The next day the Archbishop of Mayence proclaimed that Charles had assumed the title of Roman Emperor Elect. His coronation as Emperor and King of Lombardy did not take place until 1530, when he was crowned at Bologna by Pope Clement VII.
On November 1st he summoned the States to meet at Worms, and in January 1521 travelled thither to be present at the Diet, where he and Martin Luther met face to face for the first and last time.
CHAPTER XI
REVOLT OF THE DUKE OF BOURBON
Almost at the same time that Charles was crowned at Aix, the most enterprising and accomplished of the Turkish sultans, Solyman the Magnificent, ascended the Ottoman throne. The world has seldom seen such a brilliant constellation of rulers as now filled the principal thrones of Europe. Leo X., Charles V., Francis I., Henry VIII., and Solyman the Magnificent each possessed talents which would have made them conspicuous in any age, but which together made the history of Europe during the first half of the sixteenth century peculiarly interesting.
After his coronation, Charles returned to Brussels with Margaret. For some time past alarming news had reached him from his regent in Spain, where open rebellion had now broken out. Adrian of Utrecht was quite unequal to the task of coping with the insurgents, and first Medina del Campo, then Valladolid, and lastly Tordesillas (where Queen Joanna was confined) fell into the hands of the rebels. The great seal and state papers were seized, Adrian narrowly escaped being taken prisoner with his Council, and only saved himself by flight.
When Joanna heard that the rebel leader Padilla and his host had arrived before Tordesillas she ordered the townspeople to welcome them, and ostensibly made herself head of the revolution, authorising the leaders to summon the Cortes to meet in her palace. But although the members of the Junta declared her sane, Joanna's refusal to sign any documents or come to any decision hopelessly checkmated their efforts, and early in December the Government troops were able to take Tordesillas by assault after four hours' desperate fighting.[71]
Meanwhile imploring letters reached Charles from his Councillors begging him to return to Spain and quell the rebellion; this he refused to do, until it suited his convenience, but appointed two Spanish nobles, the Constable and Admiral of Castile, to assist Adrian in restoring order, with strict injunctions to make no concessions. Before many months were out peace was once more restored, and the Communeros finally crushed in the following April at the battle of Villalar.
In January 1521 Charles sailed up the Rhine to attend the Diet which he had summoned to meet at Worms. It opened on January the 28th, and dragged on its wearisome deliberations for several months. Of all the questions the emperor had to solve, that of Luther was the hardest. The Pope did his best to complicate matters by urging that Luther should be condemned unheard; but the state of public feeling was such that Charles deemed it wiser to consult the Diet, who decided that the monk should be heard. A herald was therefore despatched to Wittemberg bearing a letter from the emperor with a promise of safe conduct. Luther appeared at Worms on April the 16th. Brought before Charles, he admitted the authorship of his books, but refused to withdraw any of his doctrines. He spoke boldly and impressively, but when he enlarged upon the Pope's iniquities, the emperor reprimanded him, nor would he listen to the monk's denial of the authority of Councils. Charles was not impressed by Luther's manner or bearing, and during the interview was heard to remark, 'This man will never make me a Lutheran.' This was their first and last encounter, for the emperor and monk were destined never to meet again.