a document to us how careful we ought to be not to invade the Provinces of others That therefore he should take heed lest at the perswasion of those who had always in their mouths the Reformation of the Church he should rashly put his hand to those things which peculiarly belonged to the Priests The like and more grievous also was the end of Dathan Abirom and Core when they disputed the Authority of Moses and his Brother Aaron That Ozias was a renowned King and yet God struck him with Leprosie because he would offer Incense at the Altar thereby avenging upon him the usurpation of another mans Office. That the care of the Churches was indeed an Office most acceptable to God however that it did not belong to him but to the Priests and chiefly to himself to whom God had given the power of binding and loosing Nor was it pertinent what he said that these Laws were not perpetual but temporary and only to continue till the meeting of a Council For though the design might be pious yet by reason of the person it became impious That it was God's part to call bad Priests to an account to whom men ought to refer them and not to attempt any thing besides That God had signally crowned those Princes with honour and blessings who assisted the Head of the Church the See of Rome and who rendered that love and duty which is due to the Priesthood as may be seen in Constantine the Great the Theodosius's Charlemaigne c. but that such as did otherwise were afflicted with most grievous punishments nor did he mean Nero Domitian and others of that stamp who endeavoured to stifle the Church in its infancy but such as withstood her when she was grown up and the Chair of St. Peter setled In which number were Anastasius the first Mauritius Constans the second Philip Leo and many more who being turn'd out and stript of all ended their days in ignominy and disgrace That Henry the Fourth because he had behaved himself unworthily towards him whom he ought to have reverenced as a Father was by his own Son taken and made to suffer for it at Liege That Frederick the Second a grievous Enemy of the Church of Rome was killed by his own Son. That nevertheless Rebels were not always afflicted and punished but did sometimes flourish in wealth and prosperity which came to pass as the Fathers say lest that if all wicked men were punished here it might be thought that God reserved to himself no Tribunal hereafter That there was no sin indeed that went unpunished but that it was the most grievous effect of the wrath of God when they that sin think they may do it freely and that these were in a deplorable and truly wretched condition because they went on continually heaping sin upon sin That in the same manner not only single men but even Countries and Provinces have been punished which either rejected Christ or refused to obey his Vicar That two people especially the Jews to wit and the Greeks confirm'd this clearly to us by their calamities and sufferings of whom the former put to death the Son of God and the latter more than one way slighted his Vicegerent That therefore if God manifested his wrath against them for crimes and attempts of that nature he had much more reason to be afraid if he should design any such thing seeing he sprung from those Emperours who had received as much honour from the Church of Rome as they had conferred upon her That his words however were not so to be taken as if he thought any such thing was intended by him or that he did not most earnestly desire the Controversie might be made up but only that he was concerned and sollicitous for his danger That some Priests of old having referred to Constantine the Great the decision of their Law-suits and Causes he had rejected it and would not undertake to judge those who had power to judge all men that these were the footsteps he should follow That in wishing to see an end made of all Controversies and a Reformation in the Church he did what was extreamly laudable that as to that he prayed him to lend him his assistance to whom God had committed the care and administration of those affairs That he might indeed make himself an Assistant but not the Head and chief Administrator That he was most desirous of a publick Reformation as he had made it oftener than once appear by calling Councils whensoever there was the least glimpse of hope that they could meet and that though hitherto all that he had done that way was in vain yet still he had omitted nothing on his part for effecting the same That he wished to see a Council for the sake of the publick but chiefly of Germany which was rent and torn with various Jars and Divisions but that it grieved him that he should use the counsels of those who had been long ago condemned even by his own Sentence nor did he therefore grieve because he would have them for ever barred from his friendship but because they became more rash and insolent by that Indulgence of his That since there was no way of curing the Evil but one to wit a Council therefore they must betake themselves to that That then he should make way to the calling of it and restore the so-much-desired Peace to the People of Christ or at least restrain all Hostilities in the mean time until the publick safety should be consulted about since Consultation and Debate was to be used rather than Force and Arms which being laid aside all things would succeed as they ought That there was a Council already called a good while ago though because of the Wars it had been put off till a more convenient time That he would use his endeavours with other Princes especially with him with whom he was in War that they should do the like That he should therefore comply with his Admonitions and as he held the place of his first-begotten Son embrace the sound counsels of his Father tred in the foot-steps of his Ancestors not deviating from the right way nor assuming to himself any right or authority in the management and handling of sacred matters that he should exclude all disputations about Religion from the Diets and Assemblies of the Empire and refer them to his Tribunal Nor should he neither meddle with the Revenues of the Church but lay down Arms and bring matters to a peace and accommodation or if there were no other way of obtaining peace that he should submit the whole Controversie and cause of the War to the arbitrement and decision of the Council Lastly that he should wholly rescind and annul what with too much lenity and easiness he had granted to those Rebels and Enemies of the See of Rome for that otherwise he must unless he would be wanting to his own duty be forced to the great detriment of the Church
used against any man for any cause whatsoever but that all things should be done according to the standing Laws and ancient Customs and then he sheweth how the States of the Empire are bound in Duty and Allegiance to him But without any regard had to any of these things says he John Frederick Elector of Saxony and Philip Landgrave of Hesse have with insolent boldness at all times as much as in them lay frustrated all the pains and labour we have been at for the publick good and have continued disobedient nor did they themselves only resist our Authority but inticed likewise the other States to enter into unlawful Combinations with them Besides the Landgrave some Years since under I know not what pretext made War against some of the chief States of the Empire and marching into their Countries raised great vast Sums of Money there then afterward both in conjunction together without any cause given invaded a certain Prince of the Empire drove him out of his Country and seized his Territories Nay they have also appropriated to themselves some Bishopricks and other both Secular and Ecclesiastical Fiefs the Owners whereof by ancient Custom are Members of the Empire and have place in the Assembly of the States and still detain them in that Bondage though they have often sued to Us and implored our Protection in several Diets They have also spoiled many of their Estates and yearly Revenues and received into their Homage the Clients and Vassals of others Lately also they were so strangely bold as to sollicite some of the States not to repair to this Diet that they might thereby hinder the dispatch of all Affairs and bring Us and Our Authority into contempt And all these things they do with the greater security and liberty that they slight Justice and neither fear nor stand in awe of any Magistrate for through their fault the Supreme Judicature of the Empire is suppressed the Laws are silent and now for a long time which is a thing not to be paralelled there has been no Administration of Justice to the great prejudice of many And what is most grievous all these things they act under the specious and sweet Name of Religion Peace and Liberty for these plausible Titles they make use to veil and cloak their Actions when in the mean time they desire nothing less than Agreement in Religion or the Peace and Liberty of Germany Surely they can prove by no Text of Scripture that it is lawful for them in any manner of way obstinately to resist the Supream Magistrate but the contrary is easily made out both from the Word of God and approved History to wit that the ancient Professours of the Christian Doctrine who not only confirmed their Faith by their words and actions but sealed it also by their death obeyed even profane and Pagan Kings How much less then ought they under a pretext of Religion to deny Us their Duty and Obedience for by denying it they make it manifest that their Design is to Usurp our Crown Scepter and Authority and having put all into confusion and disorder to oppress Religion Law Peace and Liberty that with the accession of new Titles and Possessions they may constrain all men to truckle under their Tyranny And indeed nothing less can be gathered from their haughty Words and Menaces and from those scandalous Libels and Pictures scattered abroad in all places among the People to the great dishonour and contempt of Our Person and Authority Moreover they have not only made Leagues against Us in those Conventicles of theirs but also stirred up foreign Kings against Us and under-hand assisted them both with Supplies and Councel Some may be found also that can tell Tales how far they have gone that they might invite the Turk into Germany which is indeed the more credible that such a Juncture would have proved very commodious for their designs By these Acts of their then they break their Allegiance to Us trample upon the Dignity of Our Character and evacuate the force of all Decrees which they look upon as made for no other end but that others should be barr'd from the liberty of resisting Violence and they only allowed a permission to do wrong to all men For all which Causes they have fallen into that most heinous Crime of High Treason and incurred the Penalties thereunto due by the Laws as plainly appears by their Villanies which are so notorious that it is to no purpose to spend time in proving them Now though we might have long ago used Our Authority and punished them according to their deserts nevertheless for peace-sake and for avoiding all stirs and troubles We still shewed them Our Favour and in many things condescended to them more than was becoming and in that We often offended our own Conscience lessened our Authority and neglected the Interests of others Thus We used most gentle means five years ago with the Landgrave at Ratisbonne and two years since with the Duke of Saxony at Spire and that in hopes that being gained by our extraordinary lenity and forbearance they might at length break off their ill purposes and save themselves and Us the trouble of any more violent Remedy But now that We find all our endeavours to have been in vain and that they have plainly cheated Us by their Words in regard that slighting our Decrees and the Laws of the Empire they obstinately go on even contrary to their own Covenents and Engagements and through an unbridled Desire of Rule invade other mens Rights and Possessions having no respect to Law but in all their Actions aiming at the overthrow of the Government so that unless they be restrained there will be so little possibility of composing the Differences of Religion that all the parts of the State must remain discomposed and out of order We are forced to use the power that God hath put into Our hands against them And since their Rebellion is so notorious that they themselves cannot deny it and that they carry all things on in a violent way refusing to submit to Law and Justice We therefore Proscribe and Outlaw them as false Traitors perfidious and seditious Rebels and are resolved to bring them to condign punishment that they may no longer be a hinderance unto Us in setling the State and doing those things which properly belong to Our Character and Place We therefore strictly Charge and Command all and every one of Our Subjects that they presume not in any manner to aid and assist them or otherwise take their part under the pain of forfeiture of Lives and Fortunes and that such as are now in their Service return to their Duty and Obedience to Us without pretending any League or Association to the contrary all which we hereby rescind and annul We moreover absolve all the Nobility Gentry and Commons of their Dominions from their Oath of Allegiance to them assuring them in the Word of an Emperour of all Security and
had before carefully enquired into the Numbers and Riches of the Protestants that she might know what she and the King might expect from them but she could not be assured of any thing only that there were 2150 Assemblies in the Nation the Delegates of which proffered her and the King their Services in case of Necessity but when she desired a more particular and exact account they suspected she had some ill design against them and declined giving her an exact account of their Secrets reflecting on her inconstancy which they much suspected In the mean time Conde was coming to Court as the Queen had ordered him and was at Pont Sainct Clou within two Miles of Fontain-bleau which when the Queen heard all things were put into Confusion as if a Siege had been expected the Populace running into disorder and the Magistrates conniving at it Nor was the disorder less in the Court. The Queen fearing not without cause that some mischief would ensue if Conde came up the Confederates being in possession of the King and resolving to carry him and the Queen to Paris The Queen would gladly have stood Neuter but the Confederates told her plainly they knew Conde was come to get the King into his Power and they were resolved to carry him to Paris and if she pleased she might follow him and so they carried him to Melun not giving her any time to consider of it The Queen followed and took such Lodgings as they assigned her in the Castle Here she would have made her Escape with the King if the Jealousie of the Confederates had not prevented it They knowing this would give a great Reputation to the Party that could gain it and make the opposite Party look like Rebels Next Morning the Queen fell to flatter the Confederates to get them to go back to Fontainbleau and that she might speak with Conde But the Duke of Guise disappointed all her Projects and carried the King and his Brother to the Castle de Vincennes within two Miles of Paris the King weeping as if he had been carried into Captivity by force The next Morning Montmorancy entred Paris pull'd up the Seats and Pulpit of the Protestant Meeting-House near Port St. Jean in the Suburbs and burnt them publickly the people rejoycing greatly at it And in the Afternoon did the same thing without Porte de St. Antoine to another such House but here the Fire took the next Houses which abated the Joy though there was at last too much bestowed on so ridiculous an Enterprize Upon this many good Men were injured by the Rabble in the Streets as being suspected in the Point of Religion yet it came not to Blood. The next day after the King and the Queen were brought up to the Louvre the Confederates pretending they were not safe elsewhere And here they began to talk of Declaring a War against the Prince of Conde which was opposed by the Chancellor whose Judgment was slighted by Montmorancy because he was a Gown-man But he replied That tho he was no Soldier yet he knew very well when War was fit and when not but the violence of the Confederates at last excluded him from that Consulation The Prince of Conde was coming towards the Court but hearing that the Queen out of levity or fear was joyned with the Triumvirate and was gone to Paris he seeing the Enemy in possession of the King's Person concluded they had got a great Advantage over him and yet that the Die being cast it was too late to go back so he went to Orleans to meet d' Andelott and sent to Coligni the Admiral to come thither to him Innocent Tripier de Monterud was then Governour of Orleans for Charles de Bourbon Prince de la Roche-sur-Yon he in the beginning had been very favourable to the Protestants and had equally imployed them with the Catholicks in the Guard of the City but seeing the Queen was now joyned with the Confederate Catholick Lords he changed his Mind and took in more Forces by stealth that he might thereby over-power the Protestants But Andelott entering the place with a small Attendance quickly got together 300 of the Protestants and seized St. John's Gate and immediately sent to the Prince of Conde to come up so that though Mon. de Monterud endeavoured to recover this Post yet it was in vain and the Town fell into the Hands of the Prince of Conde and Monterud was forced to obtain the Prince's Leave to be gone The Seventh of April the Prince of Conde sent a Letter to all the Protestant Churches and Nobility in France to bring to him all the Forces and Moneys they were able to raise for the Rescuing of the King out of Captivity and the delivering him out of the Hands of some great Men who had first violated the Laws or Edicts of France and then seizing the Person of the King by force Abused his Authority to the breaking the Peace of that Kingdom The next day he put out a Manifesto wherein he largely unfolded the Truth that the bottom of their Design was to deprive the Protestants of France of that Liberty which had been granted them by the King's Edict which he proved amongst other things by the Massacre of Vassy which he said was design'd for a Signal to the whole Nation to do the like He call'd God to Witness his only Intentions were to restore the King and his Brothers and the Queen and the Council to their Liberty to preserve the Veneration due to the Royal Edicts and especially that solemn Edict of January last and to prevent the Moneys given by the States in the last Assembly for the payment of the Debts of the Crown from being mispent or turned to other uses for as for him and his they would manage this War at their own Charges He desired that whilest the King was in their Power no Credit should be given to any Edict Warrant or Commission though under the great Seal or Signed by the King. As for his Brother the King of Navar he should pay him always the Respect that was due to his Character and Place but he desired the Duke of Guise and his Brothers and Montmorancy should lay down their Arms restore the King and his Council to their liberty and suffer the Edict of January to continue in force till the King were of Age and then he would lay down his Arms and he and his would return to their own homes If they refused these just and equal Conditions and attempted any thing with force against him he said he would not bear it but would rescue the King and his People from their violence and they should answer for all the Calamities and Miseries which should follow He wrote two days after this to the Princes of Germany and ordered the Ministers to do so too that the greater Credit might be given to his to the same purpose And in the Conclusion desired
Electors opened the Case and told them That the whole Question consisted in three Points to wit Whether Francis King of France Charles King of Spain or else some German was to be chosen As to the French King saith he I think we are barred from chusing him by our Oath and Laws whereby it is provided That this Dignity of the Empire should not be transferred to Strangers and no Man doubts I think but that he is a Foreign Prince Again though his Country were no Hindrance yet it is not for the Interest of the Publick because the French King will think of enlarging his Dominions and make War against Charles King of Spain whom he hateth nay and hath already denounced it so that Germany will be involved in great Troubles But we ought to take Care That no Civil-War be raised among us Austria belongs to the Dominion of Charles If the French King invade this as certainly he will shall we leave it to his Mercy Hath the Emperour Maximilian deserved no better of us and the Empire Do you think that our own Liberty will be long safe if these Provinces be once subdued He hath lately enlarged his Borders by the accession of the Dutchy of Milan the same will he attempt to do in Germany We ought not to be moved by their large and magnificent Promises for Covetousness and Ambition transports Men commonly and makes them forget their Duty There were many Princes heretofore in France but now their Number is contracted within a very narrow Compass for the King now is in a manner sole Monarch they say he is a Prince of great Courage but that aims wholly at Monarchy Aristocracy is the Goverment we ought chiefly to retain They promise great Matters of making War against the Turks that were to be wished indeed as a thing of greatest Advantage to the State nor am I ignorant of how great Moment a conjunction of Germany France and Italy would prove but he will make the first Essay of all their Power and Prowess upon the Provinces of King Charles He 'll attempt the Netherlands and set upon Naples that he may recover it as an Hereditary Kingdom belonging unto him And shall we Arm him for the accomplishment of these things Nor is it to be said that I am Prophecying of future and uncertain Contingences for he is already raising an Army Since therefore the Laws our Oath and the Love of our Country lay an Obligation upon us I declare it to be my Opinion that we cannot chuse him Now will I proceed to the other parts Some of you I believe are against the Election of Charles because Spain lyes at a great distance from us and that Germany will suffer by his Absence either through a Turkish War or Civil Dissensions For my own part I not only acknowledge these things to be true but when also I consider them more attentively I am stricken with horror and apprehension For I think with my self that if the Emperour being any way provoked should come into Germany and bring Spaniards with him our Liberty would be in great danger Nay it runs in my mind too that the Spaniards will be very loath to part with or ever restore to us again this Imperial Dignity but if they chance by their force and valour to recover Milan will endeavour to keep it to themselves So that I am almost inclined to think it safest to chuse a fit Person of our own Country in Imitation of our Progenitors who passing by Strangers have been often content with Natives I would not be thought to deny this however the State of Affairs had another face then and the Age was much happier But now if we have an Emperour weak in Power do ye think that those of the Netherlands and Austria the Subjects of Charles of Spain will be Obedient unto him Or should the French King make War against Charles as he certainly will either in Flanders or Italy must he be an idle Spectator And must this our new Emperour suffer a great part of the Empire to be dismembred by Foreign Nations Nay as the Times are now it is probable that the Princes of Germany despising their own Emperour will make Alliances and Joyn some with the Austrians and others with the French. In the time of the Emperour Frederick III Charles Duke of Burgundy made War in Germany as Philip Maria Duke of Milan did in Italy without controul and certainly much to our disgrace Nay which was more ignominious the Emperour was at that time blockt up in Austria and driven out of his own Country by the Hungarians and nevertheless the Bohemians were then joyned with him as were also my Grand-father Albert Marquess of Brandenburg and Albert Duke of Saxony If that happened then you see what is to be expected at present when some will be Pensioners to some and others to other Princes not to mention many causes that may intervene why Princes and Cities will refuse to give obedience Grievous Troubles and Stirs seem now also to be threatned upon account of Religion for there are Debates arisen about Indulgences the Power of the Pope and Ecclesiastical Laws which look indeed as yet as if they were curable but will in a short time bring along with them great Desolation and Alterations in the Church for very many espouse that Cause and especially the Saxons and Switzers most valiant People nor can the evil be remedied but by a Council Now how can an Emperour low in Power either procure the calling of a Council or defend it especially if other Kings oppose the same There is a Turkish War also to be thought on and that not only Defensive but Offensive also that we may regain what we have lost and above all things restore Greece to its Liberty Now for accomplishing of this there will be need of the Forces of many Nations And how shall an Emperour of small Power and Authority be able to procure them For these Reasons then it is my Judgment that we should chuse some Potent Prince and that Charles Arch-Duke of Austria ought to be preferred before the other Princes of Germany As for those Inconveniences which may seem to scare us I think they are far less than those that would arise if the chief Government were put into the hands of any other For he is both a German by Extraction and has many Provinces holding of the Empire nor will he permit our common Country to truckle under the Bondage of any but will give us a solemn Oath That he shall neither suffer the Empire to be transferred nor our Rights and Liberties diminished The Reasons I have alledged are indeed of very great weight and yet I should not have been moved by them if his Temper and Disposition were not known for he is Religious Just and Modest a hater of Cruelty and a Prince of pregnant Parts These his Vertues will always mind him of his Duty and of the Care of the Government
made of those Vertues in him which are required to be in an Emperour The Publick stands in need of such a Prince who besides other things may settle and reform the state of the Church as the Elector of Mentz wisely hinted Now of all Men King Francis is most capable of effecting this for he is a Prince both of Wit and Judgment uses to confer often with Learned Men about Religion and reads many Books himself Besides the present state of Affairs requires a Prince and General who is an expert Soldier diligent and fortunate And who pray upon this occcasion can outvie King Francis His Valour is already known and tried and he surpasses all his Ancestors in the greatness of his Actions for he lately overcame in Battel the Switzers a most Warlike People and since the time of Julius Caesar almost invincible A Youth then is not to be preferred before so great a Commander The Elector of Mentz confesses indeed that it would be inconvenient if Charles should continue long out of Germany but bids us set our minds at rest for all that However for my part I look upon it to be a Matter of the highest Danger that an Emperour should remain a long while out of the Borders of the Empire For who will withstand the sudden Irruptions of the Turks who will restrain unexpected Tumults Quarrels and Civil Commotions Who will if a Storm arise guide the Ship in the Pilot's absence When he is absent he will have no certain intelligence of our Affairs many things will be falsely reported unto him no Germans but only Spaniards will be of his Council He will now and then make Edicts and send them to us in a most unseasonable time and if being provoked by the Calumnies and Accusations of malicious Men he chance afterwards to come into Germany with an Army of Strangers at his back What think you will be the fortune of the Empire then Wherefore if it seems good to you and if Fate will so have it that at this time a Foreign King should put our Crown upon his Head I am clearly of the Opinion that the French should be preferred before the Spaniard But if the Law be against the chusing of the French King it is no less against the King of Spain nor are we by any nice Interpretation to take King Charles for a German but rather to find out some Prince who hath no Residence but in Germany and who is a German by Birth Manners Humour and Language Against this the Archbishop of Mentz hath started many Inconveniences and thinks That by reason of Weakness and low Fortune such an Emperour will be contemptible but if we chuse a fit Person Germany is strong and powerful enough to bear that Burthen Rodolph I the eleventh Emperour before Maximilian brought no great strength with him to the Throne but he was a Virtuous and Valient Prince and raised the Empire which was then sunk very low and harassed by many Wars to such a state that it became formidable to all the Kings about it Nor do I think you are ignorant what a high Opinion Foreign Princes and among these Lowis XII of France conceived of the Emperour Maximilian only because of his Parts and Valour Great hath always been the Fame and Reputation of the German Princes which is not extinct as yet but is still fresh and green and among others there are at this Day three chief Families in Germany Bavaria Saxony and Brandenburgh and some excellent and deserving Men of them If then we can agree and chuse one of them and as we ought assist him with our Forces we need not be afraid of Foreigners for provided we be unanimous among our selves all will be well enough wherefore passing by all Strangers let us chuse one among our selves we need not doubt of success and we can produce many Domestick Instances of our own Fortitude and Behaviour of which I shall now only mention one Matthias King of Hungary a potent and fortunate Warrior once declared War against your Father Duke Frederick but when he saw a good Army ready to oppose him his Heat and Courage was soon cooled So also I think a way may be found out now that an Emperour chosen of our own Country may retain his Authority both at Home and abroad In the third Place spake Frederick Duke of Saxony and having represented to the Colledge That the French King was excluded by Law but that Charles was a German Prince and had a Residence and Habitation in Germany he told them That the Body Politick stood in need of a very powerful Head but that he knew none that was to be compared to Charles that therefore his Judgment was That he should be declared Emperour but yet on certain Conditions both that Germany might be secured of its Liberty and the Dangers which had been mentioned avoided When the rest had at length approved this Opinion How said the Elector of Treves do I foresee the Fate of Germany and a Change a coming But since it seems good to you I will not oppose your Judgment This was on the twenty eighth Day of June It was now late Night and therefore they broke up but met again next Day Then it began to be debated What Conditions were to be offered to Charles the Emperour Elect and this Debate continued for some Days when at length the Conditions were agreed upon they were drawn up in Writing and sent to Mentz to his Ambassadours When they had received them the several Voices were set down in Writing and as the Custom is signed and Sealed The Day before the Empire had been offered to Frederick Elector of Saxony but he bravely refused it and as has been said gave his Vote for Charles of Spain and when upon that Account the Ambassadours of Charles offered him a great summ of Money he not only rejected it but commanded all about him likewise not to take a Farthing The Nobility and all the People being afterwards called together the Archbishop of Mentz in a speech made to them in S. Bartholomew's Church declared That Charles Archduke of Austria and King of Spain was chosen King of the Romans in the place of Maximilian deceased that they ought to give God thanks that he had been so unanimously chosen and exhorted them to be Faithful and Obedient to him Then running out in his Praises he gave them the Reasons why they had chosen him of all others which was received by the States and People with Humming and Applause Afterwards the Ambassadours who had drawn nearer and were now but at a Miles Distance were sent for These were Matthew Cardinal of Saltzburg Erard Bishop of Liege Bernard Bishop of Trent Frederick Prince Palatine Casimire Marquess of Brandenburg Henry Count of Nassaw Maximilian of Sibenburg and some other Counsellors These being come and having consulted with the rest about the Administration of the Government till the Emperour Charles should come into Germany
Prince Cassimire was appointed to raise Forces so and to post them that the Publick might receive no Damage in the mean while Afterwards the Electors wrote Letters and sent Ambassadours to the Emperour into Spain to acquaint him with all that had been done The chief of the Ambassie was Frederick Prince Palatine but in the mean time some Messengers were privately dispatched with the News of whom one is said to have posted from Frankford to Barcelona in nine Days time The Prince Palatine arrived about the latter end of November and delivered the Elector's Letters the summ whereof was That he would be pleased to accept of the Empire that was offered unto him and all Delay laid aside to come with all speed into Germany The Emperour made a Generous Answer by the Mouth of Mercurine Cattinario That though great Troubles seemed to be threatned on the one Hand from the Turks and on the other from the French yet he neither could nor would be wanting to their common Country especially when so great Princes made such a Judgment of him and required that at his Hands that therefore he accepted the Honour and Charge that was offered him and would put to Sea with the first Opportunity in order to his coming into Germany Much in the same Words also he wrote back to the Electors and so having nobly presented Prince Frederick he dismissed him Thus then was he made Emperour the Fifth of that Name at the Age of nineteen Years The French King was the more troubled at this Repulse that he knew his Affairs were thereby exposed to greater Danger for he had rather that any Man should have had that Dignity than Charles of Spain whose Power being already suspected by him he saw now by this means mightily encreased and confirmed He had been at vast Charges and very free of his Gold in making Friends to promote his Designs The same is said to have been done also by the Flemings but of this I dare not be positive But let us trace back a little the Genealogie of Charles Charles V of France called the Sage gave to his youngest Brother Philip the Dutchy of Burgundy that had fallen unto him Philip afterward married Margaret the only Daughter of Lewis Earl of Flanders and had by her a Son John to him was born Philip the Father of Charles the Hardy who being killed before Nancy left behind him a Daughter Mary the Heiress of vast Territories She at length was married to Maximilian the Son of the Emperour Frederick III and bore to him Philip who married Jane Daughter to Ferdinand King of Spain by whom he had Charles and Ferdinand the Infanta Jane being with Child went to Ghent and was there brought to Bed of Charles on February 24 1500. Here we must say somewhat by the by of Ferdinand the Emperour's Grand-Father by the Mother He was King of Arragon and Sicily and had in Marriage Isabel the Daughter and Heiress of John II King of Spain having afterwards obtained the Kingdom of Naples also Now the Children he had by her were John Isabel Jane Mary and Catharine John and Isabel dying without Issue the whole Succession of the Kingdom by the Laws of the Country fell to the next Sister Jane and by this means all the Inheritance of the Duke of Burgundy a most powerful Prince and of Ferdinand King of Spain descended to Charles the Son of Jane for in the Division of the Inheritance the Possessions of the House of Austria fell to Ferdinand So that for many Ages Germany had not had a more Powerful Emperour Charles lost his Father when he was a Child of six Years of Age and his Grand-father Ferdinand when he was about sixteen after whose Death he went into Spain and there continued till being chosen Emperour he came into Germany as shall be said hereafter And since we are now come to this Place it will not be amiss to say somewhat of the manner of chusing the Emperour Charles King of Bohemia and the fourth Emperour of that Name in the Year of our Lord 1356 made a Law concerning this which is called Bulla Aurea the Golden Bull These among others are the Heads of that Law That when the Emperour Dies the Archbishop of Ments so soon as he comes to know of it shall presently Summon the rest of the Electors to meet within three Months on a certain Day at Frankford or to send their Deputies with full Power and Commission for chusing the Emperour or King of the Romans That if the Archbishop of Mentz should be negligent his Colleagues nevertheless should meet within the time aforesaid accompanied with not above two hundred Horse a piece when they enter the Town and of them only fifty with Arms. He who neither comes nor sends his Deputy or departs before the Business is done is to lose his right of Election for that time That the Magistrates of Frankford be true and faithful to the Electors and during their Assembly suffer none besides the Electors and their Families to enter the Town When they are met they are to hear Mass in S. Bartholomew's Church for imploring the Assistance and Grace of the Holy Ghost and then take an Oath to be tendred unto them by the Archbishop of Mentz That they shall not act by vertue of any Compact Bribe Promise or Gratuity afterwards they are to fall to the Business and not depart before an Emperour be chosen that if the matter be protracted longer than thirty Days they shall have no Victuals but Bread and Water allowed them He who is chosen by the greater Part shall be in the same condition as if he had been elected nemine contradicente The Emperour being in this manner chosen the first thing he is to do is To confirm to the Electors all their Priviledges and whatever concerns their Dignity Honour Liberty and Immunity It is moreover provided and enacted that they mutually allow one another free Passage through their Territories what Place they are severally to have in the Dyets and Assemblies of the Empire how Votes are to be taken and what their several Places and Charges are when the Emperour Dines or does any thing else in publick Moreover that in the time of an interreign the Elector Palatine shall have the administration of the Government in Schwabia Franconia and the Circle of the Rhine and the Elector of Saxony in the Circle of Saxony that upon the death of an Elector his eldest Son or Brother-german shall succeed to him that if an Elector be under the Age of eighteen Years his nearest Kinsman by the Father's side shall supply his Place until he be of Age that the Electors meet yearly and consult of the Affairs of the Publick that Frankford be the Place of Election but Aix la Chapelle the Place of the first Instalment and Sclavonian Languages that they may be able to discourse with many Nations We spoke before of the Conditions
