Invitation To Eck And Cochlaeus.
The bishops were growing alarmed; they saw Roman Catholicism ready to perish, and there was not a man, either of their own number or among the priests, who was competent to defend it. Addressing themselves, therefore, to one of their devoted adherents named Henry Gerkens, they said to him—‘Go into Germany to Doctor Eck or to Cochlaeus, those illustrious champions of the papacy, and by the most urgent entreaties and the most liberal promises induce them to come, one or other of them, or if possible both, to Denmark, for two or three years, in order to confute, to perplex, and to plague the heretical teachers by sermons, disputations, and writings. We do not know where these valiant combatants are to be found; but go to Cologne, and there you will learn. To facilitate the accomplishment of your mission, here is a letter of recommendation addressed to every ecclesiastic and every lay member of the Roman church; together with special letters to each of those great doctors.’[[272]]
Gerkins set out in May, 1527, and began his search for the two men who were to save Roman Catholicism in Denmark. Eck was first found. There was something tempting in the occasion to a man so vain as he was; for the letter written to him contained flattery of the most exaggerated kind. The salvation of the Scandinavian church, said the bishops, depended solely on him; but the famous doctor thought that he was too much wanted in Germany to be able to leave it. The Danish delegate next went to Cochlaeus. He felt flattered by the part which was offered him; but he thought it prudent to consult Erasmus. The latter replied that Denmark was a very long way off; that the nation, as he had been informed, was very barbarous; and that all he could say was that this was a matter which concerned not men, but Jesus Christ.[[273]] Cochlaeus, like Eck, refused to go.
In the absence of theological debates, there were disputes of another kind. The evangelicals, who had become more and more numerous in the towns, used to meet together for their worship; but the bishops opposed them, and collisions more or less frequent were the consequence. It was to be feared that the agitation would extend. Without being barbarous (as Erasmus called them) the Danes had that energetic nature, sometimes terrible, of which Christian II. was the type. A prudent government was bound to attempt the prevention of violent conflicts; and for this purpose to establish some modus vivendi. This is what the king undertook to do; and with this end in view he convoked a diet at Odensee, for the 1st of August, 1527. The clergy heard the news with delight, and resolved to take advantage of the occasion to extirpate the Reformation. They had some ground for hoping to succeed. The nobles were to take the side of the bishops; and these two classes united were to win the victory. Two courses were open: to secure religious liberty to all the Danes, or to suppress one of the two parties. The evangelicals desired the former, the bishops |The King’s Speech To The Bishops.| aimed at the latter. Frederick I. did not hesitate; he opened the assembly with a Latin speech full of frankness, and especially addressed to the clergy. ‘You, bishops,’ said he, ‘who have been raised to a dignity so high, to the end that you may feed the Church of Christ by distributing to it the wholesome word of God, I exhort you to see to it with all your energy that this be done, in order that the pure and incorruptible voice of the Gospel may resound in your dioceses, and may nourish souls and keep them from evil. You know what a multitude of papal superstitions have been abolished in Germany by the intervention of Luther; you know that in other countries also the tricks and impositions of the priests have been exposed before the people, and that even among ourselves a general outcry has arisen. Complaint is made that the servants of the Church, instead of drawing the pure word of the Lord at the clear fountains of Israel, go away to the turbid and stagnant ponds of human tradition and pretended miracles, to ditches so foul that the people are beginning to turn aside from their pestilential exhalations. I have, I know, given you my promise on oath to maintain the Roman Catholic religion in this kingdom; but do not suppose that I mean to shield under my authority the worthless fables which have crept into it; neither I, as king of Denmark and of Norway, nor yourselves are bound to maintain decrees of the Roman Church which are not based on the immovable rock of the word of God. I have pledged myself to preserve your episcopal dignity so long as you devote all your energies to the fulfilment of your duties. And, seeing that the Christian doctrine as set forth in conformity with the Reformation of Luther has struck its roots so deep in this realm that it would be impossible to extirpate it without bloodshed, my royal will is that the two religions, the Lutheran and the papal, should enjoy equal liberty until the meeting of the general council which is announced.’[[274]] This northern monarch thus realized the saying of Tertullian—Certe non est religionis cogere religionem.[[275]] Unhappily the Reformation was not always faithful to its own principles.
When they heard these words, the bishops were in consternation. They were too well acquainted with the people not to be certain that under the régime of liberty the Reformation would gain the ascendency. It was all over with them and their episcopate. They believed that the only hope for the clergy lay in a close union with the nobility. They said to the lords, ‘Pray defend the Church;’ and they began to labor with might and main[[276]] to prevent the will of the king from being carried into execution. They depicted in the most glaring colors the dangers to which the Reformation exposed the state. They complained of the ill-treatment to which some of the begging friars had been subjected; and they made a deep impression on the minds of many lords and dignitaries of the state.
To liberty they immediately set themselves to oppose persecution. The royal council demanded that the letters which authorized the new doctrines should be revoked, that the preachers should be expelled the kingdom, that the monks should be restored to their convents, and that the bishops should establish in their dioceses learned clerks competent to confute the reformers. ‘I am not able to compel consciences,’ said the king, ‘but if any one ill treats the monks he shall be punished.’[[277]]
The people were excited, for they were for reform. Even among the nobles and the influential rich men there was a party, at the head of which was Magnus Gjoë, which was determined to maintain evangelical liberty. These enlightened men made their voice heard. The king, finding that his throne was strengthened, and that public opinion became more and more decided in favor of the Reformation, took one more step. Strengthened by the support of Gjoë, his friends, and the people, he caused a constitution to be drawn up respecting matters of religion, and this was presented to the diet at Odensee in 1527. It alarmed the bishops and astonished the nobles.
Royal Ordinances.
This assembly, which included the most zealous partisans of the papacy, being constituted, the delegate of the king read aloud the following articles:
1st. Every one shall be free to attach himself to either religion; no inquiry shall be made concerning conscience.