of which I have faitfully Transcribed them and the Letters are now in my Hands The History of this Council is so well described by Petro Soave Polano a Venetian which is in English that I need the less insist upon it but I shall however remark some few things from Thuanus and others for the Enlarging or Confirming the Credit of that History which is much cryed down by the Roman Catholicks as certainly they have good Reason to be offended with that Author who with so much Truth and Impartiality has discovered the Artifices of that Assembly for the keeping up the Grandeur of the Court of Rome and the Suppression and Baffling that Reformation which the most Learned of the Church of Rome then so much desired and panted after The Second Session was held the Twenty sixth of February in which a Decree pass'd against Reading Books suspected of Heresie and a safe Conduct and an Invitation was given to all that would come to the Council Seventeen Bishops were by Name appointed to bring in a Catalogue of such Books as were intended or thought fit to be Prohibited Polano observes that they carried this so high as to deprive Men of that Knowledge which was necessary to defend them from the Vsurpations of the Court of Rome by which means its Authority was maintained and made Great For the Books were Prohibited and Condemned in which the Authority of Princes and Temporal Magistrates is defended from the Vsurpations of the Clergy and of Councils and Bishops from the Vsurpations of the Court of Rome in which their Hypocrisies or Tyrannies are manifested by which the People under pretence of Religion are deceived In summ a better Mystery was never found out than to use Religion to make Men insensible However this may help to keep those in their Church which they now have it doth certainly by Experience render them very Contemptible to all others and unable to defend their Religion which is especially true of their Laity The Fourth of March the business of the Safe Conduct was dispatched in a Congregation and a Debate was raised and pursued with great Heat by the Spanish Bishops That Episcopacy was instituted by God without any Medium and that Residence and their Pastoral Deligence in feeding their Flock was of Divine Right which they desired might be Confirmed by the Decree of the Council But because this tended to the Establishing the Authority of the Bishops and the Abating that of the Pope his Holiness was much concern'd at it and having consulted the Cardinals about it they by common consent Delayed and by ambiguous Answers deluded the Fathers at Trent and at last totally baffled them in this Point The Second Session was appointed to be the Twelfth of April which was then prorogued to the Fourth of June and from thence to the Fifteenth of the same Month. In the mean time the King of France sent Lewis de Sanct Gelais Sieur de Lanssac Arnold de Ferrier Presiders of Paris and Guy du Faur Sieur de Pibrac his Ambassadors to the Council who arrived at Trent the Nineteenth of May. Lanssac soon after wrote a Letter to give an Account of their being come to the French Resident at Rome in which he said he thought they ought in the first Place to take care that an Event contrary to their Expectation might not attend the Council that the Pope should Order his Legates to shew great patience to those who spake proceed slowly in all things attend the Arrival of those Bishops who were coming and aâ—ow a Liberty without condition to all that were to Vote or Speak and not fall under the old Reproach of having the Holy Ghost sent them from Rome in a Portmanteau and lastly that they should take care that what was Decreed at Trent to the Glory of God should not be malignantly Interpreted and Traduced or it may be Corrupted at Rome by a Company of Idle Men He desired therefore he would endeavour to obtain these things of the Pope as he did but the Pope took this Liberty very ill and desired That no Prejudice might be done to his Authority by the French Bishops Adding That he reserved the Reformation of the Ecclâ—siastical Discipline and of the Court of Rome to himself and that he might with greater Convenience attend this and the Transactions at Trent he intended to go to Rononia The pretence of this Journey was the Crowning of the Emperor in that City who was said to be coming thither for that purpose But the reality was the Pope was afraid the World should think him more solicitous for the preservation of the Papal Power than for his Pastoral Cure. The Twentieth of May the French Ambassadors were admitted in a Congregation where they made an unacceptable Oration an abstract of which is in Polano Thuanus saith The Speech was made the Fourth of June and that amongst other things they desired That the Missals and Breviaries might be Reformed and the Lectures which were not taken out of the Holy Scriptures might be cut off That the Sacrament of the Lords Supper might be allowed in both Kinds according to the desire of many Nations And also the Liberty of eating Flesh and that the Severity of their Fasts might be abated That Marriage should be allowed to the Clergy of some Countries That the multitude of Humane Constitutions should be retrenched and Prayers in the Vulgar Tongue faithfully Translated mixed with the Latin Hymns Before this the Ambassador of the Duke of Bavaria had also demanded the giving of the Cup in the Lords Supper to the Laity as absolutely necessary for the Preserving those who had not yet separated themselves from the Communion of the Church of Rome but were much offended with this denial and for the Recovery of those who had lefâ— it And accordingly there were about Fifty of the most Learned of the Fathers of the Council who were for granting it and amongst them Gonzaga