to our own Hearts Desires Ye your selves shall plainly see God's helping Hand with you for we shall put all our Enemies to flight In several places of Scripture God hath promised to assist the poor and wretched and to bear down the Ungodly Now this Promise belongeth properly to us for we are poor and afflicted and because we desire to maintain and set forth the Knowledge of God we cannot doubt of Success and Victory Let us on the other hand consider the Condition of our Enemies They are called Princes indeed but in reality are Tyrants they take no Care of you but deprive you of your Goods which they squander away in most wicked and unlawful Courses Among God's peculiar People which he chose of old Kings were not to spend their Wealth unprofitably but were commanded rather to be diligent in turning over the Book of the Laws which God himself made But what do our Tyrants or how do they spend their Time they think not themselves at all concerned with the Publick they hear not the Causes of poor afflicted Men they neglect Justice suffer the High-ways to be infested by Robbers punish not such nor other Offenders neither defend not the Fatherless and Widow and take no care of the Education of Youth They not only neglect God's Worship themselves but also hinder others and mind nothing but the getting of all other Men's Estates to themselves and therefore they daily devise new ways of raising Money not directing their Counsels to the maintaing of Peace but that having enriched themselves they may live in Pride and all sorts of Voluptuousness for it is but too well known what great Stirs and Wars they have raised for very idle and slight Causes whereby at length all that poor Men had left is utterly consumed and destroyed These these are the noble Arts and Virtues of your Princes wherein they exercise themselves it is not therefore to be imagined that God will bear any longer with those things but that as of old he destroyed the Canaanites so will he now root out these For granting that what we have now mentioned might be born with do you think that they 'll go unpunished for defending and maintaining that most abominable Impiety of the Clergy for who knoweth not how great Wickedness is committed in that Trafficking and Bartering with Masses not to mention other things Surely as Christ of old cast the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple so now also will he drive out these Mass-Priests and their Defenders Be therefore strong and valiant and do God good Service in destroying this unprofitable Rout for we see not how we can lawfully and with Safety make Peace with them since they will not leave off their old Courses neither restore to us our Liberty nor suffer the true Worship of God Now it is far better to die than that we should approve their Wickedness and suffer the Doctrin of the Gospel to be taken from us Be then assured that God will be with us and that the Victory will be ours for he himself hath so promised to me he I say who cannot lye nor be deceived commanded me to proceed in this manner and to punish all Magistrates for in this the Power of God is chiefly magnified when a vast multitude of Enemies are destroyed by a small handful of Men It is known to you what Exploits Gideon did with a few Jonathan accompanied only with one Servant and David all alone when he fought against the Giant Goliah who was so terrible in his Looks and Stature Now it is not to be doubted but this Day will be made Famous by a like instance and be spoken of to all Posterity for though we seem not to be so well provided of Arms and other things necessary yet shall we overcome the Enemy and this Frame of Heaven and Earth will sooner change than God will forsake us So was the Nature of the Sea changed of old that the Israelites might escape from Pharaoh who pursued them Be not now moved at the suggestions of your own Reason neither be troubled at a certain Shadow and Appearance of Danger that stands in your way but fight valiantly against poor wicked and accursed Enemies and be not afraid of their great Guns for in my Coat will I catch all the Bullets that they shall shoot at you See ye not how gracious God is unto us behold a manifest Sign and Token of his perpetual Good-will towards us lift up your Eyes and see that Rain-bow in the Clouds for seeing we have the same painted in our Banner God plainly declares by that Representation which he shews us from on high That he will stand by us in the Battle and that he will utterly destroy our Enemies fall on then couragiously and with certain Hope of Divine Aid for God will have us to have no Peace with the Wicked For all this Speech his Men were generally in horror and consternation because of the greatness of the present danger but all things were carried on in a tumultuary manner without Order or certain Command Besides there were some bold and profligate Rogues among them fitted for any villany These being naturally inclined to all sorts of mischief were the more inflamed by that Sermon But nothing excited them more than the Rain-bow which as has been said appeared in the Clouds and which they lookt upon as a certain Sign of Victory Besides they were about Eight thousand strong and the place commodious for making a Defence Wherefore these Blades I now mentioned gave a shout calling to all to Arm and bravely advance against the Enemy and withal singing a Hymn wherein they implored the assistance of the Holy Ghost There had been sent to them before a young Gentleman of Quality whom Muncer contrary to the Law of Arms and of Nations caused to be put to Death The Princes being the more exasperated by this gave the Signal of Battel and drew up their Men in order Then Philip Langrave of Hesse though the Youngest rode about the Army exhorting the Soldiers to behave themselves valiantly for that though all they laid to their Charge were true yet it was not lawful for private Men to rise in Arms against their Magistrates as might be proved by many places of Scripture That however he would not excuse neither his own Faults nor those of other Princes That he confessed there were failings and many things that ought to be reformed but that nevertheless Men ought to abstain from Rebellion for that God hath strictly commanded that the Magistrate should be honored That whereas they complained that they were overcharged with Burthens that could be no lawful ground for them to renounce their Duty and Allegiance though yet if things were rightly examined it would be found that they had no cause of Complaining That they paid indeed Subsidies and Customs but for that they enjoyed on the other had many Advantages That they had Houses Wives and Children
at present and the rather that he was informed his Highness was not the Author of the Book written against him but that it was the work of some busie and crafty Sophisters And here taking occasion to speak of the Cardinal of York he calls him The Plague of England He heard also he said to his great satisfaction that His Highness disliked that sort of naughty Men and applied his mind to the knowledge of the Truth Wherefore he prayed him to pardon what he had done and consider that he himself being a Mortal Man ought not to entertain Immortal Enmity That if he pleased to lay his Commands upon him he would make a publick acknowledgment of his fault and wrote another Book in Praise of his Princely Vertues Then he intreats his Highness not to listen to the Suggestions of Slanders who called him a Heretick since the summ of his Doctrin was this That we must be saved by Faith in Christ who bore the punishment of our Sins in his own Body who having died and risen again for us reigns for ever with his Father which was the Doctrin of all the Prophets and Apostles That having laid this for a Foundation he taught the Duties of Charity what we ought to do for one another how we ought to obey the Magistrate and suit our whole Life to the Profession of the Gospel That if there was any Error or Impiety in that Doctrin why did not the Adversaries make it out Why did they condemn and excommunicate him before he was heard and convicted That therefore he wrote against the Pope of Rome and his Adherents because they taught contrary to Christ and his Apostles for their own Gain and Profit that they might rule and domineer over all others and wallow in Luxury and Pleasures for that all their Thoughts and Actions tended only to this scope which was so notoriously known also that they themselves could not deny it But would they mend their Manners and not lead such a lazy and sensual life to the prejudice and loss of other Men the difference might easily be brought to an end That since a great many Princes and free Cities of Germany approved his Doctrin and thankfully acknowledged God's Blessing in it he earnestly wished His Highness might he reckoned one of that number But that the Emperor and some others made themselves his Enemies it was no new thing That David had prophesied many Ages since That Kings and People should conspire against the Lord and his anointed and cast off his Laws That for his own part when he considered such places of Scripture he wondered to see that any Prince favoured the Doctrin of the Gospel Last of all he humbly desired that His Highness would be pleased to give him a gracious Answer Not long after he wrote also to George Duke of Saxony That it was God's usual way at first to correct Men sharply and severely but afterwards tenderly to embrace and cherish them That he struck the Jews with fear and terror when he delivered the Law by Moses but afterwards sent them glad Tydings by the Preaching of the Gospel That he himself also having followed that method had dealt a little too roughly with some and with him among the rest but that in the mean while he had written some things full of Fruit and Consolation whence it might be easily perceived that he took all that pains out of no ill-will to any but that he might do good to all That he was informed however that his Grace did not at all relent in the anger and offence which he had conceived against him but was more and more exasperated daily which was the reason why now he wrote unto him That he earnestly begg'd of him he would desist from opposing his Doctrin not truly for his own sake who had nothing to lose but his Life but chiefly for his sake whose Salvation lay at stake for seeing he was certainly persuaded that his Doctrin agreed with the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles he was therefore very much concerned for his Grace who so bitterly hated and persecuted him He admonished him also not to regard the meanness of his Person for that the business was not his but the work of the Almighty God and though all Men should storm and rage yet that Doctrin would abide for ever and that therefore he was the more grieved when he saw him so incensed and offended thereat That he could not forsake this his Station but seeing he was willing to gratifie him in any thing else he humbly begg'd his Pardon for that he had said some things too sharply against him That he on other hand would pray God to forgive his Grace for his Contempt and Persecution of the Gospel and made no doubt but that his Prayers would be heard provided he would leave off in time and not endeavour to put out that Light which by God's Blessing now shone in the World for that if he went on in that way of Cruelty he would implore the assistance of God against him and then he would understand too late what it was to withstand the Majesty of Heaven That he had a firm and undoubted confidence in God's Promises and knew that his Prayer was more powerful than all the Arts and Snares of the Devil and that he always had his Refuge to it as to a most strong Castle and Rock of Defence The King of England having received Luther's Letter we mentioned before returned him a sharp Answer upbraiding him with Levity and Inconstancy He also owned his Book which he said had been very well liked of by many good and learned Men That it was no strange thing to him that he should revile the Reverend Father the Cardinal of York since he stood not in awe to reproach both Saints and Men That the Cardinal's Services were very useful both to him and the whole Kingdom also And that as he had loved him very well before he would now entertain a far greater Kindness for him since he was calumniated and accused by him That among other useful Services his Eminence did also this good office that he was zealous and diligent in preventing the Leprosie and Contagion of his Heresie from infecting any part of his Dominions Afterwards he reproaches him for his Incestuous Marriage than which no fouler Crime could be committed This Cardinal was one Thomas Woolsey a Man of mean Birth but in high Favour with the King of England Duke George of Saxony also made such an Answer to Luther as it might easily appear how much he hated him When the French Embassadors that were sent to Spain to treat of Peace among whom was Margaret the King 's own Sister a Widow could effect nothing Aloisia the Queen Mother who had the Regency of the Kingdom for her own Security prevailed with King Henry to enter into Alliance and Amity with her and this was concluded about the latter end of August The chief
Article of that League was That they should resist the Invasions of the Turk and the Sect of Luther which was as dangerous as the violence of the Turk The Cardinal of England who could do any thing with the King was thought to have persuaded his Majesty to this Alliance for he bore no good-will to the Emperor because he look'd upon him as the cause why after the Death of Adrian he was not chosen Pope as the Imperialists have given it out in their Writings When Luther had read the King of England's Answer which was Printed and therein found Inconstancy objected unto him as if he had changed his Opinion in Matters of Religion which he looked upon not only as a private Injury done to himself but also to the Reformed Religion It much troubled him he said that to gratifie his Friends he had written so submissively unto him That Christiern King of Denmark had not left off to entreat and advise him both Personally and by Letters that he would write obligingly and had told him so much of his courteous Disposition that he had put him in hopes that being gently dealt with he would receive the Reformed Religion but that now he was sensible of his Error That he had been just so served by Cardinal Cajetane George Duke of Saxony and Erasmus of Rotterdam to whom at the desire of others he had written affectionately and all that he got by it was to render them more fierce and untractable That it was a foolish thing for him to imagin to find godliness in the Courts of Princes to look for Christ where Satan bore rule and to enquire after St. John Baptist among Courtiers who were clad in Purple That therefore since he could do no good by that gentle and loving way of Writing he would take another course for the future The French King being anxious and troubled in thoughts that the Treaty of Peace did not go forward fell into a fit of Sickness but being encouraged by the Emperor's discourse who bid him be of good cheer and hope the best he began at length to be somewhat better The Emperor also considering with himself what a great loss it would be unto him if he should chance to die inclined daily more and more to Peace So that January the Fourteenth all things were at length concluded at Madrid and in the Treaty of Peace it is stipulated among other things that the Emperor and King shall endeavour to extirpate the Enemies of the Christian Religion and the Heresies of the Sect of the Lutherans In like manner That Peace being made betwixt them they should settle the Affairs of the Publick and make War against the Turk and Hereticks excommunicated by the Church for that it was above all things necessary and that the Pope had often solicited and advised them to bestir themselves therein That therefore in compliance with his desires they resolved to entreat him that he would appoint a certain day when the Embassadors and Deputies of all Kings and Princes might meet in a convenient place with full Power and Commission to treat of such measures as might seem proper for undertaking a War against the Turk and also for rooting out Hereticks the Enemies of the Church Again that he would give leave to those Princes who laboured in so holy and pious a Work to collect and raise the Money which was usual and customary in such cases and also that he would impose a Tax upon the Clergy for the same purpose In this Pacification Eleanor the Emperor's Sister who had been married to Emanuel King of Portugal was affianced to the French King. The Emperor promised in Dowry with her Two hundred thousand Ducats and some Places in Upper Burgundy which were in Controversie betwixt them The King on the other hand promised within two Months after his return into France to deliver up to the Emperor the Duchy of Burgundy which the Kings of France had held ever since the Death of Charles Duke of Burgundy almost now fifty Years Besides he renounced all Right and Title to Naples Milan Asta Genoua and Flanders That he should not aid nor assist Henry King of Navarre Charles Duke of Gueldres Vlrick Duke of Wirtemberg nor Robert Count of Mark That he should carry on no secret Designs in Italy That when the Emperor had a mind to go into Italy he should assist him with a Navy of sixteen Galleys fitted out and equipped with all things necessary except Soldiers and also Two hundred thousand Crowns to Arm and Man them That the King should pay the yearly Pension which the Emperor was bound by Agreement to pay to the King of England That he should restore Charles Duke of Bourbonne and his Associates to all their Rights Lands and Possessions suffering them to enjoy their Estates and live where they pleased And that the King should at any time stand a Tryal at Law with the Duke of Bourbonne for the Province of Marseillies to which he claims a Title The King having sworn to the Emperour to observe these Conditions was set at liberty and returned home but upon his passing the Borders of Spain he left behind him his two Sons Francis and Henry little Boys as Hostages according as it had been agreed upon and in case he should fail in performance of Articles he promised to deliver himself up Prisoner again After this the Princes of Germany in great Numbers met at Spire according to appointment as we told you in the former Book among whom also was John Elector of Saxony and Philip Landgrave of Hesse The Emperour's Deputies were Ferdinand his Brother Bernard Bishop of Trent Casimire Marquess of Brandenburg Philip Marquess of Baden William Duke of Bavaria and Erick Duke of Brunswick When these had opened the Dyet June 25 and had told the Reasons why the Emperour had called it they farther added That above all things it was the Emperours Will and Command That the States of the Empire would with unanimous Consent take some course how the Christian Religion and the ancient Rites and Customs of the Church might be entirely and universally retained Again How they were to be punished and curbed that acted to the contrary if peradventure they should make use of Force And how also mutual Aid and Assistance was to be given that the Emperour's Edict of Wormes published five Years before and the Decree of the present Dyet might be observed and put in execution When a Committee of all the Princes and States had been chosen to treat of these things among whom were the Landgrave James Sturmey of Strasburg and Cress of Norimberg the Emperour's Deputies again assemble all the States August 3 and tell them That they understood there was a Committee of the whole appointed to confer among themselves about the matters proposed who as they supposed would first consult about Religion but that the Emperour's Will and Pleasure might be obeyed and that they might
and Designs of his Enemies That when Francis Sforza was by his Generals besieged in the Castle of Milan and some great Men invited him to enter into a League he had not listned to them But that he was now very ill requited for all these good Offices for that his Soldiers had done great Injuries and given great Affronts both to him and the Church of Rome Again That he had neither performed Conditions nor repaid the Money that was advanced upon that account That the Aversion he had also to him sufficiently appeared in that he concealed from him the Conditions upon which he had made Peace with the King of France That he had obstinately rejected all the Intercessions made by him for Sforza That in Spain and Naples he had made Laws derogatory to the Liberty of the Roman Church and his own Dignity and that having sent the Duke of Bourbonne to the Siege of Marseilles he had raised a new War in Italy That for these Reasons therefore he had been obliged to enter into a League with some who loved the Peace and Welfare of Italy That if he also was desirous of Peace and would imbrace it well and good but if not That he wanted neither Force nor Power to defend Italy and the Interest of Rome The King of England was comprehended in this League and with great Promises invited to be Protector of it To this Letter of his the Emperour wrote an answer from Granada dated September 18 wherein he represented unto him How much he had deserved at his Hands as that by his Intercession and Assistance he had been made Pope That when he was chosen Emperour he would not accept it till Leo X had approved the Election and also owned his Right to the Kingdom of Naples but that he afterwards and Albert Prince of Carpi had by Leo's Orders attempted several things against him and entring into a League with the French had used all their Endeavours to get Naples and Sicily out of his hands That afterwards when the Times changed and the French in vain attempted Regio in Modena a Town depending on the Pope he with the Assistance of Pope Leo's Troops had made War against the King of France in which War his Holiness himself was Legate from Pope Leo and at that time had from him for a Reward a yearly Pension of ten thousand Ducats out of the Revenues of the Archbishop of Toledo That the French being beat out of Italy by the Conduct of the Duke of Bourbonne he could not deny him the Liberty of making War in France that he might recover what the French King had taken from him because of his Revolting But that after the Siege of Marseilles was raised the French King had at the Instigation of his Holiness himself as most Men affirmed renewed the War in Lumbardy That Naples indeed held of the See of Rome nevertheless said he should you make War in those places you would thereby lose all your Right and Title for that the same Reasons which make a Vassal and Feudatary lose his Fief make the Sovereign Lord lose also his Dominion Before the French King was taken you did indeed mediate for a Peace but your design was That under a Colour of Sequestration you might get into the Possession of the Dutchy of Milan and therefore the Venetians and Florentines influenced by you withdrew their Auxiliary Forces which they were bound by League to furnish For the French King both openly confesses That being sollicited by you he had made a new League before he returned home out of Spain and I have certain Intelligence also That you have absolved him from the Oath whereby he stands obliged to me Besides you have attacked me in a Hostile manner before the Letter wherein you denounce War came to my Hands And you have laid a Design not only to drive me out of Italy but also to degrade me from the Imperial Dignity This I can prove by the Letters of Ferdinand D' Avalos Marquess of Pescara whom you inticed into that League with a Promise of the Kingdom of Naples I have Right to challenge the Dutchy of Milan for more Reasons than one and nevertheless for the sake of the Peace of Italy I suffered Sforza to enjoy it and when he was dangerously sick would have put the Duke of Bourbonne in his Place perceiving that it would be acceptable to you and the rest of Italy Now that he was blockt up in the Castle of Milan the Reason was Because he had incurred the Crime of High Treason by making a League with you and that the Conspiracy being detected he would neither deliver up the Castles of Cromona nor Milan to my Officers nor yet purge himself of the Crimes objected to him and stand a fair Tryal Your Demand was That I should freely pardon him all but that I neither could nor ought to do lest I might thereby give a bad Example for Vassals to rebel against their Sovereigns and Lords If my Soldiers took Provisions and other Necessaries from the People of Parma and Piacenza it is not to be thought strange because these Cities belong to the Dominion of Milan and not at all to the Church of Rome As to the Peace made with France I concealed nothing of it from your Ministers for the Conditions are such as I would not have them to be-kept secret for they tend both to the maintaining the Peace of the Publick and to the restraining of the Enemy of Christendom Those few Laws made in Spain aim only at this That the Rights of Patronage which were granted to me by Pope Adrian may be suppressed at Rome But see the baseness of the thing Rome receives more Money and Profits out of my Kingdoms and Provinces than from all Christendom beside That may be proved by the Demands of the Princes of Germany when complaining heavily of the Court of Rome they desired a Remedy to their Grievances But out of the Respect I bore to the Church of Rome at that time I slighted their Complaints which being so and seeing I have given you no cause of Offence I earnestly desire you to desist from Hostility I shall do the like And seeing God hath set us up as two great Luminaries let us endeavour that the World may be enlightned by us and that no Eclipse may happen by our Dissentions Let us consider the whole state of Christendom and think of resisting Infidels and of suppressing the Sect and Errours of the Lutherans In this the Glory of God is concerned and here we should begin Afterwards let other Affairs and Controversies be heard you shall always find me ready to assist you But if I cannot prevail and you will needs go on like a Warriour I Protest and Appeal to a Council that all Quarrels may be therein decided and demand that it may speedily be called What he says of Luminaries he borrows it from the Words of Pope Innocent III who said That God
created two great Lights the one to rule by Day and the other by night which he applyed to the Papal and Royal Dignities But that that Power which ruled in Divine and Spiritual Matters far excelled the other which medled only in Civil and Temporal Affairs And that there was as great a difference betwixt the Offices of a Pope and a King as betwixt the Sun and Moon This Decree is extant under the Title de Majoritate Obedientia When the Emperour had thus answered the Pope he wrote also to the Colledge of Cardinals October 6 That he had conceived great Grief of Mind to hear that Pope Clement was confederated with the French King who was making War against him a fresh That he had written very Hostile Letters unto him which he supposed was done by their unanimous Advice and Consent and that he was very far from expecting any such thing since there was no King to be found more zealous for the Interest of the Church of Rome than he was that Parma and Piacenza were instances of that which being Imperial Cities and lately dismembred from the Empire he had restored them to the Church though in Law he was not obliged to do so That all the Princes and States of Germany had at Wormes made heavy Complaints to him of many Injuries of the Court of Rome and then desired that they might be redressed but because he had been born and bred with a singular love to the Church of Rome he had not given car to their Demands And when greater Troubles arising thereupon afterwards and many Tumults and Riots happening through Germany the Princes had for that Reason appointed another Dyet he had under severe Penalties prohibited them to assemble because their Deliberations would have been prejudicial to the Pope and Church of Rome And that to sweeten and appease them at that time he had given them Hopes of a future General Council That the Pope therefore did him great Injury who had done so much for his Holiness as that thereby he had much alienated from himself the Hearts of the Nobility of Germany That he had written seriously unto him about all these matters and advised him to call a General Council That therefore it was his desire to them That they would admonish him of his Duty and exhort him to Peace rather than War But that if he refused or delayed the calling of a Council longer than it was fit and reasonable that then they should forthwith call it For that if Christendom should sustain Prejudice either for want of a Council or for not having it called in due time it ought not to be laid to his charge We told you How it had been lately decreed at Spire That Ambassadours should be sent to the Emperour in Spain but the News of the Overthrwo in Hungary coming soon after the Princes thought themselves obliged to use Expedition and that they might have a nearer way to pass to the Emperour they desired of the French King That he would allow their Ambassadours a free Passage through his Kingdom He condescended prefixing a certain time for that as shall be said hereafter and withal took occasion to write unto them October 6 That he was extreamly troubled at the Turks late Invasion of Hungary the Fatal Death of King Lewis and the great Danger of Germany That he was no less sorry for the Civil War that had broke out to the Ruine of the Publick That it was not his Fault that Christendon was not at quiet but that the Emperour was to be blamed for it who rejected Honest and most equitable Conditions of Peace And that seeing he was not moved neither by the publick Calamities nor by the unfortunate Death of his own Brother-in-law King Lewis and the sad condition of his Widow-sister nor yet considered in how great Danger Austria was it would be their Duty and well done in them if they could incline and persuade him to Peace to live in Amity with neighbouring Kings and Princes and to set Bounds to his Ambition for that that would make more for his Glory than by overturning the States of others to aspire to an universal Monarchy That his Ancestors Kings of France had often maintained Wars against the Enemies of the Christian Religion and that if the Emperour pleased the same might now be done with united Strength That if they could prevail then and obtain that of him he would be ready to employ all his Force nay his own person also against the Turk But if not that he was not to be blamed if he endeavoured to recover by Arms what he could not do by fair means for that it was the Emperour's part rather to sue for Peace who lay much nearer the Danger of the Turks than he did When the Emperour came to know of this Letter he wrote to the Princes November 29 and in the first place acquaints them How kind and gracious he had been to the French King when he was his Prisoner how he had given him both his Liberty and in Marriage also his eldest Sister and second in degree of Succession to him But that when all things were quieted as he supposed and that he was preparing to go into Italy that he might bend all his Forces against the perpetual Enemy of Christendom the French King breaking his Faith and entring into a League with Pope Clement and some others who had already in their Hopes anticipated the Kingdom of Naples and divided it betwixt them had renewed a most formidable War And that therefore he could not protect Hungary against the Fury of the Turks as being necessitated to defend his own Borders That what the French King pretended of his Sorrow for the Death of King Lewis and the Calamity of Hungary was downright Hypocrisie and Dissimulation which he used to the intent he might stop the Mouths of those who constantly affirmed from intercepted Letters that at his Solicitation the Turk had undertaken this War That during his Captivity and afterwards when he was set at Liberty and returned home he had by Letters obliged himself to observe the Articles of the Treaty That he had promised to him the same by Word of Mouth when he departed out of Spain But that because he had a Kingdom lying in the Heart of Christendom he wantonly disturbed the Publick Peace and among his Triumphs reckoned the Turkish Victories in Hungary And that he alone was to be blamed That he did not in Person come into Germany that nevertheless he would endeavour that Aid should be sent against the Turk with all expedition That in the last place he made no doubt but that they were well enough acquainted with the Tricks of the French for that it was their common and usual way to sow the Seeds of Discord in all places and make their Profit of the Quarrels and Dissentions of others Besides the Letter before mentioned there was also published an Apology in defence of the
therefore stick to that and make it their Endeavour That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament should be plainly and purely taught That this alone was the Sure and Infallible Way but that the Traditions of Men were no sure Ground to build upon That the Decree of the last Dyet was made for Peace and Concord's sake but that if the present Decree should be in Force it would open a way to great Troubles and Discontents for that now since whilst that Decree of Wormes was still in suspense some Princes pretended to the Estates of their Subjects as forfeited for not observing the Edict it might be easily understood what would be done if the same Edict were again established and some of the other Princes and States should by Force attempt to compel them to those things which they could not perform with a safe Conscience That moreover it was not fairly alledged That the Decree of the last Dyet was conceived in such Words that most men in the mean time did abuse it and thought they might do what they pleased until the meeting of a Council These being Rumors spread by those who stood but little in awe of the last Judgment when all things should be made manifest That for their own Parts they were willing to answer such as would accuse them of transgressing that Decree before any impartial Judges And that therefore since the Case was so they did not assent to this Decree of theirs but would give Reasons for what they did openly to all Men and to the Emperour himself and that in the mean time till the meeting of a General or Provincial Council of Germany they would not act any thing which they could not maintain by Law That after all they were not ignorant neither of their Duty as to what was decreed concerning living in Peace not invading other Men's Possessions Anabaptists and Printers c. Some of the chief Cities after consultation had joyned with the Princes in this Protestation as Strasburg Norimberg Vlm Constance Ruteling Winshaim Memmingen Lindaw Kempen Hailbrun Isne Weissemburg Norlingen and San-Gall And this is the Original of the Name of Protestants which is famous and common not only in Germany but also amongst Foreign Nations King Ferdinand was gone out of the Assembly before this Protestation was made though he had been desired by the Elector of Saxony and his Associates to stay a little Afterwards the Protestants drew up and published a kind of an Appeal wherein having related what had been done they at length appeal from all the Proceedings of the Dyet of Spire and the Decree there made to the Emperour to a Lawful General Council or Provincial Synod of Germany and in short to all impartial and unsuspected Judges determining withal to send Ambassadours to the Emperour Not long after those of Zurich and Berne took the Field with an Army against their Enemies the five Cantons whom we mentioned a little before and the Zurichers published a Declaration of the Reasons and Causes that moved them to do so instancing many Injuries done by them and among the rest that in the Canton of Switz some of their People who came to demand Money due unto them had been whipt That they of Vnderwalt had hung up their Arms and the Arms of Berne Basil and City of Strasburg upon the Gallows That they all also had made a League with King Ferdinand for the Suppression of the Reformed Religion wherein they said It was stipulated That what Lands of theirs on this side the Rhine should be taken by the Assistance of King Ferdinand should all belong to them from whence it may be easily seen say they that it is their Design to cast us out of our Country by the Aid and Assistance of Foreigners Wherein they not only violate the Law of Nature but their Covenants and Agreements also when to our Ruine they conspire with the most Ancient and Implacable Enemy that our Nation hath against whom for so many Years even from the beginning of our League we have so unanimously joyned all our Strength and Force When the Armies on both sides had taken the Field and were incamped by the Mediation of their Neighbours and of the City of Strasburg also the matter was accommodated and both laid down their Arms. King Ferdinand had sent them Auxiliary Forces which were advanced as far as the Rhine It was agreed upon betwixt them That they should make no War one against another upon account of Religion and that for the future they should abstain from Railing and opprobious Words under a severe Penalty The French King being affected with the condition of his Children whom he had left Hostages in Spain and his unsuccessful Wards in Italy where he had lately lost an Army and his General Lautreck as we said having likewise lost Andrea d' Auria a Genoese and most Famous Sea-Commander who much about the time that Lautreck dyed revolted to the Emperour and regained the Liberty of his Country began to incline to Peace Wherefore at Cambray a City of Hainault there met Margaret the Emperour's Aunt Aloisia the French King's Mother and many Nobles among whom was Erard de la Warch Cardinal and Bishop of Liege and in the Month of August concluded a Peace wherein that Resolution taken in Spain three Years before as hath been said against the Lutherans was revived and confirmed The other Conditions were partly altered for the Emperour resigned Burgundy to the French King in case he had a Son by his Sister and the King was to pay for the Ransome of his Sons to the Emperour twenty hundred thousand Crowns therein comprehending the Debt due to the King of England Not long after the Emperour came to Genoua from Spain and at the same time Solyman the Emperour of the Turks being invited by Jerome Alasky a Polonian of extraordinary Parts sent for that end Ambassadour from John the Vaivode marched through Hungary with a most numerous Army into Austria where laying Siege before Vienna the chief City thereof September 13 and having by battering and springing of Mines made a Breach in the Walls he gave the Assault but the Garison under the Command of Philip Prince Palatine making a brave Defence October 16 he raised the Siege having lost many thousands of his Men in the Retreat who were partly slain and partly made Slaves But upon his Departure he made the Vaivode King at Buda A new kind of Disease also invaded Germany this Year for Men being taken with a Pestilential Sweating either dyed within four and twenty Hours or if they sweated out the Poyson recovered by degrees their Health again but before any Remedy could be found for it many thousands perished The Distemper in a very short space of time spread it self from the Ocean all over Germany and with incredible celerity like a Fire raged far and near It is commonly called The Sweating Sickness of England
been any need of his counsel Now that he might in his absence contribute what he could to the Publick Good he wrote a Book to the Bishops and other Prelates in that Dyet laying before them the state of the Church under the Roman Papacy how it had been overspread with thick Darkness Impious Doctrin and Foul Errours and admonishing them of their Duty in most weighty and serious Words he upbraids them with Cruelty and Bloody-mindedness Moreover he exhorts them not to let slip the Occasion of healing the Evil alledging That since his Doctrin agreed with the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles all counsels taken against God would be in vain Whilst the Emperour and Papists were thus venting their Rage and Threats against the Protestants Melanchthon was very much dejected and disconsolate not indeed for his own sake but Posterities and those who were to come after and wholly gave himself over to Grief Sighing and Tears But when this came to Luther's Knowledge he endeavoured to Comfort and Chear him up by several Letters and seeing this was not the Work of Man but of God Almighty he advises him to lay aside all Thoughtfulness and Anxiety and cast the whole Burthen of it upon him And why said he do you in this manner Afflict and Torment your self If God gave his own Son for us why do we Doubt and Fear why are we cast down and dismayed Is Satan stronger than he Will he who has bestowed so great a Blessing upon us forsake us in smaller Matters Why are we afraid of the World which Christ hath overcome If we maintain a bad Cause why do we not change our Mind If it be Just and Holy why do we distrust God's Promises Certainly the Devil can take nothing from us but our Life but Christ liveth and reigneth for ever who taketh upon him the Defence and Protection of the Truth he will not cease to be with us until the consummation of all things If he be not with us pray where is he to be found If we be not of the Church do you think that the Pope and the rest of our Adversaries are Sinners we are 't is true and that in many things yet Christ is not therefore a Lyer whose Cause we maintain Let Kings and the Nations fret and rage as much as they please he that dwelleth in Heaven shall hold them in Derision God hath hitherto without our Counsel governed and protected this Cause he also will henceforward bring it to the desired end What you write of the Laws and Traditions of Men may easily be answered For it is not lawful for any Man to appoint or chuse a new Work as the Worship of God since both the first Commandment and all the Prophets condemn such Works They may indeed be a bodily Exercise but if they come once to be worshiped they become Idolatrous As for any Reconciliation it is in vain hoped for for neither can we depose the Pope nor can the True Religion be safe so long as Popery continues That ye give the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in Both kinds and yield not to the Adversaries in that who will have it to be indifferent you do well for it is not in our Power to appoint or tolerate any thing in the Church which cannot be defended by the Word of God. We condemn the whole Church cry they But we say That the Church was unwillingly surprised and oppressed by the Tyranny of a divided and half-Sacrament and is therefore to be excused in the same manner as the whole Synagogue was to be excused when being captive in Babylon it observed not the Law and other Rites of Moses for it was hindered by Force that it could not Take special heed that ye grant not too great a Jurisdiction to Bishops lest more Trouble ensue thereupon hereafter For my part I dislike all this Treaty about accommodating the Difference in Religion for it is all Labour in vain unless the Pope would utterly abolish his Kingdom If they condemn our Doctrin why do we seek for an Uniformity if they approve it why are the Ancient Errours retained but they openly condemn it All they do then is but Sham and Dissimulation They take a great deal of Pains as it appears about Ceremonies But let them first restore the Doctrin of Faith and Works Let them suffer the Church to have Ministers that will perform the necessary Duties They require that Monks may be again put into possession but let them on the other hand give us back so many Innocent and Pious Men whom they have slain let them restore so many Souls lost by Impious and Erroneous Doctrin let them restore those great Revenues got by Fraud and Knavery let them in short restore the Glory of God dishonoured by so many Reproaches When once they have made Satisfaction as to these things then will we reason the case with them who has the best right to the Goods of the Church Since the chief and almost sole difference betwixt Luther and some others was about the Lord's Supper as we have said before and that that exceedingly rejoyced the Papists as it grieved the others Bucer with the consent of the Elector of Saxony and his own Magistrates went from Ausburg to Luther to attempt a Reconciliation and had a very fair Answer from him insomuch that he made a Progress from thence to Zuinglius and the Switzers that he might essay to unite them more closely in Mind and Opinion This then being the state of Affairs and all things tending to Stirs and Troubles the Landgrave concluded a League for six Years with the Cities of Zurich Basil and Strasburg That if any Violence should be offered upon the account of Religion they should mutually aid and assist one another And this League was made in the Month of November At the same time the Emperour wrote to the Elector of Saxony commanding him to come to Cologne by the 21 day of December about difficult and weighty Affairs â—elating to the Publick The same Day he received this Letter which was November 28 he had a Messenger with Letters from the Archbishop of Mentz the design whereof was to acquaint him That the Emperour had desired of him that he would assemble the Princes Electors about the election of a King of the Romans and therefore he cited him to be present at Cologne December 29. This thing being known the Duke of Saxony forthwith dispatched Letters to the Landgrave and the rest of the Protestant Princes and Cities praying them to meet at Smalcalde December 22 but in the mean time he sent away in all haste his Son John Frederick with some of his Counsellors to Cologne that they might be present at the Day appointed by the Emperour To them he gave Orders to represent That the Citation of the Archbishop of Mentz was not legally made and that this same creation of a King of the Romans was a signal Violation of
