Historical Defense of the Reformation, Part 2 · Chapter 2
CHAP. II.
A Confirmation of the ſame thing, from the Hiſtory of that which paſſed in the Firſt Quarrels of Luther, with the Court of Rome, concerning Indulgences.
BUt we ought to add ſomething to all that we have ſaid, that if ſo many publick Proofs will not be ſufficient to make that Concluſion, That there could not be any Reformation hoped for on the part of Rome and its Prelats; they may further ſee, if they will, ſomething more particular. Let us Examine after what manner they received the firſt complaints that Luther made againſt the Preachers of Indulgences, and the Queſtors that Leo the Tenth had ſent throughout the whole extent of his Empire, and eſpecially into Germany, there to ſell publickly the Pardon of ſins, under a pretence of the building of the Church of Saint Peter at Rome; but in effect, to have by that means, wherewithal to Enrich his Kindred, and ſatisfy his own profuſeneſs. The Hiſtory of that, which is as a Preamble to that of the Reformation of our Fathers, muſt needs give us a great deal of light to judge rightly of their Conduct, and to decide the Juſtice or the Injuſtice of their Actions. See then well near how that buſineſs was managed. Beſides the manifeſt abuſe that there was in the uſing, and in the very Doctrine it ſelf of Indulgences, the Queſtors were conſtrained to ſet before the people every day divers Novelties upon that ſubject, to enhance their price and value before them, and they lived further and guided themſelves in that affair after a very filthy and diſhoneſt manner. Luther who was then Profeſſour of Divinity in the Univerſity of Witenberg, thought himſelf bound by the duty of his Charge, and his Conſcience, to oppoſe himſelf to a Traffick ſo Miſchievous, and ſo deſtructive of true Piety. To effect that, he propoſed ſome Theſes for the clearing of that matter, and wrote them to the Arch-Biſhop of Mayence, who was alſo Biſhop of Magdeburg, beſeeching him to make uſe of his Authority to put a ſtop to thoſe exceſſes, and repreſenting to him, that it was the Duty of Biſhops throughly to inſtruct the people in the Doctrine of the Goſpel, and not to ſuffer their credulity to be ſo abuſed. He wrote alſo almoſt to the ſame ſence, to the Biſhop of Brandenburg, under whoſe Dioceſs he was, and ſent him thoſe Theſes which he had framed on that Subject; with a more large Explication of them, which he added to them. He wrote the ſame to Pope Leo, he ſent him his Writings, he complained to him of the Follies that his Queſtors taught, and of the havock that they made, repoſing themſelves upon him, and abuſing his Authority; he cleared himſelf before him of the falſe imputations of his Adverſaries, and was ſo far from having any ways violated that reſpect which as yet he believed due to his Dignity and to his See, that he ſtooped even to exceſſive ſubmiſſions, which his Adverſaries did not fail to make uſe of in the end.
Hitherto the moſt rigid Cenſurers cannot find any thing blameable in the Conduct of Luther. For I pray tell me what could any one have done better? He beheld a ſort of men that diſhonoured Religion, that made a mockery of the Devotion or rather of the ſuperſtition of the People, who were a ſcandal to the whole Church, who promoted falſe and deſtructive Maxims. He oppoſed himſelf to them, but of the duty of his place, he made his Complaints to thoſe, to whom ordinarily it belonged to repreſs thoſe exceſſes, he went even to the Pope himſelf, he acquainted him with the Miſchief that his Queſtors wrought. He begg'd of him to give Order about them, he uſed all the Terms of reſpect that the Pope could deſire. What can any find to blame in all that? They will ſay, it may be, that his Complaints againſt the Preachers of Indulgences were falſe, and ill-grounded. To clear this matter, we need but to ſee what his moſt fiery Enemies wrote. Miltitus, the Apostolick Nuntio, ſays Ulembert, Raynald. ad ann. 1918.one of the moſt fiery Enemies of Luther, had ſufficiently acknowledged, that the Queſtors and Preachers of Indulgences, who had first given occaſion to Luther to oppoſe himſelf, were not altogether blameleſs. That therefore he had earneſtly reproved Tetzel (who was the Chief of the Queſtors) that he had not hindred thoſe abuſes that were intolerable to all honeſt men, and that grounding himſelf on