History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume III Part 15

[222] Reputabantur catholici ab illis ignari Scripturarum.

Cochlus, p. 54.

[Sidenote: OLD AND NEW DOCTORS.]

Men of the lowest station, and even the weaker s.e.x, with the aid of G.o.d's Word, persuaded and led away men's hearts. Extraordinary works are the result of extraordinary times. At Ingolstadt, under the eyes of Dr. Eck, a young weaver read Luther's works to the a.s.sembled crowd.

In this very city, the university having resolved to compel a disciple of Melancthon to retract, a woman, named Argula de Staufen, undertook his defence, and challenged the doctors to a public disputation. Women and children, artisans and soldiers, knew more of the Bible than the doctors of the schools or the priests of the altars.

Christendom was divided into two hostile bodies, and their aspects were strikingly contrasted. Opposed to the old champions of the hierarchy, who had neglected the study of languages and the cultivation of literature (as one of their own body informs us), were generous-minded youths, devoted to study, investigating Scripture, and familiarizing themselves with the masterpieces of antiquity.[223]

Possessing an active mind, an elevated soul, and intrepid heart, these young men soon acquired such knowledge, that for a long period none could compete with them. It was not only the vitality of their faith which rendered them superior to their contemporaries, but an elegance of style, a perfume of antiquity, a sound philosophy, a knowledge of the world, completely foreign to the theologians "of the old leaven,"

as Cochlus himself terms them.[224] Accordingly, when these youthful defenders of the Reformation met the Romish doctors in any a.s.sembly, they attacked them with such ease and confidence, that these ignorant men hesitated, became embarra.s.sed, and fell into a contempt merited in the eyes of all.

[223] Totam vero juventutem, eloquentiae litteris, linguarumque studio deditam......in partem suam traxit. Ibid.

[224] Veteris farinae.

[Sidenote: LITERATURE AND THE PRINTING-PRESS.]

The ancient edifice was crumbling under the load of superst.i.tion and ignorance; the new one was rising on the foundations of faith and knowledge. New elements entered deep into the lives of the people.

Torpor and dulness were in all parts succeeded by a spirit of inquiry and a thirst for instruction. An active, enlightened, and living faith took the place of superst.i.tious devotion and ascetic meditations.

Works of piety succeeded bigoted observances and penances. The pulpit prevailed over the ceremonies of the altar; and the ancient and sovereign authority of G.o.d's Word was at length restored in the Church.

The printing-press, that powerful machine discovered in the fifteenth century, came to the support of all these exertions, and its terrible missiles were continually battering the walls of the enemy.

The impulse which the Reformation gave to popular literature in Germany was immense. Whilst in the year 1513 only thirty-five publications had appeared, and thirty-seven in 1517, the number of books increased with astonis.h.i.+ng rapidity after the appearance of Luther's theses. In 1518 we find seventy-one different works; in 1519, one hundred and eleven; in 1520, two hundred and eight; in 1521, two hundred and eleven; in 1522, three hundred and forty-seven; and in 1523, four hundred and ninety-eight......And where were all these published? For the most part at Wittemberg. And who were their authors? Generally Luther and his friends. In 1522 one hundred and thirty of the reformer's writings were published; and in the year following, one hundred and eighty-three. In this same year only twenty Roman-catholic publications appeared.[225] The literature of Germany thus saw the light in the midst of struggles, and contemporaneously with her religion. Already it appeared learned, profound, full of daring and life, as later times have seen it. The national spirit showed itself for the first time without mixture, and at the very moment of its birth received the baptism of fire from christian enthusiasm.

[225] Panzer's Annalen der Deutsch. Litt.; Ranke's Deutsch. Gesch. ii.

79.

[Sidenote: COLPORTAGE.]

