Part 6
But Maximilian did not desert the hereditary character and line of action, to enter into the new ideas of the time. He struggled for means to drive both Spain and France from Italy, not in order to give Italy independence and freedom, but to revive the imperial power there; a project he was at length compelled to abandon. But this portion of his action belongs to the history of Austrian influence in Italy, to which our narrative will return bye and bye, and view it as a whole.
With respect to the Reformation, Coxe observes:
“This controversy had attracted the attention of Maximilian, who was naturally fond of bold and novel opinions, and anxious to reform the abuses and curb the encroachments of the church. Far from opposing the first attacks of Luther against indulgences, he was pleased with his spirit and acuteness, declared that he deserved protection, and treated his adversaries with contempt and ridicule. In the progress of the dispute he was, however, gradually drawn from this favourable opinion, and from conviction, _from pique against Frederic of Saxony for opposing the election of his grandson_, or from a desire of conciliating the Pope, was induced to interfere in the controversy. In a letter to Leo X., dated August 5, 1519, he stigmatised the principles of Luther as heretical, and alluded to his numerous and powerful supporters. He urged the necessity of terminating these rash disputes and captious arguments, by which the Christian church was scandalised, and offered to support and enforce the measures which the Pope should think necessary to adopt.
“In consequence of this letter, Leo was induced to pursue more vigorous measures: he enjoined the cardinal of Gaeta, his legate at the diet of Augsburgh, to summon the heretic Luther in person; if he refused to recant, to detain him in custody; and, if he did not obey the summons, to denounce the sentence of excommunication against him and all his protectors or adherents. At the same time Leo wrote to the elector of Saxony, requesting him to withdraw his protection from Luther, and promising that if not found guilty, he should be liberated and absolved.
“But at this critical moment the emperor Maximilian died, before the papal bull could be presented to him, and the government devolved on the elector of Saxony, as vicar of the empire. The proceedings against the great reformer were thus suspended, and he was enabled to improve his knowledge of the Holy Scriptures in silence and safety, to propagate his opinions, and, by study and meditation, to prepare himself for those hostilities against the authority of the Pope, which he had proclaimed by his recent appeal.
“Notwithstanding the exhortatory letter of Maximilian to the Pope, he seemed so little interested in the Lutheran controversy, that he dissolved the diet and quitted Augsburgh two days before the arrival of the Saxon reformer; and so rapid was the progress of that disorder which hurried him to the grave, that he had no opportunity, had he possessed the inclination, to interfere in the subsequent discussion.
“Although Maximilian did not illustrate his name and reign by conquest, or even considerable acquisitions by the sword, he may justly be considered as the second founder of the house of Austria. By his own marriage with the princess Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold, he secured the inheritance of the house of Burgundy; by the marriage of Philip with Johanna he brought into his family the succession of the Spanish monarchy, and by the intermarriage of his grandson, the archduke Ferdinand, with Anne, daughter of Ladislaus, he entailed on his posterity the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia. These and other vast acquisitions which the house of Austria obtained by marriage and not by arms, gave birth to a sarcastic epigram which has been attributed, though perhaps erroneously, to Matthias Corvinus, the celebrated king of Hungary:—
Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria _nube_; Nam quæ MARS aliis, dat tibi regna VENUS.
“Since the reign of Charlemagne, no sovereign united such extensive territories and possessed such influence as Charles V., nor seemed more likely to realise the phantom of universal monarchy, which has never failed to fill the imagination of ambitious, or excite the apprehensions of weak and timid princes.
“He inherited the vast domains of the Spanish monarchy, including Naples and Sicily, and the recently discovered territories in the new world, and the seventeen provinces of the Low Countries, with Franche Comté and Artois, at that time the richest, most populous, and most flourishing country in Europe. In conjunction with his brother Ferdinand, he also succeeded to the whole possessions of the house of Austria. To these he united the highest dignity in Europe, and although the crown of the empire had proved a burden to weak sovereigns, in his powerful hands it became a formidable engine for territorial acquisitions, in consequence of numerous claims on all the surrounding districts, its extensive jurisdiction, and the force which the influence of so powerful a prince could still draw from the vast and heterogeneous mass of the Germanic body.
“Sovereign of such extensive territories, endowed with the most eminent talents, civil and military, and possessing almost universal influence by his connections and alliances, Charles seemed born to domineer over Europe; nor could the union of the princes and states of Germany have secured their liberties, had not his power been weakened by the separation of the Austrian and Spanish dominions, by his wars with France and the Turks, and still more circumscribed by the reformation in religion, which was commenced and perfected by the efforts and perseverance of Luther.