President of the Council though all his Collegues dislented But the Spanâ—sh Bishops opposed it and others thought it was fit first to send Legates into Germany who should see and report it to the Council whether it were necessary and how it might be done This was debated in a Congregation the Twenty eighth of August but in the Twenty second Session held the Seventeenth of September it was rejected and all were Anathematized That did not allow the Church to have taken away the Cup from the Laity c. upon just Grounds When the Germans still insisted that it might be granted again to some People the Council to free themselves from their importunity turned them over to the Pope who according to his Prudence was to do what he thought Useful and Salutary Before this the Pope being press'd to Grant the Cup by the French Ambassador about a Year since had referred it to the Conclave of Cardinals and they and he had referred it to the Council and now the
manner turned out of Place it must not be expected that for the future they would contribute any thing to the defraying of the Charges of that Judicature But all these Courses were ineffectual and King Ferdinand answering the Mediators himself told them That any other City which observed the Emperour's Edicts might be substituted in place thereof After a long Debate about Religion they made a new Decree wherein resuming in a few Words the Acts of the former Dyet of Spire how that it had been ordained there That as to the Emperour's Decree of Wormes all should so behave themselves that they might be able to render an account of their Actions both to God and the Emperour but that it being now abused by many who under colour and pretext thereof excused and defended all sorts of New and Horrid Doctrins it was therefore enacted and decreed to this effect That they who had hitherto observed that Edict should do so for the future and oblige their People to do so also until the meeting of the Council which the Emperour gave great Hopes of very speedily But that they who had changed their Religion and could not now retract for fear of Troubles and Sedition should for the future moderate themselves and make no more Innovations before the sitting of the Council Moreover that the Doctrin of those who dissent from the Church about the Lord's Supper should not be received neither the Mass abolished nor those who were willing hindred from going to Mass in those Places where a New Doctrin was taught That Anabaptists also who obstinately maintain their Tenet should be put to Death and that Ministers should preach according to the Sense and Interpretation of Scripture approved by the Church That they should not meddle with other Points which probably might be controverted but expect the Decree of a Council Besides that all States should live together in Peace do no Injury to one another upon account of Religion and not take the Subjects of others Jurisdiction into their Protection And that such as did otherwise should be put to the Ban of the Empire This Decree was opposed by the Elector of Saxony George Marquess of Brandenburg Ernest and Francis Dukes of Lunenburg the Landgrave and Count Anbald who April 19 publickly read their Protestation against it in Writing And in the first place they repeat the Decree of the former Dyet whereby all are permitted the free exercise of their Religion until the meeting of a Council from which they ought not to recede nor violate those things which for Peace-sake were then agreed upon and confirmed by Oath under Hand and Seal That for their own Parts they were ready in imitation of their Ancestors to comply with the Emperour in any thing and to spend their Lives and Fortunes in his Service But that the present Case concerned their Eternal Salvation and therefore prayed that it might not be taken ill if therein they dissented from the rest For that as the former Decree had been made with the unanimous Consent of all so also could it not be repealed and made void unless all in like manner agreed to it That they were not against it but that they themselves might appoint what Form of Religion they pleased within their own Territories and prayed God that he would enlighten the Minds of all with his true Knowledge That for some Years now past there had been great Dissention and Quarrelling about Religion and that who were the Authors and Causes thereof it had in some measure been made out in the Dyet of Norimberg and by the Confession of the Pope himself and the Grievances and Demands of the Princes and States which to the number of eighty had been delivered to the Pope's Legate whereof nevertheless no redress was as yet made That the Result of all Deliberations had always been this That the readiest way to put an End to Controversies and corrupt Abuses was a free Council But that now laying that Course aside they should Decree That they who had changed the Form of their Religion and could not without Troubles recede from what they had done should make no other Innovations they could not approve nor admit of that unless they would professedly derogate from the Doctrin which hitherto they had owned as True and Holy For to forsake that Doctrin provided it might be done without Stirs and Commotions what was it else than to deny the pure and uncorrupted Word of God which they had than which there could not be a more grievous Sin For that it was to be professed not only in Word but in Deed also Besides that what Mischief such a Denyal would bring with it and how pernicious it would be to many Professors of the Gospel it was easie enough to be conjectured That as to the Popish Mass it was well known How the Ministers of the Churches within their Dominions had by firm and unanswerable Arguments and