thousand killed and amongst those many innocent Men whom they had partly feared and partly wheadled into their service eight Colours with all their Artillery Ammunition and Baggage taken Now they endeavour to make us the cause of this War and say That at our instigation the Duke of Meckleburg took up Arms But it is false for many times before and since the Battel we sent Deputies to treat of Peace and desire nothing else at present than that they might make their Peace with the Emperour and suffer us to live peaceably and quietly at home as in former times we did But seeing they reject all offers of Peace and by unjust violence detain from us our Castles Towns and Villages we are constrained to take some course to recover them again Now all that they alleage and publish in their own justification is utterly false as is commonly known For we did not disturb nor molest them in the Exercise of their Religion and when lately the most Illustrious Princes Duke Maurice and Joachim Elector of Brandeburg proposed reasonable Conditions of Peace unto them they proudly rejected them and sallying out in the night time fell upon an Aged Gentleman a Bed in his own House without any offence given and when with very much ado he had escaped half naked they plundered his House robbed his Wife and Children of all their Cloaths and having threatned many times to kill them left them naked so that a Gentleman happening at that time to come was fain to cover the Lady with his own Garment The truth is it cannot be expressed in few words what outrages they committed that night They have made their brags also and that not obscurely too that it is in vain for us to expect restitution for having raised their Fortunes with our Lands and Goods they are accustomed now to an higher rate of living and cannot be easily brought to restore the Possessions of other Men. Which being so and seeing to past injuries they add present contempt and are wholly bent upon our destruction we could not but give this short account of their noble Actions Wherefore it ought not to seem strange to any man if courses now be taken to reduce them to their Duty For whoever love the Civil State and common Society of Manking cannot but have an aversion to them and so be far from succouring or assisting them In the same manner they had a little before accused them by their Deputies at Torgaw where Duke Maurice held then a Convention of States upon account of this War. But not many days after the same Month the Senate made answer by a publick Declaration that they did not suppose all the States of the Archbishoprick made this complaint of them but that it proceeded wholly from the Clergy For it is a great grief to them say they that the Purity of the Gospel is preach'd up amongst us that their our naughtiness is detected and dignity abased And this is the source of all their hatred This hath egged them on to accuse us falsly to the Emperour that being outlawed by him we might lie the more exposen to injuries We have not truly offended the Emperour in any thing and saving our Religion and Liberty there is nothing but what he might expect from us We are indeed bound to the Archbishops of this City but upon certain Conditions to wit that they impeach not our Rights and Liberties and these Conditions we have not violated But our Adversaries advised John Albert the Archbishop to demand some things that were new and unsual Wherefore we refused to do homage unto him However they have no great cause to instance him for neither were they themselves faithful unto him and it much grieved them when in former years they saw a way made for him to enter into the Archbishoprick for they would rather have had him excluded Now we are not subject nor any ways bound to them And so long as the Compacts of the last Age were observed we refused no kind of Duty but after that these began to be laid aside we withstood it and many Quarrels have arisen from thence When of late years also new ways were now and then found out to raise Money in this Province we openly opposed it in the publick Conventions shewing that it was a thing never attempted by former Archbishops though all we could do was in vain For a great part of that went as a prey amongst some of the States but especially the Clergy This is that refractariness which they object to us They went out of the City but of their own accord and prompted to it by a certain kind of pride when they saw that the Duke of Saxony and Landgrave were overcome For then they thought the time was come when they should have their hearts desire invade the Government and live again at their wonted rate of impurity We did not indeed drive them out and though some of our Ministers would now and then inveigh against the filthy and dissolute couse of life they led yet for many years they lived with all safety amongst us and now but very lately some of them dwelt in the City Now if we had had a mind to have used any force upon them it had been no hard matter to have been done But we attempted no such thing and when the state of our Affairs was such that we had reason and were constrained to fear hostilities we called a Convocation of the Chapter of the Cathedral Church and that since the Light of the Gospel was made manifest and that God also requires the Profession of it we earnestly entreated them as we had done many time before that they themselves would chuse some learned Divine to preach the Word of God in the Cathedral Church That that in it self was a very pious Work and would much conduce to the settling of mutual good will and friendship betwixt them and the Towns people But upon their refusal to do it we procured it to be done And because the Enemy was at hand and had already entred our Frontiers we desired of them that they would advance a certain sum of Money send no Letters out of the Town remain with us and use and enjoy their own Possessions But not long after they removed and being afterwards importuned by us to send Deputies at a day prefixed to Salfield with whom we might treat they scornfully rejected the Conference Wherefore since they thus expressed their hatred and enmity to us we were forced to requite them in the same manner Though if they had tarried with us all this trouble might have been avoided But they were inflamed with malice against us and were still hatching ways to ruine and destroy us So that we were necessitated to take up Arms for our own defence For if we had not seized their Villages and Towns there had been a place of refuge left for the Enemy And seeing these Lands belong to the Church of
be parallell'd in any age since the Apostles and there having followed it a great Commotion in the Civil State as is usual Tho I was not the fittest person to undertake this Work yet at the request of many good Men I entred upon it for the glory of God and with great fidelity and diligence have brought it down to our own Times And I have some hope that all who are not highly prejudiced will confess that I have not given the Reins to my Passions in any thing in this affair and that I have behaved my self perhaps with more Moderation than any other Writer For though I willingly profess that Doctrine of the Gospel which by the mercy of God was now restored and rejoyce exceedingly that I am a Member of the Reformed Church yet I have carefully abstained from all exasperating Language and simply delivered every thing as it came to pass I call God to Witness also that I never designed to injure or hurt any mans reputation falsly for what a madness would it have been to have delivered any thing otherwise than it was in an affair which is fresh in all mens memory And I hope those who are intimately acquainted with me have never yet discovered any such vanity in me And yet if after all I have by chance committed any Error or Mistake I will readily confess it when ever I shall be shewn it and also caution my Reader openly that he may not be mislead by me as I have said in my Preface As to the pains I have taken and the diligence I have used in this Work no man could possibly have done more to find out the Truth as many men can bear me Witness and the very Work it self will in great part shew In this History of Religion I could not omit what concerned the Civil Government because as I have already said they are interwoven each with th' other especially in our times so that it was not possible to separate them This union of the Sacred and Civil State is sufficiently discovered in the Scriptures and is the cause that the change of Religion in any Nation is always attended presently with offences distractions contentions strifes tumults factions and wars For this cause Christ saith the Son shall be against the Father and the Daughter against the Mother and that his Doctrine would not bring Peace but a Sword and raise a fiery contention amongst the nearest relations And that this has ever been the state of affairs since the beginning of the World cannot be denied and is also very manifest from the thing it self For in our Times no sooner did this benefit vouchsafed us by God and the Doctrine of the Gospel begin to be preached against the Papal Indulgences and the Traditions of Men but presently all the World but especially the Clergy became tumultuous and unquiet This occasioned the bringing this affair before the Dyet or Publick Convention of the States of Germany and when there upon some Princes and free Cities imbraced this Doctrine this fire spread it self and the cause was exagitated with great variety till at last it burst out into a War. Now in the Description I have made of it will appear what care and diligence the Emperor imployed to put a stop to this dissention what the Protestants also from time to time Answered and what Conditions they frequently offered And when it came to a War the event was various and perplexed as for instance the Emperor to give one Example out of many wrote to some of the Princes and Cities and afterwards Published in Print a Declaration of his intentions and designs This Declaration was the foundation of the Emperors cause and by the Laws of History was to be represented together with the Answer of the Adverse Party For without this what kind of History would it be thought which should only represent what one party said And yet in this how I behaved my self how I managed my Style and tempered it may be easily seen by comparing my Latin Version of that Declaration with the German Edition of it to which I refer my self When the War was prolonged till the Winter came on the Emperor at last prevail'd upon the return of his Enemies into their Countries These his Victories and Triumphs first in the Upper Germany and then the Electorate of Saxony are related by me with great Truth And I observe the same method every where For I neither take from nor add to any mans Actions more than the truth of the thing requires and allows And in truth it is apparent this has been done by few For the greatest part of the Writers give their own Judgments both of the things and persons they mention in their Histories To omit the more Ancient Historians we know how Platina has Written the Lives of the Popes and Philip Comines a Knight has in our Memory published an Illustrious History of his own Times and among other things which he there delivers tells us that after Charles the Hardy Duke of Burgundy was slain before Nancy in Battel Lewis XII King of France ravished from his Daughter and Heir Artois and both the Burgundies and altho Comines was a sworn Subject of France and a Counseller to that Prince yet he saith this was ill done About XXIV years since Peter Bembus was imployed by the Senate of Venice to Write the Story of the War between that State and Maximilian the First Emperor of Germany Lewis King of France and Julius II Pope of Rome and some others which he hath done in twelve Books And he too tells us how Lewis XII denounced War against the Venetians and that his Herald appearing before the Senate and the Duke spoke these Words Luredano Duke of Venice and ye the rest of the Citizens of Venice Lewis King of France my Master has commanded me to tell you that he is coming with an Army against you because like a parcel of perfidious men yea have possessed your selves by force and fraud of the Towns belonging to the Pope and other Princes and are rest lesly endeavouring by crafty means to Ravage and subject under your Dominion all that belongs to your Neighbours which he is now resolved to require at your hands Perhaps some may think that Bembus ought to have taken no notice of these Words because they reflect so bitterly upon his Country-men but he thought otherwise and transcrib'd them from the Publick Records into his History adding the Answer which was given with equal sharpness to the Herald and this Work was after Printed with the Privilege of the Senate at Venice Paulus Jovius besides his Lives of the Illustrious Men has lately Published two Tomes of the History of our Time how freely he Writes will appear to any one who reads them and although he treats the Germans very injuriously yet his Work comes forth with many Privileges to defend it He that pleaseth may examine what he saith Tom. II. Fol. 9. and in the Life
Reasons of both Parties being heard a Committee out of the whole Diet was chosen to consider of the Matter The Result of their Deliberation was That the Sentence past against Albert should stand good but nevertheless because they saw that it would prove a most difficult Business to put it in execution they refer the whole Matter to the Emperour Some time after King Sigismund died at a great Age after he had Reigned Two and fourty years Casimire as has been said was his Father He had three Brothers of whom Ladislaus was King of Hungary and Bohemia the Father of King Louis and Anne John Albert and Alexander having successively Reigned after their Father Casimire died without Children and left the Government to their youngest Brother Sigismund to whom succeeded his Son of the same Name and Son in Law to Ferdinand King of the Romans It has been said in the former Book that Mendoza protested against the Council at Rome To that the Pope having called a Consistory of Cardinals February the first made this Answer When you told Us said he my Lord Ambassador that you had Orders from the Emperour to protest against the Council you struck us all with great grief But when afterwards we diligently considered your Commission we took heart again and first I will say somewhat to the cause of our Grief And it is because that kind of protesting is a thing of bad Example made use of chiefly by those who have either wholly shaken off their Obedience or have begun to waver in it Wherefore it grieved me exceedingly who have always born a Fatherly Love towards the Emperor and as it becomes the Pastor of the Church studied Peace and Concord And it grieved both me and the Colledge of Cardinals the more that at this time it was the thing we least expected since the Emperour when he made War against his and the Churches Enemies had Aid and Assistance from me And though my Lord Ambassador you seem to make but small account of this yet it ought to be reckoned as a singular favour For the Aid I sent was very great so as it even exceeded the reach of the Apostolical Chamber and came besides in a most seasonable time What could have been less expected then than that after a Victory and lately obtained too the Emperour should render unto me such fruits of his Faith and Benevolence Such I say as that the end of the War should be the beginning of protesting against me I have now found by Experience what the Prophet complaineth of That I looked for good Grapes but found none but sower Grapes From my entrance into the Popedom I have with much care cherished the Emperour as a most noble Plant that some time or other I might reap a most plentiful Vintage but this attempt of his hath made me almost despair of any fruit You have heard the cause of our Grief now you shall know what it is that hath given us Comfort You have used that Authority which you think has been given you of protesting against me and this sacred Colledge in a manner as was neither Honourable to us nor becoming the Character of the Emperour But in your Letters of Instructions there is not one word which shews it to have been the Emperours will that you should have acted so I say not one word that you may the better understand me that gives you power to do so The Emperour indeed Commands his Agents at Bolonia that they should so protest before our Legats there who changed the place of the Council and when you found that that was done there you would needs use the same form of Protestation here with us but in that you have transgressed the bounds of your Commission If my Lord Ambassadour you were not sensible of that before take now Admonition and acknowledge it For the Emperour's Orders are not that you should protest against us but that you should do it in this our Consistory against the Legats who were the Authors of the Translation Wherefore the Emperour in that did the Duty of a most modest Prince who confined himself within those limits and would have that Protestation to be made before me whom he knew to be the only lawful Judge of the whole Matter Had I indeed refused to take cognisance of the Affair then would he have had a cause of Protestation but you taking another course than you ought to have done made no application to me that I should examine the Matter but made use of a certain Prejudice demanding that I should annul the Decree made for translating the Council and enjoyn the greatest part of the Fathers to give place to a few who remained at Trent And what could more enervate all the Authority of the Council than that Had it not been much more reasonable that if the small number which is at Trent had had any cause of Complaint against the rest who are at Bolonia they should have brought it before me I would not then truly have rejected their demands nor would I neither now reject them Since then it is certain that your way of acting is not consonant to the Emperours Intentions we have cause to thank God who thus disposes his Mind and Purposes we have cause to Congratulate and you also to Rejoyce in your Princes behalf And though by what we have said the foundation of your Plea and Proceeding is wholly overturned so that there is no need of making Answer to your Protestation nevertheless that I may not by my silence seem to acknowledge the truth of your Accusations and thereby offend many especially the weaker sort I will refute them severally And in the first place therefore You seem to have proposed this Scope to your self that you may expose me as negligent a Shuffler and Starter of Delays to baffle the sitting of the Council and make the Emperour appear on the other hand to be a vigilant and active Prince sollicitous for the publick good and wholly bent upon the sitting of the Council Truly I do not nor ought I envy the Emperours Praises and had you stopt there and gone no farther I should have nothing to answer but because you so extol him as to depress me so celebrate his Praises as to render me in some sort Contemptible whilst you say that he urged not only me but my Predecessors Popes of Rome to call a Council the Thing it self requires that I should answer you as to these things Wherefore if it has been always the Emperours mind and desire that a Council should be held I have ever been of the same mind as well as he And besides as I am older than he so also have I wished for this sooner than he which the most eminent Cardinals who were then of this Colledge can testifie When I was made Pope I persevered in the same mind and upon the very least occasion that offered I called a Council first at Mantua and
the Life of the Learned John Sleidan and of the Reception of his History JOhn Sleidan the Author of this History was born in the Year 1506. at Sleidan or Sleiden a small Town in the Dukedom of Juliers seated upon the River Roer which passing by Duren and Gulick at Roââmont falls into the Maes I have not been able to find of what quality and condition his Parents were but it is certain he was sent to Study in the University of Paris when he was Twenty years of Age and that he was taken into the Service of John âardinal Dâ Bâllây a Great Learned and Wise Prelate of the French Church and one that very earnestly desired a Reformation as the Great Thuanus tells us By him he was imployed in affairs of great consequence and he having by his fidelity industry and prudence gain'd a great share in the Cardinals affection he was Recommended to Francis I. King of France who imployed him as his Interpreter for the German Tongue as Bodinus saith He himself tells us he continued nine years in France But in November 1534. a sharp Persecution arising in that Kingdom against the Lutherans which he saith he saw with his own Eyes he became so far disgusted or affrighted at it that he left France and retired to Strasburg which was probably in the Year 1â35 our Author being then about Thirty years of Age so that by that computation he was about Twenty years of Age when he travailed into France The Reputation he had acquired in France prepared the way to a good reception in that Free City and he was entertain'd by James Sturmius who was their principal Minister or Stateholder with great kindness About the Year 1540. he first took up the design of Writing the History of the Reformation at the request of this great States-man and many others but very unwillingly In the Year 1543. he sent the first Book to the Diet at Worms where it was read and so well approved that he was sent as one of the Ambassadors to Henry VIII into England by the whole Body of the Protestants which Embassie is mentioned by him in his Sixteenth Book In the Year 1551. he was again sent Ambassador for the City of Strasburg to the Council of Trent where he arrived the 21 of November as he informs us in his Twenty third Book He continued at Trent till the 27th of March 1552. and then desired leave to return which at first was granted but then the next day they recall'd this permission and forced him to stay till the 6th of April when the News coming to Trent that the Elector of Saxony had taken Ausburg three days before the Fathers fell into such a Consternation that the Council broke up in an hurry and soon after the Emperor himself was forced to pass the Alpes from Inspruck where he then was by Torch-light in the Night which gave our Author the opportunity to return to Strasburg at his own leisure well satisfied that he was escaped out of that Den of wild Beasts The third of May of the same year he was sent by the City of Strasburg to Sarbruk a Town about seven miles from that City to the West to the French King who being then entred into a War against the Emperor was come thither in person with an Army he having thereupon demanded Supplies of the City of Strasburg our Author with two others was sent as a Deputy to that Prince as he sets forth in the Twenty fourth Book After this I do not find he was any more imployed abroad but fell seriously to the composing of his History in which Work he saith he intirely imployed the three following years and the 23 of April 1555. he dedicated the first Twenty five Books to the Elector of Saxony The Twenty sixth Book was Published after his Death being found amongst his Papers This Work was no sooner sent into the World than our Author found cause to complain for whereas he had imployed one Rihely a Printer of Strasburg to Publish it there was presently Published without the Authors knowledge or consent a German Version very ill done and soon after that the same person presumed to Print it in Latin too to the great damage of Rihely which Sleidan took very ill and in the next Edition complained of it to the World. The Roman Catholicks on the contrary presently set up a cry against this History and imploy'd all the interest they had in the World to run down the Credit of the Author not by making any Objection against any parts of it but by general Slanders and misrepresentations of the whole Work in a lump to which kind of Defamations they knew it was very hard to make any Answer but however our Author put out an Apology in his own Vindication The last part of our Authors Life was imployed in Writing his Twenty sixth Book which I believe was never finished by him that which we now have being only his first Rough Draught unpolished and uncorrected Death suddenly surprizing him the last day of October in the Year 1556. He died of a Plague or Epidemick acute Disease in the Fifty first year of his Age begun to the great Regret of all Learned and Pious Men who might justly have expected great things from so Learned so Modest so Honest and Candid a Pen. The Roman Catholicks could not bury their Resentments against this noble History in the Grave of its Author but fell to invent and spread abroad several made Stories to defame him amongst which none is more frequently insisted on than that Charles the V. should always call this Book his Lyar and never ask for it by any other Name for which we have the Faith of Suriââ and some other of that stamp but none is so outragious against him as Florimond de Remond who tells us that there was found in this Book Eleven thousand Lyes and Falsities Not that they were so exact as to tell the mistakes but this was a good ãâ¦ã and if the Reader would but believe there was half the number it was all he desired but then he has quite spoil'd his own design by telling his Reader that the variety of the Subjects he treats of which are imbellished with great Art and the great quantity of Memorials which the Lutherans put into his hands when he was set to compose ãâã give so great an entertainment to the Reader that it is not possible he should ever be weary of it but will ever end with a good gust and a great desire to pursue the thread of this History and see the end of it Now this is plainly to give himself the Lye for that great quantity of Memorials which were put into his hands the greatest part of which were from time to time Published in Print as he tells us in his Preface and which our Author only Transcribes or at most Translates or Abridgeth will not leave Room for 11000 Lyes especially when
of Monsuer Wickfort a great Man of this present Age who saith that Sleidans History is very Good. It will I suppose be expected that I should give an account of this Translation That the Original deserved to be read in more Languages than one is I believe unquestionable and that favourable Reception it has already met with in the German French and Italian Languages besides that universal Applause with which it has been Celebrated by the Learned in all the Countries of Europe did bespeak such a Translation into English as might in some measure answer the native Beauties of this noble Work of which I shall only say that in this all imaginable care hath been taken to keep up that truly great simplicity which is the distinguishing character of this History how far this hath been performed is left to the Judgment of the judicious Reader What I have to say of my Continuation is already set down in my Introduction before it To the most Illustrious Prince AUGUSTUS Elector and Duke of SAXONY Landt-grave of THVRINGE Marquiss of MISNIA and Lord High Marshal of the EMPIRE His most Gracious Master and Lord John Sleidan wisheth much Health and Happiness Illustrious Sir DIvers Authors have discovered to us the manifold and various Accidents which attend humane affairs and the changes in States and Kingdoms And God himself has been pleased heretofore to instruct us and with his Own voice as it were to foretel us what should happen of this Nature many Ages before it came to pass And as to the first four Great Empires of the World He has been pleased by Daniel the Prophet to inform us of their Order Changes and Successions The greatest part of whose excellent Predictions are now by the event exposed and made very plain to us and afford us a knowledge which is both very sweet and full of Consolation The same holy Prophet has also foretold the changes of Religion and the contests concerning its Doctrines and the Apostle St. Paul who followed him has clearly also discovered before-hand many things of that Nature And the accomplishment of these Predictions has been delivered down to us and explain'd by various Writers who have lived in the intermediate Ages But then that change which has hapned in our times is one of the most Illustrious Events which has come to pass The Prophet has foretold that the Roman Empire should be the last and the most powerful and that it should be divided and accordingly it is reduced to the lowest degree of weakness tho it was once of an immense Bulk and vast extent so that now it only subsists within the Confines of Germany and its Fortunes have been very various and unsteady partly by reason of its Intestine Divisions and partly on the account of Foraign Combinations against it Yet after all God has at last given us the most Potent Emperor that has reigned in many Ages For in the Person of this Prince are united the Succession of many Rich and Powerful Kingdoms and Inheritances which by reason of their Situations have afforded him the opportunity of performing great things by Sea and Land above any other of our Princes And as his Power has very much exceeded all the Emperors of Germany which have Reigned since Charles the Great So the things which have happen'd in his time and under his Government have rendred him the most Conspicuous and Memorable of all our Princes And amongst these the Reformation of Religion doth justly challenge the first Place which began with his Reign For this Controversie had not been moved above XIV months when Maximilian the Emperor his Grandfather and immediate Predecessor in the Empire died And when he was chosen by the VII Electors Luther being at the self same time provoked by his Adversaries entred the Lists and maintain'd a publick Disputation against Eckius at Leipsick by which the minds of both the contending Parties were put into a great Commotion The Reign therefore of this great Prince is diligently to be considered and for the better understanding of it ought to be compared with those of the former times For God has ever used to raise up Illustrious and great Princes when the Ecclesiastical or Civil State were to be changed such were Cyrus Alexander the Macedonian C. Julius Caesar Constantine Charles the Great and the Otho 's of Saxony and now in our times at last CHARLES the V. That change I have here in this Story unfolded is such that no man who does clearly understand it can think of it without astonishment and the utmost degree of Admiration and Wonder It s beginning was small and almost contemptible and one man alone a while bore the hatred and violence of the whole World And even he too might easily at first have been quieted and laid to sleep if the condition he so often offered his Adversaries had been accepted by them For he Promised he would hold his Peace if they would do so too But when they refused this and would force him to recant and stood stifly in this Resolution that he should do it And he on the otherside as stoutly replied That he could not retract what he had Advanced till they had shewn him wherein he had err'd The debate between them improved and grew greater and the business was brought before the Dyet of Germany by which means it dilated it self to that degree we now see it in But then upon what reasons it was done What share the Popes of Rome the Vniversities and the Kings Princes and States of Christendom had in this Affair How Luther defended his Cause before the Emperor and the Princes of Germany in the Dyet How many men of great Learning joyned themselves with him How this business was from time to time agitated and debated in the Dyets What ways were proposed for an Accommodation How the Popes solicited the Emperor and other Christian Princes How they frequently promised a Reformation and a General Council What Persecutions and Slaughters were in several Places were stir'd up against those who imbraced this Doctrine What Conspiracies and Leagues were set on foot to the same end not only in Germany but in other Countries as this Religion spread it self How some forsook it and others persevered constantly in it What Tumults Contentions and Wars were occasioned by it These thing in my judgment are so great and so full of Variety that I think it were a sin to suffer them to perish in silence and not commit them to writing To this I may add that I think it very reasonable to give an account what the state of the Empire of Germany has been during the Reign of this Prince by the space of XXXVI years what Wars he has mannaged What Commotions and Disturbances have happned And what has been the fortune of the Neighbour Kingdoms and Provinces in these times But then I shall shew hereafter the method I have followed in this Work. For as this Princes Dominions
of Leo X. Fol. 93 94. and in the Life of Alfonso Duke of Ferrara Fol. 42. and in truth the Works of all good Authors have many Examples of this Nature Comines is chiefly commended because he Wrote so equally but then he ever pursues this Method as I have said already that he not only sets down what was done but also gives his own Judgment of it and tells us what every one did well or ill and although I would not have done this yet it is the most usual practice of Historians But then that what was done or said by both Parties should be exactly related is not only just and equal and the constant usage from the most Ancient times but also absolutely necessary for without it it is impossible to Write an History Where ever there are Factions Wars and Seditions be sure there are Complaints Accusations and Answers and all places are fill'd with opposite and contradictory Papers Now he that truly relates these as they are doth neither of the Parties any injury but follows the Laws of an Historian For in these Brawls and Contentions every thing which the Parties object against each other is not presently true and certain Where there is Contention Hatred and Enmity it is very well known and experienced how things are managed for the most part on both sides If what the Popes and their Adherents have within thirty six years last past belched out against the Protestants were all true there could be found nothing more wicked and impious than they Paul III. Pope of Rome sent the Cardinal of Farnese his Son in the year 1540. to the Emperor into the Low Countries He gave some Advices against the Protestants which were afterwards Printed and are recited in the thirteenth Book of my History After many other reproachful expressions he saith the Protestants fight as much against Christ as the very Turks do for they only kill their Bodies but the Protestants bring their Souls too to eternal destruction Here then I make a stand and desire to know what could possibly have been spoken more grievous and horrible than this Now if these things had not been related certainly the Protestants would have had just cause of complaint against me But the thing is quite otherwise for neither is it true because the Cardinal said it and if I had passed it by I might justly have been suspected as one that was too much addicted to a Party and so would not tell the Truth I do not doubt but all impartial men will yield that I have in this which I have said clearly given the true Laws of History and I can as little think they will judge that I have broke those Laws the far greatest part of my History being extracted out of Pieces which were Printed before They act therefore very unfriendly or rather injuriously with me who traduce and defame my Writings and the more are they guilty if they understand the Laws of History but if they know them not then I desire they would learn them from what I have written and from other Historians But then when I mention other Historians I do not mean those of our times whose only business it is to extol their own Party with immoderate praises and wonderful commendations and to overwhelm the other Party with slaunders and reproaches for these men are not worthy of the Title of Historians Above six years since John Cochleus Published some Commentaries containing an History of the same nature with mine but then he has stuffed them with horrible unheard of and invented slaunders Cardinal Pole in a Book which he lately Printed calls the Protestant Religion lately established in Germany a Turkish Seed And their Books are generally full of such reflections But what is there like this in my Work In truth I have made it my business to Write in order and as truly as I could the Story of that wonderful blessing God has been pleased to bestow upon the men of this Age And to that purpose about sixteen years since I Collected all that I thought necessary to that Work nor have I since made any headlong haste in the Writing of it but gone leisurely on with a steady Judgment The labour I have taken in this great Work is known to none but God and my self and I had respect to nothing but the glory of God in it and laying aside the Study of the Civil Law which is my profession I accordingly almost spent my whole time upon it so that all things considered I think I may aver that I was drawn to it by an Impulse from God and I will commend my cause to him seeing I have met so ill a recompence from some men for my great labour and pains it being his cause I have defended and I am fully assured he will look upon that Work as a most pleasing and acceptable Sacrifice the conscience of which sustains and comforts me and the more because I see many Learned Men approve and applaud my Work paying me their thanks for it and acknowledging the benefit they have reaped by it Therefore I desire all those who are the hearty Lovers of Truth that they would not believe the slaunders of ill men but kindly entertain my Work and approve my faith and diligence without admitting any suspition of me Lastly I profess that I acknowledge Charles the V. now Emperor of Germany and Ferdinand King of the Romans his Brother to be the supreme Magistrates appointed by God whom I ought in all things to Obey as Christ and his Apostles have commanded excepting only those things which are forbidden by God. SS TD ACERRIMVS E.R. HOSTIS MARTINVS LUTHERVS Nascitur Islebiae X Nov 1483. Monasterium Augustin Ingreditur Ao. 1505. Titulum D is Assumsit A o 1512. Obijt in Patria XVIII o die Februarij 1546. THE HISTORY OF THE Reformation of the Church BEGUN IN GERMANY BY Martin Luther c. BOOK I. The CONTENTS Martin Luther bravely withstands the Venal Indulgences dispersed abroad by Leo X Pope of Rome not only in his Publick Sermons but also in some Theses and Positions which he offered to defend and which he sent to the Archbishop of Mentz The first that opposed them were Tetzel Eckius Silvester Prierias and Hogostrat In the mean time the Pope sends Cajetane Legat to the Emperour Maximilian Luther is Cited to appear at Rome By means of Frederick Elector of Saxony he Answers Cajetane in the Diet of Ausburg Cajetane by Menaces and the Thunder of the Canons endeavours to maintain the Papal Power and Tyranny After the departure of Luther Cajetane sollicites Duke Frederick by Letters but in vain By a new Bull the Pope confirms and publishes the Indulgences in Germany To draw in Duke Frederick he presents him with a Golden Rose The Emperour Maximilian in the mean while dies Many Heads at work about the Succession to the Empire At length Charles Archduke of Austria is chosen Emperour the News whereof is
Grief of his Heart he daily heard many and grievous Complaints of Luther a profligate Wretch who forgetting his own Order and Profession acted many things sawcily and with great Confidence against the Church of God bragging That being supported by the Favour and Protection of the Prince he stood in awe of the Authority of no Man That he made no doubt but that was falsey given out by him but that nevertheless he was willing to write these few things unto his Highness and to advise him That being always mindful of the Splendour and Dignity of himself and his Ancestors he would not only avoid giving any Offence but even all Suspicion of offending That he knew for a certain That Luther taught most impious and Heretical Doctrines which both he and the Master of his Palace had carefully observed and marked down That that was the Reason why he had both Cited him to Appear and also sent his Instructions to Cardinal Cajetane his Legat as to what further he would have done in the Matter and that seeing this was an Affair of Religion and that it properly belonged to the Church of Rome to enquire into the Faith and Belief of all Men he exhorted and charged his Highness That being thereunto required by his Legate he would use his best Endeavours to have Luther delivered up into his Hands which would be both acceptable Service to God and very Honourable to himself and Family that if upon Tryal he were found Innocent at Rome he should return Home Safe and Sound but that if he proved Guilty then would his Highness be Blameless in no longer protecting a Criminal and that he himself was so mercifully inclined as that neither he would oppress an Innocent Man nor deny a Penitent his Pardon And thus he left no Way unessayed that he might undo Luther The same Year also he wrote to Gabriel Venize the Provincial of the Augustine Fryers exhorting him That by the Authority of his Charge he would put a stop to Luther a Fryer of his Order who attempted Innovations and taught new Doctrins in Germany and solicitously ply him both by Letters and Learned Agents But that Expedition was to be used in the Matter for so it would not be difficult to quench the Flame newly broken out since things in their Infancy and Commencement could not resist Attempts that were any thing brisk but should it be deferred till the Evil had gathered Strength it was to be feared that the Conflagration might afterwards carry all before it for that it was a Contagion that spread more and more daily so that nothing seemed more to be feared than Delay That therefore he should set about the Affair with all Pains Diligence and Industry seeing he had Authority over him When Luther perceived that he was cited to appear at Rome he was very solicitous to have his Cause tryed before Competent and Unsuspected Judges in some Place of Germany secure from Violence But when that could not be obtained the University of Wittemberg sent a Letter to Pope Leo dated September 25 wherein they gave Luther an ample Testimony both of a Pious Life and Learning that seeing he was for some Positions proposed Cited to Rome and could not being a Sickly Man without endangering his Life make an Appearance they prayed his Holiness not to think otherwise of him than of an Honest Man that he had only for Disputation sake offered some things to be argued which were misinterpreted and highly exaggerated by his Adversaries that for their parts they would not suffer any thing to be asserted in Opposition to the Church and that at Luther's Request they could not but give him this Testimony which they earnestly entreated his Holiness to give Credit to With this Letter they sent another to Charles Miltitz a German and Bedchamber Man to Pope Leo Wherein they represent to him That Luther was undeservedly exposed to the Anger and Hatred of the Pope insomuch that being Cited to appear at Rome he could not as yet obtain That his Cause might be tryed somewhere in Germany That for their own Parts they were so zealous not only for Religion but also for the Holy Church of Rome That if Luther were guilty of any Impious Crime or Errour they would not bear with him But that he was a Man so Learned of so upright a Life and Conversation and had deserved so well of the whole University that as Affairs stood they could not but stand by him That Duke Frederick also so Religious and Prudent a Prince would not so long have suffered him to go unpunished if he had not thought him to be a good Man That therefore he would use his Interest and Familiarity he had with the Pope that Impartial Judges might he assigned him not at Rome but in Germany That they did not doubt but that he would act as became a Christian and Divine and make it appear that he did not Wantonly and without a Cause hunt after an Occasion of Contention That they begged this the more earnestly of him in that they had the greater Hopes that he who was himself a German would not in so just a Cause be wanting to a Country-Man who was born down by Calumnies and in danger of his Life Besides the Intercession of these Friends Frederick Prince Elector spoke also to Cardinal Cajetane at Ausburg and so far prevailed that Luther being excused from going to Rome should plead his Cause before the Emperour at Ausburg Being come thither in the Month of October it was three Days before he was admitted to the Speech of Cajetane for they to whom Duke Frederick who upon dissolution of the Diet was gone Home had recommended him forbad him to go to him before he had obtained a Safe Conduct from the Emperour Maximilian but that being at length granted he came and the Cardinal having civilly received him told him That he would not enter into any Dispute with him but end the Controversie amicably and at the same Time proposed to him two Commands in Name of the Pope First That he would repent what he had done and retract the Errours which he had published And next That for the Future he would abstain from such Writings as disturbed the Peace and Tranquility of the Church Luther makes Answer That he was not Conscious to himself of any Errour and desires That if he had erred it might be proved against him With that Cajetane objects That in his Theses he had affirmed That the Merits of our Saviour Christ were not the Treasure of Indulgences which Opinion was repugnant to the Decretal of Pope Clement VI. Again That it was necessary that they who come to receive the Sacrament should have a firm Belief that their Sins were forgiven them Luther replies That that was not so telling him withal That he had read the Pope's Decree and gave his Judgment of it but mention being made of S. Thomas he said The Authority of
they might prove of great use to others as well as to himself who was exceedingly pleased with them but that there was one thing that he would have him admonished of and that was That more might be done by a civil Modesty than by Transports and Heat that he ought rather to thunder against those who abused the Authority of Popes than against the Popes themselves that about inveterate things which cannot be suddenly pluck'd out it is better to dispute with pithy and close Arguments than to assert positively and that in this Case the Passions and Affections must be laid aside That he gave him this Admonition not that he might learn what he was to do but that he should proceed as he had begun Luther's Doctrine having in this manner caused much Strife and Contention and raised him many Enemies there was a Disputation appointed to be at Leipsick a Town in Misnia belonging to George Duke of Saxony Cousin-german to the Elector Frederick thither came Luther and with him Philip Melanchthon who the Year before came to Wittemberg being sent for by Duke Frederick to be Professour of the Greek Language there thither came also John Eckius a bold and confident Divine On the Day appointed which was July 4 the Disputation was begun by Eckius who having proposed some Positions to be debated made this his last That they who affirmed that before the time of Pope Silvester the Church of Rome was not the first of all Churches did err for that he who attained to the See and Faith of S. Peter the Prince of the Apostles was always acknowledged for the Successor of S. Peter and the Vicar of Christ upon Earth The contrary Position to this was published by Luther to wit That they who attributed Primacy to the Church of Rome had no other Ground for it but the bare and insipid Decretals of the Popes made about four hundred Years ago but that these Decretals were repugnant not only to all Histories written a thousand Years since but also to Holy Scripture and the Council of Nice the most Famous of all Councils Eckius then entring upon the Dispute laid hold of that last Position and would begin the Debate about the Authority and Primacy of the Pope of Rome but Luther having made a short Preface said That he had rather that that Argument as being very Odious and not at all Necessary might have been waved and that for the sake of the Pope that he was sorry he should have been drawn into it by Eckius and that he wished now his Adversaries were present who having grievously accused him and now shunn'd the Light and a fair Tryal of their Cause did not do well Eckius also having made a Preamble declared That he had not raised this Bustle and Stir but that it was Luther who in his first Explication of his Theses had denyed That before Silvester's time the Pope of Rome preceded the rest in Order and Dignity and had averred before Cajetane That Pope Pelagius had wrested many Places of Scripture according to his own Pleasure which being so that all the Fault lay at his Door The first Debate then was about the Supremacy of the Pope of Rome which Eckius said was instituted by Divine Right and called Luther who denyed it a Bohemian because Huss had been heretofore of the same Opinion Luther to justifie himself from this Accusation proved That the Church of Christ had been spread and propagated far and near twenty Years before S. Peter constituted a Church at Rome that this then was not the First and Chief Church by Divine Right Afterwards Eckius impugned Luther's other Positions of Purgatory Indulgences Penance the Pardon of the Guilt and Remission of the Punishment of Sin and of the Power of Priest At length on the fourteenth Day ended the Dispute which had been appointed not upon the account of Luther but of Andrew Carolstad though Luther came to it in company of Carolstad only to hear but being drawn in by Eckius who had procured a Safe-Conduct for him from Duke George he entred the Lists of Disputation for Eckius was brisk and confident because of the Nature of the Subject wherein he promised himself certain Victory Luther afterwards published the whole Conference and Debate and by an ingenious Animadversion upon the Writings and Sayings of his Adversaries gathered several Heads of Doctrine downright Heretical as he said That so he might make it appear That whilst they spoke and wrote any thing in Favour of the Pope and were transported with the Zeal of defending their Cause they interspersed many things which being narrowly inspected contained a great deal of Errour and Impiety Vlrick Zuinglius taught at that time at Zurich in Suitzerland whither he came upon a call in the beginning of this Year having before preached at Claris and in the Desert of our Lady as they call it Not long after Fryer Samson a Franciscean of Milan came thither also being sent by the Pope to preach up Indulgences and squeeze Money from the People Zuinglius stoutly opposed him and publickly called him an Imposter CAROLVS V. AVSTRIACVS D.G. ROMAN IMP SEMPER AVG REX HISPAN Natus Gandavi Ao. MD. Die. XXIV Febr Electus Ao. MDXIX XXVIII Iunij Ferdinando Frat Imp Commisit VII o Sept. MDLVI Obijt XXI Sept MDLVIII THE HISTORY OF THE Reformation of the Church BOOK II. The CONTENTS Luther by the advice of Charles Miltitz writes to the Pope and presents him with his Book of Christian Liberty The Emperor departs from Spain and passes through England into the Low-Countries Luther writes a Book which he calls Tessaradecas and another about the Manner of Confession a third about Vows His Opinion concerning the Communion in Both Kinds To this his Adversaries object a Decree of the Council of Lateran under Julius II of whose Actions you have a large Account In the mean time the Divines of Lovain and Cologn condemn Luther's Books In his Defence the Opinions of Picus Mirandula the Questions of Ockam and the Controversie of Reuchlin with the same Divines are recited Seeing himself attack'd by so many Enemies he writes to the Emperor soon after to the Archbishop of Mentz and Bishop of Mersburg The Elector Frederick finding that he had lost his Credit at Rome upon Luther's account endeavours to clear himself by Letter Luther likewise does the same The Pope Excommunicates him and he appeals again from the Decree of the Council of Mantua and puts out his Book of the Babylonish Captivity The Emperor is Crown'd at Aix la Chapelle The Pope again sollicites Frederick but not prevailing causes Luther's Books to be burnt Which when Luther understood he burnt the Popes Bull and the Canon Law and gives his Reasons for it He Answers Ambrose Catarino who had written against him IN the former Book an Account has been given of what relates to Charles Miltitz and his Negotiation at the Court of the Elector
those of Cologne taking no notice of this proceed to Censure Capnion's Book with a Salvo as they pretend to the Credit of the Author and in February 1514 they publickly burnt it this the Bishop of Spire took as an Affront put upon him and because the Prosecutor having been legally Cited had never appeared at the Day but made Default he gave Judgment for Capnion with an Approbation of his Book and condemned Hogostrate to pay the Costs of the Suit. He that he might avoid this Sentence hastens to Rome In the mean time the Divines of his Party make their Applications to the University of Paris and by the Help of Erand Marchian Bishop of Liege who was then in the French Interests they cajoled Lewis XII so as to make him inclinable to favour their Cause Therefore after a long Consultation those of Paris also Condemn the Book as deserving to be Burnt and whose Author ought to be compelled to make a Recantation and their Judgment was That the Jewish Talmuds were justly censured by former Popes and deservedly burnt by their Predecessors This was in the same Year on August 2. To prevent this the Duke of Wirtemberg had interceeded with them by his Letters and Reuchline also himself had written very courteously as having been formerly a Scholar of that University and he sent inclosed the Judgment given by the Bishop of Spire but all to no purpose Hogostrate being come to Rome managed his Business with very great Address but there were some Cardinals who favoured Reuchline upon the account of his eminent Learning among these was Adrian who has a Piece extant concerning the Latin Tongue Leo at last appoints certain Delegates to inspect the matter and they seeming to lean towards Capnion's side Hogostrate having met with nothing but Disappointments after above three Years stay in Rome sneaked away Home into his own Country But it is not to be thought what a Scandal the Divines of Cologn brought upon themselves by this Imprudent Act of theirs for there was not a Man who pretended to any thing of Ingenuity or Scholarship in all Germany who had not a Fling at them in some smart Lampoon or Satyr applauding Reuchline and ridiculing them as Blockheads and Dunces and sworn Enemies to that Laborious but useful Study of Languages and to all other more polite Learning And Erasmus of Roterdam was not wanting to use his interest with the Cardinals in Capnion's behalf concerning which he has several Epistles yet extant which he then sent to Rome The Divines of Louvain before they would declare what was their Opinion in Luther's Case consulted first with the Cardinal Adrian Bishop of Tortona who had been a Member of their College and Order and who was at that time in Spain and being backed with the Authority of his Judgment they published their Censure Luther finding himself so hard beset on all Sides addressed himself in an Epistle to the late elected Emperour Charles V and having made his Apology That a Man of his mean Quality should presume to write to so great a Potentate he tells him That the Reasons were very weighty which had emboldned him to do this and that the Glory of Christ himself was concerned in his Cause That he had published some few small Books which had procured him the Displeasure of a great many Persons but that the Fault ought not to lye at his Door for that it was with great Reluctancy that his Adversaries had drawn him to enter the Lists That a Private Retired Life was much more agreeable to his Inclinations but that his chief Care and Study was to make known the pure and uncorrupt Doctrin of the Gospel in opposition to the false Glosses and even contradictory Ordinances of Men That there were a great number of Persons eminent both for Learning and Piety who could attest the Truth of what he said And that this alone was the Cause of all that Odium and Infamy of those Dangers Contumelies and Losses to which almost for three Years he had been continually exposed That he had omitted nothing which might contribute to an Accommodation but that the oftner he made any Proposals tending that way the more resolved his Adversaries seemed to continue the Breach That he had frequently and earnestly requested them to convince him of his Errours and to give him such Rules by the which he might the better guide himself for the Time to come but that he could never obtain any other Answer from them but barbarous Injuries and railing Buffoonery their Design being to rid the World both of him and the Gospel together That by these Means he was driven to have recourse to the last Remedy and forced according to the Example of Athanasius to fly to him as to the inviolable Sanctuary and Protection of the Law And to beseech him to take upon him the Patronage of the Christian Religion and vouchsafe to shelter him from all Violence and Injury until he should be more fully informed in the Matter If it should appear that he had been ingaged in the Maintenance of any thing that was Unjustifiable he then desired no Favour His humble Petition was only to have a fair Hearing and that every one would t'ill then suspend his Judgment That this was a part of his Duty and that therefore God had intrusted him with this Supreme Power that he might maintain and distribute impartial Justice and defend the Cause of the Poor and Weak against all the Insults of their powerful Oppressors After this he writes much to the same purpose to all the States of the Empire telling them how unwilling he was to have ingaged in this Controversie and with what bitter Malice he was prosecuted by his Enemies when his Aim was purely this by propagating the true Doctrin of the Gospel to convince Men how Inconsistent it was with those false Opinions of which they had been so long but too Tenacious Then he recites in short all that had been done by him in order to a Reconciliation how he had several times promised by a voluntary Silence to let the Cause fall upon condition his Adversaries would cease their impertinent Babling desiring nothing more than to be better informed if he was in the wrong and being willing to submit freely to the Judgment and Censure of all good Men But that these Requests of his had not as yet had their desired Effect his Adversaries continually loading him with all manner of Injuries and Reproaches That since it was so he desired them not to give Credit to any disadvantagious Reports which they might hear of him If he had at any time been guilty of any Sharpness or Petulancy in his Writings it was no more than what he had been forced to by their paultry sawcy Pamphlets which they were almost daily spawning against him In the last place he makes now the same Profers for the composing the Difference which he had so often formerly done