the Authority of the Pope, he had done divers things of his own head, which could neither be approved of, nor defended; So that he had brought diſhonour on the Holy See, and given ground for a moſt dangerous complaint, whereof he muſt one day give an account to the Pope. Florimund of Raymund acknowledged the ſame, that thoſe Queſtors committed moſt enormous Crimes, in Publiſhing their Raynald. ubi ſupra.Indulgences, and taking care for nothing elſe but to extort Money from the People. Belcair Biſhop of Mets, ſaid, That the Impudence Idem. ibid.of the Popes Miniſters was ſo great, that they made amongſt themſelves a publick Merchandiſe of Indulgences, ſometimes debauching themſelves in the Taverns, they played them away, and at Dice, and other Games, eſpecially in Germany; and it was the common talk That the Pope had given away all the Money that ſhould be collected in ſome Countries of Germany to his ſiſter Magdalen. Guicchiardin goes ſo far as to blame the Pope himſelf, in that following the Counſel of Cardinal Peccius he had publiſhed the largeſt Indulgences, without any diſtinction of Places or Time, not only for the living, but to Idem. ibid.draw Souls out of Purgatory alſo by means of his ſuffrage. That it was manifeſt, that he did that to extort Money from the People, and that thoſe who were employed to do it had bargained for the place, of the Court of Rome, by Reaſon of which the thing came to be turned into a publick Scandal, chiefly in Germany, where the greater part of thoſe Miniſters, ſold them at a cheap rate, or gamed away the power of delivering Souls out of Purgatory. He adds, That which rendred this Affair yet more odious, was the Donation that Leo had made, of a ſum of the Money that ſhould be raiſed by thoſe Indulgences to his ſiſter Magdalen, and the Commiſſion that was given for that to a certain Biſhop Archimbald, a man unworthy of ſuch an Employment, and who behaved himſelf with an extream Covetouſneſs and Rigour. Behold then two things indiſputable, as it ſeems to me; the one, That Luther had right at the Bottom, and that the buſineſs which gave him occaſion to ſpeak and write [againſt it] was filthy and ſcandalous in all reſpects; and the other is, That he guided himſelf after a moſt prudent and reſpectful manner, and that had nothing in it of any diſorder.
Let us ſee now, after what manner he was Treated. The firſt See Sleidan, and the Hiſtory of the Council of Trent.thing that fell out was, that neither the Pope, nor the Arch-Biſhop of Mayence, nor the Biſhop of Brandenburg vouchaſed to take any care to put a ſtop to thoſe abuſes that were committed. They know that afterwards the Arch-Biſhop of Mayence was himſelf concerned in a part of thoſe Indulgences, and that he got considerable ſums by them. The ſecond thing was, That Luther inſtantly raiſed againſt himſelf not only that whole ſwarm of Preachers and Queſtors, but the whole Empire of the Pope, that is to ſay, all the Creatures of the Court of Rome ſpread abroad throughout Europe, who ſtirred up all their Endeavours to ruin him, raiſing againſt him the Princes and the People by many falſe imputations. Ecc us Doctor of Divinity, Silveſter Prierias, Maſter of the Sacred Palace at Rome, and James Hockstraten Inquiſitor, wrote againſt him, the laſt of whom exhorted the Pope to make uſe of fire and Sword, for the Convincing of that Heretick. Luther defended himſelf againſt this ſort of men, by Publick Anſwers, See thoſe pieces in the firſt Tome of Luthers Works.wherein he laid open their Abſurdities, and their falſe and ſcandalous Aſſertions which they had propoſed: but he did yet always contain himſelf within the bounds of a great Reſpect for the Pope, and for the Church of Rome, holding, nevertheleſs, that they were not infallible, and that the Authority of a Council lawfully aſſembled was above that of the Pope; in which he ſaid nothing, that the Faculty of Paris, and Gallican Church, does not ſay likewiſe. It appeared that it was their laſt intereſt that urged them to irritate Leo againſt him, and all his Court. Who, elſe, were not well contented with that which he had undertaken to put a ſtop to, or at leaſt, to trouble the courſe of their exactions. Howſoever it was, when they ſet themſelves to find out a way to repreſs thoſe manifeſt Exceſſes of the Miniſters of See Sleidan the Hiſtory of the Council of Trent, by