What Luther and his friends composed, others circulated. Monks, convinced of the unlawfulness of monastic obligations, desirous of exchanging a long life of slothfulness for one of active exertion, but too ignorant to proclaim the Word of G.o.d, travelled through the provinces, visiting hamlets and cottages, where they sold the books of Luther and his friends. Germany soon swarmed[226] with these bold colporteurs.[227] Printers and booksellers eagerly welcomed every writing in defence of the Reformation; but they rejected the books of the opposite party, as generally full of ignorance and barbarism.[228]

If any one of them ventured to sell a book in favour of the papacy, and offered it for sale in the fairs at Frankfort or elsewhere, merchants, purchasers, and men of letters overwhelmed him with ridicule and sarcasm.[229] It was in vain that the emperor and princes had published severe edicts against the writings of the reformers. As soon as an inquisitorial visit was to be paid, the dealers who had received secret intimation concealed the books that it was intended to proscribe; and the mult.i.tude, ever eager for what is prohibited, immediately bought them up, and read them with the greater avidity. It was not only in Germany that such scenes were pa.s.sing; Luther's writings were translated into French, Spanish, English, and Italian, and circulated among these nations.

[226] Apostatarum, monasteriis relictis, infinitus jam erat numerus, in speciem bibliopolarum. Cochlus, p. 54.

[227] We have ventured to employ the words _colporteur_ and _colportage_ to express the trade and t.i.tle of those itinerant booksellers. Besides the inadequacy of our English equivalent, these words appear to be making their way into our vocabulary.

(_Translator._)

[228] Catholicorum, velut indocta et veteris barbarici trivialia scripta, contemnebant. Cochlus, p. 54.

[229] In publicis mercatibus Francofordiae et alibi, vexabantur ac ridebantur. Ibid.

CHAPTER XII.

Luther at Zwickau--The Castle of Freyberg--Worms--Frankfort--Universal Movement--Wittemberg the Centre of the Reformation--Luther's Sentiments.

[Sidenote: LUTHER AT ZWICKAU.]

If the most puny instruments inflicted such terrible blows on Rome, what was it when the voice of the monk of Wittemberg was heard?

Shortly after the discomfiture of the new prophets, Luther, in a layman's attire, traversed the territories of Duke George in a waggon.

His gown was hidden, and the reformer seemed to be a plain citizen of the country. If he had been recognised, if he had fallen into the hands of the exasperated duke, perhaps his fate would have been sealed. He was going to preach at Zwickau, the birthplace of the pretended prophets. It was no sooner known at Schneeberg, Annaberg, and the surrounding places, than the people crowded around him.

Fourteen thousand persons flocked into the city, and as there was no church that could contain such numbers, Luther went into the balcony of the town-hall, and preached before an audience of twenty-five thousand persons who thronged the market-place, some of whom had mounted on heaps of cut stones piled up near the building.[230] The servant of G.o.d was dilating with fervour on the election of grace, when suddenly cries were heard from the midst of the auditory. An old woman of haggard mien stretched out her emaciated arms from the stone on which she had taken her station, and seemed desirous of restraining with her fleshless hands that crowd which was about to fall prostrate at the feet of Jesus. Her wild yells interrupted the preacher. "It was the devil," said Seckendorff, "who had taken the form of an old woman in order to excite a disturbance."[231] But it was all in vain; the reformer's words silenced the wicked spirit; these thousands of hearers caught his enthusiasm; glances of admiration were exchanged; hands were warmly grasped, and erelong the tongue-tied monks, unable to avert the storm, found it necessary to leave Zwickau.

[230] Von dem Rathhaus unter einem Zulauf von 25,000 Menschen. Seck.

p. 539.

[231] Der Teufel indem er sich in Gestalt eines alten Weibes. Ibid.

[Sidenote: THE CASTLE OF FREYBERG.]