and of this he prays them to bear him witness Some few Days after he wrote to the Cardinal Albertus Archbishop of Mentz in a very submissive Stile The Substance of his Letter was this That his being impeached before him therefore touched him the more nearly because he supposed it to be done by those who had formerly commended his Works and been the most forward Sticklers for them but whether the Accusation were true or false take it either way they had not dealt very handsomely in it for if it were False they then put the grossest Abuse upon him without any respect to his Character and that sublime Station that he has in the Church He bids him call to mind how David himself was deceived by the Flattery of Siba and that there was scarce any Prince who could at all times stand so well upon his Guard as not to be in danger of being imposed upon by such fawning Courtiers But supposing he was really guilty of the Crimes laid to his Charge yet it had been a much fairer way of proceeding to have shewed him his Error and to have endeavoured to rectifie his Understanding wheresoever they perceived him to labour under any Mistakes that this he had several times beg'd of his Adversaries who still continued Deaf to all his Requests He tells him there were two sorts of Men who generally condemned his Writings one was those never read them and the other such as indeed vouchsafed them the reading but their Minds were prepossess'd with an ill Opinion of him and then whatsoever he said though never so conformable to the Precepts of Christianity must of necessity be misinterpreted by them But if that his more important Affairs could but afford him so much Leisure as to peruse his Books he did not in the least doubt but that he would be of a very different Judgment from his Accusers He intreats him therefore not to believe Calumnies or to entertain any suspicious Thoughts of him but to take a full and exact Examination of the whole Matter since not only his alone but the eternal welfare of all his Followers was nearly concerned in it For because his Desire was to be heard speak for himself and to be instructed by those who were more learned if he could not obtain this Favour the Truth it self would suffer very much by it Confiding therefore in his Candor and Humanity and being also born and bred in that Country which is properly under his Episcopal Care and Government he thought himself in some measure obliged to give him this short Account of his Case The Archbishop answers That he was very well pleased with his Promise Not to be obstinate in the Defence of his Tenets but to be willing to yield to any who should better inform him As for his part though he had a great regard for the concerns of Religion yet he had not hitherto been able to steal so much Time as would serve to read over his Treatises That therefore he could not give any Judgment upon them but referr'd it wholly to those whose proper Province it was and who had already ingaged themselves in that Disquisition That his hearty Wishes were That he and all other Divines would handle Points of Religion reverently modestly and conscientiously without uttering any reproachful Words or harbouring any secret Malice in their Breasts That he heard with great regret with what Heat and Passion some Men of Note and Fame disputed about the Supremacy of the Pope and Free-Will and other such trifling insignificant Questions which are far from being any of the Essentials of Religion That those things began now to be controverted which had been so long received and which were confirmed by the common Consent and Approbation of the whole Church as well as by the Authority of General Councils such is that which relates to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper and the manner of communicating therein And because this is done openly and the Ears of the common People begin to be tickled with the Novelty he should not but have very dreadful Apprehensions of what would be the dangerous Consequences of them That he could not see how he or any other Person could raise any useful pious Instructions out of these Points But if Scholars had a mind to debate them friendly and privately among themselves he could not be against it Nor did he blame him for saying That what he taught was no other than the true Doctrin of the Gospel provided there was nothing of Bitterness or Spite in the Assertion and that it was not spoke in contempt of the Authority of the Church For if this publick Declaration of the Truth flowed purely from the gentle impulse of the Divine Spirit it then would baffle all Attempts whatsoever that should be made against it but if that either Haughtiness of Mind or a private Grudge against any one were the Motives in it it then could have no firm Foundation but that and its Author would soon fall together For whosoever abuses the Gifts and Favours of God on him will he assuredly pour out the full Vials of his Wrath. To the same effect on the same day Luther writes to the Bishop of Mersburgh that as to his Doctrin his Conscience bore him witness that it was the same that Christ and his Apostles had taught But because his Life and manners were not in all things answerable to the Purity of his Profession he could even wish that he were silenc'd from Preaching as being unworthy to exercise that Sacred Function That he was not moved either by the hopes of Gain or Vain-glory but that the End to which all his Endeavours were directed was to imprint a-fresh in the minds of Men those eternal Truths which were now almost utterly defaced or else obscured by a gross and wilful stupidity That those who condemn his Writings were hurried on by the violence of their Passions and promoted their own ambitious designs under the specious pretence of upholding the Authority of the Bishop of Rome That a great many Foreigners famous both for Parts and Learning had by their Letters approved of his Works and thanked him for his obliging the Publick with them That this confirm'd him in his Opinion that his Doctrin was Orthodox He beseeches him therefore to shew some Fatherly tenderness towards him and if he had hitherto erred to guide him now into the right way That he could not as yet get his Cause to be heard although he had been importunate in requesting it That he should think it a great happiness to be convinced of any of his Errours and they should find he had been misrepresented by those who had possessed the World with a belief of his Obstinacy The Bishop returns to this That he had been often under a very great concern for him and that he was heartily sorry for his having publish'd a Book concerning the Lord's Supper which had given offence to many That
he is led to the Altar and there takes his Oath to perform all this and so returns again to his Throne Then the Elector of Cologn demands of those that were present Whether they will yield him due Faith and Allegiance which being promised and some other Prayers recited he anoints him on the Breast the Head the Bendings of the Arms and the Palms of the Hands And being thus anointed the Archbishops of Mentz and Triers lead him into the Vestry and there having clothed him like a Deacon place him again in his Throne After other Prayers the Archbishop of Cologn accompanied by the two other Archbishops delivers him a Sword drawn and commends the Commonwealth to his Care and when he has sheathed this Sword puts a Ring on his Finger and vests him with the Imperial Robe gives him a Scepter and Globe and the three Archbishops together put the Crown on his Head From thence he is lead to the Altar and there swears again That he will do the Duty of a good Prince after which accompanied by the Archbishops he goes up into a part of the Church which is purposely raised higher than the rest and is there placed in a Seat of Stone Then the Archbishop of Mentz making a Speech in the Vulgar Tongue wishes him great Prosperity commending to him himself his Colleagues and the States of the Empire The Prebendaries of the Church do likewise congratulate him into whose number he is chosen by an ancient Custom And after all he is entertained by a Consort of Vocal and Instrumental Musick The Lady Margaret the Emperour's Aunt who was Governess of the Low Countries was present during the whole Ceremony When Mass was over and the Emperour had received the Sacrament he Knights as many as offered themselves which Honour used to be given anciently only to those who had signalized their Courage in War and was the Reward of Valour And now the manner is for Kings to strike gently with their naked Sword the Shoulders of those that are to receive the Honour And by this Ceremony only now a days many are made Knights not only of the Nobility but Tradesmen and others From the Church they proceed to the Palace which is magnificently adorned there the Emperour Dines and the Electors also every one by himself there being Tables placed in the same Hall on both Sides the Emperour's the Archbishop of Triers sitting right against the Emperour according to one of the Laws of Charles IV. By an ancient Custom a whole Ox is roasted that Day with several other things in his Belly part of it is brought to the Emperour's Table and the rest is given to the Rabble and two Conduits run all the while with Wine After Dinner the Emperour returning to his Lodging delivers the Seal of the Empire to the Archbishop of Mentz and the next Day he treats the Electors The Day following repairing to the Church when he had heard Mass he worships the Holy Relicks as they call them and among these a Linen-Cloth in which they say our Blessed Saviour was wrapt when he lay in his Cradle After this the Archbishop of Mentz pronounces That the Pope confirms the Election and commands That Charles V should hereafter be called Emperour The Electors being departed for fear of the Contagion the Emperour also takes his Journey and arriving at Cologn about the beginning of November he sends his Letters all over the Empire to call a Dyet on January 6 at Wormes As to what the Archbishop of Mentz said concerning the Pope's Confirmation it is now indeed grown into a Custom contrary to what it was formerly for heretofore the Bishops of Rome used to be approved of by the Emperours but increasing in Power they began not only to rule at Pleasure but brought it at last to that pass after much Strife and Contention That the Right of Electing should be in the Electors but they themselves only should have the Power of Confirming and Ratifying it And this Authority they have made use of in almost all Kingdoms chiefly in Italy Germany and France deposing the lawful Princes and puting others in their room For besides other Places of the Canon Law in the Decretal Epistles of Pope Gregory IX Innocent III affirms That the Right of chusing the Emperour by the Favour of the Bishops and See of Rome was translated from the Greeks to the Germans in the time of Charles the Great and 't is their Busines to judge of the fitness of the Person and not contented with this they make the chief Magistrate of the World swear Allegiance to them which very thing has been the Cause of great Wars and much mischief But at length Clement V who lived in the Year of our Lord 1300 bound them to it by a Law which he inserted into the Body of the Canon Law for when the Emperour Henry VII of the Family of Luxemburg refused the Oath as a new thing not practised in former Times Pope Clement to secure all for the future opens the Matter at large declaring what is contained in that Oath that is to say That the Emperour should defend the Roman Church root out Hereticks and avoid the Company of Wicked Men that he should by all means possible maintain the Dignity of the Popes defend and keep all priviledges granted at any Time to the Church of Rome but especially such as were given by Constantine Charles the Great Henry Otho IV Frederick II and Rodolph that he claimed no Right upon any account whatsoever over the Lands and Possessions of the Roman Church and that he would defend all other Churches in their Rights and Priviledges He declares that the Emperour is obliged to all this and that Henry himself promised as much by his Envoys however afterwards he refused to own it But this Decree of the Popes came not out till after Henry was dead This is that Clement who first of all summoned the Cardinals from Rome to Lions in France and kept his Court there since which time the Authority and Power of the Emperours has decreased daily in Italy and the Power and Dignity of the Popes been augmented so that Emperours of a later date imagined that they owe them this Obedience and Allegiance But the chief of those Popes that have been in this Matter troublesome to our Emperours are Gregory VII Alexander III Innocent III Gregory IX Innocent IV Nicholas III Boniface VIII and Clement V. But to return from whence we have digressed While the Emperour was at Cologn the Pope began again to incense Frederick Duke of Saxony against Luther by Marinus Caracciolus and Jerome Aleander who speaking first in praise of him and his Family and telling the Danger that hung over Germany by reason of Luther's pernicious Writings demanded at length two things First That he would command all his Books to be burnt And Secondly That he would either execute him himself or send him Prisoner to the Pope There were
then present Peter Bonomus Bishop of Trieste and Bernard Bishop of Trent Alexander declared That the Emperour and other Princes were required to see the Bull of the Pope performed and that the hearing of the Cause was committed to himself and Eckius Duke Frederick because it was a matter of great importance desired time to consider of it and on November 4 not being at leisure himself he gave in this Answer by some of his Council in the presence of the Bishop of Trent That he wondred very much why the Pope should desire this of him who had always taken care to do nothing unworthy of the Virtue and Glory of his Ancestors and to do his Duty both to the Empire and the Church That he understood that Eckius in his absence had given trouble not only to Luther but to several other Learned Men of his Dominions contrary to the Mind and Tenor of his Holiness's Bull which as became him he declared he very much resented That a private Person should take upon him to meddle so much in another's Jurisdiction What Luther or others have done in his Absence since the bringing of the Pope's Bull thither he knows not That it is possible several Persons may have approved of his Appeal That as for himself he never concern'd himself in it But that he should be very sorry if his Doctrin were not Orthodox That two Years ago he procured a Conference between him and Cajetane at Ausburg but they coming to no Agreement Cajetane writ a Letter to complain of him That he then answered it so as he imagined he had given him Satisfaction and for taking away all suspicion he was then willing to have dismissed Luther had not Miltitz opposed it But Richard Archbishop of Triers had been delegated by the Pope for hearing this Cause and that Luther was ready to appear in any Place provided he might have a Safe-Conduct And that he makes as fair and large Proffers as can be desired That several Good and Learned Men imagine that he has proceeded thus far not so much of his own Accord as by the Instigation of his Adversaries That it appears not yet to the Emperour nor to any other Magistrate that his Writings are convicted of Heresie or Impiety for if they had he himself should have been ready to have done the Duty of a good Prince He desires therefore That they would not proceed after this manner but rather procure that the Matter may be lovingly and quietly debated by some Godly and Learned Men that Luther may have a Safe-Conduct and that his Books may not be burnt before he has made his Defence If he should happen to be convinced by Scripture and solid Arguments that then he would by no means countenance him But though he and his Cause should be quite baffled yet he hoped his Holiness would require nothing of him but what might stand with his Honour In all other things he should always behave himself as became a Prince of the Empire and an obedient Son of the Church When the Elector had given in this Answer the Legates after some Consultation began to recite how many things the Pope had done and suffered in order to reclaim Luther but that he had not performed any part of his Promises That it was not now in the Power of the Bishop of Triers to determine in this Cause since the Pope had recalled that Hearing of it before himself to whom only it belonged to judge in matters of this Nature The conclusion of their Speech was That they could not but act conformable to his Holiness's Decree and so not long after they burn all Luther's Works This Aleander was an Italian born at Motola in the Kingdom of Naples very skilful in the Hebrew Tongue He was for some time a Reader in the University of Paris being come to Rome he rose by degrees till he was at last made Archbishop of Brindin and after that created a Cardinal And Caracciolus was also promoted to the same Dignity As soon as Luther heard of this he called together all the Students that were in Wittemberg and in the Presence of a great number of Learned Men he publickly burns the Canon-Law and the Pope's late published Decree on the tenth Day of December And in his next days Lecture he earnestly admonishes all Persons who have any regard to their own Salvation to shake off the Dominion of the Bishop of Rome In a Treatise which he soon after published he declares what it was had moved him to do this acknowledging That it was with his Consent and by his Advice and Means that these Books of the Canon-Law were burnt and that for these Reasons First It has been an Ancient Custom observed in all Ages in this manner to suppress all pernicious Books of which there is an Example in the Acts of the Apostles moreover it was his Duty who is baptized into the Faith of Christ and who is a Professor and publick Preacher of the Gospel to oppose whatever contradicts the Precepts therein contained and to instruct Men in all Sound and Wholesome Doctrins and to purge their Minds from all false and erroneous Opinions That a great many others lay under the same Obligations but if they out of Ignorance or by Cowardise neglected to do as they ought yet that he was not thereby excused unless he endeavoured faithfully to discharge what he thought in Conscience was his Duty That the Pope and those whose Interest it is to uphold his Power were become so desperately Wicked and Obstinate that they not only stopt their Ears against all good admonitions but also condemned the Doctrin of Christ and his Apostles and forced Men to the commission of the grossest Impieties Besides this he supposed those Book-Burners had no Command to act after that manner As for the Divines of Cologn and Louvain who pretended to be authorized by the Emperour to burn his Books he was now very certain that that was a meer sham In the last place because this burning of his Works and the Report of it which would be spread all over the Country might perhaps stagger some and cause great Doubts in the Minds of many more who would judge that such a thing would not be done rashly and without some very weighty Cause Therefore seeing his Adversaries were now grown past cure he had been forced to burn their Books thereby to raise up and confirm and strengthen the Minds of his Followers And he entreats all Men not to suffer themselves to be dazled by the lofty and proud Titles of his Adversaries but to take a nearer View of the Matter by which they would perceive what Impious and Pernicious Tenets are contained in the Canons and Decretals of the Popes And that he might make this the more plain to every Man's Understanding he recites some Passages out of the Canon-Law which tend manifestly to the Reproach of God the Injury of the Civil Magistrate and serve only
Bulla coenae Domini the Bull of the Lord's Supper Which formulary of Excommunication came afterwards into Luther's hands and he rendred it into High-Dutch besprinkling it with some very Witty and Satyrical Animadversions So soon as Luther received the Letter he parted from Wittemberg and took his Journey towards Wormes accompanied by the same Herald that brought the Letter But when he was come within a few Miles of the place many dissuaded him from proceeding because his Books had been lately burnt which they looked upon as a Pre-judging of his Cause and a Condemning of him before a Hearing they therefore advised him to look to himself as being in great danger and to take warning from what happened to John Huss in the former Age. However with great resolution he slighted all danger affirming that that terrour and fear was suggested to him by the Devil who saw his Kingdom would be shaken by an open Confession of the Truth and in so illustrious a Place So then continuing his Journey he arived at Wormes on the Sixteenth of April Next day being sent for he appeared before the Emperour and a great Assembly of the Princes where Eckius a Lawyer by Orders from the Emperour spoke to him to this purpose For two Reasons said he Martin Luther the Emperour with consent of all the Princes and States commanded you to be sent for and hath charged me to put the Question to you first Whether or not you will confess that you wrote these Books and acknowledge them for your own And then Whether or not you will retract any thing in them or stand to the defence of what you have written Luther had brought along with him a Lawyer of Wittemberg one Jerome Schurff and he craved that the Titles of the Books might be read and produced Which being done Luther resumed in short what had been said unto him And then as to the Books saith he I confess and own them to be mine But whether I will defend what I have written that 's a Matter of great consequence and therefore that I may make a pertinent Answer and do nothing rashly I desire time to consider on 't The Matter being debated Although said he you might easily have understood by the Emperor's Letters the cause you were sent for and ought therefore to answer peremptorily without any delay yet the Emperour is graciously pleased to allow you one day for Deliberation commanding you to appear again at the same hour to morrow and give your positive Answer by Word of Mouth and not in Writing Most People began to think by his asking time to consider that he did relent and would not prove constant When next day he appeared at the hour appointed You did not said Eckius to him answer the second Question that was put to you yesterday having desired time to deliberate in which could have been lawfully denied you for every one ought to be so well persuaded in his Faith as to be ready at all times to give a reason of it to those who demand the same much more ought not you who are so learned and experienc'd a Divine to have doubted or have needed time to premeditate an Answer But to let that pass What do you now say Will you defend those Writings of yours Then Luther addressing himself to the Emperour and the Council of the Princes and having earnestly besought them to hear him patiently If I offend said he most Mighty Emperour and most Illustrious Princes either in the impropriety of Expressions unworthy of such an Auditory or in the clownishness and indecency of Carriage and Behaviour I humbly beg Pardon for it and desire it may be imputed to the course of life that now for some part of my age I have followed For the truth is I have nothing to say for my self but that with uprightness and simplicty I have hitherto taught those things which I believe do tend to the Glory of God and Salvation of Men Yesterday I answer'd as to my Books and owned them to have been written and published by me though if any thing should happen to be added unto them by others I would by no means acknowledg that for mine Now as to the second Question that was put to me thus stands the case All the Books that I have written are not of the same kind nor do they treat of the same subject for some of them relate only to the Doctrin of Faith and Piety which even my Adversaries do commend and should I abjure these I might justly be accused of neglecting the duty of an honest Man There are others wherein I censure the Roman Papacy and the Doctrin of Papists which have plagued Christendom with the greatest of Evils For who does not see how miserably the Consciences of Men are rack'd by the Laws and Decrees of Popes Who can deny but that they have by Craft and Artifice robb'd all Countries and especially Germany and that even to this day they set up no bounds nor period to their Pillage and Rapine Now if I should retract those Books I must confirm that Tyranny which would be of far worse consequence when it came to be known that I did it by the Authority of the Emperour and Princes There is a third sort of Books which I have written against some private Persons who have undertaken to defend that Knavery of Rome and to ensure me with Cavils and Calumnies and in these I confess I have been more vehement than became me but I arrogate no Sanctity to my self nor is it of Life and Manners but of the true Doctrin that I make Profession and yet I would not willingly retract any thing in these neither for by so doing I should but open a door to the Insolence of many Nevertheless I would not be so understood as if I vainly pretended that I could not Err But seeing it is the property of Man to Err and be Deceived I cannot defend my Self and Cause better than by that saying of our Saviour's who being smitten by a certain Servant as he was speaking of his Doctrin If said he I have spoken evil bear witness of the evil Now if Christ who is all Perfection refused not to hear the Evidence of a wretched Servant against him how much more ought not I a vile Sinner by nature and lyable to many Errours make my apperaance when I am called and hear every Man that would object and witness any thing against my Doctrin Wherefore I beg for God's sake and all that is Sacred that if any Man have any thing to object against the Doctrin which I profess he would not dissemble it but come forth and convince me of Errour by Testimonies of Scripture which if he do I will not be obstinate but shall be the first to throw my Books with my own hands into the Fire And this may be an Argument that I have not been led by rashness or any head-strong passion but have
sufficiently weiged the greatness of the Matter and the troubles that this Doctrin hath occasion'd Nay truly I am exceedingly rejoyced to see that the Doctrin I profess hath given occasion to these Troubles and Offences for Christ himself tells us That it is the property of the Gospel to raise grievous Strife and Contentions where-ever it is taught and that among those very Persons too who are most closely linked together by the Bonds of Nature and Blood. It ought seriously then to be consider'd and maturely thought on most Noble Patriots what is fit to be decreed and care had lest by condemning the Doctrin which by the Blessing of God is now offered unto you you yourselves be the cause of the greatest Calamities to Germany Regard should likewise be had that the Government which the young Emperour who here presides hath lately taken upon him be not reckoned inauspicious and fatal by Posterity through any bad Act or Precedent that may entail its Inconveniences upon them For it may be proved by many places of Scripture that Governments have then been in greatest danger when the Affairs of the Publick were managed only by Human Prudence and mere Secular Councils Nevertheless I design not by what I say most Illustrious and Prudent Princes to prescribe or point out to you what you are to do but only to declare the Duty which I shall always be ready to perform to Germany our native Country which ought to be dearer unto us than our very Lives After all I most earnestly beseech you to take me into your Protection and to defend me against the Violence of mine Enemies When he had made an end of Speaking Eckius looking upon him with a stern Countenance You answer not to the Purpose said he nor is it your part to call again into question or doubt of what hath been heretofore determined by the Authority of Councils It is a plain and easie Answer that is demanded of you Do you approve and will you defend your Writings To which Luther made answer Since it is your Command said he most mighty Emperour and most Illustrious Princes that I should give a plain Answer I 'le obey and this therefore is my Answer That unless I be convinced by Testimonies of Holy Scripture and evident Reason I cannot retract any thing of what I have written or taught for I will never do that which may wound my own Conscience neither do I believe the Pope of Rome and Councils alone nor admit of their Authority for they have often erred and contradicted one another and may still err and be deceived The Princes having considered this Answer Eckius again told him You answer said he Luther somewhat more irreverently than becomes you and not sufficiently to the purpose neither when you make a distinction among your Books But if you would retract those which contain a great part of your Errours the Emperour would not suffer any Injury to be done to such others as are Orthodox and right You despise the Decrees of the Council of Constance where many Germans famous both for Learning and Virtue were present and revive Errours that were condemned therein requiring to be convinced by Holy Scripture you do not well and are very far out of the way for what the Church hath once condemned is not to be brought under Dispute again nor must every private Person be allowed to demand a Reason for every thing for should that once be granted that he who opposes and contradicts the Church and Councils must be convinced by Texts of Scripture there would never be any end of Controversies For that Reason therefore the Emperour expects to hear from you in plain Terms What you will do with your Books I beseech you said Luther that by your leave I may preserve a Sound and upright Conscience I have answered plainly and have nothing else to say for unless my Adversaries convince me of my Errour by true Arguments taken from Scripture it is impossible I can be quiet in mind Nay I can demonstrate that they have erred very often and grosly too and for me to recede from the Scripture which is both clear and cannot err would be an Act of greatest Impiety Eckius muttered something to the contrary That it could not be proved that ever a General Council had erred But Luther declared That he could and would prove it and so the matter concluded at that time Next Day the Emperour wrote to the Princes assembled in Council That his Predecessors had professed the Christian Religion and always obeyed the Church of Rome So that since Luther opposed the same and persisted obstinately in his Opinion his Duty required that following the Steps of his Ancestors he should both defend the Christian Religion and also succour the Church of Rome That therefore he would put Luther and his Adherents to the Ban of the Empire and make use of other proper Remedies for the extinguishing that Fire However that he would make good the Safe-Conduct he had granted him and that he might return Home with Safety This Letter of the Emperours was long and much debated in the Assembly of the Princes and some there were as it was reported who following the Decree and Pattern of the Council of Constance thought that the Publick Faith was not to be observed to him But Lewis the Elector Palatine and others also were said to have vigourously withstood that Resolution affirming That such a thing would lye as an eternal Stain and Disgrace upon Germany Wherefore most were of Opinion that not only the Publick Faith and Promise should be kept to him but also that he should not be rashly condemned because it was a Matter of great moment whatever should be decreed by the Emperour whom at that Age they perceived to be incited and exasperated against Luther by the Agents and Ministers of Rome Some Days after the Bishop of Treves appointed Luther to come to him the 24 of April There were present at that Congress Joachim Elector of Brandenburg George Duke of Saxony the Bishop of Ausburg and some other great Men And when Luther came conducted by the Emperour's Herald and was introduced by the Bishop's Chaplain Vey a Lawer of Baden spake to him to this Purpose These noble Princes have sent for you Martin Luther said he not to enter into any Dispute but to treat friendly with you and to admonish you privately of those Things which seem chiefly to concern your self for they have obtained leave from the Emperour to do so And in the first place as to Councils it is possible that at some Times they have decreed things different but never contrary and granting they had err'd yet their Authority is not therefore so fallen that it should be lawful for every Private Man to trample upon it Your Books if Care be not taken will be the cause of great Troubles and many interpret that which you have published of
out weighed all other Reasons whatsoever so that so soon as he came to know it he had returned without farther Deliberation for that nothing was so dear unto him as the Salvation of his People But that if the thing could have been done by Letters he could easily have dispenced with his absence from Wittemberg That lastly he was very apprehensive of and did in a manner foresee a dreadful Tempest like to fall upon Germany which so securely slighted the present Mercy of God That many indeed did very zealously embrace the true Religion but exceedingly disgraced it by their Lives and Manners turning that liberty which ought to be of the Spirit into a licentiousness of doing whatever they pleased That others again made it their whole study and endeavours by any means to suppress the sound Doctrin and these together tended directly to the stirring up of Seditions That the Tyranny of the Churchmen was now weakned which was all that he proposed to himself at first but that since the Magistrate despised so great a gift of God his Divine Majesty would punish that ingratitude and contempt of his Word and by sending one Judgment upon the heels of another utterly destroy all as he had done Jerusalem of old That now it was his duty and the duty of all others whom God had any ways enabled to use their utmost diligence in Teaching and Exhorting and that though perhaps they might take all that pains in vain nay and be laugh'd at too by many yet they ought not therefore to desist because their labour was pleasing to God. That in short whatever the Decree of the Diet of Norimberg might prove to be they would set no limits to the Counsel and Will of God That he had besides other causes for his return which were of less moment But that as to this which he had alledged the asserting and vindicating of the Gospel it was of so great weight and consequence as to make him contemn all human counsel and to look up only to God That therefore he prayed his Highness not to be offended that he was come back again without his Call or Command That he as their Prince had Power over the Bodies and Fortunes of his People but that Christ bore Rule over their Souls and that since the Care of these was committed to him from above and that it was Christ's work wholly he supposed his Highness could incur no danger upon the account of his return Now as to the Troubles which he said were raised in his Church in his absence the matter was this While Luther was out of the way Andrew Carolostadius who hath been mentioned before preached a different Doctrin and stirred up the People in a tumultuary manner to cast the Images out of the Churches This being the chief cause why Luther was recalled by his Friends So soon as he came back he condemned that Action of Carolostadius shewing that that was not the way they ought to have proceeded in but that Images were first to have been removed out of the mind and the People taught that by Faith alone we pleased God and that Images availed nothing That if they had been in this manner removed and the Minds of People rightly informed there would have been no more danger of any hurt from them and they would have fallen of themselves That he was not indeed against the removing of Images but that it ought to have been done by the Authority of the Magistrate and not by the Rabble and promiscuous Multitude At this time there sprang up a secret Sect of some People that talked of Conferences they had with God who had commanded them to destroy all the Wicked and to begin a new World wherein the Godly and Innocent only should live and have Dominion These clandestinly spread their Doctrins in that part of Saxony chiefly which lyes upon the River Saal and as Luther affirms Carolostadius also favoured their Opinion but when borne down by the Authority of Luther he could not bring to pass what he intended at Wittemberg he forsook his Station and went over to them Thomas Muncer was one of this Herd who afterwards raised a Popular Insurrection against the Magistrate in Thuringe and Franconia of which in its proper place Luther being now informed that in the publick Assemblies of the Bohemians there were some who urged the Re-establishment of the Authority of the Pope and Church of Rome without which there could be no end of Controversies and Debates wrote unto them in the latter end of July to this Effect That the Name of Bohemians had been some time very odious unto him so long as he had been ignorant that the Pope was Antichrist But that now since God had restored the Light of the Gospel to the World he was of a far different Opinion and had declared as much in his Books so that at present the Pope and his Party were more incensed against him than against them That his Adversaries had many times given it out That he had removed into Bohemia which he oftentimes wishes to have done but that lest they should have aspersed his Progress and called it a Flight he had altered his Resolution That as matters stood now there was great Hopes That the Germans and Bohemians might Profess the Doctrin of the Gospel and the same Religion That it was not without Reason that many were grieved to see them so divided into Sects among themselves But that if they should again make Defection to Popery Sects would not only not be removed but even be increased and more diffused for that Sects abounded no where more than among the Romanists and that the Franciscans alone were an Instance of this who in many things differed among themselves and yet all lived under the Patronage and Protection of the Church of Rome That his Kingdom was in some manner maintained and supported by the Dissentions of Men which was the Reason also that made him set Princes together by the Ears and afford continual Matter of Quarrelling and contention That therefore they should have special Care lest whilst they endeavour to crush those smaller Sects they fall not into far greater such as the Popish which were altogether incurable and from which Germany had been lately delivered That there was no better way of removing Inconveniences than for the Pastors of the Church to preach the pure Word of God in Sincerity That if they could not retain the weak and giddy People in their Duty and hinder their desertion they should at least endeavour to make them stedfast in receiving the Lord's Supper in both kinds and in preserving a Veneration for the Memory of John Huss and Jerome of Prague for that the Pope would labour chiefly to deprive them of these two Things wherefore if any of them should relent and give up both to the Tyrant it would be ill done of them But that though all Bohemia should Apostatize yet he would
amend not your Lives The Prodigies which happen and are seen in many places portend no good We may easily know that God's Anger is waxed hot against us in that he suffereth false Teachers to have so much Power over us as to mislead us into error and darkness that so we may be deservedly punished And we have an Instance of this before our Eyes the present popular Insurrection which will utterly destroy Germany unless God moved by our Prayers be pleased to send some Remedy For this is now the present state of Affairs that Men neither can nor will nor indeed ought to suffer our Arbitrary Rule any longer You must be wholly transformed and give place to the Word of God for if the People bring it not to pass at this time others shall succeed and though you kill and destroy most of them yet God will raise up others in their place for the Work is his it is he that warreth against you and calls you to an account for your Impieties Some of you have bragg'd That you would spend your Lives and Fortunes in the utter Extirpation of Luther's Doctrin And does that not seem to be in a fair way now to be done But these are Matters not to be Jested with The Jews of old said that they had no King but at last they have been reduced to this condition to want a King for ever Some of you also as if your former Crimes had not been enough cast a new Reproach upon the Gospel and say that all these Stirs are the fruits of my Doctrin Well go on in your Railing but that ye will not know what my Doctrin is nor hear the voice of the Gospel it is a sign of an obstinate and malicious Mind For my part I have from the very first always taught modestly abhorred all Seditions and earnestly exhorted the People to Obedience to their Magistrates nay and advised them too to bear with your wicked and tyrannical Domination And in this I appeal to your selves This Insurrection then proceeded not from me but those blood-thirsty Prophets who are my Enemies no less than yours have raised the Plague by seducing the People and have been carrying on the work these three years past and more while no Man withstood them as I have done If God now for your Sins permit the Devil by means of those Prophets to stir up the Rage of the People against you and if matters come to that pass that it is out of my power to prevent this Storm wherein pray am I or the Gospel to be blamed for that when the very Doctrin which I profess hath not only hitherto suffered your Cruelty but also pours out Prayers to God for you and hath always maintained and highly commended your Dignity to the People Now if I delighted to be revenged for the Injuries you have done unto me I might laugh in my Sleeve and be an idle Spectator of the Tragedy or else joyn with the raging Multitude and as it is commonly said Pour your Oyl into the Flame and scratch the Sore Wherefore most noble Princes I earnestly beseech you That you would not despise my Admonition nor set light by this Insurrection Not that I fear they will be too hard for you for I would not have you be afraid of that but that you would stand in awe of the Wrath of God for if he intend to punish you as you deserve you will not avoid the Danger though the Power of the Enemy be never so small And therefore if there be any Place left for Counsel I pray you give way to rage and wisely prevent the eminent Storm And since the Event is uncertain and the Will of God unknown you ought to try well all ways first and take heed that such a Fire be not kindled as may consume all Germany For certainly our Sins whereby we have stirred up God's Wrath against us are manifest so that we ought to be afraid of the least Noise much more when so great a number of Enemies are got together with violent Designs Lenity and Clemency can do you no hurt and though it should it will afterwards make Satisfaction with great Advantage But if you oppose Force to Force you may be in Danger perhaps of losing all And when you may obtain more by other Means why will ye run so great a Risk They have proposed twelve Demands whereof some are so consonant to Equity and Reason that you have just Cause to be ashamed However they refer all to their own Profit and prove not sufficiently what they alledge And besides there are many other things of greater concern to the State of Germany which may be objected unto you as we have made it appear in a Book written for that purpose but because you to whom they were particularly addressed have rejected them you are now deservedly urged with far harder Conditions Their first Demand is That such Ministers may be lawfully appointed as may sincerely preach the Word of God. And although they have in this an Eye to their own Profit when they would have their Stipends paid out of other Men's Tiths yet what they demand cannot in Reason be denied for it is lawful for no Magistrate to debarr their People from the Doctrin of the Gospel The other things they crave concerning Serving-men and the like are also grounded on Reason for it is not the part of the Magistrate to afflict and harass the People but rather to defend and preserve their Fortunes and Estates But now there is no end of Exactions and how can that continue for if the Country-people reap more plentiful Crops of their Lands and Farms than perhaps they expected and their Magistrates and Landlords therefore raise their Taxes and Rents all which they profusely spend in Luxury and Riot Pray what Profit have the poor Wretches and wherein is their Condition bettered thereby This Luxury and Profusion ought certainly to be restrained that something may be also left for them to live on The rest of their Demands I suppose you have learnt from their Publick Declaration Having severally admonished both Parties he wrote to them a common Epistle advising them That since they both maintained a bad Cause that they would desist from Arms and amicably accommodate the Difference To the Magistrates he represents That the Ends of Tyrants have been always most sad and fatal and to the People That the Success of those who have Rebelled and risen in Arms against their Magistrates hath ever been Calamitous and Unfortunate One thing he chiefly bewailed That when on both Sides they fought with a bad Conscience the Princes in maintaining their Oppression and the People in rebelliously attempting to accomplish their Desires all who perished in the Wars must needs make Shipwrack of their Souls In the next place he laments the Condition of Germany which was like to be utterly ruined by this Civil War That it was an easie thing to take up Arms but not so
grievously informed against him by some of that Faculty though unjustly and without a Cause That then he had appointed some great Men eminent for Learning to inspect his Books and Writings for which he stood accused But that they having carefully perused and examined them all had given him a very ample and honourable Testimony That seeing it was so and that he was had in gread Reputation by the Italians and Spaniards for the opinion they conceived of his Learning and Virtue as he hath since learnt he would therefore take it ill if that innocent Man should be molested or exposed to any Danger And seeing that if at any other time so now especially he would have Justice strictly administred throughout all his Kingdoms And again because for the future he intended by all ways to favour Men of Learning therefore he commanded them That if any Process had been commenced against them since his Departure they should make report of the fame to his Mother who managed the Government that he might be certified thereof by her and that they might expect his Will and Pleasure therein and not to proceed any farther but to supersede all Action until either he should return which he hoped by the Blessing of God would shortly be or else some Order should be taken in the matter by himself or his Mother These Letters dated at Madrid in Spain November the twelfth were delivered to the Parliament of Paris the eight and twentieth day of the same Month. It was a thing almost natural to the Divines of the past Age to teaze and molest learned Men and the reason was because they saw themselves despised for their Ignorance This Year there happened a change in the State and Government of Prusia a Province in the utmost parts of Germany upon the Baltick-Sea Let us trace the matter a little farther back During the Empire of Henry VI the Son of Frederick Barbarossa when the Christians were in War for the Recovery of Jerusalem the Knights of the German or Teutonick Order were instituted who because they fought for Religion wore a white Cross upon their Cloaths as a Badge and cognizance of their Profession This happened in the Year of our Lord eleven hundred and ninety The first Master of that Order was chosen as is reported in the Camp before Ptolemais Afterwards these Knights subdued Prusia in the time of the Emperour Frederick II And after that being grown strong they had for some time waged War with the Kings of Poland they were overcome in Battle and swore Allegiance to Casimire king of Poland the Father of King Sigismund From the first Master to Marquess Albert of Brandenburg there had been three and thirty Masters Now Albert was chosen in the Year of our Lord one thousand five hundred and eleven For the space of two Years he had a bloody War with Sigismund King of Poland and in the Year one thousand five hundred and twenty one a Truce was made for four Years In the mean time Marquess Albert often sollicited the Emperour and States of the Empire for Aid and came himself in Person to the Dyet of Norimberg We mentioned before where he took his Place as a Prince of the Empire for the cause of the War was because he refused to swear Allegiance to the King of Poland But now when the Emperour was ingaged in a War with France the Turk invaded Hungary and Germany was so embroiled by the Rebellion of the Boors that no help was to be expected from thence the Truce being likewise expired he made Peace with the King of Poland swore Allegiance to him as to his chief Magistrate and imbraced the Reformed Religion Hereupon he changed his Order challenged Prusia as his own and being before but Master was now by the King's consent inaugurated Duke of Prusia and some time after married the Lady Dorothy Daughter to the King of Denmark founding also the University of Coningsberg By this means he got the whole Order upon his Top For although he was in Possession of Prusia and under the Protection of the King of Poland yet by common consent Walter Cronberg was chosen in his place who retained the Name and represented the old Dignity of the Order and in all Dyets grievously accused Albert as you shall hear in the proper place But he having published a Manifesto gave his Reasons for what he had done and declared That being forsaken of the Empire he was driven by extream Necessity to submit himself to the King of Poland The Letters of Pope Leo X to Sigismund and Albert are extant wherein he exhorts them to Concord and either refer the Difference they had to his Legate whom he would send or submit it to the Determination of the Council of Lateran because it was most convenient that the Debates of Kings should be decided by a Council THE HISTORY OF THE Reformation of the Church BOOK VI. THE CONTENTS Luther-writes to the King of England and George Duke of Saxony to regain their favour But both reject him Now he had been put on to do so by Christiern King of Denmark The sickness of the French King who was Prisoner hastened the Treaty at Madrid The King having obtained his Liberty two of his Sons are left Hostages While the Princes of Germany meet in the Diet at Spire the Emperor of the Turks marches streight into Hungary A Disputation begun at Baden The Pope and Venetians make a League with the French King. The Emperor and King make bitter Complaints of one another Rome being taken by the Duke of Bourbon the King sends Lautreck into Italy The Errors of the Anabaptists begin to spread A Disputation appointed at Berne about Reformation of Religion A Context between King Ferdinand and the Vayvode of Transilvania Berken suffers Death at Antwerp The Emperor sends a Herald with a Challenge to the French King. Lautreck Besieges Naples but the Plague rages in his Camp. Mass is abolished at Strasburg A Dissention arises at Basil about Religion The Catholick Switzers make a League with Ferdinand A Dyet held at Spire and from thence the Name of Protestant had its Original A Civil War among the Switzers A Treaty at Cambray Solyman Besieges Vienna A new Disease breaks out in Germany The Protestants frame a League Erasmus his Book against Protestants Sforza is again received into favour with the Emperor WE gave an Account before of the King of England and Luther's clashing by Letters But Luther in the mean time having heard of some things that sounded to the King's Praise and Commendation was mightily rejoiced at the News and wrote very submissively unto him That he doubted not but that he had highly offended him by the Book he published but that he had not done it so much of his own accord as at the instigation of others which made him in confidence of his Royal Grace and Condescension so much applauded by many take the boldness to write to him