Father Paul, the firſt Tom, of the Works of Luther and Raynald.Indulgences, and thoſe who defended them Luther was cited by the Pope, to appear in perſon at Rome to give an account of his writings, and his Conduct in that buſineſs, before the Judges that Leo had aſſigned to him, who were Jerome Biſhop of Aſcoli; Auditor of the Chamber, and Silveſter Prierias Maſter of the ſacred Palace. Leo wrote, at the ſame time, to Cajetan his Legat in Germany, a Letter full of Fire and Choler, againſt Luther, whom he treated as an Heretick and Seditious perſon, and gave him order to cauſe him to be ſeized as an Heretick, and conducted ſafely to Rome, commanding all Dukes, Marquiſes, Earls, Barons, and all Univerſities, Communities, and Powers, under pain of Excommunication, with a reſerve of the Emperour only, to uſe all their force to ſeize Luther, and to give him up into the hands of his Legat. He wrote alſo to the ſame purpoſe to Frederick the Elector of Saxony. Luther ſeeing ſo violent a proceeding againſt him, propoſed the Reaſons that hindred him from obeying that Citation, which were taken from the infirmity of his health, which would not permit him to expoſe himſelf to the weariſome toils of that Journey; from his povery, to which did not afford him wherewithal to do it; from the Tye that he had at the Univerſity of Wittenburg, from whence it was not in his power to depart without the conſent of his Prince; but more eſpecially from that evident oppreſſion which he ſuffered, in that he had the ſame perſon ordered to he his Judge, to wit, Sylveſter Prierias, who was, not only of the ſame Order with the Preachers of Indulgences, but the ſame perſon, who had immediately before wrote a Dialogue againſt him; ſo that it was viſibly to give him up into the hands of his Adverſaries, and the Parties themſelves. The Univerſity of Wittenberg wrote to Rome in his Favour, and the Prince Frederick of Saxony, having moſt earneſtly applyed himſelf to the Legat, obtained, in the end, with a great deal of difficulty, that the cauſe ſhould be tryed in Germany, and that for that buſineſs, Luther ſhould come and appear before the Legat at Auſpurg.
Although Luther could not be further ignorant, what Spirit the Court of Rome, and all its Miniſters were animated with, as to himſelf, yet he did not fail notwithſtanding to appear before Cajetan; but it was after his friends had obtained a ſafe Conduct for him from the Emperour Maximilian. Cajetan was vext with ſuch a prevention, that broke all his meaſures, nevertheleſs he received Luther honeſtly enough, and propounded at firſt to him on the part of the Pope, To Recant, and to promiſe for the future, that he would not fall back again into his Errors, nor any more diſturb the Church. Luther anſwered, That his Conſcience did not accuſe him of any Error, that he entreated him to tell him in what he had Erred, and that he was ready either to juſtify himſelf, or yield himſelf to be inſtructed. Cajetan then objected to him, as two great and fundamental Errors, That he had wrote, That the Merits of Jeſus Chriſt did not belong to the Treaſure of Indulgences, againſt the Extravagance of Clement the Sixth, and that Faith, that is to ſay, a firm belief of ones Juſtification, was neceſſary to thoſe who came to the Sacrament, and thoſe who ſhould appear before the Judgment of God; for on the contrary, ſaid he, it is uncertain whether thoſe who draw near to God ſhall obtain his grace or not: Luther defended his Propoſitions, and the diſcourſe falling upon the Soveraign Authority of the Pope, whom Cajetan affirmed to be above a Council, above the Scripture, and above all that was in the Church; Luther formally denyed it to him, and maintained, on the contrary, that the Pope was beneath the Scripture and a Council. The next morning Luther preſented to him a juſtification of his Propoſitions in Writing, in which he inſerted a great many words full of reſpect to the Pope, to the Church of Rome, and to the Legat himſelf in particular. But Cajetan, without being willing to hear him ſpeak of his juſtification, ſhut up all with this, That it was his pleaſure that he ſhould revoke his Errors, under pain of incurring the Cenſures, with which he had received Orders to puniſh him; adding, That if he would not recant, he had nothing to do but to withdraw himſelf, and to come no more before him.