In the castle of Freyberg dwelt Henry, brother of Duke George. His wife, a princess of Mecklenburg, had the preceding year borne him a son who had been named Maurice. With a fondness for the table and for pleasure, Duke Henry combined the rudeness and coa.r.s.e manners of a soldier. In other respects, he was pious after the fas.h.i.+on of the times, had gone to the Holy Land, and made a pilgrimage to St. Iago of Compostella. He would often say: "At Compostella I placed a hundred golden florins on the altar of the saint, and said to him: O St. Iago, to please thee I came hither; I make thee a present of this money; but if these knaves (the priests) take it from thee, I cannot help it; so be on your guard."[232]

[232] La.s.s du dir's die Buben nehmen......Seck. p. 430.

A Franciscan and a Dominican, both disciples of Luther, had been for some time preaching the Gospel at Freyberg. The d.u.c.h.ess, whose piety had inspired her with a horror of heresy, listened to their sermons with astonishment that this gentle word of a Saviour was the object she had been taught to fear. Gradually her eyes were opened, and she found peace in Christ Jesus. No sooner had Duke George learnt that the Gospel was preached at Freyberg, than he entreated his brother to oppose these novelties. Chancellor Strehlin and the canons seconded his prayer with their fanaticism. A violent explosion took place in the court of Freyberg. Duke Henry harshly reprimanded and reproached his wife, and more than once the pious d.u.c.h.ess watered her child's cradle with her tears. Yet by degrees her prayers and gentleness won the heart of her husband; the rough man was softened; harmony was restored between the married pair, and they were enabled to join in prayer beside their sleeping babe. Great destinies were hovering over that child; and from that cradle, where a christian mother had so often poured forth her sorrows, G.o.d was one day to bring forth the liberator of the Reformation.

Luther's intrepidity had excited the inhabitants of Worms. The imperial decree terrified the magistrates; all the churches were closed; but in a public place, filled by an immense crowd, a preacher ascended a rudely constructed pulpit, and proclaimed the Gospel with persuasive accents. If the authorities showed a disposition to interfere, the hearers dispersed in a moment, and stealthily carried away the pulpit; but the storm was no sooner pa.s.sed, than it was immediately set up in some more secluded spot, to which the crowd again flocked to hear the Word of Christ. This temporary pulpit was every day carried from one place to another, and served to encourage the people, still agitated by the emotions of the great drama lately performed in their city.[233]

[233] So liessen sie eine Canzel machen, die man von einem Ort zum andern......Seck. p. 436.

[Sidenote: WORMS--FRANKFORT.]

At Frankfort on the Maine, one of the princ.i.p.al free cities of the empire, all was in commotion. A courageous evangelist, Ibach, preached salvation by Jesus Christ. The clergy, among whom was Cochlus, so notorious by his writings and his opposition, irritated against this audacious colleague, denounced him to the Archbishop of Mentz. The council undertook his defence, although with timidity, but to no purpose, for the clergy discharged the evangelical minister, and compelled him to leave the town. Rome triumphed; everything seemed lost; the poor believers fancied themselves for ever deprived of the Word; but at the very moment when the citizens appeared inclined to yield to these tyrannical priests, many n.o.bles declared for the Gospel. Max of Molnheim, Harmuth of Cronberg, George of Stockheim, and Emeric of Reiffenstein, whose estates lay near Frankfort, wrote to the council: "We are constrained to rise up against these spiritual wolves." And addressing the clergy, they said: "Embrace the evangelical doctrine, recall Ibach, or else we will refuse to pay our t.i.thes!"

The people, who listened gladly to the Reformation, being encouraged by the language of the n.o.bles, began to put themselves in motion; and one day, just as Peter Mayer, the persecutor of Ibach and the most determined enemy of the reform, was going to preach against the heretics, a great uproar was heard. Mayer was alarmed, and hastily quitted the church. This movement decided the council. All the preachers were enjoined by proclamation to preach the pure Word of G.o.d, or to leave the city.

[Sidenote: WITTEMBERG--CENTRE OF REFORM.]