the Right and Liberty of the Empire and of the Statute of the Emperour Charles IV And that therefore he did not ratifie nor approve that Proceeding When all met at Smalcalde they drew up the Draught of a League not Offensive but altogether for their own Defence This was immediately signed by the Princes as also by Albert and Gebard Counts of Mansfield the Cities of Magdeburg and Bremen but Strasburg Vlm Constance Lindaw Memmingen Kempen Hailbrun Ruteling Bibrach and Isne engaged only so far as that they would acquaint their Principles therewith and give the rest a positive Answer within six Weeks what they intended to do It was agreed upon to write to George Marquess of Brandenburg and the City of Norimberg because their Deputies had no Commission to act in that affair It was likewise decreed That Ambassadours should be sent to sollicit the King of Denmark and the Dukes of Pomerania and Mecklenburg as also the Cities of Hamburg Embden Northeime Frankford Brunswick Gottingen Minden Hannover Hildesheim Lubeck Stetin and other Maritime Cities When the Pope understood what the Issue of this Imperial Dyet was he wrote among others to the King of Poland That he had fully hoped the Presence and Authority of the Emperour would either have quite crushed or at least quieted Luther's Heresie That he had been put into this Hope from the very first time the Emperour came into Italy which had been the chief Cause why he went to Bolonia that he might spur him on though he was forward enough of himself For if that had succeeded it would have secured Religion and the Salvation of a great many who were in great Danger through that Heresie and then ways might have been found out for resisting the Fury of the Turks But now that he understood by Letters both from the Emperour and his own Legate that they were so far from being reclaimed they were more and more hardened he who sat at the Helm to steer the Ship of S. Peter in so tempestuous a time and bore the greatest share of all the Care and Trouble having consulted with the Cardinals could not think of any safer Remedy than that which his Predecessors had had recourse unto to wit a General Council That therefore he gave him warning that when this Design should be accomplished he would either be present himself or by his Ambassadours promote so Holy a Cause for that so soon as possibly he could he would call a Council to meet in some convenient Place in Italy This Brief was dated December 1. The Confederate Princes we named wrote to the Emperour from Smalcalde December 24 That they heard and it was commonly reported That he had a Design to have his Brother Ferdinand chosen King of the Romans a Dignity which he solicitously courted and canvassed for That it was a thing now known to all Men what Power and Right the Princes Electors had in that affair by virtue of the Statute of the Emperour Charles IV when upon the Death of the Emperour another was to be chosen in the Name of the whole Body of the Empire That nevertheless his Majesty being alive and in Health and no such case having as yet happened the Princes Electors had been summoned by the Archbishop of Mentz to meet at Cologne towards the latter end of this Month quite contrary to the Proscript of the Law and the Custom of the Empire That they likewise heard That at his Request the rest of the Electors were also to be there that Ferdinand's Suit and Pretention might be carried by way of Anticipation and Compact so that this being the Report that went far and near they thought good to represent a few things unto his Majesty and that though they had rather abstain from this kind of Discourse yet for the Love they bore to him and the Liberty of their Country handed down to them from their Ancestors and then in consideration that in this Decrepit Age of the World many things were surreptitiously and craftily brought to pass they could not otherwise chuse but do it That in the first place then his Majesty knew how seriously and solemnly and by what express Words and Articles he had bound and obliged himself to the Empire How he had promised by Oath to observe the Caroline Constitution on which the Liberty of the Empire chiefly depended how he had stipulated neither to act any thing himself contrary thereunto nor suffer others to do it which were Compacts and Promises that could not be violated broken nor changed unless with the Advice and Consent of all the States But that now if whilst he was alive a King of the Romans should be chosen and that his own Brother too who canvassed and made suit for it he himself could not but see that it was plainly contrary to Law contrary to the Right and Liberty of the Empire and contrary to his Compact and Stipulation and the Faith and Promise whereby he bound himself to the State Nay and how convenient and uneasie it must also be both to himself and the whole Empire when at the self same time there would be two Lords and Masters to be obeyed And that seeing they would take it very ill if they themselves should either be upbraided with the Breach of Faith and Promise or with Baseness in not defending the Rights and Liberty of the Government therefore they most earnestly besought his Majesty to impute this their Letter to the love they bore to him and their native Country and the present state of the Times That he would reflect upon things past and according to Duty interpose his Authority for preventing the Election of any new King weighing seriously with himself what Evils and Inconveniences might follow thereupon unless a Remedy were applyed in time That they would write of these things to the rest of the Electors also and were in good Hopes they would do what was expedient for the Commonwealth and endeavour to prevent any Rupture or Division among the States That in fine they were ready to serve his Majesty and do for him to the utmost of their Power Afterwards the Duke of Saxony wrote by himself to the rest of the Princes his Collegues That since he was cited by the Archbishop of Mentz to appear at Cologne he had therefore sent thither his Son and some Counsellors that in his Name they might propound and act what should be thought needful That he believed they had heard already part of his Thoughts from them and should hear the rest on December 29 That however he prayed them to desist from their Purpose and consider with him What Prejudices and Inconveniencies that Action would bring with it both to themselves and to their Posterity also through the Violation of the Rights Dignity and Liberty of the Empire That it was his Desire also That in those things which his Son and Counsellors might treat of with them they would so behave themselves as
seems to him not only most equitable but also most safe for the Publick which must needs be brought into a most miserable condition should the matter come to be determin'd by Arms. What he speaks concerning the Affinity between Germany and France is thus made out The German Franks that were Borderers upon Schwaben having made an Irruption and over-run those of Triers Kesel Morini Hainault Amiens Beauvais and Soissons set down at length in that part of Gaul which from them was called France and retains it's name till this very time of which Province Paris is the Capital City And when many of their Kings had reigned there by Succession and enlarg'd their Borders the Government at length descended to King Pipin and his Son Charles who for the vastness of his Exploits was call'd The Great he when he was the fourth time at Rome was by the Pope and all the People saluted August Emperor and took Possession of Germany Italy and France his Son Lewis also and those that descended from him were Kings of France Hither it is therefore that King Francis traces his Original and derives his Pedigree from the Stock of the Franks The same Wheedle he some years since made use of when after the death of Maximilian he affected the Imperial Dignity For knowing that the ascent to this Honour was precluded to all Foreigners by an ancient Law he had a mind this way to demonstrate himself to be a German But the truth of it is the last King of France of the Male-Line of Charles the Great was Lewis the Fifth who died without Children in the year of our Lord 988 when the Possession of the Kingdom had been in that Family for the space of 238 years After his death the right of Succession devolv'd to Charles Duke of Lorain Uncle to Lewis by the Father's side but Hugh Capet said to be Earl of Paris whose Mother through a long Genealogy trac'd her Kindred up to Charles the Great having vanquish'd and taken the Duke of Lorain invaded the Kingdom and transmitted it to his Son Robert whose Male-Issue was continued down by Succession ev'n to this Francis. There are some who affirm that this Capet was of a very mean and obscure Parentage but most Historians deny that and ascribe unto him the same Original that I have done Henry the Eighth King of England return'd his Answer on the third of May That he was to his great Satisfaction inform'd by them that their great aim and design was to heal the Distempers of the Church and procure a Reformation of those things which either through the naughtiness or ignorance of men had been deprav'd and corrupted without doing any injury to Religion or disturbing the Publick Peace That he takes it very kindly that they had in their Letters giv'n him a Scheme of the whole Action for there had been a Report rais'd to their disadvantage as if they gave Protection to certain mad Men who endeavour'd to confound and level all things But that he had giv'n no Credit to these Reports as well because Christian Charity so requir'd as because he judg'd it impossible that such Crimes could stick to such illustrious wise and noble Persons And though he never would have believed any of those things which were thus reported of them without a certain demonstration yet he is very glad to see them take this method of clearing themselves because it confirms that judgment and opinion he always had of them As to their desire of rectifying Abuses in that they may expect both his and all good Men's concurrence with their Endeavours For such is the condition of Humane affairs that as in the body Natural so likewise in the Politick and in all publick Administrations there is almost a continual occasion for remedies Those Physicians therefore deserve the greatest Applause who so apply their Medicines as to heal the Wound or cure the Disease without exasperating the parts and he does not doubt but their Endeavours have such a tendencies as this However they ought diligently to beware of a sort of Men who aim at Innovations and Preach up Levelling Principles and endeavour to render Magistracy contemptible for that he lately met with some persons of this Leaven within his own Dominions who were come thither out of Germany And since they make mention in their Letters of the Reverence due to Magistrates he therefore gives them this short advice that they would not open a gap to any Licentiousness this way and if they use but a sufficient Caution in this Point their Endeavours after a Reformation will prove a kindness of the highest Import to the Publick As for a publick Council there is nothing which he more desires and his Prayers to God are that he would inspire the hearts of the Princes with care and diligence in that Affair That he hopes all things well of them and there is nothing which he would refuse for their sake he will likewise earnestly intercede with the Emperor that some terms of Accommodation may be found out and in this business he will so behave himself as they at their several opportunities shall judge most convenient When at the day appointed they were assembled at Frankfort the Embassadors of the Cities according to appointment declare their Sentiments concerning the Creation of a King of the Romans That after mature deliberation they conclude it not at all advisable to raise an unnecessary Squabble or create to themselves danger about giving the Title to King Ferdinand For as long as the Emperor is alive and within the Bounds of his Empire the whole Sovereign Power is in his Hands but in his absence the chief Administration indeed falls upon Ferdinand but still he must execute in the Emperor's Name and as his Substitute That they had several times offer'd as much as lay in their Power a resignation of all their Affairs to the Emperor and should they now oppose the creation of a King they must expect that most Men would upbraid them with the falseness and vanity of their promise and so upon that account become their enemies and thus they should draw upon them the enmity of many who otherwise upon the score of their Religion would never have acted against them There is likewise great danger lest others should by these Measures be deterr'd from entring into the League who might otherwise have comply'd For these Reasons they think it is not safe for them to oppose Ferdinand in this business They will therefore carry themselves indifferent as to the matter of the Election which way soever it goes But should Ferdinand Command any thing contrary to the Word of God they will then by no means obey and should he make any forceable Attempts they will then act according to the form of the League and contribute all they can towards a Defence But the Princes write thus to the Emperor and to Ferdinand that they cannot possibly approve
17th day of April what 't is they desire and expect from the Emperor in relation to that Affair requesting that King Ferdinand would wave his design and not carry himself as King of the Romans But if the Emperor shall think that he has occasion for a Coadjutor that then being assisted by the sense and counsel of the Electoral Princes he should Interpret the Caroline Law and by his Edict give it a perpetual Sanction which according to the rules of Justice ought to run to this purpose viz. That hereafter no King of the Romans be chosen during the life of the Emperor unless first the Electors and six other Princes of the Empire shall judge it fit to be done And when it shall plainly appear to them that 't is for the advantage of the Publick then the Elector of Mentz shall Summon his Colleagues together with the other six Princes to some convenient place there to deliberate further about the Affair and when they have throughly weigh'd and discuss'd the Matter then the Electoral Princes alone with the addition of the King of Bohemia shall have the Power of creating a King That the King of the Romans thus chosen while the Emperor is alive shall not manage the Publick Administration in his own Name but in the Emperor's nor shall he arrogate any Power or Dominion to himself That the Princes and States of the Empire shall not be bound in any Oath or Promise unto him till after the death of the Emperor Upon the creation of a new King there shall no Oath be taken but according to the tenour of the Caroline Law nor shall it be in the Power of the Electors to alter that Form And whoever shall be convicted of acting contrary to that Oath or shall be under a violent suspicion of so doing and yet not be able to clear him he shall be depriv'd of his Electoral right for ever Moreover for the avoiding of Prescription three Kings shall not be successively created out of the same Family and no Man shall be created King of the Romans who does not descend from some Family of the Princes of Germany That neither the Emperor nor the King of the Romans shall endeavour to alter what the Caroline Law has ratify'd about the creation of a King. When the Electors shall see it convenient to create a King they shall be under no necessity of giving notice before-hand to the Emperor nor may he in that Case issue out his Orders to the Elector of Mentz to Convene the rest of the Electors but when they shall appear just and substantial Reasons for the Creation of a King during the life of the Emperor then the Archbishop of Mentz shall Summon in his Colleagues to appear at Franckfort upon an appointed day nor shall it be in his Power to appoint any other place for their Meeting unless the Colleagues shall for weighty Reasons allow of it The Elector of Mentz may not without the consent of his Colleagues demand the Crown and Scepter and other Imperial Ensigns from the City of Nuremburg Nor shall he cut off any thing from that in three months space which is allowed to the Princes for their meeting together after they are Summon'd for it might prove much to the prejudice of the Publick should the streightness of time occasion the absence of one or two of them While the Electors are upon their Consultation at Franckfort every body else shall be excluded If any Breach shall be made in these Conditions then the Electors shall not be oblig'd to appear there or to make any stay and whatsoever shall there be transacted by them shall be accounted void Neither the Emperor nor the King of the Romans shall suffer the Arms of the Electors to be display'd in Italy France or other foreign Parts or their proper Offices to be supply'd but by themselves or their Embassadors The King of the Romans shall not accept his final Inauguration but in the presence of the Electors or their Embassadors Neither the Emperor nor the King may hinder the Embassadors of Foreign Kings and Princes from coming to the Imperial Diets and there propounding their business for this is not only consonant to the Law of Nations but is also full of Humanity and Civility Neither the Emperor nor the King of the Romans shall assume to himself any peculiar Power of judging in such Causes as may be depending between the Princes of the Empire but shall suffer them to be legally try'd in the place where they ought That the Emperor be careful to Maintain those things which concern the Glory Honour and Safety of the Princes and the Empire and which he has faithfully promis'd to observe and that he rectifie whatever has been acted otherwise and that it be provided by a Law That whoever is King of the Romans he shall observe the same things If the Emperor will explain and confirm the Caroline Law in this sense the Duke of Saxony promises that he will not be wanting to his Duty whenever the Good of the Publick shall require such a Consultation but if the mediating Princes cannot obtain this of the Emperor he will not however decline a legal Trial provided that King Ferdinand does not in the mean time assume to himself or Usurp the administration of the Affairs of the Empire or any other Authority especially over them or over the two Brothers William and Lewis Princes of Bavaria But if they cannot obtain so much as this then their Request is That the Emperor would be pleas'd to give them a publick Audience in an Assembly of the Princes and other States where they will demonstrate upon what just and weighty Reasons it is that they cannot approve of this Election And now since they understand that they have upon the account of this their non-compliance incurr'd the suspicion of Rebellion not only with the Emperor but also among Foreign Kings and People they therefore earnestly desire that the Emperor would not take it amiss if they make known the reasons of this their action to all Men not only through Germany but also beyond the Limits of the Empire for this they find 't is but necessary for them to do Among other things it has been said That the Electors are to swear according to the tenour of Charles the Fourth his Law. Now the thing is thus When they are come to Franckfort having perform'd their Devotion they go up to the Altar and laying their hands upon a consecrated Book as they call it they in a set Form of words most religiously swear by that Faith which they owe both to God and the Empire that they will choose such a chief Magistrate of the Christian Commonwealth as they think to be worthy of so great a Charge and who is every way fit and qualify'd for it as far as the best of their skill and understanding will give them leave to judge and that this they do without the prepossession
them sufficiently both for the procuring of Diet and Interest too But if that Persecution and burning of Christians which I just hinted had not happen'd and taken the King from his design he was resolv'd as they say to have pulled down their Convent and levell'd all their Works And here we may observe that before the Reformation there was abundance of Apparitions For the Spirits of the dead as was supposed us'd to be very troublesome to this World as soon as their Funeral was over and come and tell people either why they were damn'd or tormented for a time in Purgatory begging their near Relations or Friends to have pity on them Now it was common for them to desire either that their Vows which they had made to the Saints might be discharged or that the Prayers and Sacrifice of the Mass might be repeated as often as they gave directions for their enlargement This practise confirm'd the belief of Purgatory wonderfully and gave a mighty Reputation to Masses and enrich'd the Priests more than can be well imagin'd But after Luther's Doctrin appear'd and got Footing these Goblins went off by degrees and vanish'd For Luther proves from the Holy Scriptures that departed Souls are at rest and confin'd till the last Judgment And that those Disturbances those horrible Noises and Sights are caused by the Devil who omits no opportunity to establish an unlawful Worship and to confirm Men in mistaken Notions concerning Religion that so he may make the Incarnation of our Saviour ineffectual The Lantgrave after he had contracted with the French King raiseth an Army in the beginning of the Spring and before he proceeded any farther the Duke of Wirtemburg and himself wrote to King Ferdinand to justifie what they had done but receiving no other satisfaction from Ferdinand than that he was willing to have the Difference decided by Law at last they brought their Men into the Field And upon the 13th of May meeting with the Enemy who were ten thousand strong in Foot they played their Cannon upon them and routed them near Laufen a Town in the Dukedom of Wirtemburg Philip Prince Palatine who was Ferdinand's General was wounded with a Musket-shot in this Action and lost his Feet And a great many of his Soldiers were drown'd in the River Neckar which they attempted to cross in their flight After this Defeat almost all the Dukedom of Wirtemburg submitted to Vlrick their Prince And at last Auspurg which was built upon an extraordinary steep Rock together with Aurach Tubingen and Nipha all strong Forts upon the account of their situation surrendred themselves Upon the first of May Ferdinand published a Proclamation and wrote particularly to all the Protestants That none should be aiding to the Faction of these Princes but resist them to the utmost of their Power The Emperor also set forth an Edict to the same purpose a few days before insomuch that no body gave them any assistance openly and all Peoples thoughts were in suspence and concern'd about the Consequences of this Commotion While this War was carrying on the Archbishop of Mentz and George Duke of Saxony who was Father in law to the Lantgrave endeavour'd a Reconciliation between King Ferdinand and the Elector of Saxony and at last upon the 29th of June they concluded a Pacification upon these Conditions That no Violence should be offer'd upon the account of Religion nor no Law Suits commenced and that the Peace which the Emperor had made should be kept That Ferdinand by the Emperors Authority should stop all manner of Processes of the Chamber of Spire against the Protestants under which denomination neither the Anabaptists nor the Sacramentarians nor such other Sectarists were to be comprehended The Elector of Saxony and his Confederates should be oblig'd to acknowledge Ferdinand King of the Romans and give him that Title Ferdinand also engaged himself to procure a Decree of the Emperor and the rest of the Electors to this effect When there shall be an occasion to make a King of the Romans in the Emperor's life time that then the Electors shall meet before-hand and consult whether there is good and sufficient reason for such a creation if it appears there is then they shall proceed according to the Form of the Caroline Law All Creations contrary to this Provision shall be reputed null In case this Decree is not made within ten months the Elector of Saxony and his Allies are not to be obliged by this Treaty The Emperor likewise shall within the said term confirm the Elector of Saxony his Succession to his Fathers and Ancestors Dominions And lastly that Ferdinand should endeavour to get the Emperor's Approbation of the Elector of Saxony his Marriage with the Duke of Cleave's Daughter While these things were debating another Treaty was brought on where the Elector of Saxony engageth as a Person Commissioned by the Lantgrave and the Duke of Wirtemburg that those Princes will make good whatever is concluded by him At last after a long Dispute which continued till all the Dukedom was recover'd by force they came to this Agreement By vertue of which Duke Vlrick and his Heirs-Male were to come under Vassalage to Ferdinand as Arch-Duke of Austria and hold the Dukedom of Wirtemburg of him as Lord of the Fee And if the Family of the Wirtemburgs should happen to be extinct or have no Heirs-Male that then this Territory was to descend upon the Arch-Dukes of Austria who were to hold it of the Empire to which they should be oblig'd to pay Homage and Service upon this account Vlrick was bound to acknowledge Ferdinand King of the Romans and never enter into any League against him The Lantgrave and Vlrick were to make Restitution of those Estates and Goods which had been seized on during the War To force no persons to change their Religion To permit the Clergy the enjoyment of their Revenues without any molestation That those who have withdrawn either upon the account of danger or contempt may return home if they please and others who have a mind to depart the Country shall have the liberty to carry their Effects with them The Ordnance with which Auspurg was fortified shall be deliver'd to Ferdinand The mony which Ferdinand hath borrowed and converted to his own use he shall pay himself but that which hath been laid out for the advantage of the Country shall be discharged by Vlrick Duke Vlrick and his Heirs shall do Homage to Ferdinand and his Heirs Kings of Bohemia for those Lands in the Dutchy of Wirtemburg which they hold of that Kingdom Philip Prince Palatine and the rest of the Prisoners shall be dismissed without Ransome The Lantgrave and Vlrick are oblig'd within a certain time to be specified to beg King Ferdinand his Pardon either in their own Persons or by their Embassadors at which time the Duke shall be put into full Possession by Ferdinand who promiseth to intercede for their Pardon with
prov'd the lawfulness of their proceedings by Signs and Wonders For when Christ was to come into the World God foretold it long before by all his Prophet and that in so evident a manner that not only the Tribe and Family but the time when and the place where was certainly known The Anabaptists likewise desir'd they might have a Hearing To which the Lantgrave replies That it was too late to talk of that now since they had usurp'd the Power of the Sword and been the Authors of so great a Calamity For all Men saw what they drove at viz. To overturn all Laws and Government And as their Design was execrable and wicked so their desiring their Cause might be heard was nothing but sham and pretence He had taken care to send them faithful Pastors of the Church by whom he did not question but that they were well Instructed But their broaching a Doctrin of their own by vertue of which they had rebelled against the Magistrate possess'd themselves of the Fortunes of their Neighbours introduc'd Polygamy and chosen a new King Their denying that Christ assum'd his Humane Nature of the Virgin Mary their asserting the Freedom of Man's Will forcing People to relinquish their Property and consent to a Community of Goods and denying Absolution to a Sinner that relapseth all these Tenents were repugnant to the Laws both of God and Man. When they had receiv'd this Answer they reply to it and send a Book with it concerning the Mysteries of the Scriptures written in the Vulgar-Tongue In their Letter they flourish their Cause over again and defend their Tenents In their Book they divide the duration of the World into three Periods The first World which lasted from Adam to Noah was destroy'd by a Deluge This in which we now live will be consum'd by Fire And the third will be perfectly new in which Righteousness is to Reign But before this last World commences that which is now must be purify'd by Fire but this will not come to pass till Antichrist is reveal'd and his Power utterly destroy'd Then the time will be come in which the Tabernacle of David which is fallen down will be built again That Christ will be seated in his Kingdom on the Earth and all the Writings of the Prophets will be accomplish'd As for the present Word it may be resembl'd to the Age of Esau for now Justice is clapp'd under Hatches and the Godly are afflicted But as the Captivity of Babylon did not last always so now the time of Restitution and Deliverance from these great Calamities is at hand in which Vengeance shall be fully executed upon the Ungodly according to what is denounc'd against them in the Revelations Now this Restitution is to precede the future Age that the Wicked being destroy'd the Earth may be the better prepar'd to be the Seat of Righteousness When this Book was read over the Lantgrave Orders some of his Church-Ministers to write against it Some few Agents of the Cities who met at Coblentz did not like the Decree which was made there and said They would report it to their Principals at home Afterwards all the rest of the Cities of the Empire had a Meeting at Esling where it was finally resolv'd That those who met at Coblentz before had no right to lay any Tax upon them For to do this it was requisite to have the Consent and Authority of the Emperor and all the States Therefore they refus'd to stand to this Decree and promise to send Supplies to each other if any of them should happen to come into danger upon this account But whatever Provision was legally made for the Commonwealth in the Diets of the Empire in such cases they declare they would always be ready to perform their Duty Now in the month of February the price of Provisions was risen to that height that some People were ready to perish with Hunger whereupon one of the Queens compassionating the Condition of the Townsmen happen'd to say to her Partners That she did not believe it was the will of God that Men should be starv'd at that rate The King who had his Store-house furnish'd not only for Convenience but Luxuxry when he understood this thing brings her out into the Market-Place together with the rest of his Wives then commanding her to kneel down he beheads her and sets a mark of Infamy upon her when she was dead as if she had been a Strumpet The remaining Queens applaud this piece of Justice and give thanks to the heavenly Father After that the King begins a Dance and exhorts the Multitude who had nothing but Bread and Salt left them to dance and be merry When Easter was come and no Deliverance appear'd the King that he might find some excuse for being so lavish in his Promises pretends to be sick for six days together After that he comes forth into the Market-Place and saies That he had rid a blind Ass and that the Father had laid the Sins of the whole Multitude upon him now therefore they were all perfectly cleansed and discharged of the guilt of all heinous Offences this was the Deliverance which he promis'd them with which they ought to be contented Luther among other things which he publish'd about this time in the Vulgar-Tongue breaks out thus upon this occasion Alass saies he what shall I say how shall I complain of those miserable Wretches and deplore their Condition that Devils dwell among them in abundance is beyond all question However we have great reason to praise God for his infinite mercy towards us for though Germany deserves to be severely afflicted for contemning the Gospel for dishonouring the Name of God and for shedding the blood of righteous Persons Yet God is pleas'd to check the Career and Violence of Satan as yet he does not permit him to ravage at his pleasure but gives us a merciful warning and by this ill contriv'd Farce at Munster calls upon us to reform our Lives For unless God had restrain'd him and pull'd him back I do not question but that so subtil a Spirit as he is and who is so much his Crafts-master would have gone a quite different way to Work. But now since God has disabled him he does not tyrannize and embroil the World so much as he has a mind to but only so far as his permission reaches For the evil Spirit who endeavours to destroy the Christian-Religion does not usually make choice of Polygamy for the compassing his Designs he knows the Infamy and Wickedness of such a practice is so notorious that all Men abhor it 'T is true States and Civil Government may be disorder'd this way but the Kingdom of Christ must be batter'd with other sort of Engins He that would deceive effectually and draw Men into his Toyls must not pretend to Empire and Government and play the Tyrant for all People dislike this way and perceive what he aims at but he
of Cain In the Primitive times godly Bishops have often refus'd to concern themselves in Councils when they saw they were not call'd for the Defence of Truth but either to establish false Doctrin or to countenance some Persons in their Ambition Thus when Constantine the Emperor summon'd a Council to Antioch Maximus Bishop of Jerusalem though he was not very far distant from the place would not come thither because he understood the Emperor's Inclinations and what the Arian Bishops were contriving So Athanasius though he came to the Council at Tyre yet he stayed not long there because he perceiv'd the Principal Persons of the Council took upon them to be Complainants and Judges too and was also well assur'd that there were Witnesses suborned against him In like manner at Sirmium in Hungary there was formerly conven'd a very numerous Council against Photinus for the Debate was of great Consequence and notwithstanding the Emperor commanded the Bishops to repair thither yet those of the Western-Church did not obey him when they understood the Arian-Faction was encreas'd for they suspected some false Doctrin would be decreed there At this time Hosius a Person of great Reputation was Bishop of Corduba whom the Emperor by the advice of the Arians commanded to go out of Spain to the Council who when he came there he consented to that ensnaring Creed at Sirmium which was afterwards the occasion of horrible Disorders in the Church and Hilary who was not present at this Assembly reproves Hosius for his compliance Cyril Bishop of Jerusalem would never assist at their Meetings who denied Christ to be of the same substance with the Father and is said to be the first Man who appeal'd in writing from the Authority of their Councils There was a Council begun at Millain and the Bishops were call'd thither by the Emperor's order But when Paulinus Bishop of Triers and some few others perceived that Auxentius Bishop of Millain and his Party were projecting things which were not fair They went off and so occasioned the breaking up of the Council Thus those great Men declined going to all suspected Synods that they might not be involved in their guilt And since the Pope giveth pretty plain intimations that this Council is design'd to establish his Power and Greatness we desire all People that they would not blame our refusal of it Moreover we have great reason to dislike the place of the Council for it 's very fit for Mischief and in all respects such as if it was contrived to hinder the freedom of Debates To which we may add that the Calumnies of our Adversaries have given Strangers a very ill opinion of us as if all Probity and Religion was banish'd our Country Now to have Mens minds prepossess'd with such a notion as this may be exceeding dangerous for us Therefore if it was only upon this account it was very proper to have the Council conven'd in Germany that those of foreign Nations might see the customs and regularity of our Churches and Towns and so disengage themselves from their prejudice against the true Doctrin The importance of the Affair likewise obligeth most of us to be in Person at the Council but to go out of our own Country in such numbers would be a great inconvenience to us And since it was decreed in a Diet of the Empire upon such weighty considerations that a Council should be held in Germany we see no reason to depart from what was then resolv'd upon And in regard the welfare of all Christendom is concern'd in this business we entreat all Kings and Princes not to give any credit to our Adversaries but rather use their Endeavours that the true knowledge of God may be recover'd which is the most glorious Action they can possily engage in As for the Pope it 's his Design to run them upon Injustice and Cruelty but they are oblig'd to abhor such Practices above all things For they are places on purpose on that elevated Station that they might promote the Honour of God with greater advantage shew a good Example to their Inferiors and rescue innocent Persons from Injury and Oppression And if ever a lawful Council happeneth to be call'd we will give such a satisfactory account of our Proceedings there as shall be sufficient to convince all People that we have aim'd at and attempted nothing but what was for the real advantage of Christendom In this Convention there was the Elector of Saxony Ernest and Francis his Brother Dukes of Lâ—â—enburgh Vlrick Duke of Wirtemburgh the Lantgrave Philip Duke of Pomern three Earls of Anhalt and Albert Count Mansfield there were also the Agents of a great many Cities who were sent thither with very large Commissions their Principals being pre-acquainted with the subject of the Debate Before they broke up their Assembly which was done upon the 6th of March they wrote to the French King where in the first place they excuse themselves for not giving his Embassador satisfaction at the last Convention and also gave him their Reasons why they omitted sending an Embassy to him now Then they desired him to continue them his Friendship and since they had made all imaginable Overtures for the composing the Differences in Religion though they had been unsuccessful in thier Endeavours yet they hoped he would oblige them with his Favour for their good Intentions Lastly They acquaint him with their Resolutions concerning the Council and desire to know how his Majesty intends to act in this Affair Upon the 22th of May the King returns them an Answer in which he lets them understand that he was satisfi'd with their Reasons and maketh them large assurances of the constancy of his Friendship and sends them a Paper which he had publish'd to confute the Misrepresentations of their Adversaries And as to the Council he told them That he was still of the same mind of which he had always been that unless it was lawful in its Constitution and Method and coven'd in a place of Security he would never approve it neither did he question but that the King of Scotland his Son in law would be wholly influenced by him This Prince some few days before in the beginning of May return'd into Scotland with his Queen who died there about the middle of June following In the mean time the Pope prorogeth the Council till the first of November the occasion of which delay he charg'd upon the Duke of Mantua who insisted upon a Garrison to secure the Town and demanded a Supply of Monies for that purpose These Terms the Pope said were unexpected and surprizing to him and he was very much afraid lest the greatest part of the Bishops in compliance with his Bull were already arriv'd at Mantua and being denied admittance into the Town might be forc'd to return home This he was extreamly troubled at but should bear it with the more patience because it was not his fault but anothers Not long after the King
