general Positions as the Ground-work of his Opinion as that the Pope of Rome is head of the Universal Church That the Church of Rome is the Chief of all others and that in Matters relating to Faith and Religion it cannot err no more than a Council where the Pope is present That the Holy Scripture receives all its Force and Authority from the Church and Pope of Rome as from a most certain Rule and that they who think otherwise who follow not the Doctrins of the Church of Rome or question its Authority are without doubt Hereticks Having laid down this for a Ground he comes to debate the Matter To this Writing Luther afterwards made Answer and in his Preface to Silvester told him That he admired more than understood his Positions and then following his Example in his own Defence laid down some Positions also but such as were drawn from Holy Scripture Wherein he affirmed That we are not to believe the Doctrins of all Sorts of Men but prudently to weigh all Things and embrace that which is agreeable to the Word of God And that no Doctrin was to be received though never so Specious besides that which was left us by the Prophets and Apostles That the Writers who came nearest to them were to be admitted but that we were to judge of the rest And that as to Indulgences the Collectors ought not to forge any Novelties but therein follow the Direction of the Canon Law. Afterwards he objects against him That he alledged no Text of Scripture and only quoted the Opinion of Thomas who himself had handled most things according to his own Fancy without the Authority of Scripture wherefore he rejects both and for so doing gives for his Warrant not only the Injunction of S. Paul but also the Example of S. Austin That it is an usual thing with Lawyers to say That nothing was to be asserted but what was clearly grounded on the Law and that in Divinity it was far less tolerable to admit of any Allegation without the Authority and Testimony of Scripture That S. Paul commands That they who teach the People should be furnished not with Syllogisms or the various Devices of Men but with sound Doctrin left to us by Divine Inspiration but that because most part slighted that Command thick Darkness had overspread the Church and jangling about frivolous and needless Questions had broke into it Having thus made Way for himself he comes to the Refutation and towards the End says That he was not at all moved at his Threats nor his lofty and swelling Expressions for that though he might be put to Death yet Christ still lived and was Immortal to whom all Glory and Honour ought to be given That if afterwards he intended to have another Brush he must make use of other Weapons and that else he would come but sorrily off with his old Friend Thomas Silvester makes his Reply That he was exceedingly pleased That he submitted to the Determination of the Pope of Rome and wished that therein he might have spoken truly and from his Heart Luther had twitted him with Ambition and Flattery which he altogether disowned but strongly defended Thomas Aquinas affirming That his whole Doctrin was so well Received and Approved of by the Church of Rome that it was even preferred before all other Writings He therefore rebuked him for speaking with so little Reverence of so great a Man and told him That he looked upon it as an Honour to be called a Thomist But that nevertheless he was also acquainted with the Writings of other Men which sometime or other he would make appear To this Preface he subjoyned a Short Book wherein he strangely commended the Power of the Pope of Rome so that he raised him above Councils and all the Canons and affirmed That the Force of Scripture depended wholly on his Authority Thomas Aquinas being nobly descended gave himself altogether to the Study of Learning and leaving Italy came first to Cologn and then to Paris where he attained to the chief Place amongst the Learned Men of his Age and published many Books both in Philosophy and Divinity He had been a Fryer of the Dominican Order and the Scholar of Albertus Magnus and about fifty Years after his Death was Canonized a Saint by Pope John XXII He had indeed been a rare Champion for the Papal Dignity for he gave him Power not only over all Bishops the Universal Church and Kings but also both Spiritual and Civil Jurisdiction affirming it to be necessary to Salvation That all Men should be Subject unto him and that he had full Power in the Church both to call Councils and to confirm the Decrees of the same Nay and that from National or Provincial Synods Appeals might lawfully be made unto him In short he attributed all things unto him save only that he could not make new Articles of Faith nor abrogate those which were handed down to us from the Apostles and Fathers He wrote also largely of Indulgences and made the Pope an absolute Monarch in dispensing them He is said to have died in the Year one thousand two hundred and seventy four and because of the sharpness of his Wit he is commonly called the Angelical Doctor To Silvester's Reply Luther made Answer only by an Epistle to the Reader wherein he affirms That little Book of his to be so stuffed with Lies and Horrid Blasphemies against God that the Devil himself appeared to be the Author of it That if the Pope and Cardinals were of the same Judgment and that if that was the Doctrin taught at Rome it was no more to be doubted but that Rome was the very Seat of Antichrist and that happy was Greece Bohemia and all the rest who had separated from it That if the Pope did not restrain him and force him to retract his Writings he protested that he Dissented from him and not only acknowledged not the Church of Rome but would look upon it for the Future as an Impure Sink of Errours wholly Devoted to Impiety That new and unheard of Elogies of the Pope of Rome were cunningly and craftily devised daily with intent that there might be no place for a Lawful Council since his Flatteries raised him above a Council and affirmed That the true Sense and Meaning of the Scriptures was to be sought from him as from an Infallible Judge That if they went on in this Madness and Imposed so upon the World with their Juggles there remained no other Remedy but that the Magistrates should Punish them That Thieves Robbers and such like Malefactors were put to Death but that it was more Reasonable That all Men should joyn in repressing these most pernicious Enemies of the Commonwealth of Christendom That their Pope was no more than other Men and no less obliged by the Laws of God than the Meanest Person whatsoever and that they who taught otherwise offered the highest Injury to the Divine Majesty
relieve the Poor That in the chief Church the Mass of the Holy Ghost be said every Thursday and in time of Oblation all be intent upon the Priest and refrain from talking That the Bishops also live soberly use no luxury in their Tables and avoid all vain and idle Discourse accustoming their Families to do the like that in Speech Apparel and all their Actions they may appear honest and decent and that because it is the chief design of the Council that the darkness of Errour and Heresie which for so many Years have over-spread the World being dispersed the light of Truth may shine out all Men but especially the learned are admonished to consider with themselves what way chiefly that may be done That in giving their Opinions they should observe the Decree of the Council of Toledo act modestly not with clamour and noise not be contentious nor obstinate but speak what they have to say calmly and sedately The next Session was on the fourth of February In it nothing was done but that they made a Profession of their Faith and appointed the eighth of April for the next Session for many more were said to be upon their way to come to the Council they thought it fit then to stay for them that the Authority of the Decrees might be of the greater force Whilest these things were acting at Trent Luther being invited goes to the Counts of Mansfield to take up a difference that was betwixt them concerning their Bounds and Inheritance It was not indeed his custome to meddle in affairs of that nature having spent his whole Life in studies but seeing he was born at Isleben a Town within the Territories of Mansfield he could not refuse that Service to the Counts and his Native Country Before he arrived at Isleben which was about the end of January he was indisposed in health nevertheless he dispatched the Affair he was sent for and sometimes preached in the Church where he also took the Sacrament But on the seventeenth of February he began to be downright sick in his Stomach He had three Sons with him John Martin and Paul besides some Friends and amongst these Justus Jonas Minister of the Church of Hall and though he was grown now weak yet he dined and supped with the rest Discoursing of several things at Supper amongst other things he put the Question Whether in the Life to come we should know one another and when they desired to know his Opinion as to that What was the case said he with Adam He had never seen Eve but when God made her lay fast asleep but seeing her when he awake he asks not who she was or whence she came but says this is flesh of my flesh and bones of my bones Now how came he to know that but that being full of the Holy Ghost and endued with the true Knowledge of God he spake so after the same manner we also shall be renewed by Christ in the other World and shall know our Parents Wives Children and every thing else much more perfectly than Adam knew Eve. After Supper having withdrawn to Pray as his custom was the pain in his Stomach began to encrease Then by the advice of some he took a little Unicorns-horn in Wine and for an Hour or two slept very sweetly upon a Couch in the Stove when he awoke he retired into his Chamber and again disposed himself to rest after he had taken leave of his Friends that were present and bid them Pray to God said he that he would preserve to us the pure Doctrine of the Gospel for the Pope and Council of Trent are hatching Mischief All being hush'd he slept a pretty while but his Distemper increasing upon him he awoke after Midnight complaining of the stoppage of his Stomach and perceiving his end drawing nigh in these words he addressed himself to God. O God my heavenly Father and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ God of all Consolation I give thee thanks that thou hast revealed unto me thy Son JESUS CHRIST in whom I have believed whom I have confessed whom I have loved whom I have declared and preached whom the Pope of Rome and the multitude of the Vngodly do persecute and dishonour I beseech thee my Lord Jesus Christ receive my Soul O heavenly Father though I be snatched out of this Life though I must now lay down this Body yet know I assuredly that I shall abide with thee for ever and that no man can pluck me out of thy hands Not long after he had made an end of that Prayer having once and again commended his Spirit into the Hands of God he in a manner gently slept out of this Life without any bodily Pain or Agony that could be perceived And so Luther to the great grief of many died in his own Countrey which for many Years he had not seen the eighteenth of February The Counts of Mansfield desired indeed to have buried him within their Territories because there he had his Birth but by Orders from the Prince Elector he was carried to Wittemberg and five days after honourably buried there He was about Sixty three Years of Age for he was born the Tenth of November 1483. of honest and well-respected Parents John and Margaret His first Rudiments of Learning he had at home afterwards being sent to Magdeburg and Isenach he far outstript all of his Age. Next he came to Erfurdt and applied himself wholly to Logick and Philosophy and having stayed there some time without acquainting his Parents and Relations he put himself into a Monastery of Augustine Friers and bent his whole studies to Divinity abandoning the study of the Law to which he had addicted himself before Now there was a new University established at Wittemberg wherefore Stupitius whom we mentioned in the first Book being Rector thereof invited Luther that he might come and profess Divinity there He was afterwards sent to Rome by those of his Order that he might sollicite a Suit of Law that they had depending there and that was in the Year One thousand five hundred and ten Being returned home at the instigation of his Friends he took his Doctor 's Degree Duke Frederick being at the Charge of it How eloquent and fluent in Language he was his Works sufficiently testifie The German Language his own Mother-Tongue he much beautified and enriched and in it he merited greatest applause for he turned out of Latine into Dutch things that were thought could not be translated using most significant and proper words and in one single Diction sometimes expressing the emphasis of a whole Sentence In one place writing of the Pope how he had prophaned the Lord's Supper and caused Mass to be said also for the Dead he saith that with his Mass he had not only pierced into all the corners of the Christian World but even into Purgatory itself but he useth a Dutch word which represents a
Lower Saxony and forced them of Meckelburg Lunenburg Anbalt and Mansfeld to pay it Another part of his and the Bishop's Forces having beat Albert and taken Schweinfurt as I have said they Treated Rotenburg an Imperial City and the County of Henneburg very severely and seemed resolved that if they did not contribute to the Expences of this War which they pretend did belong to all they would levy it by Force but by the Interposition of others this difference was Composed and no Force was made use of About this time Charles Duke of Savoy who as I have related above was stript of the greatest part of his Territories died leaving as his Heir Philibert his Son who had served many Years as a Soldier undr the Emperor Ferdinand King of the Romans published an Edict commanding his Subjects not to change any thing in the Celebration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist and that according to the old Custom they that received the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper should content themselves with one of the Spectes the Bread only But the Princes the Nobility and Cities having often before Petitioned him in this Business did now by a Letter very humbly desire that according to Christ's Command and Institution and the custom of the ancient Church which they backed also with many Reasons they might be allowed the partaking of the whole and entire Eucharist The King answering this Letter the twenty third of June from Vienna said he did not in the least suppose when he published that Edict that it should be made by them the Subject of a Dispute and Cavil For said he my only design was that the People in my Dominions should remain in the ancient and true Religion and in the Obedience of the Catholick Church out of the Communion of which none can be Saved and that they might receive this most excellent Sacrament according to the Laws and Customs of the Church and that they might not be perverted from that duty they owe both to the Civil Magistrate and the Church either by the perverse Opinions of some Men or by a certain over great Curiosity or Pride He said this was the only intention and design of that Edict and that he had not in it commanded any new thing but had required only the continuance of an ancient Institution which has been brought down to me from hand to hand by my Ancestors the Emperors Kings and Dukes of Austria and which has to this Day been diligently observed by me as becomes a Christian Prince and which I have heretofore frequently commanded my Subjects to continue in And therefore I did not in the least suspect that you would attempt any thing against the tenor of this Edict who so earnestly contend that in all other things no change may be made and that you may enjoy your Laws and Rights without Violation For certainly this is a new thing and of late taken up by you upon some Opinion which you argue so largely for as if it befitted you to judge of my Commands who am your principal and highest Magistrate and as if that ought of right to be allowed you which some of you of late years have of their own Authority privately assumed to themselves and usurped contrary to the Canons of the Church and against my Will. But then it being as you say a grave and difficult question as you your selves aver I will think further of it and in due time I will return such an answer to it as shall shew that I am very much concern'd for the Salvation of my People But in the mean time I expect all manner of submission from you and that you should not in the least act any thing contrary to my Edict To this Letter the States made a reply in Writing also to this Effect What we have so often said most serene Prince concerning the Command of our Saviour we now again repeat for he instituted his Supper in clear and perspicuous Words that it might be received by all in the self same manner as he prescribed And it is not lawful for any mortal Man to change or alter his Institution and Prescription This was also the ancient custom of the Church and that which is now used crept in by insensible degrees as we can demonstrate For the Council of Constance confesseth that it was so instituted by Christ Seeing therefore this pertains to the Salvation of our Souls certainly neither Curiosity nor Pride have put us upon it And upon this very score we the rather hope that you will direct your future deliberation by the Commands of Christ and his Apostles and the practice of the ancient Church and in no wise oppress our Consciences which just request we make to your Majesty by all that is sacred by the Glory of God and by the Salvation of our Souls We acknowledge that by the Will of God you are our Supream Magistrate and we do this with the utmost willingness and we say that there is nothing which you may not or ought not to expect from us but in this one thing we desire you would spare us In the Diocess of Wurtzburg in Franconia there is a Monastery called Nenstadt the Abbot of which John Frisius falling into the suspicion of Lutheranism was cited the fifth day of May to appear within six days after at Wurtzburg and answer to such things as should be then enquired of him The Interrogatories then administred to him were Whether it be lawful to Swear Whether a Man is bound by his Vow Whether it be lawful to make a Vow of Poverty Chastity and Obedience Whether such Vows oblige Whether Matrimony or Celibacy doth best become the Ministers of the Church Whether there is one true and Apostolical Church Whether she is perpetually governed as the Spouse of Christ by the Holy-Ghost Whether she does always decree what is true and Salutary Whether the Church is to be deserted for the Vices and Errors of some Men in it Whether she upon the account of the Head the Vicar of Christ may rightly be called the Roman-Church Whether all the Books of both Testaments which the Canon has are lawful and true Whether the Sacred Scriptures are to be interpreted according to the Sentence of the Holy Fathers the Doctors of the Church and the Councils or according to that of Luther and such others Whether besides the sacred Scriptures there be not need of other Traditions such as those of the Apostles and others of the same Nature Whether the same Faith Authority and Obedience is due to these Traditions which is due to the sacred Scriptures Whether the civil Magistrate is to be obeyed in Politick or Civil Affairs and the Ecclesiastick in Sacred or Holy things Whether the Sacraments of the Church are Seven Whether Children are to be Baptized Whether Baptism ought to be administred in the Latin Tongue Whether Salt Oil Water Characters and Exorcisms ought to be made use of in
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 â—ncrease 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
