infantry
went over to the Margrave. 'All things are going
prosperously for us and our allies,' wrote Albert on
August 6 to the Duke of Prussia, ' and his most
laudable Majesty of France has honourably and
gloriously executed all that he promised.' As, how-
ever, the confederate princes had broken their word,
he must, he said, ' make a fresh start in the matter with
the help of the French king.' l He intended to continue
the siege of Frankfort until August 9 in order ' to
empty the shopkeepers' purses,' and, for the honour and
profit of his present liege lord of France, to capture the
city where kings were elected. ' When once he had got
possession of this town, Henry II. would advance in
full force to join him.' When his efforts proved fruit-
less, ' he withdrew with curses and maledictions, to go
and conquer Mayence and Treves for the French crown.' 2
He crossed the Rhine, pillaged Oppenheim, ' and left
behind him in Mayence, whence the archbishop and
nearly all the clergy had fled, the most infamous name
and memory.' After he had compelled the burghers
to do homage to the King of France, he exacted from
them the sum of 12,000 florins, and from the clergy
100,000 gold florins. As the money was not produced
immediately, he gave orders to ransack the churches,
and set on fire the residential castle of the Elector, the
beautiful churches of St. Alban, St. Victor, and the
Holy Cross, the Carthusian monastery, and the houses
of the prebendaries. All the ships laden with wine and
1 Voigt, i. 336. 2 Maimer Belation.
496 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
corn 'were sacrificed to Vulcan.' 'Then there was
heard a woful lamentation among the shipping-folk —
men, women, and children — when they saw their vessels,
many of which had cost so much and were their chief
means of sustenance, being devoured by the flames.'
' There was such a terrible conflagration in the town
and such fiendish raging of the incendiary mercenaries
and against the people of the town, even against women
and children, that many died of fright and others went
out of their minds.'
' That was a right princely firebrand we threw into
the damned nest of parsons ' was the boast of this
ferocious bloodhound.
He even wanted to set fire to the cathedral and see
it explode in the air, but at the entreaty of the Count
Palatine Eichard, one of the canons, he gave up this
intention.
After laying waste the greater part of the arch-
bishopric of Mayence, he went on to Treves in order,
as he said, ' to act a merry comedy there with stark-
naked priests, wherever any were left, and ruined
temples of idolatry.'
The town council of Treves brought him the keys
of the town on August 21. All the abbeys and
monasteries and the dwelling-houses of the clergy
' were sacked down to the very last fragment in them.'
The monastery of St. Maximin, the priory of St. Paul,
the castle of Saarburg near the town, and Pfalzel and
Echternach, were consumed by flames
Whilst he was at Treves he wrote, on September 4,
to the Palatine Elector and to the Dukes of Bavaria
and Wiirtemberg, who had begged him to agree to the
treaty of Passau, that he would not act in any way
THE 'INCENDIARY PRINCE' ALBERT 497
without the knowledge and consent of his present liege
lord the King of France. For years past the princes
had been working to bring about this league, and now
they left the King who ' had helped them so heartily
and faithfully ' in the lurch. If the enemies attacked
and ravaged his principalities of Ansbach and Bayreuth,
he would, ' with the help of the crown of France, pay
them back in the same coin.' ' And for each house, or
village, or town of oars that is burnt down, we shall
requite them ten- or twentyfold.' The princes, he said,
had better protect his subjects, or they would compel
him to march against them, ' for we regard with equal
favour the one who does the damage and the one who
simply looks on.'
After leaving a garrison of twelve companies at
Treves, he proceeded on September 5 to the duchy of
Luxemburg, and burnt down Wasserbillich, Greven-
machern, Eemich, Konigsmachern, and Kettenhofen.
Albert's army had gradually increased to sixty-two
companies of infantry and several thousand cavalry,
and he was awaiting at Pont-a-Mousson further tenders
for his service from Henry II. of France. He had
stipulated for the maintenance of his army and com-
pensation in case his principalities were taken from
him. The King informed him through Count Frederic
of Castell that 'he had heard with delight of the virtue
and valour shown by the Margrave in his championship
of German liberty, and was heartily willing to take
him into his service ; he only asked that Albert would
not make too heavy demands on his purse, so that the
King might be able to carry on the war against the
Emperor for several years longer. Although he believed
that Albert would be able to get enough, by plundpr
VOL. VI. K K
498 HISTORY OF THE GEKMAN PEOPLE
and by levying contributions and from the bishopric of
Treves, from Alsace and other countries, to provide suffi-
cient maintenance for his army, he was nevertheless
ready to pay him down 200,000 florins a month for a cam-
paign against the imperial Netherlands, in addition to
a personal monthly salary and an honorarium of 100,000
crowns. Albert, he said, should remember that he had
already received great benefits from France, ' for all
his extortions had invariably been made in the name of
the King ! ' The negotiations fell through because
Albert demanded still larger sums, and because the
King would not promise to compensate him for the
possible loss of his principalities. Mutual recrimina-
tions and charges of ill-faith followed. Henry II.
stirred up mutiny in the Margrave's camp and did
his best to set his generals against him. ' He would
have rejoiced had the Margrave been killed by his own
people, so that his troops might have fallen into his
hands.' So wrote Albert. He warned all lovers of
honour among the German nation no longer to put
their trust in the faithless land and government of
France.' 1 Meanwhile an imperial army had come up
in front of Metz on October 19.
With a view to reconquering the towns and provinces
which France, through the treachery of the conspirators,
had wrested from the Empire, the Emperor had moved his
forces out of the Tyrol across Suabia. His army, which
consisted of 10,000 cavalry and 116 companies of infan-
try, had been strengthened by constant reinforcements.
During his stay at Augsburg, where he restored the
patrician rule, the Emperor brought the case of the
Elector John Frederic to a conclusion. The Elector
1 Voigt, Albrecht Alcibiades, i. 343-361.
THE 'INCENDIARY PRINCE' ALBERT 499
had refused to agree to the condition laid down by
Charles V. for his complete reinstatement, namely that
he should subscribe to all future decisions in religious
matters made at a council or at an imperial assembly.
But he had given a fresh assurance of consent to the
compact with the Elector Maurice respecting the
partition of his Saxon lands, and had promised to
secure his sons' consent to it also. He also pledged
himself never again to form an alliance with anybody
on account of religion, nor to molest the adherents of
the old faith. The Emperor delivered him over to his
own people with the following assurance : ' We too
will not attempt any proceedings against your Highness
on account of religion, in the confident hope that
Almighty God, by His merciful grace, will ordain that
the breach in religion shall be healed and bridged over
by gentle and pacific means.' John Frederic's whole
behaviour during his misfortunes had propitiated many
of his former opponents. In his own laud he was
received back with acclamation. Philip of Hesse also
returned to his country on September 10, but he did
not meet with a very cordial welcome, and he was
above all distressed to find that during his captivity
■' those rogues of peasants had destroyed all his game
preserves.' l The days of his meddling in affairs of
Church and State were over.
1 This was the expression he used in speaking to the jurist, Johann
Ulrich Zasius. (Schmidt, Neuere Geschichte der Deutschen, i. 300.) The
Duchess Elisabeth von Rochlitz writes thus of her brother, the Landgrave,
at the beginning of December 1552 : ' He rates his sons and Maurice for
having marched into the Tyrol and abandoned him ; the Landgrave is
rather senseless ; he drinks himself drunk every evening, but by himself,
and that girl von der Sale (whom he passes before the world as his
mistress, but in the sight of God considers his wife) is daily with him.'
•(Von Druffel, iv. 22, note 1.)
K K 2
500 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
In Ulm, where Charles made his entry on Septem-
ber 3, ' there was nothing but rejoicing and thanksgiving
to God that his Imperial Majesty, whom they had so
long impatiently awaited, was with them again.' Over
1,000 resident burghers enlisted in the Ulm regiment
commanded by Curt von Bemelberg and intended to
serve as body-guard to the Emperor during the cam-
paign.1 The Emperor commended the people of Ulm and
also those of Strasburg, on his further march through
Alsace, for the loyalty they manifested towards him.
After being detained for several weeks by gout, first at
Landau and then at Diedenhofen, he reached the camp
at Metz on November 20, determined at once to recon-
quer this important frontier town from France.
' But how could a blessing fall on the enterprise,'
asks a contemporary, 6 seeing that among those who
served under the imperial standard there was now a
human monster who had heaped on his head the
curses of thousands of innocent men, women, and
children, and had been a traitor to God and to all the
world ? ' 2 Through the mediation of the Duke of Alva
a treaty had been concluded with the incendiary Albert
of Brandenburg and ratified by the Emperor, and the
Margrave with his barbarous hordes had entered the
service of Charles against France.
Nothing in the whole reign of the Emperor more
seriously impaired his reputation in the Empire than
did this compact.
At a previous date Charles had pronounced null
1 Zasius to King Ferdinand, Sept. 13, 1552, in v. Druffel, ii. 759-
760.
2 Despatch of the licentiate, Conrad Enaann, Jan. 1, 1553, in ' Mogun
tina,' from the Senckenbergh.
THE 'INCENDIAKY PRINCE' ALBERT 501
and void the treaties which the bishops of Bamberg and
Wurzburg had been forced into by the Margrave on the
19th and 21st of May; he had even forbidden the two
prelates, on pain of ' his heavy displeasure and punish-
ment,' to observe these compacts imposed on them by
the ' conspirators and allies of the French.' Now, under
pressure of necessity, he conceded to the Margrave that
these treaties should be ' observed from beginning to
end without let or hindrance.' ' By God and his
conscience,' the Emperor said in self-justification, ' he
could prove that all this had been done from imperative
necessity and for the avoidance of worse evil, and not
from any bad motive.' The Margrave, surrounded by
his redoubtable forces, had refused to agree to any
other terms ; the troops of Count Volrad of Mansfeld
were also enlisted in the service of Albert, who had
openly avowed his intention of making a raid not only
on the two bishops but also on other Estates of the
Empire. Nobody in Germany was prepared to with-
stand an army of such strength, and he himself (the
Emperor), already involved in war with France, was
unable to resist it. Under the existing anarchy in the
Empire any further proceedings of the Margrave must
inevitably result in the total ruin of both bishoprics
* and in kindling a terrible conflagration throughout
Germany.' He wrote accordingly to the bishops to
assure them that he would do all that was humanly
possible to prevent their suffering any injury from his
action, and to extricate them as soon as possible from
the melancholy situation they had been placed in.' 1
1 Letters of the Emperor to the bishops of Bamberg and Wurzburg,
Dec. 14, 1552, and to Maurice of Saxony, June 17, 1553, in Voigt, ii. 20,
von Langenn, ii. 354-358. ' Dieu scayt ce que je sens, me veoyr en termes
502 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
One disaster followed another. As the compact
with the Margrave had cast an ' incurable blemish on
Charles V.'s reputation as the supreme representative of
justice,' so the failure of the attack on Metz, in spite of
the personal distinction he gained in it, shattered the
Emperor's military renown. Through the skilful plan
of defence of Duke Francis of Guise, commander of the
town, through the inclemency of weather, through
sickness in his army and through want of money,
the Emperor found himself compelled to raise the
siege at the beginning of January 1553. On doing
so he disbanded part of the army and was only able
to pay the soldiers one crown apiece. The dispersed
troops ' sought fresh service wherever war was going on,
whether for or against the Emperor mattered nothing
to them.'
The western frontier of the Empire was left in an
enfeebled state, and France could now press further and
further into Germany.
Henry II., on February 28, published a new mani-
festo against Charles, in which he endeavoured to-
entice the Germans back again to the side of France,,
not scrupling to indulge in jests at the serious illness
of his opponent.1
de fayre ce que je fays avec ledict marquis, mais necessite na point de loy,'
wrote the Emperor to his sister Maria, on Nov. 13, 1552. (Lanz, hi. 513.)
On Nov. 15 he wrote to Ferdinand that he had only agreed to these terms
in order to recover the town of Metz, ' et eviter les dommaiges que,
pendant que je suis occupe en cecy, ledict marquis eust peu faire non
seulement en mes pais, mais retournant en la Germanie, y treuvant si
peu de resistance, comme Ion a veu Ian passe, et y remectre le tout en
plus grande confusion.' (Lanz, iii. 515.) See also iii. 560, and the letter of
the Cardinal Bishop Otto von Augsburg in Weiss, iv. 422.
1 De Thou, Histor. i. lib. xii. p. 142. To the town council of Strasburg
Henry wrote concerning the Emperor, on Nov. 6, 1552 : ' Les Etats
n'ont plus rien a craindre pour Favenir, ledict empereur etant vieil, caduc
THE 'INCENDIARY PRINCE' ALBERT 503
He had found in Germany, so he said, new and
noble friends, opponents of the tyrannical imperial yoke,
princes who were convinced of the disinterested love
of France for the German nation, and who were full of
gratitude to him for his support.
To the number of these friends belonged first and
foremost the Elector Maurice of Saxony. On the very
same day on which he had signed the treaty of Passau,
Maurice had set on foot negotiations which aimed at
fresh treachery and fresh gain. During his campaign
against the Turks, undertaken by him much against the
grain and conducted with scant honour, he was in
treaty with Henry for ' another and a firmer alliance '
than the earlier one formed at Lochau, and was
reckoning largely on ' Friend Hildebrand,' as he
called him. ' Our business with Hildebrand is pro-
spering well ' he wrote on October 30, 1552, from the
camp at Raab to the Landgrave William of Hesse, who
was also plotting treachery with France in spite of
having agreed to the Passau treaty : ' we have re-
ceived such a friendly letter from him that we would
not exchange it for a pile of gold.' l To an ambassador
of Henry II., Cajus de Virail, who appeared at Dresden
at the beginning of 1553, he pledged himself not to
give the Emperor any assistance against the King, but,
on the contrary, to do all in his power to facilitate
Henry's campaign ; he also reiterated the assurance
travaille de malladie importable et hors d'etat pour entreprendre leur
remectre le joug dont ilz sont delivres par notre moyen.' The town, he
said, was not to give the Emperor any help for the reconquest of Metz,
Toul, and Verdun, for the King intended to keep them himself, ' les
preserver et defendre contre l'oppression de la maison d'Autriche,
empeschanb par la que Vempereur ne les ruyne, ainsl qiCil a delibere
/aire.' (In Kentzinger, Doc. Hist. p. 36.)
1 Von Druffel, ii. 801.
504 H1STOEY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
made in the treaty of Lochau, that Henry should
receive the title of Vicar of the Empire, and even, if he
wished it, be raised to the dignity of head of the
Empire, on condition of his (Maurice) being guaranteed
protection for his own lands and the grant of a
stipulated pension. If the King, he added, could make
use of an army of 4,000 cavalry and 12,000 infantry by
the following spring, he would undertake to collect the
forces and to appear on the Rhine at the appointed
time, under the pretext that he feared danger from
his cousin, John Frederic the Elder.1
At the same time far-reaching schemes were also in
operation by which Maurice was to become King of
Hungary and Transylvania under Turkish suzerainty.
The Sultan was also pledged to help him ' to bring
several other lands under his dominion, in order to
weaken the power of the Emperor ; he was to make
himself master of Bohemia and Austria.' Jobst Bufler
of Eilenburg was entrusted by Maurice with the execu-
tion of this business.
At the very time that he was offering the imperial
crown to France and plotting to overthrow the House
of Habsburg and secure to himself the territory of
King Ferdinand, he was reiterating his solemn assur-
ances of fidelity to the Emperor and King Ferdinand,
and giving out that he intended to form an alliance
with these sovereigns.2 As Charles still clung resolutely
to his ill-fated dream that his son Philip would be elected
Kino; of the Romans as soon as Ferdinand should have
become Emperor, the latter, fearing that his son
1 Ranke, v. 231-232. With regard to the date, see Barthold's Deutsch-
land und die Hugenotten, p. 118.
2 Ferdinand to the Emperor, Dec. 16, 1552, in Lanz, hi. 525-528.
THE ' INCENDIARY PRINCE ' ALBERT 505
Maximilian would have no chance of the ' royal dignity,'
looked round about for help to frustrate the Emperor's
plans for the succession. The Elector Maurice seemed
to him ' the fit man for the purpose.' As his brother
Charles V. had done before, so now Ferdinand let him-
self be ensnared by traitors. They talked in the
Empire of ' Habsburg credulity in putting trust in
mankind ; ' what they meant, however, was ' that there
was a certain amount of simplicity ' — not in the good
sense of the word — ' connected with this trustfulness.'
Before carrying out his extensive plans, Maurice
bethought him of making use of Ferdinand's support
against the Margrave Albert of Brandenburg-Culmbach,
who was threatening to treat him ' as such a Judas
deserved,' and whom he feared all the more on account
of his being in ' secret collusion with John Frederic'
' The noble German nation,' wrote the Saxon jurist,
Melchior von Ossa, in his Diary on New Year's day
1553, 'is cruelly plagued and devastated with civil
wars. The archbishoprics of Treves and Mayence, the
bishoprics of Spires, Worms, and Eichstatt are laid
waste with pillage ; the costly edifices at Mayence,
Treves, and other places, where lay the bodies of so
many pious martyrs of old, are reduced to ashes ; the
enemy of the Christian faith, the Turk, is pressing heavily
on the nation ; we are surrounded with the gruesome
plague of pestilence ; but the worst of all is that neither
loyalty nor faith exists any more among the people.
Vice of every description is on the increase.' 1
' The year just gone by,' writes a Ehenish priest on
the same day, ' has been the most disastrous one in
the memory of man, by reason of treachery, war,
1 Von Langenn, Melchior von Ossa, p. 132.
506 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
incendiarism, plundering, famine, and pestilence ; every-
thing, both among princes and people, is in such a
state of anarchy that it seems almost as if there were
no remedy to be found. As the greatest misfortune,
however, in this most unhappy year of our history, we
must reckon the fact that the inhuman monster Albert
of Brandenburg has been received into the service of
the Emperor, and that his Imperial Majesty has been
of necessity constrained to sign treaties with him which
his Majesty himself had before repudiated. The ill-
fated people will again have to expiate this disaster,
for the Margrave will undoubtedly redouble his fury,
and work like a demon with his army.'
On January 8 the Margrave left the camp at Metz,
and on the 17th, at his own request, he was released
from the service of the Emperor. He bluntly refused
the Emperor's invitation to come to amicable terms
with the bishops of Bamberg and Wurzburg, who had
made a solemn appeal to the Imperial Chamber against
the ratification of the treaties which had been forced
upon them. It was his intention, he said on January 2G,
i to punish the insolence of the priests, and, if they refused
to observe the treaties, to wage war upon them so
long as they had one peasant left.' Ferdinand implored
his brother to do everything in his power to prevent
the outbreak of another war, and to guard against
Albert's either allying himself with France, or else
stirring up a general insurrection of the people, which,
in view of the present discontent and insubordination
among the lower classes, would be far more widely
destructive than the former peasant-war had been.1
At the Emperor's instigation a Congress was held
1 Ferdinand's instructions of March 3, 1553. Lanz, iii. 549-557.
THE ' INCENDIARY PRINCE ' ALBERT 507
at Heidelberg in March, when the two bishops and
Albert were present, and the Elector of the Palatinate
and the Dukes Albert of Bavaria, Christopher of
Wiirtembero- and William of Cleves endeavoured to
mediate. The bishops offered to give compensation to
the amount of about 700,000 florins if the Margrave
would renounce the towns and districts allotted to him
by the terms of the treaties, together with all further
claims. The mediating princes considered this offer
reasonable. Albert, however, rejected it and persisted
obstinately in demanding literal fulfilment of the treaties.
' Perhaps,' he said at his departure, ' this shiftiness of the
priests would help him to get rid of the whole crew out of
the Empire, for he knew well how to raise up enemies
against them, and if the Emperor would not keep
his word with him he should know how to kindle a fire
in his path, and the Turks and the French moreover
were also there.'
The arbitrating princes at Heidelberg came to an
agreement among themselves and with the Electors
of Mayence and Treves, to join together in defence
against any one, without exception, who would attack
them.1
On April 9 the Emperor, in a despatch from
Brussels, summoned the bishops and the Margrave to
suspend their military preparations and to refrain from
all measures of force ; on May 16, he said, another
Congress was to be held at Frankfurt with a view to
arbitration, and he and King Ferdinand would send
plenipotentiaries to it.
But Albert let ' the furies of war have their wildest
sway.' On April 16 he captured Bamberg, plundered
1 Von Druffel, iv. 101 f. Gotz, 67 ff.
508 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
the town, and extorted money from it ; some of the
burghers were compelled to pay 20,000 florins. The
episcopal castle and the houses of the clergy were
ransacked, pulled down, or burnt ; numbers of castles
and villages in the diocese were consumed by fire. The
castle of the noble lord Claus of Eglofstein, who had
surrendered unconditionally, was burnt to the ground.
Orders were given to ' slay mercilessly ' forty peasants
who with their old pastor had taken refuge in the
garden, and to put the mother and the wife of Egiof-
stein in prison. In the whole bishopric only two
districts escaped the fury of the destroyer.
' Almost greater even than in the bishopric of
Bamberg were the cruelty and devastation perpetrated
in that of Wtlrzburg.' ' Seventeen towns, thirty-four
monasteries and convents, six castles, and about two
hundred and fifty villages were pillaged and either in
part or entirely burnt. When one of the peasants en-
treated the Margrave to spare the life of at least one
of his three sons, Albert asked him which of them he
would rather have left alive. The one who was
mentioned was strangled the first, and then the other
two, and the father himself afterwards. At Schweinfurt,
where he entered unopposed on May 22, he found
abundant booty. Wealth and valuables of all sorts had
been collected together there from many towns and
localities in the hope that the treasures would be safe
in this place. The abbey of Fulda in particular had
sent the greater part of its church-treasures, gold
reliquaries and jewels, gold vessels and other church
properties to Schweinfurt. All these effects fell into the
hands of the Margrave.
As a plausible pretext for making war on the
THE 'INCENDIARY PRINCE' ALBERT 509
Protestant town of Nuremberg, Albert charged the
town council with wishing to restore the Catholic faith
there, and putting a damper on the ' saving creed of
the Augsburg Confessionists.' The people of Nuremberg
answered that they were greatly surprised at the
Margrave's daring to justify his unpardonable proceed-
ings on the plea of wishing to further the cause of
religion, when it was well known to everybody who
had ever come in contact with him what sort of reli-
gious faith he had to boast of, and how scoffingly
and blasphemously he talked about God and saving
faith.