one or two Towns left him to retreat to He was always a zealous Roman Catholick and punished those who professed the Reformed Religion Paul the Third in the beginning of his Popedom made two of his Grandchildren Cardinals and being sensible that he had lost some Reputation upon this account he promoted several others who were eminent for their Quality and Learning to this Honour partly that he might make the promotion of his young Relations less invidious and disobliging partly that he might be furnished with Friends able to defend his Cause with their Rhetorick and Writings Those who were created were Gasper Contareno Reginald Poole John Bellay Frederick Fregosi to which were afterwards added Sadolet Alexander Bembo Besides Erasmus was also thought on as he himself relates in a Letter of his to a Friend There are extant likewise several Letters of Sadolets to Erasmus in which he tells him in a great many words what a singular esteem the Pope had for him and that he intended to raise him very shortly to the highest Dignity Contareno was of a noble Family and a Senator of Venice a Man of great Reputation for his Learning and was said to be preferr'd to this eminent Station altogether beyond his expectation and when he made no manner of Interest for it THE HISTORY OF THE Reformation of the Church BOOK XII The CONTENTS Pope Paul strictly charges his Commissioners for the Reformation diligently to enquire into the numerous Corruptions of the Church and provide â—ffectual Remedies Erasmus his Colloquies are prohibited The Protestants meet at Brunswick and receive the King of Denmark into their League The Persecution of Lutheranism revived in France The Pope goes on Progress to Nice de Provence Whither the Emperor and the French King also come The French King and several of his Nobility kiss the Pope's Right-foot The French of the Reformed Religion have a Church assigned them at Strasburg The King of England burns Thomas of Canterbury's Bones The Elector of Brandenburg gives the Elector of Saxony notice of the Preparation which the Turks made for a War. The Rise of the Antinomians Eldo's and the Duke of Brunswick's Designs discovered by the Lantgrave's intercepting the Duke's Letters A Convention is held at Frankfort where at last a Conference is decreed in order to an Accommodation which Henry Duke of Brunswick endeavours to prevent and raiseth Forces for hat Purpose George Duke of Saxony a most violent Enemy to the Reformation dies and Henry his Brother succeeds him The King of England publisheth another Paper against the Council appointed at Vicenza and makes several Laws touching Religion An Insurrection at Ghent to suppress which the Emperor takes a Journey thâ—â—her through France The Venetians make a Peace with the Turk who had secret Intelligence what their Senate had decreed touching this Matter I Have already mentioned the Prorogueing of the Council till November which was still delay'd after that Term was expired However that the Pope might keep up the Expectation of the World and seem to do something he had some time since pitched upon a select Number out of the whole Body of his Clergy whom he strictly charged to make a diligent Enquiry into the Abuses of the Church and lay them before him impartially without any manner of Flattery He likewise discharged them from their Oath that they might speak their Minds freely and ordered them to manage the Affair with great Secrecy The Delegates were Jaspar Contarino Peter Theatino James Sadolet Reginald Poole Cardinals Frederick Archbishop of Salerno Hierome Alâ—ander Archbishop of Brindisi John Matthew Bishop of Verona George Vener Abbot and Thomas Master of the Holy Palace These Persons after they had debated the Point among themselves set down their Reformation in Writing and addressing themselves to the Pope they begin with a high Commendation of his Zeal for the promoting of Truth which was not prevalent enough to gain the Ears of several of his Predecessors indeed the Fault was chiefly in their Flatterers who stretched their Prerogative too far and told their Holinesses That they were absolute Lords of all things and might do whatever they pleased From this Fountain it was that so many Disorders flowed in upon the Church which had brought her into that very ill Condition she was in at present Therefore his beginning his Cure in the first Principles and Original of the Distemper was an Argument of great Prudence and Vertue in his Holiness who according to St. Paul's Doctrine Chose rather to be a Minister and Steward than a Lord. And since he was pleased to lay this Task upon them they in obedience to his Commands had according to the best of their Understandings digested the Matter into several distinct Heads relating to himself the Bishops and the Church Now because he bore a double Character being not only Bishop of the Universal Church but a Monarch of divers Towns and Countries they would only consider the Ecclesiastical part of his Jurisdiction for the State was well already and governed very prudently and unexceptionably by him And first May it please your Holiness say they We are of Aristotle's Opinion That the Laws of a Country ought not to be changed upon a slight Occasion and apply his Maxim to the Canons of the Church which ought to be strictly kept up and not dispensed with but when the Case is very weighty and important For there can no greater Mischief happen to the Commonwealth than the weakening the Force and Authority of the Laws which were esteemed Sacred and almost Divine by our Forefathers The next Expedient is That the Pope of Rome who is the Vicar of Christ should refuse to receive Money for the granting any spiritual Privilege by virtue of the Power derived to him from Christ For since all these Advantages were freely bestowed upon him our Saviour expects he should communicate them in the same manner This Foundation of Regularity being once laid there must be a Provision made that your Holiness may be always furnished with a considerable Number of Clergy-men well qualified to take care of the Church Among these the Bishops are the chief But there is a great Miscarriage in this Point for all Persons are admitted into this Order without any Distinction or Difficulty when they have neither Learning nor Probity to recommend them and oftentimes when they are Boys Hence it is that so much Scandal ariseth that such Disrespect and Contempt is shown to Religion We therefore believe it most advisable for your Holiness to appoint in the first place some Persons at Rome to examine those who offer themselves to Holy Orders and then enjoin the Bishops the same Diligence in their respective Diocesses And that you would take care that none should be received without the Approbation of his Triers or Bishop and let those young People who are designed for Church-men have a Master set over them by particular Order that so their Learning and Morals may be fit
Stephen came up the Lantgrave asked him who he was He gave him the same Answer with the Young Man Whither he was going To Spire How did the Duke do Very well Afterwards being asked whether he would vouch the Truth of what he had said upon the word of an Honest Man He told him Yes and so was dismissed But the Lantgrave had rid but a very little way before one of his Servants comes and tells him that this person was Secretary to Henry of Brunswick which being confirmed by another who had an Opportunity of knowing him the Lantgrave orders the Man to be fetched back and carried to Cassell till he came from Hunting In the mean time Stephen who was secured in a Stove pulls out a Leathern Bag from under his Coat and snatches some Letters out of it and makes out of Doors as fast as he could this one of the Servants taking notice of immediately gives a private hint of it to the Lord-Chamberlain of the Houshold who was there by chance and looked down into the Court out of a Chamber-Window Stephen therefore being examined about his Letters produced them upon which the Lord Chamberlain took them into his Custody and delivered them to the Lantgrave at his return Now there were two Letters taken from him one for the Elector of Mentz and the other for Matthias Eldo these Letters had Notes or little Table Books tacked to them in which he had set down the Heads of his Instructions These Circumstances therefore raising a violent suspicion of something more than ordinary especially because of the Notes made the Lantgrave open them both the Contents of that to the Elector of Mentz was That he had received his Highnesses Letter and was glad that he was pleased to remember him upon all accounts for his part he was entirely at his Highness's Service and had now sent his Secretary Stephen a Person of approved Fidelity to acquaint him with every thing material particularly with the News out of Bavaria therefore he desires that he would give credit to him Afterwards he gives the Elector and his Friends his good Wishes but sends the other party to the Devil The Tenour of his Letter to Eldo was much the same he told him He had sent Stephen to him again with â—nstructions and desired he would receive him kindly and believe him as much as if he had spoke in Person That he was resolved to stick to the Emperor's Interest as long as he lived not doubting but that his Majesty's Conduct would be unexceptionable in all respects The Purport of his private Instructions to the Elector of Mentz was to this Effect That the Lantgrave was disordered to that degree that he could not sleep and so immoderately given to Hunting that he was almost crazed for this reason their Business might be the more opportunely dispatch'd and that part of it was finished already As for the Lantgrave's Designs they were not carried so privately but that the Bavarians understood them and it was certainly reported that he intended either to invade his Electoral Highness or Himself Therefore he desires him that he would perswade his Chapter to come into the League that it is likewise advisable for his Highness to resign himself wholly to this Alliance without any farther regard to those who will desert him one time or other to his great disadvantage The Duke of Bavaria and himself intend to conferr together shortly and fix upon something by common advice The States of Schwaben had also been sollicited to enter into the League which Negotiation was now almost brought to a Point His Notes to Eldo were these viz. He hoped the Emperor would shortly return hither from Spain and if his Majesty continued firm to his Resolution all things were like to go well for then he both hoped and believed that other Princes who had not yet declared themselves would not be averse to this Undertaking If all the Confederates were as hearty and vigorous as himself they should be sufficiently prepared But let them behave themselves as they please he is resolved to stand to his present Engagement and to be always at the Emperor's Service Farther he thinks it proper that the Chamber should command the Lantgrave to disband his Army in the mean time the Duke of Bavaria and himself will be ready and in case the other refuseth to obey then he would have the Chamber order him and Bavaria to take care there be no harm done enjoining likewise the rest of the Princes to send in their Supplies according to the Tenour of the Decree The Lantgrave understanding these things and seeing himself in great danger and that they were contriving a pretence for a Rupture he immediately writes to his Father-in-law George Duke of Saxony and gives him an account of the whole matter of Fact upon which they grounded their suspicion and shewed how he had been misrepresented and that he intended no such thing as a War. At the same time Matthias Eldo posted through France into Spain to the Emperor Afterwards the Lantgrave wrote to King Ferdinand and his Sister Mary Regent of Flanders to the Princes Electors and the Dukes of Bavaria in the same Apologizing way that he did before to his father-in-Father-in-law George Duke of Saxony When the Duke of Brunswick understood his Mystery was discovered and that the Lant grave had wrote Letters in his own Vindication he answered him That his taking his Secretary Prisoner was not the only Affront he had received from that Party for he was ill used by the Elector of Saxony the last Year when King Ferdinand commanded him in the Emperor's Name to make a visit to George Duke of Saxony and afterwards when he returned from concluding the League at Nuremberg for then the Elector attempted to intercept him To this the Elector of Saxony answered That seeing himself and his Friends had been denied a safe Conduct by him contrary to the Laws and Customs of the Empire when they went to Brunswick he could thing him no less than an Enemy Formerly he may remember that he has often passed through his own and his Brother's Dominions incognito with a small Attendance and disguised in the Habit of a Servant and though he had notice of all this yet he never gave him any disturbance But afterwards when himself and his Allies were refused the Civility of Travelling through his Country he does not understand why his Highness should expect a greater Liberty from othes than he is willing to grant This gave them an occasion to keep their Pens drawn upon one another till at last they fell to downright railing which singular Humour unpractised before by Princes was begun by Brunswick who charged the Elector with almost all imaginable Crimes in the most opprobrious Language as the printed Papers sufficiently shew About this time John Duke of Cleves departed this Life and was succeeded by his Son William who from his Childhood had been bred to Learning and
Francis Olivier Chancellor of Alenzon and Affrican Malley President of the Parliament of Dijon These stopp'd on their way at Nancey in Lorrain whither they came in the Month of January and expected a safe Conduct from the Emperor for the King had sent a Herald before to Spire upon that account with Letters to the Emperor and privately also to the Princes Electors wherein he demanded a safe Conduct for his Ambassadors When about the end of February the Herald arrived there in his Coat of Arms as Custom is he was stopp'd by Granvell to whom he both delivered his Master's Letters written to the Emperor for he could do no otherwise and also told the cause of his coming demanding that according to the Law of Nations he might have a safe Conduct for the Ambassadors who were not far off but he was confined to his Lodgings carefully observed that no Body might come to speak with him and Four Days after sent going with a severe Reprimand That he had done an unwise Act and run the danger of his Head in daring to come thither For that the King his Master who was an Enemy to Germany had nothing to do within the Bounds of the Empire nor any Right neither to the Law of Nations That he should therefore return Home and tell his King so but let him not nor any other venture to come again That now the Emperor was pleased to pardon his Fault more out of his own Mercy and Goodness than for any Desert of his but that he should have a care for the future otherwise he would suffer for it For that he had gone beyond the Privilege of Heralds and ought not to have entered within the Emperor's Court without his Leave That as to the Letters which he said he had the King had so deserved of all Christendom and especially of Germany that as Affairs stood the Emperor would not nor could not receive them least by his usual way of Writing and Promises either he or others might be deceived This Answer was given him written in French And so he was sent back with the King's Letters to the Emperor and Princes and a Party of Horse appointed to bring him going as far as Nancey Now there was nothing of this imparted to the Princes which was thought by most to be done contrary to the Custom of the Empire When this came to the Knowledge of the Ambassadors they were in great Streights being anxious how they could get home again without Danger But having consulted with Anthony Duke of Lorrain they departed secrtly in the Night time and so returned into the next Place of France Whilst they were as yet in Nancey Duke Anthony's Daughter-in-Law came to Spire that what neither he nor others could do She being the Emperor's Sisters Daughter by Prayers and Tears and the Favour of her Sex might obtain But that was also in Vain for the Emperor was wholly bent upon War and his Counsellors said he could not do otherwise with Honour and Reputation Now though the Duke of Lorrain espoused neither Party and had long since conditioned with both that he might be Neuter yet when he found that the Seat of the War was like to be on his Frontiers which could not but be to his great Prejudice he was exceedingly desirous of Peace February the Ninth some Princes at the Emperor's Suggestion wrote from Spire to the Pope telling his Holiness That they had been exceedingly rejoiced when last Year they heard how that the Turks and their Confederates had been by the Emperor's Forces and the Assistance he had sent driven from the Siege of the Castle of Nizza and forced to fly for their Safety and that their Joy was the greater that they were given to understand that the Loss of that Rampart would much endanger not only the Provinces and Patrimony of the Church but also all Italy and indeed Christendom But that now since they were informed by credible Hands that they were again fitting out their Fleet and Forces at Thoulon with a Design to reduce that Castle under their Power it did not a little trouble them both because of the Danger and Disgrace of it also And that was the Reason why out of the Duty and Love they bore him who was the common Father of Christendom they now wrote to his Holiness Wherefore they earnestly besought him that he would befriend Charles Duke of Savoy with his Counsel and Assistance and in his own singular Prudence consider with himself how much it would be safer and more advantageous for the Publick to beat off the Enemy at his first Approach than to dally away the time and not to run to Arms till the most commodious Castle of Italy should be lost That his Holiness would also think of some Measures whereby so barbarous an Enemy might not only be driven away from before that Castle but also out of those Places where he had safe Harbour and Retreat For if he look'd upon the Turk and his Confederates as Enemies which they could not but think he would for the Love he bore to the Flock whereof he was the chief and universal Bishop If he should employ all the Forces and Substance of the Church this way they made no doubt but God would deliver his People out of the Hands of their Enemies That since then he saw how much the Publick Safety depended on that Castle they again begged of him that he would use his Endeavours not to let it fall into the Hands of Strangers which would be very acceptable Service to God and beneficial to the publick Interest of Christendom To this the Pope made Answer February the Twenty Sixth That the Safety of the Castle of Nizza had hitherto been and should still be his Care for the future That the good Will and Kindness they expressed was very acceptable unto him and he hoped that as they were concerned for Nizza so they would be no less sollicitous for the Publick which was the thing they ought chiefly to do That it was publickly known how he stood affected in relation to the common Enemy from his very first Inauguration into the Pontificate That he had constantly given Aid against him furnished Commanders and a Fleet both in Hungary and Africa That in short he had left nothing undone whereby he might defend Christendom from the Yoke of so barbarous and cruel an Enemy so that during the Ten Years that he had been at the Helm he had been exhausted by continual Expences which he was at when even the publick Treasure was at a low Ebb his Revenues being much lessened and impaired by the Defection of many How could he be thought wanting in any thing who had not only sent frequent Ambassies but himself also taken many Progresses for the good of the Publick That two Years since he had called a Council at Trent a Town within the Dominion of Germany to the end that Peace might be restored to the Empire Vices
Calumny That if the Emperor would not refuse a Peace they promised to assist him as also the Bohemians who had written to them in February and the Germans against the Turk That as for themselves some of them were indeed bound in Articles to serve the French King in his Wars But that some others had only for many Years entertained Amity with him and that if any run into France out of their Territories it was against their Knowledge or Consent as it might happen also in other places of Germany That after all they thought it advisable to give Audience to the King's Ambassadors and conclude a Peace wherein if they could contribute any thing they were very willing to do it At that time the King of England sent a great Fleet into Scotland who meeting with fair Weather arrived there soon after and took first Leeth a considerable Sea Port Town and then Edinborough the chief City of Scotland which because the Castle held out and could not be taken they burnt This happened in the beginning of the Month of May. In this Diet the Emperor in publick and solemn manner inaugurated Wolfgang Master of Prussia conferring upon him the Arms and Honours of that Magistracy which for many Years past had been possessed by Albert of Brandenburg the Brother of Casimire and George who marrying a Wife usurped it to himself and was therefore Outlawed by the Imperial Chamber Twelve Years before as we mentioned already However Sigismund King of Poland defended him as being his Feudatory and Vassal And when another was now installed as we said his Ambassador publickly protested against it as unlawful and that it should not derogate from the Right of his Master the King of Poland of whom the Land of Prussia held in Fiefe The Ambassadors of Hungary having given a Relation of their Misfortune and Loss the Year before implored the Assistance of the Empire for that now they were reduced to the last push and should they be deserted would take the Course that Men in Dispair commonly do and which no Body can blame them for That they would submit to the worst of Conditions nay and to Bondage too rather than run voluntarily into Ruine and Destruction whilst their Neighbours stood by and look'd on as Idle Spectators We told you before that the French Kings Herald was sent back from Spire without effecting any thing When therefore the Ambassadors returned Home they published in Print the Speech which they were to have made in the Assembly of the States They begin with complemental Insinuations to curry Favour affirming both Nations to have been Originally one and the same and that nothing could befal Germany but France must be affected therewith Then they wipe off the Imputations of their Enemies That the King did now disturb Christendom with another War and had made a League with the Turk using a wheadling Preface to stroak and claw the Emperor the former War they say was first begun because their King could not obtain from the Duke of Savoy his Mother's Inheritance and that this last because contrary to the Law of Nations his Ambassadors had been Murthered That the King had no League with the Turk nor any traty but only for Trade and publick Peace sake such as the Venetians Polonians and some other People had Though if there were any League betwixt them it could not be objected as a Crime since the same thing had been anciently done by Abraham and David Solomon and Phineas the Children of Tobias and the Macchabees And since that also by the Emperors Honorius Constantine Theodosius the Younger Justinian the Second Paleologus Leo Frederick the First and Second who made use of the Assistance of Nations of a different Religion And that Frederick the Second was upon the very Shoulders of the Saracens carried back again into Italy out of which he had been driven by the Popes That they themselves knew what Forces and Aid the King had oftner than once promised to send to the Turkish War the Truth whereof could be amply attested both by the Pope and College of Cardinals That if the Turk had invaded Hungary upon occasion of the Quarrel that arose about the Government and that being afterwards more provoked by the War in Barbary and the taking of Tunis he had lately sent a Fleet upon the Coast of Italy the King was not to be blamed therefore That it made nothing to the purpose that Paulain the King's Minister was on Board in that Fleet for that Barbarossa's Design was to find out and be Revenged on his Enemy Andrea Doria but that failing therein he had of his own Head besieged the Castle of Nizza That the King indeed had a Truce with the Turk as he had told them at another time which was both honourable and hurtful to no Man That he could not now be charged with that as a Crime since many times and that lately too the greatest of Men had desired it That the King was extreamly grieved at the afflicted State of Christendom but that the only way of restoring Peace was for the Emperor to give back to the King what by all Law and Justice belonged to him That if they would bring this about the King would spare neither Labour Rest nor Danger to defend Germany from all foreign Violence In the former Books you have been told that the Duke of Saxony would not acknowledge Ferdinand for King of the Romans Now in this Diet the matter was in the Month of May accommodated and the Duke promised to honour him accordingly The Emperor on the other Hand ratified the Marriage contracted betwixt the Duke of Saxony and the Family of Cleve which till then he had constantly refused to do and if the Duke of Cleve should die without Male issue he confirmed his Succession to the Duke of Saxony who had married his Sister and to the Heirs Male procreated of their Bodies But upon this Condition if there were no Difference in Religion when the Case happened As a closer Link of Friendship too King Ferdinand with the Emperor's Consent betrothed his Daughter the Lady Eleanor to the Duke of Saxony's eldest Son if he proved right in Relgion before she were Marriageable This last thing was a great Secret and kept under profound Silence on both sides insomuch that neither the Lantgrave nor his Confederates knew any thing of it for the matter was contracted by a few Counsellors to wit Granvell for the Emperor Hoffman for King Ferdinand and Pontane and Burcart for the Duke of Saxony The King of Denmark also sent Ambassadors and made a final Agreement with the Emperor having all the Winter long and till then kept an Army on foot against future Contingences He seemed to have forsaken the Amity of France because of the Report of the Turkish League for the Ambassadors expressed little less when they discoursed more familiarly with their Friends Let us now return to
live quietly and allowed their Churches apart in your Dominions I should be content for my own part to allow the same liberty to those of your Perswasion throughout all my Territories but because you will by no means grant that we also are willing that there should be an equality in those matters what then I said before of the Decree of Spire and a Council of Germany I say again that I look upon it as the best course that can be taken There is no man living a greater lover of Religion than the Emperour said Granvell nor will he for fear or favour of the Pope step the least out of the way of Equity and Justice nay he hath also observed the Decree of Spire notwithstanding the other Party and the Pope too were highly offended thereat for which reason also the Hier Naves and I lie under envy and ill will enough But now in a National Council I cannot see who is like to be the Judge for all men do not understand the Scripture in the same sence and because there seems to be but little hopes in a Conference other ways certainly are to be thought on some Points are setled indeed already but again many are still under controversie and then Bucer gives a larger interpretation to the Points adjusted than the thing it self will bear Now if men go on at that rate it may be easily judged what state Germany will be reduced to You tell very acceptable News said the Landgrave when you say that the Emperour is not at all influenced by the Pope and would to God he might bring the Pope to know his duty Heretofore the Bishops of Rome honoured the Emperour as their chief Magistrate but now Emperours are bound to them by an Oath of Obedience In all Controversies the Word of God ought chiefly to be the Judge which is not obscure provided the mind of man would submit to it For it lays Sin open before us invites us to Repentance and Amendment of Life and offers to us Christ who took away the Sins of the World in whose Name also we are to pray to God the Father that he would bestow his holy Spirit upon us This is the Faith and Doctrine which hath always continued in the Church as the Lord's Prayer the Apostles Creed and several Hymns and Songs about the Benefits of Christ that are used in Churches do sufficiently demonstrate Nor is it to be minded here what the Opinion of the greatest part is but what is true For when at Jerusalem most of the Apostles and Disciples would have had the Gentiles to whom the Gospel was preached circumcised Peter only and Paul James and Barnabas were of a contrary opinion and having convinced the rest of their error abolished that yoke of the Law at which time the greatest part of the Assembly was over-ruled by and yielded to the judgment of a few that were in the right We do not indeed give Rules to other People but heartily wish that the Germans at least might agree amongst themselves I should not truly be against the finding out and laying down of some middle ways but so that the Decree of Spire should still be in force in so far as concerns the Peace and the Administration of Justice Now in other things it is to be considered what may lawfully according to the Word of God be established and what not But I wish the Prince Elector my Kinsman and Friend who has been present at several Diets and knows what has pass'd would now be pleased to speak what he thinks fit to the purpose Then he having spoken somewhat as to the Emperour 's good intentions declared his opinion to be that the Conference at Ratisbonne was well begun and that if it were renewed and the Points already agreed upon brought no more under debate he thought matters might be brought to a tolerable accommodation The Emperour answered Granvell is very much for an accommodation as hath been oftener than once said before for he-knows that unless that can be accomplished the Publick must needs suffer and though the Emperour reap not the least profit from the Empire and be besides indisposed in health yet for the sake of Germany he hath undertaken this Progress He entertains no secret Designs with the French King or any else nor is he come to ask Supplies but to do all the publick good he can The Kings of England and France are both raising Forces which is a thing much to be suspected besides the death of the Emperour's daughter-in-Daughter-in-law hath cut him out work enough to do in Spain Nevertheless he hath laid aside the care of all these things that he may repair to the Diet but if none of the Princes meet there what can he do alone He is much called upon and implored to interpose his authority and reform things and yet no body comes to the place appointed for publick deliberation It would do very well then my Lords speaking to the Elector Palatine and Landgrave if you who make the chiefest Figure amongst the rest would go thither and be present at the Diet. Though perhaps said the Landgrave the Emperour have no great Revenues from the Empire yet is it to be reckoned nothing that he hath aid and assistance given him against the Turk the King of France and others that the Dignity of the Empire procures him great Authority with all other Kings that he can always levy Forces and raise vast Armies in Germany which is not allowed to others Our Adversaries are more clamorous than we and yet acquiesce not to safe and sound Councils On our parts we have approved the Decree of Spire and demanded that the Points which five Years since were agreed upon at Ratisbonne should be confirmed and entred upon record and admitted also all the just and reasonable Conditions of the last Conference they on the contrary have accepted none of these things nor will they condescend to any terms nay and at Wormes they openly protested against the Conference Now for my own part it is not possible that I should go to Ratisbonne the Charges will be so great Besides there is a difference depending betwixt the Elector of Saxony and Duke Maurice which as it is referred to me because it could not be taken up by Commissioners appointed on both sides it is of great concern to be adjusted nevertheless I shall send Deputies with ample Instructions to the Diet. The Conference thus breaking up some hours after Naves came back to the Landgrave to assure him that the Emperour was pleased with that days Conference he again pressed him that he would come to Ratisbonne in person and asked him if he was willing to wait upon the Emperour again towards the Evening He declined not the proposal and so soon as he was come the Emperour gave him thanks by the mouth of Naves first for his coming thither and then because he perceived that the
appear and answer to all Suits of Law that may be brought against him by any man That his Children ratifie these Conditions The same shall his Nobility and other his Subjects do also and that if he observe not his Convents they shall apprehend him and deliver him up to the Emperour That for his performance of all these Conditions the Elector of Brandenburg Duke Maurice and Wolffgang the Prince Palatine's Son-in-law shall be his Sureties and unless he obey promise to employ all their Force against him and compel him to perform his Articles After the Landgrave had received these Articles with the common Consent and Assent of his States he accepted them yet so as that he desired a fuller Explication to be made to him as to some Points The Emperour being now about to remove his Camp June the sixth draws the Garrison of his Soldiers out of Wittemberg Immediately thereupon Duke Maurice puts one of his own in their place and having the same day sent for the Burgomasters and Council into the Castle he assures them that he will not in the least diminish their Priviledges and Liberty and at the same time takes an Oath of them that they shall be true and faithful to him For Wittemberg is the chief Town of the Electorate which the Emperour lately conferred upon Duke Maurice when all the Goods and Chattels of John Frederick were confiscated as has been said Then the Towns-people and Nobility entreated Duke Maurice that he would repair their University which in the tumult and hurry of War was broken up and run into decay That he promised to do and at the same time ordered that the Boors who had fled should be called home again promising to supply them with Materials for Building and Corn for Seed and Sustenance the poorer sort gratis and the rest to be paid again He afterwards re-settles Julius Pflug in the possession of the Bishoprick of Naumburg and turns out Nicholas Amstorst who as we said in the Fourteenth Book had been put in by John Frederick Moreover Lazarus Schuendi was by the Emperour sent with a Party of Soldiers to raze the Castle of Gothen and set at liberty Marquels Albert of Brandenburg who was there kept Prisoner The Winter before the Archbishop of Magdenburg had transacted with John Frederick as we said and resigned to him the Province but now in this Turn of Fortune both the Emperour and Clergy being vexed at it Frederick Son to the Elector of Brandenburg was put upon him to be his Coadjutor King Ferdinand returning from the Camp at Wittemberg to Bohemia stopp'd at Leutmevitz a Town upon the Borders of it From thence in the beginning of June he writes to all the States of Bohemia complaining again of the League which he said was made in opposition to him Wherefore he charges them to depart from it and to write to him severally what their Resolution was as to that That he knew many had been drawn in and had erred through ignorance whom he purposed to pardon and intended not to call any to account but such as had wilfully impeached his Authority When the States were met at Ulm the Emperour's Commissioners whom we named represent to them at large how great care the Emperour and King Ferdinand had always had of the Peace and Quiet of Germany in all their Actions as well publick as private But that without any regard thereunto had the Duke of Saxony and Landgrave of Hesse had not only rebelled themselves but forced others also to do the like and slighting all Law and Justice had put all Germany into confusion and disorder That therefore the Emperour was necessitated for the support of his Dignity and Authority to take up Arms and make War to the great danger of his Person and prejudice to his Exchequer That it was very well known what damage those Rebels and Outlaws had done to the Territories of Mentz Magdenburg Halberstadt Aichstadt Ausburg Fulde to the People of Stolberg Mansfield and the City of Gemâ—nd and that since the Emperour bent all his thoughts to the keeping of Germany in peace it seemed very requisite unto him that some League should be made for that purpose That King Ferdinand was of the same mind and that both would enter into the Association that so not only the present Troubles but any other also that should perhaps arise hereafter might be easily quelled So that they being resolved to use their utmost diligence and endeavours for the welfare of the common Country they expected the like mutually from them But the Plague breaking out at Ulm superceded their Consultations and made them adjourn themselves to Ausbourg where the Emperour intended to hold a great Assembly of the Empire as shall be said hereafter All affairs being now setled at Wittemberg the Emperour removes to Hall in Saxony a Town lying upon the River Saal intending from thence to march into Hesse if the Landgrave did not make his Peace The Landgrave being now in these streights and there being no other course for him to take he resolved to rely upon the promises and assurances given him by Duke Maurice and the Elector of Brandenburg and so setting out on his Journey June the 18th in the evening he arrived at Hall riding on horseback betwixt Duke Maurice and Brandenburg who went to meet him as far as Naumburg About an hour after came also Henry Duke of Brunswick with his Son Charles Victor that had been Prisoner his other Son Philip and Duke Erick of Brunswick who after the overthrow which he received in battle as hath been said was lately come thither Next morning Christopher Carlebitz coming to the Landgrave presents him the Articles of Peace to be signed to which a new Clause was added That all the heads and points therein contained should be understood according to the Emperours meaning and interpretation Wherefore because that Clause was not inserted in the Draught which Duke Maurice and the Elector of Brandenburg sent the Landgrave sends word to the Bishop of Arras that he could not sign it The Bishop cast the blame upon the negligence and omission of the Clerk that transcribed them and again urged him to sign which then he did The Bishop of Arras put it to him besides that since he would have the same security as to Religion that Duke Maurice and the Elector of Brandenburg had he should on his part also engage and promise to the Emperour to submit to the Decrees of the Council of Trent To which he made answer That no such thing had been mentioned to him before nor was it specified in the Articles of Peace and that he had rather be without that security from the Emperour than be obliged to give any such Promise But after a long debate about the matter and some threats too when he was told that the Emperour had already taken his seat in the Hall expecting him and was displeased with his
and period of this Captivity then said the Landgrave or by what space of time is it to be limited Though the Emperour should detain you for the space of fourteen years or more said Alva yet he would do nothing contrary to his promise The Landgrave then that he might recover his liberty as soon as he could payed in all the Money not long after razed his Castles and delivered up his Artillery Now the Emperour had got a vast number of great Guns partly from him partly from the Dukes of Saxony and Wirtemberg and the Free Towns which as they say amounted to Fifty in number Of these he sent some to Milan some to Naples others to Spain and the rest he distributed in the Low-Countries there to be kept as the Monuments and Trophies of his Victory Ebleben a worthy Gentleman who as we said had been the Messenger and Truchman in negotiating the Landgrave's Pacification took his Captivity extremely ill and shortly after died for grief of it as most People thought The Emperour had resolved to fall upon the City of Magdenburg which lies upon the Elbe two days Journey below Wittemberg for they were the only People that stood it out but at the very same time Henry King of France employed Sebastian Vogelsbergh to raise Men in Germany to the number of ten Ensigns a thing the Emperour began to be jealous of Wherefore partly for this cause and partly because he thought he had another way to humble them leaving Hall he marched into Upper Germany and June the seven and twentieth sent the Marquess of Matignan with an Aid of eight Ensigns of German Foot to his Brother King Ferdinand Ferdinand was then at Leutmeritz expecting an Opportunity of Action and so soon as he had received Intelligence of the Emperor's Success and the taking of the Landgrave he wrote to those of Prague July the first commanding them to appear before him in the Castle of Prague the sixth of the same Month to answer for what they had done Being come thither with his Forces he lays open before them in a publick Assembly all the past Transactions and how many ways they had offended him accusing them of High-Treason and bidding them answer to every Particular There they humbly submit to his Will and Pleasure beseeching him not to use the Rigour of Law against them Wherefore at the Intercession of young Ferdinand the Son Augustus the Brother of Duke Maurice and some other great men the King on the tenth of July proposes these Conditions unto them That in the next Convention of States they wholy annul the League they had entred into by cancelling it and breaking all the Seals That they deliver up to him all their Charters and Writings of Liberties and Priviledges to the intent he may reform some of them and grant and confirm to them anew such as he shall think fit That they also resign all the Charters of Liberties and Immunities granted to Companies and Incorporations because some of them did give occasion to Stirs and Commotions That in like manner they give up their Castles and renounce all Jurisdiction and Customs as also all Instruments of Leagues and especially of that Association which they made amongst themselves and of that Alliance they had entred into with John Frederick That they pay for ever the Excise of Beer which had been granted him only for three years That they bring all their Artillery and Ammunition into the Castle and all their private Arms into the Town-house If they thus do he promises to spare the Multitude excepting some few whom he resolved to punish as they deserved and keep Prisoners for the Publick Good. The People being acquainted with this and fifty Prisoners set at liberty the Conditions were accepted and agreed unto Some of the Nobility being cited and not appearing at the day were sentenced to have forfeited Honour Life and Goods so that some other Cities and Nobles submitted without any Condition as Prague had done But Caspar Pflug whom the Confederates had made their General as we said was condemned of High-Treason and a Reward of Five thousand Florins set upon his Head. Afterwards in the Convention of States the League was abrogated and cancelled and the King obtained from them every thing almost that he had demanded Whilst the Emperour is triumphing in Germany a dangerous Sedition broke out at Naples The Cause of it was That the Viceroy Peter of Toledo would after the Spanish manner inquire into their Faith and Religion The Citizens murmured heavily at this and being weary of the Spanish Government rose in Arms But after a great deal of Butchery and Bloodshed committed in the City the Spaniards who were Masters of the Forts and Castles got the better on 't So that some of the Seditious being fined the rest were banished Now the Spanish Inquisition which makes such a noise now adays was heretofore set up in those Places by King Ferdinand and Isabel against the Jews who after Baptism observed their own Rites and Laws But now that Luther's Name was up it was promiscuously practised and that with great Severity and short Process too against all who were in the least supected At the very same time the French King sends seven Cardinals to Rome commanding them to stay there till fresh Orders That was thought to have been done that by their means the Pope might be wholly inclined to the Amity and Friendship of the King and that if he chanced to die being now fourscore years of age they might procure another to be chosen that was no Enemy to his Majesty Nor were there wanting some who gave it out that it was done by the advice and interest of the Constable that they being out of the way he might alone do all with the King for generally they all followed the Court whithersoever the King went. A little before the Pope had sent a Legat into France Jerome Roman a Cardinal with a most ample Commission to dispence with many things prohibited both by the Laws and Decrees of Councils At that time also he created Charles the Son of Claude Duke of Guise and Archbishop of Reims Cardinal as knowing him to be the King's Favourite On the other hand the King of France to ingratiate himself the more promises his Natural Daughter a young Lady of nine years of age in Marriage to Horatio Farnese the Pope's Grandchild by his Son. The Emperour leaving Hall came to Bamberg that at so near a distance he might awe the Bohemians the more and give Strength and as it were Sinews to his Brother King Ferdinand Whilst he was here on the third day of July he called a Diet of the Empire commanding all to meet the first of September at Ausburg the Princes in Person and all the rest by Deputies with full Power and Commission and declaring That the War had hindred him from holding a Diet at