not treat of such things as they had no Power to determine nor lose Time to the Prejudice and Hinderance of other Deliberations they would therefore impart to them what Instructions they had from the Emperour as to that matter and thereupon caused the Emperour's Letter dated at Seville March 23 to be read The Substance whereof was That he intended to go to Rome to be crowned and also to treat with the Pope about a Council But that in the mean time he willed and commanded That the States should not decree any thing in this Dyet that might any ways be contrary to the ancient Customs Canons and Ceremonies of the Church but that all things should be ordered within his Dominions according to the Form and Tenor of the Edict of Wormes which was made with their unanimous Advice and Consent That they should patiently bear with this Delay until he had treated with the Pope about a Council which should be shortly called for that by such private Regulations there was not only no good to be done but the Errours and Licentiousness of the Common People were thereby the more confirmed About this time the Emperour of the Turks marching from Belgrade and having passed the Danube and Save advanced streight towards Hungary Wherefore King Lewis sending again Ambassadours to Spire demanded Assistance Certain Intelligence came then also from Italy That Pope Clement and the Venetians had made a League with the King of France lately returned home from Spain against the Emperour as shall be said hereafter The Emperour's Letters I mentioned before being read most of the Free Cities especially of Vpper Germany delivered in their Minds in Writing as it is usual That they desired by all means to obey and gratifie the Emperour but that the Controversie about Religion increased daily especially concerning Ceremonies and Corruptions That hitherto the Decree of Wormes could not be observed for fear of a Sedition and Insurrection but that now the Danger and Difficulty was much greater as had been plainly made appear to the Pope's Legate in the former Dyet And that if the Emperour himself were present and informed of the state of Affairs he would be of the same Opinion That the Emperour indeed in his Letter promised a Council but when he wrote that Letter the Pope and he were on very good Terms together but that it was far otherwise now when the Pope having changed his Mind brought his Forces into the Field against the Emperour and that as Affairs stood it did not appear how a Council could be called That therefore it seemed most expedient to them either to send Ambassadours to the Emperour or by Letters to inform his Majesty of the whole matter and of the state of Germany and how dangerous a thing it would be to delay the business of Religion any longer or to urge the Edict of Wormes That in regard hereof his Imperial Majesty was to be intreated That for avoiding of greater Troubles he would suffer a National Council of Germany to be assembled wherein all matters might be tried and examined That this Course had been approved in the Dyet of Norimberg when another Dyet was therefore appointed to be held in this City and many of the States made preparation for the same But its being countermanded by the Emperour made way for Stirs Seditions and a bloody Civil War which might have been prevented if the Affair of Religion had at that time been lawfully decided Now if the Emperour approved not a National Council that he might be intreated to suspend the Execution of the Edict of Wormes until the meeting of a General Council for that else the Wound lately healed would fester again and grow worse Furthermore That in this Discord and Dissention so long as every Man was forced to be solicitous about their own private concerns it would be very difficult and uneasie to contribute Money for the Aid and Assistance of others Besides this Paper which was presented to the Princes August 4 they preferred also another Therein they complain That poor Men every where were over burthened by Mendicant Fryers who wheadled them and eat the Bread out of their Mouths Nor was that all neither but many times also they hooked in Inheritances and most ample Legacies to the great Prejudice of many That it was therefore their Opinion That they should not be suffered to propagate those Fraternities any more That when any of the Fryers dyed there should be none put into their place and that such of them as were willing to follow another course of Life might have some yearly Pension and that the rest of their Revenues should be brought into the publick Treasury That besides it was not reasonable that the Clergy should be exempted from all publick Burthens That that Priviledge had been granted to them of old by the Bounty of Kings but at such a time when they were both few in Number and low in Fortune But that now when they were mightily increased both in Number and Wealth the case was far different for the Cause of the Priviledge being removed the Effect also ought to cease and the rather that they did as much as other People nay more too enjoy all these Advantages for which Money Taxes and Customs used to be raised and paid Again That the great number of Holy-days was prejudicial to the People who were bound under great Penalties to keep them neglecting their necessary Work and Business and many ways offending God on those idle Days That the Law also for distinction of Meats ought in their Opinion to be abrogated and all Men left to their Liberty as to Ceremonies until the meeting of a General Council and that in the mean time the course of the Gospel should in no ways be obstructed After that Letter of the Emperour 's was read the Bishops refused to proceed in the matter of Religion and whilst the Pope and Emperour were at so great Variance they thought it best to delay till a fairer occasion of acting offered Thus there happened so great Animosity and Dissention betwixt the Commissioners who were of different Religion that all deliberation being on a sudden at a stand the Duke of Saxony and Landgrave thought of returning home and ordered their Servants to prepare for the Journey This being known Ferdinand and Richard Archbishop of Treves and others perceiving that it would be a very dangerous Matter if in so distracted a time and when all Men's Eyes and Expectations were fixed upon this Dyet they should depart not only without making any Decree but also with Minds full of Rancour took a course to make up this Breach for seeing many were of Opinion That the Insurrection the Year before and the Troubles at present sprang altogether from the Divisions about Religion they thought it convenient to apply a Remedy in Time Having therefore appeased the Minds of some a Decree was made at length to this purpose That
and Designs of his Enemies That when Francis Sforza was by his Generals besieged in the Castle of Milan and some great Men invited him to enter into a League he had not listned to them But that he was now very ill requited for all these good Offices for that his Soldiers had done great Injuries and given great Affronts both to him and the Church of Rome Again That he had neither performed Conditions nor repaid the Money that was advanced upon that account That the Aversion he had also to him sufficiently appeared in that he concealed from him the Conditions upon which he had made Peace with the King of France That he had obstinately rejected all the Intercessions made by him for Sforza That in Spain and Naples he had made Laws derogatory to the Liberty of the Roman Church and his own Dignity and that having sent the Duke of Bourbonne to the Siege of Marseilles he had raised a new War in Italy That for these Reasons therefore he had been obliged to enter into a League with some who loved the Peace and Welfare of Italy That if he also was desirous of Peace and would imbrace it well and good but if not That he wanted neither Force nor Power to defend Italy and the Interest of Rome The King of England was comprehended in this League and with great Promises invited to be Protector of it To this Letter of his the Emperour wrote an answer from Granada dated September 18 wherein he represented unto him How much he had deserved at his Hands as that by his Intercession and Assistance he had been made Pope That when he was chosen Emperour he would not accept it till Leo X had approved the Election and also owned his Right to the Kingdom of Naples but that he afterwards and Albert Prince of Carpi had by Leo's Orders attempted several things against him and entring into a League with the French had used all their Endeavours to get Naples and Sicily out of his hands That afterwards when the Times changed and the French in vain attempted Regio in Modena a Town depending on the Pope he with the Assistance of Pope Leo's Troops had made War against the King of France in which War his Holiness himself was Legate from Pope Leo and at that time had from him for a Reward a yearly Pension of ten thousand Ducats out of the Revenues of the Archbishop of Toledo That the French being beat out of Italy by the Conduct of the Duke of Bourbonne he could not deny him the Liberty of making War in France that he might recover what the French King had taken from him because of his Revolting But that after the Siege of Marseilles was raised the French King had at the Instigation of his Holiness himself as most Men affirmed renewed the War in Lumbardy That Naples indeed held of the See of Rome nevertheless said he should you make War in those places you would thereby lose all your Right and Title for that the same Reasons which make a Vassal and Feudatary lose his Fief make the Sovereign Lord lose also his Dominion Before the French King was taken you did indeed mediate for a Peace but your design was That under a Colour of Sequestration you might get into the Possession of the Dutchy of Milan and therefore the Venetians and Florentines influenced by you withdrew their Auxiliary Forces which they were bound by League to furnish For the French King both openly confesses That being sollicited by you he had made a new League before he returned home out of Spain and I have certain Intelligence also That you have absolved him from the Oath whereby he stands obliged to me Besides you have attacked me in a Hostile manner before the Letter wherein you denounce War came to my Hands And you have laid a Design not only to drive me out of Italy but also to degrade me from the Imperial Dignity This I can prove by the Letters of Ferdinand D' Avalos Marquess of Pescara whom you inticed into that League with a Promise of the Kingdom of Naples I have Right to challenge the Dutchy of Milan for more Reasons than one and nevertheless for the sake of the Peace of Italy I suffered Sforza to enjoy it and when he was dangerously sick would have put the Duke of Bourbonne in his Place perceiving that it would be acceptable to you and the rest of Italy Now that he was blockt up in the Castle of Milan the Reason was Because he had incurred the Crime of High Treason by making a League with you and that the Conspiracy being detected he would neither deliver up the Castles of Cromona nor Milan to my Officers nor yet purge himself of the Crimes objected to him and stand a fair Tryal Your Demand was That I should freely pardon him all but that I neither could nor ought to do lest I might thereby give a bad Example for Vassals to rebel against their Sovereigns and Lords If my Soldiers took Provisions and other Necessaries from the People of Parma and Piacenza it is not to be thought strange because these Cities belong to the Dominion of Milan and not at all to the Church of Rome As to the Peace made with France I concealed nothing of it from your Ministers for the Conditions are such as I would not have them to be-kept secret for they tend both to the maintaining the Peace of the Publick and to the restraining of the Enemy of Christendom Those few Laws made in Spain aim only at this That the Rights of Patronage which were granted to me by Pope Adrian may be suppressed at Rome But see the baseness of the thing Rome receives more Money and Profits out of my Kingdoms and Provinces than from all Christendom beside That may be proved by the Demands of the Princes of Germany when complaining heavily of the Court of Rome they desired a Remedy to their Grievances But out of the Respect I bore to the Church of Rome at that time I slighted their Complaints which being so and seeing I have given you no cause of Offence I earnestly desire you to desist from Hostility I shall do the like And seeing God hath set us up as two great Luminaries let us endeavour that the World may be enlightned by us and that no Eclipse may happen by our Dissentions Let us consider the whole state of Christendom and think of resisting Infidels and of suppressing the Sect and Errours of the Lutherans In this the Glory of God is concerned and here we should begin Afterwards let other Affairs and Controversies be heard you shall always find me ready to assist you But if I cannot prevail and you will needs go on like a Warriour I Protest and Appeal to a Council that all Quarrels may be therein decided and demand that it may speedily be called What he says of Luminaries he borrows it from the Words of Pope Innocent III who said That God
determined That for his own part he would in this and in all other Causes of the Empire for the Love and Affection he bore to his Country do what in Duty he ought And that therefore he demanded of them all that every one of them would testifie the like Zeal and Good-will towards the Publick The Princes after deliberation had were of Opinion That Religion should be the first thing debated Four Days after Cardinal Campegius made a Latin Speech to the Princes in presence of the Emperour exhorting them That in the cause of Religion they would obey the Emperour whose Virtue and Piety he much extolled that he also would in the Pope's Name endeavour that all should profess the same Faith and with reconciled Minds undertake a War against the Turk Next the Deputies of Austria represented the great Damages they had sustained from the Turks and demanded Aid After this the Elector of Saxony George Marquess of Brandenburg the Duke of Lunenburg and the Landgrave entreated the Emperour to hear their Confession of Faith that was drawn up in Writing He ordered it to be produced and laid down They again insisted and because it was a matter that concerned their Reputation their Lives and Fortunes and the Salvation of their Souls and because perhaps he had been misinformed in the thing they desired it might be heard The Emperour commanded them to wait upon him next Day at Home but in the mean time desired to have the Writing presently They again with all imaginable importunity urged and entreated that it might be read Nor did they think said they that that would have been denied them since he heard Men of far inferiour Rank about Matters of much less importance But when he would not change his Resolution they desired him to leave the Writing with them until it should be read That being granted they come next Day and in the Assembly of all the States read it in the Emperour 's hearing Afterwards they gave it him in Latin and High-Dutch offering to explain any thing in it that might seem obscure and that if the matter could not perhaps be now determined they did not refuse to submit to a Council so often promised and expected The Emperour who had spent the whole Winter from November to March with the Pope in Bolonia and had lived in the same Palace with him designed wholly if he could to accommodate the Difference about Religion without a Council as knowing that to be most acceptable to Pope Clement whose scope was That if the matter could not be composed by fair means it should be crushed by force of Arms. Wherefore June the twenty sixth he sent for the Deputies of all the Cities to come to his Lodgings and there made Frederick Prince Palatine declare unto them in his Name That in the last Dyet of Spire a Decree had been made which was obeyed by most much to his Satisfaction but that some others had rejected the same which he took very ill at their Hands That therefore he required them not to separate from the rest or else to give their Reasons why they did not comply To this the Deputies of the Protestant Cities made answer That they had done nothing undutifully nor were they less desirous than any of their Ancestors had ever been to testifie all Loyalty and Obedience to his Imperial Majesty but that since he demanded to know the Reasons why they had not admitted of the Decree they desired time to deliberate Afterwards on the seventh of July they gave their Answer in Writing much to the same effect as they had done the Year before when as we said they sent Ambassadours to him into Italy Unto which Embassie and the Reasons there alledged they also referred themselves Two Days after the Emperour caused the Question to be put to the Elector of Saxony and his Associates Whether or not they would exhibit any thing more They said no only resumed in few Words the summ of the Confession of Faith already delivered Afterwards he commanded the Deputies of the Cities who pretended That in Conscience they could not obey the Decree of Spire to give in Writing those Heads which they scrupled at and delivered the Duke of Saxony's Confession to the rest of the Princes to be examined by them who presently gave it to their Divines of whom the chief of all were John Faber and Eckius These battered it with a contrary Writing and Confutation which being read over before the Princes some of them judged it to be too sharp and thought fit that some Men should be chosen to peruse the Writings of both Parties and to soften them but their Opinion prevailed who would have it delivered to the Emperour as it was and the whole matter to be committed to him In the mean time the Cities of Strasburg Constance Memmingen and Lindaw delivered a Confession of their Faith to the Emperour also in Writing These as we said before differed in Opinion from the Elector of Saxony and his Associates about the Lord's Supper The Matter being deliberated with the Pope's Legate the Emperour ordered an Answer to be made to the Saxou-Writing which he communicated to the Princes on the first of August The conclusion of it was severe and hard no less than the Ban of the Empire being threatned to those who obeyed not But that was qualified by the Advice of the Princes wherefore August the third he called together all the States and made Frederick Prince Palatine tell them That he had long and much considered the Saxon Confession of Faith and also ordered some Honest and Learned Men to give their Judgment of it What was Orthodox therein and what contrary to the Doctrin and Consent of the Church That they had done so and had given their Judgment in another Writing which he approved Then was the Confutation of the Confession written by the Divines of the contrary Perswasion read and it proceeded in this Method They divided the Saxon-writing into two Parts the first contained one and twenty Chapters of these they had admitted some and rejected others some were admitted in part and in part rejected alledging many Testimonies of Fathers and Councils Among the rejected were these That Good Works are not Meritorious That Justification is attributed to Faith alone and not to Works also That the Church is the Congregation of the Godly That Men cannot make Satisfaction for Sins That the Saints do not make intercession for us Other things they admitted of with certain modification as the Doctrin concerning Ceremonies as also that the real Body and Blood of Christ was so in the Sacrament that Christ was under each Species and that the Bread and Wine were wholly changed The Doctrin about Confession they admitted provided the People were obliged to confess yearly at Easter to declare all their Sins exactly receive the Lord's Supper and believe that there are seven Sacraments in the Church They made a Proviso also That
the Right and Liberty of the Empire and of the Statute of the Emperour Charles IV And that therefore he did not ratifie nor approve that Proceeding When all met at Smalcalde they drew up the Draught of a League not Offensive but altogether for their own Defence This was immediately signed by the Princes as also by Albert and Gebard Counts of Mansfield the Cities of Magdeburg and Bremen but Strasburg Vlm Constance Lindaw Memmingen Kempen Hailbrun Ruteling Bibrach and Isne engaged only so far as that they would acquaint their Principles therewith and give the rest a positive Answer within six Weeks what they intended to do It was agreed upon to write to George Marquess of Brandenburg and the City of Norimberg because their Deputies had no Commission to act in that affair It was likewise decreed That Ambassadours should be sent to sollicit the King of Denmark and the Dukes of Pomerania and Mecklenburg as also the Cities of Hamburg Embden Northeime Frankford Brunswick Gottingen Minden Hannover Hildesheim Lubeck Stetin and other Maritime Cities When the Pope understood what the Issue of this Imperial Dyet was he wrote among others to the King of Poland That he had fully hoped the Presence and Authority of the Emperour would either have quite crushed or at least quieted Luther's Heresie That he had been put into this Hope from the very first time the Emperour came into Italy which had been the chief Cause why he went to Bolonia that he might spur him on though he was forward enough of himself For if that had succeeded it would have secured Religion and the Salvation of a great many who were in great Danger through that Heresie and then ways might have been found out for resisting the Fury of the Turks But now that he understood by Letters both from the Emperour and his own Legate that they were so far from being reclaimed they were more and more hardened he who sat at the Helm to steer the Ship of S. Peter in so tempestuous a time and bore the greatest share of all the Care and Trouble having consulted with the Cardinals could not think of any safer Remedy than that which his Predecessors had had recourse unto to wit a General Council That therefore he gave him warning that when this Design should be accomplished he would either be present himself or by his Ambassadours promote so Holy a Cause for that so soon as possibly he could he would call a Council to meet in some convenient Place in Italy This Brief was dated December 1. The Confederate Princes we named wrote to the Emperour from Smalcalde December 24 That they heard and it was commonly reported That he had a Design to have his Brother Ferdinand chosen King of the Romans a Dignity which he solicitously courted and canvassed for That it was a thing now known to all Men what Power and Right the Princes Electors had in that affair by virtue of the Statute of the Emperour Charles IV when upon the Death of the Emperour another was to be chosen in the Name of the whole Body of the Empire That nevertheless his Majesty being alive and in Health and no such case having as yet happened the Princes Electors had been summoned by the Archbishop of Mentz to meet at Cologne towards the latter end of this Month quite contrary to the Proscript of the Law and the Custom of the Empire That they likewise heard That at his Request the rest of the Electors were also to be there that Ferdinand's Suit and Pretention might be carried by way of Anticipation and Compact so that this being the Report that went far and near they thought good to represent a few things unto his Majesty and that though they had rather abstain from this kind of Discourse yet for the Love they bore to him and the Liberty of their Country handed down to them from their Ancestors and then in consideration that in this Decrepit Age of the World many things were surreptitiously and craftily brought to pass they could not otherwise chuse but do it That in the first place then his Majesty knew how seriously and solemnly and by what express Words and Articles he had bound and obliged himself to the Empire How he had promised by Oath to observe the Caroline Constitution on which the Liberty of the Empire chiefly depended how he had stipulated neither to act any thing himself contrary thereunto nor suffer others to do it which were Compacts and Promises that could not be violated broken nor changed unless with the Advice and Consent of all the States But that now if whilst he was alive a King of the Romans should be chosen and that his own Brother too who canvassed and made suit for it he himself could not but see that it was plainly contrary to Law contrary to the Right and Liberty of the Empire and contrary to his Compact and Stipulation and the Faith and Promise whereby he bound himself to the State Nay and how convenient and uneasie it must also be both to himself and the whole Empire when at the self same time there would be two Lords and Masters to be obeyed And that seeing they would take it very ill if they themselves should either be upbraided with the Breach of Faith and Promise or with Baseness in not defending the Rights and Liberty of the Government therefore they most earnestly besought his Majesty to impute this their Letter to the love they bore to him and their native Country and the present state of the Times That he would reflect upon things past and according to Duty interpose his Authority for preventing the Election of any new King weighing seriously with himself what Evils and Inconveniences might follow thereupon unless a Remedy were applyed in time That they would write of these things to the rest of the Electors also and were in good Hopes they would do what was expedient for the Commonwealth and endeavour to prevent any Rupture or Division among the States That in fine they were ready to serve his Majesty and do for him to the utmost of their Power Afterwards the Duke of Saxony wrote by himself to the rest of the Princes his Collegues That since he was cited by the Archbishop of Mentz to appear at Cologne he had therefore sent thither his Son and some Counsellors that in his Name they might propound and act what should be thought needful That he believed they had heard already part of his Thoughts from them and should hear the rest on December 29 That however he prayed them to desist from their Purpose and consider with him What Prejudices and Inconveniencies that Action would bring with it both to themselves and to their Posterity also through the Violation of the Rights Dignity and Liberty of the Empire That it was his Desire also That in those things which his Son and Counsellors might treat of with them they would so behave themselves as
forbear associating themselves in so impious a War. Some of the Cities had so dealt with those of Zurich Bern and Basil that they promis'd not to refuse the League provided they might be admitted indefinitely without exception to any of their Opinions which John Frederick promis'd he would report unto his Father As to what was propounded about providing for their defence the Cities declare That they will give in their full Answer in relation to that business in the next Assembly at Franckfort and as to the creating a King of the Romans the Princes determine as before That they will not yield Obedience And since the Emperor had by his Letters commanded them to acknowledge Ferdinand for King of the Romans it was agreed that the Prince of Saxony should in the mean time draw up the Form of an Answer which should be produc'd in publick at Franckfort and that then the Cities likewise should declare their Sentiments about creating King Ferdinand The fourth of June is the day appointed for the Convention of Franckford In the mean time during their stay at Smalcalde they receive Letters from the Emperor to acquaint them that he is from all parts allarm'd with the news of the Turks design to invade Germany with a mighty Army his Commands therefore are that they contribute their Aids without any Exception They after the manner of their Ancestors do declare that they will not decline the sustaining any Charge or the doing any good Office which they owe to the Publick but that he himself must needs know what was the purport of the Elector of Brandenburg's Speech at the Diet of Auspurg which yet he himself did afterwards in some measure qualifie as likewise what was then and there decreed concerning the Imperial-Chamber that they then did make it their earnest request that he would by his authority set aside all actions that might be issu'd out from the Imperial-Chamber upon the score of Religion but being then not able to prevail they had some few months since renew'd their Requests both by their Letters and Embassadors but could obtain no other answer but what the Palatine Frederick had at length given their Embassadors viz. That 't was to no purpose for them to proceed or expect any farther but that he would at his own leisure consider what answer was fit to be made This they confess was much beside their expectation however they could not imagine but that some time or other something would have been offer'd by way of answer Now in that they are urg'd to contribute their assistance against the Turk before they have made their own Peace at home the World may easily judge how dangerous and inconsiderate an action it would be in them to part with their own Defences and as it were ham-string themselves in so difficult a juncture when they can hardly expect any thing at home but Confiscations and Violence For should actions be let loose upon them from the Exchequer upon the account of Religion who can doubt but this would be a direct act of violence they therefore again and again entreat him that he would come to some determination at last and afford them some peace and security by suspending all Exchequer actions till the time of a Council that they on their parts would to the utmost of their power endeavour to discharge their duty not only in this War against the Turks but also in all other concerns of the Publick Their farther request is that he would acquaint them by these Embassadors what his Resolutions are in this affair In the month of March Richard Archbishop of Triers departed this life whose authority among the Electors was very considerable both for his great experience in affairs and his endeavours after Liberty There was some suspition of Poison and one of his Domesticks being put to the Torture did by his hardiness and constancy escape the danger At the earnest request which those of Vlm did make to the Senate of Strasburg Bucer was sent unto them who by the help of Oecolampadius and Ambrose Blauret constituted Churches within their Territories and drew up for them a religious Form. About this time there came into the Netherlands Mary the Emperors own Sister whose Husband as we said before was Lewis King of Hungary She was by the Emperor substituted Governess of all those Provinces in the room of Margaret his Aunt lately deceased There was a Contest between Clement the Seventh and Alfonsus Duke of Ferrara about Regiun and Modena which by mutual consent they submitted to the Arbitration of the Emperor who being at this time in the Low Countries pronounces for the Duke of Ferrara The King of France on the 21 of April returns this answer to the Letters which were sent him from the Princes and Cities That there is nothing which he more heartily wishes for than the Peace of Europe and that he is not a little pleas'd to find their Inclinations that way and that to this end they desire a Council may be call'd which to him seems not only convenient but necessary For where ever mention is made of healing the Publick Breaches there 't is always his judgment that they cannot possibly lay a firmer Foundation for it than by calling in the Blessed Spirit that gracious discoverer of Truth to their assistance and would but the rest come to this Resolution was there but a place free from all danger or suspicion set apart for the Council where every one might have liberty to speak freely his Opinion and where no allowance should be giv'n to prejudice then indeed they might reasonably hope for a prosperous Issue As to the Concern they have lest he should be alienated from them by the false Criminations of their Adversaries they have no reason to fear for it had been his constant custom not to pronounce any thing rashly even against the Reputation of his Enemies But since there is so close and so ancient a Friendship between the Kings of France and the Princes of the Empire what a grand Barbarity would it be to entertain any sinister opinion against these his Friends and Allies before their Cause is heard Now how great a value he sets upon this ancient Alliance is visible from hence that ev'n when there is War between him and the Emperor the Germans and Citizens of the Empire have always found an open ingress into France and a regress from thence where they have the advantage of Trading as freely as if they were at home so that France may properly be call'd A Mansion of the Princes and Citizens of Germany These Priviledges are very well known and yet they are not so great but that he will take an opportunity much to enlarge them for their sakes especially if according to their Declaration they will stand to the Decrees of a religious and free Council For that the Controversie as they desire may be decided rather by Arguments than the Sword
of any thing that is acted contrary to the Customs and Liberty of the Empire and therefore cannot confer upon him the Title of King of the Romans But the Duke of Saxony adds this in his Letters to the Emperor That if the matter be carry'd on in a legal way he will not shew himself unlike his Ancestors Concerning the admittance of the Helvetians into the League which the Cities very much desire the Duke gives in this Answer by his Embassadors that he cannot enter into any Society with them because they entertain a different Opinion concerning the Lord's Supper He is not indeed ignorant of how great consequence their Accession would be upon the account of their Strength and Power but this is what he least of all regards lest the event thereof should prove as dismal as is recorded in Scripture to have faln upon them who for the strengthning of themselves had recourse to any sort of unlawful Assistances During this Assembly there were Letters brought from the Duke of Saxony and the Lantgrave to the Embassadors of the other Princes and Cities the Contents of which were to this effect That the Emperor had permitted the Bishop of Mentz and Lewis the Prince Palatine to be Mediators of a Peace who by their Letters had desir'd that they likewise on their parts would give them the same permission and that then they would appoint a day for a Meeting After some deliberation the Embassadors do return their consent and then the Lantgrave and the Duke of Saxony make the Mediators this Answer That they are not against the Expedient provided the Exchequer will be quiet in the mean time this therefore being obtain'd of the Emperor they appoint the 30th of August for the day of Meeting The Cities which had their Embassadors in this Convention were these Strasburg Vlm Lubesk Nuremburg Constance Rutelingen Memmingen Lindaw Bibrach Isenach Kempen Hailbrun Magdeburg Bremen Brunswick and Gottingen Wigand Bishop of Bamburg had some years before made a Complaint to his Associates of the Schwaben Confederacy against George Duke of Brandenburg the substance of which was this That he had disturb'd him in his Ecclesiastical Rights that he had very much sunk his Customs that he had converted the Revenues of the Church to other uses and forc'd the Priests into this Novel and false Religion or else ejected them for their non-compliance All which things are not only a Violation of the Pope's and Emperor's Edicts but also of common Equity and the Laws of the Country and since he highly suffers by them he desires that they would either by their Interest and Authority reduce him to his Duty or else afford him such Assistance as they are oblig'd to by the League whereby he may be inabled for the time to come to defend his own and recover what he had lost But when after various Disputes a day was appointed for the hearing of this Cause at Nordlingen the Embassadors of the Protestants at the Brandenburger's entreaty came thither in the month of July With the Bishop of Bamburg were the Bishops of Auspurg Wurtzburg and Aichstadt as his Assistants and Counsellors The Plaintiff puts in his Charge wherein he sets forth how great Injury and Damage he had sustain'd and withal declares that notwithstanding the Associates of the League had under a penalty commanded the Defendant to desist from his Undertaking and to restore the Plaintiff to his own yet nothing as yet had been effected He therefore prays that he may be proceeded against according to the Prescript of the League The Defendant on the other side demurs to that part of the Charge which properly belongs to Religion and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Appeals from their Edicts and Decrees to a Council But they after some days intermission reply that they very much wonder he should put in such an Appeal as this because it is unusual and against the Prescript of the League which takes care that the Plaintiff and Defendant shall be both concluded by the Determination of select Judges That in this they had all agreed to defend the Ecclesiastical Liberties and therefore the Cognizance of this Cause does properly belong to them And since He himself had hitherto without any exception acknowledged their Jurisdiction with what reason could he now reject it As for a Council they are not by any means to be superseded by that nor ought the Preference to be giv'n unto it in this matter for these reasons therefore they do not accept his Appeal but proceed to confirm their former Edicts and if he will not yield Obedience they declare that they must proceed against him according to the Stipulation The Defendant on the contrary protests that he will stick to his Appeal in what relates to the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction nor will he take any notice of their Sentence This Cause was managed by the Duke of Brandenburg both in his own Name and upon the account of his Nephew Albert Son to his Brother Casimire whose Guardian he was In the mean time the Emperor appoints a Diet of the Empire to convene at Spiers upon the Sixth of September for the composing of Religious Differences But upon the 21th of August there came to the Duke of Saxony the Counts of Nassaw and the Count de Newenar Men of great Reputation for their Vertue and being permitted by the Emperor to treat of a Reconciliation they to that end lay down five Propositions relating to the Supper of our Lord Ecclesiastical Rites the Goods of the Church Assistance against the Turk and the Election of King Ferdinand But when it appear'd from their Discourse that the Emperor lay under a perswasion as if the Duke was a Favourer both of Zuinglius his Doctrin and of the Anabaptists His answer was That 't is sufficiently known from the Augustine Confession what kind of Doctrin it is which he professes and which the Ministers within his Dominions do Preach in the Churches That 't is farther plain that while he was at the Diet of Auspurg he had held no Correspondence with those who are reputed Zuinglians nor yet afterwards till they had giv'n him an explication of their Opinion That he still continues in the same mind and shall by the Grace of God till his last breath persist in that Doctrin of which he made profession at Auspurg he therefore prays that as to that point they will vindicate him to the Emperor They tell him that as for their parts they were before very well satisfied of his Innocence and will therefore do him justice to the Emperor to whom they doubt not but this will prove very pleasing and acceptable News As to the other Propositions they were pleas'd to refer them to the next Imperial Diet. However they intreated him that he would either come himself in Person to that Diet or at least send thither his Son. His Answer was that truly he was desirous in all things to oblige the Emperor
revenge themselves upon him by raising a report that his Wife was damned The principal Contrivers of the Farce were Coliman and Stephen of Arras both of them Divines and Preachers The first was likewise an Exorcist and had all his Conjuring Artillery ready which was proper upon such occasions Now they threw their business into this method They order'd one of their Novices to plant himself upon the roof of the Church This young Fellow in the dead of the night when they came to mutter over their prayers according to their custom makes a great noise upon this alarm they presently let fly some Conjurations and Exorcisms at him but not a word would he speak When they bid him make a sign to let them know if he was a dumb Spirit he falls a clattering again at a very considerable rate by which they were to understand that he could not converse more intelligibly with them When their Plot was thus well grounded they go and make a Visit to some eminent Citizens of the Town who had a particular regard for them Here they relate that a sad Accident had befallen them as Home without mentioning what it was but desir'd them that they would please to come to their Nocturnals As soon as these Townsmen came thither and Prayers were begun the Gentleman upon the top of the House makes a rout and a disturbance as his Superiors had directed him When they asked him what he would have and who he was he let them understand that he had not the liberty to speak upon this they command him to make signs to their questions Now there was a hole in the Roof by laying his Ear to which he could understand what the Exorcist said besides he had a Board in his hand which he stroke with that force upon every question that they might hear him below in the Church The first thing they asked him was whether he was buried there Then they named a great many of those who were interr'd there till at last they came to the Provosts Wife Here he makes a sign to let them know he was her Spirit Then they ask him whether he was damn'd and for what 2. Whether it was for Covetousness or Pride or Lewdness or Uncharitableness or for Luther's new Heresie Lastly they would know what he meant by that bustle and stir Whether he would have his body digg'd up out of that holy place and carried some whither else He makes answer to all these questions as he had been preinstructed by signs which stood for Yes or No according as he gave two or three knocks upon the Board And when he had let them understand that he was damned for the Lutheran Heresie and that his Body must be digg'd up the Monks desired the Townsmen they had brought thither to make Affidavit of what they had seen and subscribe the Register which they had lately made of this Accident This the Townsmen upon consideration refus'd to do for fear of disobliging the Provost and bringing themselves into trouble The Franciscans notwithstanding take up their unleaven'd Wafer which they call the Host and Body of our Lord together with all the Relicks of the Saints and carry them to another place and there they say their Mass This custom the Church of Rome enjoyns the Priests to observe when any place of Devotion is to be consecrated over again for lying under the Censure of ill Reports and Profanation And there is a particular Order in their Rituals what they are to do upon such an occasion When the Bishops Ecclesiastical Judge whom they call his Official heard this Relation he resolv'd to understand the bottom of the matter and therefore comes to the place himself and brings several considerable Persons along with him bidding the Monks begin their Exorcisms and that some of the Company should go upon the Roof and see if they could discover any Apparition Now Stephen of Arras did not like this way by any means but disswaded them from it with all the earnestness imaginable for the Spirit he said ought not to be disturb'd And though the Official was very urgent to set them a Conjuring yet he could not prevail In the mean time the Provost after he had acquainted the other Judges of the Town with his Intentions goes to Court and relates the whole Story to the King. And because the Monks insisted upon their Priviledges and Exemptions and refus'd to acknowledge the ordinary Jurisdiction of the Secular Magistrate The King sends a Commission to certain Persons of the Parliament of Paris to try the Cause and gives them full Power for Examination and Sentence The same Authority was given them by the Chancellor Anthony du Praet who was a Cardinal and the Pope's Legat for France Therefore having nothing to except against their Judges they were carried to Paris and forc'd to plead to the Indictment but no Confession could be gotten out of them However they kept them under distinct Confinements The Novice was secured in the house of one Fume a Gentleman of the Parliament and was often pressed to a discovery but would make none for fear of being murther'd by his Confederates for disgracing their Order But when the Judges promis'd him a Pardon and that he should not be returned into the Jurisdiction of his Fraternity he gave a full account of the whole Intrigue And being confronted by the other Criminals maintained his Testimony to their Faces These Monks notwithstanding they were convicted and taken almost in the very act yet they excepted against their Judges and made a noise with their Priviledges But this was to no purpose for they were condemned by the whole Court to be sent back to Orleance and imprisoned and then to be brought publickly to the Cathedral and to the place of Execution and there to make an acknowledgment of their Lewdness But at this time there happen'd to be a Persecution against the Lutherans as I shall shew afterwards which was the reason why the Sentence was not executed though it was a very gentle one considering the nature of the Crime For Lutheranism being so violently hated they were afraid if any severity had been us'd it would have looked more like an affront to the Society than a punishment of the Malefactors of it And whatever they had suffer'd most people believ'd the Lutherans would have been extraordinarily pleas'd with it Now the Order of the Franciscans hath a great Reputation for Sanctity with the generality And when these Brothers were condemn'd at Paris and carried away to Orleans several Women out of meer pity went sighing and weeping after them to the Gate of the Town When they came to Orleans they were committed to distinct Prisons where they insisted again very strongly upon their Immunities and Priviledges And at last after a long Imprisonment they were set at liberty without undergoing any greater Punishment During their Imprisonment they were very liberally supply'd with Mony especially by the Women who furnish'd
For what danger can there be in Germany where all the Princes and Cities acknowledge the Emperor's Authority where the Towns are so well Govern'd that Strangers are secur'd from all Affronts and us'd with all the Civility imaginable As for his saying that those who came to the Council should have as much satisfaction of the Pope in their safe Conduct as was customary to receive and in his Power to give They said they did not well understand the meaning of this Period especially when they reflected upon the Practises of the last Age Christendom they were sure had need of a free and religious Council and to such an one they had formerly appeal'd But now since he declares the Form and Method is not to be stated before-hand and gives broad hints as if the setling of this Point belonged to the Pope they cannot imagine that there is likely to be any liberty there Two years since Clement the Seventh made them a Promise of a Council but clog'd it with ensnaring Conditions And now the main Point that is the setling the Freedom of the Council and the Form and Method of Voting is partly omitted out of design and partly given up to the Pope wherein he affirms to have a Right to intimate Councils and preside in them Now the Pope who hath condemn'd their Religion so often is no less than a down-right Adversary but if he who is an Adversary is allow'd to be a Judge too then the Council can never be free To put it into a right Form there ought to be certain unexceptionable Persons chosen out of the whole Company with the consent of the Emperor and other Kings and Princes and the Controversie refer'd to this Committee to be examin'd and determin'd by them according to the Rule of God's Word For Councils are not the Pope's Court only but others also in publick and elevated stations in a Christian-Commonwealth have an Interest in them For it 's easie to demonstrate both from the Scriptures and the practise of the Primitive Church that formerly Princes and other Persons of Quality were concern'd in the Debates of Councils But to prefer the Pope's Power to the Authority of the Universal Church is an unreasonable and tyrannical Assertion The Emperor therefore and the rest of the States are oblig'd to insist upon their Priviledge in Councils and make choice of proper Persons especially in the present case where the Corruptions of the Bishops of Rome their false Doctrin and unlawful Worship is oppos'd for this is no more than what the Canon-Law it self alloweth And since all Christendom both Church and State are concern'd in this Affair it behoveth the Emperor and other Princes to take care that the Controversie may be fairly determined Formerly several Bishops have been condemn'd by their own Diocess and so have Popes by the Emperor and the Church for persisting in their Errors But at this time of day there was a warm Contest about a great many weighty Points which the Pope does not maintain only by force of Argument but by ungodly and sanguinary Bulls and punishes those with the utmost severity who refuse to obey him Therefore since He is an Adversary and a Party in the Cause depending the universal Church the Emperor and other Princes ought in all Justice to interpose their Authority and prescribe the Laws of Disputation and Voting They now therefore repeat the same request they have always made that the Controversie may be managed without design and a just liberty reserv'd for defence for this is both equitable in its self and likewise agreeable to the Holy Scriptures and the proceedings of the ancient Church If the Differences between them are examined with this Order and Integrity they will assist the Council as far as lies in their Power and have great hopes that Truth will be discover'd this way the Glory of our Saviour promoted and the Church re-establish'd in her former Tranquility But if things are otherwise carry'd there is no question but much greater Disturbances will follow In short they would never omit any opportunity to serve the common Interest of Christendom and as they could not depart from the true Religion so in all other cases they would make it their business to promote an Accommodation The French King who was now resolv'd to march an Army into Italy sent William Bellay Seigneur of Langey Embassador to this Convention at Smalcade This Gentleman had his Audience upon the 19th of December And first he excuses the King in reference to the late Severities 'T is true he had punish'd some of his own Subjects but this was no manner of reflection upon them though some ill dispos'd Persons did not stick to say that by executing those Criminals he had as it were condemn'd their Perswasion before-hand But he desires that they would not take any notice of such extravagant Calumnies but examine the whole matter impartially For there was a great many in Germany who were utterly averse to their Opinion and some others did not altogether approve it nay themselves who are now agreed were not always of the same mind His Majesty is very glad that they are come to an uniformity in Doctrin at the last Neither does he question but that their Modesty and Candour is such that they will not offer to prescribe to any Body nor force people into their Religion against their wills His Majesty uses to speak very kindly and obligingly of them and owns that they have determin'd some things most primitively but wishes there had been more temper shewn in other cases For though he is sensible that Negligence Superstition and a long succession of Ages have given occasion to the bringing of several insignificant and needless Ceremonies into the Church yet he does not understand why they should all be abolish'd upon this account without distinction or publick Authority For Ceremonies add both strength and grandeur to Religion and the Contemners of them have always been punish'd with great severity And since they have joyn'd so unanimously in the suppression of the Boars Insurrection since they restrain and chastise the Anabaptists since they are unwilling to be thought to do any thing without a cause why are they not so kind as to entertain the same opinion of a Prince who is their Friend why do they not suppose that He had very pressing Reasons and absolute necessity to punish those Subjects of his though possibly some of them were none of the greatest Malectors what their Crimes were is not proper to relate in this place For oftentimes it is not convenient to assign the reason publickly why things are done and Punishments are sometimes abated sometimes more rigorously executed according to the nature of the Times Now his Majesty who hath so large a Dominion to Govern is oblig'd to have a regard to the future as well as the present and was to take care that his Clemency did not encourage a great many others to grow wicked