' Wherever in the district of Nuremberg burghers
and peasants had escaped the outrages of the previous
year, they were now pillaged and burnt out.' The
towns of Altorf and Lauf were again plundered and
compelled to pay war indemnities, and then set on fire
in various quarters after ' numbers of poor people with
their wives and children and cattle had been driven into
it and had had the gates barred behind them.' Albert
even extended his fury to the sick people in the hospital.
The Nurembergers requited him for his barbarity by
pouring an armed force into his territories, storming
towns and castles, and reducing great part of his
principalities to ashes.
Of the Bohemian fiefs, Lichtenau, Hohenstein, and
eight others were laid waste with fire by order of the
Margrave. ' He hoped he should not die,' Albert said
at a drinking orgy, ' before he had had a Bohemian royal
crown placed upon his head.'
King Ferdinand became greatly ' perturbed in mind.'
So also did the Elector Maurice, who heard in all
directions that the Margrave had said that ' as soon as
510 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
he had accomplished his will in the two bishoprics he
would lead his troops into the Saxon Electorate.'
At the instigation of the Elector, negotiations had
been carried on at a congress at Eger between the
Elector himself, Ferdinand, the Franconian bishops, the
town of Nuremberg, and Duke Henry of Brunswick,
respecting a league against Albert. The Emperor had
summoned the Estates to an imperial Diet at Ulm on
August 16, in order to obtain help against ' the destruc-
tive risings and military agitations which must neces-
sarily result in the overthrow of all civic order and
government.'
In the very same month Maurice was prosecuting
his secret transactions with France. On May 21,
Count Volrad von Mansfeld, who had deserted Albert
and attached himself to the Elector, took an oath at
St. Germain-en-Laye, ' by his honour and his hopes of
Paradise,' to be true to the crown of France, and as
often as the King required it to raise as many as 10,000
soldiers for him. In May also the French King promised
to send well -instructed and fully authorised ambassadors
to Metz before the end of June, when they should confer
with similarly authorised representatives from the Saxon
Elector and other German Estates concerning the league
and the mutual obligations of both parties. Thereupon
Volrad returned to Saxony accompanied by a French
nobleman. Another ' old and loyal servitor ' of the
French King, Schartlin von Burtenbach, was employed
in the same work. The French ambassador at Solothurn
had already told him in January 1553 that Henry II.
and Maurice ' were again in treaty against the Emperor,
and were preparing to attack him, and that he (Schartlin)
micrht be of great use on account of the information he
THE 'INCENDIARY PRINCE' ALBERT 511
liad concerning the princes.' Such was the zeal with
which Schartlin threw himself into the matter that he
offered to lend 600 crowns of his own money ; all his
time was spent, he writes in his autobiography, ' in
conducting intrigues between France and Maurice, in
•order to raise fresh war against the enemy,' i.e. the
Emperor and Ferdinand.1 On June 3 Henry II. gave
his ambassadors fuller instructions for the Diet at Metz.
In case the delegates from the Elector and his associates
should require more money either for defence or for
attack on the Emperor, they, the King's ambassadors, were
to point to the Netherlands as the fighting-ground which
would be the most favourable to the King for the de-
struction of his enemy, and were to offer to pay half the
cost of maintenance of an army of 16,000 men. Those
of the German Estates that were parties to the treaty
must promise to do all in their power to help on the
King's work of recruiting in the Empire, and to facilitate
in every way the task of his ambassadors and deputies.
The yearly sum demanded by Maurice was not to
be fixed till after the conclusion of the league ; in any
case, however, the King would allow him 6,000 livres
annually on the condition that ' the Elector would
swear to remain a true and faithful servitor of the King,
to advance his interests in Germany at Diets and else-
where, to do nothing prejudicial to the crown of France
and its prerogatives, and to prevent all injury to him.'
' 0 thou poor, degenerate German land, formerly so
mighty, of so great repute, how hast thou become a
scorn and a byword through the treachery of thy
princes and their rapacious greed ! To heaven rises
the lament of how thy princes have betrayed thee, thee
1 Lebensbeschreibuiig, pp. 235-247.
512 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
and the majesty of thine Emperor ; how through their
drunkenness, gambling, debauchery, wars, and insur-
rections they have ruined all thy prosperity, so that
everybody thinks they deserve nothing else than to be
turned out of their government, as a righteous punish-
ment of Heaven. Behold how they have all entered
the service of foreign potentates, and are treated by
them like base lackeys who can be bought at the
lowest price ! '
For the yearly sum of 6,000 livres the German
Elector, sworn to the service of the Emperor's and the
Empire's enemy, was ready to betray his Fatherland.
On June 13 Henry II., on hearing a rumour that
the Emperor was a prey to mortal illness, instructed his
ambassador at Metz, as soon as the Emperor was dead,
to join with Maurice in taking all the necessary steps
for raising the King to the imperial throne, and not to
allow the crown to pass to King Ferdinand or to the House
of Austria ; or, in case of their failing in this scheme, to
do all they could to foment insurrection in the Empire,
and to nourish perpetual enmity between those Electors,
who had been leaders of this undertaking, and the
Emperor, as well as friendship between them and the
King.1 On the same day Henry gave his diplomatic
agents fresh powers to conclude an offensive and defen-
sive treaty at Metz with the delegates sent by Maurice
or other members of the Diet.2
The Emperor did not die, and Maurice was unable
to send his delegates so soon, because the war had spread
to Lower Saxony.
1 Mencken, ii. 1402-1403.
2 ' . . . parfaite alliance et intelligence avec ligue offensive et defensive.'
(Ibid. 1404.)
THE 'INCENDIARY PRINCE' ALBERT 513
But ' the lilies of France went on blooming re-
splendently.'
' Germany is in a state of combustion the like of
which has never been seen before,' wrote the Bishop of
Vannes to Henry II. on July 3 ; ' the chief rulers are up
in arms against each other, and enraged one against
the other. Maurice may be of great service to your
Majesty and may set many things in movement for the
advantage of the Empire ; for he is an enterprising and
ambitious man.' l
' Maurice,' said Count Volrad, the confidential friend '
of the Elector, to the King, ' will do everything for the
honour and profit of your crown ; he will devote his
land and people to your service. He is expecting help
from France ; he has decided to conclude a firm and
close alliance with France, and counts on the war for
supplying ways and means of bringing the matter to a
complete settlement.' 2
The King was jubilant over the general anarchy in
Germany, and expressed his hope (on July 9) that
military successes would place Maurice in a position ' to
keep up the combustion in the Empire , so that France
need have nothing to fear from the Emperor.'
On that same July 9 the climax came.
The Margrave Albert had invaded Nether Saxony
in order ' to cast the last die.' His most trusted friend,
Wilhelm von Grumbach, whom he had charged to levy
cavalry and infantry troops in Hanover, advised him, as
soon as he was adequately equipped, ' to invade
Maurice's territory, where he would find ample rnain-
1 ' . . . l'Allemagne est en telle combustion qu'elle fut oncques.'
(Mencken, ii. 1406-1413.)
2 ' . . . par les rnoyens de ses affaires de la guerre trouvera les moyens
et voyes pour faire amplernent ladite alliance.' (Ibid. 1421-1423.)
VOL. VI LL
514 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
tenance for his army and plenty of rich booty.' ' And,
as your Grace knows, Maurice's own subjects (and
everybody else as well) are hostile to him.' Albert
directed his march first towards Arnstadt. All
Thuringia and Saxony were thrown into consternation.
He plundered the villages in the district of Erfurt,
extorted war contributions from Halberstadt, invaded
the territory of the Duke of Brunswick, set twenty villages
on fire, and dealt in like manner with the bishoprics of
Hildesheim and Minden.
The Elector Maurice assembled his cavalry and
infantry and, reinforced by the auxiliaries of King
Ferdinand, the Franconian bishops, and the Duke of
Brunswick, advanced against the Margrave. On July 9
a battle was fought at Sievershausen, in which Albert
sustained a decisive defeat, and Maurice received a
wound of which he died on July 14 at the early age of
32 years.1
' If the Elector had not fallen in this battle,' said
Schartlin von Burtenbach, ' fresh wars in concert with
France would have been prosecuted against the
Emperor.' 2 Ferdinand, who fought on the side of the
traitor at Sievershausen, had no suspicion that both his
Roman and Bohemian crowns were at the moment
tottering on his head.
' Maurice has sealed his loyalty to France with his
blood,' Count Volrad von Mansfeld wrote to the French
King ; ' in him the King of France has lost his staunchest
friend ; more than this he who knew the dead man's
most secret thoughts could not trust to paper.' 3
1 See Glasey, Die Schlacht bei Sievershausen.
2 Lebensbesclireibung, p. 247.
3 Despatch of July 14, 1553. Mencken, ii. 1429.
THE 'INCENDIARY PRINCE' ALBERT 515
' Let us only hope,' wrote the French ambassador de
Selve to Henry II. from Venice, ' that Maurice, whose
death is so great a disaster for the crown, may have
left a good and worthy successor in Germairy who will
be equally helpful to you! Your Majesty needs such a
one ; it is imperative that you should obtain such a
one, if you have not already done so ' *
Heniy II. was a good deal cast down by the loss of the
chief of his German confederates, but he comforted him-
self with the thought that affairs in' Germany were in
such a hopeless state of confusion and disturbance that
the Emperor, however long he lived, would not be able
to put things straight. ' This might be communicated
to the Sultan and his chief basha,' he notified to his
ambassador at Constantinople.2
On August 6 he sent an ambassador to the Land
grave Philip of Hesse, the father-in-law, and to Duke
Augustus of Saxonv, the brother of' the defunct
Maurice, charged to convey his condolences on the loss
they had suffered, and to incite them to renewed
vengeance against the Emperor, so that ' the fire which
was in danger of being extinguished by the death of
Maurice might be kindled afresh : ' he would spare no
trouble to this end, he said. The ambassador was in-
structed to tell the princes that ' the death of the Elector
grieved the King of France as deeply as that of his own
brother would have done. He would oladlv have done
all in his power to make this virtuous and exemplary
Maurice the greatest prince of his race ; he had died like
a martyr for the restoration of freedom to the oppressed
German nation ; the King would be ready to afford help
1 Despatch of Aug. 4, 1553. Charriere, ii. 269.
2 Letter of July 16, 1553 ; see Ribier, ii. 442.
l l 2
516 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
to any one whom he should find worthy to succeed to
Maurice in the great matters which he had undertaken.'
' If the princes,' the instructions went on, ' rose to this
bait and showed eagerness to fight against the Emperor,
the ambassador was to represent to them that now was
the very opportune moment, for the danger of the
suppression of German liberty by Charles was greater
than ever. The King would stand by them through-
out.' !
But the two princes did not ' bite.' Philip ' did not
want to hear anything more about war,' and the Elector
Augustus concluded an agreement with the Margrave
Albert, and, ' for the sake of tranquil possession of
his electoral hat and territory,' continued in friendly
relations with the Emperor and Ferdinand. In the
Margrave alone did the Frenchman ' again find a
faithful servitor of the crown in defence of German
liberty.'
On September 12 Albert had again been defeated
by Duke Henry in the neighbourhood of Brunswick
and had been compelled to retreat into his Franconian
principalities. At the end of the year the greater part
of his territory was in the hands of his enemies. The
lion's share had fallen to King Ferdinand, who was left
almost alone to carry on the war against this violator
by the Landfriede. Only a few towns and fortified
places, and the imperial city of Schweinfnrt, remained
in Albert's possession. All the same, he rejected all
overtures of peace and ridiculed the sentence of
outlawry which the Imperial Chamber pronounced
against him on December 1. He behaved in his own
1 Despatch of the King and memoire of Aug. 6, 1558. Mencken, ii.
1434-1437.
THE 'INCENDIARY PRINCE' ALBERT 517
country in the same way as he had done before in the
land of the enemy.1
He sent the following order to Stocklein, governor of
the fortress of Hohenlandsberg : ' You are to impose on
all the peasants, everywhere, taxes of wine, corn, meal,
wheat, and straw, besides extorting from them the sum
of 30,000 florins ; and if flogging does not get it out of
them, you must have them all hanged.' ' On Christmas
Day next, or at the midnight mass,' Stocklein was to set
fire to ten places in the direction of Windsheim, Ipshofen,
and Kitzingen, so as ' to make the new year all the
merrier for the priests.'
' Now we are under sentence of the ban, you must
spare nobody, but strike right and left as hard as you
can ; if you can get hold of plenty of silver, you will be
able to help the soldiers all the better.' Desperately
resolved to persist in his original scheme, he still hoped,
with the help of France, to vent his spleen on the priests
and monks, ' and above all to burn the detested town
of Nuremberg down to the ground.' He had already
remarked, according to the French king's statement,
that the Nurembergers 'were no masters in the art of
incendiarism ; he understood it better himself.' 2
Sylvester Raid, whom he had sent on an embassy to
1 On Nov. 27, 1553, Andreas Wacker wrote concerning Albert to
Christian III. of Denmark, that he had ' taken away from his subjects all
their provisions to feed his stags with, and in order to prevent the enemy
from finding any sustenance in the land.' On Nov. 18 he had set fire to
eight villages in the bishopric of Wtirzburg all at once, and perpetrated
such cruelty as was too pitiable to write about.' (Schumacher, hi. 36,
45-46.)
2 ' . . . ne scavoient pas si bien le mestier de brusler qu'il faisoit . . •
la ou il mettroit le feu, qu'il seroit bien ayse a nettoyer les reliques
avecques le baleit.' (Report of June 27, 1552, to King Henry II. in
Mencken, ii. 1409.)
518 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Henry II., came back, so it was reported in March 1554
at the imperial court, with the promise that the French
King would give the Margrave and Duke Albert of
Mecklenburg 100,000 crowns each to attack the Emperor
in Guelders and Friedland with an army of 24,000 men,
besides 50,000 crowns a month and 20,000 francs a year ;
and also that, so long as they were deprived of their
territories in Germany, French domains of equivalent
value should be allotted to each of them.
The Margrave answered that he would be true to the
King till death ; that he would help him to great achieve-
ments ; that his troops should swear allegiance to him,
and should settle accounts with all those ' who were
disaffected towards France and hinderers of the King's
interest.' He could not, however, undertake an attack
on the Emperor until he was adequately supplied with
ready money ; the sum proposed was too small ; the
King must give him as much as the Elector had had,
namely 75,000 crowns a month.1
The negotiations were broken off.
On May 18 the Emperor issued a mandate for
carrying out the sentence of the ban, and the princes
leagued together against Albert collected such strong-
forces that the Margrave was compelled on June 1 3 to
abandon his principal fortress of Schweinfurt. The
confederate army overtook him on the heath between
Volkach and Kitzingen and routed him so completely
that he lost all his artillery, all the money he had looted,
his letters and his personal effects, and only escaped
with great difficulty across the Main. The town of
Schweinfurt and Albert's fortress of Plassenburg were
1 Bucholtz, vii. 151-152. Von Druffel, iv. 374 f., 385.
THE 'INCENDIARY PRINCE' ALBERT 519
set on fire and all his land sequestered.1 Destitute,
proscribed, deserted by all his friends, he landed on
French soil, was granted a yearly pension of 6,000
crowns, and set to work to plot fresh conspiracies.
1 Concerning the pillaging and burning of Schweinfurt, see the ex-
haustive report of the town scribe Kilian Gobel in Rheinhard, ii. 245-
258. In the year 1543 Schweinfurt counted 766 burghers, in 1556 only
(Kohler, ix. 264.)
520 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
CHAPTER VII
THE GENERAL POSITION OP AFFAIRS — -THE SO-CALLED
RELIGIOUS PEACE OF AUGSBURG, 1555
* All the affairs of the noble German nation,' so the
Emperor wrote, ' are in a worse state of anarchy and en-
tanglement than they have been for centuries past.' The
general conflagration which the Electors of Mayence and
Saxony had sadly predicted in the year 1520 had broken
out, and, within thirty years after the prophecy, had
destroyed the unity of the faith and had worked terrible
havoc both in the external and internal strength and
prestige of the nation, and in the welfare of the people.
Germany, which at the close of the fifteenth century
had ranked first among the countries of Europe in agri-
culture, in mines, in trade and in industry, was now in
every direction ' in a state of melancholy decay.'
Foreign monarchs had already planted their feet on the
neck of the Hanse towns. The conditions of the
country people and the peasantry were everywhere
deplorable. Art and science, with their spiritualising
influences, which the Church doctrine of ' good works '
had tended to develop, had fallen into contempt.
' Learning and letters,' wrote Melanchthon, giving un-
restrained expression to his grief at their decay, ' have
come to be loathed in Germany in consequence of
religious squabbles.' ' Who is there now who en-
courages and cares for learning ? Who even thinks it
GENERAL POSITION OF AFFAIRS 521
worthy of the slightest trouble or veneration ? It is
looked upon as mere fool's play, or as a pastime for
children ; for mankind have now attained the goal of
their desires — boundless liberty to think and act exactly
as they please. Eeason, moderation, law, morality, and
duty have lost all value ; there is no respect for con-
temporaries, no reverence for posterity.'
Ever since the traditional authority of the Church
had been undermined, and to a great extent indeed
annihilated, all respect for civil authority had dis-
appeared. As in political matters all the links of the
constitution had been loosened, so in the moral and
social life of the nation all the bonds of order and dis-
cipline had been rent asunder, and among high and
low, in the palaces of princes, in the towns and in the
country, depravity reigned to such an extent that it
seemed, to quote from Luther, ' as if we were in a worse
land than even Sodom and Gomorrha.'
The theological leaders of the religious revolution
had nattered themselves with the hope that the secular
government would succeed in remedying and expunging
all the evil consequent on the collapse of ecclesiastical
rule and church organisation, and they had accordingly
handed over the control of religious affairs to the state
authorities. Princes and city magistrates had not only
become administrators of the external system and
property of the new territorial Churches, but also their
chief bishops and overseers.
This secular Church government, however, had
proved itself a universal failure and had everywhere
produced evil results.
The writings of all clear-sighted and impartial con-
temporaries show plainly how strongly they were im-
522 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
pressed with the wide difference between the old period
of Catholic faith and life and the new religious condi-
tions. Note, for instance, the free comments of the
Lutheran writer, Thomas Kantzow, private secretary to
the Pomeranian chancellor : ' When the people held the
Catholic faith, they were very pious ; ' he says they
' gave liberally to churches, to cloisters and to the poor,
and they spent much time in fasting and prayer. The
priests also, in those days, were held in great esteem
and veneration : the humblest and lowliest of them were
treated with marks of respect wherever they went, and
people could not show them enough honour.' But
since ' the plain and pure gospel ' has been proclaimed
there has been a great change in everything : ' instead of
piety, we see indifference ; instead of benevolence,
robbery of churches ; instead of almsgiving, stinginess ;
instead of fasting, gluttony and wine-bibbing ; instead
of observance of Sunday, sabbath-breaking ; instead of
discipline among the young, licence and insubordina-
tion ; instead of respect for the clergy, flagrant con-
tempt for preachers and all Church officials.' And
these evils do not occur as isolated phenomena, but,
alas ! are common everywhere. ' In all the towns, now-
adays, the ministers of the Church are found to be very
badly provided for, and the same holds good of the
schools ; in the country districts many parishes are
desolate and deserted, left without pastor or preachers,
so that it can truly be said that the people have grown
worse instead of better through the Gospel.' 1
In the same strain as that in which Kantzow de-
scribed Northern German}^ Jacob Andrea, after twenty
years' experience as Lutheran preacher and ecclesiastical
1 Pomerania, ii. 408-410.
GENERAL POSITION OF AFFAIRS 523
visitor, wrote of Wiirtemberg, Baden, and the Palati-
nate.1
'A disgraceful custom has become established in
our villages-,' wrote the new Elector Augustus of
Saxony. ' The peasants, at the high festivals such as
Christmas and Whitsuntide, begin their drinking-bouts
on the eve of the festival and go on with them all night,
and the next day they either sleep through the morning,
or else come drunk to church and snore and grunt like
pigs during the whole of the service. The churches,
which should be kept holy as houses of prayer, are
turned into taverns by the peasants ; they store up
their Whitsun ale in them, to keep it fresh, and
swill it down within the sacred walls amid blasphemy
and curses. They have the audacity also to mock at
the priests and at the service, and they mount the pulpits
themselves and turn preaching into ridicule. At
village weddings the people spend the whole night in
drinking and blaspheming, whence result murder and
abominable lasciviousness.'
But how could anything better be expected when
there were scarcely any more schools in existence, and
when the care of souls was for the greater part entrusted
to preachers such as the Elector describes ? The nobles
and the other feudal lords, he says, ' appoint every-
where to the ministry ignorant destitute artisans, or
else rig out their scribes, outriders, or grooms as
priests, and set them up in livings so as to have them
all the more under their own control.' 2
In an inspectoral report of the county of Mansfeld
in the year 1554, amongst other common vices of the
1 See vol. v. pp. 426-427.
2 Richter, Evangelische Kirche?iordnungen, ii. 181, 192-193.
524 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
people there were mentioned : ' open contempt and
blasphemy of God ; constant or frequent neglect of the
sacraments ; non-baptism of children ; gluttony and
drunkenness in general ; drunkenness on the day of
receiving the sacrament ; gross violation of Church
festivals, even of Good Friday, Easter Day, Whit Sun-
day ; cases of bigamy ; public immorality and adultery ;
usury, perjury, and every other species of crime and
iniquity. And all these sins are merely laughed at ; no
attempt is made to punish them.1 Under the head of
4 very common transgressions ' comes ' marrying without
the consent of parents, relations, and sponsors,' which
offence produces terrible and abominable evils in this
land.1
' Sins, vices, and crimes of all sorts,' we read in a
Magdeburg report of the same year, 1554, ' increase
and multiply from day to day and gain the upper hand.
The people are growing more and more epicurean, and
one religion seems to them as good as another ; a
blasphemous Papist, a Jew and a Turk, are as good as a
Christian. The penalty of excommunication, which has
been given up on account of the Pope, " the damnable
Antichrist," ought to be revived.'
