History of the Reformation, vol. 2

Chapter 9

Tumult and Calmness—The Flagon of Duke Eric—The Elector and Spalatin—The Emperor’s Message—Proposal to violate the Safe-conduct—Violent Opposition—Enthusiasm in Favor of Luther—Language of Conciliation—Fears of the Elector—Luther’s numerous Visiters—Philip of Hesse

Night had closed in. Each man retired to his home in darkness. Two imperial officers formed Luther’s escort. Some persons imagined that his fate was decided, that they were leading him to prison, whence he would never come forth but to mount the scaffold: an immense tumult broke out. Several gentlemen exclaimed: “Are they taking him to prison?”—“No,” replied Luther, “they are accompanying me to my hotel.” At these words the agitation subsided. Some Spanish soldiers of the emperor’s household followed this bold man through the streets by which he had to pass, with shouts and mockery, while others howled and roared like wild beasts robbed of their prey. But Luther remained calm and firm. HRSCV2 246.1

Such was the scene at Worms. The intrepid monk, who had hitherto boldly braved all his enemies, spoke on this occasion, when he found himself in the presence of those who thirsted for his blood, with calmness, dignity, and humility. There was no exaggeration, no mere human enthusiasm, no anger; overflowing with the liveliest emotion, he was still at peace; modest, though withstanding the powers of the earth; great in presence of all the grandeur of the world. This is an indisputable mark that Luther obeyed God, and not the suggestions of his own pride. In the hall of the diet there was one greater than Charles and than Luther. When ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, take no thought how or what ye shall speak, saith Jesus Christ, for it is not ye that speak. Never perhaps had this promise been more clearly fulfilled. HRSCV2 246.2

A profound impression had been produced on the chiefs of the empire. This Luther had noticed, and it had increased his courage. The pope’s ministers were provoked because John ab Eck had not sooner interrupted the guilty monk. Many lords and princes were won over to a cause supported with such conviction. With some, it is true, the impression was transient; but others, on the contrary, who concealed their sentiments at that time, at an after-period declared themselves with great courage. HRSCV2 246.3

Luther had returned to his hotel, seeking to recruit his body fatigued by severe a trial. Spalatin and other friends surrounded him, and all together gave thanks to God. As they were conversing, a servant entered, bearing a silver flagon filled with Eimbeck beer. “My master,” said he, as he offered it to Luther, “invites you to refresh yourself with this draught.”—“Who is the prince,” said the Wittenberg doctor, “who so gracious remembers me?” It was the aged Duke Eric of Brunswick. The reformer was affected by this present from so powerful a lord, belonging to the pope’s party. “His highness,” continued the servant, “has condescended to taste it before sending it to you.” Upon this Luther, who was thirsty, poured our some of the duke’s beer, and after drinking it, he said: “As this day Duke Eric has remembered me, so may our Lord Jesus Christ remember him in the hour of his last struggle.” It was a present of trifling value; but Luther, desirous of showing his gratitude to a prince who remembered him at such a moment, gave him such as he had—a prayer. The servant returned with this message to his master. At the moment of his death the aged duke called these words to mind, and addressing a young page, Francis of Kramm, who was standing at his bedside: “Take the Bible,” said he, “and read it to me.” The child read these words of Christ, and the soul of the dying man was comforted: Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. HRSCV2 246.4

Hardly had the Duke of Brunswick’s servant gone away, before a messenger from the Elector of Saxony came with orders for Spalatin to come to him immediately. Frederick had gone to the diet filled with uneasiness. He had imagined that in the presence of the emperor Luther’s courage would fail him; and hence he had been deeply moved by the resolute bearing of the reformer. He was proud of being a protector of such a man. When the chaplain arrived, the table was spread; the elector was just sitting down to supper with his court, and already the servants had brought in the water for their hands. As he saw Spalatin enter, he motioned him to follow, and as soon as he was alone with the chaplain in his bedchamber, he said: “Oh! how Father Luther spoke before the emperor, and before all the states of the empire! I only trembled lest he should be too bold.” Frederick then formed the resolution of protecting the doctor more courageously in future. HRSCV2 246.5