days ibid. Marot Clement an account of him 310. Mary Q. of Hungary made Governess of the Netherlands 149. Goes to Augsbourg to Mediate for the mitigation of the Emperors Edict 501. Holds a Convention of the States of the Netherlands at Aix la Chapelle 560. She stops the Landgrave at Mastricht 573. Mary Q. of Scots Troubles in her Minority 316. Affianced to Prince Edward of England ibid. Is carried into France 477. Mary Daughter to Henry VIII Proclaims her self Queen of England upon K. Edward's death 589. Enters London ibid. Makes Gardiner Chancellor ibid. Beheads the D. of Northumberland ibid. She Establishes the Popish Religion again in England 591. Orders a publick Disputation at London 593. Dissolves K. Edward's Laws about Religion in Parliament 595. Marries Pr. Philip of Spain ibid. Breaks Wiat's Conspiracy 596. Beheads Jane Grey and the Duke of the Suffolk ibid. Banishes Foreign Protestants out of England 597. Publishes a Book of Articles about Religion ibid. Commits the Princess Ellizabeth to the Tower 598. Her Marriage with K. Philip is solemnized with great splendor 604. Calls a Parliament wherein England is again subjected to Rome 605 606. Dissolves that Parliament 607. Burns several for Religion ibid. She mediates a Peace between the Emperor and King of France 616. It was reported that she was with Child ibid. She encreases the Persecution in England ibid. Her Ambassadors return home from Rome 618. She calls a Parliament where she proposes the Restitution of the Church-Lands in vain 627. Martyr Peter comes into England and professes Divinity at Oxon 443. Disputes there about the Lord's Supper 483. Is in trouble upon Edward's Death 590. Applies himself to Cranmer ibid. Gets leave to be gone Ibid. Goes to Zurich 637. Matthews John a great Prophet among the Anabaptists commands a Community of Goods 194. Runs Truteling through with a Pike by Inspiration ibid. Is run through himself by a Soldier ibid. Maurice D. of Saxony Marries the Landgrave's Daughter 272. Quarrels with the Elector of Saxony 292. Is wounded in Hungary 304. Refuses to enter into the Protestant League after his Father's death ibid. Makes Laws for the Government of the Country 311. Endeavours an accommodation between the D. of Brunswick and the Landgrave 353. Perswades the D. of Brunswick to surrender 354. Purges himself of Treachery ibid. Holds a Secret Conference with the Emperor at Ratisbon 380. Has a Conference with K. Ferdinand 391. Calls a Convention of the States at Chemnitz 405. Consults against the Protestants ibid. His Friends write to the Protestants 406. He writes to the Landgrave ibid. Writes to the Elector 409. And to his Son ibid. Takes most of the Electors Towns ibid. Is ill spoken of and Lampoon'd by the Protestants 410. Publishes a Manifesto to clear himself ibid. Joins Ferdinand to go towards Bohemia 423. Intercedes for the Landgrave 429. Writes to the Landgrave to comply 430. Receives Wittemberg with the rest of the Electorate from the Emperor 431. Exacts an Oath of Allegiance of John Frederick's Subjects ibid. Promises the Landgrave to interceed with the Emperor at Hall 433. And Remonstrates about it ibid. Receives the Wittemberg Divines Graciously 435. He is invested in the Electorate Solemnly at Augsbourg 457. Calls a Convention at Meissen who draw up a Form of Religion for Saxony 478. Intercedes with Prince Philip for the Landgrave ibid. Writes to the States to clear himself from the imputation of Popery 484. His Deputies at Augsbourg protest against the Council of Trent 499. He engages in the Expedition against the Magdebourghers 502. He is made Generalissimo of that War 503. He attacks the Magdebourghers 504. Defeats Heideck and Mansfeldt ibid. He promises the Landgrave Aid secretly 505. Routed in a Sally by the Magdebourghers ibid. Proposes Conditions of Peace to the Town 515. Commands his Divines to draw up a Confession of their Faith ibid. Demands a safe Conduct for his Divines to go to the Council of Trent 516. Sends the Proposals to the Magdebourghers by Heideck 521. He holds a Convention about the business of Magdebourg 525. He takes an Oath of Fidelity from the men of atzenelbogen 526. He concludes a Peace with the City of Magdebourg 528. Complains of the Preachers ibid. Hatches a War against the Emperor 529. Sends Ambassadors to the Emperor about the Landgrave 531. He holds a Conference with Prince William the Landgrave's Son 534. His Ambassadors come to Trent and declare their Instructions 537. They join with the Agents of Wirtemberg and Strasburg to sollicite for the hearing of the Protestants in the Council ibid. The Saxon Divines are upon their way to come to the Council 541. The Ambassadors complain against Perlargus ibid. Maurice sends Letters to his Ambassadors 542. They leave Trent secretly ibid. His care for the release of the Landgrave 549. He declares War against the Emperor 550. Takes the Field and joins with Marq. Albert 555. He goes with the other Princes and besieges Ulm 556. Treats with Ferdinand of Conditions of Peace ibid. Writes to the French King 558. His Army Skirmishes with the Imperialists 559. A Mutiny in his Camp for want of Pay ibid. His Soldiers make the Emperor fly from Inspruck 560. Which is Plundered ibid. They Publish a Declaration ibid. He restores the Outed Ministers ibid. His Grievances at the Treaty of Passaw 563. His Proposals at the Treaty 566. He is impatient of delay and hastens Ferdinand 568. He returns to the Confederates 569. Besieges Francfort ibid. At last he accepts a Peace 571. Sends his Forces into Hungary 573. Sends Commissioners to treat with John Frederick's Commissioners to no purpose 577. Went to Heidelberg to mediate between Albert and the Bishops 578. Makes a League with the D. of Brunswick ibid. Declares War against Marq. Albert 581. He overcomes Albert and is killed in the Fight 586. His Death foretold by Prodigies ibid. Maximilian Emperor holds a Diet at Augsbourg 4. Writes in August 1518. to Pope Leo to correct Luther and to put an end to his growing Heresies 5. Dies Jan. 12. 1519. 13. Sends Ambassadors to the Council of Pisa 26. Goes off to Pope Julius 27. Sends Langus to the Lateran Council ibid. Commissions Hogostrate and Reuchlin to examine Jewish Books 30. Wars with the Switzers 469. Maximilian Son to Ferdinand comes into Germany out of Spain 505. Is well beloved ibid. He returns home from Spain 529. Is honourably received at Trent 535. Goes to Brussels 637. Mecklenbourg vide George D. of Mecklenbourg Mechlin almost consumed by Lightning 392. Medices the rise of that Family to Greatness 169. Meinier President of the Parliament of Aix persecutes the Waldenses 345. Vses the Inhabitants of Merindol and Cabriers barbarously 345 346. Meissen John Bishop of Meissen Opposes Luther about Communion in both kinds 25. Melancthon Philip comes to Wittemberg 21. Goes to Leipzick ib. Answers the Parisian Censure of Luther's Books 47. Comes to the Diet at Augsbourg 127. One of the Protestant Deputies there to mediate an
Accommodation 132. Very much disconsolate 140. Comforted by Luther ibid. Comes to Cologne 310. Defends Bucer 311. His Opinion about Indifferent Things 481. He draws up a Confession of Faith for the Saxon Divines 515. Congratulates John Frederick's safe Return home 574. Sends Letters of Comfort to the Banished Bohemian Preachers 613. Mendoza sent by the Emperor to the Council of Trent 360. Ambassador to Strasbourg 419. His Speech to the Pope about the Council from the Emperor 443. Sends the Pope's Answer to the Emperor 445. Mentz the Seat of the Elector four German miles from Francfort 13. Elector of Mentz vide Albert. The Elector approves the Interim craftily in the Diet 460. Sends the Pope's Indult into the Landgraviate 483. Denies to Register Maurice's Protestation against a Council 499. He leaves Trent 543. He flies from Albert of Brandenbourg 567. He dies 614. Mersburgh Bishops Answer to Luther 33. Milan the Council removed thither from Pisa 27. Miltitz Charles Bedchamber man to Pope Leo vide Wittemberg Miltitz sent by Leo to Frederick against Luther 12. Treats with Luther 23. And the Augustine Friars concerning him ibid. Minden proscribed by the Imperial Chamber 245. Mirandula Joannes Picus his Books Censured 28. Monte Cardinal de the Pope's Legate at Bononia His Answer to the Pope's Letter 444. His Insolent Vsage of Vargas the Emperor's Ambassador at Bononia 446 447. made Pope and called Julius III. 492. Montmorency Anne made Constable of France 239. Is in disgrace 277. Gains Favour with Henry II. King of France Takes Metz for the French King 555. His Treaty with the Deputies of Strasbourg 557. More Sir Thomas Chancellor of England 180. Beheaded for not denying the Pope's Supremacy Ibid. Morin John under-Provost of Paris prosecutes the Protestants severely 175. Morone John Legate to P. Paul III. at Spire 291. Muleasses K. of Tunis outed of his Country comes to Augsbourg 457. Muncer Thomas begins to Preach in Franconia 52. An account of his Enthusiasm 83. Settles at Mulhansen 84. Turns out by the Rabbles help all the Magistrates ibid. Joyns with the Boors of Swabia and Franconia Ibid. Is routed by Count Mansfield Ibid. Retires with his Gang to Franck-hausen Ibid. His Speech to the Rabble 85. His men frighted 86. Routed by the Princes Army Ibid. 5000. of them taken Ibid. Muncer taken at Franck-hausen Ibid. Racked to confess his accomplices Ibid. Beheaded Ibid. Munster a City in Westphalia possessed by the Anabaptists 174. The Senate Estabilsh the Reformed Religion there 191. They make a treaty with the Bishop 192. Banish the Anabaptists Ibid. They are Tumultuous there 193. It is besieged by its Bishop Ibid. Who is assisted by the Neighbouring Princes 194. A great Famine in the City 198. The Princes threaten to send the Force of the Empire upon them 197. Murner Thomas a Franciscan Friar complains to Campegio against the Senate of Strasbourg 73. Musculus Wolfgangus flies from Augsbourg to Bern for not subscribing the Interim 461. N. NAples a sedition there because of the Inquisition 434. Nassaw Count of desires the Elector of Saxony to come to the Diet at Spire 152. Henry of Nassaw Charles V's General in Picardy 208. Unsuccessful there Ibid. William Son to Count Nassaw succeeds the Prince of Orange 327. Naves discourses with Count Solmes about the War designed against the Protestants 357. Speaks to the Landgrave at Spire in the Emperors name 368. Dies 419. Naumbourg the Chapter choose Phlugius for their Bishop 288. Netherlands Reformation gets footing there 341. Northumberland John D. of Marries his Son Guilford Dudley to the Lady Jane Gray 580. Is siezed on at Cambridge 589. And beheaded by Q. Mary Ibid. Nuremberg a Diet convened thither 51. Their Ministers accused to the Popes Legate 62. The Acts of the Diet Published 63. The treaty of Pacification removed hither from Schurnfurt 160. A Peace is there concluded Ibid. A Holy League there drawn up amongst the Popish Princes 245. Another Diet there 298. The decree of that Diet 299. The Netherlands Ambassadors accuse theâ—â— of Cleve in the Diet 306. The Decree of the Diet 307. Their quarrels with Albert of Brandenbourg 561. Vide Albert their Answer to Albert's Remonstrance 599. O OBersteyn Ulrick Count made General of the Army against the Munster mad Men 197. His Soldiers are tumultuous for want of Pay 200. He carries the Town at last 201. Ockham William Condemned by the University of Paris 28. What his Doctrine 29. Oecolampadius John Preaches at Basil 76. He embraces the Doctrine of Zuinglius 97. Disputes at Bern 111. Meets Luther at Marpurg 121. Dies 156. Orleans vide Franciscan Friars D. of Orleans dies 352. Osiander comes to Marpurg to the Conference betwixt Luther and Zuinglius 121. Sets up a new Sect about Justification in Prussia 511. Rails against Melancthon and the Saxon Divines 512. Dies at Coningsberg 575. His Sect in Prussia promise to submit to the Augustane Confession 632. Otho Prince Palatine Embraces the Protestant Religion 300. Recovers his Country and Joyns with the Confederate Princes 556. Oxford a dispute there concerning the Lord's Supper 483. Oxline John a Minister carried by force from his House by the Governour of Turegie 76. This Occasions the Canton of Zurich to remonstrate 77. P. PAlatine George vide Spires Palatine Prince vide Lewis vide Otho Palaeologus John Emperor of Constantinople comes to the Council of Ferrara 10. Pall the excessive charge of it 273. The Ceremony of its consecration 274. Passaw a Treaty there 563. The Princes Mediators there answer Maurice's Grievances 564. And they answer the French Ambassadors Speech 565. They exhort the Emperor to a Peace by Letters 566. They answer the Emperors Letters 568. The heads of the Pacification 572. Paris Doctors of that University appealed against P. Leo for Abrogating the Pragmatick Sanction 10. Censure the Books of Reuchlin 30. And condemn Luther's Books 47. An Account of the Faculty of Divinity at Paris 48. A Young Gentleman of Thoulouse burnt there for Religion 239. They are severe upon the Lutherans 296. The manner of Proceedings upon him 297. Their Divines at Melun draw up Articles against the Reformation 342. The Parliament answers the K. of France's Edict 619. Paul III. Farnese chosen Pope 174. Instructs Vergerius how to stave off a Council 175. Issues out Bulls to call a Council 206. And others to reform the Vices of Rome 209. Prorogues the Council called at Mantua 230. Is Sollicitous to reconcile the Emperor and the King of France 232. Appoints a Committe of Cardinals to Examine the Corruptions of the Church of Rome 233. Nominates Vicenza for the Session of the Council 238. Returns to Rome 241. Prorogues the Council without Limitation 250. Sends his Legate to the Emperor 264. Makes War upon Perugia 266. The Speech of his Legate at the Diet of Spire 291. Allows a Council to be held at Trent 292. Sends Cardinals to mediate between the French K. and the Emperor 303. Commends the Chapter of Cologne in a Letter to
Liberty ibid. She thanks Conde for his good Service 75. She treats with him 75 79. She feareth the Duke of Guise after the battle of Dreux yet makes him General 81. After he was slain she more earnestly desired a Peace than before 83. She excuses the Peace when made 91. She complains of the proceedings in the Council of Trent 94. Catzenello bogen resigned 13. Cavii 11. Charles V. Emperor resigns Spain and the Empire 5. Goes into Spain 7. His Letter to his Son 15. His Death and Character 23. Charles the IX King of France succeeds his Brother 47. Carried by force to Paris 72. Is declared out of his Minority at fourteen years of Age 99. Charles Cardinal Caraffa strangled 64. Christian King of Denmark dies 26. The Church ever pure and spotless 51. Civitella a small City in Italy baffles the French 10. Coligni Admiral of France taken in St. Quintin 15. Suspected to be in the conspiracy of Bloys 43. Recommends a toleration as necessary 44. Delivereth a Petition for the Proâ—estants 45. Made General after the Battle of Dreux 81. Disownes the having any hand in the Murder of the Duke of Guise 83. Dislikes the Peace of Orleans 84. Colonna mark Antony 8. Conde Lewis the concealed head of the conspiracy of Amboys 42. Detained for it 43. Leaves the Court 44. Imprisoned 〈◊〉 Orleans 47. Freed upon the Death of the King 48. Acquitted in the Parliament of Paris 56. Reconcil'd to the Duke of Guise 58. The Queen desires his Protection 71. He declareth a War against the Catholick Lords 73. Taken at the battle of Dreux 80. Makes a Peace at Orelans 84. The Conference of Poissy resolved on 58. Began 59. One at Wormes 13. Conquet in Britain taken by the English 21. The Conspiracy of Bloys 42. Discovered first by a Protestant 43. Constantio Confessor to Charles V. burnt after he was dead for Heresie 35. The Copthites pretend submission to the Pope 57. Cosmus Duke of Florence obtains the possaession of Siena 10. Procures a Peace for the Duke of Ferrara 11. And the Assembling of the Council of Trent 49. Ruines the Power of the Caraffa's 26. Councils are not to change the Doctrines or Customes of the Church 45. A National Council decreed in France 46. That of Trent procured to avoid it 49. Recall'd 62. Writ against by Vergerius ibid. Protested against by the Protestant Princes of Germany 63. Opened 86. Complained of by the Queen of France 94. Accused for invading the Rights of Princes 95. Protested against by the French ibid. 96. Ended and Censured 96. The reason why it had no better Success 97. D DAvid George a famous Anabaptist his Life Doctrine and Death 28 29. Diepe taken by the Protestants 74. Surrendred 78. Diana Dutchess of Valentinois 30. Dietmarsh conquered 26. Diets at Ratisbonne 12. At Augsbourg 27. At Naumburg 63. At Francfort 89 13. At Brisgow 89. A Disputation rejected when enforced by an Army 41. Doway attempted by the French 9. Dreux the battle of 80. Dunbar dismantled 42. Dunkirk taken by the French 20. E EGmont Count General at Graveling 21. Elizabeth Queen succeeds 22. Is severely treated by the Pope 23. She at first refuseth but at length leagues with the Protestant Scots 40. She is kind to Mary of Scotland 67. And after this Leagueth with the Prince of Conde 77. She rejects the Council of Trent 64. And the Council designed to depose her 90. The Question Whether Episcopacy is of Divine Institution Debated in the Council and rejected 87. Erick King of Sweden succeeds Gustavus his Father 49. Is Crowned 64. F FAith not to be kept with Hâ—reticks 37. Broken by R. Catholicks 53 54. Designed to be broken when time serves 91. A Turkish Fleet sent to the Assistance of the French 19. The English Fleet make an unfortunate Expedition into France 21. One of LI. Ships attend Charles V. into Spain 7. A Fleet of 90. carries his Son Philip thither 35. The English fleet procureth the victory at Graveling 22. Ferdinand Brother of Charles V. His War in Transylvania and Hungary 4 5. The Resignation of the Empire to him 6. He is elected Emperor 22. He confirms the Peace of Passaw 12. 28. He gives a brisk answer to the French Ambassador ibid. He Solicites the Protestant Princes to submit to the Council of Trent 62. Paul IV. refuseth to acknowledge him to be Emperor 22. He expresses his dislike of the proceedings of the Council of Trent in a Letter to the Pope 90. Hindereth them from proceeding against Queen Elizabeth 96. Ferrara the Cardinal of 85. The Duke of Ferrara makes his Peace 11. His Death 36. Francis Otho Duke of Lunenberg dies 36. Francis II. Succeeds Henry II. his Father in France 33. Having before Married Mary Queen of the Scots 19. He is reported to have the Leprosie 34. Claims England in the Right of his Wife 38. Dies 47. Francford quarrels fatal 11. Frederick I. King of Denmark dies and is Succeeded by Frederick II. His Son 25. He conquereth Dietmarsh 26. His answer to the Popes Legate 63. Frederick III. Duke of Bauaria 36. G GUise the Duke of sent into Italy 10. Recalled 11. Made General in France 16. Takes Calais 17. But is the cause of the defeat near Graveling 20. He is made Lieutenant General of France 43. He procureth the persecution in France 30. Reconcil'd to Conde 58. Recal'd to Court by the K. of Navar 70 71. He frights the Queen into a Compliance with the R. Catholick Lords 72. Becomes General in the end of the Battle of Dreux 81. And is slain by one Poltrot before Orleans 82. Gran a City in Hungary surprized 5. Gustavns King of Sweden dies 49. Guines taken 18. H. HAly General of the Turkish Forces in Hungary his Actions Character and Death 4. Hamilton John Archbishop of St. Andrâ—â—s committed for hearing Mass 99. Havre de Grace surrendered to the English 77. Retaken by the French 98. Helinoa Queen of France dies 36. Henry II. King of France breaks his Oath by the Procurement of the Pope 9. He recovereth Calais out of the hands of the English 17. Zealous for the Roman Catholick Religion 20. He discovereth a secret design between him and K. Philip to the Prince of Orange 27. Is perswaded to persecute the Protestants of France 30. He is incensed against the Parliament of Paris 31. The Protestant Princes of Germany write to him 32. His Death and Character 33. His designs against England 38. K. Philip desireth a Peace that he may be at leisure to extirpate Heresie 27. All Hereticks to be persecuted with Fire and Sword 30 31. Faith not to be kept with such 53 54 91. Princes to be deposed for Heresie 92 93. Philip much commended for his Severity to Hereticks in the Council of Trent 91. No Peace to be made with such ibid. Dangerous to Government 51. Hospital made Chancellor of France 44. His Speech to the Assembly of Princes ibid. He assures the Clergy there should be a National Council
