“Father Grisar has gained a high reputation in this country through the translation of his monumental work on the History of Rome and the Popes in the Middle Ages, and this first instalment of his life of Luther bears fresh witness to his unwearied industry, wide learning, and scrupulous anxiety to be impartial in his judgments as well as absolutely accurate in matters of fact.”—Glasgow Herald.

“It is impossible to understand the Reformation without understanding the life and character of the great German. The man and the work are so indissolubly united that we cannot have right judgments about either without considering the other. It is one of Father Grisar’s many merits that he does not forget for a single moment the fundamental importance of this connection. The man and his work come before us in these illuminating pages, not as more or less harmonious elements, but as a unity, and we cannot analyse either without constant reference to the other.”—Irish Times.

“Professor Grisar is hard on Luther. Perhaps no Roman Catholic can help it. But it is significant that he is hard on the anti-Lutherans also.... He shows us, indeed, though not deliberately, that some reformation of religion was both imperative and inevitable.... But he is far from being overwhelmed with prejudice. He really investigates, uses good authorities, and gives reasons for his judgments.”—The Expository Times.

“This Life of Luther is bound to become standard ... a model of every literary, critical, and scholarly virtue.”—The Month.

“The most important book on Luther that has appeared since Denifle’s epoch-making ‘Luther und Luthertum.’ ... It is an ordered biography, ... and is therefore very probably destined to a wider general usefulness as a Catholic authority.”—The Irish Rosary.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER XI. THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE GREAT APOSTASYpages [3-44]
1. Allies among the Humanists and the Nobility tillthe Middle of 1520.
Friends among the Humanists: Crotus Rubeanus, EobanusHessus, etc. The nobility and the revolutionaryknights. Piety of Hutten’s language when addressingLuther. Franz von Sickingen. Offer made by Silvestervon Schauenberg. Report that Hutten had trapped the PapalLegates; Capito counsels greater moderation. Luther’sreason for only meeting the knights half-way. Luther’swork, “Von dem Bapstum tzu Rome,” 1520; its violencecontrasted with Luther’s earlier demands of the “man ofgood will.” The manifesto against Alveld. Prierias theDominican attacks Luther’s Indulgence-theses; the latter’sintense annoyance; summary of his second reply. Treatmentof Hoogstraaten the Inquisitor. Luther’s descriptionof himself as a “man of contentions.” Scolded by Emserfor his lack of self-controlpages [3-15]
2. The Veiling of the Great Apostasy.
By holding out hopes of reconciliation, Luther delaysthe final decision. His missive to Bishop Scultetus, inwhose diocese lay Wittenberg. Three letters to PopeLeo X; why the last was antedated; its purport. Letter tothe Emperor Charles V; reason and setting of the letter;its contents. Luther’s later description of his “inaction”during this period. His correspondence with Spalatin; thereal aim of many of the letters: to promote his cause atCourt; his offer to resign his professorship. The diplomatistcoupled with the enthusiastpages [15-26]
3. Luther’s Great Reformation-works—Radicalism andReligion.
“To the Christian Nobility”; “On the BabylonishCaptivity”; “On the Freedom of a Christian Man”;specimens from the last of Luther’s taking way of addressingthe people; his rejection of external authority and assertionof the right of private judgment against the “tyranny”of Popes and Bishops. His new conception of faith. Thepietist and religious revolutionarypages [26-37]
4. Luther’s Followers. Two Types of His CulturedPartisans: Willibald Pirkheimer and AlbertDürer.
The deep-set discontent of the Germans leads even thebest-disposed to welcome Luther’s strictures. Two famousNurembergers: Willibald Pirkheimer’s intervention onLuther’s behalf; his subsequent deception; withdrawsfrom the cause. Albert Dürer’s prepossession in Luther’sfavour; his art in Luther’s service; did he afterwardsalter his ideas?pages [38-44]
CHAPTER XII. EXCOMMUNICATION AND OUTLAWRY.SPIRITUAL BAPTISM IN THE WARTBURGpages [45-96]