Testimonies of Holy Scripture quite overthrown it and in place thereof appointed the Lord's Supper according to the Command and Institution of Christ and the manner observed by the Apostles so that neither could they approve that Clause of the Decree nor give leave to their People to repair to Mass which was already abolished For that granting That the use of the Popish Mass were never so Right and Pure yet if they should admit of two contrary Masses in their Churches it was obvious to all Men how bad an example that would give and what grumbling and heart-burning would thereupon ensue That again they wondred very much That they should prescribe to them what they were to enjoyn their People and what Laws they should make within their own Jurisdictions especially seeing if the like were attempted upon them they would by no means suffer it That all Men knew what was taught in their Churches of the Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament so that it needed no farther Explication But that nevertheless as they had often said before so it still seemed to them That no such Decree was as yet to be made against those who taught otherwise because there was nothing of that mentioned in the Emperour's Commission and besides because the Assertors of that Doctrin were neither called nor heard That therefore it was seriously to be considered How unreasonable and unbeseeming a thing it would be to pass a Judgment at any time upon such difficult and weighty Affairs without hearing those who were concerned speak for themselves Now as to what they said That the Gospel was to be taught according to the Interpretations approved and received by the Church it was right indeed however the Dispute still was Which is the True Church But that since no Doctrin was more certain than that of God's Word since nothing should be taught besides it and that the obscure Places of Scripture could not be better explained than by other clearer Places of the same Scripture they would
suffered to enjoy their Religion peaceably until the sitting of a Council they would also contribute Money for the Turkish War. Being therefore sent for next day to appear in Court there was a certain form of Pacification read unto them wherein they only were comprehended who had approved the Decree that was made whereupon a Debate arising and the Deputies alledging it concerned not them or if it did that it ought to have been conceived in clearer terms lest by its ambiguity it might afterward occasion dispute they made answer That they would make report thereof to the Emperour Two days after the Emperour sent for the Deputies of Strasburg and their Associates to come to his Lodgings and in the Assembly of the States ordered the Confutation of their Confession of Faith to be read a prolix and biting Paper especially in that part where it treated of the Lord's Supper The Authors thereof were John Faber and Eckius who having an odious Subject to descant on made use of all the severe Reflections they could that they might incense the Emperour and Princes The upshot of all was That whereas in matters of Religion they professed an Opinion different from all others and approved that most grievous Errour about the Lord's Supper That they had also thrown Images out of the Churches abolished the Mass pulled down Publick and Religious Houses built in former times by the Liberality of Emperours and Kings cherished and promoted several Sects by Books and Pamphlets which they published and dispersed amongst the People all over Germany That therefore he again required them to retract and embrace the Ancient Religion for that otherwise he would certainly do what in Duty he was obliged to do Some time after they made answer That in the Confutation many things were read otherwise than they were contained in their Paper That some things also were so bitterly represented that if true they deserved not only censure but punishment also but that these things were not rightly charged upon them for that no such thing was done within their Cities and if any person whosoever durst break out into the like Licentiousness they would certainly be punished for it That since then they had a clear Conscience that it was a weighty Cause and that the Paper was very long and could not be answered before they had made a Report thereof to their Principals therefore they desired in the first place That a Copy of it might be given to them and then that no Credit should be given to that Charge and Accusation before their Justification were heard and examined That in all other things they were ready to serve his Imperial Majesty to the utmost of their Power The Emperour told them He would consider on 't and five Days after the Elector of Brandenburg made answer in his Name That he could not give them a Copy for that upon weighty considerations the same had been denied to the Duke of Saxony and that all farther Dispute about Religion was prohibited But that if they had a desire to be reconciled and to return again into the Bosom of the Church he would not refuse them the hearing of the Confutation read once or twice more But that he charged them withal That they would profess the same Religion that the other Princes and States did and contribute Aid against the Turk for that unless they would give way and leave off to be so stubborn he would by the Advice of the Pope and other Kings act as it became him After some time granted them for Deliberation they made their Reply in presence of all the States That they had Orders to demand a Copy of what had been objected against their Confession that they might send it home which in their Opinion was done not for more Disputes sake but that if perhaps the Learned Men of the other side should interpret