At that time James Hogostrate a Dominican wrote bitterly also against Luther exhorting the Pope to prosecute him with Fire and Faggot Luther gave him a short Answer upbraided him with Cruelty and Blood-thirstiness and sharply plaid upon the Ignorance of the Man advising him to go on in his Course for that to be Censured by Unlearned and Vitious Men was a ready Way to attain to Honour and Reputation However he said He hoped for better things at the Hands of Pope Leo. Whilst these things were in a Scholastick manner managed and debated by Writing on both Sides the Emperour Maximilian held a Diet at Ausburg whither Pope Leo â— sent his Legat Cardinal Thomas Cajetane All the seven Princes who because of their Right of Chusing the Emperour are called Electors were present at this Diet to consult about a Turkish War for Sâ—lym the Emperour of the Turks having lately subdued the Sultan of Egypt had reduced Syria and Egypt under his Obedience and Cardinal Cajetane having made an Hortatory Speech and in the Pope's Name offered the Treasures of the Church implored Aid of the Emperour Maximilian as being the Protector and Defender of the Church At this Time Pope Leo X made Albert Archbishop of Mentz a Cardinal and ordered him to be installed at this Diet by Cajetane with the usual Rites and Ceremonies The Emperour afterwards waited upon the new Cardinal from the Church home to his House and sent him Presents a Royal Litter with Horses Carpets and a great deal of very Rich Furniture But the Pope made him a Present of a Cap embroidered with Gold Pearls and precious Stones and of a Sword with a gilt Scabbard For generally all the Bishops of Germany have a Civil as well as Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Now it was thought That Leo conferred this Honour upon him That the Church of Rome might have a Champion in Germany conspicuous both for Nobility of Extraction and Dignity for though all Bishops are bound by an Oath to the Pope of Rome yet they who are called Cardinals are much more obliged unto him Besides he was not Ignorant how great a Stroak this Man had in the Affairs of the Empire as being by Ancient Custom the First of the Princes and as it were perpetual President of the Electoral Colledge Maximilian being informed of the Controversie raised by Luther in the Month of August wrote to Pope Leo That he had learned that Luther had vented many things in his Disputes and Sermons which for the most part seemed to be Heretical that he was the more grieved at it the more obstinately he maintained his Doctrin and had the more Approvers of his Errours and amongst those some also of great Quality That he exhorted his Holiness that by Virtue of the Chief Authority which he had he would cut off all Idle and Useless Questions and put a Stop to all Sophistry and Contention about Words for that they who gave their Minds that Way did a great deal of Mischief to Christianity since all their Scope was That what they themselves had learn'd should be approved and imbraced by all Men That care had been indeed taken in the former Age That able Preachers should be appointed to teach the People and avoid all Idle and Sophistical Nicities but that that Decree was by degrees brought into Contempt so that it ought not indeed to seem strange if they who should be the Guides of others themselves mistook the Way That it was long of these That the Writings of the Ancient Fathers and Interpreters of Holy Scripture had lain now long neglected and were become Faulty and Corrupted That it was also to be imputed to them That in these our Times many Controversies were broached in the Schools and amongst the rest that this dangerous Debaâ—â—â— about Indulgences was started That this indeed was a Matter of so great Moment as that it required a present Remedy to be applyed to the growing Evil before it should propagate its Contagion and spread further for that Delays were dangerous That for his part he was ready to approve whatever his Holiness should Determine and take care to have it received throughout all the Provinces of Germany We told you before of the Clashings and contrary Writings of Luther and Silvester Now since this Man having a publick Place in Rome eagerly pursued the Cause Pope Leo Cites Luther under a Penalty to appear at Rome and then August 23 wrote to Cardinal Cajetane his Legat in Germany to this purpose That whereas being informed That not only in Universities but also amongst the People and in Books published and dispersed over Germany Luther maintained some Impious Opinions contrary to the Doctrin of the Church of Rome the Mistriss of Faith and Religion He who out of a Paternal Care and Affection desired to put a Stop to his Rashness had commanded Jerome Bishop of Ascoli to whom the Matter properly belonged to Summon him to appear at Rome to answer the Accusations brought against him and give a Confession of his Faith. That the Bishop of Ascoli had indeed done as he was enjoyned but that he was so far from being thereby Reclaimed that obstinately persisting in his Heresie he had published Writings far more Dangerous to his great Grief and Trouble That he should therefore endeavour to have him brought to Ausburg by means of the Emperour and Princes of Germany whose Assistance he should crave herein and that being come he should put him in safe Custody that he might be sent afterwards to Rome But that if he repented of his own accord and begged Pardon for his Fault he might receive him into Favour and restore him to the Communion of the Church which never uses to exclude Penitents but if not that then he should Excommunicate him commanding all Men also to obey this Bull under the Penalty if they be Church-men of the loss of all the Church Livings they possessed and of being incapable of enjoying any for the future but if Lay-men and in Civil Office under the Pain of being declared Infamous degraded from all Honours deprived of Christian Burial and the Forfeiture of all Ecclesiastical Preferments which they held of him or of others also But to those who should perform faithful Service therein he orders either that Plenary Indulgences and Remission of Sins or else some Place and Reward should be given and to this Bull he subjects all Men the Emperour only excepted notwithstanding any Priviledge or Dispensation they might have to the contrary The same Day he wrote to Frederick Elector of Saxony who then was at Ausburg That among the other Ornaments of the House of Saxony it had been always peculiar to it to be most zealous for Religion that therefore it was not probable that any of that Family would so far degenerate from their Ancestors as to protect and defend a Man who entertained Erroneous Thoughts as to the Christian Religion That nevertheless to the great
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
made was quite contrary to his Expectation so that he made no doubt but he who had laid the Foundation of the Work and given increase to the same would also bring it to a happy end and conclusion in spight of all the Enemies that should withstand it That long before the Devil foresaw this glorious Change a coming and had therefore endeavoured to prevent it and had raised some Men in their publick Writings to prophesie of these Times that he might render this saving Doctrin odious but that when he perceived his Endeavours frustrated he betook himself to another Stratagem and tempted Men to Rebellion thereby to hinder all revolting from his and the Pope's Dominion but that he should not be able to accomplish his Designs for that by the Preaching of the Gospel their Kingdom should be more and more confounded That Men should make it their Care and Study to persevere in that Doctrin and make it appear that Human Decrees availed nothing to Salvation That Men were likewise to be admonished Not to put themselves under the Yoak of Monastick Vows and that such as were already so engaged should shake off the Obligation as also that they should give no Money to those frivolous and idle uses of the Church as for Tapers Bells Pictures Vessels Images Works Ornaments and the like since the Christian Life consisted not in these things but in Faith and Charity That if the People were taught in this manner there was no doubt but that in a few Years all the Authority and Dominion of the Pope and his Adherents would fall to the Ground but that if this Doctrine should be neglected and these Errours and false Opinions not rooted out of Men's Minds Popery would continue though never so many Conspiracies might be made against it That they should weigh and consider with themselves How much he himself in so small a time had done merely by his Doctrin which his very Adversaries acknowledged when they complained that their Profits and Advantages were much impaired whence it might easily be perceived What might be done if but for two Years longer this Doctrin should have its course That therefore the Devil did now bestir himself and endeavoured by Tumults and Seditions to hinder that design but that we were to act prudently and magnifie and extol this Blessing of God who had thus enlightened us with the Knowledge of his Truth That the Cheats Ignorance Rapacity Tyranny and all that Sink of Impostures wherewith the Papists had so long deluded the World were now detected That they who had heretofore been so formidable were now reduced to this That they had no safety but in Arms That therefore since they now appeared naked and their Uncleanness being seen of all Men were forced to flie to the Sword it was impossible that their Kingdom could long stand and if any of their Power remained which the Preaching of the Gospel had not crushed it would be totally abolished by the coming of Christ That so we were to proceed couragiously in that Course but still with Order and Moderation for that some went on preposterously who being destitute of all Learning so soon as they had heard a Sermon or two pretended presently to great matters called themselves Lutherans and sharply censured others who as yet understood nothing which was a great Fault and ought not to be done Wherefore he prayed That no Man would make use of his Name but labour rather that since we professed the Name of Christ we might justly deserve to be called Christians That he who took upon him to teach should consider whom he had to deal with for that there were some stubborn Tempers who not only contemned sound Doctrin but led others also into Errour that such were not at all to be medled with according to Christ's Command Pearls were not to be cast before Swine But that when these Men not content with their own Ignorance or frowardness laboured to seduce others and pervert them from the true Doctrin then were they to be briskly withstood not indeed for their own sakes but that some of the People at least might be saved That again there were others who were not indeed obstinate but simple and ignorant and these were tenderly to be dealt with not rashly and in hurry shewing them calmly and in order wherein the Salvation of Mankind consisted and accommodating the Discourse to their Capacities till by little and little they increased in knowledge and were confirmed In the former Book we spake of the Boors who in Schwabia were in Arms before Muncer took the Field These were somewhat more moderate at first and published a Declaration of their Grievances and what they demanded from the Princes and Magistrates as we hinted at before protesting that if they were mistaken and abused they would not be obstinate but submit to sounder Counsils The first of their Demands was That they might have Liberty to chuse such Ministers as should sincerely preach the Word of God without the mixture of Human Traditions In the next place That hereafter they would pay no Tithes but of Corn and that these should be employed at the Discretion of good Men partly for the Stipends of the Ministers partly for relieving the Poor and partly for Publick Uses Again That it had been unworthily done to have used them hitherto as if they had been Bond-slaves since by the Blood of Christ all Men were made free That they did not indeed disown the Magistrate whom they knew to be appointed of God and whom in all honest and lawful things they were willing to obey but that they would not for the future suffer that Bondage unless it were proved by Texts of Scripture that they ought in reason to do so Moreover That it consisted not with Equity that they should be prohibited to take Wild Beasts Fowls and Fish and much less that in some Places they durst not hunt Wild Beasts out of their own Pastures That from the Creation of the World God had given man Right and Dominion over all kind of Animals not that they desired to take any thing by Force from those who had bought the whole or part of a River but they craved that some Equality might be observed and that regard should be rather had to the Profit of a Multitude than of a few Persons That besides Woods and Forests were in the Hands of a small number not without great Prejudice to the People That therefore it was their Intention That such Woods as had not been bought by Private Persons should be common that every Man might freely take of them for daily use and building also when there should be occasion yet so still that they should not do it but by the Authority of Overseers who should be appointed for that effect But that if there were no Woods but what belonged to private Men then they should agree amicably with the Owners That furthermore they lay under several sorts of Burthens which
abide within his Territories But after the suppression of that popular Insurrection when in all Places many were dragg'd to Execution Carolostadius being in great Straits wrote a Book wherein he took a great deal of Pains to justifie himself against those who reckoned him among the Authors of the Rebellion affirming it to be an Injury done unto him and writing to Luther he earnestly prayed him That he would both publish that Book and also defend his Cause lest an innocent Man as he was might be in danger of losing Life and Goods without being heard Luther published a Letter to this purpose That though Carolostadius differed very much in Opinion from him yet because in his straits he betook himself to him rather than to others who had stirred him up against him he would not disappoint his Hope and Confidence especially since that was properly the Duty of a Christian He therefore desired the Magistrates and all in General That seeing he both denyed the Crime that was laid to his charge and refused not to come to a fair Tryal and submit to Judgment the same might be granted him as being most consonant to Equity and Justice Afterwards Carolostadius sent another little Book to Luther wherein he protested That what he had written concerning the Lord's Supper was not to define or determine any thing but rather by way of Argument and Disputation to sift out the Truth Luther admits of the Excuse yet admonishes Men That seeing he himself confessed he doubted and defined nothing positively to beware of his Opinion Or if they themselves perhaps doubted to suspend their Judgment so long till it should appear what they might safely follow For that in matters of Faith we ought not to waver and doubt but to acquire such a certain and steddy Knowledge as rather to suffer a thousand Deaths than to forsake our Opinion Much about this time Luther married a Nun whereby his Adversaries were excited to load him with more Reproaches for now he was down-right mad they cried and had sold himself a Slave to the Devil At the very same time Vlrich Zuinglius Minister of the Church at Zurich who almost in all other things agreed with Luther dissented from him also about the Lord's Supper For Luther understood these Words of Christ This is my Body literally and properly admitting no Figurative Interpretation and affirming the Body and Blood of Christ to be really in the Bread and Wine and to be so received and eaten by Believers But Zuinglius maintained it was a Figure that many such were to be found in Scripture and the former Words he so expounded This signifies my Body With him agreed John Oecolampadius Minister of the Church at Basil and he so interprets them This is the Sign of my Body The matter was contentiously debated on both sides and much was written upon the Subject The Saxons imbraced the Opinion of Luther and the Switzers that of Zuinglius others come after who explained the Words in another manner but all agree in this Opinion That the Body and Blood of Christ are taken Spiritually not Corporally with the Heart not with the Mouth This debate lasted three Years and more but at length a Conference was procured at Marpurg chiefly by means of the Landgrave as shall be said in its proper place The Dyet also which at this time was held at Ausburg because very few resorted to it by reason of the Popular Insurrection beforementioned was dissolved and all matters put off till the first of May the Year following against which time Ferdinand gave Hopes That the Emperour his Brother would be there in person from Spain and Spire was appointed to be the place of the Dyet It was decreed though among other things That the Magistrates should take special care That the Preachers did interpret and expound God's Word to the People according to the Sense of Doctors approved by the Christian Church and that they should not preach Seditious Doctrin but so that God's Name might be glorified and the People live in Peace and Quietness Whilst Francis King of France was Prisoner in Spain his Mother Aloisia had the Administration of the Government who to keep in with the Pope acquainted him among other things How zealously she stood affected towards the Church of Rome Whereupon Pope Clement VII writing to the Parliament of Paris told them How he understood from her That the Contagion of Wicked Heresies began also to infect France and they had wisely and providently chosen some persons to enquire into and punish those who laboured to oppose the Faith and Ancient Religion That he also by his Authority approved the Commissioners whom they had chosen for that in so great and grievous a Disorder of Affairs raised by the Malice of Satan and the Rage and Impiety of his Ministers every one ought to bestir themselves to preserve and maintain the common Safety of all Men since that Rage and Madness tended not only to the Subversion of Religion but also to the confounding of all Principality Nobility Law and Order That for his part he spared no Care Labour nor Pains that he might remedy the Evil And that they also whose Virtue and Prudence was every where celebrated should make it their chief Business that not only the true Faith but also the Welfare of the Kingdom and their own Dignity should be secured against Domestick Dangers and Calamities which that pernicious and pestilent Heresie carried with it into all places That they needed not indeed to be exhorted having already given Proofs of their own Wisdom But that nevertheless in discharge of his own Duty and as a token of his Favour and Good-will he had been willing to make this Address unto them for that he was exceeding well pleased with what they had already done and exhorted them That for the future they would with the like Zeal and Virtue bestir themselves for the Glory of God and the Welfare of the whole Kingdom that by so doing they would render most acceptable Service to God and merit the Praises and Applause of Men and that therein they might expect all sort of Assistance from him This Brief dated at Rome May the twentieth was delivered to the Parliament at Paris on the seventeenth Day of June During the absence also of the Captive King the Divines of Paris so persecuted James le Fevre d'Estaples who hath published many Books both in Philosophy and Divinity that he was fain to leave France and flie into another Country The King being informed of this by the means chiefly of his Sister Margaret who had a kindness for Le Fevre because of his Probity and Virtue wrote to the Parliament of Paris That he heard that there was a Process brought before them against James le Fevre and some other Learned Men at the Instigation of the Divines who particularly hated le Fevre for that before his Expedition out of France he had been
