22

instead of one. I can never sufficiently wonder at the violent spirit he has displayed in his writings, by which he has certainly brought immense odium on all the friends of polite literature. Many indeed of his doctrines and exhortations are excellent, and I wish he had not vitiated the good in his writings by intolerable faults. If, however, he had always written in the most reverent spirit, still, I had no inclination to risk my life for the truth. It is not everybody who has strength for martyrdom, and I am afraid that if any outbreak should take place I should imitate St. Peter. When the Popes and the Emperors decree I think what is right, I obey, which is the course of true piety; but when they command what is wrong, I submit, and that is the safe course. also that good men are justified in acting thus if there is no hope of success. They are again trying to fix on me the authorship of the book on Julius, so determined are they to leave nothing untried to injure both myself and the cause of letters, which they cannot bear to see prospering.

January 20, 1524.

In the admonition given below the attitude of the Catholic prelacy towards the Lutheran movement is clearly shown. The student will note that every species of disorder which the bishop had observed was unconditionally ascribed to Luther.

From the Latin. Le Plat: Monumentorum ad Historiam Concilii Tridentini amplissima Collectio. Tom. II., pp., 214-7.

To the honorable lord Archpresbyter of Braunsberg and all other priests, both regular and secular, parish priests, vicars, preachers of God's word, clerks and the learned in general of this diocese, salutation and true grace in our Lord :

We had certainly believed that its very recklessness would ere this have hurried to its own destruction the Lutheran faction, which not a few Christians in their blindness are hastening to join. And this we still believe will take place as soon as it shall please God in his mercy to turn from us the scourge of his wrath.' His anger will not last forever, nor will he forget to pity, whose mercy extends to all his creatures. Nor will he allow his church like a storm beaten vessel to be cast about

1 It is apparent from a later paragraph in this letter, here omitted, that the bishop regarded the heresy as a visitation of God upon the sins of his people.

by the raging waves of this tempest of heresy, for he has founded it upon the firm rock, and vouchsafed that it should be consecrated with the blood of many martyrs.

In what way could this pestiferous defilement be lasting, which brings upon the Church, the undefiled bride of Christ, such a mass of horrible abominations. Since those who are enthusiastic adherents of this sect, wounding the pious hearts of simple Christians by their deadly declamations, execrate with unheard-of animosity the most holy sacrifice of the mass, as if it were the blackest abomination, and, rejecting it in their heart, they revile it in shameful terms, which could not be repeated without a blush. They reject the sacraments of the Church to follow their own lusts. They proclaim the duty of reproduction according to the old law, in such unmeasured terms that they would seem plainly to condemn the purity of virginity. For this reason they command the cloisters of monks and nuns to be thrown open, that everyone may be free, in violation of the vows and chastity, to go forth and marry at will. They would, moreover, in their rashness, allow priests to marry as well.

They preach with impious words that the crucifixes of our Lord Jesus Christ and the figures of the saints should be thrown down and burned, and especially those of the glorified mother, the Virgin Mary, and forbid as sacrilegious the venerable hymns and songs of praise addressed to her. They declare the Pope, bishops, priests, monks and nuns dedicated to God, as well as the whole body of the clergy, hateful to the laity, and reject the whole ecclesiastical system; they heap ignominies upon it, and accuse it of the most enormous crimes. Moreover with foul months they attack kings and princes, and whoever is in authority, those whom the apostle bade us obey even if they were not righteous. They claim, indeed, to oppose abuses, which are obviously enough to be found every where in this world, and would cut off superfluous ceremonies and bring everything back to a state in accordance with apostolic tradition; they claim to inculcate real respect for the Christian religion and reintroduce original customs. Especially, having thrown aside human institutions, they emphasize only evangelical teaching, rejecting the salutary provisions of the law and the canons. They regard anything as permissible to them, on the pretext of christian liberty, and petulantly throw aside temporal and spiritual jurisdiction and censures alike. They hold satisfaction for sins, purgatory, confession, penance (pænitentia), fasts, canonical hours and other pious devotions, the intercession of the saints, the intercession for souls, and indulgences, to be mere

inventions of man, and hold them in scorn as idle catch-pennies. However, in their mad longing for novelties, they either push the original customs of the church too far or change them in accordance with their evil desires. All order being thus done away with, they refuse obedience to those in authority, promote schism, excite tumults and, confusing heaven and earth, produce universal anarchy.

To describe the object of these monsters of depravity in a word, they strive to introduce whatever in the way of error has hitherto been condemned singly, in one great filthy mass of shame [in hanc spurcam omnium flagitiorum sentinam congestam]. And yet these things, enormous and impious as they are, and which must seem execrable to every right-minded Christian, still have their pertinacious advocates, not only laymen, but, as we must confess with great heaviness of heart, priests as well, both regular and secular, who, forgetful of their position and vows, embrace these novelties as ardently as if they were dictated by the Holy Spirit. They persuade the people, moreover, who are always credulous and ready for change, and drag them in a pitiable fashion towards the abyss of damnation. The people are in this way led precipitately to accept Luther's teachings, so that anything they understand to be from Luther they straightway regard as gospel truth, and look upon anything not from Luther as necessarily opposed to the * * * * gospel. * * We, therefore, command you strictly that, first, you should in your own prayers and through those of your flock supplicate God to remove the cause of the aforesaid evils. * * ** Secondly, that you diligently exhort this same people, committed to your care, priests and clerks, as well as both sexes of the laity, and lead them by salutary admonition and the word of truth (not by the violence of recrimination) that they should not hereafter venture in any way publicly or privately to support, teach, argue or dis cuss the above-mentioned Lutheran teaching, nor shall you yourselves dare to do this, or permit it to be done in any church, dwelling, assembly or elsewhere. But prevent this so far as possible, and observe and cause to be observed the venerable rites of the church, taught by the apostles of Christ and the holy fathers and prompted by the holy spirit, which have now for many centuries been recognized by the religious consensus of the whole Christian world. Nor shall you presume to violate or change in any way any rule instituted by the Church, or, so far as in you lies to prevent, allow others to do so.1