1. The Trial. The Excommunication (1520) and its consequences.
The proceedings in Rome postponed and then resumed.The 41 propositions. The Bull “Exsurge Domine” menacesall Lutherans with excommunication in the event of theirrefusing to submit; some excerpts from the Bull. Luther’swritings against the Bull; futility of his appeal to a GeneralCouncil; the burning of the Bull. “Compos mei non sum”;his feverish activity; “Fluctibus his rapior et volvor”; hishints at armed opposition; on “washing hands in blood”;moderates his language when addressing the Saxon Court.Conviction that the Pope is Antichrist strengthened by thebirth of the Freiberg Calf. His “Instruction to penitentsconcerning forbidden books” (February, 1521) composedin view of the Easter confessionpages [45-61]
2. The Diet of Worms, 1521; Luther’s Attitude.
The Diet assembled. Luther’s journey to Worms. Happeningsat Erfurt. Arrival at Worms; his interrogation;unofficial attempts to reach a settlement; his final refusalto recant. Sympathisers among the members of the Diet;pressure brought to bear by the Knights; the Elector ofSaxony. Luther’s departure; preaches sermons in spite ofthe condition laid down in his safe-conduct; carried off tothe Wartburg; formally declared an outlaw; a letter toSickingenpages [61-69]
3. Legends.
The story of the Emperor’s breach of the safe-conduct.Luther’s asseveration that his opponents refused to arguebecause they knew him to be in the right. What Lutherstood for at Worms was no “freedom of conscience” in themodern sense. The legendary utterance “Here I stand. Icannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.” Various talesunfavourable to Luther: His supposed drunkenness andexcesses at Worms; despatches of Contarini the Venetianminister and Aleander the papal nunciopages [69-79]
4. Luther’s Sojourn at the Wartburg.
Luther’s disposition and occupation in his lonely retreat.Rising scruples crushed; gloomy thoughts; bodily assaultsof the evil one; temptations. His cogitations on thequestion of celibacy; discovers the best argument to useagainst vows and priestly obligations, viz. “evangelicalfreedom”; result committed to print in his work “OnMonastic Vows”; his own intention to remain unmarried.His self-accusations of gluttony and laziness not to be takenliterally. His translation of the New Testament. His work“On the Abuse of the Mass”; its frightful caricature of thePope of Rome. His spiritual Baptism; his conviction ofthe reality of his Divine missionpages [79-94]
5. Wartburg Legends.
Luther’s own language responsible for certain unfoundedcharges against him. Meaning of the “titillationes” and“molestiæ” of which he complains. The haunted castle;incident of the visit of “Hans von Berlips’s wife”; theubiquitous ink-smudgepages [94-96]
CHAPTER XIII. THE RISE OF THE REFORMED CHURCHESpages [97-172]
1. Against the Fanatics. Congregational Churches?
Luther quits the Wartburg and returns to Wittenberg.Progress of the movement at Wittenberg during his absence.Carlstadt a cause of misgivings. The Zwickau Prophetsappeal to Holy Writ and their Divine mission; Lutherpreaches against their ways; haste to be deprecated; hebases his superior claim on the priority of his revelation; heis backed by the Court. He invites people to smash theBishoprics and drive away the “wolves” (1522). Asorganiser of a new Church he is faced by practical difficultiesowing to his having no clear notion of what the Church shouldbe. Apocalyptic dreams. A dilemma: Is the new church-systemto be introduced by the secular authorities or tospring up spontaneously within the congregations? The freebrotherhood without law or coercion. The new “Christians”;use of title “Evangelicals.” Two points to besettled first, viz. the celebration of the Supper and theappointment of pastors. Luther’s then leanings to thedemocratic congregational ideal. “De instituendis ministrisecclesiæ” and his writing to the Church of Leisnig (1523) aprogramme of congregationalism. High hopes and excessiveclaims; his mysticism gives him the assurance that unitywill be achievedpages [97-115]
2. Against Celibacy. Doubtful Auxiliaries from theClergy and the Convents.
Advantages and disadvantages of Luther’s warfareon the state of religious celibacy. His work “On MonasticVows.” His exhortations to a religious to “pocket hisscruples and be a man.” On man’s need to marry. Significantadmissions. His teaching in the Postils and LargerCatechism; advice to the Prince-abbots and Knights ofthe Teutonic Order; sarcastic remarks concerning theolden Fathers, particularly Jerome, and their “pettytemptations”; connection of Luther’s attack on vows andhis early dislike of “works.” The character of the newpastors and preachers; Luther suggests the erection of ajail for their especial benefit; Eberlin, Hessus, and Cordus,Erasmus and Ickelsamer on the reformed pastors’ failings.Eberlin’s testimony in favour of the Franciscanspages [115-129]