About the same time there comes Herman Stapred who after he was joyned in Commission with Rotman began to declaim publickly against Infant Baptism His Instructor was Henricus Rollius who a little before had been punished at Vtrecht for Anabaptism This was as it were another step to that new Doctrin which had now gotten such footing that the Anabaptists were talked on all the Town over Though as yet they managed their business privately admitting none to their Consults but those of their own Sect The Ring-leaders of which did not make an open profession of their Tenets for they Preached only anights when other People were asleep then they began to celebrate their Mysteries But their Practices being discovered and most of the Citizens being highly dissatisfied and crying out that it was insufferable that a Novel Doctrin should be spread in such a secret and clandestine way The Senate issues out an Order that the Teachers should depart the Town which they did but return thither by another way pretending they had a command from God to stay there and to carry on the Cause with all the seriousness and application imaginable The Senate was somewhat alarm'd and surprized at this And therefore to prevent greater danger and disturbance both the Anabaptists and the Doctors of the reformed Religion accompanied with some learned Men are commanded to come into the Senate-House Here Rotman discovers his Sentiments which he had hitherto concealed and condemns Pedo-Baptism as impious and execrable But Herman Buscheus especially defended the contrary Opinion before the Senate with such success that there was a publick Decree made to command the Anabaptists to quit the Town forthwith who pretending it was not safe for them to travel through the Bishops Territories the Senate procures them a safe Conduct and likewise furnishes them with Provision for their Journy But they who had resolved long before not to stir retired privately to their Disciples and lie concealed for some time The Senate in the mean time before the other appeared abroad again shut up all the Churches leaving only one open For they were afraid lest the Anabaptists whose numbers encreased daily should sally with their Teachers and throw the Ministers of the Gospel out of the Churches In November following the Lantgrave at the request of the Senate sends them two Persons to instruct the People the one was Theodorick Frabritius the other John Melsinger This last understanding the Publick Disturbances and being somewhat apprehensive of danger returns home But Fabritius very courageously advised the Burgers to be very careful to avoid the Anabaptists Doctrin which Post he maintained till the Anabaptists got the upperhand and banish'd all the other Perswasions from the Town as will appear afterwards and that nothing might be wanting he draws up a Form of Doctrin and Church-Government which was approved by the Senate and People Afterwards by the leave of the Senate Petrus Wirtemius began to Instruct the People but he had not preach'd many Sermons before he was ejected by the Anabaptists at the Instigation of Rottman who now being grown more Insolent challenge Fabritius and the rest to dispute The Senate approving this Method it was propos'd as most convenient that the cause might be tried only by the Holy Scriptures or by Writings of a resembling Nature that some unexceptionable and learned Persons might be chosen as Arbitrators who after a full hearing and consideration of the Arguments of both Sides might pronounce Sentence That their Determination should oblige both Parties this being the way to remove Dissention and to restore the Peace of the Church But to this condition Rottman and his Associates would not agree Now their declining to stand a Trial made them begin to be generally slighted therefore to recover their Reputation they pitch upon another more compendious Method One of them pretending to be Inspir'd runs about the Town and cries out Repent and be rebaptized otherwise the Wrath of God will Overwhelm you Upon this the Rabble began to grow troublesome and tumultuous and all that were rebaptiz'd bawled out the same things and in the same manner which he did A great many ignorant well-meaning People were circumvented and imposed on by those Enthusiasts and obeyed them in every thing for fear of the Wrath of God which they so solemnly denounced Others joyned with them for the security of their Fortunes for the Anabaptists handled their Adversaries very severely and outed them of their Possessions This happen'd about the end of December And now those before-mention'd came out of the places where they absconded and running in a Body to the Market-Place they make a great Out-cry there and order all unrebaptiz'd Persons to be killed for Heathens and Wretches Afterwards they seize upon the Town-Ordnance and the Senate-house and offer Violence to a great many of the Citizens Some of which to Protect themselves and their Friends from Out-rage possess themselves of part of the Town which was naturally fortifi'd and take a great many of the other Party Prisoners This Skirmish with the Anabaptists who kept the Market-Place which they had fortifi'd on all sides continu'd till both Parties gave Hostages and came to a Treaty in which it was agreed That every one should Profess what Religion they pleas'd return to their respective Dwellings and be quiet But Rottman in the mean time and Knipperdoling who was the chief Incendiary though they had approv'd the Accommodation yet they write privately to the Neighbouring Towns and invite those of their own Gang to leave what they had behind and to repair to them as soon as was possible that they should receive ten times as much as they left behind Being encouraged with such large Promises both Men and Women flock in shoals to Munster not questioning the advantage of their Expedition especially those of the poorer sort who did not know how to live at home The Townsmen those especially who were Rich when they saw the City fill'd with Strangers withdraw as conveniently as they can and leave the Anabaptists and the rest of the common People together This was done in February about the time that Bacchus his Solemnity us'd to be kept in the Year 1534. Thus the Forces of the other Party being weaken'd the Anabaptists choose a new Senate all of their own Faction then they fall to making of Consuls to which Dignity Knipperdoling is preferr'd a little after they break into the Church of St. Maurice in the Suburbs and burn it with all the Houses adjoyning then they riâle all the other Churches deface and spoil the inside of the Cathedral By and by they scamper all about the Streets in Clusters and first they cry out Repent but soon after Away ye wicked Wretches unless you have a mind to be knock'd on the head and immediately they appear in a Body all armed and whoever was not of their Sect they drive them forthwith out of the Town without any regard to Age or
for a general Meeting at Smalcalde and because the time for the Council drew near and being well assur'd that the Emperor's Embassador would speak to that Point they thought it convenient to take some of the most considerable Divines along with them Therefore at the day prefix'd Luther Melancthon Osiander Bucer and several others came thither besides the Princes of the Empire and Ambassadors of the Cities In January Eldo parts from Ferdinand King of the Romans at Vienna and being acquainted upon his Journey by the Elector of Saxony and the Lantgrave that they were conven'd he comes on to Smalcalde and upon the 15th of February makes a Speech when the Convention was full In which he tells them That the Emperor enjoyn'd him to open his Commission only to the Elector of Saxony and the Lantgrave but since it was their opinion that their Confederates should be acquainted with it also he would comply with them in this Point For his part he did not know all the Agents of the Confederates therefore if any of them who were present were unconcern'd in this Answer of the Emperors he would not have them imagine that any thing was already concluded with their Principals especially those of Ausburgh who both in Spain and Italy have often privately made their Application to the Emperor about Religion which they also did lately at Genoa by an Agent who was told by the Emperor that he would send them an Answer into Germany by one of his Ministers but they would not stay for his coming but have made an alteration in Religion without him which can be construed no less than mockery and contempt of the Emperor Therefore when he came to Ausburgh he was oblig'd to alter his measures and not to treat with them upon any Point but to write an impartial account of the whole affair to the the Emperor When he had said this he produceth his Credentials and greeting them in the name of the Emperor continues his Harangue And tells them That it was matter of great satisfaction to the Emperor to hear that they had taken so much care to purge themselves from all suspicions of making an Alliance with England or France That he did not question the sincerity of their Apology and applauded them for their Vertue and Loyalty in being so wisely cautious as not to be impos'd upon by the insinuations and insidious pretences of the French. Then he goes on to speak concerning the War of Savoy and the French King where he is very copious saying That this Prince did not only hinder the Emperor from fighting the Turk with his whole Forces but likewise held Correspondence with him and instigated this common Enemy to invade Christendom That it was his constant business to create Misunderstandings among the Germans and to heighten their discontents into a Civil War and at this time he is doing his best to perswade them that the Emperor will not perform his Engagements but he desires they would give no credit to such designing Reports for his Imperial Majesty was a Person of that Honour and Integrity that they need not fear he would recede from his Articles in any point especially since he had given them several Instances already of his punctual Performance As touching the Proceedings of the Chamber of Spire the Emperor had ordered That no Causes relating to Religion should be tried there when the Judges had receiv'd this Order they wrote back to the Emperor that there were frequent Disputes concerning the nature of the Causes whether they belong'd to Religion or not upon which the Emperor commanded them to try all those Causes which they believ'd foreign to Religion without any regard to the Perswasion of the Parties for he was very sorry the course of Justice should be stopp'd and how difficult a matter it was to settle this Point appears sufficiently at the Pacification at Nuremburgh Now since that time a great many Causes have been brought before the Chamber and when the Judges would have proceeded to a determination they the Protestants demurr'd to their Jurisdiction and gave them unbecoming Language of which Complaints have been made to the Emperor by the respective Plaintiffs who alledge That they are barr'd from recovering their Right by Law which Carriage the Emperor was very much troubl'd to hear especially since most of the Judges were chosen out of the Provinces of the Empire and can very rarely be suspected of Partiality besides the Emperor himself after a full Examination of the Case does believe that several Causes which they tell him belong to Religion ought not to be referr'd to that Head but his Opinion is when any Controversie ariseth concerning the nature and ranging of the Cause that this Point ought not be decided by the Parties but by the Judges For their parts they ought to be satisfi'd if the Chamber does not intermeddle in the Causes of Religion And if the Judges do any thing contrary to the Emperor's Edicts they shall certainly hear of it and be punish'd according to the Law made at Ratisbone for that purpose But then on the other side the Emperor thought fit to give them warning against being influenced by any private Male-contents and not to do any thing rashly nor prescribe to the Chamber such Practices as these would be unlawful and turbulent throw a particular Contempt upon the Emperor's Authority and would tend likewise to the dishonour of the Judges some of which are descended of Noble Families and others are considerable for their Probity and Learning therefore he desires they would not obstruct the Proceedings of Justice As concerning their third Request That those who were not comprehended in the Treaty at Nuremburgh might enjoy the benefit of that Pacification the Emperor was so much employ'd about giving Directions for the War when their Embassadors came to his Camp that he had no leizure to examine that matter who though he understood that there was a change of Religion introduc'd in some places yet he heard nothing of any new Admissions into the League But if the meaning of their Request be this That it may be lawful for all other People of the Empire who are under quite different promises already who have approv'd the Decrees of the Diets and oblig'd themselves to stand by the old Religion to recede from their Solemn Promises and Engagements revolt from the ancient Religion and set up a new one at their Pleasure and to this purpose make an Alliance with the Confederates such a Liberty as this was both out of the Emperors Power and very much against his Conscience to grant as his Majesty had commanded him to acquaint them and if the Emperor should grant this thing or if the States of the Empire should do it of their own accord and his Majesty afterwards confirm it how ill this would agree with the Pacification at Nuremburgh it 's obvious for them to understand For if every one may go back from his
State and how much it will be expos'd to Misunderstandings and Tumults of the truth of this Allegation the Emperor's Edict which was then publish'd is a sufficient proof It was never their intention to plead in bar to the Jurisdiction of the Chamber in any Causes but those of Religion and they believ'd that Court could not prove the contrary upon them But they were very much troubl'd to hear from his Excellency that the Emperor had given the Chamber Authority to determine the quality of the Cause for they did believe all those Causes to be of a religious Nature and they were really such which could not be decided till the Extent of the word Religion was defin'd in a lawful Council which thing both by Letter and their Embassadors they had several times acquainted the Emperor and King Ferdinand with For this Dispute concerning the meaning and latitude of Religion is a preliminary Question and ought to be setled by the Council before other matters which relate to it are determin'd And in regard Benefices ought to be bestowed in consideration of Merit and Function They said they could not allow that those in their Dominions who were of a different Religion from themselves should enjoy the Revenues of the Church to which they had no manner of right because they were either unwilling to discharge their Office or wanted abilities to do it and since Conscience is more than ordinarily concern'd in the present case the usual Pleas of Law founded upon the right of Possession or Restitution ought not to be urg'd Moreover when the Treaty of Nuremburgh was on foot they particularly mention'd all those Suits and Difference which were then depending in the Chamber and in other Courts and represented them under the notion of Ecclesiastical Causes to the Princes of the Mediation who promis'd that they would endeavour to perswade the Emperor that they should be all exempted from the Jurisdiction of the Courts which was also promis'd by King Ferdinand at the Convention at Cadan besides it 's plain from that Clause in the Emperor's Edict which stops all Prosecutions of this nature that the Chamber of Spire has no Authority to determine the Quality of Causes And to say nothing more severe they could not choose but observe that the apparent Inclination of that Court to give Judgment against them had made a great many Persons much bolder and more contentious than they had formerly been which they were able to prove more than one way For when those of their Party moved that Court in any Cause their Suit was not only rejected but they were sent away with reproachful Language And lately the Hamburghers were commanded by them not only to restore the Clergy of their City their Goods and Estates but also to return them their old Religion and Jurisdiction back again and because they could not do this with a good Conscience they were amerced in a great Sum of Mony and therefore there needs no more Instances to let the Emperor understand what the Design of that Court is for if any Cause relates to Religion this certainly does But if the Judges are allowed to proceed in this manner the Truce serves to no purpose If the Rites and Ceremonies which were abolish'd may be lawfully restor'd by such Methods as these there will be no need of Council and yet the Emperor is pleas'd to grant that all Differences of this nature ought to be determin'd there and since their Exceptions against the Proceedings of the Court were not consider'd they were forc'd to decline the Jurisdiction of it As concerning the Persons of the Chamber there was not above one or two of the whole Bench of their Religion what Provision was made at Ratisbone for this Affair was well known it being apparent that those who were most violent against the Reformed were most acceptable to the Chamber nay a man may plainly discover how they stand affected by observing the air of their Countenances when they are trying of Causes and therefore they hope his Imperial Majesty will send them a positive Order to desist As for the Penalty which his Excellency mention'd was decreed at Ratisbone against Mal-administration that was no advantage to them Indeed if the Cause had related to Property and secular Affairs they might have had a compensation this way but matters of Religion were too weighty to be satisfied with Costs and Damages However if the Emperor is of opinion that they have intermix'd any civil Causes in their request they are willing this matter should be tried provided there may be a stop put to the Proceedings of the Chamber in the mean time Now as concerning those who came over to their Religion since the Pacification of Nuremburgh they confess'd that some few years since the Princes of the Mediation did insist at Schweenfurt that no more might be admitted into their Association which Proposition they then rejected and afterwards at the Convention at Nuremburgh they persisted in the same Opinion As to what his Excellency objects in reference to the Promises and Articles by which several of the States had engag'd themselves not to make any alteration in Religion To this the parties answer That some of them promis'd nothing others in private Treaties reserv'd this Liberty for themselves a third sort it 's true did engage themselves but it was upon the assurance which the Emperor gave them that a Council should be intimated within six Months and opened the year after But since this Assembly was delayed beyond their expectation and God had been pleas'd to give them a fuller apprehension of the true Religion they could not defer so good a Work any longer but thought it their Duty to make an open profession of that Doctrin which they were assur'd had both Truth and Piety to recommend it This the Canon-Law it self would justifie them in for from thence they had learn'd that if any Person had sworn to do a wicked Action this Oath did not oblige Besides as their Adversaries would not refuse any one who offer'd himself for a Convert so neither did they think it lawful to bar any person from coming over to themselves Therefore their earnest request to the Emperor was That the Judges might be check'd and that not only themselves but those who joyn'd them afterwards might be comprehended in the Peace For if matters should be otherwise carried and any violence should be offer'd they could not desert those they were allied to both by Vertue of their League and Religion This had been already declar'd to King Ferdinand at Vienna and that with a great deal of reason for the Cause of these later Confederates no less than their own belongs to the Cognizance of the Council But if the Judges of the Chamber will fore-stall the Hearing and hale in the business of the Council to their Court this is no less than down-right Force and Injustice against which by the Laws of Nature they are bound to defend themselves
upon which they refus'd the Council they thought it convenient to set them down in writing which Paper they afterwards publish'd in Print where they address themselves to foreign Princes and Nations to this effect Paul the Third say they hath lately publish'd a Bull in which he hath intimated a Council at Mantua which will be opened upon the 23th of May and hath offer'd some Reasons why these Measures were pitch'd upon Besides he hath dispatch'd his Nuncios to foreign Kings and Princes both Germans and others to acquaint them with the Council and invite them either to come thither themselves or send their Embassadors and in regard we have been solicited by him and by the Emperor upon this account we think our selves oblig'd to demonstrate how dangerous and disadvantageous a Compliance with him in this Point will be not only to us but to all Christendom And though we proceed upon none but justifiable grounds yet when we consider the temper of our Adversaries we have reason to believe they will censure our actions and interpret them in the worst sense For it 's likely in order to the bringing us and the whole Cause under their Jurisdiction they will not stick to affirm that we will not abide by any Trial nor submit to any Judge That we contemn other Nations which have been often remarkable for a great many Men of Learning They will say also that it 's a wicked thing to refuse Submission to the determinations of a Council which is the highest Tribunal of the Church and ought to be obeyed by all Persons They will likewise pretend as if we were asham'd of our Tenents and durst not bring them into view or that we watched an opportunity to make an unnecessary Breach and could not reconcile our selves to the Peace of Christendom Now if this Charge against us were true it were not only wicked in it self but it would be a kind of a Calamity to hear it For these reasons we are under a necessity of publishing our own Justification and we hope the consequence of it will be that all honest Men both in Germany and other places will not only forbear believing any thing of this nature of us but that they will make it their business that this most important Affair may be rightly manag'd and that it may not be in the Pope's Power to Tyrannize over apparent Truth and suppress it under the pretended and venerable Authority of a Council For we will not only make it appear that we hold no Opinions in Religion but what are sound and Orthodox but likewise that we aim at nothing but the Glory of God and the good of the Commonwealth and that no Man can justly charge us with obstinancy and perverseness And in the first place how far we are from contemning the Judgment of other Nations and of the Church is evident by our endeavouring to prevent the Pope and his Party from setting up for Judges and that all things may be debated by proper and unsuspected Persons which they believe is the unanimous desire of all good Men For in regard in some Countries there are now extant several ancient Books complaining of false Doctrin Immorality wicked Ceremonies and Practices which were then crept into the Church they do not question but that in those very places there are at this day several Persons of Learning and Piety who understand the true Doctrin though at present they are brow-beaten and overaw'd into silence by the Pope's Tyranny Now these are the Men who ought to appear in Councils that they may speak their mind freely for that is not to be accounted a lawful Council which is govern'd by the Pope and his Party who maintain their unorthodox Tenents by dint of Violence and Power and according to their old custom make Canons contrary to the Word of God. For our Saviour when he erected his Supream Tribunal upon Earth ordered That whatever required Reformation should be brought before the Church in which very words all manner of Tyranny and Dominion is excluded Farther they asperse us falsely if they say we are afraid to make our publick Appearance and will not endure the Light. For in the Diet at Ausburgh we made an open Profession of our Doctrin in the Presence of the Emperor and all the States of the Empire Besides this very Religion is publickly taught in our Dominions several of our Subjects have written Books of it and own'd it in Print and many of our Adversaries confess that our Writers have recover'd a great number of ancient Tenents which before were quite smother'd and suppress'd For now the true Doctrin is come to Light again which gives us the right notion of Repentance of Faith in Christ of Remission of Sins of good Works Religious Worship the use of the Sacraments the Power of the Keys of Magistracy Humane Traditions and such like Neither to speak in St. Paul's Language are we asham'd of the Gospel but wish above all things that we had an opportunity to declare our sense of these Points in the most publick Audience And whereas it 's objected to our Party as if they had reviv'd old condemn'd Heresies and therefore there is no need of any farther Dispute or Examination of the Cause this Suggestion is false and those who have read our Confession and the Defence annex'd to it will not require much Apology from us For the Doctrin which we Profess is no new one but was approv'd by the Primitive Church as may be made good to a demonstration Neither have we receiv'd any Heresie or wicked Opinion but on the contrary our Divines have regain'd the Doctrin of the Ancients in several Points which the Popes and Monks had suppress'd It is another Calumny to say that we are pleas'd with publick Animosities and Divisions for we are sorry at our very Souls that Christendom is so miserably distracted and earnestly desire a Council in order to a Reconciliation And since the Pope and his Adherents have condemn'd that Doctrin which is both true and necessary to be believ'd since they punish and persecute the Professors of it and excite others to follow their Example we could do no less than reprove them for their Cruelty and Insolence For God requireth us to Honour him by an open Confession and to hold any farther Correspondence with the Pope when he rages at such a barbarous rate would be a very wicked Alliance Besides it cannot be deni'd but we perform all Offices and undergo all Burthens which the Commonwealth requires as well as the rest of the States from whence it appeareth that we would willingly comply with others in Religion too if our Consciences would give us leave especially when we understand what danger hangeth over our Heads upon this account For the Popes for many years last past have told us pretty plainly what they would be at and how busie they have been in exasperating the Passions of Princes against us Now to run all these
be propagated to posterity It is manifest then that Covetousness and desire of Lucre is not to be Objected to us when besides Trouble and Dangers there comes nothing to our share and our Adversaries in the mean time without any regard to the Pope whom they usually magnifie so much make what booty they please of the Church Revenues and besides bestow great Rewards and Gifts upon some that they may obstinately Persecute the true Religion That we also submit the rest of Church-Possessions to the Determination of a Council we hope will be sufficient to justifie us in the Opinions of all Good Men. But that it should be imputed to us by our Adversaries That we do but dissemble and play the Hypocrites as often as we speak of Reconciliation and as if that were only done that we may put a stop to the Emperor's Designs pervert the matters and hinder a lawful Trial as a thing that does very much trouble and afflict us for what can be more wicked and base than to make a blind pretext of Piety and Religion We therefore desire seeing that is a very heinous Accusation that the Emperor would patiently and attentively examine those things which we are to say in our own defence When Ten Years ago our Enemies made a great complaint to the Emperor in the Diet of Ausburg concerning our Churches and that we were enjoined to give an account of our Doctrine Religion and Ceremonies we acted nothing craftily nor in hugger-mugger but in plain Terms gave an open profession of our Doctrine that all might be convinced that it agreed with the Doctrines of the Apostles and we make no doubt but that was a means of bringing many to embrace our Religion when they saw that we taught nothing contrary to the From of the Ancient Church but only shewed and detected the Errors which had slipp'd into the Church For it cannot be denied but that many and grievous Errors had crope in the Doctrine of Repentance was frigid and perplexed not a word preached of Grace received by Christ and the Remission of Sins the Lord's Supper was in a horrid manner and wholly corrupted and contaminated by the Popish Mass for it is known that private Mass is but a new thing introduced partly through Ignorance and partly out of Covetousness because Marriage was denied to Priests there was nothing to be heard but Instances of the foulest Incontinence the Doctrine of the Keys and Power of the Church was altogether slighted and the Pope arrogated all that Power to himself only for the Confirmation of his own Dominion and Rule and loaded the minds of Men with almost infinite numbers of Precepts and Laws which learned and judicious Men often bewailed but no care was had of setting able Men over the Churches What our Opinion was of those many and necessary matters we declared before the Emperor at Ausburg and Books on that Subject written by Men of our Profession are publickly extant Many learned Men also of other Nations confess That they had the Knowledge of the true Doctrine from these Books so that then we shun not the Light. And when a Reconciliation was attempted at Ausburg we acted not Fraudulently nor Craftily but shewed our selves to be desirous of agreement and that if our Adversaries would have received the Principal Doctrines we should not have been very scrupulous nor contentious about indifferent Things And though the Ways then propos'd by us were moderate yet our Treatment was neither too Friendly nor Impartial Nay would to God the Emperor knew how our Adversaries that were Commissionated then behaved themselves for they often protested in the beginning of all Treaties that they would not depart a Hairs breadth from their own Opinion and Doctrine but that all they did was only to bring us over to their Judgment Wherefore they began to speak of Doctrines of the Invocation of Saints of Private Mass and Satisfaction affirming that there was no Error in them That was not then a Conference wherein the Truth was sifted by solid Arguments and testimonies of Scripture but it was a kind of haughty and pompous Confirmation of manifest Errors And because we did not then acquiesce to them they now construe that as if we had only made a shew of Treating about Accommodation not with any real and sincere design of Success but only to shuffle with the Emperor and elude a Trial For so they understand the word Reconciliation as if we should abandon the Truth and approve their Cause But after the Conference at Ausburg these things were no more debated which nevertheless was not our fault for it is our chief desire that good and learned Men may conferr of all these matters and freely give their Judgment concerning them Wherefore we pray all Men not to give credit to this their Accusation for if we shunned the Light or were ashamed of our Cause we might easily forsake it and ingratiate our selves with them but seeing we are convinced that of all Causes this is the most pious and necessary therefore we undergo all this Labour submit to all Losses and Dangers and profess the Doctrine of Christ which we desire to retain and propagate longing for a Reformation of the Church with Peace and Concord and what a Year since we protested at Francfort we now also profess that we will not decline a Conference nor treaty of Reconciliation Which that no Man may be mistaken we so understand that following the Scripture as our Guide Truth may be sought after Error abolished and true Doctrine take place in Churches For otherwise all Labour and Pains will be in vain Christ the Son of God made known to us his Will and Doctrine from the Bosom of the Father He is to be heard and only to acknowledged for our Judge Now all the Emperor's Edicts and Proclamations sufficiently show also that this Affair ought to be orderly and lawfully debated but we do not think that our Adversaries method of proceeding at the Diet of Ausburg has been made known unto him But now what our mind is and upon what Grounds we proceed may be seen in the publick and printed Confession of our Faith which we are certain does agree with Holy Scripture and therefore we cannot forsake it Besides this Doctrine which is the chief and Foundation of all the rest there are some other mean and as it were indifferent things as concerning Ceremonies Ordination of Priests Jurisdiction Visiters Church-Goods matrimonial Causes c. all Controversies as to these may in our Judgment be reconciled if first there were an Agreement about those necessary Points For so long as our Adversaries impugn the chief Matters and go on in a way of Cruelty the difference cannot be removed How in that some endeavour to perswade the Emperor that our Doctrine is blended with many Heresies and Errors they do us an Injury for if they have any thing of that nature to Object unto us they may do it publickly and
their Actions for that they had no designs in this War against any Person but him and did not refuse after Matters were quieted to send all the Assistance they could command to the Relief of Hungary The Diet ended on the Twenty-sixth Day of August and therein a Decree was made inflicting a Penalty on all those that did not obey the Decree of the Diet of Spire and several other things enacted in Relation to the Turkish War. None of the Princes were present at it except Walter Master of Prussia and the Bishops of Bamberg Aichstadt and Trent with the Emperor's Deputies before-named Mention has been made before of Cardinal Contarini who for the Services done in his Legation had no great Thanks from the Pope and Cardinals by whom he was charged as not having been brisk enough in opposing the Lutherans and as having endangered the Interests and Religion of Rome He had been by many Accused in his Absence and none but Cardinal Fregoso stood up for his Defence Upon his Return out of Germany into Italy he came to Luka where Pope Paul then expected the Emperor as he was to go to Barbary From thence he went to Rome with the Pope and not long after was made Legate of Bolonia where at length towards the latter end of this Year he died not without suspicion of having been Poisoned Fregoso being dead not long before They who were familiarly acquainted with him say That he was right in his Judgment as to Man's Justification He was a very learned Man and wrote a Book of the Magistrates and Republick of Venice In the same Month William Poiet Chancellor of France was by the King's Command who then was going to Perpignan apprehended a-bed in the Night time and carried to Prison The News of this occasioned much rejoicing at Paris for in the Four Years time that he discharged that Office he had offended all Ranks of Men and was now at length disgraced by the Interest of a Lady at Court though he had contracted much Envy too by the Condemnation of the Admiral as we said before He was in great Hopes and almost sure of being made a Cardinal and therefore had taken Holy Orders some Months before Though most Men said he did so that he might fortifie himself against the Hatred that many did bear him and secure his Life if at any time that heat should break out into a Flame This was the third Instance of the wantonness and inconstancy of Fortune which happened within a few Months in France For those three we named before the Admiral Constable and Chancellor being promoted to the highest pitch of Honour and Dignity could not refrain from Envying and Hating one another till at length by their own Example they gave an evident demonstration how fallacious slippery and uncertain all worldly Enjoyments are At that time Otho Henry Prince Palatine embraced the reformed Religion and so also did they of Heildesseim You heard before of the Council And now the Pope sent the Bull of Convocation thereof to the Emperor in Spain The Emperor on the Twentieth of August wrote an Answer to the Brief of his Holiness that came with it In the First place he commends his Endeavour and the Zeal he expressed for the publick Good but is troubled that the French King should be compared to him That that King was a prodigal Son said he but that he who had never swerved from his Duty ought more tenderly to be hugg'd and embraced That he had never declined any Trouble spared no Danger nor Expences for obtaining of a Council that Christendom being at Peace all their Force might be employed against the Turk but that the French King on the contrary had had far different Prospects That therefore he had just Cause to take somewhat amiss in his Brief That it was an usual Bragg of Francis that he had the Cardinals at his Beck wherefore he began to doubt whether it might not be true but however that he trusted to a good Conscience and that the Actions of them both were publickly known That his Holiness was indeed too kind and indulgent towards him for that all the Labour and Pains he had been at now for many Years was lost That he had been often admonished of his Duty many heinous Injuries pardoned and Leagues still renewed with him but that all these things made him the worse and he wholly abused his Goodness That he had satisfied him at Rome who it was that gave the Cause of the War and who had violated the League but that what had happened in the mean while since he would now inform him of to wit That no greater Demonstration could be given of his own Willingness and Desire to live in Peace than that after the Truce made at Nice he came to an Interview with him at Aigues Mortes and put himself into his Hands nay and the Year following took a Journey through France to the great Astonishment of all Men and not without the Censure of many for that seeing he had oftner than once broken his Faith and was very inconstant and changeable in all his Purposes it was no small Danger for him to have ventured his Person upon his Word and Promise That he was also assured that at that time it was moved in Council that he should be detained Now as to what some said He was obliged to go that way because of the Rebellion of Ghent it was but an idle Surmise for that that Insurrection was the Act but of a few and of the baser sort of the People too the rest of the Province being still in quiet and could easily have been repressed by the Queen his Sister but that it was his Purpose at that time to have returned into Germany through Italy had he not been perswaded by the King to alter his Resolution and travel over France as he could demonstrate by his own Letters and by the Letters of his Sons and Nobles for that he was so earnestly importuned by him upon that Account that he thought it would have reflected upon his Honour if he had pass'd any other way than through France and that whilst he was in France he had had it often from his own Mouth That he would observe the Truce but that afterwards he began to complain that Milan was not restored to him according to Promise whereas the Promise was made with this Condition If he restored his Uncle the Duke of Savoy and performed some other things That ever since that time he had framed Designs against him in several Places in Germany Italy with the Grand Seignior the Vayvode John his Widow and some Nobles of Hungary by whose Means the Turk had got Buda And that nevertheless he had all along disguised his Malice and made him large but ensnaring Promises of Friendship that he might spin out the time and surprise him unawares which he did so soon as the Occasion offered when Fregoso
was of opinion nothing could be desired but what was by publick Edicts already provided That if Violence or Injustice were offered to any person he also thought they might sue for and have remedy from the Imperial Chamber That he likewise entreated them to consider speedily of raising Money for Subsidies and of constituting Judges in the Imperial Chamber and if perhaps the latter should not be agreed upon that they would be pleased to entrust him with that Affair lest for want of Jurisdiction the Publick might suffer prejudice That the Emperour had the Turkish War constantly in his thoughts and that there had been no War with that People in this Age wherein he did not wish himself concerned That for that end he had once and again crossed over into Africa and some years since marched as far as Vienna with a purpose to engage them That what he had promised also at Spire for the safety of Germany he was ready to make good provided they also on their parts contributed the appointed Aids That therefore he required them to take that solely and wholly into their consideration and because the Season was far spent to come to a final resolution about it That he had frequent Advices that the Grand Seignior himself was marching into Hungary with greater Forces than ever that he might afterwards invade Germany That they should therefore deliberate and resolve whether they would attack him or only defend themselves and send their resolutions to the Emperour who had engaged the Pope and King of France into the War and was hopeful also that others would not be wanting and that if possibly because of the streightness of time and the barrenness of the year they should not think it convenient to carry the War into his Country that then they should think of making a defence and raising of Money that both they might be able to make head against him in time and that the Emperour also being moved by their alacrity and readiness might carry on the War in person as he himself promised long since to do That in the next Diet they might treat of moving the War against the Turk for the recovery of what was lost and of Religion but that their present Consultations required dispatch and expedition for that should the thing be longer protracted the Enemy might possess themselves of the frontier places and passes of Hungary and other adjoyning Countries and so having defeated and broken the Light Horsemen which are of greatest use in Hungary and stopt all intercourse and communication betwixt places the people might be reduced to the utmost point of despair so as to fall off from us and submit to the dominion of the Enemy which how dangerous a loss that would prove and how chargeable afterward to be retrieved was a thing that all who had eyes must see To these things the Protestants and with them the Archbishop of Cologne and Elector Palatine make answer on the third of April That this Diet was appointed chiefly for the cause of Religion That in some former Conferences a way had been opened to a Reconciliation which gave greater hopes now of a final Accommodation That it would be therefore most acceptable to them that that Article should first of all be handled That it was much the interest of Germany it should be so and that if they had the fear of God before their eyes they did not doubt of success But that if either the weightiness of the matter the shortness of time or the imminent danger from the Turks would not allow it yet it was necessary that that Chapter of the Decree concerning the Peace should be more amply explained That indeed Peace was granted as to matters of Religion until a Council should meet but that they owned not that Council of Trent for such a lawful Council as had been promised in the Diet of the Empire and that why they did not acknowledge it they had already often declared That therefore they needed such a Peace as should not be limited to the Popish Council but might take place until the whole affair should in a Pious and Christian manner be transacted And that because there could be no firm and lasting Peace unless there were an equal administration of Justice and that in the last Diet of Spire it had been enacted what was to be done as to that particular they should not be wanting in paying obedience to that Decree That if these two points were then decided they would be ready to take the Turkish War into deliberation The rest of the Princes and States and amongst these the Archbishops of Mentz and Treves resolved that the Cause of Religion should be referred to the Council now called that the Chamber should be constituted and Justice administred according to the written Laws and that a Committee should be chosen out of all the States to advise about the Turkish War. One half of the Subsidies of the Chamber they promise to pay within six Years and pray the Emperor to advance the rest King Ferdinand and the Emperor's Deputies make answer to what the Protestants urged That the Decree of Peace made at Spire at that time pleased them without any other caution or exception tho the Council had then had been called and shortly after again indicted that fit Men also should be admitted into the Colledge of the Chamber according to the Decree of Spire and that Matters being so it was but just they should insist no longer upon that particular but consult with the rest about the Turkish War To which they reply That seeing for the shortness of time and the imminent danger of the Enemy Matters of Religion could not be handled and that no good was to be expected from the Popish Council they prayed that before the end of this Diet the Emperor would appoint another wherein ways of reconciliation might in a friendly manner be sought after That it was decreed at Spire first That no stirs should be raised for Religion and then that all dissention and animosity should by a pious and friendly debate be healed and made up that upon this foundation the Peace of Germany rested nor would they have desired anything more if things had continued so But now when the Pope that he might disturb and hinder this reconciliation hath called a Council wherein he alone with those of his party has the power of deciding and whose decision as all men say must put an end to the pacification it was absolutely necessary for them that they should have more ample security nor was it any new thing that they required but the very same which is contained in the Decree of Spire That the reason why they refused the Pope's Determination and Councils was long since published to the World and that three Years ago when the Pope by his Legat at Spire had promised a Council they had protested against it as appears by the publick Records in short
that as often as any mention had been made of a Popish Council they had always rejected it and that solemnly too in an Assembly of all the States Now also though no such exception was made at Spire yet if a War must be carried on against the Turk it was necessary that all things should be first quieted at home for Money must be raised of the People for that War but what colour of Justice can there be to exact Money from Subjects unless certain hopes may be given them of living securely with their Wives and Children in the free exercise of their own Religion For the true end of making War against the Turks is the safety of the Common-wealth the preservation of the true Religion and the Liberties and Properties of the People Now to war with the Turk and in the mean time to be exposed to danger at home were two things that consisted not well together That therefore the Cause was weighty wherefore they desired greater security for themselves that as for the Chamber they were satisfied with what they said that it should be constituted according to the prescript of the Decree of Spire and that they were willing to confer with the rest about the Subsidies that were to be paid to it These Debates lasted all the Month of April and until the seventh of May and then at length the Emperor being upon his Journey thither King Ferdinand commands them to be put off until his arrival but at the same time requires of them that in the interim they would with the rest consult of the Turkish Affair The Protestant Princes themselves were not present nor the Papists neither except the Cardinal of Ausbourg The King of France sent an Embassador thither one Grignian Governour of Provence in France through whose absence there arose a great persecution in those places In Provence in France there are a People called Waldenses These by an old custom acknowledge not the Pope of Rome have always professed a greater purity of Doctrine and since Luther appeared greedily hunted after more knowledge Many times had they been complained of to the King as despisers of Magistrates and fomenters of Rebellion which envious rather than true Accusation is by most made use of at this day They live together in some Towns and Villages amongst which is Merindole And about five years since sentence was pronounced against them in the Parliament of Aix the chief Judicature of the Province That they should all Promiscuously be destroyed that the Houses should be pulled down that Village levelled with the ground all the Trees also cut down and the place rendred a Desart as we hinted at in the thirteenth Book Now though this Sentence was pronounced yet it was not then put in execution William du Bellay of Langey the King's Lieutenant in Piemont with some others having represented the Matter to the King as a Case that ought to be reviewed by himself But at length this Year John Meinier President of the Parliament of Aix having April the 12th called the Parliament reads to them the King's Letters which warranted him to put the Sentence in execution Now Meinier is said to have procured thse Letters by means of the Cardinal of Tournon and the sollicitation of Philip Cortine a proper Agent in the case However having received them in the Month of January he produced them not presently but kept them up till a season more proper for the exploit The Letters being read some of the Parliament were chosen to see the Matter put in execution to whom Meinier offered himself as assistant because that in the absence of Grignian the Governour of the Province he had the chief command Before that time he had by the King's orders raised Forces for the English War and these he makes use of for his purpose besides these he commands all that were able to carry Arms in Marseilles Aix Arles and other populous places to repair to him under severe Penalties if they disobeyed having assistance likewise sent him from the Country of Avignon under the dominion of the Pope The first attempt then was not made upon those of Merindole but upon the Country adjoyning the Town Pertuse April the thirteenth Meinier attended by a multitude of Gentlemen and Officers came to Cadenet In the mean time some Captains make an irruption into one or two Villages upon the River of la Druance and putting all to Fire and Sword plunder and carry away a great many Cattle The same also was done in other places whilest those of Merindole seeing all in a flame about them leave their Habitations fly into the Woods and in great consternation spend the night at the Village of Sainfalaise Now the Inhabitants of that place were themselves preparing to fly for the Pope's Vice-Legat had ordered some Captains to fall upon them and put them to the Sword. Next day they advance farther into the Woods for they were beset on all hands with danger Meinier having made it death for any person to aid or assist them and commanding them all without respect to be killed where-ever they were found The same Edict was in force in the neighbouring places of the Pope's Jurisdiction and some Bishops of that Countrey were reported to have maintained a great part of those Forces They had a tedious and uneasie Journey of it then marching with their Children on their Backs and in their Arms nay and some in the Cradle poor Women also big with Child following them When they were got to the appointed place whither many in that forlorn condition had fled they had intelligence not long after that Meinier was mustering together all his Forces that he might fall upon them and this News they learnt towards the Evening Wherefore consulting together what was best to be done they resolve upon the spot because the Ways were rough and difficult to leave their Wives Daughters and little Children there with some few to bear them company amongst whom was one of their Ministers and the rest betake themselves to the Town of Mus This they did in hopes that the Enemy might shew some compassion towards a helpless and comfortless multitude but what wailing and lamentation what sighing and embracing there was at parting any man may easily imagine Having marched all night long and passed the Mountain de Leberon they have the sad prospect of many Villages and Farms all in a flame Meinier in the mean time having divided his Forces sets about the work and because he had got intelligence of the place to which those of Merindole had betaken themselves he himself marches to Merindole and sends the rest of his Men in search and pursuit of them But before these were come into the Wood one of the Soldiers moved with pity runs before and from the top of a Rock in the place where he judged the poor Fugitives might have rested he threw down two stones calling to them by
to the rack These refer them to other Judges before whom when they had appeared the Prisoners had Counsel assigned them and these Advocates spun out the Matter from day to day till at length the Accusers were ordered to bring in their Indictment in Latin and Spanish whilest in the interim it was given out that Letters were come from the Emperour as he was upon his Journey to Ratisbonne commanding a Nolle Prosequi because that he would have the Matter to be brought to a tryal before Himself and his Brother in the next Diet. When nothing else could be obtained Otho Henry and the Elector Palatine require the Senate of Inspruck to send the Prisoners with security to Newbourg where the Crime was committed but by the Emperour's Letters they excuse themselves At the time the Murther was committed the Emperour came to Spire on his Journey to Ratisbonne And whilest he stopt at Deux-pontz a Town belonging to Wolffgang Prince Palatine the Princess his Wife Daughter to the Landgrave at that time lay in The Emperour gave her a Visit and having pass'd some Compliments upon her distributed large Presents amongst the Women but because he had nothing about him that was fit to give the Lady herself he sent her a Present afterwards from Spire whither he came about the latter end of March. The Landgrave as we said before had been advised by Naves to come and wait upon the Emperour whilest he was on his Progress to Ratisbonne Granvell had put him in mind of the same thing also in the Month of February when the Emperour was at Maestricht Having then obtained a safe Conduct from the Emperour he came to Spire whither came also the Elector Palatine and William Massenbach Embassadour from the Duke of Wirtemberg and this was on the twenty-eight day of March. The Landgrave therefore went to the Emperour and his Chancelour speaking in his Name had a private Conference with him wherein having told the reason and occasion of his coming We have Advice said he most mighty Emperour not from one Place only nor out of Germany alone but from foreign Countreys also that your Majesty at the Pope's instigation are hatching bad purposes against the Confederates of the Augustan Confession It is a current Report also that in the Treaty of Peace you perswaded the French King to assist you in punishing them nay more that you sollicite the Turk for a Truce that you may the more conveniently accomplish your Designs and that therefore a Council it is said was called by the Pope and is begun that by vertue of the Decrees that are quickly to pass there the Matter may be put into execution Now that which makes us give some credit to this Report and does not a little startle us is the Process carried on so vigorously against the Archbishop of Cologne and that heavy Proclamation published against him at the Suit and Importunity of his Enemies And forasmuch as we so freely contributed our aid and assistance to your Majesty against the French and Turks and were ready to have done greater things as we made it appear at Spire because we contributed also more than our Ancestours were accustomed to do and that your Majesty both at Spire and Ratisbonne gave us large assurances of Peace Liberty and Property these are things we did not at all look for We are nevertheless in good hopes Sir that before your Majesty leave Germany you will by a National Council of the Empire cause Religion to be setled according to the Warrant of God's Word and if perhaps the difference cannot be taken up that you will command the Peace which was promised to us at Spire to be inviolably observed and that in such manner that no Decree of the Council nor Diet of the Empire may be able to alter or annul it To these things the Emperour made answer by Naves That there had indeed several Reports been brought to him of them as if they intended some Stirs but that he did not believe them especially after that he had seen his Letters to Naves and that he believed them far less now That he could bring no proof of what he said concerning the French King that he had only a Peace with him and nothing else that it was the humour of the French to brag and talk rashly of things That he moved the Turk to a Truce chiefly for the sake of Germany for since that in almost all Diets Grievances had been represented of the heavy Burdens and Charges and the Poverty of the People he looked upon that to be the most proper way that during the Truce they might have time to treat of carrying on the War against him abroad and of setling Religion at home However that there was nothing as yet determined in the matter but that he would discourse his Brother about it That after a great deal of labour and pains he had been at the Council which for so many Years they had importuned him about was now met that whatever he had done in that Affair was with a very good intention to the Publick and that it was very ill done in some who perhaps put a contrary interpretation upon it That he had used the Archbishop of Cologne kindly but that he was unwilling to put the least stop to his Proceedings That he himself was witness of what preparation he was in for a War That he had none about him but his Friends and Servants That he raised no Troops and that the reason why he had sent for him was because he looked upon him as a lover of Peace and that therefore he desired to know of him how he thought Matters of Religion might be composed or what he did believe might be obtained from his Confederates but that if at present he was unwilling to give a positive answer as to that he would appoint Commissioners to confer with him about the matter With that the Landgrave speaking himself If Sir said he I could contribute any thing to the Peace and Safety of Germany and to the preservation of true Friendship betwixt your Majesty and all the States of the Empire I would certainly spare no Labour nor Pains on my part and for that cause I chiefly came hither I should have been glad indeed that more of the Confederates had been here but because of the narrowness of the time that could not be for the Elector of Saxony is at a great distance and James Sturmey is detained by sickness I believe indeed your Majesty has had various Reports brought unto you but really Matters are no otherwise than as I wrote to the Hier Naves For we entred into no Resolution against your Majesty at Franckfort but all we did was only how we might persevre in our Religion and be able to defend ourselves against unjust Violence We had intelligence of the French King as if in view of the affinity of the Duke of Orleans with your Majesty