* *

'The letter closes with a malediction upon all who shall refuse to obey the instructions.

ப

THE TWELVE ARTICLES OF THE PEASANTS.

The great peasant war affords a serious commentary upon the general social and economic conditions in Germany at the opening of the Reformation. The abuses were, however, of long standing, and several local revolts had taken place before 1525. Even the religious element so prominent in "the 12 articles" was not new, and can easily be traced back to a period antedating the publication of Luther's Theses. The religious crisis bore, therefore, somewhat the same relation to the terrible outbreak of the slowly developed discontent that the financial crisis in France (the immediate reason for assembling the States General in 1789) bore to the great democratic movement of reform which constituted the essence of the French Revolution.

The articles given below are the sober manifesto of the conservative party, and closely resemble the local cahiers of the third estate which were drawn up in France in 1789. Much more radical schemes than "the 12 articles" were, however, drafted, providing for a complete revision of the constitution of the German Empire. These latter did not confine themselves to the complaints of the discontented peasants but included those of other classes as well.1

In the translation the editors have availed themselves so far as possible of the partial translation of the articles given in Gieseler's Ecclesiastical History, vol. v, PP. 347 ff. (of the Edinburgh edition).

From the German of the period, in Oechsle : Beiträge zur Geschichte des Bauernkrieges (Heilbronn, 1830) pp. 246 ff.

The fundamental and correct chief articles of all the peasants and of those subject to ecclesiastical lords, relating to those matters in which they feel themselves aggrieved.

M cccc. quadratum, 1x et duplicatum

V cum transibit, christiana secta peribit.

Ein M, vier c, zweil darbey.

Und ein x das zwifach sey.

Bald man ein v dartzu ist schreyben

Werden nit souil secten des christen bleyben.

Peace to the Christian Reader and the Grace of God through Christ.

There are many evil writings put forth of late which take occasion, on account of the assembling of the peasants, to cast scorn upon the Gospel, saying: Is this the fruit of the new teaching, that no one should obey but all should everywhere rise in revolt, and rush together to reform, or perhaps destroy entirely, the authorities, both ecclesiastical

1 For a very interesting example see Oechsle, pp. 163 ff and 283 ff. 'The version printed in Bensen's Geschichte des Bauernkrieges in Ostfranken, (1840) pp. 514 ff. adds: “and lay lords." The same version omits the characteristic but untranslatable rhymes.

and lay? The articles below shall answer these godless and criminal fault-finders, and serve in the first place to remove the reproach from the word of God and, in the second place, to give a Christian excuse for the disobedience or even the revolt of the entire Peasantry. In the first place the Gospel is not the cause of revolt and disorder, since it is the message of Christ, the promised Messiah, the Word of Life, teaching only love, peace, patience and concord. Thus, all who believe in Christ should learn to be loving, peaceful, long-suffering and harmonious. This is the foundation of all the articles of the peasants (as will be seen) who accept the gospel and live according to it. How then can the evil reports declare the Gospel to be a cause of revolt and disobedience? That the authors of the evil reports and the enemies of the Gospel oppose themselves to these demands is due not to the Gospel but to the Devil, the worst enemy of the Gospel, who causes this opposition by raising doubts in the minds of his followers; and thus the word of God, which teaches love, peace and concord, is overcome. In the second place, it is clear that the peasants demand that this Gospel be taught them as a guide in life, and they ought not to be called disobedient or disorderly. Whether God grant the peasants (earnestly wishing to live according to his word) their requests or no, who shall find fault with the will of the Most High? Who shall meddle in his judgments or oppose his majesty? Did he not hear the children of Israel

when they called upon him and save them out of the hands of Pharaoh? Can he not save his own to-day? Yea, he will save them and that speedily. Therefore, Christian reader, read the following articles with care and then judge. Here follow the articles :

The First Article,-First, it is our humble petition and desire, as also our will and resolution, that in the future we should have, power and authority so that each community should choose and appoint a pastor, and that we should have the right to depose him should he conduct himself improperly. The pastor thus chosen should teach us the Gospel pure and simple, without any addition, doctrine or ordinance of man. For to teach us continually the true faith will lead us to pray God that through his grace this faith may increase within us and become a part of us. For if his grace work not within us we remain flesh and blood, which availeth nothing; since the Scripture clearly teaches that only through true faith can we come to God. Only through his mercy can we become holy. Hence such a guide and pastor is necessary, and in this fashion grounded upon the Scriptures.