Magistrates along with him when they were all met he pulls off his Cloke and throws it upon the ground together with the New-Testament and making these as it were Symbols of his sincerity he protests and swears That the Doctrin he had publish'd was reveal'd to him from Heaven and therefore threatens them on a terrible manner that God would never bless them if they did not consent At last they agree upon the Point and the Doctors do nothing but harangue upon Matrimony in their Pulpits for three days together Soon after he marrieth no less than three Wives one of which was the Woman I mention'd before the Relict of the famous Prophet John Mathews His Example was so well followed that they accounted the Repetition of Matrimony before they were Widowers a very commendable thing But some of the Citizens who were very much dissatisfy'd with this way giving a signal about the Town call'd all those who adher'd to the Doctrin of the Gospel into the Market-Place when they had done this they apprehend the Prophet and Knipperdoling and all the Teachers of that Perswasion When the Mobile understood this they immediately betake themselves to their Arms Rescue the Captives by force and murther about fifty of the other Party with great barbarity For they tied them to Trees and Stakes and then shot them the chief Prophet applauding their Cruelty and telling them That if they intended to do acceptable Service to God they ought to be the first in discharging at them others were killed after another manner Upon the 23d of June another Prophet starts up who was a Goldsmith who after he had conven'd the Rabble into the Market-Place tells them That it was the Will and Command of the heavenly Father that John of Leyden should be Vniversal Monarch of the World Thaâ— he should March out with a most powerful Army and slay all Kings and Princes without distinction giving Quarter to none but the Multitude who were Lovers of Justice That he should possess the Seat of his Father David till the Father requir'd him to Resign his Kingdom For now the Wicked were to be destroy'd and the Righteous to begin their Reign upon the Earth These words being spoken aloud presently John of Leyden falls upon his Knees lifting up his hands to Heaven Men and Brethren saies he I have been assur'd of this Truth a great while since yet I was not willing to divulge it my self and now you see to make it the more unquestionable the Father has made use of the Testimony of another Upon this being chosen King he immediately dissolves the Duodecimvirate and according to the custom of other Princes makes choice of some Noblemen for his own Service He likewise orders two Crowns a Scabbard a Chain and Scepter and such other Regal Ornaments to be made for him forthwith of the best Gold. Then he appoints certain days in which he would give a Publick Hearing to all those who had a mind to address themselves to him As often as he appear'd abroad he was attended with his Officers and Lords of his Houshold Two young Men rid immediately behind him He on the right hand carried a Crown and a Bible the other a drawn Sword. His principal Wife appear'd in the same State for we are to observe he had several Wives at the same time In the Market-Place there was a high Throne erected for him cover'd with Cloth of Gold. The Causes and Complaints which were brought before him usually related to Matrimony and Divorces than which nothing was more frequent insomuch that some who had liv'd together many years were then separated Now it happen'd that when the People press'd to hear Causes and stood very close in the Market-Place Knipperdoling springs out of a sudden and climbing the Crowd runs upon their Heads on his Hands and Knees and breathing in their Faces The Father saies he to each of them has sanctified thee receive the Holy Ghost Another day he leads up a dance before the King This is my custom saies he sometimes with my Concubine but now the Father has commanded me to do it in the Kings Presence But when he over-acted his part and would not give over his Majesty of Leyden took pet and went away As soon as he was gone Knipperdoling mounts the Throne and sets up for King himself but his Majesty coming by tumbles the Fellow down and lays him in Limbo for three days During the Siege these Anabaptists write a Book and publish it which they call The Restitution In this Book among other things they affirm That the Kingdom of Christ is to Commence in such a manner before the last Judgment that the Godly and the Elect shall Reign the Wicked being every where destroy'd They affirm likewise That it 's lawful for the People to turn the Magistrates out of their Office that though the Apostles had no Authority to Challenge such a Jurisdiction yet those who are the present Ministers of the Church ought to take the Sword into their own hands and new-mould the Commonwealth by force To this they added That no Person who was not a true Christian ought to be tolerated in the Church farther That no Body could be saved unless they resigned all their Fortune to the Publick Use without reserving any Property to themselves Luther and the Pope they said were false Prophets but Luther worse than the other Lastly That the Marriage of those who were not enlightned with true Faith was polluted and impure and to be accounted Fornication or rather Adultery more than any thing else These Tenents of theirs were principally oppos'd by Melancthon Justus Menius and Vrbanus Regius who publish'd very large and satisfactory Treatises upon this Subject Some few weeks after the new Prophet I mention'd before sounds a Trumpet through all the Streets and commands them to meet armed at the Porch of the Cathedral for the Enemy was to be beaten off the Town When they came to the place of Randevouz they found a Supper prepared They are ordered to sit down being about four thousand of them afterwards about a thousand others sit down who were upon Duty while the first number were at Supper The King and the Queen with their Houshold-Servants wait at the Table After they had eaten and Supper was almost done the King himself gives every one a piece of Bread with these words Take eat shew forth the Lord's death The Queen in like manner giving them a Cup Bids them shew forth the Lord's death when this was over the Prophet before-mention'd gets into the Pulpit and asks them If they would obey the Word of God When they all told him Yes It is the Command of the heavenly Father saies he that we should send out about eight and twenty Teachers of the Word who are to go to the four Quarters of the World and Publish the Doctrin which is received in this City Then he repeats the Names of his Missionaries
it was once over That Letter which I mention'd the Emperor to have wrote in July was answer'd by the Protestants upon the 9th of September In which they acquaint him that his writing so courteously and frankly was matter of great pleasure and satisfaction to them For notwithstanding they did believe he would make good his Promises yet both because they had heard several Reports of his being displeas'd and because the Imperial-Chamber and other Courts of Justice had practis'd many ways against them without any regard to the Peace they had some reason to be a little doubtful and solicitous but now since he had declar'd his Mind in such an open obliging manner they did not in the least question but that he would perform every thing to the full and take away all occasions of Calumny from ill dispos'd minds which they for their parts should likewise endeavour to do and not give any farther credit to those who went about to possess them with other thoughts of his Majesty and in all other things they would take care to do that which became their Duty And notwithstanding the News of the Council which the Pope has summon'd to Mantua upon the 23th of May following is publickly known and call'd at his Majesties Solicitation as the Bull intimates which is so obcurely drawn that they cannot collect what the Conditions or Form of the Council will be yet since they have always earnestly desir'd there might be a free and religious Council conven'd in Germany since this Request of theirs was made a Decree both in the Imperial Diets and at the Pacification at Nuremburgh and since they had expresly and largely insisted upon this Point before his Majesty's and Pope Clement's Embassadors about three years agon they were entirely confident that he would manage this Affair in a legal unexceptionable way This month the Pope publish'd another Bull in which he professeth that in the mean time while the Council was convening it was his intention to reform the holy City of Rome the Head of all the Christian World and the Mistress of Doctrin Manners and Discipline that he would make a clear riddance of all her Vices and Uncleanliness that his own House being first put into order he might the more easily cleanse the rest Now the weakness of Humane Nature being such that it was impossible for him to dispatch this Affair wholly by himself and at the same time to manage other Concerns relating to the Commonwealth of Christendom therefore he had chosen a certain number of Cardinals whom God Almighty had made his Assistants and Coparteners in the Offices and Care of his Station to perform this necessary and profitable Work viz. the Cardinals of Ostia St. Severino Ginuccio Simoneta together with the Bishop of Cassano Nusco and Aix To these Commissioners all Persons are commanded to be Obedient under severe Penalties In October the Emperor set Sail from Genoa and return'd into Spain And soon after the French King came to Paris and upon the first of January married his eldest Daughter Magdalene to James the First King of Scotland who came into France the last Autumn Much about the same time Laurence de Medices treacherously murther'd Alexander de Medices Duke of Florence his Kinsman and near Relation after he had drawn him into his House in the night under pretence that he would help him to the enjoyment of a Noble Matron and Neighbour of his who was the most remarkable Lady of the whole Town for the reputation of her Beauty and Chastity After he was taken off the Government fell into the hands of Cosmus de Medices who afterwards with the Emperor's leave married Eleonora Daughter of Peter of Toledo Vice-Roy of Naples Upon the sixth of January the French King came into the Court where the Parliament of Paris was held which he us'd to do but seldom and in a very full Assembly made a very sharp Complaint of the Emperor and gave his Reasons why the Provinces of Flanders and Artois which the Emperor and his Ancestors held as Homagers under the French Kings ought to be recover'd to the Crown of France The Speech was made by Capel the King's Advocate who called him Charles of Austria instead of Emperor In the mean time the Cantons of Zurick Bern Basil and the Strasburgers Intercede with the French King for those who were Imprison'd for their Religion and desir'd him that he would recall those whom he had banish'd Now the King had given those who were in Exile leave to return and those in Prison their Liberty with this Proviso That they would abjure the Crimes charged upon them before the Bishops or their Vicars and give Security for their Behaviour for the future But this Condition the Switzers Ambassadors desired might be wholly remitted something of the rigour of which was relax'd at their instance however the King did not give them satisfaction in the answer which he sent them Feb. 24. by Anne Momorency Lord High Steward of his Houshold whom they suspected to have perswaded the King to be less king in this Point than otherwise he would have been The Embassadors made their Interest by the Queen of Navar who was the King's Sister a most incomparable Lady and very well affected to the true Religion In the mean time the King was making his Levies and in the beginning of March leads his Army into Artois and besiegeth the Town and Castle of Hesdin which was very well fortifi'd and within a month it was surrendred to him About this time Reginald Poole an Englishman lately made a Cardinal and of a very Noble Family was sent from the Pope to the King in Quality of Nuncio The occasion of his coming was suppos'd to be the forming of some new Design against the King of England When the King of Scotland married the French King's Daughter the Pope sent him a fine Sword of great value and tried to whet him up against the King of England Now the Popes have a custom upon Christmas-Eve to Consecrate as they call it a great many things with a certain Form of Ceremonies and amongst the rest a Sword which as a mark of Friendship and Respect they either deliver themselves or send to any Person they have a mind to Sixtus quartus is said to be the beginner of this Custom as their Book of Ceremonies hath it Afterwards Poole wrote a Book which he call'd A Defence of Ecclesiastical Vnity He addresseth himself in it to King Henry and reprimands him very sharply for making himself Head of the Church For that Office he told him belonged to none but the Pope of Rome who is the Vicar of Christ and the Successor of Peter whom Christ constituted Prince of the Apostles For it was he alone who answered That Christ was the Son of God. Upon this Apostle as upon a Rock Christ builded his Church It was for his Faith that Christ prayed That when he was converted
hazards and be at all this Expence to no purpose is perfect distraction But we are convin'd this is a Duty which God requires of us whose Commands ought to be preferr'd to all Secular Interest and we protest before God Almighty That we design nothing but his Service And now having confuted thier Accusations we shall proceed to another branch of our Apology Possibly most People of foreign Countries may think that we have been too nice in quarrelling with those things which have no great malignity in them and which might have passed without notice for Peace-sake especially when the nature of Humane Affairs in such that there will always be some Imperfections in Church and State which must be conniv'd at But the case is quite otherwise for first we are not to conceal our dislike of Errors and wrong Opinions in Religion being commanded by Christ to beware of false Teachers Besides the Contest is not about little Mistakes but concerning the Doctrin of Faith and right Apprehensions of God upon which the due performance of a Christians Duty and of Divine Worship does principally depend now these are points which cannot be passed over in silence but are to be maintain'd in their Purity and diligently taught in the Church But that this part of Truth was perfectly extinct cannot be denied and a new Doctrin introduc'd in its room to the great dishonour of our Saviour We likewise disapprove many other Errors and ungodly Practices in their Worship which some Persons who liv'd long before our time have discover'd and thereupon wish'd for a Council that those things which were amiss might be rectified and the Peace of the Church establish'd But now there is more need of a Council than ever because the same Corruptions remain and have spread their Infection further because they have occasion'd Broils and Divisions in Christendom insomuch that many innocent Persons run the hazard of losing their Lives upon this account For these weighty reasons not only our selves but the Emperor and the rest of the States and Bishops of the Empire voted a Council very necessary for the preservation of the true Religion in the Church for unless such an Expedient was made use of they foresaw the Distractions of Christendom would encrease And while we were big with the expectation of such a Council as this out comes the Pope's Bull with Contents directly contrary to the Decrees of the Empire And because we are not concern'd alone but the whole Christian Church is interessed in it we thought it necessary to set forth a publick Declaration of our Reasons in this Paper why we refuse this Council of the Pope's calling For the right of Voting does not belong solely to the Pope and Bishops but to the Church in which signification Kings and other degrees of Men and Secular Magistrates are included Therefore though the Pope was no Party in the present Debate yet there was no reason to allow him and his Adherents the whole Power of Determining and exclude the other Ministers of the Church But since he is apparently one of the Litigants himself the yielding him such a Priviledge is still more unaccountable and no less than a contradiction to the Laws of God and Nature Now we do not accuse the Pope of small Misdemeanors neither do we quarrel with him only for his Luxury and Lording it over the Church but the main of our charge lieth against his Doctrin his Canons and abominable Worship that is we arraign him for Idolatry and Heresie and when he is impeached of such Crimes as these the Church and not himself is to examine and give Sentence in the Cause according to the Provision which the old Canon-Law it self hath made for this purpose Besides the Pope hath made himself the more suspected not only by being a Party but because he hath condemn'd our Doctrin long beforehand now the case standing thus it 's easie to imagine what sort of Censure will be past upon our Doctrin in a Council of his own packing For we are not to suppose that he will give a liberty of Voting to any Persons contrary to the old customs of his Church And in regard the Bull does not mention in what order and method Debates are to be managed we have reason to suspect every thing For he only summoneth and Mustereth those who are engag'd to him upon many accounts and of whose Trustiness he is sufficiently assur'd He likewise professeth that the reason of his calling a Council is That those Heresies which have lately sprung up may be extirpated And notwithstanding these words will bear a large signification yet there is no doubt but that he meant them of our Doctrin for we have no reason to believe that he would tax his own Errors Nay afterwards he publish'd another Bull concerning the Reformation of the Court of Rome where he owneth in express words That the Council was call'd that the pestilent Lutheran Heresie might be suppress'd At first it 's true he cunningly dissembled his Intentions that he might make the Bull appear plausible but afterwards he discover'd himself It 's plain therefore that he aims only at the subversion of our Religion Now what a madness would it be for us to approve of such a Design as this For this is the thing which he driveth at namely to draw a Confession from those who admit his Bull that our Doctrin is wicked and heretical and when Kings and Princes have own'd this they may be oblig'd to contribute their good wishes and endeavours to the Cause And because the common Interest of Christendom is concern'd in this Affair we intreat all People that they would seriously consider the designing subtilty of this Man for his couching the Bull in such Terms is somewhat admirable and it is a question Whether he intended to fright us from the Council this way or else to ensnare us by approving the Instrument That the Emperor intends the welfare and security of the Commonwealth we do not in the least question and believe that his Majesty does not approve the form of the Bull. But as for the Pope he hath not so much intimated a Council as publickly given Sentence against us Neither will he allow the Scriptures to determine the Dispute but his own Canons and Customs and the Opinions of some modern Councils must overrule all other Pleas whereas it 's one of our principal Assertions That Humane Traditions are to be rejected when they are repugnant to the Word of God. That which is really the Doctrin of the Church we willingly receive but then the Errors and Tyranny of the Pope ought not to be flourish'd over with that reverend Name For first the ancient Church never admitted of any Constitutions which were contrary to Scripture nor yet gave the Pope that unlimited power which he now assumes to himself And secondly These Men who condemn and persecute the Doctrin of the Gospel are none of the Church but Parricides and Sons
