A History of Germany from the Earliest Times to the Present Day

by Bayard Taylor

When he reappeared before the Diet, the next day, he was calm and firm. In a plain, yet most earnest address, delivered both in Latin and German so that all might understand, he explained the grounds of his belief, and closed with the solemn words: "Unless, therefore, I should be confuted by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures and by clear and convincing reasons, I cannot and will not retract, because there is neither wisdom nor safety in acting against conscience. Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise: God help me! Amen."

Charles V., without allowing the matter to be discussed by the Diet, immediately declared that Luther should be prosecuted as a heretic, as soon as the remaining twenty-one days of his safe-conduct had expired. He was urged by many of the partisans of Rome, not to respect the promise, but he answered: "I do not mean to blush, like Sigismund." Luther's sincerity and courage confirmed the faith of his princely friends. Frederick the Wise and the Landgrave Philip of Hesse walked by his side when he left the Diet, and Duke Eric of Brunswick sent him a jug of beer. His followers among the nobility greatly increased in numbers and enthusiasm.

1521.

It was certain, however, that he would be in serious danger as soon as he had been formally outlawed by the Emperor. A plot, kept secret from all his friends, was formed for his safety, and successfully carried out during his return from Worms to Wittenberg. Luther travelled in an open wagon, with only one companion. On entering the Thuringian Forest, he sent his escort in advance, and was soon afterwards, in a lonely glen, seized by four knights in armor and with closed visors, placed upon a horse and carried away. The news spread like wild-fire over Germany that he had been murdered, and for nearly a year he was lost to the world. His writings were only read the more: the Papal bull and the Imperial edict which ordered them to be burned were alike disregarded. Charles V. went back to Spain immediately after the Diet of Worms, after having transferred the German possessions of the house of Hapsburg to his younger brother, Ferdinand, and the business of suppressing Luther's doctrines fell chiefly to the Archbishops of Mayence and Cologne, and the Papal Legate.

Luther, meanwhile, was in security in a castle called the Wartburg, on the summit of a mountain near Eisenach. He was dressed in a knightly fashion, wore a helmet, breastplate and sword, allowed his beard to grow, and went by the name of "Squire George." But in the privacy of his own chamber—all the furniture of which is preserved to this day, as when he lived in it—he worked zealously upon a translation of the New Testament into German. In the spring of 1522 he was disturbed in his labors by the report of new doctrines which were being preached in Wittenberg. His friend Carlstadt had joined a fanatical sect, called the Anabaptists, which advocated the abolition of the mass, the destruction of pictures and statues, and proclaimed the coming of God's Kingdom upon the Earth.

The experience of the Bohemians showed Luther the necessity of union in his great work of reforming the Christian Church. Moreover, his enemies triumphantly pointed to the excesses of the Anabaptists as the natural result of his doctrines. There was no time to be lost: in spite of the remonstrance of the Elector Frederick, he left the Wartburg, and rode alone, as a man-at-arms, to Wittenberg, where even Melanchthon did not recognize him on his arrival. He began preaching, with so much power and eloquence, that in a few days the new sect lost all the ground it had gained, and its followers were expelled from the city. The necessity of arranging another and simpler form of divine service was made evident by these occurrences; and after the publication of the New Testament in German, in September, 1522, Luther and Melanchthon united in the former task.

1523. THE PEASANTS' WAR.

The Reformation made such progress that by 1523, not only Saxony, Hesse and Brunswick had practically embraced it, but also the cities of Frankfort, Strasburg, Nuremberg and Magdeburg, the Augustine order of monks, a part of the Franciscans, and quite a large number of priests. Now, however, a new and most serious trouble arose, partly from the preaching of the Anabaptists, headed by their so-called Prophet, Thomas Münzer, and partly provoked by the oppressions which the common people had so long endured. In the summer of 1524 the peasants of Würtemberg and Baden united, armed themselves, and issued a manifesto containing twelve articles. They demanded the right to choose their own priests; the restriction of tithes to their harvests; the abolition of feudal serfdom; the use of the forests; the regulation of the privilege of the nobles to hunt and fish; and protection, in certain other points, against the arbitrary power of the landed nobility. They seemed to take it for granted that Luther would support them; but he, dreading a civil war and desirous to keep the religious reformation free from any political movement, published a pamphlet condemning their revolt. At the same time he used his influence on their behalf, with the reigning priests and princes.

The excitement, however, was too great to be subdued by admonitions of patience and forbearance. A dreadful war broke out in 1525: the army of 30,000 peasants ravaged a great part of Southern Germany, destroying castles and convents, and venting their rage in the most shocking barbarities, which were afterwards inflicted upon themselves, when they were finally defeated by the Count of Waldburg. The movement extended through Middle Germany even to Westphalia, and threatened to become general: some parts of Thuringia were held for a short time by the peasants, and suffered terrible ravages. Another army of 8,000, headed by Thomas Münzer, was cut to pieces near Mühlhausen, in Saxony, and by the end of the year 1525, the rebellion was completely suppressed. In this short time, some of the most interesting monuments of the Middle Ages, among them the grand castle of the Hohenstaufens, in Suabia, had been levelled to the earth; whole provinces were laid waste; tens of thousands of men, women and children were put to the sword, and a serious check was given to the progress of the Reformation, through all Southern Germany.

1525.