Luther withdrew from the Legats Houſe, and having been advertiſed ſome days after, that they endeavoured to impriſon him, notwithſtanding the ſafe Conduct of the Emperour, he withdrew himſelf from Auſpurg, not being ignorant of what had befell John Hus and Jerome of Prague in the Council of Conſtance. Before his departure he wrote to Cajetan, two very ſubmiſſive Luther Tome. 1.Letters, in one of which he acknowledged that he had not in treating of that buſineſs of the Indulgences, preſerved all that reſpect which he ought to have had for the name of the Pope, and that howſoever he had been urged by the carriage of his Adverſaries, he confeſt, that nevertheleſs he ought to have handled that matter with more modeſty, humility, and reſpect; that if he had any ways diſpleaſed him, he beg'd his pardon, offering to publiſh it himſelf, and to uſe civiller Terms for the Future. He offered likewiſe not to ſpeak any more from thence forward of Indulgences, provided he impoſed ſilence on the Queſtors alſo, or obliged them to obſerve the ſame meaſures in their diſcourſes. And as to the Recantation which they required of him, he proteſted that he had done it in good earneſt, if his Conſcience had allowed him to have done it, but that there was no command, nor Counſel, nor Conſideration of any perſon in the World, that could make him ſay, or do any thing againſt his Conſcience. In the ſecond Letter obſerving all along the ſame ſubmiſſive and reſpectful Stile, he declared to him, That he had withdrawn himſelf from Auſpurg, and beg'd that he would not think the worſe of him, if he appealed from him to the Pope, and at the ſame Time he ſent him his Act of Appeal. That Appeal was founded. 1. Upon this, That he had not determined any thing upon the point of Indulgences, but that he had only propoſed ſome Theſes to be diſputed on according to the Cuſtom of the Schools. 2. That the Opinions of the Doctors, as well Canoniſts as Divines, being very different, and there being nothing defined for certain in the Church upon that ſubject, he had had right to chuſe one ſide to chuſe one ſide to maintain in the diſpute, much more when he was urg'd to it by the indiſcretion of the Queſtors, who under a pretence of thoſe Indulgences had diſhonoured the Church of Rome, and the power of the Keys, by their deteſtable covetouſneſs, and ſcandalous Conduct, ſeducing the People unto new opinions and ſelling Juſtifying Grace for Money. 3. That he had not only ſubmitted his Diſputation to the Judgment of the Church, but even to the Judgment of every man more Learned then himſelf, and in particular to Pope Leo. From whence he concludes that he had had no juſt Cauſe to Cite him. That nevertheleſs he had offered to his Legat to refer himſelf to the judgment of the Church of Rome, and of the Univerſities of Baſil, of Friburg, of Lovain, and of Paris; which his Legat would not accept. That he would not let him ſee wherein his Error lay; but that he had only preſſed him meerly to recant, threatning him if he did not, or if he did not go to Rome, he would Excommunicate him and all who adhered to him; howſoever that he had always proteſted, that he had not any opinion but what was founded on the Scripture, on the Fathers, and the Canons. That therefore finding himſelf oppreſſed by that whole proceeding, he appeal'd from the Legat, and from all that the Pope, through ill Information, had done againſt him, to the Pope himſelf better Informed. Notwithſtanding, he withdrew himſelf from Auſpurg, and by his retreat, rendred vain and ineffectual all the Conſpiracies they had contrived againſt his perſon, to make him a Priſoner.