Christ which nevertheless suits neither with the Doctrine nor Name of Christ Not with his Doctrine because he forbids us to resist Evil or to revenge a Wrong nor with his Name neither because in so great Armies there is hardly perhaps Five true Christians to be found most of them being worse than the Turks themselves whilst in the mean time all take to themselves that Name which indeed is an Affront and Injury done to Christ when his Name is in this manner defamed and vilified and would be far more if the Pope and Bishops carried Arms also and marched out into the Field with the rest For since it is their peculiar Office to resist the Devil by the Word of God and Prayer it is very undecent that they should leave that Station and make use of Sword and Pistol that ought to be the Care of the civil Magistrate and the Offices are distinct But it is now long since the Popes invented those things though they be forbid to do it by the Laws and Canons of our Ancestors How unsuccessful have Wars hitherto been for wrongfully arrogating the Name of Christ the thing it self makes it manifest since Rhodes and the best part of Hungary being now lost we have the Turk at our very Doors And how unlucky it is to have the Confederacy of Papists in a War may be seen by the Battle of Varna and the Overthrow of King Ladislaus who was perswaded by Cardinal Julian to engage the Enemy It may be seen also by the late Overthrow received Two Years since when King Lowis miserably perished Having made this Preface he came to the Matter it self saying That God was in the first to be reconciled and enjoining the Ministers of the Church to exhort Men to Repentance Afterwards he lays open the Religion and Impiety of the Turks and says That it properly belongs to the Emperor to make War against them not for Revenge Vain-glory or Profit but out of Duty that he may defend his Subjects from Injury That the Emperor was not to be excited to this War neither as being the Head of Christendom Protector of the Church and Defender of the Faith since these were false and vain-glorious Titles and injurious to Christ who alone defends his own Church And that the Injury was the greater in that most part of Kings and Princes were sworn Enemies to the true Religion That therefore the Turk was to be fought against and resisted not because he is of different Religion but because he Robs and Spoils carries on a most unjust War and brings along with him the Examples of a most foul and shameful Life Then comparing both together he affirms that the Roman Papacy is no better than Turcism and that as the Turk by his Alcoran so the Pope by his Decretals hath extinguished the Light of the Gospel That what he does by open Force the Pope does the same by his Curse and Excommunication That both lay a Reproach upon Marriage and are punished saith he for the Contempt of the Law of God which institutes Matrimony when being wholly rejected of God they burn in filthy Lusts and most flagitiously invert the Order of Nature Lastly speaking of the Power of the Turks he advises them not to be secure but war circumspectly as knowing that they had to do with the cruelest of Enemies These and the like Points of Doctrine were the Subject of that Book we mentioned But now when at the Perswasion of the Emperor and King Ferdinand the States of the Empire had decreed a War against the Turk he published another Treatise a Military-Sermon as I said that the Ministers of the Church who followed the Camp as is common might have some Form set before them of Teaching and Exhorting The first thing then saith he is that Men understand what they are to think of the Turk For the Scripture prophesieth of Two cruel Tyrants who are to lay wast and plague the Christian World before the last Day of Judgment the one by false Doctrine of whom Daniel and after him St. Paul speaks and this is the Pope of Rome And the other by Force and Arms to wit the Turk of whom Daniel speaks in his Seventh Chapter Let those therefore who will be Christians put on Resolution and expect no Peace no quiet Life for the future for that time of Trouble and Misery which he foretold is now come But let us comfort our selves with the Hopes of Christ's coming and our future Deliverance which will appear presently after these Afflictions and let us know for a certain that all the Rage and Malice of the Devil is fully poured out upon us by the Turk for no Tyrant hitherto ever raged as he doth Then he expounds the Seventh Chapter of Daniel about the Four Beasts coming out of the Sea and proves the Turkish Empire to be signified thereby For this is that little Horn says he which sprang up amongst those Ten Horns of the Fourth Beast And though it be grown to a great bigness yet it can never reach to the Power of the Roman Empire for the Prophet there describes only Four Empires which were to succeed in order that the last of them was the Roman Monarchy Therefore there shall never be another that can compare with the Roman in greatness And because Daniel assigns it only Three Horns which it is to pluck out from among those Ten its Force and Power will not proceed much farther For those Three Horns are long since pluck'd off being Greece Asia and Aegypt which three vast Provinces of the Empire the Turk now possesses and is by the Prophet confined within those Limits so that it is to be hoped that he 'll not hereafter make himself Master of any other Province of the Empire But now that he makes a Bustle in Hungary and is ready to invade Germany it is the last Act of the Tragedy He may possibly indeed get some Footing in those Provinces but it is not to be thought that he can peaceably enjoy them as he doth Asia Greece and Aegypt for the Prophecy is manifest and plain After this he handleth all the other parts inviteth all chiefly to Repentance and readily to obey the Magistrate who calls for their Service in this War against the Turk exhorting them not only to venture their Fortunes but even their Lives and Persons upon that account he uses also many Arguments to comfort the Slaves who were already under the Power of the Turks or might be taken by them thereafter and admonishes them to have a special Care they be not allured by that specious and painted Religion of the Turks For that he was told many Christians of their own accord made Defection to that Religion because it had a kind of shew of Probity and Holiness That they should patiently bear their Bondage and faithfully serve their Masters though Wicked and Profane not running away from them nor putting Hand on themselves through Impatience for the
Irksomness of their Condition But that they should always have in their Thoughts what St. Peter and St. Paul wrote of the Duty of Bondmen That however when they make War against Christians they should rather hazard their Lives than serve them for that they were Robbers made War against the Saints as Daniel saith and shed innocent Blood That therefore it should be their chief Care not to be partakers with them in so great a Crime and Wickedness Unto this Discourse he subjoins a Form of Prayer against the Fury of the Turks and towards the end enlarging upon the Vices of the Times which reigned amongst all Ranks and Degrees of Men he concluded that Germany which was so wholly corrupted and defiled could not continue long in Safety Now this is the Form of Prayer which he prescribes O Eternal Father we have indeed deserved to be punished but do thou thy self punish us not in thy Wrath and Displeasure but according to thy great Mercy seeing it is far better for us to fall into thy Hands than into the Hands of Men and Enemies for thy Mercy is infinite and above all thy Works We have sinned against thee O Lord and broken thy Commandements yet thou knowest O Heavenly Father that the Devil the Pope and the Turk have no Right nor Cause to afflict us for we have not wronged them but thou usest them as a Rod to correct us with who have many Ways provoked thee all our Life time They I say have nothing to charge us with but would rather that after their Example we should for ever grievously offend thee that we should sin against thy Divine Majesty by Idolatry and false Doctrine by Lying and Deceiving by theft Robbery and Rapine and by Adultery Fornication and Sorcery That 's the thing they most desire But because we worship thee God the Father and thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord with thy Holy Spirit one God everlasting that is our Crime and Wickedness for which they so hate and persecute us Should we make Defection from thee and renounce this Faith we needed not to expect any Hurt from them Look graciously towards us then O Father and help us for they are more thine Enemies than ours when they smite us they smite thee for the Doctrine we profess is not ours but thine The Devil indeed cannot endure it but would be worshipped in thy place and force Lyes upon us instead of thy Word And the Turk also would place his Mahomet in the room of thy Son Jesus Christ Now if it be a Sin to profess thee Father Son and Holy Ghost to be the only true God then certainly thou art a Sinner who teachest us so to do and requirest this Duty at our Hands And when for this Cause they persecute us they hate and afflict thee Awake then O my God and avenge thy Holy Name which they pollute and profane suffer not this Injury at their Hands who punish us not for our Sins and Trespasses but endeavour to extinguish the Light of thy Word amongst us and to destroy thy Kingdom that thou shouldest not have a People to worship and adore thy Name Now as to the Origin and Growth of the Turks since so many have writen of it it is no purpose to discourse here Their Rise hath been as great as their Beginning was small and the first of their Emperors is reckoned Ottoman who reigned about the Year of our Lord 1300. After him succeeded in order Orchanes Amurath who first crossed the Hellespont and brought an Army into Europe invading Thrace Bajazet Cyriscelebes Moses Mahomet Amurath Mahomet Bajazet Selim Solyman Much about this time Alfonso Davalo Marquess of Pescara whom we mentioned before published a Declaration addressed to the Princes of Germany wherein he Accuses and Blames the French King that in such troublesome Times he should plot and contrive new designs on purpose to frustrate and hinder the honest Endeavours of the Emperor and all the States pretending a very slight and trivial Reason for it to wit the intercepting of Anthony Rink and Caesar Fregoso after whom he had made most diligent Inquiry but could not learn what was become of them This coming to the French King's Knowledge he declared that he had a great Injury done him in that his Ambassadors had been so barbarously used That he had several times complained of it both to the Pope and Emperor and desired Satisfaction but all in vain And that therefore if he should let so unworthy an Act pass it would be to his dishonour and the greatest stain imaginable to his Reputation Afterwards on the Second of May he wrote to the Parliament of Paris to this Effect To the end said he that God may illuminate our Hearts and grant us Constancy in our Faith bring those that go astray if any such be into the right Way of Salvation again and send us Peace by means of Satisfaction for the Injuries we have received by Usurpation of our Right and Violence done to our Ambassadors or if in dispair of Peace there be a necessity of going to War that he may grant us Victory our Will is that Processions be made and Prayers in all Churches and that able Preachers be employed to give the People an account of the Cause hereof Moreover we Charge and Command that if there be any who entertain sinistrous Thoughts of our Faith and Religion and do not promise amendment that they be publickly punished for their Crime Not long after he sent the Duke of Longueville to the Duke of Cleve who having raised Men against the Summer under the Conduct of Martin Van Rossem waited for an opportunity of Action The Pope in the mean time on the First of June calls a Council and by way of preamble gives a large account how he had often before called a Council and last of all suspended its sitting till a more convenient time wherefore he clears himself of all the Blame and professes he could delay no longer though the Affairs of Christendom were still in a doubtful State. So then he appointed it to be held at Trent on the First of November whither he Summoned to appear all Patriarchs Bishops Abbots and others who had Right and Privilege to sit and Vote in Councils He exhorted also the Emperor and French King that they would either come themselves or send Ambassadors and command their Bishops to repair to it But before all others he invited the German Bishops because for their cause and at their desire chiefly all that pains was taken In the Month of July the French King declared War against the Emperor in a very cutting Stile of Language giving his Subjects free Liberty by publick Proclamation to use all manner of Hostilities against him and his Countries both by Sea and Land. Longueville and Van Rossem had a little before made an Incursion into Brabant where they put the People who were unprovided into great Terror
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
Emperour accused the Farneses as the Authors of this Enterprize and especially Petro Aloisio Duke of Piacenza of which more in its proper place The Session of the Council of Trent which was to have been held about the latter end of July the year before was put off till this time and January the 13th the Fathers as their custom was meeting in the cathedral-Cathedral-Church make a Decree about Mans Justification and condemn all those who say That by the fall of Adam man lost his Free-will that man is justified by Faith alone and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ that Justification is nothing else but a confidence in the mercy of God who forgiveth sins for Christ's sake that it is necessary that a Man firmly believe and doubt not that his Sins are forgiven and that he is of the number of the Elect that no Man can keep the Commandements of God not though he be justified that Justification received is not preserved and encreased by Good Works that after Baptism Justification that is lost may be recovered by Faith alone without the Sacrament of Penance that a penitent Sinner has his Offence wholly forgiven him and that there remains no Punishment to be endured for the same neither in this Life nor in the Life to come in Purgatory and that these Decrees derogate from God's Glory and Christ's Merit Upon the Elector of Saxony's approach with his Army Duke Maurice puts a Garrison into Leipsick and burns the Suburbs At the same time above a thousand Hungarian Horse came thither so January the thirteenth the Place began to be besieged But the Towns-people making a slout Resistance about the end of the same Month the Siege was raised without any Success Nevertheless the Town was miserably shattered and defaced by the Batteries of great Guns that continually plaid upon it The Duke of Saxony marching from thence not only recovered what he had lost in Thuringe and Misnia but took all Duke Maurice's Towns also except Leipsick and Dresden He gained likewise the Bishoprick of Magdenburg and Haberstadt having compounded therefore with John Albert the Bishop The day before he laid Siege to Leipsick King Ferdinand commanded the Bohemians to take Arms and march to the Assistance of Duke Maurice they obeyed indeed but afterwards returned home again without Orders wherefore about the end of January King Ferdinand renews the same Command But the Inhabitants of Prague who have the Chief Authority in those Places make application to the Senate that they would use their Endeavours with the King and prevail with him to recal his Order because it was inconsistent with their Liberty and they could not honestly obey it for that there was no reason why they should take Arms against the Elector of Saxony that in many things their Religion agreed with his and that besides he had been always very forward and instrumental in beating off the Armies of the Turk Whereunto King Ferdinand amongst other things said in answer That they did not make War against him upon the account of Religion but Rebellion and that what was alledged of his giving Aid against the Turks was quite otherwise for that some Months before he had by Envoys sollicited the Turk to make War upon Hungary and Bohemia to grant no longer Truce and to break that which he had made and that he had promised for the better Success in the Attempt to fall upon them on the other side When the Emperour was made acquainted with the State of Saxony and had been sollicited by frequent Letters from Duke Maurice he sent him Supplies of Horse and Foot under the Command of Albert of Brandenburg and then orders the Spanish and Italian Forces to follow under the Conduct of de Sandi and Marigan January the ninth Marquess Albert marched with his Troops from Hailbrun The Emperour departing also from thence went to Ulm and in his Progress receives into Favour the Cities of Lindaw and Esling It hath been mentioned before that the Pope pronounced Sentence of Excommunication against the Archbishop of Cologne and deprived him of his Dignity and Function At the same time he did that he conferred all his Right and Authority upon Adolph Count Schavenburg whom some years before the Archbishop had amongst all others chosen to be his Coadjutor Wherefore the Pope by a Bull enjoyns all the States of the Country to own and accept of him as their Prelate and moves the Emperour withal to see the Sentence put into execution But when the Archbishop being several times admonished to dimit his Charge had answered That he could not do it with a safe Conscience the Emperour who had now conquered all in a manner sends to Cologne his Embassadors Philip Laleing Governour of Guelderland and Viglius of Zuichem a Lawyer By them he enjoyns all the Orders of the Province whom he had ordered to meet at a certain Day there to shake off their Allegiance to Archbishop Herman and to tender their Fidelity and Duty to him who had been their Coadjutor as to their lawful Prelate It was no difficult matter to obtain that from the Clergy for they had been the Authors of the Revolution But the Nobility and of them many of the chiefest Quality with the Deputies of the Towns remonstrate That they could not make defection from him whom they had so long obeyed whom for so many years they had found to be a very good Prince and to whom they had bound themselves by an Oath of Allegiance This Difficulty being started the Duke of Cleve their very next Neighbour for avoiding greater trouble sent some of his Counsellors thither to mediate who after a long and serious Debate obtain'd at length of the Clergy that they would be quiet until the other States should fairly represent the Case to the Archbishop To him therefore were sent Theoderick Count Manderscheyt and William Count Nouenar the chief of all the Nobility who by their Dexterity and the Interest they had with him perswade him that in compassion to the People and that the whole Province might not be undone by a War he would comply and resign his Place Accordingly he released all his Subjects from their Oaths and Allegiance and so the Coadjutor whom we named who had been always as dear to him as dear to him as a Brother succeeds and takes possession of his Dignity January the twenty fifth The Archbishop had a Brother Frederick who as we told you in the Tenth Book had been Bishop of Munster and was now Provost as they call it of the Church of Bonn but he was turned out of that Office and Gropper had it for his Share Count Stolberg Dean of Cologne who had constantly stood up for the Archbishop met with the same Fate Presently after by Orders from the new Archbishop there was a Change made in Religion and all Bucer's Reformation overthrown When the Embassadors of the