acquaint you with for my own Justification The very same day the States give Duke Maurice and the Elector of Brandenburg an account of this Relation of the Emperours whereunto they next day make answer to this effect That they now confess what hitherto they had always done that they had no cause to accuse or find fault with the Emperour in this particular but that nevertheless they had had several and private Negotiations with King Ferdinand before he went home from the Camp before Wittemberg and with some of the Emperours Counsellors though not many and that perhaps through a slip of Tongue some mistake might have happened which they will not much contend about That however it be they had for the preservation of the innocent Multitude and that Germany might recover its long wished for Peace advised the Landgrave when he had not the least apprehension of Custody or Confinement to come to Hall beg the Emperours Pardon and accept of the Conditions of Peace But now that he had lost his liberty and was still kept Prisoner to the great danger of his health was a thing that no man but must see did extreamly reflect upon their Honour and Reputation That therefore they did most earnestly desire them that they would joyn with them in an Address to the Emperour and beseech his Majesty that it would please him to have more regard to them who had faithfully served the Empire than to the Landgrave's Offence and not to suffer them to be any longer exposed to Obloquy and Censure but to restore him to his liberty especially since all the Conditions were in a manner fulfilled and that the Emperour had most ample security for the performance of them to the least title So then an Intercession was made in the common name of all and the Landgrave 's Wife prevailed with the Lady Mary the Emperour's Sister to second it but it was all in vain And because Duke Maurice and the Elector of Brandenburg said that they had past their promise and obliged themselves by Bond to the Landgrave 's Sons so long as he should be detained Prisoner the Emperour sent John de Lire to the Landgrave who then was at Nordlingen being removed thither lately by the Spaniards requiring him to deliver up all his Writings and amongst the rest also the Letters of safe Conduct and obligation of Security He told him That they were not in his keeping but that his Sons and Counsellors had them That although he should write to them it would be to no purpose for that they had told him at parting that they would not deliver them up before he were set at liberty That nevertheless if he might have assurance from the Emperour of the time of his enlargement he would do what lay in his power to perswade them to deliver all up The Emperour dissatisfied with that Answer shortly after removed his Servants from him allowing him but one or two at most About the latter end of November Peter Martyr a Florentine who had for five years with great applause taught at Strasburg went now with leave from the Senate into England whither he had been invited by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the King's Name and was made Professor of Divinity in Oxford His Companion that went along with him was Bernardine Ochino of Siena who being in high esteem in Italy for his Eloquence and the opinion Men had of his Virtue forsook his Monastick Life and embraced the Reformed Religion and going first to Geneva and from thence afterward to Ausburg published some Sermons of his in print Much about this time King Henry's Laws about Religion which we mentioned in the twelfth Book are by publick Proclamation abolished all over England and Images and Pictures removed out of the Churches which was the beginning of the Reformation there On the ninth day of December the Cardinal of Trent discharged the Commission the Emperour had entrusted him with in a full Consistory of Cardinals where the Pope himself presided representing in an elaborate Speech what Pains and Danger the Emperour had undergone for the sake of the Council and that now through his Diligence and Authority Matters were brought to that pass that all the States were willing to obey and submit to its Decrees That therefore by all that was Sacred he besought the Pope in name of the Emperour King Ferdinand and the whole Empire first That he would order the Fathers at Bolonia to return to Trent there to perfect the Work begun which was so very necessary for the Publick Good next That he would send a Legat or two into Germany that with their Advice and Counsel some Rules of Good-living might be established until the Council should be ended and that the Clergy might be reformed Lastly That he would also consider and determine that if the Pope should happen to die during the sitting of the Council whether or not the power of Election ought to lie in the Fathers of the Council or in the Cardinals lest if the Case should happen it might give occasion to new Commotions Five days after the Cardinal of Trent had had his Audience James Mendoza by Orders from the Emperour spoke in the same Auditory to the same purpose and besides That if the Pope did make any delay or excuse he said he was commanded by his Master to joyn with the Embassadors of other Kings and Princes and openly protest against the Council The very same day which was the fourteenth of December the Archbishop of Rheims who as we said already was made Cardinal the Summer before being by the French King sent to Rome makes an Harangue to the Pope and Cardinals In the beginning he commends the late King Francis that amongst other his Virtues he was so tender of the Rights and Liberties even of other Princes that upon that account he never declined Danger nor Cost That his Son King Henry did in no ways degenerate from him in Manners and Inclination who so soon as he was seated on the Throne and had performed his last Duty to his deceased Father had nothing more in his thoughts than how to make appear his Zeal and Duty towards the See of Rome therein treading the Steps of his Ancestors the Kings of France who had given so many and illustrious Instances of their Affection towards the Popes of Rome that they were justly reckoned the first and went before all other Nations in that Character And that since now adays there was a Race of froward and saucy People sprung up that opposed and railed against the Majesty of that Place it was a matter of greatest moment that at the same time a most potent King did as it became the eldest Son of the Church and Chief Captain of Christian People submit himself and all he had to the same Church for the maintenance and defence of whose Dignity he was ready to employ and sacrifice all that was near
Judges but as Honourable and Worthy Prince And in the first place saith he for clearing of the matter I am to speak some things of the Prutenick Order The Kings of Poland made over a good part of Prussia to this Order which is commonly called the Teutonick Order upon condition that they would serve them in the Wars against Infidels and the Enemies of Christendom But they having most ungratefully rebelled turned their Arms against their own Sovereigns So that many times they had Wars together and many times in Treaties the Conditions were renewed which by reason of their antiquity it is to no purpose to relate And I shall only mention that which happened almost in our memory King Casimire the Father of Sigismund having overcome them in a great Battel forced them to accept of Conditions of Peace Amongst other things it was agreed upon at that time that for the future they should acknowledge the King of Poland for their chief Magistrate and swear Allegiance unto him But there were some Masters of that Order afterwards who violated the Conditions and put themselves under the Protection of others Amongst these was Albert of Brandenburg for one who being by his Tenure obliged to do Homage to the King his Uncle within six months refused to do it so that the King who was a great lover of peace was forced to make War against him And though it never came to a pitcht Battle betwixt them yet much mischief was done by Inrodes plundering burning of Houses and smaller skirmishes in so much that Albert being overpowred came to make a Truce with the King. At the very same time some forces came to his assistance out of Germany which made him depart without concluding any thing and begin the War again afresh But being forsaken of them not long after he was now forced to do in good earnest what he had only pretended to do before that he might obtain a Peace So that by the mediation of some Peace was at length concluded upon these Conditions That he should swear Allegiance to the King and perform all those things that a true and faithful Vassal ought to do to his Liege Lord. It is certain then That Prussia hath time out of mind and ever since the Christian Religion was planted there both by the Law of Arms and by Mutual Compacts and Agreements belonged to the Crown of Poland for if any others have claimed right to it that has been done by the Insolence and Injustice of the Masters of the Order who being by the permission of our Kings Natives of Germany have often attempted to bring Prussia under the Dominion of Strangers which hath occasioned many broils and quarrels betwixt the Poles and Germans and was the cause of the Decree whereby Albert stands proscribed But what power had they who proscribed him over the Vassal of another For that he did not appear in Judgment when he was cited by those who were not competent Judges he did so by the Kings Command on whom the whole blame is to be laid if any there be Now if he be outlawed for acknowledging the King to be his chief Magistrate it is really very unjust that a Man should be punished for doing his Duty Wherefore it is the earnest Suit of the King my Master to you most Triumphant Emperour and most Noble States that that unjust and unlawful Decree of Proscription may be abolished Nor is it to be thought that the King out of any ambitious or covetous design intends to enlarge his Dominions by the accession of Prussia For how can he be suspected of any such thing who has refused most ample Provinces offered unto him And indeed he values not this Country so much but that if he could do it with his Honour he could easily dispense with it but since it properly belongs to his Dominions as it hath been already often made out he can do no otherwise for that there have been frequent strifes and contentions about it it hath been always the fault of the Masters of the Order as hath been said whom God failed not now and then to punish for their Audacious Crimes Your Grandfather Maximilian most mighty Emperour and King Ferdinand knew this very well who being mindful of the injuries which both he and his Father Frederick had received from them made a solemn promise to King Sigismund when they had an Interview at Vienna and this Promise he made too both in his own and your Names that he would never give any assistance to that Order Now Maximilian in this did no new thing but therein followed the footsteps of his Ancestors for both Sigismund the Emperour in an Interview with Ladislaus my Masters Grandfather promised not only as much but also to give assistance against them and your Great Grandfather Frederick the Emperour joyned Forces and Arms with Casimire the Father of King Sigismund against Matthias King of Hungary and the Order we now speak of who were at that time Confederates And though King Casimire being entangled in the War of this Order could not send Auxiliaries to the Emperour Frederick yet he supplied him with the Money that he owed him by virtue of their League and Agreement So that it plainly appears that this Order hath been always an Enemy to the House of Austria which hath ever been most closely united to Poland by the Bonds of Leagues and Alliances and that King Sigismund now refers to your serious Consideration For if there be any of that Order that look upon themselves as bound to fight for the Christian Religion there is nothing for them to do in Prussia since all Neighbouring States profess the Faith of Christ They are to look for other places then where they may imploy themselves and indeed Jerusalem for some Ages now has been in the possession of a harbarous Enemy for the defence of which place this Order is said to have been instituted Constantinople also is in the hands of the same People Here is work enough cut out for them if they have a mind to be doing Or if they think the pretension too old and the place too far distant there have been many strong Holds of Christendom lately taken why do not the Order march thither that either they may regain what is lost or defend what remains from the Enemy But if they delight more in Civil War any Man may then judge how ill they deserve their Name This indeed is the Case It is an Order that hath always been out of order And therefore they were not only driven out of Prussia but an hundred years ago out of Bohemia also nor hath any Man as yet sued for a Donation of those places in Bohemia out of which they were expulsed as being publick and vacant Poland alone is thought fit to be molested that way whereas it ought most of all to have been favoured for though that Order is offensive to many yet none has suffered so
much from it as Poland does Because excepting some few and those too the first Masters hardly any of the rest ever did their Duty Nay for the most part letting the Barbarians alone they turned their Arms against their own Sovereign the King of Poland And not only so but they Negotiated also a League with the Tartars a cruel sort of Men and implacable Enemies to the Christians as it is reported of Michael Cochmester So that if one should reckon up the Labours Perils Charges Wars Tumults Battels Slaughters and Desolations that this Order above all others has been the cause of he 'll find it to be hardly worth so much Now it is the Kings desire that once for all an end may be put to these Evils for if any make War against Albert Duke of Prussia the King cannot sit still and see him wronged because he is both his Uncle and Patron The threatnings of some flie about and are brought to the Kings Ears and he is very much troubled thereat for he loves peace and quietness and above all the Concord of Christendom However if any offer Violence it will be against his will indeed to take up Arms but for all that he will do it for the defence of him and his He desires the friendship of all Princes but yours especially most mighty Emperour and King Ferdinand and wishes it may be perpetual therefore he hath often interceded with you by Letters and Messengers that the Decree of Proscription against Albert might be recalled And that it hath not as yet been done he imputes it not so much to you as to the troublesome times But now that all rubs and impediments are removed out of your way he thinks it is now in your power to accomplish what sometimes you generously promised when in more Letters than one you assured him that you wanted ability rather than good will to gratifie his desires Now in case the Order will not be quiet but raise Stirs and War he is very confident that you will observe the Articles and Compacts of your Predecessors the Emperours Maximilian and Frederick One thing more I have in my Instructions and that concerns the Cities of Dantzick and Elwang Though these are under the Dominion of Poland yet are they called to the Diets of the Empire the King therefore desires that no such thing may be done for the future and since no Man but he hath any right to them that henceforward they may be suffered to enjoy their own Laws When the Emperour had heard his Demands he made a Report of them to the Diet of the Empire and gave a Copy of the Speech to Wolfgang Master of Prussia who January the Twenty third made an Answer to it in the vulgar Language and having begun with a little Preface The Hinge of the whole Controversie turns upon this saith he Whether Prussia belong to the Dominion of Poland or to the Empire and if I make out the last the decision will be very easie The State of the Case then most Triumphant Emperour most Potent King most Noble Princes and States is thus as I am about to shew you About four hundred years since when a publick War was undertaken against the Barbarians who exceedingly distressed those of our Religion in Asia and Africa the Order we now speak of was instituted by Emperours afterward bountifully endowed and by Popes confirmed The Knights of that Order for some years after sustained most difficult and dangerous Wars in those parts for the good of Christendom but at length having received a great overthrow they were scattered and dispersed into several places It happened about that time that Conrade Duke of Muscovy was sadly put to it by the Prussians who were then Enemies to the Christian Religion He being unable to defend himself any longer against them implored first the Pope of Rome that as the Custom was he would publish a Croisadoe and by promises of Heavenly Rewards encourage Men to become Soldiers Then next he joyned to himself this Order of mine bestowing upon them all the Country of Culm bordering upon Prussia and the more to excite them afterwards all Prussia it self The Emperour Frederick II. confirmed this Donation and made a promise to Horman Salcie then Master of the Order That if he would make War against the Prussians and overcome them their Land should be his for ever This was in the year 1226. so that my Order having by the help of the Emperours Popes and Princes of the Empire carried on a continual War against the Prussians for almost filty three years at length they subdued Prussia and converted it to the Christian Religion adorning it with some Bishopricks and Colledges and strengthening it by Castles and Towns which they built that for the future that Country might be as a Wall and Bariere to the Empire and a Sanctuary for the Nobility of Germany Thus one part of that Country continued in our hands until the year 1450. and the other till the time of Albert of Brandenburg When in process of time afterwards the Lithuanians joyning with the Tartars made War against the Poles and Muscovites our Knights being mindful of their Order and Institution took Arms totally routed the Lithuanians and invaded their Country So that we had a lasting Peace and Amity with the Poles until a certain Prince of Lithuania was chosen King of Poland He to revenge the loss and affront that his Country had received suddenly set upon us and with the Assistance of the Barbarians did us much hurt But being by our Men forced to retreat and stript of a considerable part of his own Dominions he made but an unlucky end of the War so that he preferred his Grievances to the Council of Constance whereupon a Decree was made That our Order should restore that part of Poland which they held by the Law of Arms. Having in this manner recovered what he had lost he forgot the kindness that was done him and renewed the War pretending that some Provinces of our Order belonged to the Dominion of Poland And though by the Mediation of the Kings of Hungary and Bohemia the matter was taken up yet the sore broke out again and at length the Cause was brought before Sigismund the Emperour who approved the former Composition that was made by the two Kings However the King of Poland could not rest thus but raised another War which lasted till twenty four years after in the Reign of Ladâ—slaus it was made an end of at Torn In which Pacification he quits all Claim and Title calls not himself Lord or Inheritor of Prussia and obliges all his Successors that within a year after they come to the Crown they swear to Ratifie that Peace make the Bishops and other States of the Kingdom take the same Oath and that every tenth year the same be renewed It was then also Stipulated that if thenceforward any King of Poland should wage War against
the Masters of Prussia his Subjects should not be obliged to obey or aid him but that they should mutually entertain a perpetual Peace And this same Pacification was sealed with about two hundred Seals as it may be made appear nevertheless that peace lasted not above fourteen years For in the year 1450 the People rebelled and conspired against the Master and although the Pope Excommunicated and the Emperour Frederick the Third Proscribed them although the Master was willing to submit to a fair Trial yet they were so far from being reclaimed that about seventy Towns and Castles made a desertion in one day Casimire King of Poland the Father of Sigismund struck in with this Conspiracy and reduced us to such streights that Lewis Erlinsuse who was then Master of the Order forced by fear of the present danger which may affect even the stoutest of Men that he might both retain the Province and live securely therein Capitulated with him upon most unreasonable Conditions without the Authority of Pope Emperour or States of the Empire Amongst others these are the Conditions of this Peace That henceforward the Masters of Prussia within six months after they enter into the Government shall come to the King of Poland and by Oath acknowledge him for their Sovereign whom they shall aid and assist against all Men That they shall receive Poles as well as Germans into their Order and admit them to Perferments and that what Lands and Possessions they shall acquire for the future the same they shall hold in fee of the King of Poland Now these are Conditions which tend not only to the private loss and prejudice of my Order but also to the publick detriment and disgrace of the Empire and Nobility of Germany And therefore there have been Masters since who perceiving the injustice of the thing made sad Complaints of it to the Popes and Emperours but for all that they have been forced to Swear And Prussia continued indeed in Vassalage to the Empire until Frederick Duke of Saxony and Marquess Albert of Brandenburg became Masters of the Order For these would not swear Allegiance to the Kings of Poland because that neither the Pope nor Emperour had ratified that Transaction of Casimire's and that in the year 1500 the Emperour Maximilian by a Decree made in the Diet of Ausburg commanded them to do Homage only to the Empire And when afterward for settling the Controversie Maximilian had appointed a Meeting at Passaw in the year 1510. whither Ambassadours were sent yet nothing could be concluded whence this last War arose besides Albert himself was four and twenty years since at the Diet of Norimberg where he took his place amongst others as a Prince of the Empire and signed the Decree that past there It is manifest then that neither the King of Poland had any right to Prussia nor Albert any colour of Law to do Homage and Swear Allegiance to him Now whereas the Ambassador reproacheth my Order with ingratitude and breach of Treaties he does us an injury and it may be made out by Authentick Records that the King of Poland seldom or never kept faith to us Was there ever any publick Instrument seen to which more Seals were put than that which was made with King Ladislaus Can greater security be given And nevertheless that Writing being cancelled and the Seals broken the War was again renewed against us and this was the Thanks we had for restoring unto them Tartary and a good part of Lithuania He names some Emperours of former times who he say's were offended with my Order but the matter is far otherwise For Sigismund not only determined the Controversie and judged in our favours as was said a little before but also sent us Aids against our Enemy Then again Frederick at that time when the People rebelled as we have already mentioned shew'd us not only all friendship and favour but also proscribed the Conspirators and for that end held a Diet of the Empire at Norimberg in which Diet a Decree past for sending us Succours The same were the good Intentions of Maximilian towards us for neither would he have us to swear Allegiance to the King of Poland but sent several Letters upon that account to King Sigismund both in his own Name and Name of the Empire and made then an Honourable Decree in our Favours The Orator goes on and in a facetious manner plays upon us asking Why we do not recover Jerusalem and such other places I am not so wholly a Stranger to Affairs but that I could could retort many things upon him but in Reverence to this August Assembly I forbear and shall only ask one Question again of him First Why the King of Poland does not recover the places which some years ago the Duke of Muscovy took from him and which are as large in extent as all Prussia is And then why in this his prosperous fortune he defends not his borders against those daily incursions of the Tartars These now are punishments for his breach of faith He saith that heretofore our whole Order was driven out of Bohemia What reason he had to alledge that I cannot tell unless he intended to prove by Example that it was lawful to rob and spoil us also of our Lands and Possessions For the Calamity of that time reached not only our Order but also overspread all Bohemia plagueing those chiefly who adhered to the Religion of their Forefathers when grievous troubles arose about the Doctrine of John Huss My Order I confess have had Wars with the Kings of Poland but that they were the Causes of the War I utterly deny Nor did they ever take up Arms unless it were to defend or recover their own Right He saith we made a League with the Tartars but that had more truely been said of themselves it being notoriously known that they have made use of their helps against those that professed the Christian Religion Besides it may be easily gathered from the situation of the Countrys whether by reason of propinquity the Tartars are more for their turns or ours Lastly what he saith of Dantzick and Elwang hath no reason to support it for both are Cities within our Jurisdiction and belong to the Empire of Germany nor hath the King of Poland any other Right or Title to them but what he has made to himself by the treachery and desertion of the Citizens as might be made out by many proofs Wherefore in consideration of all these things I humbly beg most Triumphant Emperour most Powerful King and most Noble States that the Sentence already pronounced may be put in execution For the Justice of the Cause the Dignity of the Empire the State of Religion and the Honour and Profit of the Nobility of Germany all these things I say ought and do plead for this at your Hands The Ambassadour of Poland had indeed prepared a Reply to this Speech but did not give it in for the
Reasons of both Parties being heard a Committee out of the whole Diet was chosen to consider of the Matter The Result of their Deliberation was That the Sentence past against Albert should stand good but nevertheless because they saw that it would prove a most difficult Business to put it in execution they refer the whole Matter to the Emperour Some time after King Sigismund died at a great Age after he had Reigned Two and fourty years Casimire as has been said was his Father He had three Brothers of whom Ladislaus was King of Hungary and Bohemia the Father of King Louis and Anne John Albert and Alexander having successively Reigned after their Father Casimire died without Children and left the Government to their youngest Brother Sigismund to whom succeeded his Son of the same Name and Son in Law to Ferdinand King of the Romans It has been said in the former Book that Mendoza protested against the Council at Rome To that the Pope having called a Consistory of Cardinals February the first made this Answer When you told Us said he my Lord Ambassador that you had Orders from the Emperour to protest against the Council you struck us all with great grief But when afterwards we diligently considered your Commission we took heart again and first I will say somewhat to the cause of our Grief And it is because that kind of protesting is a thing of bad Example made use of chiefly by those who have either wholly shaken off their Obedience or have begun to waver in it Wherefore it grieved me exceedingly who have always born a Fatherly Love towards the Emperor and as it becomes the Pastor of the Church studied Peace and Concord And it grieved both me and the Colledge of Cardinals the more that at this time it was the thing we least expected since the Emperour when he made War against his and the Churches Enemies had Aid and Assistance from me And though my Lord Ambassador you seem to make but small account of this yet it ought to be reckoned as a singular favour For the Aid I sent was very great so as it even exceeded the reach of the Apostolical Chamber and came besides in a most seasonable time What could have been less expected then than that after a Victory and lately obtained too the Emperour should render unto me such fruits of his Faith and Benevolence Such I say as that the end of the War should be the beginning of protesting against me I have now found by Experience what the Prophet complaineth of That I looked for good Grapes but found none but sower Grapes From my entrance into the Popedom I have with much care cherished the Emperour as a most noble Plant that some time or other I might reap a most plentiful Vintage but this attempt of his hath made me almost despair of any fruit You have heard the cause of our Grief now you shall know what it is that hath given us Comfort You have used that Authority which you think has been given you of protesting against me and this sacred Colledge in a manner as was neither Honourable to us nor becoming the Character of the Emperour But in your Letters of Instructions there is not one word which shews it to have been the Emperours will that you should have acted so I say not one word that you may the better understand me that gives you power to do so The Emperour indeed Commands his Agents at Bolonia that they should so protest before our Legats there who changed the place of the Council and when you found that that was done there you would needs use the same form of Protestation here with us but in that you have transgressed the bounds of your Commission If my Lord Ambassadour you were not sensible of that before take now Admonition and acknowledge it For the Emperour's Orders are not that you should protest against us but that you should do it in this our Consistory against the Legats who were the Authors of the Translation Wherefore the Emperour in that did the Duty of a most modest Prince who confined himself within those limits and would have that Protestation to be made before me whom he knew to be the only lawful Judge of the whole Matter Had I indeed refused to take cognisance of the Affair then would he have had a cause of Protestation but you taking another course than you ought to have done made no application to me that I should examine the Matter but made use of a certain Prejudice demanding that I should annul the Decree made for translating the Council and enjoyn the greatest part of the Fathers to give place to a few who remained at Trent And what could more enervate all the Authority of the Council than that Had it not been much more reasonable that if the small number which is at Trent had had any cause of Complaint against the rest who are at Bolonia they should have brought it before me I would not then truly have rejected their demands nor would I neither now reject them Since then it is certain that your way of acting is not consonant to the Emperours Intentions we have cause to thank God who thus disposes his Mind and Purposes we have cause to Congratulate and you also to Rejoyce in your Princes behalf And though by what we have said the foundation of your Plea and Proceeding is wholly overturned so that there is no need of making Answer to your Protestation nevertheless that I may not by my silence seem to acknowledge the truth of your Accusations and thereby offend many especially the weaker sort I will refute them severally And in the first place therefore You seem to have proposed this Scope to your self that you may expose me as negligent a Shuffler and Starter of Delays to baffle the sitting of the Council and make the Emperour appear on the other hand to be a vigilant and active Prince sollicitous for the publick good and wholly bent upon the sitting of the Council Truly I do not nor ought I envy the Emperours Praises and had you stopt there and gone no farther I should have nothing to answer but because you so extol him as to depress me so celebrate his Praises as to render me in some sort Contemptible whilst you say that he urged not only me but my Predecessors Popes of Rome to call a Council the Thing it self requires that I should answer you as to these things Wherefore if it has been always the Emperours mind and desire that a Council should be held I have ever been of the same mind as well as he And besides as I am older than he so also have I wished for this sooner than he which the most eminent Cardinals who were then of this Colledge can testifie When I was made Pope I persevered in the same mind and upon the very least occasion that offered I called a Council first at Mantua and
and put away the opinion he conceived of him for that that would much redound to the benefit of the Publick But that if he was not satisfied with this Excuse and would prefer War before Peace he himself must see how prejudicial and dangerous that would prove to all Italy and Europe also and be the cause in like manner that no firm nor lasting Treaty could be set on foot about matters of Religion That therefore if sad Commotions should thereupon ensue if the Council now called could not meet or if it did assemble should be dispersed if in that state of affairs he could not send any of his Bishops to Trent the fault was not to be imputed to him who was willing not only to offer but to receive Conditions of Peace as he did publickly protest But the Pope relying upon the Aid and Promises of the Emperour was nothing softened by that Embassy On the Seventeenth of June Duke Maurice again granted a safe Conduct to the Magdeburgers for Deputies to be sent to Treat with him about a Peace who being dispatched and conducted by Marquess Albert of Brandeburg found Duke Maurice at Pirn a Town of Misnia for he was gone home and seemed to act remisly So soon as they came he propounded these Conditions to them in the Emperours Name That they shall make no League against the Emperour King Ferdinand Austria nor the Netherlands That they shall observe all the Decrees of the Empire That they shall stand Tryals at Law and satisfie the Clergy for the damage they have received of them That they shall demolish their Works and Fortifications That they shall admit of a Garison of Twelve hundred Soldiers That they shall receive the Emperour King Ferdinand and their Generals at all times and with as many Men as they please That they deliver up twelve great Guns pay down an hundred thousand Florins and ratifie and confirm all these Conditions upon Oath Though they were not in a condition to perform these Articles yet did they not wholly reject them and at Count Heidecks intercession they were by little and little qualified The Emperour had before sent Letters of safe Conduct to Germany especially to the States of the Augustane Confession requiring them to repair to Trent by the First of May. But because by reason of the War of Parma the Council was put off till the beginning of December as has been said before he again warns them by any means to come and promises them all imaginable Justice and fair dealing Though there were a great many of that persuasion nevertheless what ought chiefly to have been done they did not confer Counsels together either that they despaired of any success in the matter or that they were afraid to offend the Emperour or again that they grew faint-hearted when they saw the danger at hand Of all the Free Towns none but Strasburg sent Messengers to enquire both what their Neighbours and those more remote were resolved to do And Duke Maurice had ordered Philip Melanchton to draw up the heads of their Doctrine which might afterwards be publickly produced That being finished and perused by all the Divines and Ministers who by the Princes command met at Leipsick on the Eighth of July it was by them all unanimously approved Christopher Duke of Wirtemberg took the like course also and caused Brentius to compose a Book of the same nature And though both Writings agreed in the very same points yet Duke Maurice would exhibit his own a-part lest if many together should propound the same thing in common the Emperour might take Umbrage at it and suspect some Association However having mutually communicated the Books to one another the Divines of Wirtemberg approved the Saxons Book and the Saxons that of Wirtemberg as the Divines of Strasburg did both And so it was agreed upon that when time served some should be sent to the Council to propose and defend that Doctrine The Duke of Wirtemberg after his Fathers example made much of John Brentzen for his Excellent Learning using his assistance in the restauration of the Reformed Religion he also restored him again to the Ministery and gave him the Living of Sutgart July the Five and twentieth Marquess Albert of Brandeburg in the absence of Duke Maurice by a Trumpeter rejects the answer that the Magdeburgers made to the Conditions of Peace proposed by Duke Maurice at Pirn He had got a small Ruffle the day before for they had engaged with greater Forces than ever they had done hitherto On the Thirteenth of August there had like to have been a great Mutiny within the Town For a Letter was brought to the Soldiers which mentioned that there were some of the Senate who would betray the Town and named Henry Alman for one Whereupon the Soldiers flocking together demand him He appeared and protested that it was an injury done unto him that it was a trick of the Enemy that by cunning and treachery they might bring about what they could not accomplish by force and fair â—ighting and that if the thing could be proved against him he did not refuse to submit to any punishment so that the whole Senate having engaged for his fidelity the matter was quieted and some Citizens and Soldiers were chosen to view the Letters that should be sent to and again for the future Fight days after Duke Maurice wrote to the Emperour acquainting him that for his own part he was satisfied with the safe Conduct he gave and could not find any great fault in it but that he was informed there was a Decree made in the Council of Constance that Hereticks or such as were suspected of Heresie should be brought into Inquisition if they came to the Council and sentence pronounced against them for their Crime although the Emperour had given them safe Conduct That that Decree was extant amongst the Acts of the Council and actually put in execution upon John Huss who had been put to death notwithstanding the safe Conduct of the Emperour Sigismund upon the security whereof he came That since it was so he could not send any of his Divines to Trent unless the Prelates assembled there should in the Name of the whole Council grant also their safe Conduct as it had been done in the Council of Basil which immediately succeeded that of Constance That the Bohemians being moved by the forementioned instance would not then go thither till first they had a safe Conduct from the whole Council that therefore he intreated his Majesty that either by his Authority or Interest he would obtain that from them for that unless a safe Conduct were granted in the same form as heretofore at Basil it ought not to be prejudicial to him or any else of the same profession if they suffered none of theirs to repair to the Council Now of the Bohemians and John Huss who was burnt at Constance and of the War that followed