The inspectoral protocols of Mecklenburg are full of
laments over the deplorable pictures of desolation
presented by churches and churchyards all over the
country.2
In Hesse and in the principalities of Ansbach-
Baireuth the condition of things was no better.
1 Richter, ii. 142-143.
2 See Boll, i. 392 ; Lesker, p. 102 ; Wiggers, p. 117. For an account
of the general demoralisation and the outrages of every description in the
town of Hanover see J. K. F. Schlegel's Kirchen- unci Reformations-
gescJiichte von Norddeutschland und den hannover1 schen Staaten, ii. 77.
GENERAL POSITION OF AFFAIRS 525
Everywhere a melancholy picture is given by the
inspectoral reports.
In the Palatinate there were but very few districts
of which the inspector could report anything satis-
factory. ' The greater number of those who want to
appear cleverer and more intelligent than others never
go to the sacrament. Preachers who had begun
teaching the catechism have been obliged to stop
because none, young or old, wanted to receive such
instruction. Alms-gathering for the poor and needy
is almost abandoned. The churches are for the most
part left to go to ruin and their revenues devoted to
other purposes. The mass vestments, albs, altar cloths,
&c, are left lying in heaps to rot away.' The newly
appointed preachers had received no better education
than poor boys, and received such miserable stipends
that they could not buy themselves either books or
clothes, ' and when they die their widows and children
are reduced to begging.' ' Church discipline as it
existed in old times among the ministers of the Church
has ceased, and the door is thus open to vice and crime,
so that each one can do as he pleases and no one has
the right to find fault or punish. The great majority
of the people are given up to godless sensual living ;
only a very few hold firmly to the faith or believe in
divine revelation.' A large number of parishes are
without clergymen. For instance, in the whole district
of Liitzelstein there were only four preachers, ' the
people live like wild beasts and pay little or no attention
to their clergy.'
Divine service, the inspectors reported to the
Elector, was ' not only despised but also abandoned for
want of officiating clergy, because so many people both
526 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
of high and low degree had taken possession of all the
church goods and left the clergy in poverty and want.'
The Catholic predecessors of the Elector, say the
Lutheran inspectors, had acted differently. ' Your
Grace's ancestors and parents were rulers and electors
every bit as illustrious as you are yourself, quite as
wealthy and powerful, although they did not appro-
priate the property of the Church, but on the contrary
maintained the churches and endowed them richly out
of their own purses.'
The complaints of the reckless squandering of
church goods and of the benevolent endowments and
foundations intended by our ancestors for schools,
hospitals, and almshouses, were universal among the
Protestants both in North and South Germany, and
attention was everywhere drawn to the already visible
results of the general confiscation of churches.
The utterances of Luther and Melanchthon on the
subject are innumerable.
' I have seen the way,' wrote the preacher Lampadius
at Halberstadt, ' in which in some kingdoms, princi-
palities, counties and towns, the churches, the schools,
and the charitable endowments have been, and are still,
gambled with, dissipated, and misused.' ' The clever
worldlings despise all faithful and kindly admonitions,
and all serious warnings also, and treat them as pure
joking. They have practised all sorts of simony and
iniquity with the goods of the Church, the schools, and
the poor ; they have driven away the needy and
destitute, and they carry on all sorts of iniquitous,
blasphemous, buying and selling and bartering with
parishes, prebendaries, and benefices.' All these pro-
ceedings have manifestly aroused the anger of God.
GENERAL POSITION OF AFFAIRS 527
4 1 is judgments follow us unceasingly in the shape of
pestilence, hunger, famine, war, persecution, fire,
devastation, robbery, destructive rains, hailstones,
thunder-storms, and suchlike terrific chastisements.'
' Those who are criminal enough to keep ecclesiasti-
cal goods to themselves, and give no portion of them to
churches, the schools, and the poor, are punished by
fire in their houses, as the prophet Micah says, by which
they are consumed.' 1
'In the clear light of the dear Gospel,' Joachim
Morlin at Brunswick laments, * the institutions founded
by our ancestors are everywhere, in spite of charter
and seal, taken away from the poor impecunious
officials of churches and schools, so that the latter have
scarcely a crust of bread to eat. Since no one will
give help any longer, nobody can any longer study.
Preaching and teaching are coming to an end. In
short, great as is the wrong done by usury, robbery,
and other flagrant vices, it is not nearly so bad as the
consequences of this execrable practice of church-
robbery ; for this is robbery of God and leads to appall-
ing wickedness.' 2
1 Hortleder, Bechtmassig'keit, pp. 1383-1384.
2 Ibid. pp. 1382-1383. Erasmus Alber (f 1553 as Superintendent-
General) complained in verse :
They take away the Church's treasure,
'Twill bring them little gain or pleasure ;
The poor are left unhelped, unfed,
From out their mouths they take their bread.
&c.
The Protestant jurist, Melchior Kriiger, Syndicus of the town of
Brunswick, writes : ' As for the Holy Scriptures, there is no need for me to
demonstrate at length that these do not award church goods and revenues
to the secular authorities, but regard them as intended for the worship of
God and the maintenance of the church ministers and officials. But
even in our secular law it is considered gross ignorance and barbarism to
528 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
The Quedlinburg preacher, John Winistede, spoke
with equal bitterness, deeply lamenting that ' many
evangelical preachers also, who possess plenty, fawn
on the great and the powerful,' as though the Gospel
meant nothing but robbing and plundering, and ' as if
the worldly harpies had power over ecclesiastical goods
to deal with them at their pleasure, and as if it was
quite right that they should practise usury and grab
everything to themselves, and that the dear Christ and
His Church should fall to them as a prize and as booty.'
These mighty ones, he says, sell the church goods,
' transfer them, mortgage them, make presents of them,
give them as rewards to their servants or to unworthy
persons, to minors, to useless court parasites, who all
of them squander and dissipate the revenues in the
most preposterous manner, load the poor tenants and
vassals with fresh and unwarrantable services and
taxes, as did Pharaoh and his stewards in Egypt, sweat
declare that church property belongs to kings and princes or other rulers.
The Instituisien also are aware that church goods are no man's private
property, but that they belong exclusively to God and to His service, as
is clearly and emphatically explained by the text of Scripture and the
glossaries.' 'I can scarcely help thinking,' he says concerning the jurists
who so shamelessly show the fox's tail, ' that they are possibly court
denizens and hoping to deserve a portion of these ecclesiastical goods
themselves, otherwise they would surely know better. In these par-
lous times, however, it is not safe to incense the people too much
concerning this church property, for every-day experience shows how
greedily they struggle for it, so that there are more soldiers now who
take Christ's garments and coat and cast lots for them than there were
at the time of the crucifixion. Little good, however, will this ill-
gotten substance do them, God knows ; they will be no better for it than
" the dog for eating grass," as the saying goes. Is it not, indeed, suffi-
ciently seen everywhere that, even at the courts of the great princes,
the church goods are as a firebrand in coffer and castle, and bring one
calamity after another on the land, and for all our taxing and grinding we
are no richer one day than the other ? And indeed it would be a misfor-
tune if more prosperity came in this way.' (Hortleder, pp. 1400-1401.)
GENEEAL POSITION OF AFFAIRS 529
them, fleece them, and grind them down to the bone.'
They were three times worse than the papists, he said.
Eobbery of the landed property of the Church was
also robbery of ' the poor man,' of the vassals, who
thereby lost their proprietary share in the common
lands.
The stolen church property, Winistede goes on to
say, acts as a devouring fire on the actual property of
these lords. ' How is it then,' he asks, ' that in former
times our pious emperors, kings, princes, counts, nobles,
yea even the wealthy bishops themselves, were able to
get on without oppressing their dependents in this
manner and burdening them with unjust services ? They
were contented with rents, incomes, and legitimate dues,
and yet they all of them everywhere had abundance,
and moreover, without injury or detraction to their lands
and people, they managed not only to build castles
and fortresses, but also to found great and wealthy
religious and other institutions.' ' But nowadays, now
that they tax, grind, and extort, and each one as a Jus
Patronatus takes possession for himself of all that his
forefathers, or other pious Christians of old, destined
for the honour of God, now there is want in all direc-
tions, and neither the lords nor the vassals have any-
thing. Now that they persist in making free with
ecclesiastical goods, they fall into utter ruin and bring'
themselves to beggary.' ' What, now, can be the reason
of so great poverty ? Must it not be that, as Solomon
says, " one man divides his substance with others, and
becomes richer thereby ; another takes the goods of
others to himself and becomes poorer " ? As is the
labour, so shall be the reward. For ill-gotten gains
profit not, since God does not give His blessing with
VOL. VI. M M
530 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
them, but contrariwise His curse.' ' Experience shows
that those princes, lords, nobles, and towns whose
revenues have been almost doubled by the accession of
church goods have become almost twice as poor as
before. Those preachers, therefore, who play the part
of sycophants and parasites at court, together with all
fawning jurists and bad Christians who deal in flattery
and adulation, work no slight injury to their lords,
both in body and soul ; and they do great harm also to
Christian churches and schools by teaching that the
secular potentates have plenary power over church-
property, to deal with it at their pleasure.' They
might at any rate abstain from ' grabbing, squandering,
and carousing away the charitable endowments, and
allow the poor to have the benefit of what, in past times,
was piously given and founded for them, as for instance
alms, clothing material, shoes, and other similar offer-
ings and charitable bequests.' ' They ought to be
allowed the same benefits that they enjoyed under the
Papacy, and these ought not to be withdrawn or cur-
tailed.' *
1 Hortleder, Rechtmassigkeit, pp. 1384-1385. See the letter of the
Superintendent Tilman Hesshus to Winistede (dated July 3, 1554), p. 1399.
In the writings of an unknown Catholic we read : ' Just as the peasants
were no better off for the plunder of ecclesiastical goods, so the Protestants
have not grown richer by their church robberies. This is evidenced by
the fact that as soon as a Protestant takes possession of a church benefice
he becomes so poor that he cannot stay in it unless he levies two or three
fresh taxes on his poor vassals. And this is the only advantage that the
poor man has reaped from the Evangel. When the peasants seized church
goods, they were put to death. But when the lords do it, then the poor
peasants must give out their bloody sweat in order that their lords may
be able to hold on to their stolen property, and at the risk of body and
life they must help to defend that for which their fathers, brothers, sons,
and friends were massacred. " Ah ! " you say, " but what becomes of all this
mass of property ? " The preachers are paid so little that they complain of
this in all their writings. Very few of the beggars have become rich through
GENERAL POSITION OF AFFAIRS 531
' The Evangelical overlords,' said Melchior Ambach
in 1551, 'adopt the Evangel, because it conduces to the
augmentation and maintenance of their authority and
their temporal possessions. They take possession of the
church goods and distribute them among their unman-
nerly children, their dissolute courtiers and haughty
scribes, yea even among altogether godless people,
caring little or nothing what sort of provision is
made for the ministry of parishes, churches, and
schools, and for the care of the poor.' *
Christopher Marstaller, for many years preacher at
Schwabisch-Hall, wrote as follows : ' Under the rule
of the holy Evangel the churches are all falling into
decay. Our parents built them from top to bottom,
their so-called alms. Where, then, does all the wealth go to ? First of
all remember the saying : Ill-gotten, ill-spent. Whereas these goods have
been acquired quite unlawfully, it is no wonder that the possession of
them has brought so little good fortune. According to the popular saying,
ecclesiastical goods devour other goods. Wherever formerly there was
one procurator, now there must of necessity be several Judases to be fed.
Each of these thinks to himself that, as the property cost the lords so
little trouble to get, it does not much matter how it is spent. Secondly
what immense sums are spent on building great works of fortification !
For nobody can tolerate right, and every one must resort to force. What
endless funds are required when, at all the courts of princes, there are
traitors, great and small, who keep the Protestants informed of the
counsel and plans of all the Christian chiefs ! How much, too, is spent
on plotting of a more private kind ; for no gentleman can utter a word
but straightway it is communicated by a messenger to the Protestants.
The intrigues carried on with foreign powers are also no slight cause of
expense. They involve the Emperor in additional business every day,
and he is quite unable to punish or check the sacrilegious proceedings of
the Protestants.' ' What an amount of money also is swallowed up by
the great magnificence displayed during Diets, the enormous banquets
that are given ! ... It needs also no small amount of wealth to meet the
expense of serious preparations carried on year after year for war against
rulers, and to provide service- and pension-money for captains and
others.'
1 Klage Jesu Christi iiber die vermeintlichen Evangelischen, Frank-
furt a. M. 155i; B2. D3. E.
M M 2
532 HISTOKY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
and were only too glad to give money for building
churches, and for all the adornment of the temples ;
they were none the worse for their liberality, but
enjoyed plenty and prosperity, good days and years,
and lived their lives in peace. Nowadays the ruling
authorities make such holes in the church revenues that
it is impossible to keep God's houses in repair ; the roofs
fall in, the rain and snow penetrate at all corners, and
many of our churches look more like stables for horses
than like temples. Beautiful altar-screens of silk and
velvet, with pearls and coral, were placed in the churches
by our fathers, and now they are taken away and
turned into hoods and bodices for the women. The
churches have indeed become so poor under the holy
Gospel that the ministers cannot even be supplied with
surplices to wear in the pulpit. Then the ruling
authorities, under the dispensation of the holy Gospel,
think so little of their church officials that when the
lord of the manor rides to the hunt, the parson is
obliged to ride with the jockeys, to scream and yell like
the rest of them : yea, the poor priest and shepherd of
souls is degraded to a mere jockey.' x
Under conditions like these, which had grown up
everywhere since the religious disturbances and the
assumption of church government by the secular rulers,
it was no wonder that the people, on whom the novel
doctrines were forced, yearned to return to the old
Catholic times.
The Hessian theologian Paul Asplie complained that
it was quite usual among the Protestants to lament in
the following strain : ' When we were under the Papacy,
attended mass, made pilgrimages, invoked the dear
1 See Mainzer Relation.
GENEEAL POSITION OF AFFAIRS 533
saints, then we had enough for our needs ; nowadays,
because we have given up all these practices, we are
always in want and trouble, everything has failed us
since the ' Gospel ' has been preached. What good,
indeed, has the Gospel brought us ? It has done nothing
but cause uproar and the turning out of images from
the churches.' 1
The bulk of the people, so in deepest distress said
the Amberg Court preacher Hieronymus Eauscher in
1552, were turning their eyes wistfully to the ' godless
Papacy,' murmuring and grumbling all the time : ' Since
the new teaching has come there has been no more
happiness and prosperity in the world ; people have not
grown better, but on the contrary worse and more •-
wicked through evangelical preaching.' The Lutheran
pastor, Thomas Eorer of Eothenburg near Nuremberg,
also complained in 1555 of the ' ignorant people among
the Protestant, who attributed all misfortune and misery
to the new doctrines.' Christopher Marstaller also
quotes the cry of the populace : ' Since the Lutheran
teaching has come into vogue and the new gospel has
been preached, there has been no good fortune any-
where, and ever since that time there has been no star of
good omen, but only war, pestilence, famine, blighting
of fruit ; and one disaster has followed on another.' 2
Still a generation later the preacher George Stein-
hart at Otterndorf heard the people saying : ' Oh, let us
have done with this doctrine ! Under the Papacy things
went on grandly ; there were good times then and
abundance everywhere ; but since the coining of the
1 Auslegung des Pmplieten Daniel (Pforzheim, 1560), ii. 42.
2 Compare the passages in Dollinger, Reformation, ii. 208, 313^
316-318.
534 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Evangel, grass and foliage, good luck, rain and seeds
have all disappeared.' 1
Melanclithon had been the first and the most vehe-
ment in complaining that the princes and municipal
authorities who had taken the church management into
their own hands had no real interest in religion or in the
promotion of Christian discipline. ' The imperial cities,'
he wrote, ' do not trouble themselves about religion : all
they care for is emancipation from the dominion of
the bishops.' ' The princes do not concern themselves
at all about these matters ; one creed is as good in
their eyes as another.' Under cover of the Gospel the
princes were only intent on the plunder of the churches,
*on gambling, drinking, and other degrading pursuits.
' What state of things shall we bequeath to posterity if
the authority of the bishops is abolished ? Even were
it allowable to overthrow the organisation of the
Church, it would be scarcely salutary. What will be-
come of the parishes if the old customs and usages are
done away with, and no more regular church overseers
appointed ? '
Melanclithon was now witnessing the fulfilment of
these words of his written in 1530, and all that he saw
grieved him so deeply that in his confidential letters he
spoke of a strong yearning for death. And yet he was
the foremost among those theologians who in May
1554, at a religious convention at Naumburg, planned
by the Elector Augustus of Saxony, declared the trans-
ference of church management to the civil authorities
to be not only an unavoidable necessity, as Luther had
long maintained, but a divine command. In his memo-
randum of advice, which had been approved by the
1 In the Evangelistarium (Leipzig, 1588), fol. 49.
GENERAL POSITION OF AFFAIRS 535
other theologians, he said that the rite of ordination
and the juridical powers claimed for the bishops both
by themselves and by great potentates, could not be
conceded to them because they were persecutors of
the Gospel. The gates of the temples are the gates of
the princes. Secular lords are the ' feeders of the
churches,' and it was their business to provide for right
doctrine and Christian discipline ; this exalted and
divine task belongs to their office. This religious
assembly was ruled by the selfsame spirit which two
years later inspired a synod at Greifswald to petition
the ruling prince ' to remain, next to Christ, the supreme
head of the church and the clergy.'
Melanchthon and his associates stipulated in this
memorandum that everything that was objectionable
to the Augsburg Confessionists must be denounced by
the preachers ; all heresy, all false religions, Maho-
medanism, popery, anabaptism, &c. With regard to
printers and booksellers, they said, the temporal rulers
must emphatically insist that nothing should be printed
or sold without the permission of the censors of the
press.1
The memorandum was throughout an expression of
the opinions of the Protestant princes present at the
convention, who had no intention whatever of con-
senting to their ecclesiastical powers being curtailed by
the bishops, but who hoped, on the contrary, to obtain
at the Diet, shortly to be convened in accordance with
the treaty of Passau, full legal recognition of their
local churches with all the accompanying regulations
for their inward and outward organisation.
1 In the Corp. Reform, viii. 284, 291. See Pastor's Reunionsbestre-
bungen, pp. 457-458.
536 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
With regard to the printers and booksellers also,
the princes wished to exercise strict censorship, although
not merely in respect of the errors of the Pope,
Mahomed, and the Anabaptists — all which Melanchthon
put on the same level — but also over the writings of
the theologians of the Augsburg Confession. Much
dissension and disturbance, wrote Duke Christopher of
Witrtemberg to Philip of Hesse, both in temporal and
spiritual matters, was occasioned by the mutual abuse
and recriminations of the theologians of this persuasion.
It was therefore imperatively necessary that every
prince who had adopted the Confession should enjoin
on his theologians and universities that ' henceforth,
under pain of severe punishment, no one of them
should attack any of his brother divines, or any theo-
logians of other lordships, or any persons whatever,
either of high or low degree, with invectives, lampoons,
or other libellous pamphlets, by which agitation and
turbulence might be caused ; and that they should also
refrain from abuse and slander in their pulpits.'
Where refutation of false doctrine was necessary, the
matter must not be left to any theologian for himself,
but the document must be submitted to the civil
authorities under whose jurisdiction the theologian
dwelt, and it must be decided by this board and others
whether the pamphlet should be published.
For the theologians of the new Church were already
using the weapons forged by Luther in virulent attacks
on one another. ' You see how many of the teachers of
our Church are fighting against us,' wrote Melanchthon
to Schnepf ; ' day by day fresh enemies spring up, as if
from the blood of the Titans : how gladly would I get
away from these parts, vea from life itself, in order to
GENERAL POSITION OF AFFAIRS 537
escape from the fury of these contentious spirits ! ' 1
Flacius Illyricus inveighed against Melanchthon as a
' popish firebrand of hell,' that same Flacius of whom
Luther had said : ' On this man, after my death, pro-
strate hope will lean for support.'
Osiander wrote : ' I believe that Melanchthon and
all his followers are no better than ministers of Satan ;
since the apostolic age there has been no more dangerous
man in the Church.' 2
The Margrave Albert of Brandenburg, who was a
most signal instance of entire loss of faith in conse-
quence of the religious dissensions of the preachers and
divines, wrote to Duke Albert of Prussia : ' We have
long been cognisant of the hateful schisms between the
theologians of Magdeburg, Wittenberg, and Leipzig, who
attack, slander, and abuse each other more virulently
than they have ever assailed the papists.' 3
' What will be the end of it all ? ' asked the Lutheran
Melchior von Ossa. ' Which party are the poor simple
lay folk to believe in, and how are the latter to defend
themselves ? What schools are pious, respectable, god-
fearing people to send their children to ? For each
separate preacher among these dissentient sectarians
wants to establish his own particular doctrines in the
schools and churches under his care, and they secure
-the support of the civil authorities, so that the people
are constrained to knock under. War, political dis-
turbance, scarcity, and need are nothing compared with
such religious discord. No hatred and ill-will are
1 Nov. 10, 1553, Corp. Beform. viii. 171.
2 To H. Besold, Feb. 21, 1551, in Epistolce hist. eccl. ii. 81. See
C. Schmidt's Melanchthon, pp. 557-558.
3 Sept. 21, 1551, in Voigt, Albrecht Alcibiades, i. 252.
538 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
fiercer or more destructive than the mutual hostility
between those who fight about religion.' *
' In every department of life, in religion, trade,
society, politics, family life, there was nothing but
anarchy and dissension throughout the Holy Empire,
and the people, weighed down with affliction, turned
their hopes to Augsburg, where a " Peace Diet " was to
be held, and asked anxiously, " What sort of peace will
they give us ? " '
The Diet which had been stipulated for in the Passau
truce was postponed from one date to another in
consequence of the illness and absence of the Emperor
and the military disturbances, and it was only with the
greatest difficulty that it could be got together at all.
In February 1554 the Emperor informed the six
Electors, through his councillor Bocklin, that he con-
sidered a Diet the only way of remedying the grievances
in the Empire ; he would use his power and influence
in every way for the maintenance of peace and
prosperity, and he hoped to be present at Augsburg in
April when the Diet was to meet.2 This announcement
produced no result. In June Charles urged King
Ferdinand to hasten on the opening of the assembly.