generous Answer immediately departed and because of the Saxon-War went to Nordlingen Whilst the Duke of Wirtemberg performed this Ceremony of Submission there was a vast Crowd of People got together who being told of it before flocked thither to see the Shew In those three Places we named before of the Dutchy of Wirtemberg the Emperour had already placed Garrisons and chiefly Spaniards THE HISTORY OF THE Reformation of the Church BOOK XIX The CONTENTS The Seventh Session of the Council of Trent is held When the City of Strasbourg had captitulated and made Peace with the Emperour he orders his Army to advance Shortly after the Death of the King of England Francis King of France dies The Fathers that were at Trent go to Bolonia The Duke of Saxony is taken in Battel and though he was condemned to die yet with undaunted Courage he professed the Reformed Religion Wirtemberg being surrendred the University is dissolved Duke Maurice and the Elector of Brandenburg earnestly intercede for the Landgrave who being come to wait on the Emperour is detained Prisoner King Ferdinand by Letters to those of Prague appoints a Convention of States A great Commotion raised at Naples because of the Spanish Inquisition as they call it Henry King of France is Crowned and the Solemnity of the Coronation described The Emperour by Proclamation puts the City of Magdenburg to the Ban of the Empire He sollicits the Suitzers to enter into a new League A Diet is held at Ausburg Petro Aloisio the Pope's Son is assassinated in his own House The English overcome the Scots in a great Battel The Protestant Electors are prevailed with and the Free Towns terrified A Contention ariseth about the Imprisonment of the Landgrave Means are used for recalling the Fathers to Trent but they who had removed to Bolonia firmly persist in their Opinion and Resolution so that there is nothing but Confusion in the Council of Trent THE Seventh Session of the Council of Trent was held the third day of March. In it were condemned all who maintain either that the Sacraments of the Church were fewer than Seven or that they were not all instituted by Christ who deny that one is of more Dignity than another who affirm that they are only outward Signs of Grace or Righteousness received by Christ who deny that they confer Grace who hold that no spiritual and indelible Character or Mark is by Baptism Confirmation and Orders stamped upon the Soul and that all have like power to administer them or that the usual Ceremonies of the Church may be omitted or altered in the Administration of the same who say that the Doctrine of the Church of Rome the Mother and Mistress of all others concerning Baptism is not sincere That Vows made after Baptism are of no force and derogate from the Faith they have professed who assert That Confirmation is but an idle Ceremony and was no more in ancient Times but an Instruction of Youth who deny the Virtue and Influence of the Holy Ghost to be conferred in Confirmation and who assign the Office of Confirmation not to Bishops solely but indifferently also to any Priest Then they make Decrees concerning Ecclesiastical Benefices That Bishops and other Rulers of the Church be lawfully begotten of due Age and conspicuous for Good Manners and Learning That no Man of what Quality he be do by any Title whatsoever possess more than one Bishoprick and that such as have Pluralities keep which of them they please and resign the others within a Year That those who have the Cure of Souls reside upon the Place and substitute no others to officiate for them unless for a time and so as that they have made appear to their Bishop that they had a lawful cause of Absence which is to be allowed of by him who is to take care that the People be not neglected that the Faults of Priests be punished and what is amiss amongst them reformed And then the one and twentieth of April is appointed for the Day of the next Session King Ferdinand being at Dresden with Duke Maurice on the eighth day of March writes to the Bohemians acquainting them That Duke John Frederick was resolved to invade them That therefore they should be upon their Guard and obey Sebastian Weittemull whom he had appointed to be his Vicegerent in his absence The Deputies of Strasbourg who as we told you went to Ulm being come back with the Conditions prescribed by the Emperour which the Senate did not dislike are sent back again to transact and make a final Conclusion Setting out upon their Journey then they find the Emperour at Nordlingen taken ill of the Gout and having March the one and twentieth made their Submission are received into Favour They had pretty tolerable Conditions for the Emperour put no Garrison upon them was satisfied with Thirty thousand Florins and did not exact above twelve Pieces of Ordnance of them The Elector of Brandenburg in the mean time bestirred himself affectionately in behalf of the Landgrave and applied himself also to King Ferdinand But very hard Conditions were proposed which were these That he approve without exception all the future Decrees of the Diet of the Empire That he give one of his Sons in Hostage That he dismiss Duke Henry of Brunswick and his Son and submit to the Emperour's Decision as to the Difference betwixt them That he send the Emperour a Supply of some Troops of Horse and eight Companies of Foot against the Elector of Saxony and the Confederates and that he pay them for six Months That he submit himself to the Emperour and openly confess his Crimes But he rejected the Conditions and acquainted his Friends by Letters That unless they were mitigated he had rather seeing he could not in Honour condescend to them undergo the worst of Fortunes The day the Emperour transacted with the Strasburgers he parted from Nordlingen to go to Norimberg And next day upon the Road having dispatched Letters to the States of Duke Maurice he tells them That forasmuch as that Outlaw John Frederick flying to his own Home had not only regained what the Prince Elector Maurice had by his Orders taken from him but those Places also which King Ferdinand his Brother possessed in that Country as Dependents on Bohemia he was now upon the march to come and repress his Boldness Wherefore he charged them in the first place that they should take care that in those Places through which he was to march with his Army nothing might be wanting that was necessary and that the Soldiers might be kindly used In the next place That they should despise the Threats of John Frederick and shew all Love and Duty to their Prince as they had hitherto done since the main Design of the present War was to daunt his insolent Fierceness and to settle Peace and Quietness amongst them The very same day he wrote to the Council and Magistrates
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
Throne So did the Electors also every one according to his Degree behind him And over the Emperour the Trumpeters were placed on a kind of Stage Then advanced Duke Maurice's first Squadron and putting Spurs to their Horses came gallopping towards the Pavillion as the Custom is Duke Maurice himself in the mean time with his other Squadron was posted over against them accompanied by a croud of Princes and Great Men and twelve Trumpeters were ranked immediately before him Out of that Company presently advanced Henry Duke of Brunswick Wolffgang Brother to the Elector Palatine and Duke Albert of Bavaria who having gallopped their Horses to the place alighted and going up to the Emperour humbly begg'd his Imperial Majesty that it would please him to confer upon Duke Maurice the publick Investiture and Ensigns of Principality and Electorship The Emperour consulting with the Electors answered by the Mouth of the Archbishop of Mentz That he was willing provided he came and demanded it in person When Duke Maurice had received this Answer he speeded forward with the whole Body Before him were carried ten Banners with the Arms of so many Countries as he desired to be Invested in So having alighted and kneeling down before the Emperour he begg'd the same thing as also did Hoier Count Mansfield in name of his Brother Augustus The Emperour therefore made answer by the Mouth of the Archbishop of Mentz That seeing they had both done him faithful Service he gave to Duke Maurice and his Male-Issue or if he had none to his Brother Augustus and the Heirs of his Body the Electorship of Saxony and all the Lands and Possessions of John Frederick except so much as had been before made over to his Children Then the Archbishop of Mentz read over the Oath which the Electors take and when Duke Maurice had said it over after him and taken it the Emperour gave him a Sword and by that Ceremony put him in a manner into possession He returned him thanks promising him all Fidelity and Obedience Afterwards the Emperour gave Duke Maurice the Banners we mentioned which were immediately thrown amongst the people as it is customary John Frederick might have seen and indeed did behold all this Ceremony from the House where he lodged for it stood in the same Market place Bucer who was sent for as we have already said came at length to Ausburg and was entertained at the Elector of Brandenburg's Court. And now the Book about Religion which as it is mentioned before was ordered to be Complied was Finished The Elector of Brandenburg presents it as it was written to Bucer and desires him to Subscribe to it but upon perusal finding that the Popish Doctrine was therein establish'd he made answer That he could not approve it The Elector of Brandenburg took that very ill and was extremely angry with him for he lookt upon it to be a moderate Book as Islebius had persuaded him Granvel pressed him to it also by Messengers and promised him large rewards if he would approve it But when he could not prevail by fair promises he began to threaten which made Bucer return home but not without danger for there were Garisons of Spaniards all over the Dutchy of Wirtemberg as has been said before In the Month of April the Archbishop of Cologne who was lately made a Priest said his first Mass The Emperour King Ferdinand and a great many Princes were present whom afterwards he entertained at a most Magnificent Dinner At this time Muleasses King of Tunis whom thirteen years before the Emperour had restored to his Kingdom having expelled Barbarossa as has been said in the ninth Book came to Ausberg His Eldest Son had invaded his Kingdom and put out his Eyes And therefore the poor banished Prince came out of Africa to implore the Emperours help as not long after another of his Sons came also That Book which was made concerning Religion treats first of the State of Man both before and since his Fall of Redemption by Christ of Charity and good Works of the assurance of the Remission of Sins of the Church of Vows of Authority of the Ministers of the Church of the Pope of the Sacraments of the Sacrifice of the Mass of the Commemoration Invocation and Intercession of Saints of the Remembrance of those who are dead in the Faith of the Communion to be joyned with the Sacrifice of Ceremonies and the use of the Sacraments Now amongst other things there are these Doctrines in it that those Works which are more than what God commands and commonly called Works of Supererogation are to be commanded That Man cannot without doubting believe that his Sins are forgiven him That the Church hath the Power of interpreting Scriptures of drawing and explaining Doctrines from them the Power of Jurisdiction of deciding in doubtful Cases by a Council and of making Canons That there is one Head over the rest to wit the Pope by Virtue of the Prerogative granted to Peter That the Government of the Universal Church is committed to him by Christ yet so as that the rest of the Bishops have a share in that Cure every one in his own Church That by Confirmation and Chrism the Holy Ghost is received to enable us to resist the temptations of the Devil the World and the Flesh and that a Bishop is the only Minister of that Sacrament That the Sins which we remember are to be confessed to a Priest That by satisfaction which consists in the Fruits of Repentance especially in Fasting Alms-deeds and Prayer the causes of Sin are rooted out and Temporal Punishments either taken quite away or mitigated That extreme Unction hath been in the Church ever since the Apostles time that it might either relieve the Body or fortifie the Mind it self against the fiery Darts of the Devil That then it is to be administred when the hour of Death seemeth to draw nigh That Marriage contracted without the Parents consent ought to stand good but that Children are in Sermons to be admonished to ask the advice of their Parents That Christ at his last Supper instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood First that it should be received by Believers as the saving Food of their Souls and then that it should be offered up in memory of his Death and Passion For that there are in all two Sacrifices of Christ one a bloody Sacrifice upon the Cross and another wherein under the form of Bread and Wine he offered up his own Body and Blood to the Father and afterwards commanded his Apostles and their Successors to do the same in remembrance of him to the end of the World That by the first Mankind was reconciled to God the Father but by this unbloody Sacrifice Christ is offered up and represented to the Father not that he may again make satisfaction for Sins but that by Faith we may apply to our selves the Redemption purchased to us by his Death That in
fair promises of his Zeal and good inclinations towards Religion and the welfare of the Publick That so soon as this came to his knowledge he had thought that so fair an occasion of acting ought not to be slighted especially since the safety and preservation of Germany depended on it That therefore a course was to be taken that those things which had been decreed in the last Dyet and begun should be perfected and accomplish'd And then that care should be taken both that the causes of Division be removed and some obstinate and rebellious persons quelled That for these causes he purposed to hold a Dyet of the Empire and therefore charged and commanded all whom it concerned not to fail to meet at Ausburg the twenty fifth day of June and that nothing should hinder them from coming but sickness and of that also they should make Faith upon Oath And that they send their Deputies and Representatives with full Power and Instructions to treat of all things relating to the Publick that no delay nor hinderance may obstruct the Deliberations THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION OF THE CHURCH BOOK XXII The CONTENTS A Peace is concluded between England and France The Magdeburgers refute the Crimes objected to them and prove them to be the Calumnies of their Adversaries The Emperours Edict against the Lutherans is published which astonished many Whil'st the Dyet is held at Ausburg for continuing the Council of Trent Granvell dies The Emperour takes Tripoly a Town in Africa George Duke of Meckleburg puts all to Fire and Sword in the Country of Magdeburg Duke Maurice and some others also takes up Arms against the Magdeburgers Pope Julius Emits a Bull for calling of the Council Duke Maurice commanding in chief against the Magdeburgers offers them Conditions of Peace The Clergy also publish an odious Paper against them to which they make a large Answer and refute the Crimes objected Osiander broacheth a new Doctrine concerning Mans Justification The Emperour makes a Decree at Ausburg for safe Conduct to be given to those that would repair to the Council Bucer dies Three Suns and as many Moons are seen in Saxony The Pope by a Bull heavily accuses Octavio Farnese and the Emperour publishes also an Edict against him In the mean time the King of France justifies him to the Pope The captive Duke of Saxony helps and comforts the Ministers proscribed by the Emperour The Council of Trent revived and an account given of the form and order of the publick Sessions The manner of framing Articles of Faith is set down The King of France publishes an Edict against the Pope A Relation of the beginning of the War of Parma ABOUT this time the Ambassadours of England and France after long and tedious Debating concluded a Peace and they were the more inclinable to it because both of them perceived the Advantages that some were like in time to make of their Enmity and Dissension Therefore the English restore to the French Boloigne that had been now whole six years almost in their possession at which many wondered though the French paid Money for it and the Scots were also comprehended in this Peace The two Kings having afterward sent Ambassadours mutually to one another confirmed this Peace by new marks of Friendship for the French King was made Knight of the Garter and the King of England one of the Order of France which amongst great Princes is as it were a Badge and Cognizance of Amity The Magdenburghers being severely lashed by the Emperours many Edicts publish again March the Twenty fourth another Manifesto addressed chiefly to their Neighbours First they alleadge that neither by the Law of God nor Man could they be convicted of Rebellion then they declare that they who take up Arms against them make War against Christ himself In the third place they refute the Crimes objected to them and affirm them to be Calumnies of their Adversaries And though say they the Emperour at their instigation hath Outlawed us yet we may truely affirm that we never as yet refuted any Reasonable Conditions provided the Doctrine of the Augustane Confession and the Liberty left us by our Ancestors were allowed us we are still of the same mind nor do we decline the performance of any kind of Duty that either the Emperour or Empire can justly challenge of us and we call God to witness that we have not given any cause of War or Commotions but are above all things desirous to entertain peace with all Men and by the help of the true Religion and Worship to attain Life Everlasting which is indeed the cause of all this hatred that is raised against us Now it is established by Law that as the Inferior Magistrate is not to impeach the right of the Superior so also that if the Magistrate transgress the bounds of Authority and command any thing that is wicked he is not only not to be obeyed but if he use force to be resisted also For that all Power is of God we think no Man will deny and if any Edict or Decree be made against him it is not to be doubted but that they may be rejected and disobeyed Now the Decree made at Ausburg concerning Religion is of that nature and therefore we cannot obey those who forcing it upon us depriveus of the Light of the Gospel and offer us the Idol of Popery that they may draw us into Eternal Damnation Which being so we cannot justly be accused of any Rebellion Besides it is obvious to any Man how unlawful it is to use violence against us since it is not we that are only struck at but that the great design is utterly to destroy the Professors of the true Doctrine and through our side to wound Christ himself and all the Godly for we are all the Members of Christ and therefore what else can they expect who defile themselves by so impious a Crime but the Vengeance of God Almighty In a former Declaration we took notice of some Castles and Villages sezed by us and it is needless here to repeat what was there said for so soon as we have assurance of peace we shall restore them to the Right Owners It is also reported by our Adversaries that unlawful and Promiscuous Lust is tolerated amongst us but it is a most Impudent Lye. We therefore beg of you by all that is sacred that you would not pollute your selves with Innocent Bloud but pray to God with us that he would confound the Bloudy Counsels of the Wicked and if any War happen to break forth that you will not deny your assistance Afterward in the Month of April the Ministers of the Church publish a Paper wherein they exhibit a Confession of their Faith and prove that it is lawful for an Inferior Magistrate to resist a Superior that would constrain their Subjects to forsake the Truth And here they address themselves to the Emperour beseeching him that he would not