Aleander saw the impression Luther had produced; there was no time to lose; he must induce the emperor to act with vigor. The opportunity was favorable; war with France was imminent. Leo X, desirous of enlarging his states, and caring little for the peace of Christendom, was secretly negotiating two treaties at the same time,—one with Charles against Francis, the other with Francis against Charles. In the former, he claimed of the emperor, for himself, the territories of Parma, Placentia, and Ferrara; in the second, he stipulated with the king for a portion of the kingdom of Naples, which would thus be taken from Charles. The latter felt the importance of gaining Leo to his side, in order to have his alliance in the war against his rival of France. It was a mere trifle to purchase the mighty pontiff’s friendship at the cost of Luther’s life. HRSCV2 246.6

On the day following Luther’s appearance (Friday 19th April), the emperor ordered a message to be read to the diet, which he had written in French with his own hand. “Descended from the christian emperors of German,” said he, “from the catholic kings of Spain, from the archdukes of Austria, and from the dukes of Burgundy, who have all been renowned as defenders of the Roman faith, I am firmly resolved to imitate the example of my ancestors. A single monk, misled by his own folly, has risen against the faith of Christendom. To stay such impiety, I will sacrifice my kingdoms, my treasures, my friends, my body, my blood, my soul, and my life. I am about to dismiss the Augustine Luther, forbidding him to cause the least disorder among the people; I shall then proceed against him and his adherents, as contumacious heretics, by excommunication, by interdict, and by every means calculated to destroy them. I call on the members of the states to behave like faithful Christians.” HRSCV2 247.1

This address did not please every one. Charles, young and hasty, had not complied with the usual forms; he should first have consulted with the diet. Two extreme opinions immediately declared themselves. The creatures of the pope, the Elector of Brandenburg, and several ecclesiastical princes, demanded that the safe-conduct given to Luther should not be respected. “The Rhine,” said they, “should receive his ashes, as it had received those of John Huss a century ago.” Charles, if we may credit an historian, bitterly repented in after-years that he did not adopt this infamous suggestion. “I confess,” said he, towards the close of his life, “that I committed a great fault by permitting Luther to live. I was not obliged to keep my promise with him; that heretic had offended a Master greater than I,—God himself. I might and ought to have broken my word, and to have avenged the insult he had committed against God: it is because I did not put him to death that heresy has not ceased to advance. His death would have stifled it in the cradle.” HRSCV2 247.2

So horrible a proposition filled the elector and all Luther’s friends with dismay. “The punishment of John Huss,” said the elector-palatine, “has brought too many misfortunes on the German nation for us ever to raise such a scaffold a second time.”—“The princes of Germany,” exclaimed even George of Saxony, Luther’s inveterate enemy, “will not permit a safe-conduct to be violated. This diet, the first held by our new emperor, will not be guilty of so base an action. Such perfidy does not accord with the ancient German integrity.” The princes of Bavaria, though attached to the Church of Rome, supported this protest. The prospect of death that Luther’s friends had already before their eyes appeared to recede. HRSCV2 247.3

The rumor of these discussions, which lasted two days, circulated through the city. Party-spirit ran high. Some gentlemen, partisans of the reform, began to speak firmly against the treachery solicited by Aleander. “The emperor,” said they, “is a young man whom the papists and bishops by their flatteries manage at their will.” Pallavicini speaks of four hundred nobles ready to enforce Luther’s safe-conduct with the sword. On Saturday morning placards were seen posted at the gates of houses and in the public places,—some against Luther, and others in his favor. On one of them might be read merely these expressive words of the Preacher: Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child. Sickingen, it was reported, had assembled a few leagues from Worms, behind the impregnable ramparts of his stronghold, many knights and soldiers, and was only waiting to know the result of the affair before proceeding to action. The enthusiasm of the people, not only in Worms, but also in the most distant cities of the empire; the intrepidity of the knights; the attachment felt by many princes to the cause of the reformer were all of a nature to show Charles and the diet that the course suggested by the Romanists might compromise the supreme authority, excite revolts, and even shake the empire. It was only the burning of a simple monk that was in question; but the princes and the partisans of Rome had not, all together, sufficient strength or courage to do this. There can be no doubt, also, that Charles V, who was then young, feared to commit perjury. This would seem to be indicated by a saying, if it is true, which, according to some historians, he uttered on this occasion: “Though honor and faith should banished from all the world, they ought to find a refuge in the hearts of princes.” It is mournful to reflect that he may have forgotten these words when on the brink of the grave. But other motives besides may have influenced the emperor. The Florentine Vettori, the friend of Leo X and of Machiavelli, asserts that Charles spared Luther only that he might thus keep the pope in check. HRSCV2 247.4

