Diet of Worms and the budding reformation of the Church 1521

Diet of Worms and the Budding Reformation of the Church 1521

The Reformation was the religious development of the Renaissance that was heralded in not only by Martin Luther, but by others such as John Wycliffe, John Huss, and Savonarola (Koestlin pp). Luther's Reformation was a revolt against the power and abuses of the Roman Catholic Church and was directed against particular doctrines and practices, as well as the government of the Church (Koestlin pp). The aim of the Luther and the other reformers were to free themselves from the oppressive rule of the Roman Church and establish a purer faith (Koestlin pp). Prior to Luther, revolts against the church had been quickly suppressed, however his movement became too powerful to squelch, and when the Church did not respond quickly and fully to their demands, they left the Church and attacked it from without (Koestlin pp). The Church had long been an issue of discontent in Germany and through Luther these feelings found power and urgency (Koestlin pp). Historians note that the Reformation was not an era of happiness and peace, but rather was established by confusion and anarchy (Audin pp).

Born in 1483, Luther became an Augustinian monk and in 1507 was consecrated a priest, and the following year was made professor of philosophy at the University of Wittenberg (Koestlin pp). After visiting Rome in 1511, he was made doctor of theology, and by this time had gained the reputation of power and independence in his preaching (Koestlin pp). In what became the fundamental doctrines of Protestantism, Luther believed in the exclusive authority of the Bible, which meant the right of private judgement and the justification by faith (Koestlin pp).

Luther's first great protest was in response to the sale of indulgences by the Dominican monk John Tetzel (Koestlin pp). From early times, the church leaders had granted indulgences or remissions of penances imposed on individuals who were guilty of moral sins, the condition of being true penitence, however the Church began accepting money, not in lieu of penitence, but of the customary penances which usually accompanied it (Koestlin pp). Although Luther had warned against the abuse of indulgences, he had done so without blaming the administration of the Church, but in 1517 when Tetzel approached the borders of Saxony selling indulgences in the name of Pope Leo X, who wanted money for the building of St. Peter's Church in Rome, Luther and other like-minded Germans were greatly offended (Koestlin pp). Luther took the opportunity to make known to theologians and ecclesiastics his thoughts concerning indulgences, his own principles, opinions and doubts, as well as to instigate public discussion (Koestlin pp).

On October 31, 1517, the eve of All Saints' Day and the anniversary of the consecration of the church, Luther nailed tot he doors of the Castle Church at Wittenberg his ninety-five theses (Koestlin pp). He headed his propositions as follows:

Disputation to Explain the Virtue of Indulgences.

In charity, and in the endeavor to bring the truth to light, a disputation on the following propositions will be held at Wittenberg, presided over by the Reverend Father Martin Luther. Those who are unable to attend personally may discuss the question with us by letter. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen" (Koestlin pp).

The theses created a sensation which far surpassed Luther's expectations, and within fourteen days his propositions had run through the whole of Germany and took seed through the indignation that had long been felt by the people concerning the issues that Luther had attacked (Koestlin pp).

At first Pope Leo treated the matter rather lightly, however after three months he ordered the vicar-general of the Augustinians to "quiet down the man" (Koestlin pp).

The 15th century witnessed a quiet devotional strain of Christianity that was so completely different from the pomp and ceremony of Rome (History pp).

Known as "devotio moderna," the movement derives from the Brethren of the Common Life, which were a group of laymen and priests who devoted themselves to teaching and caring for the poor (History pp). A book written during the early 15th century, the "Imitation of Christ" became extremely influential among Christian devotion of this kind (History pp). It emphasized the personal approach to Christ, without hierarchy and ritual (History pp). Moreover, Erasmus is considered a part of the Reformation, although he avoided endorsing it (History pp). His attitude to the materialistic papacy was essentially that of the reformers, and his edition of the Greek New Testament was in keeping both with "devotio moderna" and the Reformation, and it is his Greek translation into Latin that Luther later translates into German (History pp).

Rather than launching a debate in Wittenberg, Luther's theses set of a European conflagration of unparalleled violence, leading to more than a century of violent intolerance and hatred that still exists in some Christian communities today (History pp). The sectarian dispute that began in Wittenberg in 1517 has never been matched in terms of destructive force and brutality (History pp).

Luther's writings are burned in Rome in 1520 and he is excommunicated from the Church the following year in 1521 (History pp).

Gutenberg's printing press certainly played a major part in this chain of events, because Luther's theses was able to sweep across the country in a matter of weeks, and within six years, by 1523, Europe's printers had produced 1,300 different editions of his tracts (History pp). Support for Luther became so strong among German knights that that Charles V was forced to hear his case at a diet held in 1521 in Worms (History pp). Luther is given safe conduct for his journey to and from the diet, and in a lengthy speech explains that he will recant his views only if they can be proven wrong by scripture or reason, otherwise he must remain true to his conscience and his own interpretation of God's word (History pp). It is said that Luther declared, "Hier stehe ich. Ich kann nicht anders," which means "Here I stand. I can not do otherwise" (History pp). Luther's appearance at the Imperial Diet has been described as "objective, clever and well thought out," and as he appeared the last time before the Emperor and told again to recant his writings and teachings, it is said he left the room, uttering, "I am finished" (Luther pp).

The emperor and the diet declared Luther as an outlaw in the Edict of Worms, and Luther leaves under guaranteed safety to return home (History pp). However, he was intercepted by men who belonged to Frederick the Wise, and taken to safety in one of Frederick's castles, the Wartburg, where is was given new clothes and a new identity, Squire George (History pp). At Warburg, Luther dresses like a minor nobleman, grows a beard, become fat and restless, and eventually plunges into a turmoil of mental activity (History pp).

When Luther finally returns to Wittenberg in 1522, he preaches a series of sermons in an effort to quiet the radical vanguard (History pp). Between 1524 and 1525, religious and social turmoil had combined into exactly the type of violence that Charles V and others had predicted at the Diet of Worms (History pp). In 1524, peasants rampaged through the Black Forest, and in 1525, there was a similar uprising in Thuringia (History pp). It is said that Luther's appeal to the secular arm and suppress the rebellion, may have thoroughly altered the character of the Reformation, for until then it had been established by preaching, however from the moment of that episode it required the civil authority to move it, thus the sword took the place of the Word (Audin pp). Luther turned against the peasants and in a pamphlet entitled "Against the Murdering, Thieving Hordes of Peasants" in 1525 condemned them for resorting to violence (Reformation pp).

Following the Edict of Worms and Luther's return to Wittenberg in 1522, the princes of German states and the councils of imperial cities engaged in serious arguments whether to accept the Edict's rejection of Luther's reforms (History pp). There was growing hostility to this external interference into German affairs from Rome and from the pope's ally, a Holy Roman emperor whose interests were beginning to be viewed as much Spanish as German, thus leading a large minority within the empire to a rebellious mood (History pp).

An imperial diet that was held in Speyer in 1526 modifies the ban on Luther's teachings that had been imposed five-year before in the Edict of Worms (History pp). Now each German prince made his own decision on the matter, with the responsibility to answer for it "to God and the emperor" (History pp).

Then three years later, another diet at Speyer took the opposite line, and the concession of 1526 is withdrawn, and the Edict of Worms reinstated (History pp). A dissenting minority, consisting of five princes and fourteen imperial cities, published a 'Protestation' against the decision, and as a result they became known as the Protestants (History pp).