The light which proceeded from Wittemberg, as from the heart of the nation, was thus shedding its rays through the whole empire. In the west,--Berg, Cleves, Lippstadt, Munster, Wesel, Miltenberg, Mentz, Deux Ponts, and Strasburg, listened to the Gospel; on the south,--Hof, Schlesstadt, Bamberg, Esslingen, Halle in Swabia, Heilbrunn, Augsburg, Ulm, and many other places, received it with joy. In the east,--the duchy of Liegnitz, Prussia, and Pomerania opened their gates to it; and in the north,--Brunswick, Halberstadt, Gosslar, Zell, Friesland, Bremen, Hamburg, Holstein, and even Denmark, with other neighbouring countries, were moved at the sounds of this new doctrine.

The Elector Frederick had declared that he would allow the bishops to preach freely in his states, but that he would deliver no one into their hands. Accordingly, the evangelical teachers, persecuted in other countries, soon took refuge in Saxony. Ibach of Frankfort, Eberlin of Ulm, Kauxdorf of Magdeburg, Valentine Mustus, whom the canons of Halberstadt had horribly mutilated,[234] and other faithful ministers, coming from all parts of Germany, fled to Wittemberg, as the only asylum in which they could be secure. Here they conversed with the reformers; at their feet they strengthened themselves in the faith; and communicated to them their own experience and the knowledge they had acquired. It is thus the waters of the rivers return by the clouds from the vast expanse of the ocean, to feed the glaciers whence they first descended to the plains.

[234] Aliquot ministri canonicorum, capiunt D. Valentinum Mustaeum et vinctum manibus pedibusque, injecto in ejus os freno, deferunt per trabes in inferiores cn.o.bii partes, ibique in cella cerevisiaria eum castrant. Hamelmann, Historia renati Evangelii, p. 880.

The work which was evolving at Wittemberg, and formed in this manner of many different elements, became more and more the work of the nation, of Europe, and of Christendom. This school, founded by Frederick, and quickened by Luther, was the centre of an immense revolution which regenerated the Church, and impressed on it a real and living unity far superior to the apparent unity of Rome. The Bible reigned at Wittemberg, and its oracles were heard on all sides. This academy, the most recent of all, had acquired that rank and influence in Christendom which had hitherto belonged to the ancient university of Paris. The crowds that flocked thither from every part of Europe made known the wants of the Church and of the nations; and as they quitted these walls, now become holy to them, they carried back with them to the Church and the people the Word of Grace appointed to heal and to save the nations.

[Sidenote: LUTHER'S SENTIMENTS.]

Luther, as he witnessed this success, felt his confidence increase. He beheld this feeble undertaking, begun in the midst of so many fears and struggles, changing the aspect of the christian world, and was himself astonished at the result. He had foreseen nothing of the kind, when first he rose up against Tetzel. Prostrate before the G.o.d whom he adored, he confessed the work to be His, and exulted in the a.s.surance of a victory that could not be torn from him. "Our enemies threaten us with death," said he to Harmuth of Cronberg; "if they had as much wisdom as foolishness, they would, on the contrary, threaten us with life. What an absurdity and insult to presume to threaten death to Christ and Christians, who are themselves lords and conquerors of death![235]......It is as if I would seek to frighten a man by saddling his horse and helping him to mount. Do they not know that Christ is risen from the dead? In their eyes He is still lying in the sepulchre; nay more--in h.e.l.l. But we know that He lives." He was grieved at the thought that he was regarded as the author of a work, in the smallest details of which he beheld the hand of G.o.d. "Many believe because of me," said he. "But those alone truly believe, who would continue faithful even should they hear (which G.o.d forbid!) that I had denied Jesus Christ. True disciples believe not in Luther, but in Jesus Christ. As for myself, I do not care about Luther.[236]

Whether he is a saint or a knave, what matters it? It is not he that I preach; but Christ. If the devil can take him, let him do so! But let Christ abide with us, and we shall abide also."

[235] Herren und Siegmanner des Todes. L. Epp. ii. 164.

[236] Ich kenne auch selbst nicht den Luther. Ibid. 168.