he had promised you Supplies against us That your Majesty sued to the Turk for a Truce was a thing many wise men wondered at and could not but conclude it was for some great Matter seeing you were at peace with the King of France but now that your Majesty says you do it for the sake of the Publick I have nothing indeed to say to the contrary for it is long since Germany stood in need of some ease from the great Charges it hath been at We did indeed earnestly demand a Council but it was a free pious Council and that in Germany too now that we do not reckon the Council of Trent for such we fully declared to your Majesty at Wormes for all Laicks as they call us being excluded the Bishops and others who are bound by Oath to the Pope take to themselves solely the Power of Judging and Decreeing That I should propose some way for accommodation in Religion is a thing Sir I dare not venture upon without the concurrence of my Allies and I 'm sure that if I did so I should have but little thanks from either side for my pains but in the mean time provided it draw not into consequence I do not refuse a Conference with such as your Majesty shall please to appoint for that purpose The truth is I have no great hopes in the Council but believe that a Provincial Assembly of Germany might not prove unuseful for other People differ too much from us as yet in Opinions and Doctrine but in Germany matters are now come to that pass that they cannot be changed so that nothing could be better than if your Majesty would allow a liberty of Religion there but so that all should live together quietly and in peace I make no doubt but that the Conference you appointed at Ratisbonne was done by your Majesty with a very good intent but I had it from those that were present How some bitter Monks bring again under debate Points that were adjusted some Years since in the same place and are of so bad a Life and Conversation that no good at all can be expected from them Without all doubt the Archbishop of Cologne is a good Man and does what he does purely because he thinks it his Duty especially seeing the Decree of the Diet at Ratisbonne commits the care of the Reformation of his Church to him which truly he set about in a very moderate manner taking away no more than what was necessary should be and making but very small Alterations in the Goods of the Church Now the Book he published for that purpose agrees with the Holy Scriptures and is backed by the Testimonies of the ancient Doctors Tertullian Augustine Ambrose and others who lived nearest the Age of the Apostles if any harsh course then be taken against him for that matter it will be a warning to others who have made far greater Alterations To this the Emperour replied That he passed by the Treaty of Franckfort neither did believe the things that were told him of it nor had given any cause why he should but that yet he was much better satisfied by his discourse That he had indeed procured a Council to be called that it might both be beneficial to the Publick and that the Fathers who were there might of their own accord reform themselves and that it was none of his design that violence should be offered to those of the Augustan Confession because of any Decree that might pass there that the Conference of Ratisbonne was appointed for that very reason which had begun very well indeed if it had continued so That the Archbishop of Cologne though he had promised to supersede and delay did nevertheless proceed and force men to do as he would have them That it was the intent of the Decree of Ratisbonne that the Bishops should reform their own Churches but not introduce a new Faith and Religion and that it was added besides that they should draw up a formulary of Reformation and give it in to be considered of in the next Diet of the Empire but that he having turned out the ordinary Ministers and Pastors of the Church had of himself appointed new ones nay and more that he withheld the Revenues and Stipends of the Canons and appropriated part of them to himself carrying all things by his Edicts with a high hand so that the Clergy being necessitated to implore his help and protection he could not but according to the Power and Character he bore put a stop to him by contrary Edicts and Commands that in fine he was well pleased that the Conference betwixt his Commissioners and him should in no ways be captious nor ensnaring To which the Landgrave made answer That it exceedingly rejoyced him to see his gracious Majesty so well-affected towards Germany and his Associates and that he prayed God he might persevere in the same mind For said he if your Majesty according to that excellent Judgment God has endowed you with do but seriously consider and weigh with yourself how advantageous Germany is to your Majesty your Kingdoms and Provinces you 'l find that there is nothing more to be wished for than that all Ranks and Qualities may rejoyce and delight in you their chief Magistrate and your Majesty again use them as loving and dutiful Subjects For truly if Germany happen to be weakened it will recound chiefly to your Majesty's disadvantage I have likewise most joyfully heard what your thoughts and intentions are concerning the Decrees of the Council but that they should reform themselves is a thing I fear not to be expected for they are bound by Oath to the Pope judge alone in their own cause and though they stand in need chiefly of a reformation yet they look upon that as a thing can do them no great good and which will prove prejudicial to their yearly Revenues I doubt things are not carried at the Conference of Ratisbonne in the way and method they should be for not only Copies of the Proceedings are denied but also in the beginning our Commissioners were not allowed to have Clarks and Notaries As to the Archbishop of Cologne I can say no more but what I have already said He is a Shepherd and therefore desires to give good and wholsom Food to his Flock He thinks that to be his Duty and therefore caused a Form of Reformation to be drawn up nay and those who are now his Adversaries and especially Gropper were in the beginning most desirous of a Reformation but when they find it is come to that they shuffle and draw back Here the Emperour interrupting Ha said he what can that good Man reform He has hardly a smattering in the Latine Tongue In all his life-time he never said but three Masses of which I myself heard two nor does he know so much as the very Rudiments of Learning But he carefully peruses German Books answered he and what I know
Elector Palatine and he were desirous of concord he told him moreover that he thought the Conferrors would again return to Ratisbonne which if they did not he would call them thither but that he desired in the mean time that he would come to the Diet in person if not in the beginning yet about the latter end of it at least That he himself laying all other things aside had now spent three whole Years in Germany that he might make all things quiet there To this the Landgrave answers that the first news he heard of the departure of the Conferrors was that day and that he had told him what he judged might be the cause of it that if it was his Majesty's desire and if his Allies thought fit that the Divines of both parties should return his amongst the rest should not be absent But that he could not go thither in person because he had been at great Charges in the War of Brunswick that he had lately married a Daughter that he was to be Umpire betwixt the Dukes of Saxony that he could not travel but with a great Retinue and that in his absence his Countrey might be in danger from the Confederates of his Prisoner the Duke of Brunswick To all this the Emperour made reply that it was not his purpose to put him to any unnecessary Charges but that he was very desirous he might come because he thought his presence would have a very great influence upon all the Transactions and by that means the Saxons and others would be excited to do the like nor needed he to be afraid of the Confederates of Duke Henry for that neither were they so powerful nor though they were and did attempt any thing would he himself sit still and suffer any man to disturb the publick peace The Landgrave having urged again his former Reasons told his Majesty that he could not promise any thing but that he would send thither Representatives who should make it their business to promote the Peace but that if in everything they could not obey and comply with his Majesty's desires he prayed him not to take it ill but think that what they did was not out of any obstinacy or perverseness but meerly out of fear of offending the great God since this Life being but very short and uncertain it was fit men should think of Eternity The Emperour taking a little notice of the care and pains he himself had been at told him that the Affair of Saxony might be put off and earnestly press'd him again that nothing might hinder him from coming for that by his good advice and example he might incline his Allies to moderation and condescention and that so their Consultations might have a lucky beginning After this the Landgrave having complained of some who had assisted the Duke of Brunswick gives a short relation of the whole matter and how that he was made prisoner tells his Majesty that Duke Maurice and he had received Injuries from them that they were indeed a sort of fickle and restless men born to create troubles that the night before one of that number Frederick Spede had come and told him that if he would give him the hearing he would discover to him some secret and crafty Councils that were a hatching but that distrusting the man he had refused him audience and told him that he might send him what he had to say in Writing At these words the Emperour fell into a great passion against Spede and so the Conference ended and the Landgrave being with great expressions of friendship dismissed by the Emperour took his leave and departed first to Heidelberg and then home But the Emperour continued his Journey streight-way to Ratisbonne and much about the same time to wit the first of April the Deputies of the Protestants assemble at Wormes to consult about their Affairs but because the Emperour had courteously dismissed the Landgrave who had acquainted the Duke of Saxony by Letter with all that had pass'd April the twenty-third they break up that at Ratisbonne whither otherwise they were going to the Diet they might consult of the same Affairs In this Assembly they of Ravensbourg entered into the Protestant League April the eighth was the third Session of the Council of Trent In it the Books of the Old and New Testament are reckoned up and declared to be Canonical to the least tittle the Ancient and Vulgar Translation of the Bible only is enjoyned to be made use of in the Churches and Schools It is also enacted that no man presume to interpret Scripture according to his own private sence and apprehension but that therein all men follow the consent of the Church and Fathers All Printers and Booksellers are commanded also not to Print or Publish any thing without a Licence from their Ordinary It is furthermore decreed that no man abuse Texts of holy Scripture to idle fabulous and profane Uses to superstitious Charms and Enchantments nor in scurrilous and slandering Phamphlets and Libels and the seventeenth of June is appointed to be the day of the next Session Don Francisco de Toledo was Embassadour there from the Emperour who having made a long Speech in his Master's commendation importing how acceptable that day had been to the Emperour whereon the Pope began the Council he told the Fathers that he was made Colleague to Don Diego de Mendoza who being taken with an Ague was gone back to his former Embassie at Venice and having professed his own readiness to serve them said that it was their parts to pray to God that he would ever continue this so holy harmony and consent of minds between his Holiness and the Emperour for the publick good that so mens vices being reformed and hurtful weeds rooted out of the Lord's field it might again be rightly cultivated and fructifie April the eleventh the Pope wrote by Jerome Franco whom he then sent back into Switzerland to the Bishops of Sitten and Coyra and some other Abbots signifying to them that since all the Prelates of Christendom were called by him to a General Council at Trent it was but just that they who represent the Helvetian Church should in the first place repair thither For that the People of that Nation were above all others dear unto him as being in a manner the peculiar Children of the Apostolick See and Defenders of Ecclesiastick Liberty That a great many Bishops were already come to Trent from Italy France Spain and that their numbers daily encreased so that it was an unbeseeming thing that those who lived at a great distance should have come before them who were neighbours that their Countrey was in many parts infected with Heresie and therefore stood the more in need of a Council that they should now therefore make amends for their past remisness by diligence and hasten thither without longer delay if they would not incurr the Penalties
Protestants send Ambassadors to the Kings of England and France who as has been said had lately made Peace to sollicite them for Succours In the mean time after that the Duke of Saxony and Landgrave had written privately to the Emperour as we said before they publish a Declaration July the thirteenth wherein they alledge That this War was a War of Religion and that it was the Emperour's Design under a certain colour and pretext of Rebellion and as if he intended but to punish a few to divide and break the Confederates that so he might afterwards more easily destroy them one after another For confirmation of this they bring several Proofs and give a Relation of what King Ferdinand Granvell Naves and others had privately said at Ratisbonne to wit That the Contempt of the Council was the cause of this War. They affirm also That the Emperour had sent Letters to the Magistrates of Ravensberg who had lately received the Reformed Religion That they should within a few days desist from their Enterprise else he threatned to give their Town and Lands to be plundred by his Soldiers but that the Messenger was recalled with his Letters when he was upon the Rode leât it might become publick that Religion was the Ground of the War. That the Archbishop of Cologne also was for attempting a Reformation excommunicated by the Pope and deprived of all his Ecclesiastical Possessions and Dignities and is threatned almost with the very same by the Emperour What was that if not a plain Declaration of the Cause of the War For it was no light Report that went about That the Cardinal of Ausbourg a great Incendiary in these Troubles was by force to be put into his place That it was also given out by some That when they were once vanquished and subdued Forces should be dispersed all over Germany to see that the Decrees made in the Council concerning Religion should in the Emperour's Name be obeyed and put into execution Moreover that many Letters gave an account That the Archbishop of Toledo chiefly and many other Prelates of Spain did contribute vast Treasures for the carrying on of this War which they would not certainly do if any Secular Interest were the cause of it That it was known besides what sort of a Decree it was that past at Ausbourg sixteen years since when the Emperour declared That he could not endure that Sect and Doctrine of Luther but that he and his Friends would hazard all they had Life Strength Blood and all that he might destroy it Root and Branch For should they indeed be subdued which God forbid then would it soon appear that no favour was to be shewn to this Religion but that rather having killed their Ministers ravished their Wives and Children they would again restore Monks and Friars and the rest of that filthy Rout That it was not lawful for the Emperour to use violence against any State nor to proscribe any Man without a Trial nor yet to call into Germany Strangers or Forreign Forces nor indeed to aspire to any Hereditary Right or Succession to the Empire because to these Conditions he was bound by a sacred and solemn Oath For could he in right do otherwise there would be no lasting Form of Government in the Common-wealth That they could not imagine what the Cause of his Quarrel was For as for my part saith the Duke of Saxony all the Difference that he and his Brother King Ferdinand had with me was two years ago wholly ended at Spire and to cement our Friendship Eleanor the Daughter of Ferdinand was freely promised to my eldest Son provided we could agree about Religion The Emperour approved of that then and when I was returning home from the Diet he sent Granvell and Naves to my Lodgings to complement me in his Name and to assure me of his Kindness and of his Good-will towards my Person Children and whole Country What Crime can I have been guilty of since that time that he should from such cruel Resolutions against me But the truth is this is our Case as we said before we refuse the Pope's Counsel and therefore incur his Hatred However he had no reason to act so nor to design such things against the House of Saxony for he knows that after the Death of Maximilian this Imperial Dignity being offered to my Uncle Frederick he by his Vote and Interest secured it to him not to mention many other good Offices which at several times the Family of Saxony have done to the House of Austria But if perhaps he be offended that I turned Julius Pflugg out of the Bishoprick of Numburg as to that I both asserted my Right in a Publick Manifesto and referred my self to any unsuspected Judges and Arbitrators that the Emperour might appoint Now as for my part saith the Landgrave I was fully reconciled unto him five years ago at Ratisbonne and if that some years past I intended to make War against the Bishops and did after assist my Cousin the Duke of Wirtemberg in the recovering of his own for all that and whatever also I might have publickly or privately acted against the Statutes and Written Laws of the Empire I had a Pardon in due form What then should be the Cause of Prejudice or Animosity I cannot at all imagine Besides when I was to wait upon him lately at Spire he was so gracious and obliging to me both in Countenance and Speech that I could not perceive the least sign of Displeasure in him It was stipulated betwixt us five years since at Ratisbonne That if at any time he should attempt any thing against the Duke of Cleve I should not at all meddle in the matter He made War afterwards against him and I performed what I promised and when afterwards he received the Duke of Cleve into favour again which was before Venlo he pardoned all that had served under him or assisted him in his Wars But if he be offended at our Absence and that we did not come to Ratisbonne both of us made our Excuses the Duke of Saxony by Ambassadors and I personally in a Conference at Spire But what Liberty or Form of Government is there then in Germany if that should give a good Cause for War when not only in former Diets but in the very same Diet also of Ratisbonne several Princes were absent And as for the War of Brunswick we cannot be blamed for it is lawful for all Men to withstand Force by Force We frequently moved and earnestly desired in several Diets That a Restraint might be put upon his Boldness but unless it were fair Words and Letters we could obtain nothing And nevertheless the Publick Letters which at our desire King Ferdinand wrote to Duke Henry were accompanied with other Private ones whereby Duke Henry was given to understand that he was not to obey them These Letters under the King 's own Hand were found in Wolffembottel and if need were could be
Protection if they obey and that such as refuse and are disobedient to Our Commands shall be punished in the same manner as the Principals July the two and twentieth Gerard Feldwig who lately returned from Constantinople is sent back again thither from Ratisbonne When the Emperour perceived that there was no business to be done in this Diet of the Empire he Prorogues it to the first of February the year following We spake before of the Pope's Letters sent to the Suizzers now so soon as Jerome Franco his Holiness's Nuncio had received them he sent them forward from Lucerne with Letters of his own dated July the twenty-fifth wherein he acquaints them That three days before he had received Letters from the Pope and Colledge of Cardinals and that though they were much to the same purpose with some other former Letters of theirs yet because they contained somewhat that was new he had sent them in all haste a Copy of them promising to produce the Originals in the next Assembly and that because in the League which the Pope and Emperour had concluded about the latter end of June there is place left for others who would engage in the same Confederacy and because also it was stipulated That the Emperour should first try if without a War his and the Enemies of the See of Rome could be reclaimed and brought to their Duty his Holiness did earnestly desire of them that they would in plain terms tell whether or not they would enter into that League and submit to the Decrees of the Council of Trent Wherefore since they had appointed him a Day at their next Assembly at Baden to give him an Answer to his former Demands he did now write of these things unto them that they might in the mean time consider of them That therefore he begg'd of them for the Blood of our Saviour Christ's sake that they would seriously reflect how glorious and advantagious it would be to them and to their Children also if they did contribute in extinguishing the Flames of Division in Germany and approve the Decrees of the Council In that the Pope divulged the Cause of the League some looked upon it as cunning Fetch that by that means he might entangle the Emperour in many Difficulties for it is certain as shall be said hereafter that he took it very ill that the Emperour had pretended another Cause for the War. About this time Albert Son to the Duke of Bavaria married the Lady Anne Daughter to King Ferdinand and William Duke of Cleves the Lady Mary her Sister For seeing the Duke of Cleve had in vain expected the Daughter of Navar from France as hath been said before he was dispensed with by a Bull from the Pope to marry another He therefore married this Lady and both Marriages were celebrated at Ratisbonne amidst the Tumult and Noise of Wars and were designed as a Bond to strengthen a new Alliance The Session of the Council of Trent was appointed to be about the latter end of July as hath been said but it was put off to the beginning of the next Year as will appear in its proper place There was at Trent at this time besides the Cardinal-Legats the Cardinal of Trent and Cardinal Pacieco a Spaniard four Archbishops thirty three Bishops and of these ãâã French five Spanish and one Sclavonick the rest were all Italian Bishops ãâã of Divinity who were of Religious Orders thirty five and twelve others were Secular for most part all Spaniards Moreover two of those Archbishops were Titular only Olaus Magnus of Upsale and Robert Venant a Scottish-man Now the occasion of this was When Gustavus King of Sweden the Neighbour of Denmark made an Alteration in Religion in the Year 1537. John Magnus Archbishop of Upsale who disliked that Reformation leaving his own Country fled to Rome whither he came with small Attendance Afterwards going to Venice he was made Vicar and as they commonly call it Suffragan to the Patriarch of that City But being afterwards weary of that Office he returned to Rome and there being reduced to such Straits that he sold his Horses and broke up his Family he was by Pope Paul placed in the Hospital of the Holy Ghost and there died in a poor and low Condition He had a Brother Olaus with him to whom the Pope gave that Gothick Archbishoprick though it was not within the Pale of the Roman Church and sent him to the Council with an Allowance of fifteen Duckets a Month for his Maintenance The other the Scottish-man having informed the Pope of the Archbishoprick of Armagh in Ireland obtained it from him in Title He was a blind Man and nevertheless not only said Mass but rid Post also These two then the Pope would have to be present at the Council only for ostentation as if those two so distant Nations the Swedes and Irish had acknowledged his Power when in reality they enjoyed no more but the Shadow and bare Title of Prelates We told you before That Duke Maurice after a private Conference with the Emperour left Ratisbonne and went home King Fendinand following not long after he went to wait upon him at Prague Afterwards on the first of August the Emperour sent to Duke Maurice from Ratisbonne a Copy of the Proscription we mentioned before and in his Letters to him and the People relates the same things almost that were contained in the Ban and Instrument of Proscription And because he was related in Blood and Affinity to the Parties Outlawed so that he might claim some Right and Title to their Estates and Goods he strictly charges him to assist him with all his power in seising and taking possession of their Provinces nay that for preservation of his own Right he should with all diligence put himself in possession of all else the first Possessor whoever that might be should have all without any regard had to his Consanguinity and the Rights of Entail That besides if he slighted his Emperour's Command he should incur the same Pains that they had done He charges also the Nobility Gentry and Commons upon the same Penalty to obey his Proclamation and faithfully assist the Prince These Letters were equally directed to Duke Maurice and his Brother Augustus The Whole Protestant Army was now come to the Danube There the Duke of Saxony Landgrave and Council of War August the third wrote to William Duke of Bavaria signifying That it was to no purpose for them to say much of the Emperour 's Warlike Preparations since the whole Matter was well known to himself That though they had never been wanting to the Emperour in any kind of Dutifulness nor did think they had ever given him any cause of offence yet had they long since learned both from his Answer and the Discourses of other Men also that he intended a War against them as disobedient Subjects when in the mean time they were neither convicted
with the Turk quite contrary to your Promise for when two years since Germany gave you Assistance against the King of France you pass'd your Word that so soon as that War were ended you would go in Person with an Army against the Turk but now have you patch'd up a Truce with him to the end only that you might more conventently accomplish what you had designed against us And now in the Diet of Ratisbonne you have put a colour and new face upon the matter having enlarged much upon your Affection and good Intentions towards Germany our common Country and upon the Contumacy of some Persons which you did with a design of dividing us who were Confederated upon the Account of Religion For you are not able to make out against us any Crime of Undutifulness or Disobedience and distrusting your Cause you cited not the Accused to answer before the Diet of the Empire nor indeed did so much as name them Whereas in the mean time by Letters to several Princes and Free Towns you cunningly pretended that the War you designed was not for Religion but for repressing the Contumacy and Stubbornness of some Men Nevertheless that Religion is the thing you strike at it is even apparent from this that you have procured a Council from the Pope wherein none but his Vassals and Creatures have any place Some there were indeed in that Assembly a little more free in their Speech but ways were found out that they should be recalled and turned out and worse Men put into their places It is also well known to all what sort of Decrees they are which the Fathers at Trent have already made in some Sessions It is not then the Council so often promised in the Diets as we declared unto you a year ago at Wormes and what we then alledged we would have now again here repeated That it is your Design also to compel us to approve the Council will easily appear from the Pope's Letters sent lately to the Suitzers wherein he heavily complains of many in Germany who slight the Dignity of the Council and that he says is the reason why he was willing to undertake a War And because you also had resolved for the same reason to try the Effect of your Arms he says that that had happened very luckily for his purpose and that therefore he would employ not only his own but also all the Force and Treasure of the Roman Church Since then the Pope hath discovered that Purpose of yours which you would have cloaked under another Disguise who can any longer doubt but that our Religion is struck at For we indeed are conscious to our selves of no Fact for which we should either refuse a Publick Trial or that we cannot justifie our selves in But it was your Duty to have brought us before the College of the Princes according to ancient Custom and heard our Reasons and Defences Nor did it become you thus to use us to call us to a Diet to propound Publick Affairs to ask our Counsel and Advice and in the mean time to be projecting a War against us For what indeed can be the meaning of this to leave the Turk and turn all the Rage of the War against us as if we were a great deal worse than he But our Hope and Confidence is in God that he will hinder and put a stop to so base an Undertaking For if you and King Ferdinand your Brother entertained any Grudge or Dispeasure against us that was wholly removed at Cadam Vienna Ratisbonne and Spire so that you may gloss and varnish the Matter as you please we are still certain that there is no other Cause for this War but that with the suppression of the true Religion Germany may lose its Liberty You write indeed to several Persons and endeavour to perswade them that you are very desirous the Doctrine of the Gospel should be propagated but the Decisions of the University of Louvaine confirmed by you the Punishments inflicted upon good and pious Men within your Dominions and that Confederacy made with the Roman Antichrist sufficiently declare that it is your intention to restore Popery in its full extent and to extirpate the Religion which we professed at Ausbourg And since it is so and that we made a League to live and die in this Religion and with united Forces to defend it whatsoever Quarrel or Provocation may be by any pretended against any of us it necessarily behoved us to undertake our own Defence which the Law both of God and Nature allows us And although by reason of this your Design against us we are freed from all Obligation unto you so that we needed not to have declared to you our Resolutions in the Matter yet for the greater security we hereby renounce all Allegiance Homage and Duty that we were any ways bound to perform to you not as if thereby we impeached the Rights and Prerogatives of the Empire but rather that we may assert and defend the same Wherefore we openly and solemnly declare That it is our Purpose and Resolution to defend our selves by way of Arms against the Hostilities of you and your Confederates For the Cause is too good and just that we should be afraid of any Danger This Letter they send by a young Gentleman and a Trumpeter as the Custom is to the Emperour in his Camp at Landishut But he was so far from receiving it that upon pain of Death he commands them to carry it back to their Masters adding withal That if any Man should for the future come from them to him in stead of a Present and Gold Chain he should have the Reward of a Halter Then he gave them the Instrument of Proscription above-mentioned and strictly charges them to deliver it to their Princes Before this Letter was sent it was debated what Title was to be given to the Emperour and the Duke of Saxony was of opinion that he was not to be called Emperour for that then it was not lawful to make War against him But the Landgrave was of another mind and both had those that approved them At length they hit upon this Expedient that they should call him The Pretended Emperour Then they consult whither they should march Some were for going streight to Landishut where the Emperour was but when they were told by those who knew the Country That they had Fens to pass where the Ways were so narrow that for a Mile or two a pair of Horses could not go abreast they change their mind and resolve to march to Ratisbonne where the Emperour had left both a Garrison and Artillery for that there they might chuse a convenient Ground to encamp in and if the Emperour came to the Relief of the Besieged they might hazard a Battel Having then removed their Camp they advance but with a very slow March and about the same time to wit the thirteenth of August the Italian or
any Confederacy with them That since it was so then and that they were convinced of his Intentions and of the Cause of the War he was very confident that they would reject their League keep their Men at home recal those that were already in the Service under severe Penalties and in nothing act contrary to the ancient Leagues and Alliances but according to the example of the rest be still and live in peace and friendship which would redound to their own praise and be very acceptable to him To these Letters they make Answer in the same manner as we said before they answered the Embassadour and beseech his Majesty to take in good part their delay and that because he assures them that by that War there was nothing intended against the Liberty of their Country and their Religion they also on their parts would do what was fit and becoming them that if any were gone from amongst them to the Wars it was in no ways by permission from them but that they went privately as many times they had done before however that it was not their Custome to recall those who went into foreign Service without their privity and consent but to punish them when they came home again The Landgrave and Duke of Saxony sollicited the Bohemians as well as the Suitzers but these answer in such a manner that it might easily appear their minds were already prepossessed with the Calumnies of King Ferdinand When the Protestants perceived that by their Letters they write an Answer about the latter end of August assuring them That Religion was the thing aimed at by the War they send them also the Declarations published by them upon that subject desire of them that they would commit no Hostilities against them and that they would signifie unto them what their Intentions and Inclinations were At the same time also they publish a Declaration importing that they were informed by credible Persons that the Pope that Roman Antichrist the Instrument of Satan and the Author of this War who caused many places to be set on Fire in Saxony had now suborned Poysoners to infect their Wells and Standing-waters that what Fire and Sword did not Poyson might destroy Wherefore they give warning to all especially to their own Subjects to use all endeavours to Take and Apprehend those Emissaries put them to the Rack and punish them severely when their Crime should be made out Some days after the Elector's Son John William by publick Letters warns his Country-men that they have a special care of themselves for that at Weimur a Town in Thuringe an Italian had been lately apprehended upon suspition who had confessed That he and some others had received Mony at Rome in the Pope's Name to do all the Mischief they could in Germany by Fire and Poyson We spoke of the Proscription and Imperial Ban before and how that a Copy of the Instrument thereof was sent to the Duke of Saxony and Landgrave So soon then as they had received this from the Camp at Ingolstadt for their Honour and Reputation sake they frame a large Answer which they published on the second of September That he so highly commended his Zeal and Affection towards Germany was nothing but dissimulation for that from the very time of his Inauguration it had been his whole design to bring it into Bondage That that indeed was the reason why leaving Spain and his other Provinces he had so often returned into Germany and been at so vast Charges that what he said of Religion was of the same sort it having been always his purpose with the first opportunity of time to suppress the true and Reformed Doctrine So often say they as he hath given Peace to us and our Religion it was cunningly done by him to serve a turn only till we had contributed Mony for the publick Concerns of the Empire that afterwards he had called the Decrees that were made in question and kept the matter in suspence until in the mean time he might make Peace with France and a Truce with the Turk and till the Pope and he waiting for a fit opportunity might call that same Council of Trent and enter into League together We will now give some instances for the proof of this Five years since he made a Decree at Ratisbonne concerning Religion and when that Decree did not satisfie us in very many things he declared his mind more fully and for our security and satisfaction gave us an explanation of it in Writing which afterwards his Commissioners and King Ferdinand confirmed in another Diet but when two years ago mention was made of that in the Diet of Spire he did not call to mind he said that Declaration In the Diet of Wormes the year before the Bishop of Hildesheââ said openly in presence of the Princes That he had past his Word to the Catholicks That the Decree of Spire should be of no force after the War with France were over Some Months since when he was going to the Diet at Ratisbonne Granvell told me in presence of the Elector Palatine some Counsellers of mine and of the Duke of Wirtemberg's Embassadours said the Landgrave That that Decree of Spire was accommodated only to the times but that now the Emperour could not justifie it to the rest of the States Six years ago when King Ferdinand declared his Instructions to the Catholick States at Haguenaw he said That no Decrees were to be observed to us for that they were made in time of the Turkish War when there was need of our assistances What! Does not this seem to be a pretty fetch for circumventing us and our associates they themselves confess it to have been a trick whereby they squeezed Money from us It is plain then that he hath always been contriving the destruction of our Religion as the League lately made demonstrates and that he waited only for a fit opportunity of accomplishing it Now that he might seem to have a lawful pretext he always dealt with us that we would submit to the Council but why we could not do so our printed Papers sufficiently declare It was all along his design to maintain the Decrees of the Council and to put them in execution for the accomplishment whereof he long before sollicited the assistance of some Foreign Princes but fearing lest by that means he might stir up against him all that espoused the Cause of Religion he devised another colour and feigned a Rebellion that he might divide the Confederates and having suppressed the chief of them constrain the rest afterwards to submit to his pleasure And though he and his Brother laboured with great Care to conceal this their cunning and crafty Councels yet through God's great blessing it came more and more to light daily for the Pope himself by his Nuncio informed the Suitzers both of the Cause of the War and gave them a Copy of the League whence it is evident that not
only we but all those also who profess the Reformed Religion are in danger and that the great Design in hand is wholly to re-establish Popery Let all men judge then of the fairness of their Proceedings when in the late Diet at Ratisbonne they endeavoured to perswade and solemnly averred that they would use only lawful and peaceful Remedies for healing the breaches of Religion Lately said the Landgrave he told me at Spire That he was not engaged in any League with the Pope the same also said Granvell This then is that Fatherly Affection that Zeal for and Love of Peace whereof they so much brag and so often Was ever the like heard that they should endeavour to perswade Princes of one thing and in the mean time resolve the quite contrary We are sensible enough of the Duty of the Princes to the Emperour and what on the other hand he is engaged to perform as we stand obliged to him so is he mutually to us Now that he Proscribes and Outlaws us without a fair hearing and endeavours to turn us out of all he therein dissolves the Obligation in Law whereby the Lord or Superiour is mutually bound to his Tenant or Vassal That he objects to us the Crime of Rebellion it is a meer sham also and he himself knows that he does us wrong in that For not long since said the Landgrave he gave me Thanks at Spire that I had used my utmost diligence to compose the Differences about Religion Now whereas he says that I prepared for War and exacted Money of some States I do not indeed deny it and weighty reasons I had too for making Preparations But it is publickly known that by the mediation of Louis the Elector Palatine and of Richard Archbishop of Traves that whole matter was husht nay he himself acquainted me by his Letters that though he had been highly displeased with me for what I had done yet because I had laid down Arms he required no more besides when sixteen years ago he spoke to me of the same Affair at Ausbourg I justified my self so well in presence of King Ferdinand Frederick Prince Palatine and some others that he was satisfied therewith he cannot then make that any part of his present quarrel That I assisted Ulrick Duke of Wirtemberg at the intercession of the Duke of Saxony and George Archbishop of Mentz that matter was also taken up and I received again into favour which transaction he himself ratified and afterward at Ratisbonne fully pardoned me upon his Royal Word He now also speaks of the War of Brunswick but the cause of that we made manifest by a publick Declaration and two years since gave a fuller account of the same in a most frequent Diet of the Empire where he was present Duke Henry did indeed answer then but the Emperour refused to hear our Replies Now the reason why he did not bring the Tryal to a full issue and with the Advice of the rest of the Princes give Sentence therein at that time was forsooth because demanding then Supplies against the French and Turks he purposely put a stop to the Suit and ordered a Sequestration wherein we also condescended to him at Wormes though we were not obliged and it was agreed on both hands that Frederick Prince Palatine and his Cousin John Prince Palatine of Simmeren should hold and govern the Province which we had taken until the Cause should be brought to a final decision according to Law this being done he past his Word to us that the Duke of Brunswick should likewise comply and by Letters strictly enjoyned him to do so but he slighting the Orders raised War against us and therein was made Prisoner as appears by a Declaration published by me and Duke Maurice In this War then we did nothing undutifully nothing contrary to Law and appeal to impartial Judgment But from that very thing it will easily appear what his Intentions are as to our Religion For though Duke Henry most sawcily despised his Orders and when he heard of the Sequestration reviled him in very reproachful Language yet because he is an implacable Enemy to our Religion he was never called to any Account for it Where he saith That we have brought some under subjection to us it is far otherwise and has been answered by us several times before But that may be truly said of him who hath reduced some Provinces and Bishopricks of the Empire under his Jurisdiction and against this War hath had in many places Meetings of Nobles that he might to our destruction engage them to himself This we acknowledge indeed That we have received some into our Protection upon account that if they should incur any danger for professing the Gospel we might stand by and defend them and that we look upon to be our duty since God commands us to help the afflicted Now for many Years past and at this time especially none stand more in need of Help and Protection than they who are reckoned Lutherans In other things that related not to Religion we never gave them any Countenance but always exhorted them to give the Magistrate his due He objects to us also That we disswaded others from repairing to the Diet but that is very impertinent since on the first of April last we sent Orders to our Deputies who met at Wormes when he was going to Ratisbonne That waving all other Business they should repair to that Diet and that we either came in Person or sent our Deputies to all the other Diets of the Empire What he saith of the Imperial Chamber and the interruption of Justice hath been many times refuted already He moreover brings an Instance of the Heathen Magistrates to shew That it is not lawful to resist him Whereas we have not only done our Duty but more also than either we ought or our Forefathers were accustomed to do to our own great loss and prejudice and that upon that account he hath not the least cause of complaint it will appear by what shall be said hereafter A certain Embassadour lately sent to him from the French King hapned occasionally to speak of this War telling him That he undertook a Matter of very great concern That he would do well to consider with himself how powerful Germany was and how dangerous the Attempt That if one or two perhaps had offended a Course might be taken to accommodate the Matter without a War. Whereunto he is said to have made this Answer That there was no need of an Accommodation That he would subdue Germany or put all to the risque for that the Strength thereof was not so very great that he needed to be afraid of it That it was now above twenty years since he had laid down his Measures for accomplishing that Design That in several Wars they had given him frequent Supplies and lately too against the King his own Master That they had been at great Charges in several Diets That they had lost
and period of this Captivity then said the Landgrave or by what space of time is it to be limited Though the Emperour should detain you for the space of fourteen years or more said Alva yet he would do nothing contrary to his promise The Landgrave then that he might recover his liberty as soon as he could payed in all the Money not long after razed his Castles and delivered up his Artillery Now the Emperour had got a vast number of great Guns partly from him partly from the Dukes of Saxony and Wirtemberg and the Free Towns which as they say amounted to Fifty in number Of these he sent some to Milan some to Naples others to Spain and the rest he distributed in the Low-Countries there to be kept as the Monuments and Trophies of his Victory Ebleben a worthy Gentleman who as we said had been the Messenger and Truchman in negotiating the Landgrave's Pacification took his Captivity extremely ill and shortly after died for grief of it as most People thought The Emperour had resolved to fall upon the City of Magdenburg which lies upon the Elbe two days Journey below Wittemberg for they were the only People that stood it out but at the very same time Henry King of France employed Sebastian Vogelsbergh to raise Men in Germany to the number of ten Ensigns a thing the Emperour began to be jealous of Wherefore partly for this cause and partly because he thought he had another way to humble them leaving Hall he marched into Upper Germany and June the seven and twentieth sent the Marquess of Matignan with an Aid of eight Ensigns of German Foot to his Brother King Ferdinand Ferdinand was then at Leutmeritz expecting an Opportunity of Action and so soon as he had received Intelligence of the Emperor's Success and the taking of the Landgrave he wrote to those of Prague July the first commanding them to appear before him in the Castle of Prague the sixth of the same Month to answer for what they had done Being come thither with his Forces he lays open before them in a publick Assembly all the past Transactions and how many ways they had offended him accusing them of High-Treason and bidding them answer to every Particular There they humbly submit to his Will and Pleasure beseeching him not to use the Rigour of Law against them Wherefore at the Intercession of young Ferdinand the Son Augustus the Brother of Duke Maurice and some other great men the King on the tenth of July proposes these Conditions unto them That in the next Convention of States they wholy annul the League they had entred into by cancelling it and breaking all the Seals That they deliver up to him all their Charters and Writings of Liberties and Priviledges to the intent he may reform some of them and grant and confirm to them anew such as he shall think fit That they also resign all the Charters of Liberties and Immunities granted to Companies and Incorporations because some of them did give occasion to Stirs and Commotions That in like manner they give up their Castles and renounce all Jurisdiction and Customs as also all Instruments of Leagues and especially of that Association which they made amongst themselves and of that Alliance they had entred into with John Frederick That they pay for ever the Excise of Beer which had been granted him only for three years That they bring all their Artillery and Ammunition into the Castle and all their private Arms into the Town-house If they thus do he promises to spare the Multitude excepting some few whom he resolved to punish as they deserved and keep Prisoners for the Publick Good. The People being acquainted with this and fifty Prisoners set at liberty the Conditions were accepted and agreed unto Some of the Nobility being cited and not appearing at the day were sentenced to have forfeited Honour Life and Goods so that some other Cities and Nobles submitted without any Condition as Prague had done But Caspar Pflug whom the Confederates had made their General as we said was condemned of High-Treason and a Reward of Five thousand Florins set upon his Head. Afterwards in the Convention of States the League was abrogated and cancelled and the King obtained from them every thing almost that he had demanded Whilst the Emperour is triumphing in Germany a dangerous Sedition broke out at Naples The Cause of it was That the Viceroy Peter of Toledo would after the Spanish manner inquire into their Faith and Religion The Citizens murmured heavily at this and being weary of the Spanish Government rose in Arms But after a great deal of Butchery and Bloodshed committed in the City the Spaniards who were Masters of the Forts and Castles got the better on 't So that some of the Seditious being fined the rest were banished Now the Spanish Inquisition which makes such a noise now adays was heretofore set up in those Places by King Ferdinand and Isabel against the Jews who after Baptism observed their own Rites and Laws But now that Luther's Name was up it was promiscuously practised and that with great Severity and short Process too against all who were in the least supected At the very same time the French King sends seven Cardinals to Rome commanding them to stay there till fresh Orders That was thought to have been done that by their means the Pope might be wholly inclined to the Amity and Friendship of the King and that if he chanced to die being now fourscore years of age they might procure another to be chosen that was no Enemy to his Majesty Nor were there wanting some who gave it out that it was done by the advice and interest of the Constable that they being out of the way he might alone do all with the King for generally they all followed the Court whithersoever the King went. A little before the Pope had sent a Legat into France Jerome Roman a Cardinal with a most ample Commission to dispence with many things prohibited both by the Laws and Decrees of Councils At that time also he created Charles the Son of Claude Duke of Guise and Archbishop of Reims Cardinal as knowing him to be the King's Favourite On the other hand the King of France to ingratiate himself the more promises his Natural Daughter a young Lady of nine years of age in Marriage to Horatio Farnese the Pope's Grandchild by his Son. The Emperour leaving Hall came to Bamberg that at so near a distance he might awe the Bohemians the more and give Strength and as it were Sinews to his Brother King Ferdinand Whilst he was here on the third day of July he called a Diet of the Empire commanding all to meet the first of September at Ausburg the Princes in Person and all the rest by Deputies with full Power and Commission and declaring That the War had hindred him from holding a Diet at