give credit to those who inflame him to the commission of wicked and unjust Cruelties but that he would first truly and duly examine the whole Matter Lastly They humbly deprecate all War but at the same time if occasion so require they crave the assistance of their Neighbours Of the Tumult which we told you happened in the Cathedral of Strasburg the Bishop made a complaint to the Emperour but the Senate by a Deputy whom they sent purged themselves of having any hand in it Wherefore the Emperour wrote to the Bishop enjoyning him to continue the Service that had been intermitted and proceed However the Bishop took an Engagement first from the Senate that there should be no violence offered nor any obstruction made to their Actings So at length on Whitsunday which fell on the Four and twentieth day of May the Clergy began again to officiate For a few days at first the Consuls and some Senators were present in a different place of the Church to prevent any disturbance and the Clergy of the Church had enclosed with Iron â—rates that part of the Quire by which they went into the Vestry that no body might approach too near About the end of May the Emperour with his Son departed from Brussels and went to Ausburg to the Dyet there taking with him his Prisoner the Duke of Saxony but leaving the Landgrave at Mechline Not long after his departure a Proclamation dated the Twenty ninth day of April was published against the Lutherans both in Flemish and French of which this was the purport Although saith the Emperour it hath been always our endeavour that the true and ancient Religion should be observed within our Dominions though it hath been always our chief study that the Errours Heresies and Sects which for many years now have spread over Christendom should be utterly abolished and though we have for that end emitted many Proclamations enjoyning most severe Penalties Nevertheless to our great grief we have learned that not only many of our Subjects but Strangers also who live and Trade in our Provinces spread the contagion of this Evil far and near amongst the People so that it is absolutely necessary that some sharp Medicine be applied to the Disease and the Guilty strictly enquired after that this Plague may be totally rooted out as in the late Assemblies of the Provinces we gave it in charge to the Governours and States that they should in their several stations diligently apply themselves thereunto and persevere in the true and Catholick Religion Especially since it plainly appeared to all Men what Troubles and Commotions this Infection had raised amongst the Neighbouring People not to mention the danger of Souls and loss of Salvation thereby occasioned Therefore with the Advice and Consent of our dearest Sister and of the rest of our Nobles we make this new Law and strictly charge and command in the first place that no Man of what Rank or Quality he be presume to keep buy or distribute any of the Books of Luther Oecolampadius Zuinglius Bucer Calvin or generally any Books that have been published within these Thirty years without the Authors Names as in the Catalogue of the Divines of Louvain is more at large contained Moreover That no Person or Persons have a Picture or Image made in contempt and derision of the Blessed Virgin and Saints neither throw down or break any Image or Picture made to the honour of any Saint That no Man receive secret Conventicles into his House wherein Errors are commonly preached up Children rebaptized and Conspiracies framed against Church and State That no Man privately or publickly dispute about holy Scripture especially about difficult and obscure passages nor take upon him to interpret the same unless he be a Divine authorized by some approved University that such as do otherwise be punished as seditious persons and Disturbers of the publick peace the Men by the Sword and the Women by being buried alive in the Earth if they forsake their Errour but if they continue stubborn that they be burnt and what punishment soever they undergo that all their Goods be confiscated Moreover that they have no power to make a Will And if after they have violated this our Edict they offer to do any such thing by these Presents we declare it to be void and null Furthermore We charge and command that no Man receive into his House or any ways help and relieve those whom he knows to be suspected of Heresie but presently inform the Inquisitor or Governour of the place of them at his utmost peril That such as not out of malice and obstinacy but through infirmity have fallen into Heresie and Errour and have not transgresled this our Edict nor been guilty of any Seditious Practices but of their own accord have returned and upon abjuration of their Errour been reconciled to the Church presume not for the time to come to entertain any Talk or Discourse about Matters concerning Faith and Religion otherwise that they be punished as Apostates That if any Man not convicted but vehemently suspected of Heresie be sentenced to abjure it or to do publick Penance for the same and shall afterward be accused of Heresie he shall be punished as if he were relapsed into the Crime That they who have been stained with Heresie and such like Crimes even after Reconciliation shall not be admitted to any Honour publick Place or Dignity in the State. That he who has not a Certificate from the Curate of the Parish where he last lived be not allowed any House or Habitation for such are to be reckoned suspected Persons That the Governours of Places and all in Authority under us do in their several Provinces and Jurisdictions make diligent inquiry after those who shall transgress this Law as also that they aid and assist the Inquisitors and Ecclesiastical Judges in bringing the guilty to condign punishment according to the form prescribed by us to the Inquisitors or otherwise they shall suffer for it at our pleasure That the Atturney General also inquire into the Administration of their Offices and if he find them negligent bring them to a tryal for it wherein if they be cast that they be turned out of place or otherwise punished according as shall be thought convenient That Bishops Archdeacons Abbats and other Rulers of the Church diligently examine if any Churchmen be infected with this plague and severely punish them That they who know of any that is infected with Heresie or of the places where Hereticks lurk and hide themselves do instantly present them upon pain of incurring the punishment due to Hereticks That the Informer if the Information prove true have the one half of the Goods of the Party convicted provided they exceed not the value of six hundred Ducats but if they be worth more than that sum that he have then only a tenth part He that discovers private meetings to the Inquisitor though he hath been
the Emperor resigns the Government to his Son. The Answer of the Roman-Catholicks to the Demands of the Lutherans Those Bishops that change their Religion are to be removed A Parliament in England Libells against the Spaniards spread about London John Gropper offered a Cardinal's Hat which he refused The Deputies of Austria ask of Ferdinand a Liberty to embrace the Reformation The Duke of Prussia professeth the Augustan Confession Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury Burnt The Bavarians desire to embrace the Reformation A Truce between the Emperor and King of France The Cardinal of Ausburg's Apology The Diet opened at Ratisbone Transylvania revolts from King Ferdinand The Emperor and his Sisters set Sail for Spain The Death of John Sleidan the Author of this History I Have given an account how England returned under the obedience of the See of Rome in the last Book when the account of this Revolution which was sent with the utmost Celerity came to the Knowledge of that Court there was a vast Joy expessed in the City and extraordinary Processions were made to the Churches and the twenty fourth of December the Pope published a Declaration to this purpose After I had heard saith he that England which has now for some Years been separated and torn off from the Body of the Church was by the immense Mercy of God and the extraordinary Diligence Faith Study and Labour of King Philip Queen Mary and Reginald Cardinal of England reduced to the Communion of the Church and the obedience of this See My Mind was filled with a mighty Joy and as was fit I forthwith rendred to Godâ—s great Thanks as I could nor have I since omitted any thing which might tend to the Communicating the Fruit and Benefit of this my Joy to the whole City But then as the Father in the Gospel who received his Prodigal Son was not satisfied with an inward Exultation and private Joy but invited others to his Feast that they too might rejoice with him and make merry So that the whole Earth may understand the greatness of my Joy I will and Command that publick Thanksgivings and Prayers be made And also by the Authority and Power which I have I allow every Man the Liberty to chuse what Priest he likes best and that having rightly confessed his Sins to him I allow also that Priest a Faculty to remit all sorts of Sins how abominable soever they be even those Sins which belong only to me to remit and which are wont by Name to be excepted And that he shall not only remit the Guilt but the Penalty or Pain due to those Sins which are so confessed That he shall impose what satisfaction he thinks fit and relax all Vows except those of Chastity and religious Orders and so as they be commuted into other works And trusting in the Mercy of God and the intercession of St. Peter and St. Paul I grant a full and intire remission of all Sins which is only granted at the Determination of fifty years at other times to all those who with an humble and contrite Heart shall turn to God and perfectly confess their Sins as soon as they hear of this my Bull and shall twice or thrice in a Week endeavour to appease God by Fasting Alms and other Pious Exercises and shall after this receive the Holy Eucharist with Thanksgivings beseeching God in their Prayers that he would illuminate those that walk in the darkness of Error with the Light of his Countenance that he would send us Peace and incline the Hearts of Kings to Concord And I grant the same Benefit to those who are hindred by Age or Sickness from performing what is above required And that these our Letters may be every where Published I command all Patriarchs Archbishops and the like so soon as they receive the Copy hereof that they forthwith divulge it throughout their several Provinces and as it is a free Gift that they propose it every where without any gain I have said in the former Book that Blasseburg was the principal Fortress the Marquess of Brandenburg had in all his Country and that it was surrendred to the Confederates These Princes considering that being by one means or another recovered it might be the occasion of greater Mischiefs and about this time entirely ruined and demolished it to the great Exasperation of the whole Family of Brandenburg and of all the Kindred of it In the Interim Ferdinand King of the Romans both before he left his Territories and after he arrived at Ausburg for the holding the Diet did continually by his Envoys and Letters sollicit the Princes to hasten thither as I said in the last Book His first and greatest Care was to perswade Augustus Elector and Duke of Saxony He had before this alledged for his Absence the unsettled State of Saxony and now again sent his Deputies to the Diet with the same Excuses and occasionally mentioning the Turks he endeavoured to shew the great danger Germany was exposed to which heretofore having been Potent and formidable to her Enemies was now almost exhausted and depopulated by the many Mischiefs and Wounds she had suffered He said this Calamity received a great Improvement from the disaffection and distrust which the States of the Empire laboured under That the Emperor and his Majesty had omitted nothing which might procure a Remedy against this Disease But that hitherto all their Labour had been in vain for that the Minds of Men were so Exasperated and such ways were open to the admitting new offences that it was not reasonable to expect any mitigation His Brother Maurice some years since he said had commanded that some Ceremonies and other things of an indifferent Nature should be retained in the Churches of his Provinces but then this Command was not only slighted and disobeyed but was attacked by many Libels and rude Reproaches so that afterwards it was not in his Power to re-establish those things unless he would have exposed himself and that by this means some other Princes had been deterred from attempting any thing of this Nature But now those who are of the other Party and oppose the Augustan Confession have given apparent Signs that they intend not the least Pious and Legal Reformation by the Actions of the former times when this affair was considered either in Councils or Conferences Seeing therefore after so many fruitless Labours the loss of many Years and the disappointment of many Councils no way to an Agreement and Union could be found out because perhaps it was the Pleasure of God thus to punish the Sins of Men therefore he desired very earnestly that the Confession of Faith delivered in at Ausburg as a Sum of the Christian Religion might not be thought by his Majesty an impious Book but that it was a pure and a Pious Writing which shew that the Son of God was the Author of Salvation that the Doctrine of it did exactly agree with 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 Bâ—â—baria 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 Vulpiaâ—o 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
agree amongst themselves both Parties gave their Reasons in writing to King Ferdinand and desired him to find out some way They were got but thus far the thirteenth of June because the Proceedings were very slow and most Men thought that the reason was because they would first see the Event of the Treaty between the Emperor and the King of France because this would afford both Parties some considerable Advantage The Roman-Catholicks at the same time put in a third and extraordinary Paper Penn'd with great Passion and Bitterness that they might recommend their Cause so much the more to the King. In the first place say they those who follow the Augustan Confession have proposed five Conditions First That the Catholicks should approve that Doctrine which many Ages since and again in our times upon its first appearance has ever been Condemned by the ordinary Magistrate Secondly That all the Sacriledges they have perpetrated within these thirty Years should be confirmed and approved and that neither Law nor any other of the Pious and Natural ways should be left open for the Church to recover her Revenues And in the interim they would have a Peace made with them when all Communion with them is forbidden Thirdly They would be permitted to institute their wicked Ministers in the Churches and Chapters of the Archbishopricks and Bishopricks and to Preach in these Churches their leud and condemned Doctrines and abolishing the true Ministry and Ceremonies of the Church they would set up in their stead new and wicked Ceremonies and maintain those false Preachers with the Revenues of the Church contrary to the ancient Laws and Customs of the Church Fourthly They would have it lawful that all those Ecclesiasticks and Lay-Princes who do yet adhere to the Roman-Catholick Religion may freely desert their true Religion and pass over to their Camp. Lastly They desire that when any Bishop or Prince makes a defection to their Party that this should not affect his Person only but that it should extend it self to the People which are subject to him and also to the Church Revenues and whole sacred Administration and Jurisdiction which belonged to him Now say they though these things are contrary to all Laws both humane and divine and to the Oaths taken by the Emperor the King a nd the Bishops so that Catholicks cannot well receive them without violating their Faith and Oath yet because they stuck stifly to these Proposals and threatned to make use of Force the Catholicks at last yielded in the Treaty of Passaw as far as they could and have since in the Diet explained themselves by shewing that they cannot-grant a Promiscuous Liberty to all that will to change their Religion For then say they the Empire would be dissolved and that high Honour would be taken from the German Nation For it is the Duty of the Archbishops and Bishops not only not to suffer any condemned Religion but peaceably to disswade and affright all Bishops and Churchmen and all Lay-men too who are inclined to make defection or if they will go on in the Error then they are to represent them to the Roman-Catholick Church for this Custom has ever been observed from the times of the Apostles as may be proved by many Testimonies out of the Councils especially from the ☞ Council of Chalcedon Nor is it fit that any Man should think that those who make defection are to be left to their own Consciences because in things pertaining to the Faith no Man's Conscience should be free But whenever any Man departs from the common Consent of the Church be ought to be punished and restrained That if he will not obey that Church he is to be Excommunicated by the example of the four Principal Councils which condemned Arius Macedonius Nestorius and Eutyches and that of Chalcedon condemned Dioscorides and removed him from his See for defending Eutyches For whereas they pretend that every Man was to be left to the freedom of his own Judgment that neither Christ nor his Apostles compelled any to Believe and which is yet more that when many deserted no Man was retained against his Will. All these Pretences are without Foundation and are abundantly refuted by St. Augustine in his two Hundredth and fourth Epistle But if now the Bishops should be suffered to desert the Catholick Religion and make defection to another they will certainly never leave their Bishopricks because they will say they cannot do it with a quiet Conscience but on the other side they will implore the assistance of the Protestants for the Preservation of their States and People in that Religion And if this be done there is no doubt but they will undertake the Protection of them and pretend it is their Duty so to do for the security of their Administration and the maintaining them in the possession of their Lands and Goods But then whereas they pretend that they ought to admit others into the Society of their Religion and not to exclude any Man out of the Kingdom of Heaven this does not excuse them because there is but one Faith which all Christians ought to profess and preserve And this Faith hath heretofore been approved and confirmed by the oaths of our Emperors Kings Princes Governours and the People of this Empire This is that Catholick Faith which we Germans have from the beginning followed to this time those only excepted who have revolted from it Therefore nothing is to be innovated but every thing ought to be referred to this Faith and Men ought to submit their Souls to the obedience of the Catholick Church and he that does otherwise and assumes unto himself a peculiar Religion if he does not submit to the Admonition of his Superiour is to be Excommunicated and removed from the exercise of his Function and his Goods are to be saized by the Civil Magistrate and his Person is not to be endured in the Empire For the Fathers have ever rejected the Liberty of Conscience and Toleration of Religion as a dissipation of the Faith and have made it a fixed Law of the Church that those Articles of Faith which are once defined by a Council shall neither be disputed nor called in doubt so as to establish any thing to the contrary For History informs us what disturbances followed the general toleration of all Sects granted by Valentinian the Emperor and if it be once granted that he who differs from the Catholick Religion shall be excused by his Conscience than are the Anabaptists Zuinglians and Schwinkfeldians to be excused also on the same account and to be comprehended in this Peace They say that the Promises of God pertaining to Eternal Life belong to all Men and that they ought not to restrain them as if these Promises belonged to none but those of their Profession but in truth the thing is quite otherwise for seeing they have forsaken the Communion of the Church they are excluded out of the Kingdom of Heaven even