“After the death of Maximilian the Austrian territories were possessed in common by Charles and Ferdinand; but in 1521 a partition was made. Charles ceded to his brother Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, with their dependencies, and in the ensuing year, the Tyrol, and the exterior provinces in Suabia and Alsace, reserving to himself only the reversion of Brisgau and the Alsatian territories, which he afterwards relinquished. By this cession the house of Austria was divided into two separate and independent branches; the Spanish branch under Charles, and the German under Ferdinand.
“As Ferdinand, soon after the partition, became king of the Romans, as he finally succeeded to the imperial crown, it becomes necessary, for the elucidation of the subject, not to omit the affairs of Germany under Charles, and particularly to dwell on the rise and progress of the Reformation, which produced such important effects to the house of Austria and to Europe.”
Charles immediately convoked the diet of the empire, and “among the causes enumerated by Charles for the convocation of a diet, one of the most important was, ‘to concert with the princes of the empire effectual measures for _checking the progress of those new and dangerous opinions, which threatened to disturb the peace of Germany, and to overturn the religion of their ancestors_.’
“Charles had already given evident proofs of an hostile disposition towards the Lutheran doctrines, as well from conviction, as from a desire of obliging the pope, and an apprehension of alienating his subjects in Spain and the Low Countries, who were zealously attached to the religion of their ancestors. Before his departure from Spain he had declared his intention to suppress the new opinions, and on his arrival in the Low Countries had permitted the universities of Louvaine and Antwerp to burn the writings of Luther, and even supported the instances of the pope in urging the elector of Saxony to banish him from his territories. With these sentiments he opened the diet of Worms, permitted the papal legates to inveigh against Luther, and proposed that the German states should also condemn his doctrines, and commit his writings to the flames.
“Charles, however, was astonished to find that the proscribed opinions had taken a deep root, and spread over a great part of the empire. The diet itself displayed an evident disposition to favour an attack on the pretensions and exactions of the pope; and the states presented a long list of grievances against the Roman see, of which they required the emperor, in virtue of his capitulation, to obtain redress. In opposition to all the remonstrances of the legates, the members of the diet, at the instigation of the elector of Saxony, refused to proscribe Luther before he had acknowledged himself as the author of the propositions condemned by the papal bull, and had refused to recant, as a measure no less contrary to the principles of justice than to the laws of the empire; and they declared, that if he was convicted of error, and refused to retract, they would then assist the emperor in punishing his contumacy. The legates, who probably expected the same implicit obedience which had so long been paid to the dictates of the church, in vain contended that an affair, already decided by the pope, could never be again brought into deliberation, and that a dispute with Luther would be endless, because he refused to acknowledge the authority of the church. They had the mortification to find that all their remonstrances were ineffectual, and that their assertions of papal infallibility were heard by the majority with indifference or contempt.
“Charles, perceiving the sentiments of the diet, and unwilling to offend the elector of Saxony, to whom he owed the imperial crown, affected great candour and moderation, and, on the 6th of March, despatched a respectful summons and safe conduct to Luther; though, to appease the legate, he promised that Luther should not be suffered to defend, but simply to acknowledge or recant his doctrines. The undaunted reformer obeyed the summons with alacrity. His journey to Worms was like a triumphal procession, and his reception, from all orders of men, evinced the highest respect and admiration. Greater crowds assembled to behold him than had been drawn together by the public entry of the emperor; and his apartments were crowded daily and hourly with persons of the highest rank and consequence. On his appearance before the diet he behaved with great propriety, and acted with equal prudence and firmness. He acknowledged without hesitation, the works published under his name, but divided them into three classes. The first, he adroitly observed, relating to faith and good works, contained doctrines which were not disapproved even by his adversaries; the second, relating to the power and decrees of the pope, he could not retract without injuring his conscience, and contributing to the support of papal tyranny; and, in the third, consisting of his writings against his opponents, he acknowledged, with regret, that the provocation of his adversaries had urged him beyond the bounds of moderation. He concluded, as usual, with declining to retract the condemned propositions, until convinced by arguments from reason and Scripture, not by the fallible authority of popes and councils, which experience had proved to be frequently erroneous and contradictory. When again required to recant, he persisted in his resolution, and concluded with exclaiming. ‘Here I stand, I can do no more. God be my help. Amen.’