manner he forced the Body of Cosmo Cherio Bishop of Fano having made his Servants hold him by violence till he did the Fact which abominable Villany lay so heavy upon the poor mans Heart that it is said he died of grief Nor are there wanting some who think he was poysoned by him lest he should have informed the Emperour of that detestable Sodomy Pope Paul nevertheless tenderly loved this Bastard making it his whole care to promote him and when sometimes he was told of his lewd Practices he is reported not to have been much troubled thereat but only to have usually said That he had not learn those Vices of him We mentioned before that the Fathers of the Council leaving Trent had removed to Bolonia This the Emperour was highly displeased at and when he came now to Ausburg he moved the Colledge of the Princes to represent the matter to the Pope Wherefore September the fourteenth the Bishops wrote to him representing the State and Danger of Germany which they say might have been prevented if a timely Remedy had been applied to the growing Distemper to wit a Publick Council wherein they had several times importuned the Emperour that he would procure it to be held within the Limits of Germany that so the Bishops of that Country who were most concerned might be present for seeing their Jurisdiction waâ of ample extent it was not expedient for them especially at that time to be at a great distance from their own Charge That at length when no man would repair to Mantua or Vicenza a Council indeed was by the diligence and care of the Emperour got to be called and begun but without the Bounds of Germany still to wit at Trent which belongs rather to Italy That for that reason also not many of the Germans had come to it nor indeed could they especially in time of War when the Ways were every where beset and intercepted but that now the Storm being over when the Vessel was brought almost into Harbour and all men were in good hopes contrary to all expectation the Council wherein the Publick Safety wholly consisted should be translated to another Place or rather indeed divided was a thing that exceedingly grieved them because of the danger it threatned for that Germany had now no less than these six and twenty years struggled with new and pernicious Doctrines and Sects that the Bishops had lost almost all their Authority and that in this âesolation and Confusion innumerable thousands of men endangered the Salvation of their Souls That in short whatever was formerly sound and sincere was by that pestilent Contagion spoil'd and corrupted and that the States of the Empire being rent asunder had lost all mutual Love and Correspondence That in these their so great Calamities they had no Refuge but to the Apostolick Church That therefore they most earnestly begg'd he would restore the Council which if he did he might expect any thing from them but if not that they could not tell where to look for Help for that noise of stormy Winds and Tempests was heard on all hands against which God had appointed the Church of Rome to be as a strong Bulwark and firm Rock of Defence That he should then have regard to their Demands and reject with himself that if he had not a care other Course may be taken to set things to rights That after all they prayed him to take these things in good part for that both the necessity of the Times and the obligation of their Duty had constrained them to write About this very time also the English obtain a great Victory over the Scots under the Conduct of the Duke of Somerset the King's Uncle The Cause of the War was the same that was before in the time of King Henry his Father to wit because the Scots would not give their Queen in Marriage to King Edward as it had been agreed upon After this Victory the English took many Places in Scotland and advanced a great way into that Country All the Diet was not of the same mind as to the Emperour's Demands for the Ecclesiastical Electors urged the Council of Trent without any Limitation or Condition And again the Deputies of the Elector Palatine Duke Maurice and Brandenburg did not refuse it provided it were free and holy wherein the Pope should not preside but should absolve the Bishops from the Oath they had taken to him wherein their Divines might also have a decisive Vote and the past Decrees be recalled However the rest of the Princes and States urged the Continuation of the Council and that the Protestants might have Safe-conduct to go thither and be heard and then be compelled to submit to and obey its Decrees The Emperour being informed of all their Opinions gave his Answer October the eighteenth desires them all to submit to the Council and deals privately with the Elector Palatine and Duke Maurice that they would assent The Prince Palatine besides was over-awed because of the late Offence he had given the year before as we said that Sore not being as yet well skinned over Duke Maurice who was both desirous that the Landgrave his Father-in-law might be set at liberty and had been lately highly promoted by the Emperour thought himself obliged to do somewhat Wherefore the Emperour having by Messengers given them large Assurances of his Favour and Good-will and put it to them that they would refer themselves to his Faith and Promise at length October the twenty fourth they give their Assent There remained no more now but the Free Towns who thought it a matter of great danger to submit themselves indifferently to the Decrees of the Council These did Granvell and Hasen industriously manage and in the mean time a Report went over the Town that they were stubborn in refusing that which all the Princes had already approved Some Threats were also let fall that they should be far more severely dealt with than formerly At length they found a way both to satisfie the Emperour and to secure themselves Being therefore called before his Imperial Majesty they told him that it was not their part to correct the Answers of the Princes but at the same time present a Paper to him declaring the Conditions upon which they were willing to approve the Council The Emperour having heard their Speech makes them an Answer by the mouth of Selden That he was very well satisfied that after the example of others they referred the matter to him and gave their consent with the rest So that he attributed more unto them than they were desirous of for they had not consented with the rest but that they might give no cause of offence were unwilling to censure the Judgment of the Princes and nevertheless that they might not afterwards be concluded thought fit to give in writing the Conditions upon which they accepted the Council that so they might leave to Posterity some
consonant to Right That for his own part there was nothing but what he was willing to do for the sake of Germany and in that he could appeal to the Emperour 's own Testimony That he had omitted nothing which belonged to the Office of a good Shepherd and most loving Father That he saw indeed what it was that the Emperour King Ferdinand and the States of the Empire demanded but that still he thought they desired it so as that it might consist with the Good and Peace of all other Nations and the Liberty of the Church When Mendoza perceived that the Pope took that Assembly at Bolonia for a Council he resolved to have protested against it upon the spot but the Dean of the Sacred Colledge and some Cardinals interposing he was perswaded to send that Answer to the Emperour wait for Instructions from him and to put off the Protestation until the 20th day When Mendoza then wrote an account of the whole matter to the Emperour the Pope also on the first of January writes an Answer to the Letter of the German Bishops which we mentioned before wherein having commended them for their Piety he tells them That they had good and lawful cause to be concerned for the Publick amidst those Stirs of heretical and seditious men for that he himself was extreamly affected thereat and that because it was a matter which concerned his Pastoral Office it was continually in his thoughts how to find a Remedy for it That for that reason also so soon as he was promoted to the Pontificate he had betaken himself to the Refuge which they themselves mentioned and of his own accord had called a Council first at Mantua and then at Vicenza but seeing that proved unsuccessful he had pitched upon Trent a Town on the very Borders of Germany whither they might come without danger and that a War breaking forth about the same time which hindered free access to the place though his Legates had been already sent thither he was necessarily obliged to defer the matter till another opportunity which happening by the Peace that was afterwards made he had again called the Council and acquainted all Princes and States therewith by Letters That though a year and more had intervened betwixt that time and the last War yet none of them came to it nor indeed excepting one or two sent their Deputies neither for though perhaps because of the danger of neighbouring Hereticks it was not fit they should have come so far and left their own charges at home nevertheless they might have been present by their Proxies as he himself had dispensed with him in his Bulls That a great number of Bishops and other Prelates came to Trent not only from Italy but from more distant Provinces also and that by their unanimous and harmonious consent Decrees had past there as well concerning Religion as Discipline wherein a great part of those wicked Doctrines that are maintained by the Hereticks of these times are refuted and condemned which was to him indeed matter of great joy and gave him cause not to dislike that place wherein sate an Assembly so useful to the Christian World Now that it was removed from thence it was done without his knowledge and the news thereof brought to him before he suspected any such thing but that there was no doubt that the Council had power to do so and that therefore he did believe they had a lawful cause for doing it unless he were sure of the contrary and that thought some few had left the Council yet it was not therefore divided for what the greater part did was to be considered That moreover it was not translated into a Town which was either too far distant from Trent or unsafe and inconvenient for that the interval was not too great and then it was a place highly commended both for the wholsomness of the Air and also for plenty of all Provisions and good Accommodation and Lodging That that City as being under the Jurisdiction of the Church ought not to seem the more unsafe to Germany which had received long ago not only the Christian Faith and Religion from the Church but many other Monuments also of Bounty and Liberality That besides it was to be considered that the Neighbouring Princes and People were under the Emperour's Jurisdiction That though this was the case yet he was not much concerned in what place chiefly the Council should be held but that if any other place were chosen by the common consent of the Fathers he should not oppose it provided the Fathers might have their freedom and be under no constraint there That the reason that was urged why they desired and wished them to return to Trent was that the Germans might come to the Council more willingly That he commended indeed this desire and endeavour of theirs nor doubted he but that for their parts they were not very anxious about the place but that they might know by the Letter of the Fathers at Bolonia what sort of Obstacles they were that lay in the way That the reason why he was so slow in answering them was that not long after he had received their Letter the Cardinal of Trent came to him from the Emperour and that seeing the Demands which both he and the Embassadour Mendoza made to him jump'd exactly with their Letter he did not think fit to answer them till he had first answered the Emperour That since they had treated that Affair with him not only privately but also publickly and often in the Consistory of the Cardinals he had by an Express sent and consulted the Fathers assembled at Bolonia and afterwards communicated their Answer to Mendoza when the Cardinal of Trent was gone a Copy of which Answer he now sent them that they might see what was first to be done before there could be any thought of returning That therefore he prayed them to have regard to the Peace of the Church and come to Bolonia with the rest either in Person or send their Proxies thither to continue the Council or if the place should not seem so fit that they should there debate the matter with the rest of the Fathers That now in the close of their Letter they hinted that it was to be feared lest if he neglected his duty other courses would be taken he was not at all moved thereat seeing he had omitted no duty in that Station and Dignity wherein God Almighty had placed him as in a Watch-Tower to take care of the whole Flock but especially of those who had gone astray from the rest That seeing nothing was wanting to him then and that it was publickly known how much he tendered the Welfare of Germany he was the less apprehensive of any Accident but rested satisfied in the Conscience of his own Integrity and honest Endeavours That as for themselves and the Emperour of whose Constancy and Sincerity there was no doubt to be made he thought
Cardinals therewith and in name of the whole Empire to demand the continuation of the Council at Trent He ordered Mendoza also to do the same but the Pope took time to consider of it and having thought fit to consult you about the matter obtained from you a dubious crafty and captious Answer Besides he answers the Emperour oddly and shews sufficiently by his tergiversation that he is little concerned for the Publick for the cause of the removal ought to have been proved by credible Witnesses The Emperour King Ferdinand and the Princes by Letters and most ample Embassies declared what the mind of the States was concerning the Council but the Pope believed and preferred the Report of some mean and base People before the Testimony of all these How many tedious and irksome Journeys hath the Emperour made upon the account of the Council What Charges and Expences hath he been at And must all these be lost For most weighty and necessary causes was the Council both called and begun at Trent the Emperour and Germans demanding it and all other Christian Princes consenting thereunto so that unless the publick Authority of all States intervene it cannot be translated to another place for indeed there was no cause for the Translation only something invented for an excuse as some slight Feaver and badness of Air forsooth and for that purpose some Physicians were suborned but chiefly Serving-Maids and Cooks Now what a trifling cause that was the thing it self and the event declared You say that you went away without the Pope's knowledge and advice but the Letter he wrote to you and the Answer he gave the Emperour imply the quite contrary Certainly you ought not to have departed nor changed the place but with consent of the Emperour to whom it belongs to protect all Councils but you posted away in so much haste that ye rejected the Opinion of those who said that the Emperour and Pope ought first to be consulted Now if you must needs have been removing ye ought to have observed at least the Decrees of the Holy Councils and remained within the bounds of Germany that the Germans for whose cause chiefly the Council was called might safely come to it but now ye have chosen Bolonia a Town seated in the heart of Italy and under the Jurisdiction of the Church of Rome whither it is certain the Germans will not come and therefore have you chosen it that to the great prejudice and disgrace of Christendom the Council may be either dissolved or managed at your pleasure The Emperour therefore requireth and that most earnestly that you return to that place which pleased all before especially since all things are now safe and quiet and no more cause of any fear remains But if this you refuse I do here in the name and by command of the Emperour protest against this Translation of the Council as frivolous and unlawful and that all that has been done or shall be done therein is of no force nor effect I also publickly declare That that Answer of yours is silly and full of Lyes and that the prejudice and inconveniences which hereafter shall ensue to the Publick are not to be imputed to the Emperour but to you affirming withal that you have no Power nor Authority to remove the Council And because you neglect the publick Welfare the Emperour as Protector of the Church will take the care of that upon himself in so far as it is lawful for him by Law and the Canons of Holy Church When he had read over that Protestation he delivered a written Copy of it and desired it to be entered upon Record With that the Cardinal de Monte having highly commended the pious intentions of the Fathers called God to witness that they had wrong done them saying They were ready to suffer death rather than that such a practice should be brought into the Church that the Civil Magistrate might call or controul a Council when and how he pleased That the Emperour was indeed a Son of the Church but not the Lord and Master That he and his Colleagues were the Legates of the Apostolick See and did not refuse even then to render first to God and then to the Pope an account of their Commission That after all within a few days they should have an Answer to their Protestation Much about the same time Mendoza having received Instructions from the Emperour made a Protestantion to the same effect at Rome before the Pope and Colledge of Cardinals and in presence of all the Forreign Embassadours whom according to his Instructions he had invited to be Witnesses of it THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION OF THE CHURCH BOOK XX. THE CONTENTS In the beginning it is hotly disputed whether Prussia belong to the King of Poland or rather to the Empire The Pope makes a large Answer to the Harangue that Mendoza made before The Emperour being informed of that and seeing but very little hopes of a Council causes the Book which is called the Interim to be made The Protector of England in a very long Letter to the Scots counsels them to Peace and demands their Queen Vogelsberg is beheaded The Emperour invests Duke Maurice in the Electorship which he had bestowed upon him in the Camp before Wittemberg Bucer refuses to subscribe to the Interim The Pope also publishes a Censure of it which many of the Electors and Princes also did and many refuse it though it was published by the Emperour The Duke of Saxony though a Prisoner with great magnanimity rejects it The Landgrave by Letters which were published from the Emperours Court seems to approve it that he may obtain his freedom Whil'st the Mass is abolished in England by Act of Parliament the free Towns of Germany are solicited to accept of the Interim and especially Strasburg which is pressed by Threats to do it WE have shewn in the former Books that Marquess Albert of Brandenburg did Homage to the King of Poland and altered the Government of Prussia for which he was Outlaw'd by the Imperial Chamber As also that the King of Poland had several times solicited the Emperour and rest of the States in the Publick Diets to reverse that Outlawry because he was his Vassal and under his Protection But since to this day nothing could be obtained and that by this Victory of the Emperours some greater danger seemed to be threatned the King of Poland sends an Embassy to this Diet whereof the chief was Stanislaus Alaski He in the month of January delivered to the Emperour and Colledge of the Princes a Speech in Writing whereof the substance was That the Cause of Prussia had been some times already debated but because it had been always put off to other Diets he was commanded to open it again that the King was in good hopes because of the civil Answers he had often received from them and of the equity of his Cause they would Consider his Affair yet not as
this Sacrifice wherein we commemorate the Death of Christ the memory of the Saints is to be celebrated that they may intercede with God the Father for us and help us by their Merits That we must also remember the Dead and pray to God for them In the next place it is enjoyned that all the antient Ceremonies which are commonly used in Baptism Exorcism Abrenunciation Confession of Faith and Chrism be retained and that nothing be changed neither in the Ceremonies used at Mass That in every Town and every Church two Masses a day at least be said but in Country Parishes and Villages one especially on Holy-days That nothing at all be altered in the Canon of the Mass and that all the rest be observed according to antient command but that if any thing have crept in which may give occasion to Superstition it be taken away That Vestments Ornaments Vessels Crosses Altars Candles and Images be still kept as certain Monuments That the usual Prayers and that holy singing of Psalms be not taken away and where they are taken away that they be restored That the Obsequies and Funerals of the Dead be performed after the manner of the antient Church and that the Saints Holy-Days and those others also wherein Prayers are appointed to be said be observed That on Easter Eve and Whitsunday Eve the Water in the Font be Consecrated That for subduing Lusts and exhorting the Mind to the duties of Piety on certain days men abstain from eating of Flesh and fast That lastly though it were to be wished that there might be found many Ministers of the Church who would live chastly nevertheless since many up and down have Wives whom they would not turn away And that that cannot without great troubles now be altered a Decree of Council concerning that be expected That the same course be held with those who receive the Sacrament in both kinds yet so still as that they censure not those who do otherwis for that the whole Body and Blood of Christ is contained under either kind After this manner the Book was indeed published as you shall hear hereafter but it was not so compiled at first For it was often Reviewed and Corrected as has been said and the Copy which was shew'd to Bucer was somewhat foster After it had been for a long time then tossed to and again amongst the States privately it was also sent to Rome For though all the Points of Popery in a manner were established in it yet because some things were granted to their Adversaries it was thought fit first to consult the Pope about it His Holiness afterward sent the Emperour by Cardinal Sfondrato some Animadversions thereupon which were these That a Priest in Orders should marry a Wife and still execute his Priestly Office was never heard of That the Custom of receiving the Sacrament in both kinds was abrogated and in those two things no man had power to dispense but the Pope and Council That the Followers of the Old Religion were not to be astricted to these Positions but that if there were any Lutherans that would forsake their new Opinions they were not to be rejected That the singing of Psalms ought to be restored in all places that on Holy-days the Commemoration of the Patron of every Church was to be Celebrated That they who are now or shall hereafter be Priests must abstain from Marriage That a speedy restitution must be made of Church-goods and Jurisdictions for seeing the Robbery and Invasion was manifest the usual forms of Process were not to be observed but as in a self-evident Case it was to be done by an high Hand and Imperial Authority This Censure being interposed the Electors of Mentz Treves and Cologne to whom it was communicated answer the Emperour in the very same manner urge chiefly Restitution and conclude it to be absolutely necessary if the Christian Religion ought to be preserved and recovered again in those places where it was abolished and that peace also could no other ways be setled That therefore care was to be taken in the first place that Churches and Religious Houses should be compleatly restored And that because the Usurpation and Robbery was manifest it was to be done brevi manu that the Worship of God might with all expedition be restored Finally they prayed his Majesty to take these things in good part and defend the Members of the Church by his Power and Protection But the other three Electors were not of that Opinion chiefly the Prince Palatine and Duke Maurice However they had both very good cause not to stand too stifly to it with the Emperour The rest of the Princes who were for the most part Bishops answered in the same manner as the Elector of Mentz and his Colleagues had done and as for the free Towns no great account was made of them Wherefore on the fifteenth of May the Emperour called all the States before him and having premised a few Things of his Love and Affection towards Germany I have found by manifest and clear Arguments said he and the thing it self speaks it that no Peace can be had nor Justice done before an end be made of that Controversie about Religion which now for many years hath caused various Quarrels and Animosities much Hatred Dissension and War in the Empire This hath been the cause why in frequent Dyets and by several Conferences I often sought for a Cure But in the mean time the Contagion not only over-spread all Germany but infected also other Christian People so that no presenter remedy could be thought on than the calling of a General Council This at your earnest solicitation I procured after much ado to be called at Trent and in like manner advised you at the opening of this Dyet that you would submit to the Authority thereof and leave it to my care in the mean time to find out some pious Expedient whereby Germany might live in peace and indeed your compliance therein and confidence in me was then and is still very acceptable unto me Being then wholly intent upon so necessary a Design and having demanded your Opinions to my great grief and sorrow I found that difference in Religion had not only been the cause all our past Evils but unless prevented would be so also for the future And therefore I thought it not good to leave things in that troublesome state until a Decree should be past in Council but to bring them to some moderation and the rather for that new Sects did here and there spring up Whilst I was pondering these things some Persons of eminent Rank and Quality Friends to Peace and Lovers of the Publick presented to me their thoughts of Religion drawn up in writing and promised to observe them Now so soon as that Writing was put into my Hands I referred it to some good and learned Divines to peruse it diligently and examine the Contents thereof When they had consider'd it they
made me this Report That if rightly understood it was not inconsistent to the Catholick Religion nor with the Doctrines Canons and Constitutions of the Church except only in two Points the one concerning the Marriage of Priests and the other touching the Lords Supper But that it was a proper Expedient in its kind for establishing the Peace of Germany the thing I most wish for For what would be more agreeable than to see all the States unanimous in following one and the same form of Religion Which being so I require those who have hitherto to their praise observed the Laws and Rites of the Catholick Church that they continue in the same without wavering or starting of any Innovations as they have heretofore promised unto me and I earnestly desire those who have changed their Religion that they would either come over to the rest of the States and joyn with them in the Profession of the same Religion or moderate their Doctrine according to the Prescript of this Book and in every Point make it their Pattern Nor would I have them alter or add any thing to it but contain themselves within the limitation therein prescribed and neither in their Writings nor Sermons publish or vent any thing to the contrary but obediently expect the Decree of the Council which I shall endeavour shall be called as soon as possibly may be In the mean time it is my whole care that a Form of regulation be conceived for reformation of the Clergy When he had thus spoken by the Mouth of his Secretary as the Custom is he commanded the Book to be read So soon as that was done the Archbishop of Mentz who has the first place amongst the Electors without consulting the rest of the States started up and as in name of the whole Dyet gave the Emperour most hearty thanks for the great labour and pains he had been at for his care and diligence and for the zeal and affection he had for his Country And that seeing they had formerly referred the Matter to his prudent and faithful management and that now he had laboured to bring it to effect It was but just and reasonable said he that with most thankful hearts they should acknowledge so great favours and dutifully submit to the Decree The Emperour took the thanks for a publick consent and confirmation nor would he afterwards admit of any excuse as shall be said hereafter and commanded the Book to be printed both in Latin and in the Vulgar Tongue Four days after he represented to the States the great labour and charges he had been at in restoring Peace to Germany And that because the thing it self required that the same should be secured for the future it therefore seemed to him very necessary that some considerable sum of Money should be raised and in certain places kept in a publick Bank that if any Commotions should happen to arise within or without the Empire there must be a remedy ready at hand Some few days after that King Ferdinand also represented to the States that for necessary causes and considerations which were not unknown to them and needed not to be related he had by his Ambassadour made a Truce with the Turks for five years which had begun the year before And that though the Turk had charged his Subjects that they should act nothing to the contrary yet he nevertheless desired that they would contribute the Aids which they had promised before that if he should chance to break the truce he might be in a condition to make head against him That besides since the Turk fortified his frontier places with strong Garisons it concerned him not to be negligent And that therefore he had resolved to fortifie all proper places and keep Garisons in them But that because of the great charges he had been at in the late Wars he was not able long to support so great a burden That therefore he entreated them that they would give him a yearly Subsidie for those uses during the continuance of the truce For that that concerned the quiet and safety of them all in general In the mean time Maximilian the Son of King Ferdinand went from Ausburg to Spain to celebrate his Marriage with the Lady Mary the Emperours eldest Daughter and his own first Cousin The Cardinal of Trent was sent with him and the Duke of Alva went some Months before about the later end of May. The Neapolitan Horse who had before quartered in Nortgow came into the Country about Strasburg and continued almost three Months there behaving themselves with incredible insolence They came now and then into the Town which created no small suspition Duke Maurice not long after the publication of the Emperours Decree departed But Marquess John of Brandenburg Brother to the Elector Joachim waited upon the Emperour and in presence of King Ferdinand humbly begg'd that he would spare him as to that Decree and having taken a little notice of the services he had rendered him told him that it was chiefly the confidence he had in the Emperours promise concerning the free exercise of his Religion that made him serve in the late Wars The Emperour made answer That the Decree was made with the consent of the States of the Empire and therefore not to be dispensed with He on the other hand cryed that all had not assented nor could he with a good Conscience approve that Decree and challenged the Emperours Word and Promise When the Emperour perceived there was nothing to be done with him he bad him be gone and it was thought he did so that by his Example or Discourse he might not confirm the minds of others Wherefore the same day towards the Evening he set out on his Journy homewards and made no alteration in all his Country His Brother the Elector who had made it always his study to please the Emperour shew'd no resistance Nor the Elector Palatine neither who otherwise was not much in favour at that time with the Emperour When the Decree was put to the Deputies of the Cities that were of the Augustane Confession they prayed that they might have leave to consult their Principals about the Matter that afterwards they might answer according to their minds which was granted them Wolfgang Duke of Deux-ponts of the House Palatine had his Deputies there but the Emperour commanded him to come before him in Person which being done he pressed him to approve the Decree He made Answer That he knew no other Religion but that wherein he had been born and bred to that very day wherefore he prayed his Majesty to have some Consideration for him promising to do therein whatever he could with a safe Conscience At that time the Emperour did indeed dismiss him but plied him sharply afterwards by Messengers and Letters as shall be said in its proper place Whil'st the Senate and Council of Ausburg are consulting the Emperour posts Soldiers
humbly beg forgiveness and promise amendment This Formulary being read over as I said before was by the Bishops after some deliberation approved and they promised to call Synods within a little time after they were returned home Nevertheless they desired that the Pope might be moved to give his assent to some things in it This Book was Printed also afterward Mention was made before that the Deputies of the Cities sent home to consult their Principals about the Decree But when the Strasburghers who were the chief were a little backward in answering the Emperour orders Granvell to press them to it He therefore June the Twenty eighth sends for the Deputies of whom James Sturmey was the Principal and speaking to them by Henry Hasen who then was his Interpreter he told them that they themselves knew how the States had begg'd of the Emperour and referred it to his care to devise some Expedient that might be observed till the sitting of the Council That he had done it and that a Form was drawn up by good and Learned Men which all the Princes except some few and the chief Cities had approved Now seeing they and some others had besought the Emperour that they might have leave to consult their Principals which he granted and in the mean time waited for their Answer he took it ill that hitherto they had made him none and that therefore he had commanded him to learn what their mind was When the Deputies had told the reason of their Silence they produce a Letter directed to the Emperour from the Senate wherein they tell his Majesty That they desired nothing more than to be able to gratifie him in all things but that they and all their Citizens were fully persuaded that if they should at all admit of that Decree they should wound their own Consciences grievously offend God and endanger their own salvation That since he in his own Wisdom knew how heinous a thing that was they begg'd for Christs sake that in so nice a point which concerned not Lands nor Goods but the salvation of their Souls and Eternal Happiness he would have some regard to them and as he allowed others of a different Persuasion the free use of their Religion so he would suffer them to enjoy that of the Augustane Confession until a Decree should pass in Council as it had been often enacted in Dyets and that he would not compel them to say with their Mouth what their Heart did not think That they again on their parts should take all imaginable care that nothing should be done tumultuously or irreligiously in their City that no wicked and pernicious Principles or Doctrines should be suffered among them nor no cause of Complaint given to their Neighbours When Granvell had heard the Letter read he told them that the Emperour had always had a good opinion of their City and that since all generally commended and approved the Decree they must not expect to be exempted for they had Orders to admit of no such Answer that it was in vain then to Petition but that they should tell positively what the Resolution of the Senate was To which they Reply That when the matter was referred to the Emperour they and the other Deputies had always understood it of the Civil but not Religious Concerns that they thought the last had been referred to a Council where upon hearing of the Parties the Controversie should be decided but that in this Book almost all the Points of Doctrine in dispute were determined that if they should now receive them without any previous Disquisition or the Learned Men of their Party being heard they would no longer remain Controverted nor stand in need of the Authority of a Coucncil That it was no wonder that most part of the Princes and States approved the Decree since it was for their own advantage all being left whole and entire to them but a manner of Religion prescribed to the Protestants and commands laid upon them to forsake those Doctrines that had been always disputed without so much as a hearing whereas nevertheless in all the Dyets the whole Cause was referred to a Council That to force any Man to act contrary to his own Conscience though it were erroneous was a very grievous thing unless the Errour were first made appear That they believed there were a great many good Men on both sides that nevertheless differed among themselves in Judgment and Opinion That no constraint ought to be put upon such but that they should be convinced by Reason Truth and Arguments That since then in all Matters not relating to Religion they were ready to give unto Caesar the things that were Caesars they prayed him to recommend to his Imperial Majesty these humble Demands of the Senate That they were not ignorant of the Emperours great power nor of the danger they now incurred if he should think fit to make use of force That therefore if they were not fully persuaded that by the approbation of this Decree God was greatly offended it would be the greatest madness in the world not to comply with the Emperour Here again Granvell having repeated what he had said before told them that they themselves when they were received again into the Emperours favour had promised to observe what he should appoint for the welfare of the Empire That of this nature was the Decree made with the Counsel and Advice of Learned Men and by the greater part approved That therefore it could not be refused because it was consonant to the Doctrine of the Church Did they arrogate so much to themselves as to think they saw more than the Universal Church that they should make a separation from the rest That it was not lawful for them to change Religion without the common consent of the whole World. That therefore if they had no other Instructions they should inform themselves from their Senate whether they intended to obey or not That as to what they alledged that they had only understood it of Civil Affairs when the Matter was referred to the Emperour it was no matter how they understood it but how the major part of the States did The Deputies again represent that they and the rest of the Deputies of their State had in a manner been excluded from all Deliberations nay and that they had not been then consulted when the matter was referred to the Emperour so that they had understood it no otherwise than as they told him Yea and that some Princes had also understood it so for that when they made their peace with the Emperour they would not promise absolute obedience for fear it might be some time or other extended to Religion that his own Son the Bishop of Arras knew this to be true who then promised in the Emperours Name that the whole Cause of Religion should be referred to a Lawful Council That whereas he said that Decree ought to be received as
a Dalmatian Bishop of Waradin Cardinal He was a Man of great Authority in Hungary and commonly called Monk because he was of the Order of Paul the first Hermit It has been declared before that the French Ambassador was ordered to attend on the eleventh of October to receive his answer provided the King owned the Council but he came not and nevertheless in name of the Council a Letter to the King was published And first they tell him that for many Reasons they had expected every thing that was good and great at his hands but that upon the coming of his Ambassdor and reading of his Letter it was a great Grief to them to find themselves frustrated of their hopes and that nevertheless since they were not conscious to themselves of any wrong they had done nor of any cause of offence that they had given they had not as yet wholly laid aside the hopes they formerly conceived of him that the Opinion he entertained then as if the Council had been called for the particular interest and advantage of some few ought least of all to take place in that so great an Assembly That the Causes of calling the Council were published not only by the present Pope but also by his Predecessor Paul III. to wit that Heresies might be rooted out that Discipline might be reformed and that the Peace of the Church might be restored Was not that manifest enough Could there any thing be done more Piously or Christianly That Heresies did now spread not only over Germany but in some manner over all Provinces that the Council would apply a Remedy to this great evil that this was the ground and this also the end of all their Deliberations and that all they did aimed only at that that therefore he would suffer the Bishops within his Dominions to come and assist in carrying on so holy a Work that he had no cause to fear but that they should have liberty to speak freely what they thought that with much patience and attention his Ambassador had been lately heard though his Message had not been so very pleasant and that since a private person had been heard with so much mildness and favour why should any Man believe that that would be denied to publick persons and Men of such Dignity too That notwithstanding though he should not send one single person yet both the Authority and Dignity of the Council would subsist as being both lawfully called at first and for just Causes now again restored but that as to what he intimated of using Remedies such as his Ancestors had made use of they did not think that he would ever proceed so far as to revive those things which have heretofore been abolished to the great advantage of the Kings of France And that seeing God had blessed him with so many benefits and favours they could not but hope that he would not do any thing whereby he might seem unthankful to God or to holy Mother Church That he should only look back upon his Progenitors upon his own Title of Most Christian King and in a word upon his Father King Francis who honoured the former Council by the Ambassadors and most learned Bishops whom he sent to it that he should imitate that late and domestick Example and sacrifice private Offences to the publick Good. The Emperour and Pope had exhorted the Switzers to come to the Council but it was in vain And the Pope as we said before made use of the Ministery of Jerom Francâ his Nuncio there to bring that about But the French King sent Instructions to the Ambassador La Morliere who resided in those places that he should endeavour to persuade them all not to send any person to it La Morliere finding that to be a difficult task sent for Vergerio an expert Man in those Affairs to come to him from amongst the Grisons who supplied him with Arguments and a little after published a Book against repairing to the Council La Moliere thus provided came to the Convention at Baden and there alledging his Reasons he persuaded not only those who long before had shaken off Popery but also all the other Cantons to what he desired of them so that none came from them to Trent From the Grisons came by Orders from the Pope Thomas Plant Bishop of Coyre but when the Grisons understood from Vergerio what the Pope was driving at that is by his means to recover his Authority over them he was recalled The Spaniards who Quartered here and there in the Country of Wirtemburg were about this time called out by the Emperour and sent into Italy because of the War of Parma By their departure the whole Province was relieved from a very heavy Bondage under which it had groaned for almost five whole years only the Castle of Achsperg the Emperour still retained with a Garison of Germans in it About the same time also Henry Hasen at the Emperour's Command went over Schwabia and in all places changed the State of the Government putting in new Senators as had been done three years before at Ausburg He turned out also all Preachers and School-masters as had been done lately at Ausburg unless they would obey the Decree about Religion That Duke Maurice and the Duke of Wirtemberg had ordered the Heads of Doctrine to be drawn up which should afterwards be exhibited and that the Senate of Strasburg joyned with them also in that design it hath been said before The Duke of Wirtemburg therefore sent two Ambassadors John Theodorick Plenninger and John Heclin with Instructions publickly to produce that written Confession of Doctrine and to acquaint the Council That Divines would come to treat of it more at large and to defend the same provided they might have a safe Conduct granted them according to the form of that of Basil So soon as they arrived at Trent which was about the later end of October they waited upon Count Montfort shew him their Commission and Credential Letters and acquainted him that they had some things to pâopose in Council in their Princes Name His Discourse seemed to insinuate that it behoved them to apply themselves to the Pope's Legate But they perceiving that if they should have any Communication with him it would be construed as if they owned him to have the chief Right and Authority in judging which would be a prejudice and great disadvantage to their Cause did not go to him but gave their Prince an account of what they had done and expected new Orders from him how to behave themselves In the mean time the Divines were employed after their usual manner in examining and discussing the Points we mentioned of Penance and Extream Unction November the third Count Heideck came from Duke Maurice to Magdeburg and having called out the Officers of the Garison to a Castle hard by the City he fully concluded a Peace and thereupon drew up and signed Articles wherein
to the amazement of many who had read his Books before The Soldiers as well they who besieged Magdeburg as the Garison that held it out had their Winter Quarters in Thuringe and the adjoyning Places and did much damage especially to the Churchmen and among those also to the Archbishop of Mentz whose frontiers reached so far The Electors of Mentz Treves and Cologne being moved thereat the first because of the damage he received and the other two for that they feared it might be their own case next resolved to return home and accordingly made the Emperour acquainted with it by Messengers and Letters But the Emperour who earnestly desired that the Council might be continued thus answered them on the Third of January I received says he your Letters of the One and twentieth of December and because I sent Orders to Don Francisco de Toledo to discourse you concerning the Affairs you wrote to me about and then because the Bishop of Arras had in my Name imparted several things of that nature to your Agent here I thought you had been satisfied But since I hear that because of an unwelcome report now spread abroad you are resolving to return home I thought fit to advise you in Writing that you would not lightly give credit to every thing that is told you For though there has been a rumour now for some time of some hidden designs in Hesse as if it were to be feared there might be an Insurrection there yet I am informed that if there be any such thing it is but the attempt of a few which the greater part dislike so that it is more credible that they themselves will reflect not only upon the Oath and Promises whereby they have bound themselves to me but also upon the Duty they owe both to me and the Publick and not run themselves into so great danger upon any uncertain hopes Besides having by Messengers diligently enquired of the Neighbouring Princes States and Cities how things went and if any new attempts were on foot I have found that all were dutiful and obedient for indeed I have given no Man any cause of offence There has been a great talk for sometime past of Duke Maurice also arising perhaps from hence that he formerly commanded the Forces which getting together into a Body after the surrender of Magdeburg had done hurt in some places but he hath lately both by Letters and Ambassadours assured me of his fidelity nay he has at this present two Ambassadours here who will set out to morrow for Trent to come to the Council He hath signified to me besides that for some weighty and important Affairs he is preparing to come unto me and I have certain intelligence that to day or to morrow at farthest he will set out from Magdeburg upon his Journy hither In short he makes me such fair and ample promises of his Duty and Allegiance that I ought not to look for any thing from him but what is just and honourable if there be any faith amongst Men. And seeing he is a true German by Birth and Extraction I cannot be induced to think that he can hatch such sinistrous Designs and Counsels As to the Forces complaints have indeed been brought me from many hands and some States are apprehensive that they may remove their Camp and do more mischief but after that I came to understand that they kept together in Bodies and used violence for want of their pay I sent Messengers and Officers with a strict charge to use all their endeavours and by any means raise Money to pay them off nor is that all for I have written also to Duke Maurice and past my word and promise for what Money might be owing provided the Soldiers were disbanded and this I did not that I was obliged to it but because I wish the quiet of Germany above all things I now therefore expect hourly that it should be done and make no doubt but that they being fairly dismissed all this stir and busle will be over But if the Soldiers having received their pay be not disbanded then will it easily appear that some under-hand designs are on foot and then also will it be fit to take other measures such as I have already in my heaâ Now as to the other frequent but uncertain and almost contradictory Reports that are brought unto me it is my opinion that they are in a great part devised by our Enemies and according to their wonted levity dispersed among the People with design to disturb the Council and Peace of Germany But I trust that by Gods Blessing these Clandestine Counsels and Contrivances will at length be brought to light and meet with the success they deserve For now that Magdeburg is surrendered all are still and quiet Germany and all the Princes and States behave themselves so lovingly and obediently towards me that I cannot indeed devise what excuse or pretext can possibly be invented to colour any new sâirs I am not however ignorant but that circumspection is to be used and that at this time when there are such Commotions in Foreign Nations the least suspicion of danger is not to be neglected Again I am neither so unadvised nor negligent as to be deaf to the Reports that are brought unto me for I have Spies in all places that enquire into every thing and in that I spare neither cost nor labour Nevertheless that upon every light report the whole State should streight be alarmed you in your wisdom know how silly and unadvised a thing it would be Now that you should leave the Council unless in case of extream necessity I can in no ways approve for since very much dependeth on your presence it is to be âeared lest by your departure not only the Council may be dispersed but also a fatal blow given to Religion wherein both the salvation of Mankind in general and your own private Fortuens consist Which being so I earnestly desire you my Lords of Mentz and Treves that you would alter your resolution and not think of going as yet and you my Lord of Cologne who seem not to be in so great haste continue in the same mind I pray you In general I exhort you all that since you hold the chief place among the States of the Empire you would help one another with Aid and Counsel and entertain Brotherly Love and Kindness amongst your selves In the mean time it shall be my care to watch for the Publick and as far as I am able either by parts or power to endeavour timely to quench any fire that may break out that Civil Broils being over and strength increasing at home we may be in a better condition to resist a Foreign War and that you may have leisure all things being quiet and peaceable within your Jurisdictions to mind the affairs of Religion and Christianity After all though I would advise you to give Orders to the Counsellors and Officers that
to him that they who were Parties whether Plaintiff or Defendant should take to themselves the power of Judging Again That it was a Decree of the Diet at Ausburg that the Council should be continued and all things carried on in a right and pious manner that their Prince had always understood it so that what had been done in the Council in former years ought not to have the force of Laws but that all things should be reviewed again from the beginning for what Law or Justice would it be when two are at Law that one of the Parties absent upon a lawful ground should be obliged to ratify and approve the Sentence pronounced in his absence Besides since not only in the former Council but in this also there had been many Decrees made contrary to holy Scripture and many ancient Errors also confirmed as might be demonstrated the Prince demanded that they should be of no authority but all submitted again to a fair and lawful Tryal And all these Heads he gave in in Writing with the confession of Doctrine Having done so their Answer was That the Fathers would in due time tell them their thoughts as to the matter and so they were dismissed The same day towards the Evening the Ambassadours of Duke Maurice were sent for to have Audience in the same place When they were come they delivered their Masters Demands in the long Speech to the same purpose as they had lately done to the Emperours Ambassadours but that it was more pithy in the close where they boggled not to say That the Worship and Service commonly performed in Papist-Churches was not the true Religion but a painted shadow of Devotion Having done speaking they delivered in the same Speech in Writing to the Clerk I mentioned and they had an Answer in the same terms as those of Wirtemberg had before Amongst other things it vexed them exceedingly as was known afterwards that their Religion had been called by so base and contemptible a name The Ambassadours purposed to have delivered their Commission in a publick Session but to avoid that which they knew would have been done the Fathers gave them a private Audience for either they must have done so or have left all to a publick Debate They had brought with them indeed the Confession of Faith that was drawn up as I said by Melanchton but for what cause I cannot tell they produced it not The day following which was the Twenty fifth of January the publick Session was held and the Legate went to Church in the pomp we mentioned before There was a greater number of Soldiers then and a greater confluence of People from several places expecting great matters should be done that day After Mass and all the Ceremonies were over it was publickly read from the Pulpit That for the sake of the Protestants all matters were put off to the Nineteenth day of March by which day they were to be present to propound what they had to say that the Council did condescend to that out of kindness to them hopeing that they came not obstinately to oppugne the Catholick Faith but with a desire to learn the Truth and at length to submit and obey the Decrees and Discipline of the Church that a safe Conduct had also been granted them in a more ample manner that nothing at all might be wanting and then that the Sacrament of Matrimony was to be handled in the next Session Three days after when nothing appeared the Ambassadours of Duke Maurice dineing with Don Francisco de Toledo desired a sight of the safe Conduct that had been promised He gave them a civil answer but when three days more were past the Deputy of Strasburg at the desire of the rest went to Poictieres and complained that now in six days time they had received nothing that there had been delay long enough before because the safe Conduct was not full enough and that now again time was protracted but that the Divines would not come before their Masters were satisfied with the safe Conduct He made answer That it was not any fault of his and that he wondered why Don Francisco de Toledo who was chief of the Embassy deferred so much that he would presently go to him and made no doubt but that the matter would be dispatched the same day that he would send him word of what he learnt from him and so going out together he went to his Lodgings This was on the Thirtieth of January Some hours after all the Ambassadours are sent for to the Lodgings of Don Francisco de Toledo where Montfort also was present but Poictieres spoke and first makes an Apology for the delay that had been made enlarging much upon their own sincerity in the affair and the honourable Intentions of the Emperour their Master and then he urges them to hasten the coming of the Divines with all speed which they thought they must needs do having once received their safe Conduct At these words Don Francisco de Toledo arose and gave every one of them a Copy of the safe Conduct signed by the Clerks of the Council They withdrew to peruse it and found that the places which they had corrected before the Session were not altered wherefore they came back to them again and complain of that shewing them what it was they desired to have done in every Article of the same The Ambassadours of Duke Maurice also were willing to know of them what answer the Fathers made to their demands which those of Wirtemberg likewise desired Poictieres spoke again and as to the safe Conduct made answer That to demand liberty to be granted to their Divines to sit in Council and decide was done a little too early by them that if they were once present and engaged in business many things perhaps might be occasionally allowed them which now were refused that no Man was indeed against it but that the holy Scripture should be the Judge in all Controversies but that when any debate arose about the interpretation of Scripture who was more to be believed than a Council That Scripture was an inanimate and dumb thing as all other Political Laws also were but that the Judges Mouth must go along with it to make it to be understood and that that had been the custom ever since the Apostles days when any doubts arose That it was not indeed expresly granted to them that they should have the exercise of their Religion in their Houses but likewise that it was not forbidden that they had no reason to fear that any thing would be done in contempt or reproach of their Religion and Doctrine because severe Orders would be made to the contrary for that it was the Emperours will it should be so as the Fathers hated all sawcy and intemperate Language and that seeing they met for the sake of peace scurrilous and opprobrious Expressions would not be allowed in any manner They answer their demands much