He himself, he said, owing to illness and to the fact
that the Netherlands were again threatened by France,
would not be able to attend in person, and he invested
him (Ferdinand) with full authority to come to a final
decision with the imperial Estates on all questions
brought forward. He was not to act in the name and
as the representative of the Emperor, but in his own
capacity as King of the Eomans. ' And to speak openly
1 Von Langenn, Melchior von Ossa, pp. 155-156, 195.
2 Bucholtz, vii. 165.
DIET AT AUGSBURG, 1555 539
to you, as is fitting between brothers, and make known
to you the true cause of the step I am taking,' Charles
added, 'I will explain that it is on account of the
religious scruples with which I am troubled, and which
I disclosed to you fully at our last interview at Villach.
I feel assured that you, on your part, as a good Christian
prince, will take care not to make any concessions
which would be contrary to the dictates of your con-
science, or likely to widen the breach in religion, or to
retard the remedies which, by the mercy and grace
of God, we hope may be arrived at.' l
Ferdinand undertook the difficult task of preventing
further insurrections and of tranquillising the Empire, a
task which he had all the more at heart because the
war with the Turks was still going on, and the machina-
tions of the French King gave cause to apprehend new
struggles.
The Diet was fixed for November 13, 1554 ; but
at the end of December, when Ferdinand arrived at
Augsburg, no members were yet present. The King
sent them urgent supplications, both by letters and
messengers, not to delay any longer in coming ; he
himself, he said, had left his own country and had come
to Augsburg at great inconvenience, in order to confer
with them over the most salutary measures for remedy-
ing the deplorable condition of Germany. ' The
personal presence of the princes,' said the King's delegate
Zasius to the Elector of Mayence, ' was of greater
importance at this Diet than it had been for a hundred
years ; the King had so many vital questions to deal
with, which could not be settled through representatives,
or by writing ; if trouble and rebellion ensued, he at
1 Lanz, iii. 622-624.
540 HISTOKY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
any rate would stand exonerated before God and the
Empire.' 1
Besides the Cardinal Bishop Otto of Augsburg,
there were only three bishops and a few abbots
present ; and of the secular princes, only the Dukes of
Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, and Savoy, and the Margrave
of Baden. The rest of the members sent delegates
to represent them. It was not until February 5, 1555,
that the opening of the Diet could take place. The
proceedings began with an address from the King on
the situation of the Empire and the business to be
transacted.2
' With regard to the highest and most important
point of the business,' Ferdinand said, ' namely the
question of the Holy Faith, it was clear as daylight
how much distress, anxiety, and misery had been
occasioned by the long-protracted religious dissensions.
These had been, in an incalculable number of cases, the
actual source of all the ruin and corruption that had
befallen both souls and bodies. Every Christian should
bear in mind how grievous and lamentable a thing
it was that those who were baptised into one faith and
one name, who were of one language and nation,
and the subjects of one empire, should have broken the
unity of the faith, handed down to them from their
ancestors through so many ages, and should have
separated in such a deplorable manner among them-
selves. Still more grievous was it that things had now
come to such a pass that it was not merely a question of
division into two parties, but of countless sects spring-
1 Bucholtz, vii. 169.
2 New light on this Diet has been thrown by the Beitrage zur
Reichsgeschichte collected by von Druffel and edited by Brandi.
DIET AT AUGSBURG, 1555 541
ing up in all directions, each one of which was fighting
against the others ; whereby God and his Holy Word
were beyond measure dishonoured, the bonds of
Christian love rent asunder, and the poor, simple,
uneducated people harassed in their consciences and
driven astray, so that soon none of them would any
longer know what to hold and believe. But what was
far the worst of all was that numbers of people had
grown up, and were still growing up, in these errors,
and that amongst all classes, high and low, there must
be a multitude of persons who believed in nothing at
all, and were abandoned to coarse, godless lives, without
any regard for conscience or honour. A terrible and
dangerous state of things, this, especially as regards
the young. It would be lamentable in the extreme
if this glorious nation, which from time immemorial had
outshone manv others in Christian virtue and in the
fear of God, and had thereby derived so much happiness
and prosperity, should now degenerate into a condition
more brutish even than had ever existed among the
heathen of old, or that existed nowadays among the
Turks and other infidels. There was all the more
urgent need for remedying the disastrous state of
religious affairs, because the German nation, which was
formerly strong and manly enough to defend itself
against all aggressors, was now in such an enfeebled
condition, through internal discord, insurrection, and
war, that there was great fear, unless God interposed
miraculously on its behalf, that it must be involved
in utter ruin.'
' Hitherto,' he continued, ' the Emperor, the King,
and the Estates had all been of opinion that a General
Council would be the best way of restoring uniformity
542 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
in religion, seeing that the question concerned the
whole of Christian doctrine and all Christian nations.
A Council had been convoked several times and had
several times commenced operations, but obstacles,
which were well known to everybody, had invariably
impeded its progress and prevented a conclusion being-
arrived at by this means. If the members of the Diet
were still of opinion that it was desirable to make
another attempt at holding a Council, the King would
again do all in his power to further such a course. In
this case there would be nothing else to discuss at this
Diet than how best to prevent the hindrances which
had hitherto interfered with the Council. If, on the
other hand, the members should think it best to defer
the meeting of another Council until some more peace-
ful time, he was ready to deliberate with them concerning
other Christian and moderate measures, in order that
meanwhile, pending either the meeting of a Council or
some other mode of settlement, the inhabitants of the
Holy Empire might dwell together in peace and amity,
and carry on their avocations without doing violence
to their consciences and to their duty to God. To a
national Council, however, which some had voted for
as the best means to the desired end, he could not
consent, because the form and appellation of such an
assembly were not sufficiently familiar or customary.
The relisfious conferences which had been held with a
view to reconciliation had failed of their purpose,
but they had sufficed to show that an accommodation
might have been arrived at in all the most important
points at any rate, if any real Christian spirit had
prevailed, instead of both parties persisting in their
stiff-necked obstinacy. The Emperor had reaped small
DIET AT AUGSBURG, 1555 543
thanks from either party through these conferences ;
but he, the King, was ready to try this method once
more, if the members were in favour of it, and if both
parties would proceed in good faith.' :
So little wisdom had Ferdinand accpired from past
experience that he himself actually wished to tread
again the unlucky road which could only lead to
increased complications and confusion.
On March 7 the debates began. The Diet unanimously
agreed that separate committees should be appointed
which should discuss simultaneously whether a general
council or a national synod should be the means fixed
on for settling the religious question, and what measures
should be adopted for keeping peace in the interval
among the dissentient parties.
Meanwhile, a step taken by a large majority of the
princes during the sitting of the Diet exercised a decisive
influence on the course of the negotiations. Instead
of making their appearance at Augsburg, the Electors
Joachim of Brandenburg and Augustus of Saxony,
the Landgrave of Hesse, the sons of the deceased John
Frederic of Saxony, and the princes of the Franconian-
Brandenburgish House assembled at Naumburg in
March and held a kind of opposition Diet." The Elector
Joachim had sworn obedience to the Pope and the
Council at Trent ; the Landgrave of Hesse had promised
the Emperor to conform to his Interim. At Naumburg,
however, both these princes joined with the others in
agreeing, for themselves and their heirs, to stand by the
Augsburg Confession and ' to take measures for insuring
1 Lehinann, pp. 7-12.
2 ' ... si ridussero a Naumburg e di la quasi da una antidieta scrissero
a S. M.', wrote the nuncio Delfino to the Cardinal Caraffa. (Ranke, Zur
deutschen Geschichte, p. 6, note 2.)
544 HISTOEY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
that no doctrine not in accordance with it should be
promulgated, and that all that was in opposition to it
should be forbidden and abolished.' Each and all of
them declared that they would have ' the ceremonies '
performed in their territories in accordance with these
tenets.1 On March 11 they wrote to King Ferdinand
that although they deemed it a praiseworthy under-
taking to strive after a coalition in religion, they feared
that nothing satisfactory would be accomplished, either
at a council or at a religious conference, until an urn
conditional peace between the religious disputants had
been established. They begged the King therefore to
keep this end in view at Augsburg according to his
promise in the treaty of Passau.2
The question of ' measures for reconciliation ' was
now adjourned, and the Protestants gained this much,
that in the electoral college the clerical votes also were
given in favour of ' a perpetual peace,' even if no
religious accommodation should be brought about. This
' perpetual peace,' as Zasius, Ferdinand's councillor,
wrote from Augsburg on June 5, ' had been the
cherished vision of the Augsburg Confessionists almost
ever since the beginning of his Imperial Majesty's
reign, but it had never before come near to realisation.' 3
The decision of the college of electors found a
1 Lehmann, pp. 54-55. Joachim, in his instructions to his delegate at
Augsburg, had said : ' There was no more profitable way of reconciliation
in religion than the Interim, if, as had been intended from the first, it
was accepted by the Catholic members also. For in this document the
principal points of our Christian religion were secured, the doctrine of
justification, the right use of the sacraments, and the marriage of the
priests ; we shall even have robbed the Catholics of the Canon of the
Mass.' (Wolf, Beligious Peace of Augsburg, p. 24, note 3.)
2 Lehmann, pp. 53-54.
3 Wolf, pp. 22-23.
DIET AT AUGSBURG, 1555 545
decided antagonist among the assembly of princes in
the person of the Cardinal Bishop Otto of Augsburg,
who would not give his sanction to an arrangement
which threatened to perpetuate the division of the
nation into two religious camps ; ' he would not agree
to terms of peace which were to retain their force and
validity even though the attempted unification were not
accomplished.' For the question was to be settled at a
council, according to whose decision one party would
have to yield to the other ; there must be only one
religion in the land, for God was a God of unity and not «,
of dissension.
The secular power had no right to meddle in the
internal affairs of the Church ; it was interference of
this sort ' that had caused the heaviest of the misfortunes
we saw around us.' The abolition of episcopal juris-
diction meant the introduction of slavery ; individual
bishops might have fallen short of their duty, as many
indeed had done, and as the spiritual overseers must
themselves allow and confess openly before the world,
but this did not justify the overthrow of the constitution
and government of the Church, to which, within limits,
the most exalted even of secular rulers were subject.
There was no denying that in the matter of lawsuits and
questions of jurisdiction the consistories had been guilty
of many abuses, but this might be remedied by each
jurisdiction confining itself to its own forum. On
March 23, Otto sent the Estates a formal declaration to
the effect that ' although he would do his utmost to
promote peace and to keep it, and would attempt no
hostile proceedings against any one, he must neverthe-
less frankly and firmly declare that he could not in any
degree subscribe to the proposed scheme of religion
VOL. VI. N N
•546 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
(and all that appertained to it) relating to dogma,
government, things, and persons, but that, on the
contrary, he intended to remain true to the duty and
allegiance he had sworn to the Pope and the Soman
See, the Emperor and the realm, in all points and
articles. Eather than subject these points to discussion
he would unflinchingly give up life and limb and all his
worldly goods ; he protested before God and man that
he would, as became a consistent Christian and a born
German, be true to his oath and duty unto death.' He
took no further part in the proceedings.1
The other ecclesiastical members of the assembly of
princes agreed to the electoral scheme respecting ' a
perpetual peace independent of religious reconciliation,'
but wished to insert the clause, ' so far as was con-
sistent with the duties of their office.'
As the ecclesiastical councillors of the college of
electors did not reject the clause at once, but wished
to refer the matter to the decision of their liege-lords,
the Protestant members broke up the meeting. The
ecclesiastical councillors were thrown into such con-
sternation that the chancellor of the Archbishop of
Mayence called on the Saxon ambassadors in their
hotel and begged them not to send off despatches
immediately to their court, ' but to leave the matter in
abeyance for one more day.' The clause, they said, was
the work of the devil ; he must himself confess that it
had no value.2
1 Otto and the Papal legate, Morone, who represented the same
principles, left Augsburg shortly after in order to be present at the Con-
clave at Rome after the death of Julius III.
2 Ranke, v. 263, note. The date in Ranke, April 14, is erroneous.
According to von Druffel the incident happened in May (iv. 658 and
687).
DIET AT AUGSBURG, 1555 547
On the following day the clause was unanimously
rejected.
The Protestants played this daring game because,
writes one who was present, ' they knew that they
had the upper hand everywhere and in all things, and
they knew what fear and terror the spiritual princes
had been thrown into by the bellicose proceedings of
the last years and the destructive violence of the
Margrave Albert of Brandenburg. The Emperor, in-
capacitated by bodily illness, had handed over all
management to Ferdinand, who himself was threatened
with the Turks close at hand, and stood in constant
dread of fresh war and insurrection in the Empire.' In
confident apprehension of a complete subversion of the
Church in Germany, the Archbishop of Mayence had
already instructed his ambassadors, on March 11, to
accommodate themselves to the demands of the Protes-
tants, with regard both to episcopal jurisdiction and to
the restitution of ecclesiastical property.
At the council of princes the bishops declared that
' on account of their oaths they could not consent to a
final cession of the church property appropriated by the
Protestants ; if, however, the Emperor thought it right
to insist on this course, they would not oppose him, but
would agree to tolerate what they could not prevent.'
But the Protestants were not satisfied with this promise
of ' toleration,' and the Brandenburg delegate warned .
the bishops that ' if they persisted in their obstinacy it
would be at their own peril, and each fox had better
look after its own skin.' ] The threat took effect. It
was conceded that the Protestants should retain for all
future time, in their undisputed possession, all the con-
1 Schmidt, Neuere Geschichte der Dcntsclien, ii. 41.
H N 2
548 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
fiscated property, bishoprics and cloisters, which had
not been held immediately under the Empire and had
already been in their possession at the time of the Passau
treaty.
The free exercise of ecclesiastical power by the
Protestant ruling authorities had hitherto been ham-
pered by the constitutional obstacle that the Imperial
Government was bound to protect and maintain the
spiritual jurisdiction of the bishops in their dioceses.
Practically this protection had been in abeyance for
many years past, and individual bishops had here and
there ' suspended ' their rights in favour of Protestant
princes, as instanced by the action of the Archbishop of
Mayence, Albert of Brandenburg, in 1528, in respect of
Hesse and Saxony.1
This obstacle was now to be removed in all directions,
and the suspension of government authority over the
Augsburg Confessionists ratified by an imperial decree.
This demand also was conceded by the Catholic
members.2
The Protestants then proceeded to insist further that
all members of the Empire and ail civil authorities
should be free to accept the Augsburg Confession for
themselves and their subjects ; and not only the tem-
poral but also the spiritual members, who should then
remain unhindered in the possession of their bishoprics,,
deaneries, benefices, and revenues.
This last stipulation raised decided opposition on the
part of the Catholics.3
' For the ecclesiastical members of the Empire,' they
1 See Vol. V. 183, 184.
2 Von Druffel, iv. 736.
3 Bitter, pp. 249 ff.
DIET AT AUGSBURG, 1555 549
said, ' to be free to adopt the Confession of Augsburg
would be the cause of complete ruin to numbers of
bishoprics in the Empire, and the seed of endless discon
tent and quarrelling. There would be only too many
among the ecclesiastical members ready to follow the
example of the Duke of Prussia and to take actual
possession of the bishoprics both for themselves and for
their heirs, or who at any rate would associate the
greater freedom allowed by the Augsburg Confession
with the use and enjoyment of clerical emoluments.
Prelates who were allowed to cast off the ecclesiastical
habit and to marry would either lay hands on all
monastic property, or else, before their secession, make
a complete clearance for their personal benefit. The
only way of rescuing the Catholic Church from the snares
of mundane greed was to enact a law that every priest,
either of high or low degree, who abjured the old
religion should be ipso facto deprived of his position and
office.'
If this last demand of the Protestants were acceded
to, wrote the Papal nuncio Delfino from Augsburg on
June 2, the Archbishop Sigmund of Magdeburg, son of
the Elector Joachim of Brandenburg, would instantly
embrace Lutheranism, and in a short time, he greatly
feared, most of the prelates would take to themselves
wives and secularise their bishoprics.1 The House of
Brandenburg, said King Ferdinand bluntly to Joachim's
ambassador, means undoubtedly to deal with the arch-
bishopric of Magdeburg as it has dealt with Prussia.
1 Maurenbrecher, Carl V. unci die deutschen Protestanten, ' Anhang,'
p. 170. ' By the desire of the Protestants,' wrote Zasius to Maximilian,
' there would soon be archbishopesses, bishopesses, provostesses, &c, in
feminino as in masculino genere, established throughout the Empire.
(Wolf, Augsburger Religiomfriede, p. 131.)
550 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
The Pope had confirmed the election of the Arch-
bishop Sigmund, after having received from him a
solemn assurance of his fidelity to the Catholic religion.
But the same sort of jugglery had been employed on
the occasion as that which Duke Albert of Prussia had
resorted to in order to procure the archbishopric of
Eiga for his brother William and to convert it to
Protestantism. Oaths of allegiance were sworn to the
Pope, with reservations not to observe them. Such
subterfuges, said Albert of Prussia, could be used
' with a good conscience for the sake of promoting
" divine doctrine." ' Archbishop Sigmund of Magde-
burg, unknown to King Ferdinand and the nuncio
Delfino, had already on January 23, 1554, told the
council at Halle that ' he intended to support the true
doctrine, that he would not let himself be misled by
false teaching, and that he would abolish the monks
and their godless proceedings.' The Elector Augustus
of Saxony had also, during the Diet of Augsburg, found
a man ready to go through another ' bit of jugglery '
for the sake of the bishopric of Meissen. On April
25, 1555, Augustus had made a compact with Johann
von Haugwitz, a canon of Meissen, to the effect that if
he were elected bishop he would not only renounce his
rights as an estate of the Empire, but would also
' personally plant, nourish, and maintain the true
Christian religion, as it was professed in Saxony,
throughout the whole of his diocese.' The election had
taken place through the influence of the Elector, and
on May 29 had been confirmed by the Pope, von
Haugwitz taking his solemn oath to use all his power
and influence to preserve both clergy and people in the
Catholic faith. Thus it was they played with oaths as
with dice.
DIET AT AUGSBURG, 1555 551
' The resolution that the secular Estates should be
allowed to join the Confessionists will be carried,' wrote
Eniann, licentiate of Mayence, from Augsburg on June
17, 'but as regards the clergy there are such great
difficulties on both sides that it is to be feared the
whole proceedings will collapse on this point, and the
assembly be dissolved.' The Saxon Elector's delegates
declared it was against the consciences of the
Confessionists to give up their stipulation respecting
the clergy, because in such a case the powerful world-
lings would alone be able to adopt the Confession, and
the others would be driven straight to the devil.1
When they found that the Catholic members, both
lay and cleric, were firm in their determination not to
yield in the matter of the Ecclesiastical Eeservation, the
Protestants, on July 21, addressed a written statement
to the King, in which they characterised the attitude of
the Catholics as ' opposed to God and all former imperial
decrees.' They could not give in, they said, without
sinning against the majesty of God ; for the divine
promises of everlasting salvation included the whole of
mankind, clergy and laity, and they did not want to
bar the gates of heaven against the clergy, and bring
on themselves at the day of judgment the sentence of
Christ : ' Woe unto you ! for ye shut up the kingdom
of heaven against men : for ye neither go in yourselves,
neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.' If
Jews, Turks, and infidels had sense enough and zeal
enough to try to win others to their opinions and beliefs,
how much more was this duty incumbent on them, who
were commanded as Christians to save others under
penalty of forfeiting their own salvation !
1 Bucholtz, vii. 191.
552 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
They had no hesitation in saying to the Catholic
King : ' Although we know surely and can plainly
prove from Holy Scripture, from the decrees of the
Fathers and of Councils, and from the sacred laws and
canons, that the members of the Empire professing
the old faith have in many ways abused the Christian
religion and the goods of the Church to the dishonour
of God, the corruption of the Church of Christ, and
the danger of countless souls of men, we have never-
theless, for the sake of peace, agreed that, pending
the final settlement of the religious strife, they should re-
main in undisturbed possession and enjoyment of their
Church usages, ceremonies, property, lands and people,
lordships and jurisdictions, prerogatives and rights,
rents, tithes and taxes ; no change would be made in
the election of bishops and canons, in foundations, old
customs or administrations.
The Protestants, therefore, wished it to be regarded
as a signal proof of their amicable intentions that they
did not completely suppress the Catholic religion in the
realm, and did not appropriate all the bishoprics with
their appurtenances.
It was known, however, to the whole world in what
manner Church property and revenues had been dealt
with in Protestant principalities and towns. The new
religionists themselves raised the loudest complaints
over the misuse, ' the squandering and wasting of the
greater part of these goods,' and invoked the judgment
of God on the heads of the ' sacrilegious Balthasars and
dilapidators.'
At Augsburg, however, the Protestants asserted
that it was only ' a large proportion ' of the ecclesiastical
princes who had been been guilty of misuse of the
DIET AT AUGSBURG, 1555 553
Church goods ; they themselves, on the contrary, had
persistently aimed at securing the legitimate and
Christian use of ecclesiastical revenues. And it was
still their opinion that these ought to remain attached
to the Church in perpetuity. The fear entertained by
the Catholics that through the abandonment of their
' Ecclesiastical Eeservation ' the bishoprics and founda-
tions would in course of time become profaned and
transformed into secular lordships and fiefs was ground-
less, they said ; the colleges and chapters would be
allowed to retain their right of free election and
management, and the holders of imperial bishoprics
would not lose their seats or votes.
Such assertions as these were scarcely consistent with
the proceedings of the Duke of Prussia ; with the treaty
that the Elector Joachim and his brother Hans had
concluded respecting the incorporation of the bishoprics
of Brandenburg, Lebus, and Havelberg with their
dominions ; with Brandenburg's plan respecting Magde-
burg ; with the compact only just formed between the
Elector Augustus of Saxony and Haugwitz, bishop of
Meissen.
