The nobles began to be alarmed, and the Empire and the Church were already uniting their power to get rid of Luther, this troublesome monk. If a strong and courageous prince had then been Emperor, he might have taken advantage of this religious agitation and, in reliance upon the Word of God and upon the nation, have given a fresh impulse to opposition against the papacy. But Emperor Maximilian was too old, and he had decided to make every sacrifice in order to attain the great object of his life, the elevation of his grandson.
The Emperor was at that time holding an imperial diet at Augsburg. Six electors had gone there at his summons. All the Germanic states were represented. The kings of France, Hungary and Poland sent their ambassadors. These princes and envoys displayed great magnificence. The Turkish war was one of the reasons for the diet assembling. The legate of Leo X earnestly urged the meeting on this point. The states were wisely counselled by the Elector Frederick and were satisfied with declaring they would reflect on the matter; at the same time they produced fresh complaints against Rome. A Latin discourse, published during the diet, boldly pointed out the real danger to the German princes. “You desire to put the Turk to flight,” said the author. “This is well; but I am very much afraid that you are mistaken in the person. You should look for him in Italy, and not in Asia.”
Another important affair was to occupy the diet. Maximilian desired to have his grandson Charles, already king of Spain and Naples, proclaimed king of the Romans and his successor in the imperial dignity. The Pope knew his own interests too well to desire to see the imperial throne filled by a prince whose power in Italy might be dangerous to himself. The Emperor imagined he had already won over most of the electors and states, but he met with vigorous resistance from Frederick. He was immovable, and showed on this occasion that he had firmness of mind not to swerve from a resolution once he had acknowledged it to be just. The Emperor’s design failed.
From now on, this prince sought to gain the goodwill of the Pope, in order to gain support for his plans. The Emperor wrote to him on 5 August 1518: “Most holy Father, we have learned these few days since that a friar of the Augustine order, named Martin Luther, has presumed to maintain certain propositions on the traffic of indulgences, a matter that displeases us the more because this friar has found many protectors, among whom are persons of exalted station. If your holiness and the very reverend fathers of the Church [the cardinals] do not soon exert your authority to put an end to these scandals, these pernicious teachers will not only seduce the simple people, but they will involve great princes in their destruction. We will take care that whatever your holiness may decree in this matter for the glory of God Almighty shall be enforced throughout the whole empire.”
This letter must have been written immediately after some warm discussion between Maximilian and Frederick. On the same day, the Elector wrote to Cardinal Raphael of Rovera. He had learned, no doubt, that the Emperor was writing to the Pontiff and, to parry the blow, the Elector wrote to Rome: “I shall never have any other desire than to show my submission to the universal Church. Accordingly, I have never defended either the writings or the sermons of Doctor Martin Luther. I learn besides that he has always offered to appear, under a safe conduct, before impartial, learned and Christian judges, in order to defend his doctrine, and to submit if he should be convicted of error by the Scriptures themselves.”
Leo X, who up to this time had let the business follow its natural course, was aroused by the clamours of the theologians and monks and nominated an ecclesiastical commission at Rome with power to try Luther. Sylvester Prierio, the Reformer’s great enemy, was both accuser and judge. The case was soon prepared, and the court summoned Luther to appear before it in person within 60 days.
Luther was calmly awaiting at Wittenberg the good effects that he imagined his submissive letter to the Pope would produce, when on August 7, only two days after the letters of Maximilian and Frederick were sent off, he received the summons of the Roman tribunal. “At the very moment I was expecting a blessing,” said he, “I saw the thunderbolt fall on me. I was the lamb that troubled the water the wolf was drinking. Tetzel escaped, and I was to permit myself to be devoured.”
This summons caused general alarm in Wittenberg, for whatever course Luther might take he could not escape danger. If he went to Rome, he would there become the victim of his enemies. If he refused to appear, he would be condemned, for it was known that the legate had received orders to do everything he could to exasperate the Emperor and the German princes against Luther. His friends were filled with consternation. Shall the preacher of truth risk his life in that great city drunk with the blood of the saints and of the martyrs of Jesus? Shall this man be struck down, whom God appears to have raised up to withstand a power that nothing had yet been able to resist? Luther himself saw that no one could save him but the Elector; yet he would rather die than compromise his prince. At last his friends agreed on an expedient that would not endanger Frederick. Let him refuse Luther a safe-conduct, and then the Reformer would have a legitimate excuse for not appearing at Rome.
On August 8, Luther wrote to Spalatin begging him to employ his influence with the Elector to have his cause heard in Germany. “See what snares they are laying for me,” he wrote to Staupitz, “and how I am surrounded with thorns. But Christ lives and reigns, the same yesterday, today and for ever. My conscience assures me that I have been teaching the truth, although it appears still more odious because I teach it.” Luther’s friends did not confine themselves to consultations and complaints. Spalatin wrote, on behalf of the elector, to the Emperor’s secretary: “Doctor Martin Luther willingly consents to be judged by all the universities of Germany, except Leipzig, Erfurt and Frankfurt-on-the-Oder, which have shown themselves partial. It is impossible for him to appear at Rome in person.”