“The papal legate, and some of the members of the diet, provoked at his contumacy, exhorted the emperor to imitate the example of his predecessor, Sigismond, by withdrawing his protection from an heretic; but Charles rejected their advice with becoming disdain. He was, however, no less exasperated at the refusal of Luther to recant; and, after the second examination, retired in the evening to his cabinet, and drew up, with his own hand, a declaration of his attachment to the church, and of his resolution to proscribe the condemned doctrines. ‘Descended as I am,’ he said, ‘from the Christian emperors of Germany, the Catholic kings of Spain, and from the archdukes of Austria and the dukes of Burgundy, all of whom have preserved, to the last moment of their lives, their fidelity to the church, and have always been the defenders and protectors of the Catholic faith, its decrees, ceremonies, and usages, I have been, am still, and will ever be devoted to those Christian doctrines, and the constitution of the church, which they have left to me as a sacred inheritance. And as it is evident that a single monk has advanced opinions contrary to the sentiments of all Christians, past and present, I am firmly determined to wipe away the reproach which a toleration of such errors would cast on Germany, and to employ all my power and resources, my body, my blood, my life, and even my soul, in checking the progress of this sacrilegious doctrine. I will not, therefore, permit Luther to enter into any further explanation, and will instantly dismiss, and afterwards treat him as an heretic; but I will not violate my safe conduct, and will cause him to be reconducted to Wittemberg in safety.’
“The edict of Worms was passed on the 28th of May, but, to give it the appearance of unanimity, was antedated the 8th. It declared Luther a heretic and schismatic, confirmed the sentence of the pope, and denounced the ban of the empire against all who should defend, maintain, or protect him. To prevent also the dissemination of his opinions, it prohibited the impression of any book on matters of faith, without the approbation of the ordinary, and of some neighbouring university.
“Fortunately for the Reformation, the emperor was prevented from executing the edict of Worms by his absence from Germany, by the civil commotions in Spain, and still more by the war with Francis I., which extended into Spain, the Low Countries, and Italy, and for above eight years involved him in a continued series of contests and negotiations at a distance from Germany.
“Even in the hereditary countries of the house of Austria the Reformation found numerous advocates. Notwithstanding Ferdinand had endeavoured to enforce the edict of Worms, the evangelical principles were not only received by the people, but were adopted by many of the higher orders, and by the professors of the university of Vienna. The same spirit pervaded Bohemia; and that country, so feebly connected with the church and the empire, seemed again likely to become the scene of those religious troubles by which it had been desolated during the Hussite wars.
“The Reformation, thus successful in Germany, spread with equal rapidity in the neighbouring countries. Zuingle, the illustrious head of the reformed church in Switzerland, who had preceded Luther in his attacks against the Roman see, who equalled him in zeal and intrepidity, and surpassed him in learning and candor, had advanced with more daring steps; and free from the restraints which subjection to the will of a sovereign had imposed on the German divine, had overturned the whole fabric of the established worship. So early as 1524, the canton of Zurich renounced the supremacy of the pope; and, in 1528, Bern, Basle, and Schaffhausen, and part of the Grisons, Glarus, and Appenzel, followed the example.
“The reformed doctrines spread likewise over the kingdoms of the north: Christian II., the brother-in-law of Charles, had been driven from the throne of Sweden by Gustavus Vasa, and from that of Denmark by Frederic of Oldenburgh; and in both countries the jurisdiction of the pope was abolished, and the Lutheran declared the established religion. In England, also, the influence and authority of the church experienced a similar decline; the Reformation was received by the people with an eagerness which all the despotism of the sovereign could not repress, and even Henry VIII. himself, who, by writing against Luther, had acquired the title of Defender of the Faith, was preparing to undermine the authority of the pope, and was suing for that divorce from his queen, Catherine of Arragon, which soon afterwards occasioned the separation of England from the see of Rome. In France a similar schism took place, notwithstanding the efforts of Francis I., who, while he encouraged the reformers of Germany, persecuted them in his own dominions: a considerable party which had seceded from the church, had been already formed under the auspices of Farell, and afterwards increased by the labours of Calvin, from whom they received the denomination of Calvinists.
“The progress of the reformed doctrines, and the conduct of the reformed princes, was not likely to allay the animosity which subsisted between the two religious parties. The Catholics presented urgent and continual representations to the emperor; and, on the other hand, the Lutherans exerted every effort to maintain and extend their cause, by entering into associations, and making preparations to resist aggression. Above all, Philip, landgrave of Hesse, a prince perhaps sincere in his attachment to the new religion, but violent, ambitious, and interested, collected troops, and after alarming all Germany by dubious threats, commenced aggression by invading the territories of the bishops of Wurtzburg and Bamberg. The Catholic princes, being ill-prepared to retaliate, the civil war which now threatened Germany, and which afterwards burst forth with such fury, was suspended by their moderate language and pacific assurances; and Philip disbanded his troops, after receiving considerable sums of money in disbursement of his expenses. The reformed party were thus encouraged by the timidity and irresolution of their adversaries, and the animosity of the Catholics was augmented by their own humiliation.