Cajetan having failed of his intent, Wrote to Frederick Duke of Saxony, againſt Luther, accuſing him as guilty of a heinous Crime, in that he would not Recant; and further exhorted and required that Prince, either to ſend him to Rome, or to drive him out of his Territories. Luther very ſolidly juſtified himſelf before his Prince, and made him ſee the oppreſſion, and moſt evident Tyranny that they uſed againſt him. And becauſe that the Cardinal had formally declared in his Letter to Frederick, that ſo weighty and Peſtilentious an affair could not remain a long Time in that Condition, and that the Cauſe ſhould be carried on at Rome. That menace obliged Luther to make an Act of Appeal from the Pope, and from all his proceedings againſt him, to a Council lawfully called. At the ſame Time almoſt, Leo ſent a Bull into Germany confirming his Indulgences, and the Doctrine upon which they were grounded. That Doctrine was, That by the Power of the Keys given to Saint Peter, and to his Succeſſors, The Biſhop of Rome had a right to pardon to the Faithful all the guilt and puniſhments of their Actual Sins, to wit, the guilt, by means of the Sacrament of Penance, and the temporal Puniſhment by means of Indulgences, whether in this Life, or in Purgatory, and that by thoſe Indulgences he could apply to the Living and the Dead, the ſuperabundance of the merits of Jeſus Chriſt, and the Saints, either by way of Abſolution, or by way of Suffrage, ſo that the Living and the Dead participating of thoſe Indulgences, were delivered from the Puniſhment that the Divine Juſtice would inſlict on them for their actual ſins. He commanded therein all under pain of Excommunication, from which they could not be abſolved till the point of Death to believe it alſo: and to the end no perſon might alledge ignorance, he gave Order to all Arch-Biſhops, and Biſhops, by vertue of their Holy Obedience, to cauſe his Bull to be publiſhed in all their Churches, giving nevertheleſs power to his Legat to proceed againſt the diſobedient, and to puniſh them as he ſhould think fit.
Behold here the true Hiſtory of the firſt Quarrel of Rome with Luther! Let them judge now, whether our Fathers, under whoſe eyes all that buſineſs paſt, could any more hope for a Reformation either from the Popes hand or his Prelats. Inſtead of making a Holy and Chriſtian Reflexion, upon the juſt complaints of this man, how mean and contemptible ſoever he might appear to them, they thought of nothing but keeping up that evil, which they did, then in publiſhing their Indulgences, which they knew had not any Foundation, either in the Word of God, or in the Practiſe of the Primitive Church. They thought of nothing but how to protect them, and indirectly to forbid thoſe ſcandalous and wicked exceſſes of their Miniſters, inſtead of correcting them ſeverely and repreſſing them. They thought of nothing but their own Intereſt, and not to let ſlip any occaſion that might be offered to heap up money, without having any regard either of the Honour of the Chriſtian Religion, or of the Salvation of Souls. They thought of nothing but how to ſettle more and more the Soveraign and Monarchical Power of the Pope of Rome, where they ſhould have wholly applied themſelves to make Jeſus Chriſt Reign in the hearts of men. They thought of nothing elſe but putting a ſtop to the happy breakings out of thoſe firſt bright Beams of the Truth which came out of Luthers Mouth and Pen; where they ſhould have received them, and made uſe of them to obtain from God a further and greater Light. They made it a Fundamental matter, to get Luther to recant; and not being able to compaſs that, they thought of nothing but how to ruin him by all the ways they could uſe. They raiſed a ſtrife and proceſs about a matter of Faith, of Religion, and of Conſcience, and a proceſs that was unjuſt, and that could not be defended in the very Form of it. For what kind of proceeding was that, openly to cite a man to appear at Rome, who had done nothing but only propoſed ſome Theſes to diſpute of, on a matter upon which there had not yet been any thing defined? What manner of proceeding was it, to give him a party himſelf to be his Judge, and to declare him a Heretick before ever he had heard him, as the Pope did in his Letter to Cajetan, to ſtir up Kings, Princes, and the People againſt him, and to ſhew it was his mind to begin to Treat of ſo weighty a matter with his Impriſonment, without any regard had, either of the Proteſtations which he made, or of the Reaſons he alledged, or of his reſpectful Submiſſions towards the Pope and his Legat? Who may not ſee in all that, an inflexible Reſolution always to retain the Latin Church in that deplorable condition wherein it was found to be then, and even to make its Yoak heavier, if it had been poſſible? So far were they from having any deſign to Reform it, and to free it from thoſe Enemies and Superſtitions under which it groaned.