3. Reaction of the Apostasy on its Author. His PrivateLife (1522-1525).
The “scandal” of his life as it appeared to the Fanatics;displeasure of a Catholic contemporary; reports carried tothe Court of King Ferdinand; moral circumspection imposedon Luther by his situation: “we are a spectacle untothe whole world.” Flight of Catherine von Bora and theNimbschen nuns; the “delivery” of other convent-inmateselsewhere; Luther’s intercourse at Wittenberg with theescaped nuns; his allusions to them. His joke about his“three wives”; urges the Archbishop of Mayence to wed,the latter’s retort and Luther’s offer “to prance along infront” as an example to His Grace. Some characteristicextracts from his letters to intimates. Melanchthon shockedat Luther’s behaviour and jests. Dungersheim on Luther’sdoings in the “herd of runaway nuns.” Eck on Luther’scharacter and conduct. Luther’s sermons on self-control,devil’s chastity, etc. “On Conjugal life.” Luther’s disregardfor decency unmatched by any writer of his age. Hisdescription of King Henry VIII. Rebuked by contemporariesfor his incessant recourse to invectivepages [129-157]
4. Further Traits Towards a Picture of Luther. OutwardAppearance. Sufferings, Bodily and Mental.
General descriptions of Luther’s personal appearance.His reputed portraits not good likenesses. Effect of anxietyand overwork on his nervous system. Discussion of thequestion whether Luther suffered from the venereal diseaseso common in his time; the newly discovered letter of thephysician Rychardus in 1523 regarding Luther’s indisposition.Luther’s fits of depression; he relieves hisfeelings by greater violence in his attacks on the Church ofRome, religious vows, the Popish Mass, and the foe within thecamp; Satan raging everywhere; the end of all not far off.He invites Amsdorf to come and comfort him, being “verysad and tempted”; falls into a fainting-fit when alone athome; recovers his composure under the cheering influenceof music; requests Senfl of Munich to set to music afavourite anthempages [157-172]
CHAPTER XIV. FROM THE PEASANT-WAR TO THEDIET OF AUGSBURG (1525-1530)pages [173-399]
1. Luther’s Marriage.
Luther’s unexpected wedding with Catherine von Bora;his justification of it; Melanchthon’s mixed feelings shownin his confidential letter to Camerarius; his surprise thatLuther should have chosen this “unhappy time” (theperiod of the Peasant-War) for his marriage. Luther’sexcitement during the War and his presentiment of approachingdeath; his determination to spite the devil and himself;his marriage a “work of God.” The death of Frederick theWise removes an obstacle to Luther’s matrimony. Luther’sjesting references to the step. His friends’ misgivings.Erasmus sadly disappointed in his hope that marriage wouldtame Luther. Dungersheim’s lament. Marriage-legends:The statement that the marriage was consummated beforebeing solemnised, due to a mere misunderstanding; reportof Bora’s early confinement based on a statement of Erasmuswhich he afterwards withdrew. Statements of Heyden andLemnius regarding Luther’s misconduct with Bora, toogeneral to be of historical valuepages [173-189]
2. The Peasant-War. Polemics.
Connection of the Peasant-rising with the new preaching.The “Twelve Articles” of the Swabians; “Evangelical”demands of the Peasants; the Peasants incited by fanaticalpreachers; efforts made by the better pastors to quiet thepopulace. Luther drawn into the movement; his “Exhortationto peace”; its description of the lords calculatedto fan the flame; his broadside “Against the murderousPeasants” and its drift: “Hew them down, slaughter, andstab them like mad dogs.” The pamphlet alienates the lowerclasses. Luther’s writing on the defeat of Münzer. His“Circular letter on the severe booklet against the Peasants.”Contemporary opinions regarding Luther’s action; Zasius,Cochlæus, Erasmus. Luther’s later references to his interventionin the revolt; he ceases to be any longer the idol ofthe people. The Catholic Princes take steps to maintaintheir authority against the encroachments of the innovators.The Dessau League and the Assembly of Mayence. Luther’ssuppressed tract “Against the Mayence proposal,” 1526.The Lutherans enter into an alliance at Torgau; Luther onthe aversion of both lords and peasants for himself. Hisabiding distrust of the peasants. The “awful ingratitude”of the people. His excitement and his polemics only deepenhis conviction of his Divine mission. Emser’s indignationwith Luther expressed in verse. The multiplicity of thematters of business referred to Lutherpages [189-223]