“Hence the emperor summoned, in 1529, a second diet at Spire, for the usual purpose of opposing the Turks, who had overrun Hungary, and even threatened the Austrian territories; but principally for terminating the contests relating to religion. It was opened on the 15th of March, and in the absence of the emperor, presided over by Ferdinand, who had recently succeeded to the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia. Every other consideration yielded to the affairs of religion; and the Catholics, sensible of the fatal consequences derived from the vote passed at the preceding diet of Spire, united the influence of their whole body to procure its repeal or modification. By a majority of voices a decree was passed, under the pretence of explaining, but virtually repealing the former edict of toleration, which was declared to have been misunderstood, and to have given rise to a variety of new doctrines. It was enacted, that in all places where the edict of Worms had been executed, it should be still observed, till the meeting of a council; that those who had adopted the new opinions should desist from all further innovations; that the mass should be re-established in all places where it had been abolished, and the Catholic subjects of reformed princes be suffered to enjoy unlimited toleration. The ministers of the Gospel were to preach the word of God, according to the interpretation of the church, and to abstain from promulgating new doctrines. No hostilities were to be committed under pretence of religion, and no prince was to protect the subjects of another. The severest penalties were denounced against the Anabaptists; and regulations were established against the reformed sect called Sacramentarians, who, in the doctrine of the real presence in the sacrament, differed both from the Catholics and Lutherans.
“The Lutherans could not avoid perceiving the intent of this decree, and were justly alarmed with its probable consequences. After in vain endeavouring to prevent it from receiving the approbation of the diet, they published their dissent by a regular protest. They declared that what had been decided unanimously in one diet, ought not to be revoked in another by a majority: and as the mass had been proved by their ministers to be contrary to the institution of Christ, they could not conscientiously permit its use among their subjects, or allow the absurd practice of administering the communion according to two different forms in the same place. They reprobated the clause which enacted the preaching of the Gospel according to the interpretations of the church, because it did not determine which was the true church. They argued that the Scripture, as the only certain and infallible rule of life, ought to be explained by itself alone, and not by human traditions, which are doubtful and uncertain; and they, therefore, declared their resolution to suffer nothing to be taught except the Old and New Testament in their pristine purity. They readily acceded to the proscription of the Anabaptists; but with a liberality of sentiment, which they afterwards belied, they refused to join in proscribing the Sacramentarians, on the same principle which they had claimed for themselves, that no doctrines ought to be condemned until they had been heard and refuted. They concluded with professing their earnest desire to maintain tranquillity, and their acquiescence in the prosecution of those who were said to have violated the peace, before equitable judges.
“This protest was signed by John, elector of Saxony, George, margrave of Brandenburgh Anspach, Ernest and Francis, dukes of Brunswick Lunenberg, Philip, landgrave of Hesse Cassel, Wolfgang, prince of Anhalt, and fourteen imperial cities, who thus appealed to the emperor and to a future council. From this _protest_ the Lutherans acquired the name of Protestants, which has been since applied to all who separated from the church of Rome.
“Notwithstanding the remonstrance of the Protestants, the decree of the diet of Spire was but the prelude to still severer measures, which the emperor was determined to enforce by his presence, when relieved from the war in which he was then engaged. He had, therefore, no sooner concluded the treaty of Barcelona with the pope, and that of Cambray with Francis, than he quitted Spain with a resolution to restore the unity of the church. At Placentia, being met by a deputation with the protest of the Lutherans, he arrested the deputies, and arrogantly required its revocation. He continued his route to Bologna, where he was met on the 21st of February, 1520, by Clement VII., and received the crowns of Lombardy and of the empire with more than usual solemnity.
“During his stay at Bologna he was induced, by the advice of his chancellor Gattinara, to assume at least the appearance of more mildness and moderation than he had before displayed, and to fulfil his repeated promises of endeavouring to procure the convocation of a general council. With this view he held frequent and private conferences with Clement; but he was unable to overcome his repugnance, and was persuaded by the pontiff to resume his intention of employing force, if he failed in effecting the re-union of the church by mild and moderate measures. In consequence of this determination, he summoned a diet to meet at Augsburgh in April, in a circular letter, dated January 1, which breathes the spirit of conciliation and Christianity. ‘I have convened,’ he observed, ‘this assembly, to consider the difference of opinions on the subject of religion; and it is my intention to hear both parties with candour and charity, to examine their respective arguments, to correct and reform what requires to be corrected and reformed, that the truth being known, and harmony re-established, there may, in future, be only one pure and simple faith, and, as all are disciples of the same Jesus, all may form one and the same church.’