The Protestants described their memorial to the
King as ' a Christian and benevolent statement of
opinion and instruction.' If, however, they should not
succeed in carrying their point with the opposite party,
it would be necessary, ' in view of the fact that the
Estates of the old religion, and especially the clerical
order, were already, through the judgment of the
Almighty, overladen with many unchristian, special,
disagreeable and insupportable oaths and obligations,'
to yield and ' grant them the liberty of coming to an
understanding among themselves regarding this article,
554 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
apart from this constitution, and of binding themselves
according to their will and pleasure as fast and hard
as they please.' ' But,' they added in conclusion, ' we
cannot and will not allow this article to be embodied
in the general constitution of the religious peace.' For
it contained, they repeated, an implied ' condemnation of
the Augsburg Confession and religion,' and branded
with ' infamy,' not individuals only, but their Christian
faith itself.1
At Ferdinand's request, Zasius again pointed out
that the whole question was one of property and
revenues rather than of faith and conscience. The
bishops who wished to become Lutherans should
be content with the liberty granted them ; for if
they really wished to adopt this teaching in response
to strong dictates of conscience and religious zeal, they
would not concern themselves about property and
revenues, but would remember the Gospel teaching :
' We have left all and followed Thee.' ' His speech was
highly sarcastic,' wrote the Saxon representatives to
their master. But the Elector Augustus was in agree-
ment with Zasius. The Ecclesiastical Eeservation, he-
said in a secret letter of instructions for his ambassadors,
might be accepted by himself and his co-religionists
' without violation of conscience ; ' for ' it had nothing
to do with conscience, but only with property, seeing
that every archbishop, bishop, or other prelate who
wishes to come over to our religion is free to do so
provided he gives up his bishoprics or benefice.' It
was, however, no slight infamy and disgrace that ' the
door to the great ecclesiastical dignities should thus be
closed to Protestant secular electors, princes, counts,,
1 Lehmann, pp. 30-32.
DIET AT AUGSBURG, 1555 555
nobles, and to their children and children's children
after them.'
'There was a fierce interchange of virulent letters
among the members, and spirits waxed very bitter.'
The Protestants threatened open war if their demands
were not satisfied. News of military preparations at
once came pouring in. First it was the sons of the
deceased John Frederic of Saxony, then Duke Eric of
Brunswick-Calenberg, then the dreaded incendiary
Albert of Brandenburg-Culmbach, by whom the bishops
were to be visited with fresh chastisement. The Dukes of
Bavaria and Wurtemberg took their leave of Augsburg.
Ferdinand gave up all hope of a successful issue of
the Diet. At the beginning of August he informed the
Estates that as he had now been nearly eight months at
Augsburg without accomplishing anything, and as,
owing to the absence of the princes, no definitive
settlement was to be expected, and he himself was
obliged to return immediately to his own land on
account of the alarming preparations that were being
made by the Turks, the Diet must be adjourned till the
following March and removed to Eatisbon ; the treaty
of Passau meanwhile was to continue in force.
This proposal, however, was strongly opposed both
by the Catholic and Protestant members. The latter,
profiting by the situation of the moment, endeavoured
to push through their objects at Augsburg ; the former,
' with tears in their eyes,' implored the King not to
forsake them, but to arrange for peace between them
and their adversaries, or they would be plunged in a
war without any means of defending themselves.
What a war of religion meant the ecclesiastical
estate had learnt both for themselves and their subjects
556 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
' by the gruesome and terrible experiences ' of the last
years. ' If God Almighty, in punishment of our sins,'
wrote the licentiate Emann,' should visit us once more
with plunder, carnage, slaughter, and humiliation, the
Holy Empire will be completely ruined and devastated,
and its degenerate people will sink back into barbarism.
Our antagonists are indulging in such threatening-
language that we cannot but fear we are at the beginning
of fresh horrors.'
The ecclesiastical members and their representatives
were so greatly intimidated that they yielded at almost
every point, in the hope, it must be said, that the King
would not agree to what had been resolved.1
On August 30 Ferdinand submitted to the notables
a resolution in which he reasserted, with regard to the
Ecclesiastical Eeservation, that ' it was all the more
incumbent on him to adhere to it because no regulations
had been imposed on the Protestants for dealing with
the confiscated bishoprics, cloisters, and parishes, and
with their owners and incumbents, in case the latter
should prove unfit for their offices and charges. For
just as it would seem very unjust and hard to them if
the Catholics should insist on their continuing to main-
tain these preachers and church officials even if they
abjured their confession, and taught contrary doctrine,
so would it be equally hard, if not more so, for the
Catholics to allow apostates from the faith to remain in
1 ' Si vede in loro [gli ecclesiastici] poca costanza, et qui come questi
protestanti nelli consegli bravano di tragli i vesovati per fuerza se non
consentono alle demande ingiuste, habent genua ita debilia, ut consentiant
ad omnem rem etiam turpern, pensando pure che il Re poi, ad quern
omnia postremo deferuntur, non habbia a lasciar passer le cose concluse,'
wrote Bishop Lippomano on Aug. 3, 1555. (Maurenbrecher, Appendix,
p. 177.)
RELIGIOUS PACIFICATION OF AUGSBURG, 1555 557
bishoprics, prelacies, and benefices, notwithstanding that
they despised and opposed the Catholic religion and
worship. Nothing but quarrelling, ill-will, and widening
of the schism could result from such a course. It would
not be a means to peace and unity, but only to worse
dissatisfaction. As for the secular Estates, only those
immediately under the Empire must be allowed religious
freedom. With regard to the free and imperial cities,
in which till then both religions had been practised, it
must be stipulated in the treaty of peace that in future
no one party must attempt to abolish or suppress the
religious rites and ceremonies of the other. This decree
would tend to the preservation of internal tranquillity
in the towns, and would also commend itself to the
burghers as reasonable and equitable.'
The Catholic members gave in their consent to this
royal proposal, but the Protestants still refused to give
up any of their exactions. The}'- now began, however,
to disagree among themselves.
The Protestant towns objected to the tolerance
proposed by the King. ' They could not see the justice
and equity on which the religious peace was supposed
to rest. The higher Estates were allowed entire freedom
to adopt and maintain whichever religion they preferred,
but in the case of the free and imperial cities this
liberty was so narrowed down and restricted that they
would be obliged, against their consciences, to tolerate
both religions within their boundaries. If for all future
time they were to be condemned to have two religions
existing, with equal right, side by side, there would be
nothing but contention, ill-feeling, and disturbance in
the communities, and ruin of municipal life.' 1
1 Lehmann, p. 38.
558 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
For the glory of God and for conscience' sake, there-
fore, they protested, the exercise of the Catholic religion
must not be tolerated in the towns. Gremp, the
delegate from Strasburg, gave a special reason for his
objections. ' The preachers,' he told Duke Christopher
of Wtirtemberg, ' are all the more urgent in demanding
complete annihilation of popery, because it exercises a
pernicious influence on the young, who are beginning
to develop a strong taste for this form of religion.' 1
While the Protestant towns were inveighing against
tolerance, the ambassadors of the electors and princes
were ' taking another road.' These princes had com-
pletely suppressed the Catholic Church within their own
dominions, and had left their subjects no alternative
but to embrace Protestantism or leave the country.
They had repeatedly declared intolerance of the
Catholics to be a religious duty. Again in March, at
the Diet at Naumburg, the assembled princes had
pledged themselves to tolerate nothing that was opposed
to the Confession of Augsburg, but to abolish all teach-
ing and preaching that were at variance with it. ' After
having destroyed every vestige of Catholicism in their
lands,' they instructed their delegates at the Diet to
demand that the subjects of both parties should be
allowed freedom in religion, and especially that the
Catholic rulers, wherever they had hitherto allowed the
Protestants to carry on their religion, should give this
sanction the confirmation of an imperial decree. They
actually had the audacity, in spite of all that had hap-
pened during the last thirty years, to assert that their
Catholic subjects, lay and clerical, had suffered no moles-
! ation of any sort from government authorities, and that
1 De Bussiere, Developpement, ii. 54.
RELIGIOUS PACIFICATION OF AUGSBURG, L555 559
justice required that the Catholics should treat the Pro-
testants with equal consideration.
There was so much political excitement and par-
tisanship everywhere bound up with the religious
innovations that the Catholic members, with Ferdinand
at their head, insisted all the more resolutely on their
claims to the same right which the Protestant princes
had asserted and exercised for years past, namely not
to be compelled to tolerate a schismatic religion within
their dominions. They were not concerned solely
about religion, they said, but about the obedience and
allegiance of their subjects, and they would not be able
to rely on these any longer if the freedom exacted by
the Protestants were granted to the Catholics also.
' The King would never go so far as that,' said Ulrich
Zasius to the Protestants, ' even if they put him on the
rack. Just as he leaves you at liberty to govern your
subjects as you like, both in civil and religious matters,
so he expects to have similar independence himself,
especially as among the lands he owns there are some
to which he pledged himself, at the beginning of his
rule, that he would tolerate no other religion than that
which was already in existence.' If the Protestants
tried to force him to act against his conscience, and, to
his soul's perdition, to open the door of rebellion to his
subjects, he had a short way out of the difficulty, and
would instantly throw up the whole proceedings and
ride away from Augsburg. Demands such as they had
put forward had not even been raised at the Passau
negotiations, when, so to speak, the arquebuses, pikes,
and halberds were ready at the door.1
As for the religious freedom which it was pretended
1 Schmidt, Neuere GescMchte der Deutschen, ii. 50-54.
560 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
that the Catholics enjoyed in the Protestant districts,,
the Catholic members said ' it was patent to everybody
that in the Protestant towns and provinces the burghers
and other inhabitants of the old religion were shunned
and despised by the Protestants ; all offices of trust and
dignity were closed to them, and attempts of all sorts
were made to compel them to adopt the Augsburg
Confession ; the clergy were docked of their incomes,
and when they complained they were shown their
way out at the door. The Lutheran service was intro
duced everywhere, and the old Christian faith banished
from the land, so that it would be better to .cease
talking about this so-called equality than to make
such demands on the orthodox believers.' They, the
orthodox members of the Empire, would not suffer
themselves and their subjects to be deprived of their
ancient traditional religion. If the adherents of the
Augsburg Confession had hitherto enjoyed a few tran-
quil }^ears under the Catholic rulers, they had to thank
the voluntary tolerance of the latter, but had no right
to build any claims on the fact.
The Protestants were above all concerned to insure
the security of their co-religionists within the ecclesias-
tical territories. The Elector Augustus of Saxony, in
the declaration in which he had expressed himself in
favour of the Ecclesiastical Eeservation, had em-
phatically stated that he could not agree to leaving the
bishops a completely free hand in the control of their
vassals ; they would have much to answer for if now or
in the future, under the pretext of religious liberty, the
episcopal towns of Magdeburg, Halberstadt, Halle,
Jtiterbogk, Merseburg, Naumburg, Zeitz, Wurzen, and
others were forced to abjure the Confession of Augsburg.
RELIGIOUS PACIFICATION OF AUGSBURG, 1555 561
He could not accept an article of this nature, ' let his
Eoyal Majesty, or whoever chose, advocate it.' The
other Confessionists sided with Saxony and said they
would rather break up the meeting- and leave Augsburg
than give in.
Ferdinand at last, ' driven by dire necessity,' and to
secure for himself and the lay Catholic members the
same freedom of choice in religion which the Protestants
enjoyed, agreed to their demands with regard to the
ecclesiastical districts. He acted on the principle
' Better lose a little than lose much more,' and he made
the Protestants a secret declaration, which was not
recorded in the recess, to the effect that ' the
members and delegates who professed the Augsburg
Confession had represented to him that knights, towns,
and communes belonging to several archbishops,
bishops, and other ecclesiastics and religious institu-
tions had for a long time been adherents of the
Confession of Augsburg, and that serious trouble
and insurrection would arise if they should be con-
strained to renounce their creed : they begged, therefore,
that the King would enjoin the clergy to leave these their
subjects unmolested, and, as a concession to the demands
of circumstances, to accord them the benefits of the
religious peace of Augsburg. To this the Catholic
members had opposed all sorts of arguments and
objections, so that the two parties had been quite
unable to come to an understanding. Accordingly he,
Ferdinand, now declared, in virtue of the authority con-
ferred on him by his Imperial Majesty, that those
knights, towns, and communities, under ecclesiastical
lordship, which for some time past had adhered to the
Augsburg Confession and had practised that Church's
VOL. vi. o o
562 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
usages and ceremonies openly, and still practised them
at the present time, were not to be coerced by anybody,
but were to be left unmolested until the Christian
religious accommodation had been arranged.1
By this declaration the peace was ' already damaged
in one point beorehand ; ' it was equally damaged at
another point by a decision respecting the Ecclesiastical
Eeservation, ' which was in reality no decision at all, and
which opened the door to the associates of the Augsburg
Confessionists.'
' Whereas the members of the two religions,' so ran
the text of the treaty of peace, ' had not been able to
come to an agreement as to how to deal with the clergy
who should abjure the old religion, the King, in virtue
of the plenary power conferred on him by the Emperor,
declared that every archbishop, bishop, prelate, or other
clerical personage who accepted the Confession of
Augsburg, must forfeit his office, dignity, and income,
albeit without prejudice to his reputation ; and the
chapters, or whatever body by tradition and usage had
the right of appointment, should be free to place a
person of the old religion in the vacant post.' 2
Nevertheless, even before the end of the Diet the
councillors of the Protestant electors and princes told
the town delegates that the article was not binding on
them ; that the king had only had it inserted in the
treaty to make a pretence of pleasing the ecclesiastical
1 This subsidiary declaration was not the result of ordinary debates,
but of private conferences. The Catholics had consented to it passively,
not wishing to be bound by it, and on the express understanding that it
should not be made public. Full legal force was, therefore, wanting to
this royal enactment published at the wish of the innovators. See Moritz,
Die Wahl Rudolfs II, pp. 21-32.
2 Von Druffel, iv. 732.
RELIGIOUS PACIFICATION OF AUGSBURG, 1555 563
princes ; but that the temporal electors and princes of
the Augsburg Confession would not be deprived of any
of their rights by a clause added without their consent,
and which, not having been ratified by the majority,
was binding on no one, and was null and void.1
The Protestants declared later on that they were
not bound by the Ecclesiastical Eeservation, because
they had not consented to it, as was manifest from the
words of the article : ' The members had been unable
to come to an agreement in this respect.' From this,
however, it followed logically that the royal declaration
with regard to the religious freedom of the Confessionists
in the ecclesiastical territories was not binding on the
Catholics ; for in this document it was expressly stated
that, in virtue of the plenary power bestowed on him
by the Emperor, the king had enacted this decree
because the members had not been able to come to an
agreement.
Thus the so-called ' A ugsburg Treaty of Peace ' con-
tained within itself from the first the germs of further
discord.
Indeed, the whole transaction might be described in
the words of Jeremiah : ' They cried Peace, peace, when
there was no peace.'
' The religious schism with all its consequences, as
Ferdinand had depicted them at the opening of the
Diet, was by no means removed by all the fine speeches
made about reconciliation ; on the contrary, it was
established in perpetuity both for those then living
and for posterity.' ' The Holy Empire,' said a writer
of true patriotic soul a few days after the conclusion of
the proceedings, ' the Holy Empire will remain hence-
1 Lehmann, pp. 51-52. Ritter, p. 253 ff.
o o 2
564 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
forth a divided Empire, unless God interposes miracu-
lously.' x
The Augsburg work, moreover, had no reference
whatever to the religious breach in the nation, to the
Catholics and Protestants among the people, but only
to the members of the Empire, considered respectively
as believers in the Catholic faith or in the Confession
of Augsburg, who pledged themselves not to oppress
each other on account of religion. Supposing any
one of the latter should wish to go over to any other
sect among the Protestants, say for instance to the
Zwinglians or the Calvinists, he would be entirely ex-
cluded from this treaty. It remained to be seen whether
this would tend to peace for the Empire and the people.
The compact was of no advantage to any but the
princes and the Estates of the Augsburg Confession.2
These last obtained what they had so long striven
after : the unlimited duration of the peace, together
with undisturbed possession of the confiscated church
goods, cloisters and foundations, and free use of
their revenues. They obtained further, by the con-
stitutional confirmation of the suspension of episcopal
jurisdiction, complete freedom in the exercise of the
right of church management which they claimed, and
were empowered to legislate within their territories
concerning doctrine, church worship, ecclesiastical
government and discipline, and the appointing and
deposing of church officials. All clerical liberty, rights,
and prerogatives were completely annihilated.
1 Despatch of Emann, Oct. 3, 1555 ; see Mainzer Bclation.
- The religious freedom of the immediate imperial Estates was tacitly
assumed throughout the whole Augsburg treaty, with the single exception
that in the free towns both confessions should continue to co- exist. See
von Druftel, iv. 739, 743.
RELIGIOUS PACIFICATION OF AUGSBURG, 1555 565
The principle, first inculcated by the theological
leaders and orators of the religious revolution, of the
unconditional obedience due from subjects to their
rulers, gained complete authority at Augsburg, where
it overruled the most sacred personal matters of faith
and conscience. The fundamental axiom of the new
national church, ' To whom the land belongs, to him
belongs the religion of the land,' was solemnly recog-
nised and did away with all freedom of conscience.
The pettiest princes and corporations of the Empire
were now privileged to determine the religious faith of
their subjects. The only freedom retained by the latter
was the melancholy right, after selling up their goods
and chattels for the sake of their religion, to migrate
from their country with no further liabilities or annoy-
ance than the payment of a moderate indemnity to the
state. The right of the authorities to retain or to set
free their bondmen remained, however, unimpaired by
this enactment. Those who either could not or would
not expatriate themselves were obliged to accept the
laws imposed on their consciences by the will of the
ruling authorities. After the civil powers had taken
in hand the management of the politico-religious revo-
lution, the people had no other course left them than to
suffer and be silent.
The so-called religious peace of Augsburg became
a new source of unutterable misery for Germany.
INDEX OF PLACES
Adrianople, 163, 234
Aiguesmortes (treaty, 1538), 5, 8,
29
Algiers, 164, 178
Allersberg (district), 226
Alps, the, 317, 447
Alsace, 297, 314, 465, 498
Altenburg, 361
Altmark, the, 66
Altorf, 509
Arnberg (district), 227
Aiuberg (town), 533
Amersfoort, 235
Ammendorf, 451 f.
Arnorbach, 489
Anhalt (principalities), 9, 33, 291
Annaberg, 360
Ansbach-Baireuth (principality),
450
Arnstadt, 74
Arras (bishopric), 363, 395
Artois, 179, 259, 444
Aschaffenburg, 347, 489 ; convent
of the Beguines, 347 ; church of
the Holy Sepulchre, 347 ; Castle,
489
Augsburg (bishopric), 22, 153, 313,
315, 342, 409. 444
Augsburg (town), 11, 14, 30, 40, 77,
83, 104 (n. 2), 160, 203, 222, 227,
304 (n. 2), 313, 315 ff., 335, 354,
446, 454, 461 {n. 2), 498
Augsburg (Diet, 1525), 21, 54, 111,
155, 196, 218, 254 (1547-48),
374 f., 383, 390-402, 410, 422,
428 f., 433, 435, 437 (1555, reli-
gious pacification), 538-565
Augsburg (Confession), 43, 52, 107,
111, 151, 156 f., 166, 167 (n. 1),
170, 198, 243, 253, 301, 338, 401,
424, 431, 509, 535, 543, 548, 551,
554, 558-565
Augsburg (Interim, 1548), 397-411,
414-420, 430 f., 433, 481, 543
Austria, imperial and hereditary
lands, 27 f., 97, 106, 166 ff., 220,
234 f., 250, 409, 414, 504, 555 f.
(cf. Burgundy, the Netherlands,
Hungary)
Baar, the, 40
Baden (Margraviates), 425, 523,
540
Baireuth (principality), 450
Bamberg (bishopric), 425, 428, 454,
457, 501 (n. 1), 506
Bamberg (town), 507; episcopal
castle, 508
Bamberg (criminal court). 113
Basle (town), 41, 53, 423
Bavaria, 14, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33,
36, 96 f., 101, 124, 143, 152, 160,
202, 204, 217, 221, 254 (n. 1),
262, 306 ff., 316, 336 f., 340, 385,
402 (n. 1), 429, 447, 454, 472,
480, 496, 507, 540, 555
Bayonne (bishopric), 442
Belgrade, 467
Berlin, 61, 177,' 363
Bern, 41
Bischofsheim, 454, 489
Bohemia, 165, 308, 316 (n. 1), 344,
361, 365, 375, 474, 504, 509
Boitzenburg (monastery), 68
Bologna (town), 272
Bologna (council), 381 f., 387 ff.,
408, 428
568
HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Bonn (town), 229
Bonn (Provincial Diet, 1543), 231
Bopfingen, 349
Boulogne, 258
Brabant, 341, 424
Brandenburg (bishopric), 59, 63,
793
Brandenburg (electorate), 10, 21,
27 ff., 37, 45 (n. 2), 59-70, 142
(n. 1), 149, 153, 158, 165, 171 ff.,
175, 243, 251, 363, 368-374, 384,
393, 397 f., 411, 415, 429, 436,
471, 480, 493, 543, 549, 553
Brandenburg (town), 59, 68; Bare-
foot monastery, 68 ; Cathedral,
415 ; Dominican monastery, 68
Brandenburg (criminal code), 113
(n. 1)
Brandenburg-Ciistrin, 10, 311, 376,
392, 403, 409, 422, 425, 427, 437,
442, 457-458, 480, 543
Brandenburg-Culmbach (Franco-
nian territory), 72, 295-6, 307,
309, 337, 348, 360, 392, 404, 425,
436, 444, 447, 450 ff., 483, 487,
489, 492 ff., 500, 505-510, 513,
516-519, 537, 547, 555
Breisgau, 341
Bremen (archbishopric), 75, 322
Bremen (town), 10, 208, 365
Brenner, the, 476
Brieg. See Liegnitz
Brunswick (town), 197, 201, 203,
208, 213, 216, 365, 516, 527
Brunswick (assembly of the League
of Smalcald, 1538), 9 f., 14, 16,
197 ; (1542), 207 f.