I am not ignorant, that ſome way to excuſe ſo violent a proceeding, one has ſaid, That almoſt at the ſame time wherein Luther Raynald. ad Ann. 1518.had wrote his firſt Letter to Pope Leo, full of reſpect and ſubmiſſion, he had cauſed to be Printed two little Books againſt the Epitome of Sylveſter Prieras, wherein he ſpake of Rome and its Biſhops in terms extreamly injurious, that which, ſays one, evidently diſcovered a wicked and deceitful Spirit, that ſhould ſend forth nut of the ſame mouth ſweet and bitter. But all that is nothing elſe but a diſcourſe of a certain Ʋlemburg, full of falſhood and calumnies, a ſworn Enemy of Luther and his Doctrine. For it is manifeſt that the firſt Letter of Luther to Pope Leo, which is that that is treated of, was wrote in the beginning of the Year 1518. when he had not as yet any other diſpute then with the Queſtors and Preachers of Indulgences, and that thoſe little Books that Ʋlemburg ſpeaks of, which ſerved for an anſwer to that Epitome of Sylveſter, were not wrote till the Year 1520. after the See both his Letter, and his Writings in the 1 Tome of the Works of Luther.Pope and his whole Court had openly declared themſelves againſt Luther, after Luther had appealed from the Pope to a Council, and after the Pope had made his Doctrine to be condemned as Heretical by the Divines of Lovain and Cologn; which evidently appears from that very Epitome of Sylveſter, which makes mention of that Appeal of Luther to a Council, and from the Marginal Notes that Luther made upon that, which alſo make mention of thoſe deciſions of Lovain and Cologn. It is then a falſe report of an Enemy of Luther, who not being able to find any thing till then blameable in his Conduct, has on purpoſe confounded thoſe times to render him odious, and to juſtify, after ſome manner, a proceeding that cannot be defended. They know not how to deny, that the violence which they uſed againſt him, was not openly condemned, not only by the common people, but by the more wiſe and knowing Perſons themſelves. He complained, ſays Coclaeus, that is to ſay, one of his moſt fiery Enemies, that he was unjuſtly oppreſſed by his adverſaries, whom he openly produced, and gained to himſelf in a little time the favours not only of the ſimple people, who eaſily believed him, and who liſtned after all ſorts of Novelties; but that alſo of divers grave and learned men, who giving credit to his words, through an ingenuous ſimplicity, thought that that Monk had no other end, than defending the Truth againſt the Queſtors of Indulgences, who as Luther accuſed them, appeared to have a greater zeal for the drawing of Money to themſelves, then for procuring, the good of Souls. He adds, That the Learned men, Poets and Orators, defended him, and charged the Pretats and the Divines with Covetouſneſs, Pride, Envy, Barbarouſneſs, and Ignorance; ſaying that they only perſecured Luther for his Learning, becauſe he appeared to be more Learned than themſelves, and more free in ſpeaking the Truth againſt the cheats and impoſtures of Hypocrites.
Some time after that Luther had appealed from the Pope to a Council, the Emperour Maximilian dyed, which obliged Leo to ſend Charles Miltit into Germany in the Quality of his Nuntio. He preſented a golden Roſe to the Elector of Saxony, which the Pope had ſent him as a Token of his particular Friendſhip, but that Preſent was accompanied with Letters which were ſent both to the Prince and his Council, in which the Pope all along requeſted them, that they would give up Luther into his hands as an Heretick, and a Child of the Devil. Luther has wrote in ſome part of his works, that Miliet was loaden with ſixty ſix Apoſtolick Breves, to cauſe Preface to Tome. 1.them to be ſtuck up from place to place, and by that means to conduct him more ſecurely to Rome, in caſe that Prince Frederick ſhould give him up into his hands. But all thoſe Breves, and all thoſe Letters were to no purpoſe; for that Prince would not leave Luther to ſo unjuſt a Paſſion.