The University of Wittenberg wrote a letter of intercession to the Pope: “The weakness of his frame,” they said, speaking of Luther, “and the dangers of the journey, render it difficult and even impossible for him to obey the order of your holiness. His distress and his prayers incline us to sympathise with him.”
The University, in its solicitude, wrote the same day to Charles of Miltitz, the Pope’s highly-esteemed chamberlain. They gave Luther a more decided testimony than they had ventured to insert in the first: “The reverend father Martin Luther, an Augustine, is the noblest and most distinguished member of our university. For many years we have seen and known his talents, his learning, his profound acquaintance with the arts and literature, his irreproachable morals, and his truly Christian behaviour.”
This active charity shown by all who surrounded Luther is his best praise. While men were anxiously looking for the outcome of this affair, it was terminated more easily than might have been expected. The legate De Vio, mortified at his ill success in the commission he had received to excite a general war against the Turks, wished to give lustre to his mission in Germany by some other brilliant act. He thought that, if he could extinguish heresy, he would return to Rome with honour. He therefore entreated the Pope to entrust this business to him. Leo for his part was highly pleased with Frederick for his strong opposition to the election of the youthful Charles. He felt that he might yet stand in need of his support, and he commissioned the legate to investigate the affair in Germany. The Pope lost nothing by this course of action; even if Luther could not be prevailed on to retract, the noise that his presence at Rome must occasion would be avoided.
“We charge you,” said Leo, “to summon personally before you, to prosecute and constrain without any delay . . . the said Luther, who has already been declared a heretic by our dear brother Jerome, bishop of Ascoli.” The Pope then proceeded to utter the severest threats against Luther: “Invoke for this purpose the arm and the aid of our very dear son in Christ, Maximilian, and of the other princes of Germany, and of all the communities, universities and potentates, ecclesiastical or secular. And, if you get possession of his person, keep him in safe custody, that he may be brought before us.”
We see that this concession from the Pope was only a surer way of bringing Luther to Rome. Next followed milder measures: “If he returns to his duty and begs forgiveness for so great a misdeed, of his own accord and without solicitation, we give you power to receive him into the unity of our holy mother the Church.” But the Pope soon returned to his denunciations: “If he persists in his obstinacy, and you cannot secure his person, we authorise you to proscribe him in every part of Germany; to banish, curse and excommunicate all those who are attached to him; and to order all Christians to flee from their presence”.
Still this was not enough: “In order that this contagious disease may be the more effectually eradicated, you will excommunicate all prelates, religious orders, universities, communities, counts, dukes and potentates (the Emperor Maximilian always excepted) who shall not aid in seizing the aforesaid Martin Luther and his adherents and send them to you under good and safe guard. And if, which God forbid, the said princes, communities, universities and potentates, or any belonging to them, shall in any manner offer an asylum to the said Martin and his adherents . . . we lay under interdict all . . . the cities, towns, countries and villages in which the said Martin may take refuge, so long as he shall remain there.”
Such was the fate destined for Luther. His ruin appears certain. How can he escape from this vast conspiracy? But Rome was deceived; the movement, begun by the Spirit of God, cannot be checked by her decrees. The Pope had not even preserved the appearances of a just and impartial examination. Luther had been declared a heretic, not only before he had been heard, but even before the time allowed for his appearance had expired. The passions overleap all forms of justice. Everything is lawful against the gospel. When Luther became acquainted with these instructions, he expressed his indignation thus: “Is this the style and fashion of the Roman court, which on the same day summons, exhorts, accuses, judges, condemns and declares a man guilty who is so far from Rome, and who knows nothing of all these things?”
At the same time, Rome sought to detach from Luther’s cause the prince whose power she dreaded most. The Pope wrote to the Elector of Saxony and endeavoured to flatter the prince’s vanity: “Dear son, when we think of your noble and worthy family, of you who are its ornament and head; when we call to mind how you and your ancestors have always desired to uphold the Christian faith and the honour and dignity of the holy see, we cannot believe that a man who abandons the faith can rely upon your highness’s favour and daringly give the rein to his wickedness.
“Yet it is reported to us from every quarter that a certain friar, Martin Luther, hermit of the order of St Augustine, has forgotten, like a child of the evil one and despiser of God, his habit and his order, which consist in humility and obedience, and that he boasts of fearing neither the authority nor the punishment of any man, being assured of your favour and protection. But as we know that he is deceived, we have thought fit to write to your highness and to exhort you in the Lord to watch over the honour of your name, as a Christian prince, the ornament, glory, and sweet saviour of your noble family; to defend yourself from these calumnies.”
Leo X at the same time informed the Elector that he had commissioned Cardinal Priero to investigate the matter, and requested him to deliver Luther into the legate’s hands, “for fear the pious people of our own or of future times should one day lament and say, The most pernicious heresy with which the Church of God has been afflicted sprang up under the favour and support of that high and worthy family.”
Thus Rome took her measures. With one hand she scattered the intoxicating incense of flattery; in the other she held concealed her terrors and revenge. All the powers of the earth – Emperor, Pope, princes and legates – began to rise up against this humble friar of Erfurt, whose internal struggles we have already witnessed. “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel against the Lord, and against His Anointed” (Ps 2:2).