his mistake in time. on the side of Letters bus (realying his dewrned about '༢༩.༢༡ ་ལོ༥༤ адашёв hein. HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. path he had chosen, and replied to the writings of his adversaries The new reformer, whose opposition to the traditionary teaching As early as the year 1518, on the 3d of February, Pope Leo X. had commissioned Gabriel of Venice, Vicar-General of the Augustinians, to bring Luther to submission. This had no effect whatever. On the 30th of May Luther sent the explanations and proofs ("resolutiones") of his theses, with a letter, to the Pope. The Emperor Maximilian described to the Pope the danger and gravity of the impending strife, and Leo, on August 1, cited the heretic to appear in Rome; but, yielding to the wish of the Elector M. put allound Frederic of Saxony, he permitted Luther to be heard at Augsburg. 11 wthon Accordingly, in October, 1518, Luther made his appearance at Augsburg, and had several conferences with the learned cardinal Cajetan (Thomas de Vio), but refused to make the desired recantation. He left the city secretly, leaving an appeal, duly witnessed before a notary, bearing the inscription: "From the ill-informed Pope to the Pope when better informed" ("A Papa male informato ad Papam melius informandum "). Cajetan vainly besought the Elector Frederic either to deliver up the dangerous heretic or to banish him from his dominion. Luther remained unmolested in Wittenberg, and in the self-same year won over to his side Philip Melanchthon, who was to play so important a part in this contest. On the 9th of November, 1518, Pope Leo X. issued a bull in which he expounds the doctrine of the Church on indulgences; but before the bull arrived, Luther had, on the 28th of November, appealed from the Pope to an oecumenical council. Under such circumstances, also, the efforts of the Pope's chamberlain, Charles von Miltitz, to effect peace were necessarily at fault; the unpliable soul of the monk remained unmoved. All that the pacificator could effect was that Luther promised to keep silence if his opponents would do the same. nal hatted of hanti § 161. Disputation at Leipsic, and its Results. An opponent One of the most renowned opponents of Luther was Dr. John Eck, the learned Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ingolstadt, who in his work called "The Obelisks," which was written at the request of the Bishop of Eichstädt, stated in short terms and fully disproved the objectionable propositions set forth by the Wittenberg reformer. Although the work was not intended for the public, it had a wide circulation, and induced Andreas Carlstadt, the tutor of Luther, to undertake the vindication of his pupil, in forty theses. Hereupon a public disputation was agreed upon between him and Eck. This was accordingly held, from June 27 to July 16, 1519, Eck public dispertate-re in Leipsic. Luther, who had in his "Asterisks" replied in a vehe-t Infere ment tone to Eck's "Obelisks," now took part in this discussion. The defeat the "reformer" had undergone offended his vanity, and made him still more obdurate in his opposition to the Catholic Church. His friends vented their intrinsic choler on Eck, whom they insulted and calumniated after the coarsest fashion. In order to lead public opinion still more astray, Melanchthon published a false report of the disputation, in which several false accusations are brought against Eck. The latter defended himself, without touching on the subjects of disputation. The result was a pen polemic, in which Carlstadt took part, though in a somewhat clumsy manner. Luther, who had found a new adversary in the person of Jerome Emser, private secretary of Duke George of Saxony, could not refrain from the enjoyment of cooling his revenge by again attacking Eck, which obliged the latter also to break through the silence he had imposed on himself. Shortly after the disputation, Eck in a letter to the Elector Frederic clearly showed the dangerous tendencies of Luther's doctrine, and called upon him to proceed against the heretic. His friends, however, found means to avert the threatened danger; and Luther, who had already resolved to flee into Bohemia, was enabled to remain tranquilly in Wittenberg. About this time the reformer entered into connection with the knights of the empire, whose rep it resentative was the rapacious and brutal Francis of Sickingen. more. of Maximilian The Emperor Maximilian died in 1519, and his grandson Charles V. a succeeded to the throne. Luther was solicitous to acquire the favor of the new emperor, who was crowned on the 22d of October, 1520, In this work Luther formally cut himself off from the Church, by Bull Exurge formal recru ford formal cor Immation of Lutter burns the bull star conflag, ati Meantime Eck had, on the 15th of July, 1520, effected the issue of bull1 in which Luther's doctrine was condemned in forty-one propo sitions; and Luther himself was commanded, on pain of excommunication, to retract within sixty days. The execution of this bull was committed to the papal legate Martin Caraccioli, to Jerome Aleander, and to Eck. Notwithstanding its mild tone, the bull did not meet with the wished-for reception in Germany. In some places its publication was followed by stormy riots. Unfortunately, many bishops remained inactive, while the adherents of Luther made great efforts to weaken the impression made