3. The Religion of the Enslaved Will. The ControversyBetween Luther and Erasmus (1524-1525).
The earlier Church on freedom of the will. Growth ofLuther’s denial of freedom from the time of the Commentaryon Romans; his attack on free-will in the “Resolutions”after the Leipzig Disputation and in the “Assertio”against the Bull of Excommunication (1521): “Omnia denecessitate absoluta eveniunt,” anything else mere Pelagianism;St. Augustine; the “religion of the Cross”; Scripture thesole rule of faith; Luther’s deviations from his sterndoctrine in his practical works; objections within his ownfold. Erasmus invited to take the field on behalf of freedom;previous attitude of the leader of the Humanists: partly for,partly against Luther; his eyes opened in 1520; his regretin 1521 for having fanned the flames by his writings; thesaying: “Erasmus laid the egg which Luther hatched”;various opinions regarding Erasmus. Luther seeks in vainto dissuade Erasmus from writing against him; publicationof the “De libero arbitrio diatribe,” 1524; Luther’s reply:“De servo arbitrio”; contents and character of the work;religious determinism; God the only real agent; peaceto be secured only at the price of surrendering free-will;unfreedom and predestination to hell; God’s Secret Willversus His Revealed Will; existence of commandmentsand penalties; how explained? Man’s will a saddle-horsemounted alternately by God and the devil. Luther’spsychology as portrayed in his work on the enslaved will.Laurentius Valla. Luther’s later dicta on the enslaved willand predestination; his own opinion unaltered to the end;he commends, however, the second edition of the “LociTheologici” in which Melanchthon sacrifices determinism.Letter to Count A. von Mansfeld on the scandal of the weak;consolation for the damned. Recent views on Luther’s attitudepages [223-294]
4. New Views on the Secular Authorities.
Luther’s own estimation of the value of his teaching onthe subject. How his views were reached. His book “Vonwelltlicher Uberkeytt,” 1523; his depreciation of thePrinces: “A good Prince a rare bird from the beginning.”Antagonism to the fanatics and revolted peasants and hisdesire to serve the cause of the Evangel lead him to exaggeratethe secular authority at the expense of the spiritual;Luther’s self-contradictory utterances on the subject of theuse of earthly weapons in the service of the Evangelpages [294-312]
5. How the New Church-system was Introduced.
Döllinger on the preparation of the ground for the Reformation.The proceedings at Altenburg, Lichtenberg,Schwarzburg, and Eilenburg typical of the action of thetown councils. Partial retention of olden ceremonial for thesake of avoiding scandal. An instance of misplaced enthusiasm:Hartmuth von Cronberg. Proceedings atWittenberg, in the Saxon Electorate and in the free Imperialcity of Nuremberg. Lutheranism introduced at the Universitytown of Erfurt; Luther’s own part in this; theCatholic opposition headed by Usingen; anticlericalrising in the town; invasion of the peasants and overthrowof the magistracy; awkward position of Luther on beingappealed to by the committees set up by the revolutionaries;negotiations with the Saxon Elector and the Archbishop ofMayence; partial success of the Archbishop’s threatspages [312-362]
6. Sharp Encounters with the Fanatics.
Advantages accruing to Luther from his warfare with theAnabaptists. Thomas Münzer’s opinions and doings.Luther’s Circular on the spirit of revolt and Münzer’s“Schutzrede”; with whom is the decision as to thequality of the spirit to rest? Münzer’s capture and execution;Luther exults. Luther’s tracts against Carlstadt;all his gainsayers possessed by the devil; Münzer’s descriptionof Luther as the Pope of Wittenberg. Ickelsamer’sobjection that Luther goes only half-way with his principleof private judgment. Luther’s view that every man sentby God must be “tried by the devil.” Luther shocks hiswifepages [363-379]
7. Progress of the Apostasy. Diets of Spires (1529) andAugsburg (1530).
Previous Diets; the Diet of Spires in 1526; the Protestat the Diet of Spires in 1529; that of Augsburg in 1530;Melanchthon’s diplomacy approved by Luther; “insidiæ”pitted against “insidiæ”; the Gospel-proviso; Luther’sadmission to Philip of Hesse; failure of the AugsburgDiet; the tale of the spectre-monks of Spires; Luther’sobsessions in the fortress of Coburg; vehemence of his tractagainst the “pretended Imperial edict”; his reply toDuke George the “Dresden assassin.” Luther’s fidelity tocertain central truths of Christianity, particularly to thedoctrine of the Trinitypages [380-399]