In the sitting of Saturday, the violent propositions of Aleander were rejected. Luther was beloved; there was a general desire to preserve this simple-minded man, whose confidence in God was so affecting; but there was also a desire to save the Church. Men shuddered at the thought of the consequences that might ensue, as well from the triumph as from the punishment of the reformer. Plans of conciliation were put forward; it was proposed to make a new effort with the doctor of Wittenberg. The Archbishop-elector of Mentz himself, the young and extravagant Albert, more devout than bold, says Pallavicini, had become alarmed at the interest shown by the people and nobility towards the Saxon monk. Capito, his chaplain, who during his sojourn at Basle had formed an intimacy with the evangelical priest of Zurich, named Zwingle, a bold man in the defense of truth, and of whom we have already had occasion to speak, had also, there can be no doubt, represented to Albert the justice of the reformer’s cause. The worldly archbishop had one of those returns to christian sentiments which we sometimes notice in his life, and consented to wait on the emperor, to ask permission to make a last attempt. But Charles refused everything. On Monday, the 22nd of April, the princes went in a body to repeat Albert’s request. “I will not depart from what I have determined,” replied the emperor. “I will authorize no one to communicate officially with Luther. But,” added he, to Aleander’s great vexation, “I will grant that man three days for reflection; during which time, you may exhort him privately.” This was all that they required. The reformer, thought they, elevated by the solemnity of his appearance before the diet, will give way in a more friendly conference, and perhaps will be saved from the abyss into which he is about to fall. HRSCV2 248.1

The Elector of Saxony knew the contrary, and hence was filled with apprehension. “If it were in my power,” wrote he the next day to his brother Duke John, “I should be ready to defend Luther. You cannot imagine how far the partisans of Rome carry their attacks against me. Were I to tell you all, you would hear some most astonishing matters. They are resolved upon his destruction; and whoever manifests any interest for his safety, is immediately set down as a heretic. May God, who never abandons the cause of justice, bring all things to a happy end!” Frederick, without showing his kindly feelings towards the reformer, confined himself to observing every one of his movements. HRSCV2 248.2

It was not the same with men of every rank in society who were then at Worms. They fearlessly displayed their sympathy. On Friday a number of princes, counts, barons, knights, gentlemen, ecclesiastics, laymen, and of the common people, collected before the hotel where the reformer was staying; they went in and out one after another, and could hardly satiate themselves with gazing on him. He had become the man of Germany. Even those who thought him in error were affected by the nobleness of soul that led him to sacrifice his life to the voice of his conscience. With many persons then present at Worms, the chosen men of the nation, Luther held conversations abounding in that salt with which all his words were seasoned. None quitted him without feeling animated by a generous enthusiasm for the truth. “How many things I shall have to tell you!” wrote George Vogler, private secretary to Casimir, margrave of Brandenburg, to one of his friends. “What conversations, how full of piety and kindness, has Luther had with me and others! What a charming person he is!” HRSCV2 248.3

One day a young prince, seventeen years of age, came prancing into the court of the hotel; it was Philip, who for two years had ruled Hesse. This youthful sovereign was of prompt and enterprising character, wise beyond his years, warlike, impetuous, and unwilling to be guided by any ideas but his own. Struck by Luther’s speeches, he wished to have a nearer view of him. “He, however, was not yet on my side,” said Luther, as he related this circumstance. He leaped from his horse, unceremoniously ascended to the reformer’s chamber, and addressing him, said: “Well! dear doctor, how goes it?” “Gracious lord,” answered Luther, “I hope all will go well.” “From what I hear of you, doctor,” resumed the landgrave, smiling, “you teach that a woman may leave her husband and take another, when the former is become too old!” It was some members of the imperial court who had told this story to the landgrave. The enemies of truth never fail to invent and propagate fables on the pretended doctrines of christian teachers. “No, my lord,” replied Luther seriously; “I entreat your highness not to talk thus!” Upon this the young prince hastily held out his hand to the doctor, shook it heartily, and said: “Dear doctor, if you are in the right, may God help you!” He then left the room, sprung on his horse, and rode off. This was the first interview between these two men, who were afterwards destined to be at the head of the Reformation, and to defend it,—the one with the sword of the Word, the other with the sword of princes. HRSCV2 248.4