enough penn'd sharpened them and skrewed them up to the highest pitch of Rigour inviting and encouraging Informers by ample promises of Rewards Which the King as it was thought did with this design that he might curb those who were desirous of a change of Religion in France that they should not take to themselves the greater liberty because of his clasing with the Pope at this time Again that they who honoured the Church of Rome might entertain no suspicion of him as if his mind hankered after a new Religion And lastly that both the Pope and College of Cardinals might perceive that they might have access still to his Friendship when they pleased Afterward a Declaration came forth out of the Emperour's Court wherein the original of the War of Parma is related and how just a cause of Offence the Pope had against Octavio and the Prince of Mirandula of how restless a mind the French King was who laid hold on all occasions and made it his whole study and endeavour to hinder and disappoint the Emperour's most honest and lawful Designs But that the Emperour was so little moved at all these things that he would proceed with greater Courage and Resolution Octavio had given it out that he was necessitated to put himself under the protection of the French King because of the Injuries and Treacheries of Ferdinando Gonzaga but in this Declaration that is refuted For that if there were any cause of fear he himself gave the occasion who had oftener than once laid wait for the life of Gonzaga Then there is an account given how Piacenza fell into the Emperour's hands for that Petro Aloisio the Pope's Bastard Son being invested into Parma and Piacenza governed the Poeple tyrannically and like another Nero practised his detestable Lust not only upon Women but Men also as his custom was that therefore he was slain and murdered in his own House by the Citizens who could no longer suffer so great Cruelties That the Towns-people then perceiving the present danger they were in if they should fall again under the Jurisdiction of the Pope and Church of Rome had no other way of security left than to resign themselves over to the Emperour especially since of old they had been free Denizons of the Empire That therefore they had applied themselves to Gonzaga praying him to receive them into the Emperour's protection for that otherwise they must look for help and patronage somewhere else That it was an idle thing in him then to pretend fear seeing the Emperour had bestowed many favours upon the Family of Farnese that he had chosen Octavio to be his Son-in-law given his Father Peter Aloisio the City of Novara in Fee and Inheritance and honoured him with the Title of Marquess But that they had been very ungrateful at all times but particularly when under a counterfeit mask of Friendship they assisted him in subduing some Rebels of Germany their whole design was at the same time to have taken from him Milan and Genoua for that Joannin D'Oria a brave and valiant Man was basely killed in that Scuffle and Tumult whilst he discharged his duty to the Emperour and stood up for the safety of his Country There came out an answer to this afterward in name of the French King wherein a relation is given how that the Emperour to endear Paul III. to himself had given to his Son Petro Aloisio the Title and Quality of Marquess how that he had taken his Son Octavio to be his own son-in-Son-in-law how that he had gratifyed and obliged his other Son Alexander with many Ecclesiastical Preferments and in short how that he had made a League with the Pope wherein it was provided as it is said that the Emperour should confirm the Decree of the College of Cardinals concerning the Principality of Parma and Piacenza to the Family of the Farneses But that when the Emperour was at War in Germany and pretended it was not for Religion but to punish the Rebellion of some that he had taken up Arms it was a very unacceptable Contrivance to the Pope as wel perceiving that by so doing he minded only his own private Concerns and aimed at Dominion And that he had not been out in his Judgment neither for that when the War being over the Emperour stood not much in need of the assistance of the Farneses he had given no dark intimations of his ill will to the Pope for that then his Governours in Italy had had an eye and mind to Piacenza and that not long after Ruffians being subborned to murder Petro Aloisio in his Chamber before that the Citizens heard of the Murder Soldiers had been brought into the Town who seized the Castle in the Emperour's Name That if the Emperour had not been privy to the Fact it had been but reasonable that after the death of Paul the Third he should have restored it to the Church but that he not only restored it not but had also endeavoured to take Parma from his Son-in-law and had even in the life-time of Paul laid his measures for effecting it insomuch that the Trouble and Vexation which the Pope thereupon conceived shortened his days That afterwards Assassines had been apprehended at Parma who voluntarily confessed That they had been employed by Ferdinando Gonzaga to kill Octavio that being reduced then into such streights that they from whom he expected help and his own Father-in-law too had designs upon him to rob him both of Life and Fortune he had implored help and protection from him which upon his humble Supplication he could not refuse THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION OF THE CHURCH BOOK XXIII The CONTENTS The Fathers of Trent meet in Session aâ—d draw up the form of a safe Conduct for coming to the Council The French King consents not nay he persuades the Switzers to send none to it Peace is fully concluded with the Magdeburgers The Conditions of the Peace are set down Some Cities of Germany send Deputies to the Council The Ambassadors of the Duke of Wirtemberg are deluded Duke Maurice having sent Ambassadors to the Emperour about the Landgrave and obtaining nothing but shifts and delays he presently resolves upon a War. The Bishop of Waradine lately made Cardinal by whose help King Ferdinand had made himself Master of all Transilvania almost is slain in his own House The Emperour in his Letters which he sendeth to appease the Electoral Archbishops tells them That he expects nothing but what is fair and honest from Duke Maurice who the better to cloak and conceal his designs sends his Deputies also to the Council with whom others joyn and demands a safe Conduct for his Divines to come but especially that they who are of a contrary persuasion should not sit as Judges in the Council They depart without success when it began to be spread abroad that their Master Duke Maurice was a preparing for War. The Tridentine Fathers disagree among themselves Shortly after news
in the Council then he ordered the Divines to follow who being advanced on their way as far as Norimberg there stayed for Letters from the Ambassadors we mentioned as hath been fully related in the preceding Book He sent before other Ambassadors also to the Emperor Christopher Carlebitz and Ulrick Mordeysen who were to stay for his coming upon the Frontiers of Bavaria being to use them in his Treaty and Negotiation Besides he ordered Lodgings to be taken for him at Inspruck and he himself set out and advanced some days Journey in the way but then stopt shoâ—â— and making an excused by very kind 〈◊〉 which upon the roaâ— he wrote to Inspâ—â—â—â— returned home Thus from 〈…〉 time till in the very beginning of the Spring having timely recalled his Ministers he began to muster the Soldiers whom with great Secrecy he had raised in the Winter time and published his Declaration to all the States of the Empire to this purpose That there was nothing in this World so dear unto him as Peace and Concord but that the chief thing he wished for was agreement in Religion according to the Doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles that their Adversaries had indeed put them in hopes of that both privately and by publick decrees that however nothing had been performed and that they did not only interpret these Promises and Decrees in another sense now but wholly rescinded and abrogated them that they had not spared neither to tell some that unless they were obeyed no Man needed much to trust or rely upon former Promises for that when they were made the state of the times and affairs was different but that now all must obey or expect to suffer if they refuse That not satisfied with these Expressions which yet shewed a hostile Mind they had stirred up also foreign Kings against himself and other Princes of his Rank and Profession and invented many causes of hatred against them sometimes their Religion and sometimes other Crimes whereas the thing it self made it plain that Religion was least in their thoughts but that it hath been always their aim to make the difference in Religion a step to raise them to Dominion and Rule for that it was now obvious to all Men what arts and tricks they had used to overturn and destroy the true Religion which in former years was set forth and professed at Ausburg that in order thereunto they had banished the Preachers of the Gospel out of the Empire and without staying for the decree not to say of a lawful but even of a Popish Council had begun where they should have ended with Execution that therefore he was not to be blamed if by Wars he rescued himself and People from that slavery of Mind and Conscience But that seeing the Glory of God was concerned in that who alone was able to promote and defend his word he referred all to his divine Majesty heartily beseeching him that he would give him grace constantly to persevere in the true knowledge of him to his lifes end That there was another thing he intended to speak of and that related to the Landgrave his Father-in-Law that five years since he and Joachim Elector of Brandenburg had been in the Emperors name put in hopes that if the Landgrave could be perswaded to come and humbly beg the Emperor's Pardon the Emperor would demand no more of him than what was contained in the Articles of Peace accorded to but would graciously dismiss him that therefore they had prevailed with him by Letters to comply having bound themselves to the Sons Body for Body for the Father that they should submit to the same fortune that he underwent that so he had come with full assurance to Hall and made his humble submission to the Emperor then supped with the Duke of Alva and spent a good part of the Night pretty chearfully but that when he was about to return to his Inn he had been contrary to all expectation detained and committed to Custody wherein he had now for almost five whole Years languished in great Misery and that though his Sons the Nobility and People had ratified and approved the transaction though he himself the Elector of Brandenburg and Wolffgang Prince Palatine had engaged as sureties for him that unless he did perform his Conditions they would deliver him up into his Hands and that though according to the treaty of Pacification his Fine was payed the Artillery with all the Ammunition delivered the Castles and Forts demolished Duke Henry of Brunswick and his Son set at liberty and the Copy of the League and Confederacy exhibited so that no more indeed remained to be performed nevertheless neither the Prayers nor intercession of himself of the Elector of Brandenburg of his own Wife who died for grief of the People nor of other Princes could hitherto any way prevail That he had often made his application to the Emperor and because many entertained a sinistrous opinion of him had earnestly begg'd of his Majesty that he would have regard to his Honour and Reputation that he would be pleased to have respect to the good Offices that their Predecessors had rendered to his Ancestors and to what they themselves had deserved at his own and Brother King Ferdinands hands and in consideration thereof set him at liberty but that none of these Arguments could prevail with him nay that on the contrary he had compelled him being a Prisoner to answer Law-suits and against all Law and Justice especially in such difficult matters to plead his Cause under constraint not to mention how suspiciously and with how great precipitation the matter was managed a thing not before known or heard of in Germany that under that pretext of Law forsooth he might by degrees turn him and his Children out of all and reduce them to such streights that they might not be able to maintain their rank and quality for the future That it highly concerned him not to suffer this both for the near relation he had to the House of Hesse and the right he had to its Succession That this might seem strange indeed were it not now obvious to all Men that these kind of Arts tended mainly to the establishing of that Monarchy which for so many years had been a rearing That the third and chief thing he had to say concerned all Germans and their common and native Country Germany whose condition was certainly most sad and deplorable for that contrary to Laws and Treaties foreign Soldiers had been brought into the bowels of the Empire where they now after many years continuance began to take rooting devouring other Mens Goods and Estates both in City and Country and practising all kinds of filthy Lust that besides new ways of raising Money were invented and the ancient Liberty many ways imposed upon wherein no rank nor state no not the Electors themselves were spared That the Ambassadors of foreign Kings who grieve at these things and who tender the wellfare
of Germany were kept at distance from the publick Diets quite contrary to the custom of the Empire That in short it was fully resolved that all should be reduced under a foul and ignominious Bondage upon which account Posterity and those that came after would have just cause to curse and detest the sottish Cowardice of this time wherein the fairest ornament of the Country that is its Liberty was lost That therefore since the case was so he and the Landgrave William the Son of Philip moved by a just grief for his Father's Calamity having made a League with the King of France whom the Enemy also laboured to undermine and turn out of all had resolved to take up Arms for the deliverance of his father-in-Father-in-Law and the Duke of Saxony for the reparation of his own Honour and for recovering the common Liberty of all That no Man should then offer to hinder or disturb this his Enterprise but that all forward it and declare and give good assurances of their resolutions so to do for that otherwise if any Man did aid and assist their adversaries in any manner of way he should be lookt upon as an Enemy This Declaration was also signed by John Albert Duke of Meckelburg particularly for the maintenance of Religion since Duke Maurice had declared that for that cause also he had taken up Arms. Marquess Albert of Brandenburg published in like manner a Declaration much to the same purpose wherein he complained that the Liberty of Germany was oppressed by the very same Persons who by their office ought to maintain and enlarge the same that there was a Council now held said he wherein some few were assembled to subvert the truth that many diets of the Empire were also called whereof this was the end that with some cunning fetch and by Men corrupted with Bribes and Promises Money may be raised to the weakening and impoverishing of Germany and that was brought about chiefly by the Church-men who had the most voices in the Diets of the Empire that matters were now so ordered that the effect of all consultations in a manner depended on the will and pleasure of one single Man who was neither a Gentleman nor German Born nor yet Incorporated into the Empire to the great prejudice and disgrace of all Germans that if publick affairs must be thus managed it were far better to have no Imperial Diets at all but that Money should be given freely and liberally as often as demanded for that by so doing there would be a great deal of time saved and besides much charges spared that by the same Artifices the great Seal of the Empire was put into the hands of Strangers which now Foreigners abused at their Pleasure to the detriment of Germany that yet there was not a Man to be found who durst bewail that unless he would expose himself to the highest displeasures that nevertheless the affairs of the Germans were not in the mean time dispatch'd but put off by tedious delays so that it was almost a publick Grievance for that as matters went the Germans had need to learn other Languages if they would sollicite their own Business to any purpose that in like manner it was contrary to the ancient Liberty of the Empire that a publick Edict should be made prohibiting any Man to serve in foreign Wars that the Protestants who were received into Favour over and above most grievous Penalties should be forced also to submit to other inferiour sneaking Conditions that great summs of Money were extorted from their Tenants and Vassals for having served them in the Wars that these Burthens had been also laid upon other Princes and States who had committed no fault and as if that War had been made for the publick good Money had been imposed upon them for defraying the charges thereof and all with design that no Sinews nor Force at all might be left in Germany That it was to be reckoned up with the rest that civil suits of greatest concern were not brought before the publick Judicature of the Empire but before a few Commissioners so that it was in their Power to make or to marr great Princes besides that it was ordered by Edict that no Prince should have his own Image stampt upon his Coin that through all the Cities of Germany almost new Senators were appointed that it was a slavery imposed now generally upon all Germans that they were forced to bear with foreign Soldiers in their Country who did much mischief reduced many to Poverty and Want and practised all sorts of Insolence and Lasciviousness for that neither had his own Country been favoured though he had promised himself better Usage for his Fidelity and the good Services he had rendered the Emperour but that when during the War of Magdeburg he was absent in the service of the Publick Soldiers had been brought into his Country though his Officers had made great intercession to the contrary and that certainly both he and the other Princes also who in the late War against the Protestants put lives fortunes and all to the risk for his Honour and Safety had been bravely rewarded for their Pains in that History of the same War written by Louis D'Avila a foul-mouth'd lying fellow whilst he speaks of all Germany so coldly and with so much contempt and aversion as if they were a barbarous and obscure People unknown in the World that the indignity was so much the greater in that the Libel had been Printed with a special Priviledge and Licence from the Emperor that many things indeed were now excused by Letters sent up and down Germany but that the same was the cry still which was up some years ago and that all their talk was that degrees were to be altered according to the condition of the times and that Men must obey the present Commands or suffer Punishment that therefore since some Princes had taken up Arms to shake off this yoke of Bondage and Ignominy he was resolved to hazard his Life and all with them in the common concern That he openly declared this and required that no Man should aid and assist their Adversaries but that all should join with him and his Associates in that common Cause for that though some might take the contrary part yet ought they not to expect better usage from their victorious Adversary Since then the state and condition of all Germans would be the same and their misery alike that if any now did carry Arms against him and his Associates he was resolved to prosecute them with Fire and Sword that there went a report of him and his Associates as if they intended to call in foreign Nations nay and the Turk himself into Germany but that it was a false and absurd Calumny for what madness would it be to put themselves and Country into so great a danger That what was said of him by some was also false as if he had engaged in this War only to
desired only that they would furnish him with Provisions and that he might March with his Army through their Country promising them all Good-will and Friendship He made use of the Cardinal of Lenoncour as his Agent who commended his Zeal and good Intentions to the Senate The Constable had written to them also most friendly but when he was come nearer the Town with his Forces he desired to be let in and obtained it and next day he made himself Master of the Gates and all the Works and Fortifications Afterward on the eighteenth of April the King himself came also and stayed four days there He obliged the Senate and People to take an oath of Allegiance to him and appointed Monsieur Gonnâ—r to be their Governour with orders to disarm them to carry all their Weapons into one place and to fortifie the Town the same he did in those Cities we mentioned In Lorrain also and by Messengers sent before to Strasbourg Haguenaw all the neighbouring places and to the Bishop of Strasburg he demanded supplies of Corn and Provisions Ausburg being taken as we said the old Town-Council whom the Emperor had turned out restored and the Power of Election also being again confirmed to the Companies the confederate Princes marched to Ulm which had refused to enter into League with them When on the twelfth of April they were come thither they rode about the Town but being shot at with the great Guns from within they demanded satisfaction for the Injury done unto them and rated it at three hundred Thousand Florins which being refused they fell to Hostilities But Duke Maurice went from thence to Lintz a City of Austria that he might understand from King Ferdinand what the conditions of Peace were for he as I said was by consent of the Emperor Mediator The Emperor in the mean time had by Letters exhorted the chief Princes of the Empire to use their endeavours to quench this Conflagration and find out some means of Peace wherein he would not be wanting and when some implored sucours from him as being unable to act any thing against so great force to encourage them he made answer that there was a treaty of Peace on Foot which he hoped would take effect but if otherwise that he would not be wanting neither to them nor the Publick The Princes having besieged Ulm six days on the nineteenth of April removed to Stocach a Town in Hegow where they received three Months Pay in the French King's Name as it had been agreed and Gamey de la Mark the French Hostage was delivered up for the other de Nantueil died on the way thither The Hostages whom the Princes gave the King were Christopher Duke of Meckelburg and Philip the Landgrave's Son. April the last the Princes returned to the Danube some Miles below Ulm. In the mean time Albert of Brandenburg burnt and destroyed the Towns and Villages belonging to Ulm raised Contributions from them and took their Castle of Helfenstein seated on a high Hill putting a Garrison therein He also raised a Contribution of eighteen Thousand Florins from the Town of Gislingen three Miles distant from Ulm and some adjoyning Villages When Duke Maurice came to Lintz he offered Proposals about the setting at Liberty the Landgrave his Father-in-Law about settling the difference concerning Religion the right Establishment of the Government about the making Peace with the French King their Confederate and the reception of the outlawed Persons into Favour These were the Rhinegrave and others whom we mentioned before amongst whom also was Count Heideck who some years before had put himself under the Protection of Duke Maurice as hath been said but on whose head the Emperor had set no rate that he might not offend Duke Maurice as it is credible To these demands King Ferdinand with whom were his Son Maximilian his son-in-Son-in-Law the Duke of Bavaria and the Emperor's Ambassadors made answer that the Emperor did not refuse but that the Landgrave might be set at Liberty yet so that they presently laid down their Arms that as to Religion and the regulation of the Government he was pleased that the matter might be determined in the next Diet of the Empire but that the Emperor was very loth that the French King should be comprehended that however Duke Maurice might learn of him upon what terms he would make Peace that the proscribed might also be received into Favour provided they would submit to the condition offered by the Emperor King Ferdinand demanded besides that after the conclusion of the Peace Duke Maurice would assist him in Hungary and that the Soldiers should not take on under the French King. But Duke Maurice having answered that without the consent of his Associates he could not conclude any thing they broke off the Treaty at that time and appointed another meeting to be on the twenty sixth of May at Passaw a Town lying between Ratisbonne and Lintz where the River Inn falls into the Danube that the Princes Mediators and their Deputies should also be there On the first of May the Landgrave's Son and John Albert Duke of Meckelburg led the Army to Gundelfingen and there lay eight Days waiting for Duke Maurice's return from Austria Next day after he came the Army was Mustered at Laugingen a Town belonging to Otho Henry Prince Palatine for they had recovered his Province out of the Emperor's Hands and driven the Bishop of Ausburg out of his Country Otho Prince Palatine having also joyned in League with them From thence they direct their March towards the Alpes but it happened at this time that King Ferdinand obtained a Truce from them which was to last from the twenty sixth of May to the eighth of June In the mean time the Emperor was raising Forces at the Foot of the Alpes who assembled at the Town la Rue During these Commotions the Cardinal Bishop of Ausburg who otherwise was not rich and had suffered much damage went to Rome that he might obtain from the Pope new Promotions and Benefices to fill up the chinks again After this the Judges of the Imperial Chamber fled from Spire for both the French King and the Princes had in their Declarations hinted their displeasure against them plainly enough and cast the blame of all the troubles upon them The French King marched with his Army along the Borders of Lorrain and May the third came to Saverne a Town belonging to the Bishop of Strasburg within four Miles of that City He had before demanded a supply of things necessary from the Strasburgers and therefore Deputies had been sent to him to Sarbruck seven Miles from the City to offer him a certain supply of Corn and Wine and the Deputies were Peter Sturmey Frederick Gottesseim and John Sleidan but the Constable undervalued that offer as nothing answering his Expectation and though the Deputies left him with a promise to make their report to
the Confederate Princes should make Peace with the Emperor For that it was the Interest not only of one Nation but of all Europe also that it should be so since the civil Broils that disturbed the same threatned no less than its ruin That they made no doubt but the Conditions which the King desired would be obtained For that the Emperor as before so now in these intestine Commotions was well affected towards the Publick and would not have the Liberty of Germany depressed That there was great hopes also that he would shortly set the Princes at Liberty But that as to the renewing of ancient Leagues and confirming new ones the King in his own Prudence knew very well that a matter of so great moment could not be transacted in that Assembly That nevertheless they wished the Friendship and Correspondence that had always been betwixt both People might remain firm and inviolable That it was not only their chief Desire that such private Controversies as he had with the Emperor might be adjusted but that they would also use their utmost Endeavours to accomplish it That nevertheless since the King had hinted that the Emperor detained some things that were his and that he had somewhat to re-demand from him it seemed not unreasonable to them that he would declare what his Pretensions were For that they were resolved to state the Controversie to the Emperor and interpose as Mediators and that they earnesty prayed the King to take these things in good part Now as to the Relation that is betwixt the French and Germans we discoursed in the eighth Book But as to what the French Ambassador spoke of the Family of Luxembourg the matter in short is this Henry Count of Luxembourg had a Son Henry who was afterwards Emperor and the seventh of that Name He again had a Son who by Marriage became King of Bohemia and this Prince aided Philip of Valois in his Wars against Edward the third King of England and being present in a Battel wherein the English got the Victory he was slain there leaving amongst others an eldest Son who was afterward the Emperor Charles IV. the Father of Wenceslaus and Sigismund who were both afterwards Emperors and Sigismund also King of Hungary and Bohemia he who procured the calling of the Council of Constance Albert of Austria of whom he spoke the Son of the Emperor Rodolph when he became Emperor entertained a firm Amity with Philip the Fair King of France though Pope Boniface VIII had eagerly incited him to War. Besides the delivery of the Landgrave Duke Maurice insisted chiefly on two things First that as to those things which wounded the liberty of Germany and had been reckoned up by him King Ferdinand his Son Maximilian and the Mediators would themselves forthwith determine and pronounce Sentence concerning them according to the Laws and ancient Custom of Germany And then that Religion should be let alone in Peace and no Man molested upon that account till all the difference should be fully agreed The Mediators did not disapprove this Course But the Emperor's Ambassadors in his Name interposed and said that their Master thought it but reasonable that they who for their Fidelity to him had incurred Calamities and sustained great Losses should have reparation made them When some Points after much debate had been moderated they came to this Resolution at length that the Emperor should by the third of July give his positive Answer and that in the mean time there should be a cessation of Arms wherefore on the sixteenth of June the Mediators wrote to the Emperor and exhorted him to Peace We told you that after the taking of Erenberg and the plundering of Inspruck the Confederate Princes took another way through the Alpes and about the latter end of May returned to Fiessen Marching from thence they came on the nineteenth of June with all their Forces and Encamped at Aichstadt and Episcopal City upon the Frontiers of Bavaria where they expected the coming of Duke Maurice with great Desire being in some Anxiety for his Absence At length he came and gave them a full account how Affairs stood but on the last day of June took Post back again to Passaw upon Horses purposely laid on the Road that he might be present by the day appointed and the day following the Confederate Princes decamped and after four days March came to Rottenburg a Town on the Danube bordering upon Franconia Notwithstanding all this Marquess Albert still pursued his Point and having brought Norimberg to accept of Peace compelled the Nobility and States in those Places to submit to his Orders For though he acted in the common Cause at first as he promised in his publick Declaration he would yet he was not joyned in that Confederacy and after the siege of Ulm was raised he began in a manner to act separately either because he would take all to himself that the Fortune of War gave him or that he disapproved what Duke Maurice had done or else that being put on by the French King he entertained other Designs but yet he made those who had given Oath to be true to him to swear the same also to the Confederates His next Expedition was into the Territories of the Archbishop of Mentz where along the River of Mayne he did very much damage by Fire and Pillage and demanded a vast sum of Money of him but when Agents being employed to treat could not agree about the Sum the Elector having first sunk his great Guns in the Rhine July the fifth fled for his safety At the same time Marquess Albert who left nothing unattempted demanded of the Archbishop of Treves that he would put into his Hands the chief Castle of his Territories it stands where the Rivers of Rhine and Mosell do meet upon a very high Hill both strong by Nature and very commodiously scituated This demand he made as he said in name of the French King. But the Elector having advised with his Friends made Answer that he could not comply with his Demands Because in the latter part of the Answer which the Princes Mediators made to the French Ambassador as we mentioned before they had said that it seemed reasonable to them that the King would declare what Pretensions he had and what he demanded of the Emperor The Ambassador having received Instructions from the King wrote to them from the Camp at Aichstadt June the nine and twentieth That the King had undertaken that War for no other Cause but meerly for the publick Good and especially that he might retrieve the liberty of oppressed Germany having been thereto much sollicited by some Princes of the Empire That he had not at all proposed to himself any private advantage therein as the thing it self might bear him witness For that he had not possessed himself of any thing in Germany which he could easily have done That he had also given his Confederates
Emperor could not make use of Albert's Service witout increasing the suspition which was then in Germany That this would be a very great affliction to him who desired nothing more than the Peace and Tranquillity of the Empire In the beginning of August Augustus the Brother of Maurice returned out of Denmark a few days after having consulted with his Council he caused his Subjects and amongst them those of Wirtemberg to take an Oath of Allegiance to himself and his Heirs-Male and that if he had no Male-Issue that then they should return under the Subjection of John Frederick and his Sons if he were obedient to the Emperor and observ'd the Treaties made some years since but if he did otherwise then they were to admit the Landgrave This being thus done he was proclaimed Electoral Prince and summoned a Diet of his States to meet the Twentieth of August The Seventeenth Day of August there was a very great Earthquake at Meissen in Misnia At the Day appointed the States assembled and a numerous Diet was opened at Leypsick Augustus proposed to their consideration in the first place Whether they would enter into his late Brother's League with King Ferdinand the Princes and Bishops and prosecute the War against Albert. Secondly What should be done in order to a Peace with John Frederick the late Elector because in the absence of Augustus that Prince had sent Ambassadors to the Great Men and demanded to be restored to the Electoral Dignity and to his Possessions which had been taken from him by the Emperor and conferred upon Maurice After Deliberation the States gave Answer That they were of Opinion that he should make a Peace with both Parties and that Albert the Elector of Brandenburg should be induced to enter into a Treaty of Peace and to that purpose there passed an Act of State though Ferdinand King of Bohemia very diligently sollicited them by Henry Plaw his Chancellor to continue in the late League To this Convention John Frederick sent another Ambassy and demanded to be restored to his Inheritance with some sharpness of Words and it was seconded also by those which were his Subjects in this Assembly but it had no effect Augustus pretending that he was not obliged to a Restitution and adhering to the Articles and Agreements made by John Frederick with the Emperor when he was taken Prisoner yet he said he would consent to a Continuance of the Claim and not reject all Treaty thereupon During this Convention of the States Henry Duke of Brunswick desired the Aid of Augustus Duke of Saxony against Albert who was then levying new Forces So soon as ever John Frederick heard of the Death of Maurice he sent John William one of his Sons to the Emperor into the Low Countries to sollicite his Restitution and almost at the same time the Nobility and States in the absence of Augustus sent Ambassadors to recommend him to the Emperor John Frederick at the same time also sent Ambassadors to Ferdinand and to the King of Denmark about the same Affair In the mean time the Bishop of Wurtzburg besieged Schweinfurt which had been Garrison'd by Albert as I have said above and the Forces of the Bishop of Bamberg and of the City of Norimberg when they had sometime besieged Collebach levied the Siege and joyned with the Count of Plaw who then lay before Hosie a Town belonging to the Elector of Brandenburg In this Month Nine Persons were condemned to be burnt at Lyons some of them having been imprison'd above a year There were Questions proposed to them one by one concerning the Presence of Christ's Body in the Eucharist Purgatory the Mass Auricular Confession the Ceremonies of the Church Invocation of the Virgin Mary and the Saints the Primacy of the Pope of Rome Free-Will Justification by Works concerning the Church the Power of the Bishops the Monastick Vows the Choice of Meats Extream Unction Confirmation and Images They all of them severally made the same Answers to every one of these Questions with great constancy alledging for what they said the Testimony of the Scriptures Whilst they were yet in Prison they comforted one another by their Letters and they sent others to their Friends and to the Neighbour-Churches wherein they gave an Account of what had happened One of these Prisoners Lewis Marsac a Souldier reciting several Passages out of the Sacred Scriptures the Inquisitors who examin'd him asked him if it were fit for him to read the Scriptures and how he knew these things were in the Gospels The King's Lieutenant also said there were only two Evangelists Matthew and John the other two and Paul pick'd up a few Scraps or ends of the Story and patch'd them together He said also That if the Doctors of the Church had not given Authority to the Writings of St. Paul he should not have regarded his Epistles more than he did Aesop's Fables When on the other side Marsac replied That there were very excellent Testimonies in the Scriptures concerning the Vocation and Apostleship of St. Paul especially in the 1st Chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians He replied That is nothing to the purpose for he bears witness to himself The Executioner had order to put an halter about the Neck of each of the Prisoners when they were carried to Execution but Marsac having served the Crown as a Souldier the Judges had ordered he should be led without that Mark of Disgrace But Marsac turning to the principal Judge said Is their Cause better than mine I Pray Sir why do you not bestow the same Chain upon me Why should not I too be admitted into the Fellowship of this Noble and Illustrious Order of Knights Alluding to the Custom used by Princes who to honour and exalt their particular Friends admit them into their Order as they call it and give them a Chain or Collar of Gold as an honourable Badge of it Five of these who were Frenchmen had been Students in the University of Lausanne where they had been maintained by the Canton of Bern in which that City stands and when they heard these Students were taken up and in great danger the Canton sent a Memorial to the King and desired these Students might be returned to them But the King disappointed them in this pretending that by Law he could not do so It is thought the Cardinal of Tournon blew the Coles in this Affair We have already spoken of the Death of that Illustrious Prince Edward the Sixth King of England He had before been consumptive and in the beginning of January he fell sick His Disease increasing he became very sollicitous for his Kingdom and the State of Religion and began to consult his more intimate Friends Who was the fittest Person to suceed him For though his Father had by his last Testament made Mary and Elizabeth his two Sisters his Heirs as we have above related yet because now he was come to somewhat a more advanced Age