by the bull on the faithful. The reformer himself, who at that time published his works "On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church," "On the Mass," "On the 1 Exurge Dominę. the Liberty of a Christian Man," assailed the bull, and published his insulting pamphlet "On the New Eckian Bulls." The Elector Frederic, misled by the superficial judgment of Erasmus, took the side of Luther, and declared that the matter should be submitted to the examination of impartial judges, and that Luther's teachings should be disproved by the authority of Scripture. Luther, being in this way strengthened in his opposition to the Church, broke the last thread which yet connected him with it. He composed an execrable pamphlet, entitled "Against the Bull of Antichrist;" and on the 10th of December, 1520, he publicly burnt the bull at Wittenberg, together with the "Corpus juris canonici," after he had repeated his appeal for a general council. an A few months after these events, on April 21, 1521, the Sorbonne condemned the erroneous propositions of Luther, and Henry VIII. of England published his defence of the seven sacraments.1 Luther answered with base insults. In the same unworthy manner he treated George, Duke of Saxony. I avi to maker a public & formal condemnation of Lutre & Luthard doctrine. #that its purpos § 162. The Diet of Worms. - Luther's Sojourn on the Wartburg. -The Prophets of Zwickau. - Luther's Contest with Them. At the Diet of Worms, which was opened in February, 1521, the papal legate Aleander read a bull 2 of the 3d of January of the same year, by which Luther was formally excluded from the communion of the Church, and in a powerful speech called upon the emperor and the princes of the empire to proceed against the heretic, according to the laws of the empire against the excommunicated. But the Elector Frederic and some other adherents of Luther demanded that he should first be heard. Their request was granted. Furnished with an imperial safe-conduct, Luther appeared in Worms, acknowledged that the writings placed before him were his, but refused every recantation, and, rejecting alike the authority of the Pope with that of the cecumenical councils, demanded to be refuted from the Holy Scriptures." 1 Adsertio septem sacramentorum adv. Luth. London, 1521. Pope Clement bestowed upon him the title of "Defensor Fidei." 2 Decet Romanum Pontificem. Bullar. Rom. v. 761 sqq. "I neither believe the Pope nor the cecumenical councils alone, since it is quite certain and manifest that they have frequently erred and contradicted themselves. My conscience is captive to God's Word. I neither can nor will recall anything. God help me! Amen." The words "Here I take my stand; I cannot do otherwise," are a later interpolation. conscience's, unal stand. belief. HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. When all conciliatory efforts to reconcile the heretic with the Church had failed, Luther was dismissed; and on the 26th of May he was placed under the ban of the empire. He however found a protector in the Elector of Saxony, who had him brought to Wartburg, where he lived under the assumed name of Younker George. Here he composed many polemical works, and commenced his translation of the Bible into German) fitting it so as to suit his own system of t During his sojourn at Wartburg, which he termed his Patmos, Luther completed his separation from the Church. The reproaches of his conscience he ascribed to the temptations of the Devil; and in the same degree as his soul was torn by distractions did he tear himself from the Church. The Edict of Worms was published in the emperor's own inherited States and in the territories of several princes; but in the main it remained ineffective, (because Charles left Germany soon after the diet, and the Government favored Luther's cause rather than combated it.) Under these favorable circumstances the friends of Luther brought their principles to practical results. Bartholomew Bernhardi, Carlstadt, and others took wives. Gabriel Didymus in 1521 declared monastic vows to be diabolical, whereupon some monks in Saxony quitted their cells. In Wittenberg Carlstadt introduced the German Mass, administered Communion without previous confession and under both species, and had pictures and crucifixes destroyed. at least 19. While Lithas hesitated Carlstad! prickpitated Towards the end of the year 1521 the prophets of Zwickau, with Thomas Münzer, Nicholas Storch, and Marc Stübner at their head, came to Wittenberg, and in perfect consistency with Luther's system, maintained that infant baptism was useless, and that the exterior constitution of the Church needed revision and transformation. Carlstadt immediately joined them. Melanchthon wavered; and Luther, whom he consulted, gave undecided answers. It was not till Carlstadt and the prophets of Zwickau upset all order, declared war on knowledge, and even attempted to close the elementary schools, that Luther, on the 8th of March, 1522, left his Patmos. (Wartburg), hastened to Wittenberg, and here, from the pulpit and by writing, commenced, with the aid of the secular power, to "rap these visionaries on the snout." He also came to an issue with his tutor, Carlstadt, who was at that time reforming in Orlamunde, and had inflicted on the "new pope " (Luther) the severest "cuff" by his doctrine regarding the Eucharist. Consequently, after a not |