Brunswick-Calenberg, 243, 365,
555
Brunswick-Luneburg, 36, 75, 177,
334, 421, 425
Brunswick-WoLfenbiittel, 21, 25,
33, 123, 150, 161, 174, 195, 196-
217, 220 f., 241 f., 246, 247, 254,
(«. 1), 264, 292, 351, 372, 392,
429, 510, 514
Brussels, 138, 294
Buchheim, 452
Burgau (margraviate), 317, 335
Burgau (town), 335
Burgundy (duchy), 4, 135, 259, 340,
409. Cf. Franche-Comte
Burtenbach, 314, 317
Busseto, 256
Calais, 260 (n. 2)
Calbe (provincial Diet held there
in 1541), 71
Cambray (Camerich), 443
Cammin (bishopric), 398
Carniola, 578
Carthagena, 164
Cassel (town), 84 («. 3), 95, 116,
125, 199, 353 (n. 3)
Cassel (league), 97
Cassel (synod), 89
Cella, 437
Chalons, 258
Chambord (castle near Blois), 449
Charleroi (county), 135
Chemnitz, 56
Cleves (duchy), 135, 149, 155, 179,
480, 507. Cf. Jiilich-Cleves-Berg
Coblentz, 98, 490
Coburg (town), 278 (n. 1)
Colin, 61
Colmar, 298
Cologne (archbishopric), 27, 92,
144, 153, 228-233, 240, 243, 263,
294-297, 312, 334, 355, 384, 399,
473, 480
Cologne (town), 103, 230, 241, 251,
285, 295, 413
Cologne (the Book of Reform), 232
Constance (bishopric), 45, 153
Constance (town), 40, 158, 244,
323, 346 f., 353, 414
Constantinople, 163 f., 178, 364,
515
Cottbus (lordship), 422
Crespy (peace of, 1544), 259, 300
Crossen (lordship), 422
Cristrin (duchy). See Branden-
burg
Custrin (town), 439
Culmbach. See Brandenburg
Damvillers, 473
Danube, Danube lands, 177. 317,
324, 335, 340, 367
Denmark, 8, 38, 41, 93, 140, 179,
183, 240, 281 (n. 1), 321, 329, 334,
340, 423, 425, 441, 517 (n. 1)
Dillingen, 317, 335, 342
Dinkelsbiihl, 349
Dobrilugk, 183, 191
Donauworth (town), 305, 317-318,
332, 339, 495
INDEX OF PLACES
■509
Donauworth (capture of), 342
Drakenburg (battle), 366
Dresden, 49 f., 57, 309 (n. 2), 437
Diiren, 238
ECHTERNACH, 496
Eger (Diet, 1553), 510
Ehrenberg (pass), 315, 335, 446
Ehrenberg (castle), 316
Ehrenbreitstein, 490
Eichsfeld, 72
Eichstatt (bishopric), 424, 429, 480,
505
Einbeck, 198
Eisenach (congress, 1538), 11 (n. 2),
16 ; (1540) 98, 118
Eisleben, 62, 279, 280, 281 (n. 1)
Elbe, the, 361
England, 37, 41, 74, 93, 98 f., 134,
149, 183, 240, 258, 260, 270 (n. 1),
298 f., 301 (n. 3), 318 f., 340, 354
(n. 2), 423,425 f., 441, 462
Erfurt, 424, 448, 514
Erlbach, 452
Esslingen (town), 13, 332, 352, 354
Esslingen (municipal assembly,
1537), 13 ; (1538) 30
Europe, 10, 94, 164, 342, 378, 520
Fernstein (pass), 479
Ferrara (duchy), 337
Finstermuntz, 315
Flanders (county), 259, 341, 444,
476, 486
Florence (archduchy), 337
Fontainebleau, 463 (n. 1)
Forchheim (town), 458
France, 1, 3-8, 20, 29, 74 (n. 1), 93,
106, 133-140, 143, 149, 155, 179,
234, 238, 249, 251, 255, 260, 262,
299 f., 318, 323, 340, 345, 355-
359. 361, 364, 366, 371, 378,
422 f., 425 ff., 438, 440-449, 453,
457, 462-467, 472, 476 f.. 482,
484, 489 f., 492-495, 497 f., 500,
504, 510-519
Franche-Comte, 444
Franciscan monastery, 303
Franconia, 27, 98, 349. 416, 456,
510, 514
Franconian circle, 494
Frankenhausen (battle, 1525), 211
Frankfort on the Main, 112, 155,
157, 167 (n. 1), 170, 198 f., 202,
244, 261 (11. 1), 267, 304 (n. 2),
323, 334, 346 ff., 350, 401, 403,
405, 411, 417, 435, 453, 490, 494,
507, 531 (n. 1)
Frankfort on the Main (congress,
1539), 30, 35-46, 49, 52, 93, 102,
107; (1543) 242; (1546) 294,
297 f.
Frankfort (armistice, 1539), 42, 53,
60, 73, 93, 100, 107, 146
Frankfort (fairs), 41, 393 (n. 1)
Freiberg (district), 50
Freiberg (town), 50, 52, 360
Friesland, 518
Fimfkirchen, 234
Fiissen, 315
Fulda (abbey), 347, 508
Fulda (town), 319
Gandersheim (abbey), 205
Geisslingen, 456
Genoa, 178
Germany (Holy Eoman Empire of
the German nation), 1, 3, 8, 10,
14, 19, 27, 29, 32. 34, 53, 66
(11. 1), 74 (n. 1), 80, 93 f., 106, 125,
139, 143, 145, 155. 160, 1B3,
165 f., 169, 172, 175 f., 180, 184,
195, 197, 219, 222, 224, 238 f.,
244, 255, 267,269,274,281 (n. 1),
292, 301, 303, 306, 308, 313, 320,
339, 341, 352 f., 356, 358, 364,
369, 378, 384, 407, 409 ff., 413,
420, 428, 518
Germany (Imperial Chamber, or
Court of Justice), 13-19, 28, 33,
35, 37, 102, 113, 141, 155, 157,
167, 169, 171, 175, 197, 217 ff.,
220 f., 223, 228, 242, 253, 264,
302, 325, 376, 408, 411
Ghent, 94, 101
Giengen, 342
Gmiind. See Schwab -Gmiind
Gorlitz (Church of the Virgin), 438
Gottingen (congress), 206
Goslar, 74, 141, 171, 197 f., 201,
208, 216 ; (minster) 208
Gotha (town), 111, 345, 364
Gran, 234
Greifswald (synod, 1556), 535
Grevenmachern, 497
570
HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Grimma (treaty, 1542), 192, 195
Grisons, the, 315, 442 (n. 3)
Grosshaslach, 451
Grosswardein (treaty, 1538), 162
Guelders (duchy), 73 f., 92, 98, 135,
155, 239, 341, 518
Giinstmrg, 317
Givnz, the, 317
Hagenau, 298
Hagenau (religious conference,
1540), 109 I, 114, 136, 228
Hainault, 235, 240
Halberstadt (town), 309, 514, 526,
560 (Franciscan monastery), 303
Halberstadt (bishopric), 32, 71, 75,
236, 291, 344, 348, 434
Halle, 72, 279, 348, 350, 366, 372,
413, 550, 560
Halle (alliance for defence of
Catholicism), 20
Hamburg (town), 10, 322, 358,
365 f.
Haniersleben (monastery), 434
Hanover (duchy), 21, 513
Hanover (town), 524 (n. 2)
Hanseatic towns, 520
Havelberg (bishopric), 63, 553
Heideck (lordship), 226
Heidelberg, 298, 495
Heilbronn, 11, 349 f.. 354 («. 2)
Heilsbron, 452 (n. 2)
Hersfeld, 85
Hesse, 1 (n. 2), 8-11, 13 ff., 27,
29 ff., 33 f., 36, 40 ff., 45-48, 73-
91, 92 99, 101-104, 108 f., 113-
132, 133 ff., 138-141, 149 f., 160,
165, 168, 171 (n. 2), 174, 192, 195,
196, 201 ff., 205 ff., 211 ff., 218,
220 ff., 225, 230, 233, 236-239,
242, 245, 247 f., 251, 270 (n. 1),
293, 295, 297 f., 301, 306, 312 f.,
318 f., 324, 326 ff., 332 ff., 340-
346, 348, 352 f., 357, 366-374,
403, 409, 411 ff., 437, 442, 454,
470, 474, 477 f., 492, 499, 503,
516, 524, 532, 536, 543, 548
Hildesheim (bishopric), 180, 196,
209 (n. 1), 303, 514
Hildesheim (town), 208, 228, 514
Hohenasperg, 352
Hohenlandsberg (fortress), 517
Hohenstein (lordship), 509
Holland, 322, 341
Hungary, 27, 154, 159, 162-166,
172, 175, 177 f., 235, 335, 337,
356, 365, 438, 467, 474, 477 f.,
494, 504
ICHTERSHAUSEN, 319
Idler, the, 316
Ingolstadt, 30, 337
Inn. the, 336
Innsbruck (town), 446 (». 2), 468,
475 ff.
Ipshofen, 517
Isar, the, 336
Isny, 16 f.
Italy, 4, 144, 154, 164, 177. 255,
308, 315, 335, 341, 365, 377. 392,
423, 447, 467, 486
Jena, 364
Jlilich-Cleves-Berg, 73, 80, 92, 95,
98, 153, 233, 235, 239, 245, 289,
432, 466, 473
Jiiterbogk, 560
Kaisersberg, 298
Kaufbeuren, 305
Kemnat, 317
Kempten (abbey), 153
Kettenhofen, 497
Kirchheim in Niederlausitz, 183
Kirchheim in Wurtemberg (battle,
1534), 352
Kitzingen, 517
Konigsberg (in Prussia). 425
Konigsbronn (Cistercian monas-
tery), 456
Konigsmachern, 497
Kopnick (treaty), 73
Krewesen (monastery), 68
Kurbrandenburg, Kurcoln, Kur-
mainz, Kurpfalz, Kursachsen,
Kurtrier. See Brandenburg,
Cologne, Mayence, the Pala-
tinate, Saxony, and Treves
Lahr, 88
Landau, 500
Landrecy, 240
Landshut, 204, 336 f.
INDEX OF PLACES
571
Laon, 258
Lauf, 509
Lauingen, 342
Lausitz, 292, 360, 375
Lebus (bishopric), 10, 63, 552
Leipzig (town), 130, 194, 276, 359,
368
Leipzig (university), 55, 537
Leipzig (provincial Diet), 415
Leipzig (Interim), 415, 537
Leutkirch, 415
Lichtenau (lordship), 509
Liegnitz (town), 392
Liegihtz-Brieg (duchy), 38, 391
Limburg on the Lalm, 98
Lindau, 40, 354
Linden, 451
Linz on the Danube, 475, 481, 489
Lippa, 467
Livonia, 70
Lochau (castle), 442
Lochau (treaty, 1552), 504
Lombardv, 178, 256
London, 41, 298
Lorraine, 237, 446, 464, 468, 484
Lower Germany, 368
Lucca, 164, 381
Lucerne (congress, 1539). 40
Lubeck (town), 321, 366
Lyons, 461 (». 2)
Maestricht (town), 306
Magdeburg (archbishopric), 32, 40,
71, 75, 80, 204, 236, 291, 309,
344, 348, 433, 447, 549, 553
Magdeburg (town), 185, 209 (n. 1),
321, 348 f., 365, 419, 433 ff., 436,
447, 469, 524, 537, 560 ; (cathe-
dral) 349 ; (Neustadt) 436
Main, 461, 489, 494, 518
Mansfeld (county), 279, 523
Mansfeld (town), 281 (n. 1)
Marburg (town), 90 ; church of St.
Elizabeth, 47, 417 ; sepulchre of
St. Elizabeth, 47
Marburg (university), 84 (n. 3)
Marienberg, 360
Maritime towns, 334, 361, 371, 425
Marseilles, 7
Mechlin, 179, 437
Mecklenburg, 425, 435 f., 438 f.,
443, 447, 454, 477, 488, 518, 524,
Meiningen, 319
Meissen (bishopric), 53, 58, 180,
181, 184, 189-194, 224, 237, 241,
291, 550, 553
Meissen (margraviate), 117, 449
(»• 2)
Meissen (cathedral), 54, 193
Memmingen, 323, 335 ; meeting of
the Smalcald League, 323
Mergentheim, 461, 490
Merseburg (bishopric), 58, 181, 184,
194, 237, 291
Merseburg (town), 349, 560 ; cathe-
dral, 349 ; monastery of St. Peter,
194
Metz (town and bishopric), 237,
443, 461 (n. 2), 466, 468, 498, 500,
502, 506, 511 f.
Milan (duchy and town), 7, 74
(n. 1), 134, 178, 238, 258, 299,
323, 340, 377, 383, 471
Miltenberg, 489
Minden (bishopric), 224, 322, 514
Minden (town), 35, 102, 141, 224
Modena (bishopric), 194 (n. 2)
Montbeliard (county), 11
Muhlberg (battle, 1547), 361 ff.
Muhlhausen in Thuringia, 211, 303,
448 ; church of St. Mary, 212
Mtinster (bishopric), 92, 153, 224,
231, 312
Munich, 95, 262, 412
Nancy, 464
Naples, 259, 377, 467 ff., 471
Nassau, 665
Naumburg (town), 182 f., 366, 395
Naumburg (congress, 1541), 198
Naumburg (opposition Diet, 1555),
543, 558
Naumburg (religious convention
1554), 534
Naumburg-Zeitz (bishopric), 141
168, 180, 181-191, 194, 224, 241
248, 288 (». 1), 321, 366, 396
Navarre, 134, 137
Netherlands, the, 93, 134 f., 149,
179, 235, 259, 294, 322, 339, 341,
350, 369, 438, 444, 446 f., 494,
498, 511
Nether Saxony, 365, 512 f.
Nether Suabia, 349
Neuburg. See Pfalz-Neuburg
Neuburg on the Danube, 340
572
HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Neumark, 10
Nidda, 147
Niederlausitz, 183
Nizza, 234
Nizza (truce, 1538), 5, 133
Nordlingen, 349, 356, 416
Nordhausen, 416
Norway, 9
Nuremberg (town), 11, 23. 100
(to. 1), 226 f., 242, 288 (to. 3), 313,
369 (to. 3), 391, 416, 424, 454,
457, 509, 517; (Germanic
museum, 461, n. 2) ; (churches
of St. Lorenzo and St. Sebald)
454
Nuremberg (Diets) (1542), 174 f.,
202 (to. 4), 206, 216 ; (1543) 220,
224, 238
Nuremberg (assembly of delegates,
1539), 44 ; (1543) 220 ; (' Chris-
tian Alliance,' 1538) 21-27, 33,
37, 53, 159, 185, 197, 202, 204
Nuremberg (religious pacification,
1532), 21, 25-28, 42, 154
Ofen (Buda), 163, 172, 177, 467;
(church of St. Mary) 164
Oldenburg (county), 489, 492
Onolzbach. See Ansbach
Oppenheim, 495
Orleans, 463 (to. 1)
Osnabriick (bishopric), 92, 224
Osnabriick (town), 225 (to. 1)
Otterndorf, 533
Paderborn (town), 74, 92, 95
Palatinate. See Pfalz
Paris, 4, 299, (Montmartre) 258
Parma (duchy), 377
Passau (bishopric), 480
Passau (town), 475, 480
Passau (treaty, 1552), 480-489, 494,
496, 503, 534, 538, 544, 548 ff.,
559
Pavia, 178
Perpignan, 179
Pesth, 176
Petersaurach, 451
Pfaffengasse, the (Parsons' Street),
487 (see also to. 1)
Pfalz (Palatinate), 9, 27, 30, 37, 45,
82 (to. 2), 98, 144, 147, 248. 251,
261, 294, 297, 306 f., 312, 351,
384, 425, 473, 489, 496, 523, 525
Pfalz -Neuburg, 226 f., 298, 488,
507
Pfalz-Zweibrucken, 403
Pfalzel, 496
Piacenza (duchy), 377
Piacenza (town), 383
Picardy, 240
Piedmont, 135, 179
Plassenburg (fortress), 427, 518
Poland, 60, 423
Pomerania (duchy), 178, 334, 425,
438, 480, 522 (to. 1)
Pont-a-Mousson, 497
Porto Venere, 164
Prague (town), 23
Prague (Bohemian Diet, 1547), 375
Prussia, 38, 70, 110, 183, 207, 217
(to. 2), 233, 250, 288 (to. 3), 296,
404, 422 f., 433, 447, 459, 493
495
QUEDLINBURG, 528
Raab, 503
Rammelsberg, 196
Ratisbon (bishopric), 304
Ratisbon (town), 174, 303 f., 313,
335, 337, 555 ; (cathedral) 142
Ratisbon (Diet, 1532), 18; (1541)
112, 127 (to. 1), 140-161, 163,
165, 169, 171, 184, 198 f., 228,
249, 393 (to. 1); (1546) 290.
301 f., 310, 313, 318 (read Ratis-
bon for Nuremberg, line 17),
323 f., 376
Ratisbon (declaration, 1541), 156 ff.,
159, 169, 171, 249 f., 254 (to. 1)
Ratisbon (religious conference,
1541), 105, 148, 151, 183 ; (1546)
290, 301
Ravensburg, 312, 323, 415
Reggio in Calabria, 235
Reichenau, the, 335
Reichenweier, 297
Remich, 497
Reutte, 476
Reval, 38
Rhenish circle, 494
Rhine, Rhine lands, 98, 138, 239.
465 f., 472, 484, 487, 494 f., 504 f.
INDEX OF PLACES
- 17 O
Riddagshausen (monastery), 204
Riga (archbishopric), 69, 70
Riga (town), 38
Rochlitz, 360 f.
Romagna, 272
Rome (town and Holy See), 30, 70,
106, 112, 143, 152, 238, 255, 257,
271, 289 f., 294, 308, 321, 327,
329, 338, 376 f., 382, 389, 402,
428, 462, 473, 546
Rostock, 322
Rothenburg, on the Fnlda, 84 ;
(synod there, 1544) 89
Rothenburg, on the Tauber, 349,
454
Saalfeld, 364
Saarburg (castle), 496
St. Germain-en-Laye, 510
St. Margaret islands, 177
Salzburg (archbishopric), 25, 398,
425, 480
Savoy (duchy), 3, 135, 145, 235,
259, 540
Saxe-Coburg, 437
Saxon Province, 415
Saxonv (electorate), 2 (n. 1), 3
(n. 3), 14, 27, 32, 36, 42, 52 f.,
55, 74, 80, 82 f., 85, 93, 95, 102
ff., 107 f., 110 f., 114, 123, 136,
138 f., 141, 143 f., 146, 160,
165, 174, 180, 181-195, 199,
201 ff., 208, 211, 217, 220, 225,
230, 232 f., 236, 239, 242, 244,
247, 250, 262, 270, 273, 307, 309,
320 f., 323 330, 339, 341, 344-
348, 358, 361, 371, 384, 392, 396,
409, 414, 424, 437-448, 453 f.,
468 ff., 473-479, 481-484, 487-
492, 499, 503, 509-516, 520, 523,
534, 543, 546, 548, 550, 553 ff., 561
Saxony (Albertine branch), 10, 21,
25. 27, 29, 33, 40, 48-60, 71, 88,
93, 97, 101, 114, 117, 181, 191-
195, 201, 211, 242, 291, 307-312,
344 f., 359, 363, 367-374
Schellenberg, the (near Chemnitz),
309 (n. 2)
Schleswick, 9. See Holstein
Schlettstadt, 298
Schonenberg, 317
Schorndorf, 352
Schwabisch-Gmiind, 347
Schwabisch-Hall, 11, 349, 351, 531
Schweinfurt, 508, 516, 518
Schweinitz, 309 {n. 1)
Sicily, 377
Siclos, 234
Siebenblirgen. See Transylvania
Silesia, 474
Sittard (battle, 1543), 235, 239
Sleida (in the Cologne district),
137
Sinalcald (League), 1-20, 28, 30,
34, 40, 51, 53, 73 f., 92, 95, 97,
99-102, 104 (n. 2), 107, 113, 125,
136, 140, 149, 160, 165, 168, 171,
180, 197 f., 202, 204, 206 (n. 1),
209, 212, 217, 220, 222 ff., 225 f.,
231, 233, 236, 239, 242 f., 246,
248 ff., 269, 285 f., 292, 294-302,
308, 310, 312 318, 321-331, 332-
345, 349, 359, 376, 409, 417, 424,
481
Smalcald (assembly of the League,
1537), 8, 15 f. ; (1540) 99 ; (1543)
231
Solothurn (canton), 359
Solothurn (town), 510
Sound, the, 321
South Germany, 13, 27, 97, 198,
206, 212, 242, 315, 317 f., 323,
345 f., 359, 361, 366 f., 376, 414,
425, 446 f.
Spain, 93, 133. 163 ff.. 179, 309,
337, 344, 346, 378, 392, 413 f.,
423, 471, 478. Cf. Philip II.
Spires (bishopric), 492, 505
Spires (town), 238, 298, 301, 318.
467, 492 ; (cathedral) 492
Spires (Diets, 1542), 165-173, 195,
211 ; (1544) 241 f., 245 (n. 1),
247-258, 260, 263, 267, 290, 328.
379, 399
Spires (congress for the settlement
of the religious question, 1540),
107. Cf. Hagenau
Stams (monasterj'), 478
Staufenberg (hunting castle), 199
Stein (district), 226
Steterburg (Augustinian convent),
205
Stolpen, 55, 292
Strasburg (bishopric), 417
Strasburg (town), 8 (n. 2), 11 (n. 1),
14, 31, 45 (11. 2), 94, 98, 105, 130.
136, 165, 200 (n. 1), 203, 206.
574
HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
222, 229, 249, 313, 318, 340,
355 f., 422, 432, 446, 465 f., 492,
499
Straubing, 487
Stuhlweissenburg, 234
Suabia, 27, 340, '360, 409, 415, 498.