King yet this at his Trial was never or very little at most urged against him and in the Sentence or Judgment pronounced against him it was never mentioned We have said above how Peter Martyr the Florentine about six years since was sent for into England by the late King Edward and upon his Arrival made Professor of Divinity at Oxford He was much honoured and esteemed both for his signal Virtue and Learning but then there were others who did no less envy and hate him Upon the Death of the King he was commanded not to depart or carry away what he had without the leave of the Magistrates and severely threatned if he did any thing to the contrary he readily obeyed this Order at first but when he perceived Delays were made use of he wrote to the Council and acquainted them with the Condition he was in and desired that if any thing were laid to his Charge he and his Accusers might be heard face to face before the Council When by this means he had obtain'd their leave to be gone he went to London There he found the Archbishop of Canterbury his good Patron and Friend who by the Preachers was at the instigation of the Roman Catholick Bishops represented as one that was unsteady that the Mass was restored at Canterbury by his Order that he himself was to say Mass at the King's Funeral and that he had promised the Queen he would do so And at the same time there was a great noise of a Disputation that was soon after to be So soon as the Archbishop heard this he put out a Paper to vindicate himself wherein he confesseth That a certain Priest without his knowledge or consent had said Mass at Canterbury The other Report concerning the King's Funeral he denied adding that if the Queen would grant him her Leave he would prove that the Communion-Service and the Articles of Religion set out and established by King Edward concerning the Lord's Supper and several other things were consonant and agreeable to the Holy Scriptures but on the contrary the Papal Mass was contrary to the Institution of Christ To the proof of which Assertion he did not need the Aid and Assistance of many but only desired that Peter Martyr and a few others might be permitted to be his Companions and Seconds in this Affair And whereas they of the Church of Rome made great Boasts of the Antiquity of their Religion and pretended it had stood above Fifteen Hundred years he said they could never prove this but he undertook to shew that the Religion which was setled here under Edward the Sixth and which was yet the established Religion of England was the genuine and truly ancient Religion which was delivered to us by Christ and his Apostles This Manifesto being by him made publick at London about the Fifth Day of September Peter Martyr came about the same time from Oxford to him and being by the Archbishop acquainted with this Paper he commended it and said he would not decline any labour or danger that could befal him in the defence of it Whilst they were expecting a Disputation the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Bishop of London Worcester and some others were for their Religion and for some Sermons they were said to have Preached against the Queen by the Order of the Council before she was proclaimed Queen sent to the Tower the Fourteenth of September Hugh Latimer was also taken up whom King Edward had delivered out of Prison his Father having confined him on the account of his Doctrine In the mean time though Peter Martyr saw clearly the danger he was in yet having done nothing contrary to the Laws of England he relied upon his Innocence and would not depart without a Passport or publick Dismission When therefore he had obtained this Signed by the Queens own Hand he arrived first at Antwerp and from thence went to Cologne and so to Strasburg from which place he went when he was sent for into England and here he found Bernard Ochin who was come thither not long before him It was reported in Germany that the Emperor had advised Queen Mary his Cousin that she should govern her People with great Clemency and not change the Religion she found setled nor marry a Stranger he himself having learn'd by sad experience the great dangers which attended a Change in Religion Whether this were so or not I cannot affirm but the Event seems to prove the contrary for she having commanded all the Protestants which were Foreigners to depart the Kingdom and imprisoned many of the Natives quickly resetled the Roman Catholick Religion as I shall shew hereafter the first of October the Queen was Crowned and the Tenth of the same Month a Parliament began The Emperor had summoned a Diet to meet the Thirteenth of August as I have said in the beginning of this Book which was first Prorogued to the First of October and afterwards to the Month of January After the Battel in which Maurice of Saxony was slain Henry Duke of Brunswick and Albert Marquess of Brandenburg began each of them to recollect their scattered Forces and to levy more the Bishops and Norimbergers supplied Henry with Money for that purpose But then all men wondred from whence Albert had these Nerves of War And there was a Report that Mary the Emperor's Sister furnished him with Treasures which was again denied by the Imperialists and they pretended too to wonder that men should be so silly to think so But the Moneys coming in somewhat slowly to Henry and this being known to Albert he reduced him to great danger by solliciting his Souldiers to a defection who bore the delay of their Pay with great impatience but the Tenth day of September in the very moment of time when the Soldiery was in their Ferment and just entring into a Mutiny the Remedy came and all that Tempest was quieted And Henry for the better supporting his Interest made a Peace with Erick his Kinsman who had till then served under Albert against him The King of Denmark some time before this had sent Ambassadors into Saxony to promote the Interests of Augustus his son-in-Son-in-Law and they being assisted by the Ambassadors of the Elector of Brandenburg made a Reconciliation between Albert and Augustus The Conditions were That Augustus should not prosecute the War begun by his late Brother nor send Succors to the Enemies of Albert And Albert promised the same for his part and that if the necessity of the War enforced him to march his Forces near the Territories of Augustus he would do him no dammage Augustus was to take great care that none of his Souldiers when they were disbanded should enter the Service of Albert's Enemies and lastly That the ancient League between the Houses of Saxony and Brandenburg should be renewed assoon as could be The next Day which was the Twelfth of September Albert marched his
Army out of Brunswick and falling upon the Enemy which was then near the City he was beaten Henry had greater numbers of Men and in them about 20 Foot-Companies but Albert had no Foot yet he made so vigorous a Defence that Henry found it a Bloody Victory And Albert retreated again into Brunswick In the mean time those who were besieged in Hoffe were in great streights Count Plaw and his Allies having battered the Town extreamly with his Cannon and Albert being beaten so that no Relief being to be expected the Place was surrendred and Plaw took an Oath of Fidelity to himself and his Children and left one Foot-Company and some Cannon to keep it for him We already mentioned the Turkish Fleet which coming this year into the Tyrrhenian Sea some French Ships from Marseilles joyned them and they entred the Isle of Corsica belonging to the States of Genoua and reduced all but a few Towns under them We have also said how the Emperor took Hesdin which he demolished in the same manner as he had Terovanne In the Interim the King of France was gathering an Army at Amiens and expected the coming of the Swiss whom he had sent for to assist him The Emperor having ruin'd Hesdin had some thoughts in the latter end of August to send his Army against Dourlens But the Constable of France having had some notice of this Design he suddenly brought a great Body of Horse and some Foot into the Field and falling sooner than was expected upon the Imperialists put them to flight and slew and took Prisoners many of them And when after this in the beginning of September ten Thousand Swiss were come up the King coasted the Somme a River which runs by the City of Amiens and went up to Corbie and from thence sent some Troops of Horse towards Bapaume as if he designed to besiege that Town The seventh day of September he sent an Herald to Cambray to know how the Inhabitants stood affected to him It is a great City and a Bishops See and belonged anciently to the Empire In all these Wars between the Emperor and France it had hitherto stood Neuter but at this time was more inclined to the Emperor's Interest The King therefore sent to them that if they would stand to their Pacts he would do so too provided they opened their Gates to him who was the Protector of the Empire and were ready in all things to shew him the same respect they did to the Emperor When the Governour of the City had communicated this Message to the Emperor he received this Answer That seeing the French had wasted their Territories by Plunder and Fire they should make use of Forces against them But before this Answer came from the Emperor the French entred into acts of Hostility against the City and after some Skirmishes for some days besieged the City but finding that there was no advantage gained by it the thirteenth of September he raised the Siege and marched within two Miles of the Emperor's Camp which lay then by Valenchiennes a City of Hainault upon the Schelde the next day he came nearer and it was thought a Battel must have followed but the Event was this the King coming so near the Emperor's Camp and losing many of his Soldiers the eighteenth of September drew off his Army and marched away wasting the Countries through which he passed An account of this being given by both sides the French pretended the Imperialists had refused to Fight which they denied but the King of France however soon after returned home and dismissed the Swiss In the same Month the six Foot Companies which as I have said in the former Book the Emperor put into Ausburg as a Garrison were disbanded also About the same time the Elector Palatine the Archbishop of Metz and the Dukes of Bavaria and Wurtzburg met at Hailbrun and the Ambassadors of the Elector of Trier and of the Duke of Cleave the Bishop of Passaw was there also in the behalf of Ferdinand King of the Romans This Summer there was a great and a raging Plague in Paris and yet at the same time many were burnt for Lutheranism The King had a Mistress who was now a Widdow but had formerly been the Wife of a Gentleman who had been Governor of Normandy Aumal and Marchian who as I have said above were taken Prisoners were her sons-in-Sons-in-Law And Albert demanded of Aumal a Hundred Thousand Crowns but that was more than he was able to Pay. There was at the same time a strong report that this Lady had so great an Interest in the Affections of the King that she obtained from him a grant of the Estates and Goods of those who should be Convicted of Lutheranism that from the Sale thereof she might raise so much Money as would without his Charge redeem her two sons-in-Sons-in-Law out of their Captivity The custom of France being such that a condemned Person doth not only forfeit his Life but his Estate also to the King. When therefore this Game was once started it is said many were endangered by it Whether this were so or no I will not affirm but however nothing is more certain than that the Blood of innocent Men has in France and other Places been shed not only for the Pleasure and Satisfaction of others but also for their Profit and Enriching Albert as I said fled from the unfortunate Battel which he had Fought into the City of Brunswick but understanding soon after that Henry intended to besiege that place he ordered his scattered Forces to Rendezvous in Thuringe and there to attend his coming to them and sending to his Kinsmen and Relations for Succours as soon as they came up the fifth of October he marched with great Expedition and preventing the Expectation of all Men arrived at Weimar where he was very kindly entertained by John Frederick late Duke and Elector of Saxony with whom he staid two nights to refresh his weary Forces and then went for France The Count of Plaw and his Confederates then lay before a Town of his called Birut but hearing of his sudden Arrival they raised the Siege and retired to Bamberg Albert in the mean time going out with a small Party of Horse to see what they were doing at Hoffe the eleventh day of October found the Garrison Soldiers carelesly diverting themselves without the Gates and suspecting nothing Taking this opportunity and exhorting his Men to second him in it he immediately set upon them and forced them to shift for their Lives The Townsmen being overjoyed at the sight of their Prince took Arms at the same time also and sallied out so opportunely upon the Garrison that they were almost all slain He found there some great Cannon and some Field-Pieces but without any Carriages because the Enemy had carried all that there was in the Town of that Nature to the Siege of Birut leaving therefore a Foot Company to defend
except ye are resolved to feel the greatest of all Calamities and Miseries I will not be larger now and I trust you will in this do what the necessity of Affairs and the consideration of your Duty shall require But they on the contrary urged the same things over again and said they could not desist and if they obtained nothing the consideration of the Supplies would thereby be obstructed and hindred because they had no Command to promise any thing till they had obtained a sufficient Security for the freedom of Preaching their Religion their Ministers and Schoolmasters In this Month of February Henry Duke of Brunswick Married the Sister of Sigismond King of Poland and about the same time John Isemburg Archbishop of Trier Died and was succeeded by John Ley. The twenty sixth of the same Month the Elector Palatine Frederick died at Alzem in a great old Age and Otto Henry his Brother's Son succeeded him who had before imbraced the Reformation and had thereby run the hazard of being deprived of all his Fortunes He having taken the Oath of Allegiance of his People presently put out an Edict that no Man should say Mass or use the other Ceremonies of the Church in his Dominions In our twenty second Book we have given an account of the disturbances raised in Prussia by Osiander who had brought in a new Doctrine concerning Justification but the greatest part of the Learned Men disliking his Opinion Albert Duke of Prussia by a publick Declaration set forth that he was resolved to follow the Doctrine of the Augustan Confession and therefore he Commanded the Ministers of the Churches to Teach according to it and promised them to pass by what was past if they obeyed thiâ— Edict for the future That therefore this Controversy might be truly composed and not break out afresh John Albert Duke of Meckelburg the Son-in-Law of the Duke of Prussia a Prince of very great Learning went thither and calling in the Assistance of some other Learned Men he reduced John Funcius the principal Man of the Osiandrians to an open acknowledgment of his Error and obtained a Promise from him that he would for the future Teach according to the Augustan Confession and this being done by the other Divines of that Province too there was a Reconciliation made between the Parties and that Church was setled in Peace The fourth day of March a Comet appeared and was seen for twelve days together and in the same Month the Deputies of the German Princes and Cities met at Ratisbon and began with the consideration of the Case of Albert Marquess of Brandenburg because his Adversaries in the last Diet had desired the Assistance of the Princes against him But his Kindred interposing on his behalf it was at last decreed that he should have the publick Faith for his Security and that this Cause should be determined by Arbitrators and upon his return into Germany out of France in the Month of February there was accordingly a Treaty begun which was now assumed by the Diet the affairs of the Empire being delayed to the Month of April Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury had been long since condemned and after the Death of Ridley and Hooper was returned back to his Prison as I have said but now the twenty first of March he was burnt at Oxford Some few days before upon promise of Life and at the urgent Perswasion of some that were sent to him he had recanted most of his former Doctrines and appeared unconstant but when he saw he must die he made an Exhortation to the People wherein he spoke much of Repentance and amendment of Life the People being very attentive to him then he said how much he had offended God by denying the Truth and recapitulating the principal Points of Doctrine he shortly explain'd his Belief as to each of them and proved that the Papacy was the Kingdom of Antichrist Here he was interrupted and after many Reproaches he was hurried to the Place of Execution When he was tied to the Stake and the Fire was kindled about him he stretched forth his Right Hand saying This has Sinned by subscribing those wicked Doctrines which the Enemies of the Truth proposed to me and therefore it shall first be Punished he thereupon thrust it into the Flames as far as he could that it might first be Tormented Thus was the Primate of England Burnt a Person of great Learning and Authority At the time the Papal Character was taken from him by what they call a Degradation which is attended with many Ceremonies he was forced to wear mean Cloaths made of Canvas and he was now brought out in this Habit that he might be scorned but it had a contrary Effect for that the greatest part of the Spectators commiserating his Condition could not forbear weeping over him though they did not doubt but he was changing this miserable Life for an Immortal one and passing into his Heavenly Country Cardinal Pool soon after was enriched with his Spoils and made Archbishop of Canterbury having the Winter before been made a Priest for he was only a Cardinal-Deacon when he came over As the Inhabitants of the Lower Austria sollicited King Ferdinand to grant them the free Exercise of the Lutheron Religion so the Subjects of the Duke of Bavaria about the same time became very troublesom to Albert their Duke upon the same account This Prince observing that King Ferdinand his father-in-Father-in-law had yielded something he also having then need of Money did for a time comply with his Subjects and granted them liberty to take the Sacrament of the Lord 's Supperin both Kinds and to eat Flesh on the days prohibited in case of great necessity Yet at the same time he made a long Protestation That he would not desert the Religion of his Ancestors nor suffer any thing to be changed in the Ceremonies and Rites of the Church which he said was not lawful for him to do without the consent of the Supreme both Civil and Ecclesiastical Magistrate And that he granted these two things for so long time only as till there was a publick Order made to the contrary or a Reconciliation between the contending Parties for that it was his will that all his former Orders concerning Religion should be exactly observed in all other Points but these Two and that in these he would take all the care he could that the Metropolitans and Bishops should confirm these his Concessions and should not on these accounts trouble any of them This Edict was dated the last day of the month of March. About this time some of the Nobility of Transylvania revolted from King For dinand whereupon he commanded the Dyet to be prorogu'd to an uncertain day and began to levy Forces which were afterwards sent down the Dâ—â—ube towards Hungary There is a Town call'd Oberen seated in Alsatia three miles from Strasburg an Inhabitant of this place who was a Vine-Dresser being then in
troubled Israel Then Anna du Bourg beginning with a Discourse of the Eternal Providence of God to which all things are subject when he came to the Question proposed said There were many Sins and Crimes committed by Men which the Laws had already forbidden and yet the Gallows and Tortures which were imployed had not been able to prevent the frequent Perjuries Adulteries profuse Lusts and Profane Oaths which were not only connived at but cherished On the contrary every Day new punishments are invented against a sort of Men who could never yet be convicted of any wicked Attempt for how can they injure the Prince who never name him but in their Prayers for him Are they accused of breaking our Laws perverting the Allegiance of our Cities or Provinces No the greatest Tortures could never extort a Confession that they so much as thought of any such thing Are they not accused of Sedition only because they have by the Candle of Scripture discovered the shameful and encreasing Villanies and corruptions of the Roman Power which they desire may be reformed Christopher Harlay and Peter Seguier the two Presidents said with great Modesty that the Court had hitherto justly and rightly discharged its Duty in this Particular and that it would still do the same without changing to the Glory of God and therefore neither the King nor People of France would have cause to repent the trusting to it Christopher de Thou with great freedom reflected on the King's Attorney and Advocates for presuming to defame the Proceedings of that Court and indangering its Authority Renatus Baillet desired the Judgments which were blamed might be re-examined and more maturely considered Minart having made a short Preface to soften the Envy which had been raised against them only added That he thought the King's Edicts were to be observed After these Maistre the President made a sharp Harangue against the Sectaries instancing in the Severities which Philip the August is said to have employed against the Albingenses 600 of which he burnt in one day and in the Waldenses which were massacred with Fire and Smoak partly in their Houses and partly in the Dens and Caves they had fled to The King having obliquely reproached the Court for entring upon this Debate without his Order added He now clearly saw what he had heard before That there were some among them who despised both his Authority and the Popes That this was the fault of but a few but it was dishonourable to the whole body of them but only they that were guilty should suffer the Punishment And therefore he exhorted the rest to go on in their Duty The Reflections of la Faur and du Bourg who mentioned the Story of Ahab and the frequent Adulteries exaseperated the King more than the rest and therefore he commanded Montmorancy to apprehend them who again ordered Gabriel de Montgomery a Captain of the Guard to take them and carry them to the Bastile Afterwards Paul de Foix Anthony Fumee Eustace de la Porte were also taken into Custody but la Ferriere du Val and Viole were concealed by their Friends and escaped this Storm Men censured these Proceedings as they stood affected but the Wiser were much disgusted That the King should be so far imposed on by others as to come personally into his Court to subvert those Laws he ought to have protected That he should make use of Threats and Imprisonments saying That this was a clear Instance that he was subject to the Passions of others and who could think but these things were the foreunners of great Changes The Ministers of the Reformed Religion notwithstanding held a Synod at S. German June 28 one Morelle being President in which they setled the order of their Synods the Authority of the Presidents the taking away the Supremacy in the Church the election of Ministers and their Office and Duty Deacons and Presbyters Censures the Degrees of Consanguinity and Affinity of contracting and dissolving Marriages which yet were only temporary Decrees to be varied as future Synods should think fit but to oblige particular Persons till so altered About the same time came Embassadours from the Protestant Princes of Germany with Letters to the King subscribed by Frederick Cout Palatine of the Rhine Augustus Duke of Saxony Joachim Elector of Brandenburg Christopher Duke of Wirtimberg and Wolfang Count of Weldentz In which they represent to the King How much they were afflicted to see so many Pious Quiet and Holy Men who professed the same Religion Imprisoned Spoiled Banished and put to Death as Seditious Persons in France That they thought themselves bound by Christian Charity and the Alliance which was between them and France to beseech him well to consider this Affair which concerned the Name of God and the Salvation of so many Souls that he ought to free himself from Prejudice and imploy great Judgment and Reason in it They assured him they were no less solicitous for the Glory of God and the Salvation of their Subjects than he and upon the Differences of Religion had maturely considered how they might be composed That they had found by degrees and insensibly through Avarice and Ambition many Corruptions had crept into the Church which were dishonourable to the Majesty of God and Scandalous to Men and that they ought to be reformed by the Testimonies of the Holy Scriptures the Decrees of the Primitive Church and the Writings of the most Ancient Fathers That the Corruptions and Disorders of the Court and Church of Rome had long since been complained of in France by W. Parisiensis John Gerson Nicholas Clemangius and Wisellius of Groeningen the Restorer of the University of Paris under Lewis XI and other Divines That King Francis his Father of Blessed Memory was convinced of this and had wisely endeavoured to put an end to the Differences of Religion and to reform the Discipline of the Church That now France was not involved in War abroad they besought him the Difference of Religion might by his Authority and Conduct be quietly ended That this might easily be effected if the King would but appoint Learned and Peaceable Men who should examin their Confession of Faith without Partiality or Prejudice by the Holy Scripture and the Ancient Fathers That in the interim he should suspend all Legal Severities discharge the Imprisoned recal the Banished restore their Estates to those that had been ruin'd This they said would be acceptable and pleasing to God Honourable to the King Profitable to France and very Grateful to them The King entertained the Embassadors kindly and having read the Letter said he would suddenly send them a satisfactory Answer but by that time they were arrived at the Borders of France the Fire their coming seem'd to have abated raged more horribly than ever June 19. a Commission was issued to Jean de Saint Andre the President and Promoter of these Troubles Jo. James de Memme Master of the Requests Lewis Gayaut
and Queen which was refused and he severely treated for undertaking that Embassy by the Guises The Oppression of the Princes of the Blood in France by the House of Guise and of the Protestants by the Roman Catholicks caused a dreadful Conspiracy which drew in all the desperate People of that once most Fourishing Kingdom to the great hazard of its Ruine The concealed Head of this Conspiracy was Lewis Prince of Conde the apparent Godfrey de la Barre Sieur de Renaudie a Young Gentleman of an Ancient and Noble Family of Perigort who falling into a long and ruinous Suit for a Living which his Uncle had intercepted and detained from him in Angoumois had not only been overthrown by his Opposite but had also for some fraud in the management been severely Fin'd and Banish'd for some time he at Lausanne and Geneva had contracted a Friendship with some others of his Country who had fled thither on the account of Religion by whom he had been brought over to that Persuasion and after returning into France in disguise he had wandred over a great part of the Kingdom and made many Friends of that Religion and being a Stout Subtil Man and exasperated by the things he had suffered he undertook this dangerous Employment willingly as a means to revenge the Wrongs he had undergon The Conspirators met the First of February at Nantes in great numbers on diverse Preteces and there form'd the fatal Design of Blois for the Surprizing the King and the Court the Fifteenth of March and the bringing the Guises to a Tryal for all their Encroachments on the French Privileges and Abuses of the Royal Authority The whole Design is so well expressed in Davila his History of the Civil Wars of France that I shall rather refer the Reader thither for his Satisfaction in it than attempt to reduce it into a Dark and scarce perhaps Intelligible Compendium It was very extraordinary that before ever this Kingdom had in the least been shaken by any Commotion the Majesty of the King the Authority of the Governors and Magistrates being all in their former vigor that such great numbers of Men in all Parts of the Kingdom should enter into so unheard so dangerous a Design But such was the Hatred they bore to the House of Guise and the Detestation that all Men began to entertain of the bloody Practises against the Protestants that though so every many were engaged in it yet they all kept Faith each to other and conceal'd the Secret so that the Guises had notice of it from Italy Spain and Germany before any of their Spies in the Kingdom scented or suspected it At last one Pierre Avanelles an Advocate of the Parliament of Paris and a Protestant out of pure Conscience for the preventing so great a Scandal and Mischief discovered this Conspiracy to Stephen L' Allemont Sieur de Vouzay Secretary to the Cardinal of Lorain he having got knowledge of it from La Renaudie the Chief Agent in it who lodged in his House The King was then gone from Blois to Ambois which was a small and strong Town which had also a great and a very strong Castle and easily to be defended Here de Vouzay acquainted the King and the Council with it and was immediately Imprison'd to be produced as a Witness against the Conspirators if it proved to be true and to be treated as an Impostor if it happened otherwise The Guises were very desirous that Andelot and Coligni the Admiral should be invited to Court fearing or hoping rather that they too were in the Plot. And they accordingly came presently to the Queen-Regent and Coligni in a Discourse before Oliver the Chancellor inveighed sharply against the violent Proceedings in Matters of Religion which had exasperated a great part of the People against the Government and concluded That he believed the granting Liberty of Conscience and suspending the Severity of the Laws till the Controversies of Religion were composed by a Lawful and Free Council would very much appease and quiet them Oliver who desired a Reformation and hated the bloody Methods then in use was glad of this Proposition and recommended to the Guises the granting of a general Pardon and Liberty of Conscience till a Free Counsel could be had as an excellent Remedy of these Evils Which was presently granted excluding notwithstanding those who under pretence of Religion had conspired against the King his Mother Brothers or Ministers Which was published the Twelfth of March in the Parliament of Paris which yet never shock'd the Conspirators who were well resolv'd The same day Renuadie came to Carreliere in Vendosmois not far from Ambois and appointed the rest to meet him the Seventeenth of the same Month the King having changed his Abode they were forced to change the Day That day Deligneris another of the Conspirators and a Captain repenting the Undertaking discovered it to Queen Catherine The Guises had by this time got a good Body of the Nobility about the King and a Party of the Conspirators being met in Arms near Tours the Inhabitants of that City would not endeavour to take them but suffered them to escape to Saumur the Seventeenth of March was the day now appointed for this great Design and Renaudie who knew nothing of the Discovery marched boldly up to Ambois and though great part of his Foot were cut in pieces in the Woods as they came up in small Parties or taken Prisoners by the Horse who were sent out for that purpose many of which were presently hang'd on the Battlements of the Castle in their Boots and Spurs yet Renaudie their Chief Commander escaped and was not taken then The Duke of Guise obtained a Commission to constitute himself the King's Lieutenant General in France the Eighteenth of March and Oliver the Chancellor obtained before he would pass it a Pardon for all who should lay down their Arms within twenty four hours and return home with only two or three Companions giving them liberty to present what Petitions they pleased in a peaceable way to the King. The Nineteenth of March Renaudie met Pardaillan who was sent with a Party of Horse to take up such as he found in Arms. Pardaillan would have fired a Pistol against Renaudie but it missing Renaudie run him through but was slain in the same moment by Pardaillan's Servant himself His Body was brought to Ambois and hang'd on a Gibbet with this Inscription The Leader of the Rebels Two of his Servants were taken at the same time and some Papers in a private Character which proved to be a Petition on the besalf of the Protestants designed to be presented to the King in an Assembly of the States Begging a Remission of the Severity of the Laws against them and Protesting the utmost Duty and Obedience to him Many of those who were taken were examin'd against the King of Navar and the Prince of Conde Who said They
knew nothing of Navar but heard that Conde should have been their Captain Whence the Duke of Guise concluded That Coligni and Andelot were cetainly in it though Queen Catherine was of a contrary Opinion but however Conde who was then in the Castle with the King was commanded not to depart without leave which he wisely dissembled Some few were Tried for this Conspiracy but many more were Hang'd up by Night and many Merchants were Slain as they travelled about their business for their Mony but under Pretence they were in the Conspiracy so that there was nothing but Slaughter and Murthers to be seen About the same time Oliver the Chancellor of France died not so much of Old-age or Sickness as Discontent at the Cruelcy and Iniquity of the Times his Death was foretold by some of the Conspirators who reproached him for his unworthy Complyances And when the Cardinal of Lorain visited him in his last Sickness he express'd his Resentments against him and died weeping and sighin for what he had done Michel de l' Hospital a great and a good Man succeeded him by the procurement of Queen Catherine Though this Conspiracy was principally design'd against the Guises yet they desired the World should believe these Men had first made a Defection from God by Heresie and then had conspird against the King Queen Catherine and the King's Brothers The Thirty first of March the King wrote to all the Governors of the several Provinces to take great care that the Reliques of this Conspiracy did not imbroil their Provinces after which there was the like Account sent to the Elector Palatine and the rest of the Protestant Princes of Germany The Princes of Germany thereupon among other things desired the King to consider whether he had not yielded more than was fit to some about him meaning the Guises who out of an inbred Malice and Cruelty exercised great Cruelties on Men that were never convicted of any Crime There they beseech his Majesty that he would put a stop to the Sufferings of these Innocents and seeing they imbrace the same Religion with us we cannot but desire an end may be put to those cruel and hasty Executions This Germany has found say they to be the only Remedy and France has no other left to restore its Peace than by granting a Peace to the Minds and Consciences of Men. Coligni the Admiral leaving the Court Queen Catherine ordered him to go into Normandy and to enquire diligently into the Causes of the late Conspiracy He laid the blame of it on the boundless Ambition of the Guises and advised the Queen to observe inviolably the late Edict for Liberty of Conscience and to put a stop to the Persecution of the Innocent as she valued the safety of the King and the quiet of the Kingdom Some of the Captives who had escaped out of the Prisons at Blois wrote Letters to the Cardinal of Lorain telling him they knew the Escape of the Conspirators was very afflictive to his Eminence That therefore they were gone to seek them and hoped in a short time to return better attended This rallery was a great Mortification to that fearful Minister who feared new Commotions and persuaded the King to put out a General Pardon for all Roman Catholicks In May the King put out another Edict which was call'd the Edict of Romoraulin by which he took the Cognizance of Heresie from the Civil Magistrates and gave it solely to the Bishops which about five years before had been so vigorously opposed by the Parliament of Paris De l' Hospital the Chancellor is said to have consented to it only to prevent the violent Guises from introducing the Spanish Inquisition which they had recommended to Henry II and were now promoting with all their might in France From henceforward the Cardinal of Lorain became more placable to those of the Religion and to stop the Mouths of those who desired an Assembly of the three Estates persuaded Queen Catherine to call an Assembly of the Princes at Fountain-bleau to consult of the Publick Affairs About this time Conde left the Court and by a Letter gave his Brother the King of Navar an Account of the Ill-will the Guises bore towards him and that a Debate had been held in the King's Cabinet-Council for the taking him into Custody That therefore he had been forced to betake himself to him into Bearne This Letter was soon after discovered to the Guises who had entertained Spies in the Family of Conde who presently wrote a Letter to Conde full of sugared Expressions of Kindness and Affection which Conde presently sent to his Brother who very much approved his Resolution but advised him to return to Court and clear his Innocence which Conde did not think safe Perrenot the Brother of Cardinal Granvell in an Audience he had of Queen Catherine told her there was no way to restore the Peace of France but by Banishing the Guises some time from Court and Recalling the Princes of the Blood and Montmorancy to their former Stations The Twenty first of August the Assembly of the Princes and Notable Men of France was Opened at Founain-bleau The Chancellor in his Speech among other things complained That the Hearts of the People of France were incensed against the King and his Principal Ministers but the Cause of it was not known and therefore it was so difficult to find out and apply a fitted Remedy For That the greatest part of the Men of this Kingdom being weary of what is present fearful of what is to come divided by different Religions and desirous of Change are willing to imbroil the Kingdom And therefore their principal Business was to find out the cause of this Disease and apply a fitting Remedy to this Sickly Body Coligni the Admiral who was present the next day presented a Petition to the King which had been given him whilst he was in Normandy by a vast number of his Subjects desiring that the Severity of the Laws against them might be mitigated till their Cause had been duly considered and determined That they might have Publick Places assigned them for the Exercise of their Religion lest their Private Meetings should be suspected by the Government And they invoked God to bear Witness That they had never entertained any disloyal Thought against his Majesty nor would do so But on the contrary they offered up to God most devout Prayers for the Preservation and Peace of his Kingdom The Bishop of Valence a Learned Grave and Experienced Person confirmed this Opinion shewing the great Corruptions in the Church had given Birth and promoted these Divisions in the Minds of Men which were rather exasperated than extirpated by harsh means and bloody Persecutions Then he shewed the great Use of General Councils for the composing the Differences in the Church And therefore he said He wondred how the Pope could quiet his Conscience one Hour whilst he saw so
to King Philip John Manriquez to the Duke of Florence and Angelo Guiccjardin to the Queen of France who was to condole the Death of her Son to comfort her and to entreat her to undertake the Protection of the Religion she was brought up in and that she would not open a Door to the growing Schism nor seek any Remedy for the Disorders of France from any but the Church of Rome And to assure her That in a short time all their Desires should be gratified by the Calling of a General Council and therefore they prayed her to take Care That the flourishing Kingdom of France might not make a Defection from the Ancient Religion during her Government nor any Prejudices be raised against the Remedies which might justly be expected from it The Pope at the same time appointed Hercules Gonzaga Hierome Seripand and Stanislaws Hosio three of his Cardinals to be his Legates in the Council and sent Zachary Delfino Bishop of Zant and Francis Commendone into Germany to invite the Protestant Princes to it Canobbio was sent into Poland on the same Errant and had Orders to go on into Russia to exhort that Prince who was of the Greek Communion to send his Bishops and Divines to the Council but there being a War between the Russ and Poles at this time this Journey was prevented The Twenty ninth of September this Year died Gustavus King of Sweden which was the Founder of the Line which now reigns in that Kingdom he was succeed by Eriek his eldest Son. This Prince reigned Thirty eight Years with great Prudence and Commendation being only noted for a little too great Severity in his Taxes which was necessary in a Prince that was to Found a Family but he was otherwise a Prince of great Vertues and the Reformer of the Church of Sweden The same Year died Philip Duke of the hither Pomerania and Albert Count of Mansfeild a great Favourer of the Reformation he died the Fifth of March in the Seventieth year of his Age and Sixtieth of his Government The same Year died the Cardinal du Bellay the Great Patron of John Sleidan a Person of great Merit and employed by Francis I in many Embassies He was a great and hearty Desirer of the Reformation of the Church and without all doubt shew'd our Author the right way to it though he miss'd it himself The Nineteenth of April died also Philip Melancthon at Wittemberg He was born at Brett a Town in the Palatinate of the Rhine and was the great Companion and Friend of Martin Luther but was more moderate and a great hater of Contentions and Disputes and a lover of Peace By which Vertues he won the Love and Respects of both Parties in those troublesom days on which account he was sent for into France by Francis I. The Celebration of the States of France was inter â—â—â—tted by the sudden Death of Fracis II. But there being great Discontents at the numerous Assemblies of the Protestants in many Places which were now openly held the finding out a Remedy for this hastned the opening that Convention The Thirteenth of December was appointed for that Purpose and the Chancellor began the Affair with an Elegant and Pious Discourse In which having shewn the Use of these Assemblies and exhorted all degrees to Peace and Concord and shewn 'em the common Causes of Sedition and Rebellion he tells them That in their times a new Cause that of Religion had been added to all the former As if saith he Religion could or ought to be the cause of a Civil War which is the greatest Mifchief that can befall a Kingdom and contains all others in it But then God is not the Author of Dissention but of Peace and other Religions because false may be founded and preserved by Force and Fraud but the Christian Religion which is the only true is only to be established by Patience Justice Prayers and Tears The ancient Christians accordingly chose rather to be Kill'd than to Kill and Signed the Truth of their Religion with their Bloods And yet it cannot be denied but that a false Religion is a very powerful Exciter of the Minds of Men and surmounts all other Passions and unites Men more strongly than any other thing so that we must confess that Kingdoms are divided in effect more by their Religions than by their Bounds and therefore it daily happens that those that are possess'd by an Opinion of Religion have little regard to their Prince their Country Wives and Children and from hence springs Rebellions Dissentions and Revolts And in the same House if they are divided in Religion the Husband cannot agree with the Wife and Children nor one Brother with another That therefore a Remedy might be had for so great a Calamity it had been decreed at Fountain-bleau That there was need of a Council and the Pope having since declared there should suddenly be one that Men ought not in the mean time to hammer out for themselves new Religions Rites and Ceremonies according to their own Fancies For this would not only endanger the publick Peace but the Salvation of their Souls too That if the Pope and the Council fail'd the King would take the same Care his Ancestors had and provide for the Peace and Welfare of his Kingdom That it was to be hoped the Bishops would for the future exercise their Functions with greater Care and Diligence That the Cure might come from that Fountain which had caused the Distemper That they ought to arm themselves with Vertues Good Manners and the Word of God which are the Arms of Supplicants and then go out to War against our Enemies and not imitate unskilful Captains who disfurnish their Walls to make an Irruption The Discourse of one that lives well is very persuasive but the Sword has no other power over the Soal than to destroy it with the Body Our Ancestors overcame their Sectaries with their Piety and we ought to imitate them if we would not be thought rather to hate the Men than their Vices Let us therefore said he pray daily for them that they may be reduced from their Errors and discharging the hateful Names of Lutherans Huguenots and Papists which were introduced by the Enemy of Mankind and are too like the ancient Factions of Guelfs and Gibellins let us only retain the Ancient Appellation of Christians But then because there are many who only pretend Religion but are in Truth led by Ambition Avarice and Novelty it is fit to suppress these Men in the very beginning These are the Men that ought to be kept under by the Force of Arms. When the States came to debate the Clergy and the Commons were of Opinion That their Powers were determined by the Death of the late King and that they ought to return Home Which was over-ruled by the King of Navar and the Council And they were ordered to proceed because by the Law of France the King never dies but