determined For of the chief Points two only remained the Lords Supper and Marriage All the other Heads of Doctrine were already determined The Fathers of Basil decided all things by the holy Scriptures and the Writings which agreed with them But these would have it to belong only to them to interpret the Scriptures nor would they admit of that place of the Decree of Basil by the Ambassadours restored as we said before and changing the Words of the Decree determined that the Traditions also of the Apostles were to be followed in all doubtful and controverted Points and whensoever they wanted a Testimony of Scripture they bragg'd of Traditions handed down to them from the very Apostles as was oftner than once observed in the Disputations of the Divines And this also was the reason that when on the thirtieth of January the Protestant Deputies received the safe Conduct from the Imperial Ambassadours they declared That by Apostolical Traditions they only understood written Traditions of the Apostles which were subjoyned to the Second Part of the Bible the New Testament or the History of the four Evangelists We told you before that the first of May had been appointed the day of the next Session But Affairs being now in a desperate Case the Fathers that remained met and by reason of the Dissentions and Quarrels of Kings and Princes prorogued the Council for two years time and longer if Peace were not made This was done the twenty ninth day of April and by this time the Pope had agreed with the French King. Within a few days after the Emperours Ambassadours departed also But the Legate Crescentio was sick and stayed behind He being frightned by a Vision in the Night as it is said began both to be ill and to despair of Life notwithstanding all his Friends and Physicians could do to comfort him Nor was he mistaken in his Judgment For his Distemper increasing he died at Verona And this now was the end of the Council at this time which being with great hopes renewed thought of nothing less than of retrieving Popery and setting it shortly upon its Legs again There were present at it besides the Popes Legates and the Cardinal of Trent threescore and two Bishops and of these eight Germans five and twenty Spaniards two Sardinians four Sicilians one Hungarian the Bishop of Agria all the rest were Italians But of Divines there were forty two and of them nineteen Spaniards twelve Germans and Flemings I intended to have past in silence the occasion of the Legate Crescentio's Sickness because it was suspected to have been invented by some out of malice But seeing it hath been so reported by his Friends and Servants who waited upon him and sometimes comforted him on his Sick bed I thought sit to subjoyn it He had been very busie all day March the twenty fifth even till night in writing Letters to the Pope but then rising to refresh himself when his Work was over it seemed to him that a black Dog of extraordinary bigness with flaming Eyes and Ears reaching almost to the ground entred the Room and made streight towards him but afterwards slipt away under the Table When he came to himself again after the great fear and amazement that the sight struck him into he called in his Servants who were in the Outer-chamber and bid them bring a Candle and beat out the Dog But when no Dog could be found neither there nor in the next Chamber to it he became very pensive and so fell into Sickness as I said before It is reported also that upon his Death bed he many times cried out to those that were about him to beat off the Dog that clambered up upon the Bed. THE HISTORY OF THE Reformation of the Church BOOK XXIV The CONTENTS Duke Maurice publishes a Declaration to all the States of the Empire entreating them not to hinder his Design but that all assist and declare for him Much to the same purpose there was another Declaration published by Albert Marquess of Brandenburg The King of France also declares himself the Protector of the Liberty of Germany and of the Captive Princes and so marching into Lorrain seizes Metz. After that be marches as far as Strasburg and from thence went to Hagenaw whither many Ambassadors and Deputies came to him to desire him that he would abstain from wasting the Country and put a stop to his Army The King removes his Camp and leaving Germany retreats again to Lorrain Duke Maurice with his associates possesses the passes of the Alpes and forces the Emperor to fly who a little before had set the Duke of Saxony his Prisoner at liberty The Princes by Proclamation at Ausburg restore all the outed and banished Ministers Whilst Duke Maurice is at Passaw treating a Peace Albert of Brandenburg uses great Cruelty against those of Norimberg and forces them to accept of a Peace many things both by Letters and Agents represented to the Princes who treat about entring into a League and by certain conditions things are softened They of Siena revolt from the Emperor who comes to Strasburg on his march to besiege Metz. WE told you before that in the last Diet of Germany the conduct of the War with Magdeburg was by the unanimous consent of the Emperor and the other States committed to Duke Maurice This War lasted a Year in which time the Duke who had the chief command of the Forces began to think of a way of setting at liberty the Landgrave his Father-in-Law since all the intercession he had hitherto made to the Emperor for that purpose had proved ineffectual Having therefore forced the People of Catzenelbogen to swear Allegiance to him made Peace with Magdeburg and sent an Embassie to Inspruck as hath been fully related in the foregoing Book he entered into League with the French King which was confirmed by Hostages mutually given and both thought fit to publish a declaration of the causes of the War that they might thereby win the favour and good-will of many Albert Marquess of Brandenburg had a great hand in making this alliance who for that end went privately into France to treat with the King. In the mean time the Soldiers as well those who had besieged Magdeburg as the Garrison that held out the City had their Winter Quarters in Mulhausen and the places thereabouts and did much damage to those of Northhausen and Erford When the Emperor demanded the reason of this from Duke Maurice who had the chief Command in the War he was answered that the outrages they committed was for want of their Pay for this was the pretext he used when in reality they were listed in his Service and had been secretly sworn to their Colours And the better to perswade at the same time he sent his Ambassadors to Trent who were to pass by Inspruck to procure a safe conduct for the Divines that were to come and to propound some other things
in the Council then he ordered the Divines to follow who being advanced on their way as far as Norimberg there stayed for Letters from the Ambassadors we mentioned as hath been fully related in the preceding Book He sent before other Ambassadors also to the Emperor Christopher Carlebitz and Ulrick Mordeysen who were to stay for his coming upon the Frontiers of Bavaria being to use them in his Treaty and Negotiation Besides he ordered Lodgings to be taken for him at Inspruck and he himself set out and advanced some days Journey in the way but then stopt shoââ and making an excused by very kind ãâã which upon the roaâ he wrote to Inspââââ returned home Thus from ãâ¦ã time till in the very beginning of the Spring having timely recalled his Ministers he began to muster the Soldiers whom with great Secrecy he had raised in the Winter time and published his Declaration to all the States of the Empire to this purpose That there was nothing in this World so dear unto him as Peace and Concord but that the chief thing he wished for was agreement in Religion according to the Doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles that their Adversaries had indeed put them in hopes of that both privately and by publick decrees that however nothing had been performed and that they did not only interpret these Promises and Decrees in another sense now but wholly rescinded and abrogated them that they had not spared neither to tell some that unless they were obeyed no Man needed much to trust or rely upon former Promises for that when they were made the state of the times and affairs was different but that now all must obey or expect to suffer if they refuse That not satisfied with these Expressions which yet shewed a hostile Mind they had stirred up also foreign Kings against himself and other Princes of his Rank and Profession and invented many causes of hatred against them sometimes their Religion and sometimes other Crimes whereas the thing it self made it plain that Religion was least in their thoughts but that it hath been always their aim to make the difference in Religion a step to raise them to Dominion and Rule for that it was now obvious to all Men what arts and tricks they had used to overturn and destroy the true Religion which in former years was set forth and professed at Ausburg that in order thereunto they had banished the Preachers of the Gospel out of the Empire and without staying for the decree not to say of a lawful but even of a Popish Council had begun where they should have ended with Execution that therefore he was not to be blamed if by Wars he rescued himself and People from that slavery of Mind and Conscience But that seeing the Glory of God was concerned in that who alone was able to promote and defend his word he referred all to his divine Majesty heartily beseeching him that he would give him grace constantly to persevere in the true knowledge of him to his lifes end That there was another thing he intended to speak of and that related to the Landgrave his Father-in-Law that five years since he and Joachim Elector of Brandenburg had been in the Emperors name put in hopes that if the Landgrave could be perswaded to come and humbly beg the Emperor's Pardon the Emperor would demand no more of him than what was contained in the Articles of Peace accorded to but would graciously dismiss him that therefore they had prevailed with him by Letters to comply having bound themselves to the Sons Body for Body for the Father that they should submit to the same fortune that he underwent that so he had come with full assurance to Hall and made his humble submission to the Emperor then supped with the Duke of Alva and spent a good part of the Night pretty chearfully but that when he was about to return to his Inn he had been contrary to all expectation detained and committed to Custody wherein he had now for almost five whole Years languished in great Misery and that though his Sons the Nobility and People had ratified and approved the transaction though he himself the Elector of Brandenburg and Wolffgang Prince Palatine had engaged as sureties for him that unless he did perform his Conditions they would deliver him up into his Hands and that though according to the treaty of Pacification his Fine was payed the Artillery with all the Ammunition delivered the Castles and Forts demolished Duke Henry of Brunswick and his Son set at liberty and the Copy of the League and Confederacy exhibited so that no more indeed remained to be performed nevertheless neither the Prayers nor intercession of himself of the Elector of Brandenburg of his own Wife who died for grief of the People nor of other Princes could hitherto any way prevail That he had often made his application to the Emperor and because many entertained a sinistrous opinion of him had earnestly begg'd of his Majesty that he would have regard to his Honour and Reputation that he would be pleased to have respect to the good Offices that their Predecessors had rendered to his Ancestors and to what they themselves had deserved at his own and Brother King Ferdinands hands and in consideration thereof set him at liberty but that none of these Arguments could prevail with him nay that on the contrary he had compelled him being a Prisoner to answer Law-suits and against all Law and Justice especially in such difficult matters to plead his Cause under constraint not to mention how suspiciously and with how great precipitation the matter was managed a thing not before known or heard of in Germany that under that pretext of Law forsooth he might by degrees turn him and his Children out of all and reduce them to such streights that they might not be able to maintain their rank and quality for the future That it highly concerned him not to suffer this both for the near relation he had to the House of Hesse and the right he had to its Succession That this might seem strange indeed were it not now obvious to all Men that these kind of Arts tended mainly to the establishing of that Monarchy which for so many years had been a rearing That the third and chief thing he had to say concerned all Germans and their common and native Country Germany whose condition was certainly most sad and deplorable for that contrary to Laws and Treaties foreign Soldiers had been brought into the bowels of the Empire where they now after many years continuance began to take rooting devouring other Mens Goods and Estates both in City and Country and practising all kinds of filthy Lust that besides new ways of raising Money were invented and the ancient Liberty many ways imposed upon wherein no rank nor state no not the Electors themselves were spared That the Ambassadors of foreign Kings who grieve at these things and who tender the wellfare
parts of one and the same Empire under one Prince and governed by the same Laws but that when in the vicissitude of time the Empire devolved upon the Germans the Dukes of Saxony and other Emperors as deriving their Original from the Kings of the Francs entertained constant Friendship with the French insomuch that Philip the August King of France caused that ancient League which was almost worn out by time to be written of new in Golden Characters and to be laid up in a more Sacred place and not without just Cause neither for that so long as this Union lasted both People lived in a most flourishing State That the force of Germany was then so great that they gave Laws not only to the Hungarians Bohemians Polanders and Danes but to the Italians also and the Kings of France again who fought for the maintenance of Religion obtained many glorious Victories in Europe Asia and Africa over the Saracens and Turks the declared Enemies of Christendom But that the times proved more unlucky afterwards when some Emperors as being ingrafted upon the Stock but no natural Germans nor worthy of that Dignity forsook the amity of the Kings of France and brought great Calamities upon the Empire but that through God's Blessing this Wound was Healed by the Illustrious Family of Luxembourg which hath produced some Emperors Princes of great Merit and most intimate Friends of the Kings of France For the Father of Charles IV died fighting for the King of France that the Princes of the House of Austria have entertained the same Amity and Kindness and particularly Albert the first whom neither the Promises nor Threats of the Popes could move to make War against France that he mentioned these things with this Intent that they might be convinced how little some of the Counsellors and Courtiers of the most mighty Emperor Charles V. tendered the wellfare of the Empire whilst they make it their Business not only to divide and rend asunder those two most renowned Nations but also did by their Arts and Cunning so far prevail formerly that King Francis a most excellent Prince was by their Procurement judged an Enemy and no reason given why That they did those things for their own private Gain and Advantage indeed but to the great Prejudice of the Publick That this alone was enough to shew how difficult it would be for them so long as Friendship continued betwixt both Nations to infringe the Liberty of Germany and to erect their own Monarchy that the fear of the French Arms made them now proceed more remissly and not so much urge their Spanish Yoke of Bondage as formerly that these were the Men who by Prayers and Tribute obtained Peace from the Turk that they might under the Colour of Religion and Loyalty raise Feuds and Animosities in Germany that being aided by the Forces of Germany they might make War against Germany that they might squeeze Money from all and reduce the Empire to a sad and miserable Condition placing here and there Spanish Garrisons exhausting the Magazines and making way for Arbitrary Rule For that matters were now brought to this Pass that the great Seal of the Empire the Judicature of the Imperial Chamber and the right and liberty of Diets all depended on the Will and Pleasure of one Man the Bishop of Arrus For what instance could be shewn or reason given that free-born Germans who for a livelihood served Strangers in their Wars should be Punished Proscribed and have Princes set upon their Heads Not to mention so many Murthers lascivious Practices Devastations plunderings of Towns but especially the varying and altering of Religion according to occasion and the turn of Times That there was no doubt to be made but that whatever had been done of this nature for many Years past tended only to this that the Laws of the Empire being Confounded King Ferdinand either forced or wheedled by Promises and the Princes of the Empire over-awed the Prince of Spain might be designed Emperor Were not Death more eligible to brave Men than to live and see the Sun with so great Misery That no Man certainly could be imagined so Barbarous as not to be moved at these things That it ought not to be thought strange then that some Princes should at length arise and amongst others Duke Maurice Elector of Saxony who thought the danger of their Lives too little for recovering the liberty of their common Country But that finding themselves inferiour in Strength they had implored the Aid and Assistance of the King of France and that he setting aside all the Provocations received in former Years had not only imparted to them his Treasure but also employed himself wholly in the Affair having made a League with them wherein amongst other things it was provided that no Peace should be made with the Emperor without the Advice and Consent of the King Moreover that Duke Maurice though he lay under that Obligation yet that he might serve his Country and comply with the Desires of King Ferdinand had lately demanded of the most Christian King that he would let him know upon what terms he would be willing to make Peace That the Proposal had been made somewhat contrary to his Expectation indeed for considering what a great Favour he had done he thought that in matters concerning himself he ought to have Treated Personally and not at so great distance But that nevertheless since he preferred the publick far before his own private Interests he was not willing to deny any thing to a Confederate Prince That therefore if the Wounds of the State might be Healed as they ought to be and such Care taken that they might not for the future Fester again if the Captive Princes might be set at Liberty upon the Conditions prescribed by the League if the ancient Alliance betwixt France and the Empire and the League made lately with the Princes might be confirmed so as it should be perpetual if all these things might be procured the King was so well affected towards the Publick that he not only assented to the Treaty of Peace but would render hearty Thanks to God that by Counsel and Assistance he had contributed thereunto That as to private affairs since the Emperor detained many things by force and upon no just Cause had made War the King thought it reasonable that he who had first done the wrong should first also make the Satisfaction That for his part though he did not distrust his Strength yet he would so behave in all things that it should appear he was not only desirous of Peace but willing also to gratify Duke Maurice and them all To these things the Princes make answer that the Commemoration of the ancient Alliance betwixt Germany and France brought from the Records of former times had been very pleasant unto them nor was it less acceptable to understand that the King preferred the Publick before his own private Advantages and that he was willing
against him yet in the first of those Meetings we offered that if he would lay down his Arms and commit the case to the Determination of the Law with good Security we also would lay down our Arms and submit our Cause to the Arbitriment of the mediating Princes or to the Judgment of the Emperor and the States and the same Condition was tendered by the Bishops also by the Advice and Command of the Ambassadors of King Ferdinand The Council of the mediating Princes out of a desire of Peace proposed that if the Confederates in the Circle of Franconia would promise to restore him his Territories as they then were both sides should lay down their Arms and take new Securities for the future that then the Proscription should as to that part be âoid and the whole Controversy should be committed to a friendly and a legal Treaty But he in Contempt and Scorn called the Intercessors his Enemies Broakers and said he would not suffer himself to be reduced into such Streights that he did not desire the Outlawry should be reversed that he would hazard the loss of what was left and many other such like things using light and scurrilous Reflections mixed with Threats against all the Princes and States as may be shewn in his Letters Printed at Holansperg And in the next Congress though we offered him more advantageous terms yet he was never the more inclined to a Peace no his whole design then was to prevail against us by Frauds and Ambushes which deserved no great Commendation and are very unworthy of a Prince For at the request of the Mediators he promised to lay down his Arms and to referr the whole Case to the Emperor and some Princes This Compromise was accordingly confirmed by the Emperor's Letters of the fourth of April from Brussells wherein he commanded the States of Franconia to lay down their Arms and to commit the Affair to his Diligence and Faith but the close design which Albert had in this was as it appears by what followed to stop the Emperor's Proceedings for a time that the Execution of the Outlawry might not be committed to the other Provinces of the Empire also that in the mean time he might bring that Army he was then underhand Levying into the Field and oppress us before were aware But by the Blessing of God this Project was discovered his Letters about that time which he sent to his Captains who were dispersed here and there being Intercepted In which he said that he had submitted to the terms Proposed at Rotenburg that he might gain time and surprize his Enemies that if the Interceeding Princes should require them to disband they should not comply with them in it but should continue in a Body and upon no terms be separated and that by way of Excuse they should alledge there were many Months Pay due to them and that they could not disband till they had that Money but that they would remain where they were without doing any Injury till their Arrears were Payed To the same purpose also are his Letters to his Commanders to fall promiscuously and without distinction upon whomsoever they could When therefore his secret Treachery was thus discovered and his Ambassadors at Rotenburg would give ours no positive and certain Answer whether he would stand to the Arbitriment of the Emperor or no by the advice of the Ambassadors of Ferdinand we were forced as we say in our Letters sent then to the Emperor to commit our Cause to God the Emperor and Empire This being the true state of things any Man will hereby be able easily to understand that we are loaded with so many Reproaches Slanders and Miseries only because in Obedience to the Emperor and the Imperial Chamber which is our Supream Court we have endeavoured to repress his Violence and Fury And therefore we earnestly desire all those who love Vertue and Justice and hate Force and Injury that they would consider that if the Sentence given against him by the Imperial Chamber be not put in Execution and his Insolence humbled not only we but they too will thereby be equally in danger Let no Man therefore give him any Assistance Refuge or Protection but as it becomes Princes and the Lovers of their Country let them not only not hinder the Execution of the Decree but with all their might promote the Execution of it and in all things act so that others may by this Example be deterred And we beseech them not to give any Credit to his defamatory and slanderous Libels against us and that if he shall again enter into any Designs against us that then they would lend us their Help and Advice In the Month of May Albert having received the Money above-mentioned for the Ransom of Aumale went into Saxony and getting some forces together marched by unfrequented ways toward Schweinfurt and the tenth of June he entred the Town on that side it was not Besieged with eight hundred Horse and seven Foot Companies But finding the Town very much Impoverished the third day after he entred it he Plundered it and in the Night time drew out all the Soldiers as well Horse as Foot to the number of eighteen Companies together with the Cannon and leaving no Guards to secure the Gates he marched in the dead time of the Night to Kitzingen a Town seated a little lower upon the Mayn When the day broke and the Besiegers saw the Gates of the City without any to defend them they gave the Alaââ in the Camp and began to prepare to follow him but in the Interim many of the Soldiers and especially those that served under Henry Duke of Brunswick rushed into the Town and took and destroyed what the other had left So that the Princes and Commanders were forced to set Fire to the Town in several Places to compel their Soldiers to return to the Camp that Albert might not have time to escape whilst they were Plundering the Town Though Albert had the advantage of some hours in his March yet being retarded by the Cannon and other heavy Carriages he was easily overtaken and forced by the Van-Guard to make a stand to defend himself but the rest of the Army soon coming up when he saw that he was not able to defend himself against so great a Number advising his to shift for themselves as well as they could he with a few Horsemen took his Flight and Swimming over the Mayn arrived safely at Kitzingen with the loss of all his Baggage and Cannon The eighth day after his principal Fortress called Blasseburg was surrendred and fell into the Hands of Ferdinand King of Bohemia Henry Plaw Chancellor of Bohemia the indefatigable Enemy of this Place died before it some few days before it was yielded Thus Albert Marquess of Brandenburg was driven out of all his Territories Whilst things went thus in Franconia Henry Duke of Brunswick demanded Money of most of the Princes Nobility and Cities in the
in the Council of Trent and he dedicated his Answer with much Assurance to that Duke whereupon John Brentius wrote a large Reply and exposed all his Sophistry This last Piece was Translated into the Italian Tongue by Vergerius that the Italians might understand it and judge of the Controversy and which of the sides had the concurrence of the Scriptures About the middle of September George Count of Monbeliard married Bââbaria a Daughter of the Landgrave's After the Arrival of the Duke de Alva in the Dukedom of Milan the French King sent more Forces and many expert Leaders under Brisac his General They finding the Town of Vulpiaâo which was then very strong and well Garrison'd by the Spaniards to be very troublesom to the progress of the French Arms in those Countries because that Garrison was able to make Inroads as far as Turin and sometimes further That they might remove this almost only Obstacle and open a way to the Supplies they might want besieged this Place with all their Forces about the end of August They suffered much in this Siege and acted great Things against the Town but the 22. of September the Place was yielded to them and they presently dismantled both the Town and Castle and reduced it into a meer Village Some few days after they took Moncalno a Town and Castle between Casale and Aste That Controversie concerning the Presence of Christ's Body in the Eucharist or Lord's Supper which had now for Thirty years together so much exercis'd the Pens of Learned men about this time broke out again the Ministers of Breme and Hamburg publishing some Pieces against Calvin and John à Lasko by Name Calvin answered with great sharpness and Bullinger bore his share in this Controversie and John à Lasko wrote a Book which he dedicated to the King of Poland in which he complains That this Difference was not treated of by comparing the two Opinions and then debating them in Conferences but they out of meer prejudice condemned his Opinion and after the manner of the Roman Catholicks would not hear of Arguments or Scriptures but thought to bear all down that stood before them by Force and Authority About the End of September Magnus the Second Son of Augustus Duke of Saxony was born whose Godfathers were Henry Duke of Brunswick and John Frederick Duke of Saxony I have said already how Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury Ridley Bishop of London and Hugh Latimer were sent to Oxford and having there defended their Faith against the Roman Catholick Divines they were for it condemned to be burnt yet they were after this kept in Prison and the 16th of October this year they were both burnt at one Stake before Baliol-College in Oxford Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury was then brought out also and at the Stake openly implored the Mercy of God but he was after this remanded to Prison Hugh Latimer was very old In this Month the Cardinals of Lorain and Toures went to Rome and about the same time the Parliament of Paris made an Answer to the Edict brought them from the King by the Cardinal of Lorain as I have remembred above which was to this effect Your Majesty's Edict which was published above four years since has reserved to Your Majesty and Your Judges the sole Cognizance and Correction of the Lutheran Heresie nor is there any thing excepted but when the Heresie may need a Declaration or the Sentence was to be pronounced against a man in Holy Orders but this Edict which is now under consideration is directly contrary For it puts the People of your Kingdom under the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and the Inquisition and diminisheth that Dignity which You now enjoy above all other Princes and it gives Your People a just Cause of Discontent to see themselves deserted by Your Majesty and subjected to a foreign Jurisdiction But there will much greater Mischiefs follow when the Lives Fortunes Safety and Honour of all Your Subjects shall be put into the hands of these men without the benefit of an Appeal For in truth Appeals are the Sanctuary and Refuge of wronged Innocency But now if the Inquisitors and the Bishops Officers shall once have a Right and Power given them of judging all Appeals being taken away this will certainly open a Window and plain a Way for the condemning of the innocent and the spoiling them of their Lives and Estates For when these men shall once see themselves Masters of this Regal Power they will soon forget their Duty and no longer regard any thing when they see all Orders of Men made subject to them and they have in their hands the Lives and Fortunes not only of Your meaner Subjects but also of your Princes and Great Men. Your Majesty may make use of this as a middle Way That Your own Judges may still take cognizance of these Causes and hear and determine them and if there be any Doctrine that is obscure it may be defined by the Ecclesiasticks and those that are in Holy Orders may be tried only by the Clergy And as for Appeals let a Bull be desired of the Pope for the allowing them to your Judges And when Judgment is to be passed upon these Appealers let some of the Clergy who are of Your Majesty's Privy Council be joyned with Your Judges or if there be none such then let other eminent and fit men supply their Places And in all Inquisitions let this Order be observed That the Pope's Inquisitor chuse and send into the Provinces good Men and of unspotted Fame and let the Bishop and not the Parties who are accused bear the Charge of the Inquisition but so that when the Case depending is determined the Charge may then be paid by those that ought to pay it The Design of all these Provisions is That all Suits of this Nature may be kept within some Bounds and Limits Moreover it appearing that all the Executions which have been made of Hereticks though they are necessary have yet rather made the Crime detestable than amended those that were infected and it being much better to prevent a Disease than to give it time to get strength and then attempt the Cure it will be fit Your Serene Majesty should in this follow the Custom and Footsteps of the Ancient and Primitive Church For she was neither established by Fire nor Sword but the diligence of the Bishops supplied the want of these by their frequent Preaching of the Word of God and the good Examples of an holy Life which She gave the People The Church then having been thus at first established it may without doubt now by the same ways be preserved if Your Majesty would but be pleased to do all that You lawfully may do towards it May then Your Majesty be pleased to take care that the Bishops who are the Shepherds should in person govern their own Churches and that the same be done by the inferior Clergy That they live piously and Preach
in Italy In France Henry the Second having been won by the Arts of Cardinal Caraffa to break his Oath the Admiral Coligni the Sixth of January attempted to surprise Doway but was discovered and prevented but he took and plundered Leus a Town in Artois using the people with great barbarity In the mean time the Duke of Guise had passed the Alps in the depth of the winter with an Army of Twelve Thousand Foot and Five Thousand and Three Hundred armed Horse and Eight Hundred and Eight Light-Horse with which Forces he besieged Valenza a strong Town in the Dutchy of Milan and after he had battered it five daies storm'd and took the Town the twentieth day of January and a few daies after the Castle He dismantled the Town but at the request of the Pope he preserved the Castle From thence he passed into the Dukedome of Ferrara where he was respectively entertained by the Duke who had declared for the Pope but he would not go with him to Bononia fearing his Countries might be invaded by the Spaniards and their Allies in his absence but however the Duke of Guise went thither with his Forces where he found an hearty welcome but no Forces to joyn with him which much displeas'd him In the mean time the Pope finding the inconvenience of having Ostia in the enemies hands which deprived Rome of the benefit of the Sea and sending some Forces thither it was Surrendred after a short defence upon the account of an Inundation of the River After which the Pope recovered most of the other Towns as easily as he had lost them In the Spring the Duke of Guise began the War with the Sack of Compli a small City of Abruzzo which being taken by Scalado was severely treated the Spoil of this City was estimated at two hundred thousand Crowns great part of which was found in the Ruines of the City where it had been hid many Ages and was unknown to the Inhabitants The 24 of April the Duke of Guise sat down before Civitella a City of Abruzzo built upon an high Hill and very steep on the North on the top of which it had a Castle ruined by its own Inhabitants in the time of Charles VIII for fear it should have been Garrison'd by the French. This City would not yield and therefore the Duke of Guise was forced to stay before it till the Cannon could be brought from Ancona and Ferrara to batter it but when all was done this small place by the nature of its situation and the Courage of its Inhabitants baffled all their Attempts and forced the French after a long Siege to retire and leave it The Women of this Town contributed very much to the saving of it not only by working at the Breaches tho' many of them were slain by the Enemies Shot but also by taking mens Cloaths and appearing in Arms among them in the sight of the Enemy so that the Defendants seemed more numerous than indeed they were In the mean time Alva having brought an Army of 16000 Foot and 2000 Horse consisting of Spaniards Germans and Italians together with a good Train of Artillery brought him by Sea he marched out of Pescara May 10 and drove the French out of Givlia a Sea-port-Town about ten miles east of Civitella whereupon the Duke of Guise having lost above half his Army left Civitella the 15 of May when they had lain before it twenty two Days The Duke of Florence took the Opportunity of this distracted State of Affairs and by pretending he was much inclin'd to joyn with the French and Pope against the Spaniards which would certainly have ruined their Power in Italy forced King Philip to give up the City and State of Siena to him who accordingly took Possession of it July 19. This whole intreague is described at length by Thuanus but I am forced to be very short the nature of this Supplement not admitting such long Digressions Towards the latter end of the Summer Segni a strong City of Compagnia di Roma having made the best Defence it could fell at last into the Hands of the Spaniards who plundred and burnt it and slew the greatest part of the Inhabitants When the Pope heard the deplorable News of the Sack of Segni he fell into a fit of Melancholy and said He desired to be with Christ and would with great Constancy and Satisfaction expect the Crown of Martyrdom As if says Thuanus this had been the Cause of God And that he had not been brought into this great Danger and Trouble by a War which his Relations had involv'd him in with great Rashness and Ambition Those that were about him could not forbear Smiling and knowing very well That as the Pope had begun this War without Cause or Provocation so he might end it when he pleased upon Just and Honourable Terms King Philip and his General the Duke de Alva being both extremely addicted to the See of Rome And therefore taking this Opportunity they persuaded the Pope to send Alexander Placidi a Knight of great esteem to the Duke of Alva to treat about a Peace by whom also the Cardinal of Sanfloriano sent a private Account of the beating the French at S. Quintin which as it sunk the Pope's Interest so it raised the Spanish Upon this the Duke de Alva took up a Resolution to surprize the City of Rome by Night and treat with the Pope within the very Walls of Rome and he came very early in the Morning under the Walls of Rome and found the City in a profound Quiet and altogether unprovided so that in all probability he might have surprized it without the least Resistance but as he took an Oath of the Captains That they should not suffer their Soldiers to plunder or sack the City so it is verily thought upon great Reasons That his Fear the Switz and Germans would have done this whatever he or his Officers could have done or said to prevent it made him stop and by his Presence try if he could affright the Old Pope into a Compliance However Thuanus is of Opinion he truly designed to surprize the City but that his Heart failed him when it came to the Point of Execution At the same time there came Letters from the King of France to recal the Duke of Guise into France where his Presence was absolutely needful and the Pope had his Hostages returned and was left at Liberty to take the best care he could of his own Affairs Yet when the Duke of Guise came to ask the Pope's leave to return upon the account of the great Necessity of his Master's Affairs there was a sharp contest between the Duke and the Pope insomuch that his Holiness told the Duke He had done very little towards the advancing his Masters Interest or the Good of the Church in this Voyage and much less for the Improvement of his own Honour and Reputation In the
served only to render that sinking Ship more despicable and hated for Queen Elizabeth when she heard of it was nothing concerned at it but immediately she recalled Karn's Powers and commanded him to come home And Popery from hence forward fared very ill in England but then our Affairs have been so exactly described by others and are so well known to English Men That I shall here dismiss them and apply my self wholly to the Foreign Affairs Thuanus observes That this Year there was rather no War than a Peace in Scotland for that the whole Kingdom was imbroiled with Rapines and the burning of Towns two of the principal Nobility of Scotland being carried away captive by the English William Keth Son of the Earl Marshal and Patrick Gray An English Fleet also under the Command of Sir John Clare infested the Scotch Shoars and burnt a Place by my Author called Cracoviaca Kirk-wall Main-Land the principal of the Isles of Orkney which he saith was the Seat of the Bishop and the principal or rather only Town in those Islands which he supposeth was severely chastized by Heaven by a Tempest which soon after dispersed the Fleet leaving a part of the English on the Island who were all slain by the Islanders and Natives This Year also the Reformation of Religion was much agitated tho not effected in Scotland Alexander Somervill Archbishop of S. Andrews with the assistance of the rest of the Churchmen condemned one Walter Mills an old Priest to be burnt for Heresie and banished one Paul Mefan hoping thereby to restore their lost Authority and curb the People but it had a quite contrary effect the patient and chearful Martyrdom of Mills incensing the People to that height that they spoke very freely or as my Author has it Licentiously and Seditiously of the Church-men and a Solemn Procession being made on the first day of September in memory of S. Eugenius or S. Gile's at Edenburgh of which he was Patron whose Image was then carried about with great Pomp the People tore it out of the Hands of those that bore it and threw it into the common Drought having first broke off the Head Hands and Feet of this Wooden Saint the Monks and the rest of his Friends fleeing and leaving him to shift for himself The Clergy seeing their Authority thus sinking assembled in a Synod the ninth of November to try if the seting a good Face and pretending great Confidence would retrieve their sinking Cause But they of the Reformed Party on the contrary of all Degrees exhorted one another to persevere in the Truth and not to suffer themselves to be oppressed by a small and weak number of Men For if say they these Men proceed by Legal Courses we shall be too hard for them if they make use of Force we are a Match for them They drew up an Address also to the Queen Regent which they sent unto her by one James Sandelands an Honourable Baron and of great account in it desiring That the Publick Prayers and Administration of the Sacraments might be in the Vulgar Tongue and that the Ministers might be elected by the People The Regent tho' a zealous Catholick yet fearing a Tumult commanded the Priests to say the Prayers in the Scotch Language The same Demands were made by the Nobility of the Synod then assembled at Edinburgh Who replyed That they must abide by the Orders of the Canon-Law and the Decrees of the Council of Trent The Nobility perceiving them thus averse to a Reformation sent one John Aresken of Dundee a learned Man to appease them who with great respect besought them At least to grant the People the use of the publick Prayers in their Mother Tongue The Clergy would nevertheless abate nothing of their former Severity and the Queen regent by their Persuasion soon recalled what had been extorted from her But the Death of Queen Mary of England and the Succession of Queen Elizabeth which happened this Month soon turned the Scales and gave her Cause to repent her too great obstinacy The Learned Spotiswood observes That this Mills was the last Martyr that dyed in Scotland for Religion That Patrick Lermoth Bailiff of the Regality absolutely refused to pass Sentence of Death as a Judge upon him after the Bishop had delivered him up to the Secular Power that in the whole City of S. Andrews a Cord was not to be had for Money so that they were forced to take one of the Cords of the Archbishop's Pavilion to tie him to the Stake It had been good Prudence to have desisted when they saw the whole Body of the People thus bent against them but they were hurried on to their Ruine by a blind Rage The People of Scotland were no less incensed on the other Side and resolved openly to profess the Reformed Religion binding themselves by Promise and Subscription to an Oath That if any should be called in question for matters of Religion at any time hereafter they would take Arms and joyn in defence of their Religion and Brethren against the Tyranny and Persecution of the Bishops The principal Men who joyned in this Bond were Archibald Earl of Argile Alexander Earl of Glencarne James Earl of Morton Archibald Lord of Lorne Sir James Sandelands of Calder John Erskin of Dun and William Maitland of Lethington To this Bond vast numbers throughout the Kingdom subscribed so that they found their numbers were at least equal to those that opposed them A CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION BOOK II. The CONTENTS The Deaths and Characters of Frederick I and Christian II Kings of Denmark Frederick II conquereth Dietmarsh The Affairs of Italy New Bishopricks erected in the Low-Countries King Philip desirous of a Peace with France that he might be at leisure to extirpate Heresie That Design discovered to the Prince of Orange The Diet of Germany Conditions proposed in it by the Protestants for a Council The Emperor confirms the Peace of Passaw The French Ambassadors come to the Dyet The Life and Death of David George a famous Impostor The Treaty of Cambray produces a Peace at last The Peace occasioneth a Persecution in France The King goes to the Parliament of Paris to awe it into a Compliance Yet some retain their Freedom at the Price of their Lives The King's Answer A French Synod held by the Protestant Ministers The Protestant Princes of Germany write to the King of France in the behalf of the Persecuted A Commission issued to Try the suspected Members of Parliament Du Bourg first Tried The sad condition of France during the Persecution Henry II slain The various Characters of that Prince Francis II succeeds him a Lad of Sixteen Years of age The Persecution goes on Slanders against the Protestants Du Bourg Condemn'd Minart a Persecutor Assassinated Du Bourg Executed His Character The rest of the Members of Parliament restored King Philip prepares for Spain He takes Ship at Flushing Arrives in Spain Raiseth
troubled Israel Then Anna du Bourg beginning with a Discourse of the Eternal Providence of God to which all things are subject when he came to the Question proposed said There were many Sins and Crimes committed by Men which the Laws had already forbidden and yet the Gallows and Tortures which were imployed had not been able to prevent the frequent Perjuries Adulteries profuse Lusts and Profane Oaths which were not only connived at but cherished On the contrary every Day new punishments are invented against a sort of Men who could never yet be convicted of any wicked Attempt for how can they injure the Prince who never name him but in their Prayers for him Are they accused of breaking our Laws perverting the Allegiance of our Cities or Provinces No the greatest Tortures could never extort a Confession that they so much as thought of any such thing Are they not accused of Sedition only because they have by the Candle of Scripture discovered the shameful and encreasing Villanies and corruptions of the Roman Power which they desire may be reformed Christopher Harlay and Peter Seguier the two Presidents said with great Modesty that the Court had hitherto justly and rightly discharged its Duty in this Particular and that it would still do the same without changing to the Glory of God and therefore neither the King nor People of France would have cause to repent the trusting to it Christopher de Thou with great freedom reflected on the King's Attorney and Advocates for presuming to defame the Proceedings of that Court and indangering its Authority Renatus Baillet desired the Judgments which were blamed might be re-examined and more maturely considered Minart having made a short Preface to soften the Envy which had been raised against them only added That he thought the King's Edicts were to be observed After these Maistre the President made a sharp Harangue against the Sectaries instancing in the Severities which Philip the August is said to have employed against the Albingenses 600 of which he burnt in one day and in the Waldenses which were massacred with Fire and Smoak partly in their Houses and partly in the Dens and Caves they had fled to The King having obliquely reproached the Court for entring upon this Debate without his Order added He now clearly saw what he had heard before That there were some among them who despised both his Authority and the Popes That this was the fault of but a few but it was dishonourable to the whole body of them but only they that were guilty should suffer the Punishment And therefore he exhorted the rest to go on in their Duty The Reflections of la Faur and du Bourg who mentioned the Story of Ahab and the frequent Adulteries exaseperated the King more than the rest and therefore he commanded Montmorancy to apprehend them who again ordered Gabriel de Montgomery a Captain of the Guard to take them and carry them to the Bastile Afterwards Paul de Foix Anthony Fumee Eustace de la Porte were also taken into Custody but la Ferriere du Val and Viole were concealed by their Friends and escaped this Storm Men censured these Proceedings as they stood affected but the Wiser were much disgusted That the King should be so far imposed on by others as to come personally into his Court to subvert those Laws he ought to have protected That he should make use of Threats and Imprisonments saying That this was a clear Instance that he was subject to the Passions of others and who could think but these things were the foreunners of great Changes The Ministers of the Reformed Religion notwithstanding held a Synod at S. German June 28 one Morelle being President in which they setled the order of their Synods the Authority of the Presidents the taking away the Supremacy in the Church the election of Ministers and their Office and Duty Deacons and Presbyters Censures the Degrees of Consanguinity and Affinity of contracting and dissolving Marriages which yet were only temporary Decrees to be varied as future Synods should think fit but to oblige particular Persons till so altered About the same time came Embassadours from the Protestant Princes of Germany with Letters to the King subscribed by Frederick Cout Palatine of the Rhine Augustus Duke of Saxony Joachim Elector of Brandenburg Christopher Duke of Wirtimberg and Wolfang Count of Weldentz In which they represent to the King How much they were afflicted to see so many Pious Quiet and Holy Men who professed the same Religion Imprisoned Spoiled Banished and put to Death as Seditious Persons in France That they thought themselves bound by Christian Charity and the Alliance which was between them and France to beseech him well to consider this Affair which concerned the Name of God and the Salvation of so many Souls that he ought to free himself from Prejudice and imploy great Judgment and Reason in it They assured him they were no less solicitous for the Glory of God and the Salvation of their Subjects than he and upon the Differences of Religion had maturely considered how they might be composed That they had found by degrees and insensibly through Avarice and Ambition many Corruptions had crept into the Church which were dishonourable to the Majesty of God and Scandalous to Men and that they ought to be reformed by the Testimonies of the Holy Scriptures the Decrees of the Primitive Church and the Writings of the most Ancient Fathers That the Corruptions and Disorders of the Court and Church of Rome had long since been complained of in France by W. Parisiensis John Gerson Nicholas Clemangius and Wisellius of Groeningen the Restorer of the University of Paris under Lewis XI and other Divines That King Francis his Father of Blessed Memory was convinced of this and had wisely endeavoured to put an end to the Differences of Religion and to reform the Discipline of the Church That now France was not involved in War abroad they besought him the Difference of Religion might by his Authority and Conduct be quietly ended That this might easily be effected if the King would but appoint Learned and Peaceable Men who should examin their Confession of Faith without Partiality or Prejudice by the Holy Scripture and the Ancient Fathers That in the interim he should suspend all Legal Severities discharge the Imprisoned recal the Banished restore their Estates to those that had been ruin'd This they said would be acceptable and pleasing to God Honourable to the King Profitable to France and very Grateful to them The King entertained the Embassadors kindly and having read the Letter said he would suddenly send them a satisfactory Answer but by that time they were arrived at the Borders of France the Fire their coming seem'd to have abated raged more horribly than ever June 19. a Commission was issued to Jean de Saint Andre the President and Promoter of these Troubles Jo. James de Memme Master of the Requests Lewis Gayaut