See Wiirternberg
Suabian circle, 494
Suabian League, 409
Sulzbach (district), 227
Sundgau, the, 340
Sweden, 179, 183, 227, 299, 322,
441
Switzerland, 95, 323 f., 337, 353,
356 L, 366, 427, 446, 461
Switzerland (Fiinf Orte, five can-
tons), 40
Tartary, 34, 234
Tata, 334
Tauberthal, the, 461
Temesvar, 467
Teutonic Knights (possessions of),
46 f., 70, 337, 347, 490
Theiss, the, 164, 467
Thurgau, 40, 95
Thuringia, 117, 448, 514
Ttmringian Forest, 109
Toledo, 104 (», 2)
Torgau (town), 281 (n. 1), 309 (n. 2),
422
Torgau (conspiracy), 439, 440
Toul (bishopric and town), 237, 443,
461 (n. 2), 465 (n. 1), 468, 502
(n. 1)
Toulon, 235
Transylvania (Siebenburgen), 164,
467, 504
Traubling, 304 (n. 2)
Trent (bishopric), 478
Trent (town), 380
Trent (Council), 255, 260, 267, 270,
290, 300, 302, 307, 311, 316, 320,
327, 341, 364, 376, 379, 384-389,
394, 396, 399, 420, 428-432, 448,
462, 468 f., 473, 478, 543
Treves (archbishopric), 27, 92, 98,
153, 241, 384, 399, 429, 469, 473,
490, 496 L, 505
Treves (town), 241, 495 f., 507;
(monastery of St. Maximin) 496 ;
(priory of St. Paul) 496
Turkey, 14, 20, 27, 34, 38 f., 43, 106,
109, 135, 139, 143, 154, 156, 160 f.,
162-180, 188 ff., 195, 202, 216,
220-223, 234, 242, 247, 250, 255,
259, 263, 290, 297, 321, 326,
356 f., 361, 364, 411, 421, 438,
462, 466 ff., 471, 474, 483 ff., 494,
503 ff., 507, 515, 539
Ulm (town), 11 (n. 1), 14, 40, 206,
222, 312 f., 316, 334, 346, 349,
361, 456 f., 460, 500
Ulm (Diet, 1547), 409; (1553) 510
Ulm (meeting of the Smalcald
League, 1546), 312, 323
Ulm (municipal assembly, 1525),
203
Unseburg, 204
Upper Palatinate, 11
Urach (' Gotzentag,' 1537), 12
(n.2)
Urbino, 272
Utrecht (principality and bishopric),
235
Valmy, 338 (n. 1)
Valpo, 234
Vannes (bishopric), 513
Venice, 144 (n. 1), 176 (n. 1), 178,
234, 239 (n. 2), 243 in. 1), 336,
342, 361, 407. 515
Venlo, 240
Verden, 437
Verdun (town and bishopric), 237,
443, 444 (n. 1), 461 (n. 2), 465
(n. 1), 468, 502 («. 1)
Vicenza, 112
Vienna (bishopric), 148
Vienna (town), 32 (n. 1), 173, 179,
202, 358, 365; (State Archives)
253
Villach, 476, 488, 539
Volkach, 518
Waldeck (town and castle), 224
Waldstadte, the (Forest towns —
Laufenburg, Rheinfelden, Sack-
ingen, Waldshut), 40
Wallmersbach, 452
Wasserbillich, 497
Weimar (town), 109. 195, 364
Weissenbronn, 451
Weissenburg in Alsace, 466
INDEX OF PLACES
575
Weissenburg in the Nordgau (on
the Sand), 416
Wemding, 339
Werda (forest), 109
Weser. the. 365
Western Germany, 502
Westphalia, 27, 224
Westminster (bishopric), 354 (n. 2)
Wettenhausen (abbey), 317
Wetterau, the, 369
Windische Mark, the (Carniola),
250
Windsheim, 416, 517
Wittenberg (district), 275
Wittenberg (town), 3 {n. 1), 131,
232 f , 275, 276, 278, 281 (n. 1),
320, 329, 345, 366
Wittenberg (university and school
of divinity), 32, 53, 55, 61, 77 f.,
82, 100, 121 (n. 1), 207, 277,
329 f., 537
Wittenberg (capitulation, 1547),
363 f., 423
Wolfenbuttel (town), 204, 206.211 f.,
221
WoLkenstein (district), 50
Worms (bishopric), 492, 505
Worms (town), 31, 43
Worms (Diet, 1545), 260, 261-273,
284, 289-292, 302, 304, 399
Worms (meeting of the League of
Smalcald, 1546), 298, 312
Worms (assembly of princes, 1552),
467
Worms (edict), 329
Worms (religious conference, 1540),
110 if., 139
Wiirtemberg, 11 f., 31, 34 f., 46,
92 f., 97, 123, 124 (». 1), 147, 196,
243, 313 ff., 317, 332, 335, 345,
351 ff., 355, 385, 403, 414, 421,
425, 428, 447, 456, 466, 472, 480,
496, 507, 523, 536, 540, 558
Wurzburg (bishopric), 424, 429, 454,
457 £, 461, 501, 506, 508, 517
(». 1)
Wurzburg (town), 458, 461 ;
(cathedral) 458 ; (Neumiinste?-)
461
Wurzen (district), 183, 192
Wurzen (collegiate foundation and
town), 189-194, 309, 560 ; (cathe-
dral) 192 ; (castle and Mulden
pass) 189
Zeitz (bishopric). See Naumburg-
Zeitz
Zeitz (town), 182,560; (castle) 183
Ziegenhain, 91, 293, 368, 372
Zips (county). See Zapolya, in
Index of Persons
Zurich (town, estate, and canton),
41, 84 (n. 3), 323, 347, 354
Ziitphen (county), 74 (n. 1), 135,
240
Zusameck, 335
Zweibrucken. See Pfalz-Zwei-
briicken
Zwickau, 426
Zwischenthoren, 479
576
HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
INDEX OF PERSONS
Achmed (Grand Vizier), 467
Adolphus III. (Count of Schanm-
burg, Arcbhishop of Cologne), 3,55,
384, 399, 473, 480
Agnes of Hesse (Electress of
Saxony), 427
Agricola, John (court and cathe-
dral preacher, later Superinten-
dent-General), 62, 69, 363, 397 f.
Alba. Ferd. (Duke of), 338, 362
Alber, Erasmus (court preacher),
398, 527
Albert of Brandenburg ( Imperial
High Chancellor, Archbishop of
Mayence), 22, 25, 32, 36, 40 f.,
71, 75, 98, 142, 153, 158, 169,
236, 248, 266, 279; (his death)
293, 520, 548
Albert (Mai-grave of Brandenburg,
Grand Master, later Duke of
Prussia), 38, 41, 70, 110, 183, 207,
217 (n. 2), 233, 250, 288 (n. 3),
296, 404, 422 f., 433, 438, 447,
449 f., 453-459, 493, 537, 549 f.,
55H
Albert (Alcibiades, Margrave of
Brandenbtirg-Culmbach), 295 f.,
307 ff., 337, 360, 392, 404, 425,
436, 439, 444, 447, 450, 453 ff.,
492-498, 505-510, 513, 516, 537,
547 f.
Albert V. (Prince, later Duke of
Bavaria), 308, 429, 447, 454, 472,
480, 496, 507, 510, 555
Albert of Mecklenburg. See John
Albert
Aleander, Jerome (legate), 30, 467
Alvensleben, Busso II. (Bishop of
Havelberg), 63
Ambach, Melchior (preacher), 531
Ambrose, Saint, 407
Amsdorf, Nic. (Lutheran Bishop of
Naumburg), 185, 187, 191, 248,
321
Anabaptists, the, 536
Andrea, Jacob (Provost and Chan-
cellor), 522
Ann of Denmark (Electress of
Saxony), 82 (n. 2)
Ann of Cleves (wife of Henry
VIII.), 74, 240
Anna of Hungary (wife of Ferdi-
nand I.), 134 (n. 1)
Anna (Archduchess, later duchess
of Bavaria), 308
Aquila (Adler), Caspar (theologian),
433
Ardinghello, Niccolo (nuncio), 136
Arnim, Hans von (bailiff), 68
Arnold, Gabriel (treasurer to the
Count Palatine Otto Heinrich of
Pfalz-Neuburg), 227, 444, 445
(n. 1)
Arnold, George (diocesan chan-
cellor), 58 (n, 2), 488 {n. 1)
Ascham, Roger (ambassador), 491
(n.l)
Asphe, Paul (theologian), 532
Athanasius, Saint, 407
Aubespine, Seb. de 1' (Abbot of
Basse-Fontaine, ambassador),
323, 357, 422
Augustinian nuns, 205
Augustus (Duke, later Elector of
Saxony), 75, 194, 242, 250, 291,
426, 439 (to, 2), 515, 523, 534,
543, 550, 553 f., 560
Austria, House of. See Habsburg
INDEX OF PERSONS
r ri it
57 <
Bardi, Donato de, 235
Barefoot friars, 68, 348
Barthold, Frederic (historian), 449
(to. 2)
Basse-Fontaine. See Aubespine
Baumgarten, Herm. (historian), 137
(to. 2)
Bavaria, House of. See Wittels-
bach
Beck, George, 453
Beguines, 347
Behain, Paulus, 461 (to. 2)
Bemelberg, Curt von, 500
Benno, St., 193
Bernard, St., 209
Berner, Claus (general), 439 (to. 2)
Besold, H., 537 (to. 2)
Besserer (councillor of war), 334
Beutel, G. (historian), 390 (to. 1)
Bezold, Friedr. von (historian), 121
(«. 1), 252 (to. 1), 413 (to. 2), 444
(to. 1)
Blarer, Ambr. (preacher), 12, 42
(to. 2), 229
Bhunenthal, Georg v. (Bishop of
Lebus), 63
Bocklin (councillor), 538
Bonacorsi, 104 (to. 2)
Bonvalot, Francis (abbot of St.
Vincent, ambassador) 135 (to. 1)
Boor, A. de, 254 (to. 1)
Bora, Catherine von, 109, 121, 276,
281 (to. 1)
Boyneburg, Georg von (ambassa-
dor), 102
Brand, Ahasuerus, 343
Brandenburg, House of, 70 f., 549
Brandenburg, Eric (historian), 105
(to. 2), 17 (to. 2), 345 (to. 2)
Brandi, Carl (historian), 540 (to. 2)
Braun, Conrad (assessor), 17
Brenz, John (theologian), 12, 114,
116, 241 (to. 1)
Briick, Gregory (Pontanus ; actually
Heintze ; chancellor), 126, 182,
189, 192, 232, 270, 328
Bucer, Martin (theologian), 13, 35,
42 (to. 2), 46, 77, 82, 84, 87, 90,
97, 100, 112, 114, 116 ff., 124 ff.,
128, 130 f., 137, 140, 142 (to. 1),
187 (to. 1), 228-232, 240, 242, 270
(to. 1), 297 (to. 1), 346 (to. 1),
367
Buchholzer, George (preacher), 62
VOL. VI.
Bucholtz, Francis Bernard v.,
knight (historian), 402 (to. 1)
Buren, Max. Egmont, Count of
(Lord of Ysselstein ; general),
339, 350
Bufler von Eilenburg, Jobst., 504
Bugenhagen, John, 83, 182, 212,
215, 320, 329
Bullinger, Henry (theologian), 84
(to. 3), 89 (to. 1)
Burckhardt, Carl Aug. Hugo (his-
torian), 190 (to. 2)
Burkhart, Francis (vice-chancellor),
39 (to. 1), 246, 312
Calvin, 35, 42, 46, 60. 73, 98 (to. 2),
102 (to. 1), 137, 147, 241 (to. 1),
353 (to. 2), 356 (to. 1), 564
Camerarius (chamberlain), Joa-
chim, (humanist), 183 (to. 1)
Campeggio, Lor. (nuncio, cardinal),
407
Canisius, Peter (Jesuit), 402 (to. 1)
Cappel (advocate), 4
Capponi, Luigi, 463 (to. 1)
Caraffa, Giov. Pietro (later Pope-
Paul IV.), 543 (to. 2)
Carlowitz, Christopher v. (ambas-
sador), 236, 310
Carlowitz, George v. (chancellor) T
48, 218, 238 (to. 2), 412
Carmelites, the, 376, 379, 390, 399,
408
Carthusians, the, 495
Casim Begh (general), 467
Castell, Frederic, Count of, 497
Cataneo, Odoardo (ambassador),
381 (to. 1)
Catherine of Aragon (Queen of
England), 79
Catherine of Mecklenburg (Duchess
of Saxony), 51, 117 f.
Cavalli, Marino (ambassador), 176
(to. 1), 243 (to. 1)
Celius. See Colius
Cervino, Marcello (cardinal, later
Pope Marcellus II.), 377 (to. 2),
381
Chaireddin, surnamed Barbarossa
(corsair chieftain), 235
Chapuis, Eustace (ambassador), 41
(to. 2)
Charles V. (Emperor), 1, 3-10, 15,
P P
578
HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
17, 23, 28, 37, 39, 41-47, 51, 54,
73, 74 (n. 1), 79, 92-95, 97 f.,
100-107, 110, 112, 133 161, ]
163 ff., 167 f., 175-180, 184, 186,
196, 198, 201, 205, 209 (n. 1),
211, 217, 221, 224, 228, 233, 234, !
236-242, 245 f., 247-263, 267-
271, 273, 285, 287-291, 293 f.,
299-305, 308-316, 318 f., 321,
323 ff., 327-331, 332, 334-342,
344, 349-358, 360-364, 366-400,
402-437, 440-449, 452-461, 463 f.,
467-478, 480-493, 497-507, 510-
519, 531, 538, 543 f., 546, 561 ff.
Charles V. (criminal code), 113
Charles (Duke of Angoulerne, after-
wards of Orleans, third son of
Francis I.), 179, 239, 258, 299
Charles III. (Duke of Savoy), 135,
235
Charles Egmont (Duke of Guel-
ders), 73 f.
Charles Victor (eldest son of Duke
Henry the younger of Bruns-
wick), 204
Christian III. (Duke of Holstein,
King of Denmark), 8 f., 41, 92,
140, 179, 183, 240, 281 (n. 1),
321, 329, 334, 340, 423, 425, 441,
517 (n. 1)
Christina of Denmark (Duchess
of Lorraine), 464
Christina of Saxony (Landgravine
of Hesse), 77, 82 (n. 2), 83 ff.,
108
Christopher of Brunswick (Arch-
bishop of Bremen and Bishop of
Verden), 75
Christopher (Prince, later Duke of
Wiirtemberg), 124, 147, 352, 421,
447, 454, 456, 466, 472, 480, 496,
507, 536, 540, 558
Christopher (Count of Oldenburg),
365, 489, 492
Cistercian monks, 456
Clammer, Balth. (ambassador), 37
Clement VII. (Pope), 59
Cleves, House of, 250
Cochlaus (Dobeneck), John (canon),
49 (n. 1)
Colius, Michel (magister), 282, 422
Constantine I. (Emperor), 54
Contarini, Caspar (cardinal), 143,
145, 146 {n. 1), 152, 407
Cornelius (Carl Adolf, Knight of
(historian), 475 (n. 1)
Corvinus, Anton, (preacher), 88,
212
Cosmo I. See Medici
Cranach, Lucas, the elder (painter),
274 (n. 1)
Cromwell, Thomas (Secretary of
State), 99
Cruciger, Caspar (Creutziger, the
elder, theologian). 55, 276
Delfino, Zachariah (nuncio), 543
(n. 2), 549
Del Monte. See Julius III.
Diana of Poictiers, 358
Dietrich, Veit (Luther's amanuen-
sis, preacher), 99, 122, 233, 276
Dominicans, the, 348
Droysen, J. Gustavus (historian),
61 (n. 2)
Druffel, Aug. v. (historian), 540
(n, 2), 546 (n. 2)
Du Bellay-Langey, William (am-
bassador), 136
Du Mortier (ambassador), 378
Ebners, the (merchants), 227
Eck, John (theologian), 147 f., 160
Eck, Leonard v. (chancellor), 95,
101, 144, 160, 202, 204, 236, 262,
307, 385, 402 (n. 1)
Edward VI. (King of England), 425,
438, 441
Egelhaaf, Gottlob (historian), 125
(n. 1), 390 («. 1)
Egloffstein, Claus v. (feudatory),
508
Ehrenberg, Richard (historian), 461
(n. 2)
Eilenburg. See Bufler
Eleanor of Spain (widowed Queen
of Portugal, later Queen of
France), 134 (n. 1)
Elizabeth, Saint, 47
Elizabeth of Brandenburg (Duchess
of Brunswick-Culenberg), 243
Elizabeth of Hesse (Duchess of
Rochlitz), 11, 77, 87, 114, 120
(n. 1), 121 (n. 1), 344, 499 (n. 1)
Elizabeth of Saxony (Princess Pala-
tine), 83
INDEX OF PERSONS
579
Emann, Conrad (licentiate), 500
in. 2), 554, 556
Emmanuel Philibert (Duke of
Savoy), 540
Erasmus of Rotterdam, 396
Erb (preacher), 297
Eric (Duke of Brunswick-Calen-
berg), 365, 555
Eric the elder (Duke of Brunswick-
Wolf enbuttel), 25
Eric, Duke of Hanover, 21
Ernest of Bavaria (Archbishop of
Salzburg), 398, 480
Ernest (Duke of Brunswick-Liine-
burg), 37
Estampes, Anna de Pisseleu,
Duchess of, 340
Faber, Petrus (Jesuit), 407
Fachs (councillor), 312 (n. 1), 372
(n. 2)
Farel, William (preacher), 35 (n. 2),
60, 73 (7i, 2), 98 {n. 2), 102 (n. 1),
353 (n. 2)
Farnese, Alexander (the ' Great
Cardinal'), 106, 260, 288 f., 299,
377
Farnese, Octavius (Captain-Gene-
ral of the Roman Church), 337
Farnese, Peter Louis (Duke), 377,
383
Feige, John (chancellor), 118, 139,
146
Ferdinand I. (Archduke, King of
the Romans, King of Hungary
and Bohemia, later Emperor),
21-34, 36 f., 39, 60, 103, 105,
108 ff., 117, 134 ff., 144 f., 149,
155, 158, 160, 162-171, 173-180,
217, 220-224, 234, 236, 250, 255,
258 f., 261 f., 267 f., 289, 306 ff.,
316 (n. 1), 344 f., 352, 360, 365,
371, 375, 395, 398, 409, 420, 438,
444, 459, 461, 467, 474, 476, 480,
484, 490, 500 (n. 1), 501 {n. 1),
504-512, 514, 516, 538 ff., 540,
543 f., 550, 556, 561, 563
Ferdinand (Archduke), 134
Finner, John (preacher), 316 (n. 2)
Flacius, Illyricus (theological con-
troversialist), 415 (n. 3), 419
Fosse, de (ambassador), 8
Francis I. (King of France), 1, 3 ff.,
7, 29. 41, 74 (», 1), 93, 106, 133-
141, 144 f., 149, 178 f., 234 ff.,
239, 255-260, 262, 299, 318 f.,
324, 340 f., 345, 353, 355, 359,
366, 440
Francis (Duke of Brunswick-Lune-
burg), 36
Francis Otto (Duke of Liineburg),
425
Franciscans, the, 303, 380
Frangipani, Francis (Count), 163
Frecht, John (preacher), 318
Frederic II. (Emperor), 47
Frederic II. (Count Palatine, later
Elector), 9, 98, 147, 153, 251, 261,
294, 297 f., 306 f., 312, 351, 384,
395, 425, 447, 480, 507
Frederic of Saxony (son of Duke
George the Bearded), 49
Frederic II. (Duke of Liegnitz,
Brieg, and Wohlau), 38
Frederic III. (Duke of Liegnitz),
391
Frederic of Mantua. See Gonzaga
Fregono, Caesar, 178
Fresse, Jean de (Bishop of Bay-
onne), 442 (n. 3), 493
Furstenberg, William of (Count,
military commander), 31, 41
Fugger, Hans Jacob (councillor,
historical writer), 270 (n. 2)
George (the Bearded, Duke of
Saxony), 10, 21, 25, 29, 33, 36,
40, 49, 55-58 (n. 1), 101, 191, 193,
211
George (Margrave of Brandenburg-
Culmbach), 242, 451
George (Duke of Mecklenburg), 436
477, 488
George (Count of Wurtemberg), 11
Giustiniani, Marino (ambassador),
144 (n. 1), 164 (n. 1)
Glaris (ambassador), 484
Glauburg, John of (delegate), 155,
199, 348
Gleichen, Christopher (Count of,
Chorbischof of Cologne), 229
Gobel, Kilian (town scribe), 519
(n. 1)
Gonzaga, Forrante (Prince of Mol-
fetta, Duke of Ariano, Stadt-
holder), 377, 383
p p 2
580
HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Granvell, Antoine Perrenot de
(Bishop of Arras, later Cardinal),
354 (n. 2), 363, 369 (n. 2), 372,
395, 475
Granvell, Nicholas Perrenot Lord
of (Imperial Chancellor), 101,
105, 107, 110, 139, 143 (n. 2),
146 ff., 151, 156, 177, 198, 222,
237, 245, 252, 270 (n. 2), 288, 301,
310 f., 350, 377, 379, 395
Gratian, 54
Greitner (Franciscan), 304 (n. 1)
Gremp (delegate), 558
Gropper, John (prelate), 147
Ginnnbach, William of, 453, 513
Guasto, Alfonzo (d'Avalos, Duke
of, Imperial Stadtholder), 178
Guise, Francois de (Duke of Lor-
raine), 502
Gustavus I., Vasa (King of Sweden),
179, 183, 227, 322
Habsburg, House of, 234, 299, 312,
352 f., 377, 468, 504 f.