This oblig'd Miltit to betake himſelf to other meaſures: He thought that to make up that buſineſs, he ought to take a courſe contrary to that of Violence and Authority. He would then have ſome private conferences with Luther to reconcile him to the Pope, he highly blamed the lewd converſations of the Sellers of Indulgences, and perſwaded Luther to write yet once more to the Pope with reſpect and ſubmiſſion, and yet notwithſtanding it was Ses Sleidan and Reynaldus.agreed that he ſhould impoſe ſilence on both Parties, and that the whole buſineſs ſhould be committed unto ſome Biſhop of Germany, as to him of Treves, or to him of Saltzburg. Luther performed on his part in good earneſt all that was agreed on; he Luther. Tom. 1.wrote to Leo with all the reſpect imaginable, and let him ſee that the Queſtors, and thoſe who had till that time upheld them, had diſhonoured his See and his Church; that as to himſelf, he found himſelf very unhappy to ſee that their Calumnies ſhould have prevailed over his Innocence, and he further offered to give over that matter of Indulgences, and wholly to be ſilent in it, provided that his Adverſaries ſhould do the like. But whether it was that all that Negotiation of Miltit was but feigned on his part, or that in effect his counſel was not approved by thoſe of his Party, as Luther himſelf inſinautes, it is certain that from the time that that Letter had been drawn from him, George Duke of Saxony, a Prince that ſtuck very cloſe to the Intereſts of the Pope, deſired that he would make a publick Diſputation at Leipſic upon the matters in controverſy; the diſpute was managed, the beginning between Eccius and Caroloſtad concerning Free-will and Grace, but they drew in Luther himſelf upon the ſubject of Indulgences, of Purgatory, and the Power of the Pope. And they procured almoſt at the ſame time from the Univerſities of Cologn and Lovain, a condemnation of divers Articles drawn out of his Books. He defended himſelf againſt theſe new Adverſaries, and made the World Luther. Tom. 2.ſee by his publick writings the truth of his Doctrine, and the injuſtice of thoſe Condemnations.
But within a little after, Pope Leo being unwilling to try any thing further, publiſhed his terrible Bull of Excommunication Extat apud Luther tom. 2. & apud Raynald ad an. 1520.againſt him, which they call the Bull Exurge; There, after having earneſtly importuned Jeſus Chriſt, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, with all the Saints in Paradiſe, to come to the ſuccour of the Church of Rome, he ſets down in particular one and forty Articles of Luthers Doctrine, which he declared to be reſpectively peſtilent, deſtructive, ſcandalous, falſe, heretical, offending pious Ears, ſeducing Souls, and contrary to the Catholick Truth, and to the Charity, to the reſpect and obedience that was owing to the Church of Rome, which is the Mother of all the Faithful, and the Miſtriſs of the Faith; and as ſuch ſeverally, he condemned them, diſproved them, rejected them, and declared that they ought to be rejected by Chriſtians of both Sexes. He forbad all Biſhops, Patriarchs, Metropolitans, and generally all Church-men, and Kings, the Emperour, the Electors, Princes, Dukes, Marqueſſes, Earls, Barons, Captains, &c. and in a word, all ſorts of men, to hold thoſe Articles, or to favour them in any manner what ſoever, under the penalty of Excommunication, and being deprived of their Lands and of their Goods, and treated as infamous Hereticks, favourers of Hereticks, and guilty of High Treaſon. And as to Luther, he complained of him, that he would not come to Rome, where he would have let him have ſeen that he had not done ſo much evil as he believed, and he agravated it as a great raſhneſs in him to have appealed to a Council, againſt the Conſtitutions of Pius the Second, and of Julius the Second, who would have thoſe puniſhed as Hereticks that made ſuch appeals. That therefore he condemned as Hereticks, him, and all his Adherents, if in the ſpace of fifty days they did not renounce all their Errours; he forbad all Chriſtians to have any Commerce or Converſation with them, or to yeild them any neceſſary things, and gave his Orders to the Emperour, to Kings and Princes, &c. to ſeize their Perſons, and to ſend them to Rome, promiſing great rewards to thoſe who ſhould do ſo good a work.