the publick Inns That they should deliver in all the Books written or printed by David George and not keep any by them in the Dutch Tongue and that they should send their Children to the School of Basil to be instructed That they should pay a Pecuniary Mulct if required and that they their Wives and Children should appear in the Church and make Profession of the True Faith and-Renounce that of David George Two days after his Body was sentenc'd to be taken up and burnt together with his Books and Effigies by the Hands of the Common Hang-man in the place where they usally executed Malefactors and all his Goods they sez'd to the Publick Treasure adding That if any Person presum'd to blame this their Decree he should be liable to the same Punishment His Body was found very perfect so that it might be known by his yellow Bâ—ard from another Man's though he had been buried two Years and six Months and was accordingly burnt in a vast concourse of Men. In the beginning of February the Ambassadours met again at the Castle of Cambray to conclude the Treaty which was broke up upon the Death of Mary Queen of England Queen Elizabeth who succeeded her Sister Mary a Princes of a Masculine Soul and of a Prudence above her Sex fearing if she relied upon the Spaniard she might either be deserted or dishonoured by his Protection had in the mean time made a separate Peace with France After which she changed the Religion of England in her first Parliament abolishing all the Laws made by her Sister Mary and reviving those made by her Brother Edward VI and rejecting all Obedience to the Pope of Rome This Peace with France did much facilitate the Treaty of Cambray In which among other things these Princes promised to do their utmost that a General Council should be held as soon as was possible to the Glory of God and the pacifying Men's Consciences This last Clause by the perverse Counsels of these Princes in a short time raised a War in the Low-Countries and France which was more lasting and more fatal than any former Wars This Treaty was signed at Cambray April 3. These two Kings having thus regained their Peace and disburthened themselves of the Cares which the War brought upon them they betook themselves solely to the Care of Religion which in France had been under consideration the two foregoing Years and was then omitted on account of the War and Treaty but was now reassumed in the heat of a Marriage-Feast There was one Diana Dutchess of Valentinois a Court-Lady and one of the King's Mistresses who used to beg the Estates of all such as suffered for any Crime And the Duke of Guise who were the Promoters of this Persecution the latter aiming at nothing but Popular Applause These two insinuated this Belief into the King That the Venome of Heresie was much spread in France and that in truth he was not King of those Provinces in which that prevailed That the Impudence of those who imbraced it was so great that they did not whisper it as heretofore in the Ear but preached it openly and boldly throughout the Kingdom by which the name of God was blasphemed and his Majesties Royal Authority was endangered for when the Law of God was once confounded who can Question say they but that all Human Laws will soon be subverted And that they might the more easily prevail they employed Giles Maistre president of the Parliament Jean de S. Andre Anthony Minart and Giles Bourdin the King's Attorney and principally the first of these who was a Man of a fierce Disposition and Temper to incense the King's Mind against the Sectaries he being no way inclined to such Severities To this end they tell him That there would little be gained by the Peace of a more cruel War was fomented and carried on at Home For that the Disease had already got such Strength that if his Majesty dissembled a little longer the Sword of the Magistrate and the Laws of the Land would not be able to suppress it but he must levy Armies and himself take the Field against them as had been done in the case of the Albingenses That what had hitherto been done had not had its desired effect because all the severity had been spent upon the populace and the mean people the hatred and detestation of which had affected all Men but very few had taken example by it That now it was fit to begin with the Judges many of which had imbraced their Doctrin secretly or favoured them on other accounts and by their connivance nourished the Distemper suffering this Offence either to go unpunished or very lightly corrected This they said was the very Root of the Evil and that all labour was in vain tâ—ll it were pulled up Not long after this the King was prevailed upon to come into the Parliament in Person whilst the Members were debating about the Punishment of the Sectaries June 14. He seemed rather to labour to conceal his Anger than to have come with a calm Mind Among other things he told the Parliament That having made a Peace he hoped it would turn to the general Good but he was much concerned that the business of Religion which was one of the principal Cares of a good Prince had been during the War tumultuously and seditiously treated by some That therefore he desired for the future more care might be taken of the Christian Religion And because he heard that affair was this Day to be debated by them he was come thither and he admonished them to proceed in it with Freedom saying It was God's Cause who knew all our Hearts and Thoughts Tho' the Members of the Parliament knew the King was brought thither to deprive them of their Liberty yet there were some who resolved to retain their ancient Freedom at the price of their Lives and having declaimed against the Manners of the Court of Rome and its ill Customes which had degenerated into most pernicious Errors and given occasion to the rise of many Sects they thence inferred That the Penalties of Heresie were to be mitigated and the Severities of the Law abated till the differences of Religion were composed by the Authority of a General Council and the Discipline of the Church reformed And this was the Opinion of all the good Men in the Parliament Arnold du Ferrier President of the Criminal Court an honest and a wise Person and the best Lawyer in France was the first who proposed this Method and was followed by many others among which was Lewis du Faur a Man of great Sense and of a generous Temper who added That all were agreed that the Differences in Religion had occasioned great Disturbances but then said he we ought carefully to enquire Who caused these Disorders lest as Elijah answered Ahab when he reproached him as the Troubler of Israel it might be said to us It is thou that hast
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
Council which he had rather promised than desigued before The Conference was to be begun the First of August at Poissy and the Bishops and Divines were already arrived there and had entered into a Debate what Points were to be Disputed where they spent the time to no great purpose disputing amongst themselves concering the Office of a Bishop the Dignity of Cathedral Churches of Colleges and their Exemptions of the Ordination of Curates and Priests concerning allowing them Competent Pensions abating their number reforming the Discipline of the Monasteries of Commendam's and Benesices of cutting off the Pleasures and Luxuries of the Clergy and of Censures And they thought the Answering such like Queries was of great use to the Church in these confused times There appeared for the Protestants Augustin Marlorat Francis de S. Pol Jean Remond Merlin J. Malo Francis de Mureaux N. Tobie Theodore Beza Claud Brisson J. Bouquin J. Viret J. de la Tour Nich. de Crallas and John De l'Espine who abjuring the Dominican Order did then first openly prosess the Protestant Religion Soon after Peter Martyr came to Zurich These Asked four things 1st That the Bishops should be Parties and not Judge 2d That the King and Council should Preside 3d. That all things might be determin'd only by the Word of God 4th That whatever was agreed should be set down by Notaries The Queen yielded all these but would have one of the Secretaries of State be the only Notary and she would not consent that the King should Preside in the Conference The Cardinal of Lorraine had before objected against Beza That he should say that Christ was no more present in the Sacrament than in a Muddy Ditch This Expression is said to have been urged by Melanchthon against Oecolampadius as the Consequence of his Doctrine and was by a mistake of the Cardinal wrongfully charged on Beza who denied and detested it as Blasphemous The First of September the Conference began the King the Queen his Younger Brother and Sister and about Eleven Bishops being present and the Cardinals of Bourbon Tournon Chastillon Lorrain Armagnac and Guise The King opened it with a short Speech which was seconded by the Chancellor with a longer In which he preferr'd a National Council before a General and shewed that the Errours of many General Councils had been corrected by National Synods particularly the Arrian General Council of Ariminium was condemn'd by a Private Council held by St. Hillary Bishop of Poictiers and banished out of France He said they neithe needed much Learning nor many Books the Bible alone being sufficient by which Religion was to be Tried and Examined That the Protestants were their Brethren and to be treated as such if out of Ambition or Avarice they did otherwise God would judge and condemn them and their Decrees would be rejected That they ought to Amend and give God Thanks for any Errour that was discovered and if they did not God would Punish them After him the Cardinal of Tournon spoke and Thanked the King Queen and Princes for being present and approved highly of what the Chancellor had said but desired a Copy of it which the Chancellor refused though it was seconded by the Cardinal of Lorrain because he perceived they craftily designed to mischief him by it Theodore Beza being next commanded to speak fell upon his Knees and after a Prayer and reciting his Faith complained to God that they had been injuriously treated as Enemies of the Publick Peace Then he shewed wherein they agreed with the Church of Rome and wherein they differed and discoursed of the way of attaining Salvation of Faith Good Works the Word of God the Authority of the Councils and Fathers of the Sacraments and of their use and true Interpretation of Transubstantiation and Consubstantiation and lastly of the Ecclesiastical Order and Discipline and obedience to Princes he was so long and so sharp in some of these things that they had scarce patience to hear him out and the Cardinal of Tournon presently replied with a Voice trembling for Rage That he and the other Prelates had done violence to their Consciences by condescending to this Conference in compliance with his Majesties Commands by hearing these new Evangelists That he foresaw if they were heard many things would be spoken by them injurious to the Majesty of God which would offend the Ears of the King and of all good Men. And therefore he beseeched his Majesty not to believe what was said That if he could have prevented it the King should not have been present but however he desired he would not suffer his Mind to be pre-ingaged in their false Opinions but to suspend till the Bishops had Answered it and the King and the rest there present should know the difference between Falsehood and Truth He Asked a Day to Answer in and prayed the King that he would persevere in the Religion of his Ancestors Lastly he added that but for the respect they bore to the King the Bishops would have arisen and put a stop to those horrible and abominable Words The Queen calmly said she had done the thing without the Advice of the Parliament of Paris the Princes and Privy-Council That no change was designed but that the Disturbances of France might be appeased and Men friendly brought from their Errors into the Old Way which belonged to them to effect The first Dispute was about the Lords Supper The second which was the 17th of August was about the Church which the Cardinal of Lorrain said could not Err That if any particular Church did Recourse was to be had to the Head the Church of Rome and the Decrees of a General Council and the Concurrent Opinions of the Ancient Fathers and before all to the Sacred Scriptures explain'd by the Right Sense and Interpretation of the Church As to the Lord's Supper in effect he said That if the Protestants would not embrace their Opinions there was no hope of an Agreement The Cardinal of Tournon thereupon applauded his Harangue and said he was ready to lay down his Life for this Faith intreating the King to continue stedfast in it and was contented Good Man that if the Protestants would subscribe these two Points they should be admitted to dispute all the rest but if they refused this all hearing was to be denied them and they were to be expell'd out of his Dominions Beza desired to Answer him Extempore but the King delayed the Answer to the next day Upon a Petition the Ministers were heard at last again the 24th of September before the Queen only when Beza discoursed of the Church and its Notes which he said were the Preaching of the Word and a Pure Administration of the Sacraments As for the Succession of Persons and Doctrines it had been often interrupted He discoursed of the Ordinary and Extraordinary Vocation of the Universal Church and her Authority of Councils which he affirm'd
Metz that Prince having established there a Garrison a Governour and a President of Justice amongst other things it was there enacted that if any Brother Sister Uncle Tutor or Guardian Prostituted any Woman or Maiden that was under their Charge he should have an Iron Hoop put about his Neck and be so exposed for some time to the scorn hatred and reproaches of all Men and he should be beaten afterwards with Rods and Banished the City and if any Father or Mother should do the same it should be Death Many Men wondred at these Laws and thought it was rather in order to teach Men Crimes that were rarely or never heard of than to restrain them from these Faults But in truth it shews the Corruption of our Times We have often already mentioned the famous Controversy which has been so many Years depending between the Landgrave and William Count of Nassaw concerning the Dominion of Catzenellobogen in the Landgravat of Hassia that an end might be put to this Difference and the rise of greater Mischiefs prevented some of the Neighbour Princes interposed as Honorary Arbitrators To this end the Elector Palatine Christopher Duke of Wirtemberg and William Duke of Cleve met in the beginning of July at Wormes and the Landgrave sent William his eldest Son to manage this Treaty for him There were some Conditions proposed and a Debate insued but at last they resolved to take further time to consider of it and appointed another time to meet and determine it In the mean time the French destroyed as many of the Castles in Montisferrat as they had in their Possession for fear any of them being surprized by the Spaniards might be imployed to hinder the supplying of Casale with Necessaries There was in this Dukedom a strong Castle called Vulpiano which has belonging to it a Town of some moment and was then in the possession of the Spaniards and upon the reception of the Duke de Alva great part of the Forces in these Parts being assembled to welcome their new General he took this opportunity to furnish that Place with Provisions and about the same time the French re-victualled Marienbourg a Town in Hainault which they took the last year from the Emperor About this time also the King of France published an Edict by the perswasion of his Friends commanding all his Presidents to Punish without delay or any regard had to any Appeal all those who by the Ecclesiastical Chancellors and the Inquisitors should be condemned for Hereticks This Edict was by the Cardinal of Lorrain brought into the Parliament of Paris that according to the Custom of France they might approve publish and register it But those Senators being surprized with the novelty of the design because it took away all benefit of Appeals took time to consider of it and some time after sent some of their Members to acquaint the King with their Thoughts of this Edict as I shall set forth in due time There is a City in Switzerland called Lucerne which is the Capital of one of their Cantons and lies not far from Italy The Inhabitants desired they might be suffered to imbrace the Reformation those Cantons which were of the Roman-Catholick Religion hereupon differed amongst themselves whilst some were for the granting this Liberty and others opposed it and it was thought this would have caused some intestine Commotions against them but at last the Party prevailed who were for maintaining the old Religion and that those who were not for it might have their liberty to withdraw Whereupon a great number of the Inhabitants of that City went to Zurich which City was very Hospitable towards them and assisted them with great Liberality About this time the English Ambassadors who were sent to Rome as I have said in the end of the last Book returned home The Pope much approved their Repentance and begging his Pardon But then he would not allow of the retaining of the Church Lands Amongst these Ambassadors was Thirlby Bishop of Ely. The King of Denmark had also sent a Fleet to the Northward which caused various Discourses amongst Men for some said it was done at the Instigation of the Emperor who designed the putting his Son or Brother in the Possession of Scotland others said it was for the Service of the French King others said it was to prevent any attempts might be made by the Emperor or his Son who by the accession of the Crown of England to his other Dominions was become very formidable and it was also thought that on this Score the Hanse Towns ccontributed to the Charge of this Fleet. After all these various Reports had been bandied up and down at last they all vanished and it was said that the Navy was designed against none but the Pirates The State of Rome at this time was also very unquiet the Pope having some of the great Men in suspition and thereupon having doubled the Guards and fixed the military Stations in several places of the City he ordered the Cardinal of Santa Flora Sfortia and Canâ—llus Colona to be Imprisoned Because these were Creatures of the Emperor most Men thought the Pope design'd something further against that Prince which distrust was yet more encreased afterwards upon the Pope's demanding a vast sum of Money which had been lent to Alexander de Medices Duke of Florence and one of the Emperor's Favourites by the two last Popes Clement VII and Julius the III. during the Seige of Siena but in a short time those great Men were discharged upon Bail. About the same time a Fleet failed from Spain for Flanders loaden with all sorts of Merchandize this coming upon the Coast of Normandy the French who had long before heard it was coming set upon it with great Force and there followed an horrible Engagement in which many of their Ships on both fides were burnt and funk and great numbers of the Men perished by Fire and Sword and drowning but in the end the French took some of Spanish Ships and carried them into the Port of Dieppe from whence they came this happened in the Month of August in the end of which Month King Philip left England and went to his Father to Brussels attended by great numbers of the Nobility of England Some few Years since Truccesius Cardinal of Ausburg had opened an University at Diliâ—gbon a City upon the Danube in the Diocess of Ausburg by the Permission and Consent of Julius the III. who confirmed this University by a Bull and gave it great Immunities and Priviledges as may be seen in this Bull which has since been published in Print Amongst many others who about this time retired to this Place was Peter Asoto a Spanish Dominican who had been many years the Emperor's Confessor This Year this Person began an Answer to the Book which contains the sum of the Christian Faith which Christopher Duke of Wirtemberg tendered as I have said by his Ambassadors to the Fathers assembled