Hagen, Christopher v. (Burgomas-
ter), 210
Halm, Michael, 128 (n. 1)
Hans' (Margrave of Brandenburg-
Ctistrin), 309, 311, 376, 392, 403,
409, 422 f., 425, 427, 437, 441,
458, 482, 553
Hanseatic League, 520
Hanstein, Curt v., 490
Harst, Carl (ambassador), 74 (n. 1)
Hase, Henry (vice-cn'ancellor), 405
Hasenberger, John, 58
Hassan Aga (Pasha), 164
Hassencamp, F. W. (theologian),
122 (n. 1)
Haugwitz, John of (Bishop of
Meissen), 550, 553
Hedio, Caspar (preacher), 250
Hedwig of Poland (Electress of
Brandenburg), 60, 293
Heideck, George von (knight), 391
423
Heideck, Hans v. (general), 317,
332, 422 f., 428, 437, 445
Heinemann, 0. von (historian), 200
(n. 1)
Held, Matthew (Imperial Vice-
Chancellor), 15, 21, 31, 148,
311
Helding, Michael (suffragan Bishop
of Mayence), 396
Helmholdt, Clas, 171 (n. 1)
Henneberg, George Ernest (Count),
439 (n. 2)
Henry II. (Emperor), 349
Henry VIII. (King of England),
41, 74, 79, 93, 95, 98 f., 134 (n. 1)
183, 240, 258, 270 (n. 1), 300,
318, 340, 354 (n. 2)
Henry II. (Duke of Orleans, after-
wards Dauphin and King of
France), 340 f., 358 f., 364, 370,
420-423, 432, 437, 440-448, 457,
462-468, 472, 474, 482, 484, 489,
492 i., 495, 502 ff., 510-519
Henry the Younger (Duke of
Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel), 11, 21,
25, 27, 33, 36, 40, 74, 123, 150,
161, 195, 196-207, 212 f., 216 f.,
221, 224, 246 f., 254 {n. 1), 266,
292, 372, 392, 428, 510, 514, 516
Henry (Duke of Mecklenburg), 425
Henry (' the Pious,' Duke of
Saxony), 10, 50 58, 93, 97, 114,
117, 191
Hensenstamm, S. v. See Sebas-
tian
Hermann V. (Count von Yvied,
Archbishop of Cologne), 27, L44,
153, 228-233, 240, 243, 263,
294 f., 312 f., 334, 355
Hesse (House of), 312
Hesshus, Tilman (Superintendent),
530
Heyden, Joachim v., 58 (n. 1)
Holde, Conrad (Doctor), 393 (n. 1)
Holzhaufen, Justinian v. (delegate),
170
Humbracht, Conrad (delegate), 405
Hutten, Maurice v. (Bishop of Eich-
statt), 424, 425, 480
Huyson, d' (ambassador), 421 (n. 3)
Ibrahim Pasha (Grand Vizier), 179
Isabella of Poland (wife of Zajjolya),
162
Jagow, Matthew v. (Bishop of
Brandenburg), 59, 63
Janssen, John (historian), 252 (n. 1),
461 (n. 2)
INDEX OF PERSONS
581
Jeanne d'Albret (heiress of Na-
varre), 134
Jesuits, the, 402 (n. 1), 407
Jews, the, 266 (n. 2), 280 f., 335
Joachim I. (Nestor, Elector of
Brandenburg), 10, 21, 59, 65
Joachim II. (Electoral Prince, later
Elector of Brandenburg), 11,
27 f., 36, 45 (n. 2), 59-69, 142
(n. 1), 149 ff., 153, 156 f„ 165,
171-177, 243, 251, 363, 368-373,
384, 393, 396 ff., 411 f., 429, 436
John (' the Steadfast,' Elector of '■
Saxony), 211, 225, 520
John III. (the Peaceable, Duke of
Jiilich-Cleves-Berg), 75
John V. of Isenburg (Archbishop
and Elector of Treves), 385, 399,
429
John of Meissen. See Maltitz
John Albert VI. of Brandenburg -
Culmbach (coadjutor of Magde-
burg-Halberstadt), 71, 311, 348
John Albert (Duke of Mecklenburg),
425, 438 i., 442-3, 447, 454
John Frederic (Electoral Prince, j
later Elector of Saxony), 6, 8, 14, j
27, 29, 32,37,39, 41, 45 (w. 2), 52, !
55, 73 ff., 77, 80, 82 ff., 93, 95, I
98, 101 ff., 108, 110 f., 114, 116,
136, 138, 143, 146, 160, 165, 168,
174, 180, 181-195, 199, 201, 205,
211, 213, 217, 220, 230, 232 f.,
235, 239, 242, 247 f., 268, 270,
273, 294, 301, 303, 307, 309, 318,
324-331, 332 ff., 339, 344-348,
352, 358-365, 367, 371, 403, 409,
423, 424, 437, 443, 476 f., 483 f.,
498, 504, 543
John Frederic II. (der Mittlere)
(Electoral Prince, later Duke of
Saxe-Weimar), 424, 434, 437,
483
John Frederic III. (Duke of Sax-
ony), 345, 543, 555
John George (Prince of Anhalt-
Dessau), 9, 33, 291
John IV. Louis of Hagen (Arch-
bishop and Elector of Treves),
153
John Philip (Wild- und Blieingraf
zu Dhaun), 422
Jonas, Justus (theologian), 182,
282, 283
Jovius, Paul (historian), 251 (n. 3)
Julius III. (Pope ; before Cardinal
legate John Maria del Monte),
265 f., 281, 387, 428, 442 (n. 1),
473, 478, 546, 550
Kantzow, Thomas (private secre-
tary), 522
Kawerau, Gustavus (theologian),
69 (n. 1)
Ketteler, William (Bishop of Mini-
ster), 224
Kneusel, Blasius (sub-custodian),
193
Knorringen, Hans v. (bailiff), 453
Konigstein, (Canon), 304 (n. 2)
Konneritz, Erasmus v., 173 (n. 1)
Kostlin, Jul. (Luther specialist),
272 (n. 1)
Koldewey, Frederic (Church and
school historian), 198 (n. 1)
Krafft, Adam (preacher), 46
Kriiger, Melchior (Svndicus), 527
(n. 2)
Lacroix (ambassador), 353 (n. 3),
357 (n. 2)
Lambert, Francois (apostate Minor-
ite), 89 (n. lj
Lampadius, Henry (preacher), 526
Landau, John (apothecary), 281
(n.l)
Lange, John (cathedral preacher),
189
Langius. See Du Bellay
Lauze, Wigand, 89
Le Mang (historian), 332 (n. 1)
Lemnius, Simon (humanist), 32
Lenning, John (Hulderich Neo-
bulus, preacher), 84 f., 126
Lenz, Max. (historian), 316 (n. 2)
Leodius, Hub. Thomas (private
secretary), 298 (n. 2)
Lersner, Henry, 104 (n. 1), 368
Limpurg, Erasmus, Count of (Bi-
shop of Strasburg), 417
Linclenau, Sigmund v. (Bishop of
Merseburg), 58, 194
Lippold (a Jew, Master of the
Mint), 68
Lippomano (nuncio, Bishop of
Verona), 556 (n. 1)
582
HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Louis XII. (King of France), 358
Louis V. (Elector of the Palatinate),
27, 30, 37, 45, 98, 248, 297
Louis (Duke of Bavaria), 25, 27.
29 ff., 36, 96 f., 124, 143, 160 ff„
204, 217, 228, 248, 262, 307
Luther, Hans, 281 (n. 1)
Luther, Martin (and Lutheranism),
21, 27, 29 (n, 2), 30, 32, 35, 38,
42, 53 ff., 58 (n. 2), 59, 62, 70,
76-88, 96, 104, 108 ff., 112, 117
129, 131, 141, 143, 147, 168, 173,
182, 185-189, 192, 194, 199 ft'.,
205, 207, 218, 224, 232, 237, 244
(n. 1), 255, 262, 266, 270-284,
288, 291 (n. 5), 299 (n. 2), 306,
339, 348, 381 (n. 1), 404, 419 f.,
451. 461 (w. 2), 522, 526, 534.
536 i., 549, 554, 560
Luther, Paul, 281 (n. 1)
Major, George (preacher), 329
Maj unite, Paul (theologian), 281
(«. 1)
Malsburg, Hermann v. d., 225
Maltitz, John VIII. (Bishop of
Meissen), 53 f., 58, 184, 189, 192,
290
Mansfeld (Counts of), 9, 58, 279
Mansfeld, Albert (Count of), 280
Mansfeld, George (Count of), 309
(n. 2)
Mansfeld, Volrad (Count of), 423,
436, 501, 510, 513
Margaret of Navarre, 137
Margaret of Valois (daughter of
Francis I., later Duchess of
Savoy), 300
Maria (daughter of Charles V.,
Archduchess, later wife of Maxi-
milian II.), 134, 258
Maria of Burgundy (Queen of Hun-
gary, Governess of the Nether-
lands, sister of Charles V.), 16
(n, 1), 45, 104 (n. 2), 110, 136,
149, 290 (n. 3), 305 f., 313, 327,
369 (n. 3), 374, 471, 484, 501
(n.l)
Maria of Brandenburg- Culmbach
(Electress of the Palatinate), 453
Maria of Brunswick- Wolfenbiittel
(daughter of Henry the younger),
205
Maria, Countess of Wurtemberg
(Duchess of Brunswick), 199
Marillac, Charles de (ambassador,
later Bishop of Bannes), 427
(n. 2), 432
Marstaller, Christopher (preacher),
531, 533
Masone, John (ambassador), 302
(n.l)
Mathesius, John I. (theologian),
278 (n.l)
Maurice (Duke, afterwards Elector
of Saxony), 10, 52, 56 (n. 2), 71,
77, 88, 181, 191-195, 202, 236 ff.,
242, 291, 307-312, 344, 360, 363,
367-372, 376, 384, 392, 395, 403,
411 f., 415, 419, 422 f., 426 f.,
429, 431 f., 436 f.. 438 (n. 1, 2),
440-442, 445-448, 453 f., 461,
469 f., 473-479, 480-484, 487 f.,
490 ff., 494, 499, 503 ff., 509-
516
Maximilian (Archduke, later II.
Emperor), 480, 505, 549 (n. 1)
Medici, Cosmo I. (Duke of Flo-
rence), 251 (n. 3), 364 (n. 2), 463
(n. 1)
Medici, John Jac. v. (admiral of
the Danube fleet), 177
Medler, Nicholas (preacher), 182
Melanchthon, 35, 45 (n. 2), 55, 70,
77-85, 99, 109, 112, 117, 121 f.,
142, 145, 147, 151, 188, 200, 207,
217 (n. 2), 228, 231 ff., 241 (n. 1),
244, 250, 277, 302 (n. 1), 332
(■», 1), 355, 415, 482, 520, 526,
534, 537
Melander, Dionysius (preacher), 85,
88
Melem, Ogier van (delegate), 112,
261 (n. 1)
Mendicant Friars, 304
Mendoza, Diego Hurtado de (am-
bassador), 382, 389
Menius, Justus (theologian), 112,
125, 212
Menzel, Carl Adolph, 159 (n. 2),
(historian) 272 (n. 1)
Mezzenhaufen. See Johann
Mila, Bernhard v., 204
Miltitz, Ernest v., 77, 83
Minckwitz, John v., 438
Mithobius, Burkhard (physician),
302 (n. 1)
INDEX OF PERSONS
583
Mocenigo, Alvise (Venetian ambas-
sador), 361
Morlin, Joachim, 527
Mohammed, 535
Mont (English ambassador), 298
(n. 3), 301 (n. 3), 342 [n. 1)
Montmorency', Anne de (Constable),
356, 465
Morone, John (Bishop of Modena,
legate), 143 (n. 2), 167 (n. 1),
194 (n. 2), 255, 546 (n. 1)
Muck, G. (historian), 452 (n. 1, 2)
Miinzer, 211
Myconius, Frederic (court
preacher), 55
Myconius, Oswald (theologian), 35
Nausea, Frederic (pastor, later
Bishop of Vienna), 148
Navagero, Bernardo (ambassador),
239 {n. 2), 251 (n. 1)
Naves, John v. (Vice-Chancellor),
16 (n. 1), 104 (h. 2), 148, 156,
222, 237, 245 f., 256, 268, 300
Neobulus, Hulderich (pseudonym),
126
Neuenar, William of (Count), 3
(to. 3)
Oecolampadius (Hussgen), John
(preacher), 233
Ort, Philip, 350
Osiander, Andr. (theologian), 537
Ossa, Melchior v. (Councillor), 185,
189, 195, 225, 417, 448, 505, 537,
(his wife) 417
Otto I. (Emperor), 433
Otto the elder (Duke of Bruns-
wick-Liineburg), 421
Otto (cardinal). See Truchsess
Otto Henry of Pfalz-Neuburg
(Count Palatine, afterwards
Elector Palatine). 153, 226 f.,
298
Paget, "William (ambassador), 298
(n. 3), 302 (n. 1)
Pandolfini, 463 (n. 1)
Part. Jorg (doctor), 337
Paul III. (Pope Alexander Far-
nese), 1, 5, 7, 9, 29,44f., 70, 106-
112, 136 f., 143, 145, 147, 154,
159 f., 164, 177, 199 (n. 1), 233,
245, 247, 252 f., 255-260, 269-
274, 286-290, 299, 301, 305, 307,
310, 320 ff., 324, 327, 329 f., 332,
342, 355, 376-389, 399, 402, 408,
418, 428
Paul IV. (Pope), 432, 550. Cf.
Caraffa
Paulus, Nic. (historian), 281 (». 1)
Peucer, Caspar (theologian), 82
(n. 2)
Pfmzing, Paul, 730
Pflug, Julius (Bishop of Naumburg),
147, 182-187, 248, 366, 396 ff.
Philip II. (Infant, then King of
Spain), 133 ff., 299, 307 («. 1),
327, 377, 468, 504
Philip (Landgrave of Hesse), 2 (n. 1),
6, 8 f., 11, 14 f., 27, 29, 31 ff., 36,
38-42, 60, 73-104, 107, 113-132,
135-141, 143, 149, 160, 165, 174,
177, 180, 187 (n. 1), 192, 195,
196 f., 201 ff., 205, 207, 211,
217 f., 230 f., 233, 237 f., 242,
245, 247, 251, 262, 270 (n. 1).
293, 295, 297, 301 ff., 305 ff., 312,
318 f., 322-329, 332 ff., 339-346,
348, 352 f., 356 f., 365-374, 403,
409, 411 ff., 433, 437, 442, 454,
470, 474, 481, 499, 515, 536,
543 ; (his sons William, George,
Louis, and Philip), 437
Philip (Count Palatine, Bishop of
Freising and administrator of
Naumburg), 181 f., 226
Pirkheimer, Wilibald (humanist),
272
Pistorius (v. Nidda), John (theolo-
gian), 147
Planitz, George v. d., 144
Plassen, Carl van der, 241, 285,
305, 413
Poehnans, Anna, 225
Poitiers. See Diana
Querhammer (councillor), 348
Raid, Sylvester, 517
Ranke, Leopold v. (historian), 125
(n. 1), 445 (n. 1\ 460 (n. 1)
584
HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Ratzeberger, Caspar (physician),
274 (n. 2)
Ratzinger, George (theologian), 461
(n. 2)
Rauscher, Jerome (court preacher),
533
Reckerode, George v., 422
Reders, Matthew (burgomaster),
321
Redwitz, Weigand (Bishop of Bam-
berg), 425, 454, 457 f., 501, 506
Reid, Balthasar (preacher), 85
Reifenberg, Frederic v. (ambassa-
dor), 422, 440, 442
Ricasoli, 364 (n. 2, 4)
Richard of the Palatinate, 496
Riezler, Sigm., 338 (n. 1)
Rincone, Anton, (ambassador), 178
Riirer, Thomas (pastor), 533
Roggendorf, Christopher (Count of),
422
Rommel, Dietr. (historical inves-
tigator), 48, 86 (n. 1)
Rossem, Martin v. (military gene-
ral), 179, 235
Rustan, Grand Vizier, 180
Sabine of Bavaria (Duchess of
Wiirtemberg), 147
Sailer, Gereon (physician), 77, 83,
95, 104, 160, 202 (n. 2), 262
St. Mauris, John de (ambassador),
300, 421
Sale, Frau v. der, 77, 80, 83
Sale, Margaret v. der (second wife
of Philip of Hesse), 76 f., 84, 108,
115, 119, 499 ; (her sister) 88
Salm, Wolfgang I., Count of
(Bishop of Passau), 480
Sastrow, B., 339, 372 (n. 3), 391,
*397, 412
Saxony (House of), 58, 312
Scepper, Cornelius Duplicius de
(statesman), 104 (n. 2), 139
Schartlin, Seb. von Burtenbach, 15
(n. 1), 40, 207, 237, 298, 314 f.,
317, 332, 335, 342, 346, 354, 364,
423, 427, 445, 463 («. 1), 473,
510 i., 514
Schaumberg. See Adolphus
Scheie von Schelenburg, Caspar,
225 (n. 1)
Schlecht, Jos. (historian), 281 (n. 1)
Schlieben, Eustace v. (councillor),
67, 68
Schmidt, G. L. (historian), 212
(n, 1)
Schmidt, M. J. (historian), 253
(». 1)
Scbnepf, Erhard (preacher), 114,
536
Schiinberg, Ant. v. (councillor), 52
Schonberg, Ernest v., 309 (n. 2)
Schuchardt, Ehr. (historian), 274
(n.l)
Schultess, George, 288 (n. 3)
Schutzbar, Wolfgang (called Milch-
ling, commander of the Teutonic
Knights), 47, 337
Schwarzburg, Gunther v. (knight),
448
Schwcinichen, Hans von (knight),
392 («, 1)
Schwenckfeld, Casparv., Schwenck-
feldians, 13, 233
Schwendi, Lazarus v. (general),
429, 475 (n. 2)
Sebastian von Heusenstamm
(canon, then Archbishop of
Mayence), 294, 347, 384, 399,
429, 430, 469, 473, 480, 489, 496,
507, 538, 546
Seid, George Sigmund (Imperial
Vice-Chancellor), 372
Selve, Odet de (ambassador), 515
Sfondrato, Francesco (legate), 395,
402
Sibylla of Cleves (Electress of
Saxony), 75, 250
Siebert v. Lowenberg (doctor), 138
Sigismund (Emperor), 74 (n. 1)
Sigismund I. (the ' Old ' or the
' Great,' King of Poland), 60
Sigmund of Brandenburg (Arch-
bishop of Magdeburg), 549
Sinzenhofen, Pancras (Bishop of
Ratisbon), 304
Sleidan, John (historian), 137, 200
(n. 1), 247 (■». 1), 269, 299, 339
(n. 2)
Solyman II. (the ' Great ' or the
'Magnificent' Sultan), 23, 162,
165, 178, 220, 234, 342, 356 ff.,
364 f., 463, 467, 504, 515
Sophia of Poland (Duchess of
Brunswick), 199
Spigel, Asmus (councillor), 190
INDEX OF PERSONS
585
Stadion, Christopher v. (Bishop of
Augsburg), 22, 153
Steinhart, George (preacher), 533
Stigelius, John (magister), 284
(n. 1)
Stocklein (captain), 517
Strassen, Christopher von, 493
Stratner, Jacob (preacher), 62
Sturm (v. Sturmeck), Jacob (states-
man), 31, 105, 137, 248, 298
Sturm, John (schoolman), 299, 319,
340, 356 (n. 2), 422,432
Tecklenburg, Conrad v. (Count),
11
Teutleben, Valentin v. (Bishop of
Hilclesheim), 209 f.,228, 303
Teutonic Order of Knights, 46, 70,
337
Thamer, Theobald (field preacher),
343
Thann, Eberhard von der, 85
Theodosius, Emperor, 54
Thirlby, Thomas (Bishop of West-
minster), 354 (n. 2)
Thumshirn, William v. (general),
365, 371
Trott, Eva v., 199, 248
Truchsess von Waldburg, Otto
(Cardinal Bishop of Augsburg),
313, 317, 409, 501 (n. 1), 540
Tschermak, Arminius (ptrysician),
281 (??. 1)
Tnrba, G. (historian), 364 (n. 1),
369 (n. 1, 2)
Ulrich (Duke of Wiirtemberg),
11 ff., 31, 34 ff., 93, 97, 104 (n. 2),
123 f., 196, 243. 313, 315, 334
(n. 1), 335, 345, 351 ff., 355, 385,
403, 414. 421, 425, 428, 447, 454
Valentin (Bishop of Hildesheim).
See Teutleben
Valentinian (Emperor), 128
Vannes (Bishop of). See Marillac
Veltwyck, Gerhard (councillor), 403
Vendome, Anton (Duke of), 179
Verallo, Jerome (Archbishop of
Bossano, nuncio), 316 («. 2), 377,
379, 382, 408
Viglius, van Zwichem (d'Aytta,
jurist), 470 (n. 3)
Virail, Cajus von (ambassador),
593
Viret, Pierre (theologian), 356
Vitelli, Alexander (commander of
Papal troops), 177
Vogelsberger, Sebastian (general),
364
Voigt, G, (historian), 227 (n. 1)
Waldburg, Baron v., 16
Waldburg. See Truchsess
Waldeck, Francis of (Bishop of
Munster, Minden, and Osna-
briick), 153, 224 f., 233, 312
Waldis, Burkard (poet), 206 (n. 1)
Walter, H., 194 (n. 1)
Walter, Rudolph, 84 (n. 3), 89
(n. 1)
Wedewer, Herm. (writer of Church
history), 281 (n. 1)
Weeze, John v. (ambassador, for-
mer Archbishop of Lund), 30,
36 f., 45 f., 103, 146, 148, 153,
158
Weissenfelder, Hans (ambassador),
22, 96
Westhof (Carmelite), 376 (n, 1), 379,
384
Widmann, Leonard (chronicler),
304 {7i. 2)
William of Brandenburg (Arch-
bishop of Riga), 70, 550
William IV. (Duke of Bavaria), 25,
33, 36, 96, 104 (n. 2), 124, 143 f.,
152, 204, 217, 227, 248, 262.
306 f., 336, 472
William (Duke of Julich-Cleves),
73, 80, 92, 95, 135, 149, 153, 179,
233, 235 f., 239-242, 245, 289.
432, 466, 473, 507
William (Landgrave of Hesse), 82
(n. 2), 437, 439, 441, 443, 453 f.,
470, 477, 492, 503
Winistede, John (preacher), 528
Winkel, John (preacher), 209
(n. 1)
Winter, G. (historian), 227 (n. 2)
Wirsberg, Christopher v., 365
Wirsberg, Wilibald v., 362
Wittelsbach (House of). See Ba-
varia, 307-308
586
HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE
Witter, J, (historian), 449 (n. 2)
Wolfgang (Count Palatine of Zwei-
brucken), 403
Wnn der, Melchior (abbot), 451
Zapolya, John (Count of Zips,
Voyvode of Transylvania, rival
King of Hungary), 162, 249
Zapolya, John Sigmund (Voyvode of
Transylvania), 162 (n. 1)
Zasius John Ulr. (Councillor of
State, son of Ulrich Zasius), 459,
477, 487 f., 499 (n. 1), 539, 544,
549 (n. 1), 554, 559
Zimmern (Lords of, chronicle), 104
(n. 2), 489
Zobel, Melchior v. (Bishop of Wiirz-
burg), 424 f., 429, 461, 501
Znrn Jungen, Daniel, 435
Zum Lam, Jerome (Hieronymus),
159 (n. 1), 168 (n. 2)
Zwick (broker), 452
Zwingli, Ulrich, 233, 564
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