he was resolved to treat France without any favour In order to this the Pope puts out a Bull dated the 7th of April by which he grants power to the Cardinals appointed Inquisitors General for all Christendom to proceed smartly and extrajudicially as shall seem convenient to them against all and singular the Hereticks and their Abettors and Receivers and those who are suspected to be such abiding in the Provinces and places in which the filth of the Lutheran Heresie hath prevailed and to which it is notorious there is not a safe and free entrance tho' the said persons are adorn'd with the Episcopal Archiepiscopal Patriarchal Dignity or Cardinalate without any other proof to be made of the safety or freedom of the Access But so that Information be first made and that they be cited by an Edict by them to be affixed to the Doors of the Palace of the Holy Inquisition c. admonishing and requiring them to appear personally and not by their Proctors before the said Inquisition within a certain and limited time as the said Inquisition shall think fit upon pain of Excommunication denounced Suspension and other lawful pains And if they shall not so appear they shall be proceeded against in the secret Consistory and a sentence decreed against them tho' absent as convict and confirm'd with a clause of Derogation Tho' this Bull was contrary to all Laws yet the Inquisitors presumed upon it to cite some Bishops of France and with them Odet de Coligni Cardinal de Chustillon who had embraced the Opinions of the Protestants and was now call'd Count de Beauvais he having been formerly Bishop of that City St. Roman Archbishop d'Aix John Monluck Bishop of Valence Jean Anthony Caracciolo Son of the Prince de Melphe Jean Brabanson Bishop of Pamiez Charles Guillart Bishop of Chartres And as if this had been intended but for a step to her the Princess Joan Labrett Queen of Navarr Relict of Anthony late King of Navarr All which I say by a Bull dated the 28th of September and affixed at Rome were cited to appear before the Inquisition within six Months and the Queen was told That if she did not she should be deprived of her Royal Dignity Kingdom or Principality and Dominions as one convicted and the same should be pronounced to belong to whosoever should invade it The King and Queen of France and all the Nobility were extremely exasperated with these proceedings of the Pope and the Bull being read in the Council of State D'Oisel the then Ordinary Ambassador in the Court of Rome was ordered to acquaint the Pope That the King could scarce give any credit to the first reports which were spread in several Pamphlets in France till the Citation which was fixed up in several places in Rome was read to him at which he was much troubled because the Queen of Navarr was in Majesty and Dignity equal to any other Prince in Christendom and had from them the Title of Sister 2. That the danger which threatned her was of ill example and might in time be extended to any of them and therefore they were all bound to assist and defend her in this common cause and the more because she was a Widow 3. But the King of France above all other because nearly related to her and her late Husband who was one of the principal Princes of the Blood Royal and had lost his Life in his service in the last War against the Protestants leaving his Children Orphans the Eldest of which was now in the King's Court and under his care That the King could not neglect the cause of this sorrowful Widow and her Orphan and Children who appeal'd to his fidelity and the Memory of his Ancestors who had in all times of affliction succoured the Princes of Germany Spain and England That Philip the Bold the Son of St. Lewis had with a potent Army defended an Orphan-Queen of Navarr and brought her into France where she was after Married to Philip the Fair from whom Joan the present Queen of Navarr was lineally descended And that John Labrett the Grandfather of this Queen being in like manner persecuted by one of the Popes and driven out of a part of his Kingdom the rest had been defended and preserved by Lewis the Twelfth and his Successors That the Popes themselves have heretofore fled to the French for protection when they have been expelled out of their Sees who had often restored them defended and enriched them with the grant of many Territories That this Queen was so near a Neighbour and such an Allie to the Crown of France that no War could be made upon her without the great damage of France That all Princes were Interested in the Friendship and Peace of their Neighbours and obliged to keep all Wars at a distance from them for the preservation of their own quiet and security Since therefore his Majesty saw by this Bull that there was a design to deprive his Ancient Allies of their Dominions and at pleasure to set up others in their stead he had just reason to fear that as the Spaniards had heretofore on such pretences possess'd themselves of all the Countries to the Pyrenaean Hills so that in time they might pass them too and descend into the Plains of France and so a dismal and destructive War might be rekindled between these powerful Princes to the great hazard and ruin of Christendom Lastly the Queen of Navarr being a Feuditary of the Crown of France and having great Possessions in that Kingdom was under the Protection of the Laws of it and could not be drawn out of it to Rome either in Person or by Proxy no Subject of France being bound to go to Rome but if the Pope had any cause against them he was obliged to send Judges to determine upon the place even in those Cases that came before him by Appeal That therefore this Citation was against the Majesty Law and Security of the Crown of France and tended to the diminishing of the esteem of that King and Kingdom That if the Form of this Proceeding were considered what could be more contrary to the Civil Law than to force a man out of his proper Court and condemn him in another without any hearing For there are Laws That no accused person shall be cited out of the Limits of the Jurisdiction in which he lives and that the Citation shall not be obscure and perfunctory but declared to the proper person or to his family And the Constitution of Pope Boniface the Eighth That Citations set up in certain places of Rome should be of force was recall'd by Clement the Fifth and the Council of Venna as hard and unjust or at least mitigated and it was decreed that they should not be used but when there was no safe coming to the person accused But in France where the Queen of Navarr resides it cannot be pretended that there is no safe coming to
her And what can be more contrary to Natural Equity than to condemn unheard It is forbidden by the Canons and Decrees of Councils and there is a noble example of this in Ammianus Marcellinus where Pope Liberius being urged by Constantius to condemn Athanasius chose rather to be banished than to sentence him without hearing And in the Judgment against Sixtus the Third who was accused of Incest Valentinian the Emperor observed the same method and made him appear and answer in a Synod before Fifty Bishops For the same reason the Sentence of Nicholas the First against Lotharius the Son of St. Lewis for having two Wives was thought void and null Nor was this Sentence against the Queen of Navarr of better force because she was absent and unheard That the Popes have always shewn that respect to Crown'd heads as to admonish them by their Legates before they decreed ought against them So Alexander the Third sent two Cardinals to Henry the Second into England when he was accused of the Death of Thomas a Becket A. B. of Canterbury That he might purge himself before them of this crime So of late Clement the Seventh did the like in the case of Henry the Eighth to whom he sent Cardinal Campeius And if it were granted that the Judgment were rightly passed how could the Dominions of the Queen be exposed for a prey and given to the first Invader they belonging to the King as Lord of the Fee Therefore the King believes that the Pope is deceived by false reports and instigated by the craft of his Ministers who not regarding the publick peace have drawn him from his natural goodness to Counsels which are dishonourable to his Holiness and destructive to his Authority and to that of the See of Rome tending to the alienating of the hearts of his friends from him and the disturbing of the Peace of Christendom And his Majesty is the more perswaded of the truth of this because his Holiness so earnestly espoused the Interest of Anthony the Husband of this Queen in his life-time and endeavoured to perswade King Philip to restore to him the Kingdom of Navarr or at least to give him the Island of Sardinia as an Equivalent But then there is nothing more offends the King than the considering that whereas so many Kings Princes and Free States above Forty years since have defected from the See of Rome and committed the offence charged upon the Queen and so by the rule of Justice ought to be first punished as first offending yet the Pope has not proceeded in the same way or with equal severity against any of them so that from hence it is clear that an occasion is sought by her enemies to oppress and ruin her by surprize whilest she is a Widow her Children Orphans the King of France who ought to protect her being a Minor and disturbed by Civil Wars and for this reason the King is the more obliged to defend her from injury and himself from contempt seeing without acquainting him with it they have begun this Process against a Queen so nearly related to him That if this Accusation had been made on the account of Religion and for the Glory of God the Pope ought in the first place to have shewn his care of her soul and from the Word of God to have administred fitting Remedies and not to have proscribed her Kingdoms and Dominions and given them for a prey to the first Invader The Pope has a Supremacy given him That he may consult the Salvation of Souls and the repose of Christendom and not that he may deprive Princes of their Kingdoms and dispose of their possessions at his pleasure which the former Popes have never been able to do in Germany and other places without bringing great reproach and dishonour on the Church and disturbances upon the World. That therefore the King desired with the greatest humility that he could or ought that the Sentence against the Q. of Navarr should be revok'd and all the Pope's Ministers should be inhibited from proceeding in this cause by a publick Act and if this were not done the King should be forced against his will to make use of the same remedies his Ancestors had imployed in the like cases according to the Laws and Rights of his Kingdom But before all things he protested he should do this unwillingly and therefore they only should bear the blame who by their rashness had forced him to use the power God had given him in so just a cause and to implore the assistance of his friends against them There was at the same time distinct Memorials and larger Instructions sent to the French Ambassador for the Defence of the Bishops and D'Oysel who was an active Minister prevail'd upon the Pope to have the Proceedings against the Bishops stopt and the Sentence against the Queen of Navarr revok'd and abolished So that at this day it is not to be found amongst the Constitutions of Pope Pius the Fourth The 18th of May there having been no consideration had of the XXXIII Articles put into the Council the 4th of January the Queen wrote to Lanssac her Ambassador complaining very bitterly of the delays and shifts which had been made in this business and said that the hope good men had hitherto had of the success of this Council and the opinion of their sincerity who met in it would both vanish without any fruit and their dissimulation and connivance would more and more inflame the wrath of God against us who had now made it manifest unto all men that the affairs of the Church needed a Reformation and a severe correction and to that purpose had invited and brought together from all parts of the Earth so many men famous for their Piety and Learning to this Council and if after all this he shall see us still stubbornly resist his will he will be necessitated to punish those men who have hindred so good a work and so necessary to the peace of the Church That therefore the King had wrote to the Cardinal of Lorrain to assemble a Congregation of the French Clergy and after a mature deliberation had amongst themselves to demand earnestly of the Fathers of the Council that these things might be considered and determin'd as soon as was possible But the Cardinal was by this time won over to the Pope's side and was willing to sacrifice the safety of France and the King's Will to the Interest of the former In order to this he delayed the Execution of his Orders from day to day and at last that he might totally disappoint them asked leave of the King to go to Rome believing the Kings Ambassadors would do nothing in his absence And not long after Lanssac obtained leave to return into France The Cardinal of Lorrain went from Trent towards Rome the 18th of September and with him five of the French Bishops But the other French Ambassadors did nevertheless insist stoutly
if the Pope would not call a General 48 49. His Speech in the States at Orleans 50. At the opening of the Conference of Poissy 60. At the opening of the Assembly of the Delegates 68. He opposeth the Declaring a War against the Prince of Conde 72. He procures Charles IX to be declared of Age 99. And ascribes the driving the English out of France to the Liberty of Conscience granted to the Protestants ibid. I. IGnatius Loyola the Founder of the Order of Jesuits his Death and Story 13. Images set up in the Streets of Paris to be worshipped 35. Ordered not to be worshipped any where 69. The Reasons why the Protestants destroyed them 84. The Images of the twelve Apostles of massy Silver lost 76. The Worship of Images and Reliques commanded by the Council of Trent 96. The Inquisition promoted by Pope Paul IV. 27 36. Desired by the Clergy of France 44. Allowed to proceed summarily against the greatest persons 92. Cites the Queen of Nawar and several of the French Prelates but is opposed by the King of France 92 93 94. K. KErsimont Governour of Britain 2. Kirkwall taken and burnt 23. Knox John stirreth the Scots to reform 37. His Maxims occasion great devastations of Church-building 66. He is accused as the Author of a Tumult 99. L. LAines the second General of the Iesuits very rude in the Conference of Poissy 61. The Protestant League 77. Leith made a French Colony 40. Summon'd by the Scotch Nobility 41. Besieged by the English ibid. Surrendred and dismantled 42. Livonia falls off from the See of Rome 57. Lorrain the Cardinal of opens the first Proposals for a Peace with K. Philip 19. Reprehends Henry II. of France 33. He is suspected the Author of a Slander 34. He reflecteth severely on Coligni 45. Designs to make a Speech for the three Estates 51. He opposeth the Progress of the Reformation 57. Procureth the Conference of Poissy 58. Disputes in it 60. Opposeth a National Council 64. Leaves the Court 65. Adviseth Mary Queen of Scots to leave her Jewels in France 66. Treats with the Protestant Princes of Germany 69. He goes to the Council of Trent 88. Visits the Emperor at Inspruck 90. He is ordered to defend the Peace of Orleans 91. He is gain'd over to the Pope's side 94. He goes to Rome ibid. Returns to Trent 96. M. MAns taken by the Protestants 74. Deserted 76. Mary Queen of England raiseth some Religious Houses 11. She joins with King Philip against France 14. Is advertised by him of the Designs of the French upon Calais 18. Makes an unfortunate attempt by her Fleet on France 21. She dies when there was a Parliament sitting 22. Mary Queen Regent of Scotland summoneth a Parliament 36. Breaks her Faith 37. She leaves Edinburg and goes to Dunbar 38. Reproaches the Lords of the Congregation for holding correspondence with the English 40. She is deposed 41. Her Death and Character 42. Mary Queen of Scotland Married to the Dauphine of France 19. Resolves to return into Scotland 65. Arrives there 66. Endeavoureth to restore Popery 67. Refuseth a Petition against it 99. Mary Queen of Hungary dies 36. Marriage of the Clergy why forbidden and continued so 97. Massacre at Vassy 70. Of Sens 74. Mills Walter the last Martyr in Scotland 24. Melancthon Philip dies 50. Minart Anthony a bloody Persecutor 30 31. He is shot dead in the Streets 34. Popish Misrepresentations of the Protestants in France 16 33 34. Montmorancy Constable of France averse to the Spanish War 14. Taken Prisoner in the Battel of St. Quintin 15. Discharged and laboureth for a Peace 22. Designed for ruin by the Guises 46. Procures the laying aside the use of the Arms of England 39. Entereth Orleans 48. He is set against the Reformation and the King of Navar by the Queen 56. Taken in the Battel of Dreux 80. He refuseth to consent to the Liberty of Conscience 84. He takes Havre de Grace 99. Montmorancy Francis Son of the former gives his Father wise advice 56. N. NAples the Kingdom of annexed to the See of Rome 9. Navar Henry King of suspected to be in the Conspiracy of Bloys 43. And in that of Lions 46. He is sollicited to come to the Assembly of the States by his Brother the Cardinal ib. Comes and is confin'd 47. Discharged and advanced ibid. Becomes terrible to the Pope 49. Favoureth the Reformation 56. Very earnest for a National Council 65. He joins with the Popish party 69. Excuseth the Massacre of Vassy 71. Is shot at Roan and dies 77. His Character ibid. The Queen Cited before the Inquisition after his Death 92. A National Council desired in France 45 64. O. OLiver Chancellor of France imployed against the Members of Parliament who were suspected of Heresie 33. Desirous of a Reformation and an hater of Bloody Persecutions 43. Obtains a Pardon for the Conspirators of Boyse ibid. He dies weeping for what he had done 44. Orleans an Assembly of the three Estates of France opened there 47 50. Surprized by the Protestants 73. Besieged 82. Ostia besieged and taken 9. Retaken ibid. Otho Henry Duke of Bavaria dies 36. Orange William of Nassaw Prince of Ambassador for Charles V. 6. Being Ambassador in France he learns a Secret 27. P. PAliano Fortified 9. Restored to King Philip 11. A Parliament in England 22. In Scotland 36. Another that setles a Confession of Faith 42. Another which confirms and settles it 66. One held at Edinburg in which Mary Queen of the Scots passed several Acts in favour of the Reformation 99. The Parliament of Paris awed by Henry II. 31. Claims the Right of declaring the King out of his Minority 99. Paul IV. Pope his Temper 7. His War against King Philip 8. He ruins his Relations 26. He refuseth to acknowledg Ferdinand Emperor of Germany 22. And Queen Elizabeth Queen of England 23. Erects many Bishopricks 27. His death and the rage of the People against him 36. Peace made between King Philip and the Pope 11. Proposed between France and Spain 19. That of Passaw confirmed 28. That of Cambray fatal 30. That of Orleans disproved by Coligni 84. And by the the Fathers of Trent 91. Perrenot Bishop of Arras 19. A Persecution in France 16. One designed in the Netherlands 27. One in France 30. In Spain 35. In Piedmont 52. In the Netherlands 55. Philbert Duke of Savoy his Marriage 33. Pius IV. Elected 36. Delays the calling of a Council 48. Is at last perswaded to renew that at Trent 62. Despiseth France 86. Afraid of the French Bishops coming to that Council 88. Is promised a victory over the Council 89. Reproached by the King of France 96. Pretends to be-free from the Obligation of all Laws ibid. Philip II. King of Spain engaged in a War against Paul IV. 8. And France 9. Leaves the Netherlands 35. He is much commended by Pope Paul IV. 31. Endeavoureth to raise the power of the Bishops and depress the Pope's in
Maximilian Barbarossa's Incursions Anthony Duke of Lorrain dying his Son Francis succeeds to him The English make an Expedition into France Boloigne besieged Sandizier taken upon Surrender Renate Prince of Orange killed The Consternation of the Parisians Boloigne taken by the English The Peace betwixt the Emperor and French King at Soissons and the Conditions of it The Pope's Letters to the Emperour written at the instigation and upon the confidence of the French King. The Bishop of Winchester's Book against Bucer Cardinals created to gratifie Princes The Council is again called The Controversie about the Lords Supper is renewed The Plea of the Clergy of Cologne with the Archbish The Clergy of Cologne appeal to the Pope and Emperour George of Brunswick President The writing of the Archb against the Conspiracy of his Clergy The Clergy of Cologne subscribe the Appeal The Emperour's Embassie to the King of England The Netherlanders loveâ— of the Reformed Religion Peter Bruley burnt The Intercession of Strasbourg and the Protestants for Bruley The Emperour 's severe Edicts against the Lutherans Bruiey's Answer to the Monks Interrogatories Of the Body and Bloud of Christ Of the Mass Of the Adoration of the Bread. Of Purgatory Of Masses and Prayers for the Dead How the Saints are truly worshipp'd Of Free-will Of Faith. Of Traditions that enslave Minds Of Images Of Baptism Of Vows Of Confession Of the Virginity of the Blessed Mary The Assembly of the Divines of Paris at Melun Luther's Positions contrary to those of the Divines of Louvaine An Imperial Diet at Wormes The first Session The Protestants make answer to Ferdinand The deliberation of the Popish States King Ferdinand and the Emperor's Deputies Answer to the Protestants The Protestants Petition Grignian the the French Embassador to the States The Persecution of the Waldenses at Merindole A cruel Sentence of the Parliament of Aix against the Waldenses Meinier President of the Parliament of Aix Philip Cortine Forces raised by Meinier against the Waldenses A Soldier gives the Fugitives forewarning Merindole is burnt Cabriere surprised by craft Is demolished A honourable piece of Cruelty of Meinier The number of the slain Coste is taken and the Inhabitants most barbarously used The Intercession of the Swizers for the Merindâ—lanes The King's Answer to the Swiss The Heads of the Waldensian Doctrine The Spaniards marched through Germany into Austria The Death of Louis Duke of Bavaria The Emperour and Cardinal Farnese come to Wormes The Emperour's Embassie to the King of Poland The King of Poland's Answer to the Emperour The Pope very greedy of Lutheran blood A bloody Sermon of a Franciscan Fryer Cardinal Farnese parts from Wormes for Rome Luther's Book against the Papacy of Rome A Picture set before the Book Luther's Theses of the three Hierarchies The Emperour's Treaty with the Protestants The Plea of Grignian the French Embassadour Francis Duke of Lorrain dies King Ferdinand's Daughter dies The Birth of Charles the Son of Philip King of Spain The Emperour's daughter-in-Daughter-in-law dies Piscara comes to Wormes The Duke of Brunswick chouses the French King of Money The Emperour makes a Truce with the Turk The Senate of Metz inquire after Protestants The Archbishop of Cologne is cited by the Emperour and Pope The Emperour takes the Clergy and Colledge of Cologne into his protection The Archbishop of Cologne is cited The Pope's prejudice against the Archbishop An Assembly and Conference appointed at Ratisbonne Conferours are appointed for the pacification of Religion The Papists refuse the Conference The Dutchy of Brunswick adjudged to the Emperour The stubbornness of the Duke of Brunswick The Elector of Cologne sends a Proctor to the Emperour War betwixt the French and English at Bologne The Death of the Duke of Orleans The Duke of Brunswick takes the field He takes Stembruck The Landgrave's Expedition against the Duke of Brunswick Maurice interceeds for Peace The Conditions of Peace proposed A Truce granted Duke Henry breaks the Truce A Fight betwixt Brunswick and the Landgrave The Duke of Brunswick surrenders himself with his Son to the Landgrave The Death of Albert of Mentz Maurice purges himself of the suspicion of betrying Brunswick Luther's Book against the setting the Duke of Brunswick at liberty William of Furstenberg is set at liberty The Duke of Saxony and Landgrave's Letters to the Emperour about the taking of the D. of Branswick The Landgrave's Letter to the Emperour The Emperour's Answer to the Landgrave by an Embassadour The Landgrave's Answer A Treaty of Peace betwixt the Kings of France and England 1546. The King of England forewarns the Protestants of their danger A Meeting of the Protestants at Franckfurt The Elector Palatine appoints Preachers of the Gospel A Meeting of the Electors of the Rhine for the Archbishop of Cologne A Report of a War against the Protestants The Landgrave's Letter to Granvell Granvell answers the Landgrave A Meeting of some Princes at Franckfurt Sebastian Scherteline Deputies from the Protestants are sent to the Emperour and Clergy of Cologne The Protestants accused of a Conspiracy The Conference of Naves and Renard Count of Solmes The Landgrave's Letters to Naves The Conference of learned Men at Ratisbonne Presidents Colloqutors and Witnesses of the Conference The Conference begins The Heads of Doctrine to be chiefly handled The Conditions of the Conference Malvenda treats of the Point of Justification Bucer answers Malvenda as to the Article of Justification Billick the Carmelite Malvenda answers Bucer The Emperour's Letter to the Doctors Pflugg admitted amongst the Presidents The Conference is broken up The Protestant Embassadours with the Emperour in favour of the Elector of Cologne The Emperour's Answer to them The Pope's Legates sent to Trent Mendoza's Speech to the Fathers in Name of the Emperour The Cardinals answer Mendoza Preaching Monks acted the first part in the Council A Bull of Indulgences The commencement of the Council The first Session The Decree of the first Session The second Session of the Council of Trent Luther chosen Umpire betwixt the Counts of Mansfield Whether we shall know one another in the life to come Luther's Prayer before his death Luther's death His dead Body is carried to Wittemberg The Birth and Life of Luther He was sent to Rome Luther's Eloquence in the German Language His Constancy and Courage The Authors of the Decree of Ausbourg John Diazi went to the Conference at Ratisbonne John Diazi's Conference with Malvenda Malvenda's Letter to the Emperour's Confessour Diazi goes to Newbourg Alfonso Diazi's Brother comes into Germany The Cain-like and traitorous Mind of Alfonso John Diazi is killed by his Brother's means What was done with the Ruffians at Inspruck The Emperour comes to Spire on his Journey to Ratisbonne He visits the D. of Deuxpont's Lady Daughter to the Landgrave The Landgrave comes to the Emperour The Landgrave's Speech to the Emperour The Emperour's Answer to the Landgrave The Landgrave's words to the Emperour Monks the disturbers of the Peace The Emperour's Answer to the
II of France slain The various Characters of Henry II of France Francis II a Lad of sixteen Years of Age succeeds him And the Persecution goes on Slaunders against the Protestants Other Slanders spread against the poor persecuted Protestants Du Bourg condemned to Death Minart a Persecutor slain Du Bourg led to Execution His Character The rest of the Members of Parliament were restored Images erected in the Streets to be Worshiped King Philip prepares for Spain He takes Ship at Flushing He raiseth a great Persecution in Spain Constantio the Confessor of Charles V burnt after he was dead Twenty eight Nobles burnt at Vallidolid The Death of Pope Paul IV. The People of Rome express their Hatred of him and the Inquisition The Deaths of several Princes Pius IV elected He changeth his Manners to the Worse Scotâ—h Affairs Linlithgow The English Affairs relating to Scotland Fradcis II of France claims England in the Right of Mary his Wife The French Provocations against the English The Scotch Complaints against the French. Queen Elizabeth holds off at first but at last is forced to unite with the Protestants of Scotland Reasons assigned for the driving the French out of Scotland The War resolved The War begun Four Divines and two thousand Men sent from France to Convert the Scots The Lords of Scotland Arm against them and depose the Regent She prevails over them 1560. The Scotch Lords go on with their Reformation The English Forces enter Scotland and besiege Leith The French proffer to restore Calais to the English The Death and Character of Mary Queen-Regent of Scotland The French forced to leave Scotland A Parliament in Scotland A Conspiracy in France The Conspiracy of Blois formed at Nantes Thuanus his Reflection on this Conspiracy The discovery of the Conspiracy Andelot and Coligny come to Court on an Invitation Oliver the Chancellor of France hated the Persecution and desired a Reformation Renaudie slain The King of Navar Conde Coligni and Andelot suspected Oliver the Chancellor dies Coligni sent into Normandy by the Queen The Clergy labour to bring the Inquisition into France Conde leaves the Court. An Assembly of the Princes of France Coligni delivers a Petition from the Protestants to the King. The Bishop of Valence seconds it And adviseth the King to call a National Council The Cardinal of Lorrain replies to Coligni A Decree passed for an Assembly of the three Estates and the suspension of the Laws against Hereticks A design upon Lyons The Protestants of France increase wonderfully during the Peace In some places they grow insolent The King of Navarr and Prince of Conde promise to come to the Assembly of the States The Archbishop of Vienne dies The States meet at Orleans Navarr and Conde secured Francis II dies Charles IX succeeds The Prince of Conde fre'd The Protestant Religion breaks out in the Netherlands The Archbishop of Toledo suspected to be a Lutheran A General Council desired by many and opposed by the Pope But prosecutes the Caraffa's to ruine The Duke of Florence come to Rome His Arguments for a General Council With other concurrent Accidents at last prevail'd The Pope's Ambassadors to thee Christian Princes Gustavus King of Sweden dies A Difficulty proposed The Deputy of the Commons speaks against the Clergy And is seconded by the Deputy of the Nobility The Clergy apologize for themselves The Persecution in Piedmont which Occasioneth a War. 1561. A Persecution in the Low-Countries The French Affair Queen Catharine favoureth the Protestants The younger Montmorency's Advice to his Father The pretended Submission of the Cophthites Livonia falls off from the See of Rome The Queen suspects the designs of the Nobility The Differences of Religion occasion Tumults An Edict to restrain them The Edict of July The Cardinal of Lorrain procures the Conference of Pâ—issy Mary Queen of Scotland leaves France The Three Estates of France Assembled at Pont-Oyse The Clergy of France give the King Taxes to save their Revenues and Jurisdictions The Conference oâ— Poissy The Protestant Ministers Their demands The Conference began The Chancellor's Speech Beza speaks Tournon replies with rage The Queens Answer The Points debated Claud d' Espence opposeth Beza The Ordination of the Protestant Ministers Question'd Beza Replieâ— Laines General of the Jesuits his Rudeness in the Conference * In the History of the Council of Trent call'd Jaques de Montbrun A Popish Position gives great Offence in France The Council of Trent recall'd The Pope's Bull. Vergerius opposeth the Council Ambassadors sent to the Protestant Princes to invite them to the Council Their Answer to the Emperor The Pope's Legates Admitted Their Answer to the Legates The occasions of the meeting at Naumburg The English reject the Council Erick King of Sweden Crown'd The Cardinal of Caraffa Hanged A National Council desired in France The King of Navar drawn over to the Popish Party by the King of Spain's Arts. A new invented Convention for the Reguâ—lating matters of Religion in France A Tumult aâ— Dijon Scotch Affairs Queen Mary resolves to return into Scotland The Protestant Religion setled in Scotland The Queen angry with the Proceedings Queen Mary goes into Scotland Her beginning very gracious to the Protestants The Preachers would not Tolerate the Queen See Spotiswood pag. 182. Great kindness in shew between Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth Queen Mary begins to favour the Romish Party Yet she augments her Revenues out of the Church Lands 1562. The French Affairs A Debate concerning Toleration The Edict of January which granted Liberty of Conscience to the Protestants Injunctions published by the Queen's Order concerning Images Images of the Trinity forbidden The King of Navar pretends still to promote the Reformation The Edict of January opposed by the Guises and others The Duke of Guise called to Court by the King of Navar The Massacre of Vassy happen'd accidentally in that â—ourny The Duke of Guise uses ill Arts to secure his Servants who began the Tumult The Prince of Conde complains of it to the King. The Duke of Guise entereth Paris The Queen upon this puts her self and the King into the Protection of the Prince of Conde * Aedilit All things in France tend to a Civil War. The Queen out of Fear joyns with the Catholick Lords commonly call'd the Triumvirate Conde comes up towards Fontain-bleau The Triumvirate seize the King. Montmorancy appears very zealous against the Protestants at Paris The Prince of Conde betrayed by the Queen into a disadvantageous War. Orleans surprized by the Prince of Conde Conde Justifies the War. The Catholicks begin the War to deprive the Protestants of the Liberty granted them by the Edict of January The Prince of Conde and the Ministers write to the Princes of Germany The King and Queen affirm they were at Liberty in their Declaration The Massacre of Sens. The Princes of Germany much divided about the true cause of this French War. Roan taken very easily by the Protestants And after that Pont del
Nobles there was eleven Cardinals present Peter Castelan Bishop of Mascon whom we mentioned before preached the Funeral Sermon and amongst many other things said in praise of the King he told the Hearers That he intended to have erected a Colledge wherein all Arts and Languages were to have been taught and six hundred Students entertained for which end it should have been endowed with a yearly Revenue of Fifty thousand Crowns Mention has been made before of Duke Erick of Brunswick but now that he might defend his own Lands he leaves the Siege of Bremen Urisberger who commanded the other part of the Army did the like and both together appointed a place where they should joyn their Forces again But Duke Erick fell in with an Enemy and that was the Hamburghers who were coming to the Relief of Bremen It was obstinately fought on both Hands even till Night but Duke Erick being at length put to flight and forced with his Cavalry into the River of Weser lost a great many of his Men besides all his Ordnance However he escaped safe and came to the Emperour to whom he excuse himself laying all the blame upon Urisberger who did not come to his assistance With the Bremers were Albert Count Mansfield Count Heideck Thumsern Conrad Pheninghen and many more but after the Duke of Saxony had made his Peace with the Emperour all these Forces were scattered Whilst these things were a doing Duke Maurice and the Elector of Brandenburg earnestly intercede for the Landgrave And that the matter might be managed with more convenience they invite him to come to Leipsick But when the Emperour stood positively upon this That he should render himself up without any Condition and put all his Castles and Ammunition into his Hands he went home again without Success and that day got as far as Weisefels four German miles from Leipsick Next day discoursing on the Road about the Conditions proposed and his own Fortune with Christopher Ebleben Were I but sure said he that the Emperour would be entreated suffer me to return home and let me have but one of my Castle furnished with Guns I should not refuse for Peace sake to demolish all the rest and deliver up the Ordnance Then said Ebleben I 'll not fail to inform Duke Maurice of what you say and within a few days you shall either see me again or hear from me In the mean time I beseech you not to think of taking any other Course Having been to wait upon Duke Maurice then he returned shortly after bringing with him Letters both from Duke Maurice and the Elector of Brandenburg dated at the Camp before Wittemberg the fourth day of June which were to this purpose That so soon as they had understood more of his mind from Ebleben they had acquainted the Emperour with it That he might see what they had obtained in the Draught of the Articles of Peace which Ebleben brought along with him and that they doubted not since the Conditions were tolerable but that he would embrace them especially seeing he was sensible of the greatness of his own Danger That he should not then refuse them but submit himself to the Emperour without any Condition That he had no reason to fear that the Emperour would impose any heavier Burden upon him or detain him Prisoner for that they would become Sureties that he should not and that if any thing should be demanded of him more than what was contained in the Articles now sent by Ebleben or if he should be detained Prisoner they would not refuse to undergo the same Fortune and be ready to give all satisfaction to his Children when demanded of them That as to his Religion he should have the same Security that they and Marquess John already had which being so and seeing that this Pacification tended not only to his own private Advantage but to the good of the Publick also they most earnestly desired him that he would come with all expedition bringing with him Henry Duke of Brunswick and his Son and relie upon their Word of Honour for his Safety That he needed not fear Brunswick might be taken from him by force on the Road for that they would take all the danger upon them and that so soon as he did set out upon his Journey a Party of Horse should meet him on the way and guard him from all Attempts These were the Articles of Peace That he surrender his Person and Province into the Emperour's Hands without any Condition That he come himself and humbly beg the Emperour's Pardon That for the future he behave himself obediently and dutifully towards the Emperour That he observe the Decrees which the Emperour shall make for the Publick Good That he shall submit to the Sentence of the Imperial Chamber to be established by the Emperour and be at a proportionable part of the Charges of it That â—e depart from all Leagues chiefly that of Smalcalde and put all the Writings he has of that kind into the Emperour's Hands That he shall never make any League wherein the Emperour and King Ferdinand are not comprehended That he banish the Emperour's Enemies his Country That if the Emperour think â—it to punish any man he shall in no ways undertake to defend him That he give the Emperour free Passage through his Territories when there shall be occasion for it That he severely punish those under his Jurisdiction who shall serve against the Emperour or King Ferdinand That these who are now in actual Service he recal and command them to depart from their Colours within a Fortnight upon pain of Confiscation of all their Goods and Chattels which shall in that case fall to the Emperour That for the Charges of the War he pay an hundred and fifty thousand Florins to the Emperour within four Months That he raze to the Ground all the Castles and Forts he has except Zeigenheim or Cassell and that he make the Officers and Soldiers of the Garrisons that he shall put into the same take an Oath to be true to the Emperour That he shall not hereafter fortifie any Place without the Emperour's leave That he forthwith deliver up all his Artillery and Ammunition into the Emperour's hands of which the Emperour shall bestow upon him as much as shall be thought sufficient for the defence of that Place which the Emperour is to give him That he set at liberty Henry Duke of Brunswick and his Son and restore to Duke Henry his Province discharging his People of the Oath of Fidelity they took to him and compounding with the Duke for the Damage done unto him That he make Restitution of what he violently took from the Master of Prussia and the rest That he attempt nothing against the King of Danemark or any else upon account that they did not assist him or were on the Emperour's side That he discharge all Prisoners who served the Emperour without any Ransom That he shall