Luther, ſome time after, wrote againſt that Bull, and appealed afreſh to a Council lawfully called; notwithſtanding he juſtified himſelf with great ſolidity about all thoſe condemned Articles. And it is pertinent to note, that among thoſe Articles that the Pope Anathematized as Heretical, or Raſh, or Scandalous, and contrary to the Catholick Truth, theſe following Propoſitions might be found: That, that Proverb was moſt true, that ſaid, That the beſt Pennance is a good Life, that it would be very well if the Church in a Council ſhould ordain that the Laity ſhould receive the Communion in both kinds. That the Treaſure of the Church, from whence the Pope drew his Indulgences, is not the Merits of Jeſus Christ and the Saints. That the Biſhop of Rome, the Succeſſour of Saint Peter, is not the Vicar of Jeſus Chriſt over all the Churches of the world, nor that there was any one eſtabliſhed by Jeſus Chriſt himſelf in the Perſon of Saint Peter. That it is not in the power of the Church or of the Pope, to make Articles of Faith, nor to eſtabliſh new Laws for Manners or for good Works. That tho' the Pope ſhould hold with a great part of the Church, an opinion, which ſhould not it ſelf be erronious, yet it would not be a ſin or an hereſy to hold a contrary opinion, eſpecially in things not neceſſary to Salvation, until a General Council ſhould have diſproved the one and approved of the other; that the Eccleſiaſtical Prelats and Secular Princes, did not do ill when they aboliſhed the Order of begging Friers. That Purgatory could not be proved by the Holy Canonical Scripture. Theſe Propoſitions are declared to be either peſtilent, or pernicious, or ſcandalous, or heretical, without ſpecifying any one in particular, for the Pope ſpeaks of them only in the whole, that they are ſuch. So it was that Leo and all his Court managed thoſe matters. To affirm that a true amendment of Life, a holy and ſincere return from Vice to Vertue, is the beſt of all Pennances, appeared to be a deteſtable crime to them. To wiſh that a General Council might eſtabliſh the Communion of the Euchariſt, according to the Inſtitution of Jeſus Chriſt and the Cuſtom of the Primitive Church, was ſuch an abomination with them, as was thought ſufficient to deſerve the Flames. Not to beleive that the Merits of Jeſus Chriſt and of the Saints, made up a certain Treaſure, which neither Faith nor Holineſs, nor Repentance could give the Faithful any part of, but which were to be diſpenced only by the way of Indulgences for money, paſs'd in their Judgments for a Helliſh Hereſie. To hold that our Faith has nothing elſe but the Word of God for its object, and not that of men alſo, and that God alone can impoſe moral Laws on the Conſcience, was in their opinion, an aſtoniſhing wickedneſs. To believe that one may without Herefy hold an opinion contrary to that of the Pope, in matters not neceſſary to Salvation, and not determined by any Council, was a peſtilent errour. To give the leaſt blow to the intereſts of Monks, or the Fire of Purgatory, was an horrible ſacriledge, for which there was not any remiſſion.
After that condemnation, the Pope wrote to John Frederick Elector of Saxony, earneſtly entreating him not to give any more protection to Luther, and he ſent Hierome Aleander his Nuntio into Germany, to cauſe that condemnation to be executed. But Aleander not being able to obtain of Frederick what the Pope deſired, obliged the Emperour Charles, who had been Elected in the Room of Maximilian, and the Princes aſſembled at Wormes, to cite Luther to appear before them. The Emperour gave him, to that effect, his Letters of ſafe Conduct; and Luther having compared and conſtantly maintained his Doctrine, without any ways regarding either the threats or the ſollicitations of the Partiſans of the Court of Rome, they were upon the point to impriſon him, notwithſtanding the ſafe conduct of the Emperour, and to treat him as they had heretofore done John Huſs and Jerome of Prague in the Council of Conſtance. But the Elector Palatine vehemently oppoſing himſelf to that breach of the publick Faith, they were contented with proſcribing him by a publick Edict. In that Edict▪ they treat him as a Lunatick, as one poſſeſt by the Devil, and as a Devil incarnate; Extat apud Rayna'd. ad ann. 1521.they baniſh him all the Territories of the Empire, they forbid him Fire and Water, Meat and Drink, they order that his Books ſhould be publickly burnt, and threaten to all that contradict, the moſt rigorous puniſhments in the world.
After all that, who can ſay that our Fathers could yet with any ſhadow of Reaſon hope for a Reformation on the part of the Popes and the Prelats? We may ſee in their Conduct, not only a repugnance to a Reformation, but a ſetled deſign, and an unſhaken reſolution to defend their Errours, Superſtitions, and Abuſes, of what nature ſoever they were, and to hazard all, rather then once to conſent that the Church ſhould be purged. We may ſee that they made uſe of all that the moſt exact and refined policy could make them contrive of all the Authority that the ſplendour of their Dignities, and the places which they held could give them amongſt men, and of all that force and violence, that the Favour of Princes and the credulity of the people could afford them. They went ſo far as loudly to declare themſelves Lords of mens Faith: They exclaimed, they wrote, they diſputed, they accuſed, they condemned, they terrified, they excommunicated, they had recourſe to the ſecular power; and could our Fathers, without being blind, look any further for a Reformation from ſuch perſons as thoſe?