knew nothing of Navar but heard that Conde should have been their Captain Whence the Duke of Guise concluded That Coligni and Andelot were cetainly in it though Queen Catherine was of a contrary Opinion but however Conde who was then in the Castle with the King was commanded not to depart without leave which he wisely dissembled Some few were Tried for this Conspiracy but many more were Hang'd up by Night and many Merchants were Slain as they travelled about their business for their Mony but under Pretence they were in the Conspiracy so that there was nothing but Slaughter and Murthers to be seen About the same time Oliver the Chancellor of France died not so much of Old-age or Sickness as Discontent at the Cruelcy and Iniquity of the Times his Death was foretold by some of the Conspirators who reproached him for his unworthy Complyances And when the Cardinal of Lorain visited him in his last Sickness he express'd his Resentments against him and died weeping and sighin for what he had done Michel de l' Hospital a great and a good Man succeeded him by the procurement of Queen Catherine Though this Conspiracy was principally design'd against the Guises yet they desired the World should believe these Men had first made a Defection from God by Heresie and then had conspird against the King Queen Catherine and the King's Brothers The Thirty first of March the King wrote to all the Governors of the several Provinces to take great care that the Reliques of this Conspiracy did not imbroil their Provinces after which there was the like Account sent to the Elector Palatine and the rest of the Protestant Princes of Germany The Princes of Germany thereupon among other things desired the King to consider whether he had not yielded more than was fit to some about him meaning the Guises who out of an inbred Malice and Cruelty exercised great Cruelties on Men that were never convicted of any Crime There they beseech his Majesty that he would put a stop to the Sufferings of these Innocents and seeing they imbrace the same Religion with us we cannot but desire an end may be put to those cruel and hasty Executions This Germany has found say they to be the only Remedy and France has no other left to restore its Peace than by granting a Peace to the Minds and Consciences of Men. Coligni the Admiral leaving the Court Queen Catherine ordered him to go into Normandy and to enquire diligently into the Causes of the late Conspiracy He laid the blame of it on the boundless Ambition of the Guises and advised the Queen to observe inviolably the late Edict for Liberty of Conscience and to put a stop to the Persecution of the Innocent as she valued the safety of the King and the quiet of the Kingdom Some of the Captives who had escaped out of the Prisons at Blois wrote Letters to the Cardinal of Lorain telling him they knew the Escape of the Conspirators was very afflictive to his Eminence That therefore they were gone to seek them and hoped in a short time to return better attended This rallery was a great Mortification to that fearful Minister who feared new Commotions and persuaded the King to put out a General Pardon for all Roman Catholicks In May the King put out another Edict which was call'd the Edict of Romoraulin by which he took the Cognizance of Heresie from the Civil Magistrates and gave it solely to the Bishops which about five years before had been so vigorously opposed by the Parliament of Paris De l' Hospital the Chancellor is said to have consented to it only to prevent the violent Guises from introducing the Spanish Inquisition which they had recommended to Henry II and were now promoting with all their might in France From henceforward the Cardinal of Lorain became more placable to those of the Religion and to stop the Mouths of those who desired an Assembly of the three Estates persuaded Queen Catherine to call an Assembly of the Princes at Fountain-bleau to consult of the Publick Affairs About this time Conde left the Court and by a Letter gave his Brother the King of Navar an Account of the Ill-will the Guises bore towards him and that a Debate had been held in the King's Cabinet-Council for the taking him into Custody That therefore he had been forced to betake himself to him into Bearne This Letter was soon after discovered to the Guises who had entertained Spies in the Family of Conde who presently wrote a Letter to Conde full of sugared Expressions of Kindness and Affection which Conde presently sent to his Brother who very much approved his Resolution but advised him to return to Court and clear his Innocence which Conde did not think safe Perrenot the Brother of Cardinal Granvell in an Audience he had of Queen Catherine told her there was no way to restore the Peace of France but by Banishing the Guises some time from Court and Recalling the Princes of the Blood and Montmorancy to their former Stations The Twenty first of August the Assembly of the Princes and Notable Men of France was Opened at Founain-bleau The Chancellor in his Speech among other things complained That the Hearts of the People of France were incensed against the King and his Principal Ministers but the Cause of it was not known and therefore it was so difficult to find out and apply a fitted Remedy For That the greatest part of the Men of this Kingdom being weary of what is present fearful of what is to come divided by different Religions and desirous of Change are willing to imbroil the Kingdom And therefore their principal Business was to find out the cause of this Disease and apply a fitting Remedy to this Sickly Body Coligni the Admiral who was present the next day presented a Petition to the King which had been given him whilst he was in Normandy by a vast number of his Subjects desiring that the Severity of the Laws against them might be mitigated till their Cause had been duly considered and determined That they might have Publick Places assigned them for the Exercise of their Religion lest their Private Meetings should be suspected by the Government And they invoked God to bear Witness That they had never entertained any disloyal Thought against his Majesty nor would do so But on the contrary they offered up to God most devout Prayers for the Preservation and Peace of his Kingdom The Bishop of Valence a Learned Grave and Experienced Person confirmed this Opinion shewing the great Corruptions in the Church had given Birth and promoted these Divisions in the Minds of Men which were rather exasperated than extirpated by harsh means and bloody Persecutions Then he shewed the great Use of General Councils for the composing the Differences in the Church And therefore he said He wondred how the Pope could quiet his Conscience one Hour whilst he saw so
to King Philip John Manriquez to the Duke of Florence and Angelo Guiccjardin to the Queen of France who was to condole the Death of her Son to comfort her and to entreat her to undertake the Protection of the Religion she was brought up in and that she would not open a Door to the growing Schism nor seek any Remedy for the Disorders of France from any but the Church of Rome And to assure her That in a short time all their Desires should be gratified by the Calling of a General Council and therefore they prayed her to take Care That the flourishing Kingdom of France might not make a Defection from the Ancient Religion during her Government nor any Prejudices be raised against the Remedies which might justly be expected from it The Pope at the same time appointed Hercules Gonzaga Hierome Seripand and Stanislaws Hosio three of his Cardinals to be his Legates in the Council and sent Zachary Delfino Bishop of Zant and Francis Commendone into Germany to invite the Protestant Princes to it Canobbio was sent into Poland on the same Errant and had Orders to go on into Russia to exhort that Prince who was of the Greek Communion to send his Bishops and Divines to the Council but there being a War between the Russ and Poles at this time this Journey was prevented The Twenty ninth of September this Year died Gustavus King of Sweden which was the Founder of the Line which now reigns in that Kingdom he was succeed by Eriek his eldest Son. This Prince reigned Thirty eight Years with great Prudence and Commendation being only noted for a little too great Severity in his Taxes which was necessary in a Prince that was to Found a Family but he was otherwise a Prince of great Vertues and the Reformer of the Church of Sweden The same Year died Philip Duke of the hither Pomerania and Albert Count of Mansfeild a great Favourer of the Reformation he died the Fifth of March in the Seventieth year of his Age and Sixtieth of his Government The same Year died the Cardinal du Bellay the Great Patron of John Sleidan a Person of great Merit and employed by Francis I in many Embassies He was a great and hearty Desirer of the Reformation of the Church and without all doubt shew'd our Author the right way to it though he miss'd it himself The Nineteenth of April died also Philip Melancthon at Wittemberg He was born at Brett a Town in the Palatinate of the Rhine and was the great Companion and Friend of Martin Luther but was more moderate and a great hater of Contentions and Disputes and a lover of Peace By which Vertues he won the Love and Respects of both Parties in those troublesom days on which account he was sent for into France by Francis I. The Celebration of the States of France was inter âââtted by the sudden Death of Fracis II. But there being great Discontents at the numerous Assemblies of the Protestants in many Places which were now openly held the finding out a Remedy for this hastned the opening that Convention The Thirteenth of December was appointed for that Purpose and the Chancellor began the Affair with an Elegant and Pious Discourse In which having shewn the Use of these Assemblies and exhorted all degrees to Peace and Concord and shewn 'em the common Causes of Sedition and Rebellion he tells them That in their times a new Cause that of Religion had been added to all the former As if saith he Religion could or ought to be the cause of a Civil War which is the greatest Mifchief that can befall a Kingdom and contains all others in it But then God is not the Author of Dissention but of Peace and other Religions because false may be founded and preserved by Force and Fraud but the Christian Religion which is the only true is only to be established by Patience Justice Prayers and Tears The ancient Christians accordingly chose rather to be Kill'd than to Kill and Signed the Truth of their Religion with their Bloods And yet it cannot be denied but that a false Religion is a very powerful Exciter of the Minds of Men and surmounts all other Passions and unites Men more strongly than any other thing so that we must confess that Kingdoms are divided in effect more by their Religions than by their Bounds and therefore it daily happens that those that are possess'd by an Opinion of Religion have little regard to their Prince their Country Wives and Children and from hence springs Rebellions Dissentions and Revolts And in the same House if they are divided in Religion the Husband cannot agree with the Wife and Children nor one Brother with another That therefore a Remedy might be had for so great a Calamity it had been decreed at Fountain-bleau That there was need of a Council and the Pope having since declared there should suddenly be one that Men ought not in the mean time to hammer out for themselves new Religions Rites and Ceremonies according to their own Fancies For this would not only endanger the publick Peace but the Salvation of their Souls too That if the Pope and the Council fail'd the King would take the same Care his Ancestors had and provide for the Peace and Welfare of his Kingdom That it was to be hoped the Bishops would for the future exercise their Functions with greater Care and Diligence That the Cure might come from that Fountain which had caused the Distemper That they ought to arm themselves with Vertues Good Manners and the Word of God which are the Arms of Supplicants and then go out to War against our Enemies and not imitate unskilful Captains who disfurnish their Walls to make an Irruption The Discourse of one that lives well is very persuasive but the Sword has no other power over the Soal than to destroy it with the Body Our Ancestors overcame their Sectaries with their Piety and we ought to imitate them if we would not be thought rather to hate the Men than their Vices Let us therefore said he pray daily for them that they may be reduced from their Errors and discharging the hateful Names of Lutherans Huguenots and Papists which were introduced by the Enemy of Mankind and are too like the ancient Factions of Guelfs and Gibellins let us only retain the Ancient Appellation of Christians But then because there are many who only pretend Religion but are in Truth led by Ambition Avarice and Novelty it is fit to suppress these Men in the very beginning These are the Men that ought to be kept under by the Force of Arms. When the States came to debate the Clergy and the Commons were of Opinion That their Powers were determined by the Death of the late King and that they ought to return Home Which was over-ruled by the King of Navar and the Council And they were ordered to proceed because by the Law of France the King never dies but
her Heart she had a kindness for the Protestant Party and that underhand she and Navarre had one and the same design And thereupon he deserted her and joyned with the Guises his till then Mortal Enemies the Duchess de Valentois procuring the Reconciliation Magdalen of Savoy Wife to Montmorency was also an implacable enemy to the Reformation and hated Coligni the Admiral for that and other causes and therefore she perpetually stimulated him against the Protestants Francis Montmorency Son of the Constable was a person of great Prudence and he wisely advised his Father not to lose the least of his friends in so necessary a time for he foresaw a Tempest would arise in France of what Religion soever they were that it did not become a wise Man to endeavour to gain new friends with the loss of his old ones and to prefer the uncertain friendship of reconciled enemies before the tried affections of his old Acquaintances That if he rejected Conde Coligni and Rochefoucault on the Account of Religion he would deprive his Family of the assistance of three great Men and perhaps the Queen would think never the better of him therefore his advice to his Father was to sit still and let Coligni and the Guises fight it out without taking part on either side and in all probability Guise would be worsted and he would become the Arbitrator of the two contending Religions And in the mean time it was most certain there were many great Errors by length of time crept into the Church which he ought not to defend because they were injurious to the Majesty of God. The good old Gentleman was much moved at this Advice from his Son but made no other answer to it than That he certainly knew that if the Religion were changed the Civil Government would be changed too That he cared not what became of him if his little Masters did well and the Actions of Henry II. might not be called in question who was a wise Prince and his good Master So he perished in his first resolves believing he was obliged to defend the Cause of Religion against his best and most ancient and tried friends The Pope seeing his Jurisdiction and Authority decline so fast in Germany England and France greedily embraced a pretended Overture made by one Abraham a Syrian Impostor who pretended he was sent by the Cophthites an Eastern Sect of Christians to make a submission to the Holy See whereupon he sent Christopher Roderick and John Baptista Elianus two Jesuits to them who gained nothing by this Mission but an exact Account of the Opinions of these Cophthites and a certainty of the Frauds of this pretended Ambassador Abraham who had feign'd this Mission to the Pope for his own Ends. This Mortification was soon after attended by another not less afflictive to his Holiness for Gothard Ketler Master of the Teutonick Order in Libonia intirely submitted to Sigismond King of Poland which put an end to that Order when it had flourished there 357 years He was thereupon made Duke of Gurland and Semigallen and Governor of Livonia and Marrying a Wise withdrew himself and his Subjects from the See of Rome The Archbishoprick of Riga was also about the same time changed into a Dukedom John Kothewick the last Archbishop of that See embracing the Augustane Confession put himself under the Protection of the Crown of Poland and was by Sigismond made Duke of Lithuania This Archbishoprick was founded in the year 1215 by the procurement of the Knights of the Teutonick Order the City being then and a long time after the Seat of the Master of it who divided the Sovereignty and Administration of Justice with the Archbishop After this short Digression which the Reader is desired to Pardon I shall now return to the prosecution of the French Affairs The new Friendship between Montmorency and the Guises was a very frightful thing to the Queen Regent who sought all the way she could possible to divide their Affections for the preserving her own Authority and therefore she was very Anxioâsly inquisitive to find whether this new Kindness between two such Ancient Enemies tended The Prince of Conde in the mean time was declared Innocent by the Parliament of Paris the Thirteenth of June and his Discharge Recorded The Differences in Religion not only disquieted the Court but the Provinces also the two Parties reproaching each other with the Names Papist and Huguenot There were frequent Tumults raised also by the Roman Cabolicks to shew that Coligni was out when he said The Protestant Religion might be divulged throughout all the Provinces without any Disturbance And at Amiens and Pont-Oise things came to a Sedition the Catholick Artificers beginning the Quarrel and falling upon some of the Houses of some of the Protestants and they slew one Hadrian Fourre a Priest because he was reported to savour the Reformation and afterwards burnt his Body publickly for which only two were hanged This necessitated the Council to forbid all Reviling Expressions and all Tumults on the Accounts of Religion And by it all that had been banished for Religion in the Reign of Francis II. were invited to return and promised they should enjoy their Goods and Estates if they would live like good Catholicks for the future or otherwise might sell them and retire elsewhere which was after opposed by the Parliament at Paris but yet many returned on that account and many that were in Prison were discharged so that the Protestant Party appeared numerous The Cardinal of Lorrain was Alarm'd at this and represented to the King and Queen That the whole Kingdom was fill'd with Conventicles That the meaner sort ran to the Sermons out of curiosity and were easily corrupted That the Ancient Ceremonies were little frequented or regarded and that they were already derided and scorn'd by many That great numbers every day forsook the Church and went over to the Protestants So he would needs have had a new Edict forthwith published to prevent these Inconveniences This being Debated in the Council in the Month of July there was another Edict published That all should live peaceably and without any furry each to other or reproaching one the other That there be no Listing or Inrolling Men on either side That the Preachers should use no Seditious or Turbulent Expressions upon pain of Death and the Presidents of the Provâces should determine of these Affairs and execute the Ediât That no Sermons should be frequented by Men Armed or Unarmed in publick or in private nor any Sacraments Administred but according to the Rites of the Church of Rome And That if any Man was Convicted of Heresie and delivered to the Secular Power he should only be Banished and this was to stand till a General or a National Council should determine otherwise This was called the Edict of July The Cardinal of Lorrain had so good an opinion of his own Abilities that he was
fondly perswaded he could confute all the Doctrines of the Protestants out of the Fathers and thereby acquire a great Reputation to himself if he could procure à Conference with their Pastors It was therefore resolved that there should be a Meeting for that purpose at Poissy near St. Germain the Tenth of August and that Pasports should be granted to their Ministers which were to come thither on that account All of both sides being invited thither at the same time The Queen Regent was very much for this Disputation but the greatest part of the Roman Catholicks were against it as thinking it a dangerous thing to suffer the Doctrine which had hitherto been received to be brought under debate and the Religion of their Ancestors to be disputed In the Interim Mary Queen of the Scots left France and return'd into Scotland the Cardinal of Lorrain attending her as far as Calais There was also a Theatrical Reconciliation between the Prince of Conde and the Duke of Guise by the Order of the King the later protesting That he had no hand in the Imprisonment of the Prince and the Prince telling Guise That the Adviser and Procurer of his Commitment was a Wicked Man and a Villain To which Guise Answered That he believed so too but was not concern'd in it After which by the King's Command they embraced each other as Kinsmen and Friends and promised a firm and sincere Friendship each to other and there was great Rejoycing in the Court. The Assembly of the States was Prorogued last year till May of this and then was on the account of the great Affairs prorogued to August and Appointed to be opened at Pont-Oyse In this Assembly the Agreement between the Queen Regent and the King of Navar was Confirm'd by the three Estates which was very difficultly obtain'd by the later This Assembly was opened at St. Germain where James Breâagne d Autum who spoke for the Commons declaiming sharply against the Ignorance of the Priests and the Corrupt Manners and Depraved Discipline of the Clergy so that they were unfit to Lead or Instruct the People but rather disgusted and displeased them doing all things for Hire and nothing as their Duty enslaving themselves to Pleasures and wallowing in Luxury and Idleness To this he assigned the Calamities which at present oppress'd France He therefore moved the King to take away all their Jurisdiction that he should employ their over-great Riches to Pious Uses and call a National Council which was the only present and certain Cure of those Evils That free Pasports should be given to all that would come to it and that the King or some of the Princes of the Blood should preside in it whilst Business of Religion was debated That the late Decree against Conventicles should be no prejudice to those of the Reformed Religion who rejected the Ceremonies of the Church of Rome nor any Presription as to length of time which could not make what in it self was false true and the Business of Religion was to be quietly and friendly debated according to the Word of God and not with the Sword and Reproaches He that spoke for the Nobility excused the Clergy and desired the King to preserve their Priviledges and Dignities But then he moved to have the greatest part of the Church Lands sold to pay the Debts of the Crown pretending that a third part of the Purchase Money put out to Use would be as good to them as the whole Land. That the Edict of July might be recall'd and only multiplicity of Sects and ill Language under the pretence of Liberty prohibited That a National Council might be call'd in which the King should preside That all Jurisdictions should be taken from the Church and annexed to the Crown There were also many other things demanded in this Assembly which tended to the Ruine of the Clergy the Papal Authority growing into Contempt and the greatest part either out of a desire to promote Piety or of Love to Novelty favouring the Protestant Party and daily increasing their numbers by joyning with them The Clergy to prevent this Storm wisely gave the King four Tenths for six years which very much appeased the King and the Principal Courtiers towards them The Queen by the Advice of Monluc Bishop of Valence wrote about this time a long Letter to the Pope dated the 5th of August In which stating the dangers which attended the differences in Religion she exhorted him to provide speedy Remedies because they were become so numerous that they could no longer be suppressed by the Sword that many of the Principal Nobility and Magistrates embraced that way and had drawn over such Numbers and so united them that they were become sormidable to the State yet by the Rare Blessing of Heaven they had no Anabaptists Libertines c. none that denied the Apostles Creed or the Interpretation of it received in the Seven General Councils That therefore most were of opinion that notwithstanding these differences they ought to be received into the Communion of the Church which would end in the Peace of the Church That the use of Images which was forbidden by God and as to Adoration disproved by St. Gregory ought to be taken away That Exorcisms and some of the Prayers used in Baptism might be omitted The Lords Supper Administred to all the Laity in both Kinds and the Decree of the Council of Constance ought not to be preferred before the Command of God That the Prayers might be used in the Vulgar Tongue and all that would Communicate might do so the first Sunday of every Month That the Psalms might be sung in the French Tongue A Publick Confession of Sins Prayers for the Prince the Magistrates Clergy Good Weather Fruitful Seasons and all Affliction might be in the same Tongue That the late invented Feast of the Holy Sacrament might be abolished it being unnecessary and the cause of great Scandal and Offence and that this Mystery was Instituted for a Spiritual Worship and not for Shew and Pomp That the use of the Latine Tongue which was foreign and unknown was a great fault the Prayers of the Church belonging not only to the Clergy but to all but as now it stands Who can say Amen to a Prayer in a Language he knows not That if yet the Latine must be used it were fit an Interpretation should be made of the Prayers in the Vulgar Tongue That the Receiving of the Priest in the Sacrifice of the Mass the People only looking Idely on is contrary to the Institution That the Psalms ought to be in the Vulgar Tongue and also the Private Prayers of the People That these things might be granted without derogating from the Papal Authority The Pope was infinitely offended with this Letter and the more because of the same of a National Council shortly to be holden in France but then he dissembled his Resentment and became the more sincere in the Assembling a General
the Council had contentions and differences amongst themselves which were unworthy of that moderation which they ought to have and tended very much to the detriment of that concord which was hoped for from them and yet these contests frequently broke out to the great satisfaction of their Adversaries That there was a report That the Pope intended to dissolve or suspend the Council and he advised him not to do it because nothing could be more shameful or damageable and which besides would certainly cause a great defection from the Church and bring a great hatred on the Papacy and from thence cause an equal contempt of all the Clergy That this dissolution or suspension would certainly procure the Assembling of National Councils which the Popes have ever opposed as contrary to the Unity of the Church and which those Princes which were well affected to the See of Rome had hitherto hindred in their Dominions but after this they could find no pretence to deny or delay them any longer Therefore he desired the Pope to lay aside that thought and to apply himself seriously to the celebration of the Council allowing the Ancient Liberty to all in its full extent that all things might be dispatched rightly lawfully and in order and thereby the mouths of their Adversaries who sought an opportuntity to calumniate might be stopp'd That it would become his Holiness to attend the Council in person if his health would permit it and he earnestly desired he would That he the Emperor if the Pope thought fit would also come thither that they both by their presence might promote the Publick business That the Pope might compose and decide many difficulties which had arisen from his absence The Emperor sent a Copy of this Letter to the Cardinal of Lorrain also and desired he would promote those things which tended to the Glory of God and the good of Christendom The 21th of May the Count de Luna Ambassador for the King of Spain was received in a Congregation and there was a Speech made in the behalf of that Prince in the Assembly by one Pedro Fontidonio de Segovia a Divine who extoll'd above measure the care of his Master in the Affairs of Religion and especially his severity shewn towards Sectaries he said this Prince Married Mary of England only to the end he might restore the Catholick Religion in that flourishing Kingdom He Reproached the French and German Nations for thinking that much was to be indulged to the Hereticks that being won by these Concessions they might be reduced into the bosom of the Church At last he said That they ought so to consult the Salvation of Hereticks and the Majesty of the Church that all things might be done for the promoting the latter rather than for gratifying the former And he exhorted all Princes to imitate the severity of his Master in bridling Hereticks that the Church might be delivered from so many Miseries and the Fathers of Trent from the care of celebrating Councils A little before this time the news of the Peace made with the Protestants of France came first in Generals and soon after the particular Articles This was blamed by the greater part of the Fathers in that Council who said it was to prefer the things of the world before the things of God yea to ruin both the one and the other For the Foundation of a State which is Religion being removed it is necessary that the Temporal should come to desolation whereof the Edict made before was an example which did not cause Peace and Tranquility as was hoped but a greater War than before The truth is these men would have all the world fight out their quarrel to the last man and then if their Catholicks perish they are as unconcerned as for the Hereticks and accordingly ever since that time they have made it their business first to hinder all Treaties of Peace wherein any liberty was granted to the Protestants and when they could not gain that point to make them be broken as soon as was possible tho this too has for the most part turn'd in the end to their great loss and shame The French Court perceiving how the Fathers of Trent took the Peace Ordered the Cardinal of Lorrain to shew the great Dangers which from the Civil War threatned that Kingdom and to assure the Council that it was the intention of the King to dissipate the Factions of France by a Peace that he might be at leisure to attend seriously the restitution of the Peace of the Church But when this would not be allowed neither the Queen sent Renate de Birague President of Dauphine to assure the Fathers That their Intentions were not to settle a New Religion in France nor to suffer it to grow up and encrease but that having disarmed their Subjects and quieted the Tumults they might with the less trouble return to the Methods used by their Ancestors for the reducing their people into the way and the Unity of the same Catholick Religion That this could never be done but by the Authority of a lawful and free either General or National Council that a General Council seemed the safer way but then it was necessary that a liberty and security should be given to all that would to come That tho' this had been done by the Pope and the Fathers yet the place was such and so situate that being rather in Italy than Germany the Protestants could not think themselves sufficiently secure For they desired a Council in Germany and thought they were not safe if it were any where else That not only they of Germany but the English Scotch Danes and Swedes were of the same mind and it was very unjust to condemn so many Nations unheard and besides it was unprofitable too for whereas all good men hoped that this Council would procure an Unity on the contrary it would cause a greater opposition and enmity when these Nations saw themselves neglected and by the inconvenience of the place as it were excluded out of the Council For it was fit for none but weak and credulous men to think they would ever submit to the Decrees of a Council in which they had never been admitted nor heard but it was to be feared on the other side that their minds being exasperated their patience would turn to fury and they would traduce to Posterity the Decrees of the Council and in the present age treat them with a virulent sharpness in their Writings Therefore Birague was Ordered to desire the Council might by the consent of the Fathers and Pope be transferr'd into Germany to Worms Spire Basil or Constance This Discourse would not edifie at Trent and he was sent on the same Errand to Inspruck to the Emperor and to Vienna to his Son Maximilian There were two others sent at the same time one into Spain and another to Rome but this latter found the Pope enraged to the utmost with the Peace so that
For undoubtedly they would then make a General League against the Catholicks which would be the cause of great Inconveniences We may see by this how hardly this Holy Council was kept from giving the world a Cast of its office in deposing Princes and disposing of their Dominions and absolving their Subjects from their Allegiance tho' we are now told this is none of the Doctrines of that Church but however it is undoubtedly her practice This Admonition was so effectual that the Pope desisted at Rome and revoked the Commission given to that purpose to the Legates at Trent When the French Ambassadors had put these two Rubs in the way of the Council they retired as the King their Master had before commanded them to Venice and gave an account of what they had done to the Cardinal of Lorrain at Rome and to the King of France this last approved it but the former having made his private Market with the Pope who extremely flattered this proud turbulent vain-glorious Prelate was very much displeased with what the French Ambassadors had done in his absence at Trent But when he came there and found the Ambassadors were supported by the King and that there was no fetching them back from Venice till the things proposed by the Council were revoked he perswaded the Legates to compound the difference and the Infallible Council laid by these Decrees which displeased the Crown of France and passed only a general Decree against the Violaters of the Ecclesiastical privileges and Immunities in the Twenty fifth Session This was the last Session of this Council and was held the fifth and sixth of December In it was determin'd the points concerning Purgatory the Invocation of Saints the Worship of Images and Reliques the Prohibition of Duels and all that pertain'd to the Reformation of the Manners of the Clergy All that had been done under Paul the Third Julius the Third and two Years before this in this Convention were then also ratified and confirmed And the Pope was desired to approve the same and so the Council was dismissed with Acclamations The Pope made a grave Oration in a Conclave of the Cardinals and giving God unfeigned thanks that the Council was ended he commended the Emperor the Apostolick Legates and the Bishops and said Tho' he was free from the obligation of all Laws yet he would cause these to be exactly and inviolably preserved and it any thing was omitted he would supply it The Protestant Ministers of Germany at the same time put out a Protestation against this Council subscribed by many of them Thus ended the Council of Trent which was desired and procured by Godly men to reunite the Church which began to be divided but hath so est ablished the Schism and made the parties so obstinate that the discords are become irreconcileable And being intended by Princes for the reformation of the Ecclesiastical Discipline hath caused the greatest corruption and deformation that ever was since Christianity began The Bishops hoped to regain the Episcopal Authority usurped for the most part by the Pope and it hath made them lose it altogether bringing them into greater servitude On the contrary it was feared and avoided by the See of Rome as a potent means to moderate their exorbitant power which from small beginnings mounted by divers degrees to an unlimited excess and it hath so established and confirm'd the same over that part which remains subject unto it that it was never so great nor so soundly rooted Thus far Polano The Emperor who was come as far as Inspruck to promote the Council finding that his being there did not only no good as he thought it would but rather the contrary the Popish Prelates suspecting his designs were against the Authority of the Court of Rome and were accordingly afraid of every thing so that the Difficulties and Suspicions did turn into bitterness and âncrease in number Therefore having other business which would turn more to his Advantage he left that place and returned home but he wrote first to the Cardinal of Lorrain That the Impossibility of doing good in the Council being palpable he thought it was the duty of a Christian and wise Prince rather to support the present evil with patience than by labouring to cure it to cause a greater By which he seems to mean that any enormities were to be endured from the See of Rome rather than to forsake it and so correct them The Catholick Princes being blinded and misled by their Education and not understanding that the right of calling Councils was in themselves as it was of old in the Christian Emperors who call'd all the Ancient General Councils thought that they should by force of Arguments and modesty extort some Reformation from them but when they saw they could not agree amongst themselves what was absolutely necessary France and the Empire asking more than King Philip was willing to admit and the Pope being as stoutly resolved whatever happened not to suffer his Power Grandeur or Wealth to be abated Lastly when they all saw that the Protestants would never submit to any Council that was call'd and managed by the Pope or his Legates they all became weary of it and desired it might be ended as soon as was possible and any way to deliver themselves from the charge trouble and vexation of this unprofitable or rather mischievous Conventicle But then as to the Roman Catholicks of this Age who would fain perswade us that nothing was amiss that there was no need of any Reformation that all the differences arose from misrepresenting the Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome and that this Council was one of the most holy Assemblies of Learned Impartial and Religious men that ever sate These I say are a a pleasant parcel of Gentlemen and presume that we are as ignorant of and unconcern'd for the Histories of former times as those who profess to be led by an implicite faith in all they have the confidence to teach them which is a great mistake From this day forward the Protestants renounced all commerce and friendship with the Church of Rome and she has by this Council put her self out of the power of a Reconciliation so that now the Quarrel is put intirely into the hands of God and all humane wisdom is baffl'd for ever Time the Sword or the Providence of God may perhaps at last put an end to it but no Counsel or Device of men ever shall I should here have ended this Continuation but that I have been forced to leave some things unspoken to continue the thread of my Relation which I will now go back to and gather up that the Story may be the more compleat and perfect Whilest the Council was sitting the Cardinal of Ferrara travelling through Piedmont and Savoy found the Affairs of that Country as to Religion not much other than in France In divers places of the Marquisate of Saluzza
' Arche and Caudebec Diepe Caen and Bayeux Man 's taken by them The Triumvirate desire no liberty should be granted to the Protestants The Triumvirate draw out of Paris The Prince of Conde maintain great Order in his Army at first A second Treaty between the Queen and Conde Boigency sack'd Bâois Tours Anger 's taken by the Protestants Tours retaken by the Roman Catholicks Mans deserted by the Protestants Amiens Senlis Normandy The Roman Catholicks retake Poictiers and Bourges The Siege of Roan resolved on The Terms of the Protestants League with England The King of Navar shot at the Siege of Roan He dyes ãâã surrender'd to the King. And also Caen. Diep retaken by the Protestants The Protestants beaten in Guienne Andelot hardly obtains Succours in Germany The Prince of Conde takes the Field Pluviers taken by the Prince of Conde Corbeil besieged by the Prince of Conde The two Armies come in view of each other A Treaty with the Queen and the Terms proposed by the Prince of Conde The Prince marcheth towards Normandy to meet the English Succours * Ablium The King's Army overtake the Prince The Battel of Dreux Montmorancy taken Prisoner St. Andre by the advice of the Duke of ãâã turn the Fortune of the day and gains the Victory on the King 's ââde The Prince of Conde taken ãâ¦ã slain ãâã Coligni The Duke of ãâã force ãâã to ãâã Coligni would have âought the next day Coligni General of the Protestants 1563. The Pope fondly overjoyed with the Victory at Dreux The Prince of Conde carried to Blois The Siege of Orleans The Duke of Guise wounded by one Poltrot The Death and Character of the Duke of Guise The Queen earnestly desires a Peace The Treaty of Peace between the Prince of Conde and Montmorancy The Articles agreed on Coligni not pleased with the Peace The Cardinal of Ferrara leaves France The Causes of the Delay of the Council The Pope's Legates sent to Trent * Proponentibus Legatis The Prohibition of Books taken into consideration A debate whether Episcopacy and Residence are of Divine Right The French Ambassadors Arrival The Demands of the French Ambassadors in the Council The French Kings Reflections on the Proceedings of the Council The Cardinal of Lorrain and the French Clergy arrive at Trent The Pope allarm'd at it as if so many Enemies had invaded him The Popes fears of the French Bishops never to be stopp'd Maximilian Son of Ferdinand chosen King of the Romans Polano in his History of the Council of Trent saith the Election was made the 24 th of November So that the first date seems to be the day of the opening of the Diet. The Emperor dislikes the Proceedings of the Council The Ambassador of Spain received in the Council The Fathers at Trent much dissatisfied with the Peace made in France The French Court shew their Reasons for it The Pope's Bull to the Inquisitors Several French Cardinals and Bishops cited to Rome And the Queen of Navarr also The French King declares against these Proceedings against the Queen of Navarr The Deposing of Princes and disposing of their Dominions the cause of great Calamities The Bishops defended by the King also The Queen complains of the Proceedings of the Council The Pope gained the Cardinal of Lorrain to his side Who went to Rome The Council has no Authority over Princes * Pag 721 The Ambassadors of France put a severer Protestation into the Council The Emperor opposeth the intended Proceedings of the Council against Queen Elizabeth The French Ambassadors leave Trent and go to Venice The last Session of the Council of Trent The censure of the Council The Emperor goes from Inspruck before the Council was ended His sense of the Council The Reasons why the Council had no better success The State of Religion in Piedmont A Tumult in Bavaria for the Cup. Reasons against granting Marriage to the Clergy And the Cup to the Laity The French Affairs after the Peace till the end of the Council The Siege of Havre de Grace The Protestants fight against the English Havre de Grace surrendred to the French. A Plague in London Charles the Ninth declared out of His Minority by the Parliament of Roan The Scotch Affairs in 1562. And 1563. John Hamilton Archbishop of St. Andrews committed for hearing Mass John Knox call'd before the Council for Sedition His bold Answer
great change that was made in the Publick Religion and the Laws betook themselves to Germany some to Wesel and others to Franckfort and Strasburg John Alasco a Polander of Noble Birth and great Learning who was the Brother of Jerome before this Winter began went thence to Denmark but being not so kindly entertained there on the account of his differing from them in the Point of the Eucharist and being denied an Habitation on the same score in the Lower Saxony at length he went to Emden a City of Friseland and there he setled The Fourth Day of March the Queen put out a Book of Articles or Injunctions wherein she commanded the Bishops and their Vicars not to admit any man into Holy Orders who was suspected of Heresie That they should extirpate Heresies suppress and destroy hurtful and pestilent Books That they should prescribe certain Rules to all School-Masters and Preachers and suppress those who did not conform That they should deprive all Married Priests and punish them as their wickedness deserved but that those who with the consent of their Wives should promise to divorce themselves and to abstain for the future should be treated with more gentleness and that they should restore all those that would do Penance for this Offence to their Livings again That all Publick Prayers should be in the Latine Tongue and according to the ancient Forms That all the ancient Holy-days Fasts and Ceremonies should be again observed That all Children already Baptized when they grew up should be brought to the Bishop to be confirmed And that they should be taught in the Schools how they are to minister to the Priest in the Mass at the Altar When Henry the Eighth abolished the Papal Supremacy in England as I have observed in the Ninth Book of this History he passed an Act of Parliament that no man should be admitted to any Ecclesiastical Function or Dignity unless he had first taken an Oath in which he acknowledg'd him and his Successors Supream Head of the Church of England and that the Pope had no Authority over the Church nor was better than a Bishop of Rome with whom they would have nothing to do This Oath the Queen even now remitted and commanded the Bishops not to exact it of any man and thereby did tacitly restare the Pope's Supremacy That which concerns the Publick Prayers went thus Henry the Eighth had commanded them to be said in the vulgar Tongue and in them amongst other things they prayed that God would deliver them from the Seditions Conspiracies and Tyranny of the Bishop of Rome and this Printed Form of Prayer was by this Order of the Queen abolished Soon after this Elizabeth the Queens Sister a Lady of great Learning was committed to the Tower because she was suspected to have had an hand in Wiat's Rebellion In the End of March the Enemies of Albert Marquess of Brandenburg returned to the Siege of Schweinfurt In April there came over into Germany Sir Richard Morison Knight whose Embassie I have mentioned in the Book before this Sir Anthony Cook and Sir John Cheeke Knights both the King's Schoolmasters and Men of great Learning and these all afterwards travelled into Italy And soon after Dr. John Poinet Bishop of Winchester came over also who together with many other Bishops was about this time displaced by reason of this Change of Religion The Forces of the Duke of Florence and the Pope besieging Siena about this time Peter Strozza who defended that City in the Name of the King of France learning something of their state by his Spies on a sudden made a Sally upon them and slew a great number of their Souldiers but they recruited their Army and continued the Siege for all that Loss whereupon the King of France levied Three Thousand Swiss for the relief of that Place The Duke of Florence also marries his Daughter to Ascanio the Pope's Nephew and the Methods of advancing his Fortunes by this Marriage were taken into consideration About this time also Ferdinand Gonzaga Governor of the Duchy of Milan came into Flanders to the Emperor Baptista Castaldus whom the Emperor had sent some years since into Hungary as I have said came also about this time to him About the middle of April Sir Thomas Wiat was executed at London He declared that neither the Lady Elizabeth nor Courtney Earl of Devonshire were acquainted with the Rebellion About the same time Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury and Hugh Latimer Bishop of London were removed first to Windsor and then to Oxford and a Disputation being mannaged against them by the Students both of Oxford and Cambridge the 16th 17th and 18th of April concerning Transubstantiation and the Propitiatory Sacrifice of the Mass and they continuing stedfast in their Former Opinion they were again committed to Prison At the same time there was a Parliament sate in England wherein the Queen especially recommended to the States her Marriage and the restitution of the Pope's Supremacy The first of these she carried upon certain Conditions but the latter was so vigorously opposed by the Upper House that she could not then bring it about In the mean time Cardinal Poole having spent some time with the Emperor in Flanders went to the King of France and endeavoured to bring these Princes to make a Peace but his Mediation had no good success In the end of April Albert of Brandenburg having received 60000 Crowns set Aumale his Prisoner at Liberty A little before this time Holansperg another of his strong Places was taken from him by the Confederates Not long after this the Emperor being then at Brussels by his Letters confirmed the Outlawry decreed the last Winter in the Imperial Chamber of Spire against the Marquess of Brandenburg in which having complained that the Marquess had with impunity committed such Ravages and made such Devastations in the Empire he in the next place severely commands all the Princes and States and especially those that lay next him to execute the said Sentence against the Marquess There had before this been two Meetings at Rotenburg a City of Franconia upon the River Tauber in order to the putting an end to this War but they being both frustrated the Emperor put out this Decree against him which was set up in all places and soon after there was a Diet of the Circle of the Rhine holden at Worms concerning this Business I have often mentioned the General Diet which was summoned in August but the Emperor being hindred from being present in it both by Sickness and Wars Ferdinand his Brother at his Request undertook the management of it and sollicited the Princes to meet who excused their Appearance there on the account of the troubled state of Germany The Emperor had already sent thither some of his Council and amongst them the Cardinal of Ausburg but none of the Princes coming thither for the Causes aforesaid it was deferred to a fitter opportunity Albert had
published a Remonstrance against the City of Norimberg written with great spight and bitterness insinuating that in the late War they had under-hand joyn'd with the French King and his Confederates and furnished them with Money That they and the Bishops their Confederates suspected the Emperor and had said many things of him which discovered their adhering rather to the French King than the Emperor That they had stirred up this War against himself and laboured for nothing more than that the Bishops might not keep their Pacts and Promises to him That they of Norimberg were the Aggressors in this War and had forced him to defend himself That they designed to ruine all the Nobility and Princes of Germany That they had violated that Faith which they had given under their Hands and Seals That they had made a wicked and a cruel War upon his Subjects That they had brib'd the Imperial Chamber against him Lastly he spred Pamphlets in Germany in which he call'd them Traytors This being known to the Norimbergers who in the Sack of Holansperg found some of these Papers the 18th of May they published a large Answer addressed to all the States of Germany in which they refuted all his Accusations in order retorting the greatest part of them upon himself They shewed upon what Conditions they had furnished Maurice with Moneys and shewed who was the Author of the present War For say they at the very time when the Princes who were the Mediators met at Heidelburg he by his Emissaries under-hand levied what Forces he could in Saxony which may be proved upon him by the Letters which William Grumpach one of his Couriers or Messengers sent to him Dated the 29th of March and by several others That if King Ferdinand Maurice Duke of Saxony and Henry Duke of Brunswick had not opposed all their Forces and hazarded their Lives against him he had certainly caused an horrible Desolation throughout Germany He had indeed necessitated the Bishops of Franconia to submit to most unjust and unreasonable Terms but then the Emperor had cancell'd that Treaty and had permitted them to recover what was their own That the Bishop of Bamberg had recovered some Towns and Bayliwicks out of his Hands before he was reconciled to the Emperor and then when being involved in the guilt of Treason not only his Estate but his Life might lawfully have been taken from him As for us say they by the Command of the Emperor we entred into a League for the defence of our own Territories as others have also done After this he was indeed reconciled to the Emperor and obtained a confirmation of this Treaty but it was upon condition that he should be faithful to him and the Empire But then he say they though the Emperor had not allowed him the use of any force from the Camp before Metz wrote to his Subjects That they should terrifie the Bishops and if they did not presently restore what they had taken from him that they should take it by force Whereupon his Subjects in the Month of January falling suddenly upon the Bishops in a short time by Force and Arms recovered all the Places they had retaken before from him Whereupon the Bishop of Bamberg sent an Account to his Allies and desired them to send him Succors according to the League yet we say they being desirous that nothing might rashly be done sent Letters and Envoys more than once to exhort and perswade the Marquess to preserve the Peace but he on the other side with great pride and contempt said That the more Enemies he had the more Glory they would bring him He said this in the beginning of March and a short time after the Treaty of Heidelburg was began And when there were very advantageous Terms offered to him and rejected by him though some of his near Relations and Kinsmen who were the Mediators perswaded him to Peace when he returned home from that place and was raising an Army we being again say they sollicited and called upon by the Bishops did then first profess our selves Enemies to him which was in the beginning of April of the last Year And whereas he has made a bloody and cruel War in Germany beyond the Example of all Stories he now endeavours to lay this Crime upon us But in truth what he says is false and there has been no complaint of our Army brought to us by any Person besides he But then his Souldiers have omitted no sort of Cruelty and they have sometimes in our Sight hung up the poor Plowmen they causally found in the field at Work old and young they forced the Women they found alive and digged up the Graves of those that were dead One Nicholas Eglofstein a Nobleman of Franconia in the Month of May last year being forced to surrender his Castle of Conrut the said Marquess not only burnt it but also commanded forty Countrymen which he found in it together with a Minister to be Hanged in the Garden near the Castle and carried his Wife and Mother Prisoners away with him It is true he endeavoured to excuse this Action afterwards to the Nobility of Franconia but to small purpose How he treated those he made Prisoners during the War is well known to both our own and the Bamberg Hostages who were shut up every where in his Goals He was not contented to demand great Ransoms of those he took but he also cruelly tormented them and starved some of them to death with Hunger and Cold and others were forced to cut off their frozen Limbs to save their Lives And some of them having nothing to redeem themselves with or to buy them Bread he forbad any Victuals should be given them And if the Garrison Soldiers had not been melted by their Lamentations and miserable Crys and had not cast them some dry mouldy fragments of Bread which no Beast or Vermin would have eaten or touched but in the extremities of Hunger these had all Perished to a Man. And when some of them had from their Friends obtained some Money for their subsistence they were hardly able to get Water and Straw Thus many of them were destroyed with Hunger and Thirst in the horrible nasty stinking recesses of his Prisons in which there was nothing but Worms creeping things and filthiness And when they were thus dead their Carkasses were not drawn out and removed but were left amongst the Living and the Sick. On the other side how well we treated those Soldiers of his which we took Prisoners and amongst them those very Leaders and Captains which deserved the worst of us though they yielded themselves into our Hands at discretion he may know if he please from themselves How averse he is to Peace will easily appear by the two Treaties at Rotenburg which is known to those Illustrious Princes who were there in Person or by their Ambassadors For though we have been grievously injured by him And though also the Outlawry was then published