the meaning of their Paper otherwise than it ought or if any Crime might be laid to their Charge they might be in a Readiness to answer and justifie themselves That now since by what they could retain in Memory of the Confutation read they perceived that their Confession was perverted contrary to the Sense and Meaning of their Magistrates and otherwise interpreted than the very Words of it could bear that besides since many horrid things were reckoned up which could in no ways be attributed to them as they had said before they therefore again desired and prayed that they might have a Copy of the Confutation granted them whereby they might be enabled to purge themselves of what was objected against them especially seeing in the close of their Confession they had begged of the Emperour That he would refer this Difference about Religion to the Determination of a Lawful Council of Germany being the only way that had been always lookt upon as the most proper and convenient and that therefore since they were resolved to maintain no errour knowingly nor to be obstinate in any thing they begged again and again that the Cause might be decided by a Free and Holy Council That they would not refuse what should therein be decreed according to the Testimony of Holy Scripture That in the mean time they would serve the Emperour with their Lives and Fortunes and that they had lately acquainted the Deputies of the Cities with their Resolutions as to their contributing Aid and Assistance for the Turkish War which was That if Peace were setled throughout the Empire and security given them for the free Exercise of their Religion until the meeting of a Council they were willing to contribute what in Reason they ought For that the Year before they had liberally given and more too than came to their shares Which being so and that since hitherto they had received no answer they once more most earnestly prayed That Peace might be given to Religion for that otherwise though they might be never so willing yet they would not be able to contribute any thing The Marquess of Brandenburg said That he would make a Report of it to the Emperour In the Afternoon some Commissioners read unto them a Draught of the Pacification wherein they only were comprehended who should receive the Decree as hath been said before of the Duke of Saxony and his Associates They made answer That neither was there a Copy of the Decree given them nor were they comprehended therein so that they could not promise any thing in the Names of their Principals and that since the matter was still left at an uncertainly they expected to know the Emperour's Pleasure therein as they had also declared themselves to the Elector of Brandenburg The Deputies for the State of Strasburg in this Dyet were James Sturmey and Matthias Pharrer and the â—ormer pleaded the Cause with the Emperour and Princes both in the Name of his own City and also of their Confederates Whilst these Matters were in Debate the Cities of Ausburg Frankford Vlm and Hall declined the Decree
it namely because most of that Court were Roman Catholicks who are bound by Oath in giving of Sentence to observe the Canon-Law as well as the Constitutions of the Empire and that the Methods of these Judges were very singular was known to many others in Germany besides themselves To say they are tied up by Oaths does not clear them from suspicion notwithstanding this Allegation they may be lawfully refus'd which themselves were under a necessity of doing For what could they expect from those of a contrary Perswasion who condemn the Protestant Religion as impious Neither is it at all material that some few of them are delegated by his Majesty and most of them chosen out of the Provinces of the Empire for the main stress of the Cause lies in the Question of their Religion but how they ought to be qualifi'd in these respects the Decree made in the Diet at Ratisbone sufficiently shews Besides most of them are made by the Bishops or by others of their way and Interest Now when these Clergymen call all those Ecclesiastical Causes which relate to Rites and Ceremonies to the Pastoral Office and the Revenues of the Church why does not the Chamber put all those Debates which are of the same kind under the same denomination Therefore what they told him before was no more than truth that if they submit themselves to the Jurisdiction of the Chamber there will be no occasion for a Council and yet the Points contested ought to be decided there For those Gentlemen make no distinction of Causes but try all which are brought before them and are willing that their Ecclesiasticks should have not only their pretended Estates but their wicked Ceremonies restor'd them Now if such proceedings as these stand good all the Protestant Doctrin must be condemn'd They said likewise that their Lawyers were so much overaw'd and apprehensive of danger that they durst not defend their Right much less make any Exception against the Judges who if they were challeng'd kept the Bench notwithstanding and had lately sent back the Hamburgers their Letters of Recusation The reason why they instanced in the Monks and such sort of People was to let his Excellency understand that the Goods and Estates which he mention'd did not belong them but to the Ministers of the Church and were partly to be spent upon pious Uses Therefore in charging them with Rapine and detaining other Mens Goods he did them wrong neither was any thing of this nature ever objected to them before not only by one of his Quality but not by the Emperor himself They wonder he should say it was Violence to take away the Revenues of the Church from the Monks and Priests who contemn the true Religion and obstinately defend plain and notorious Errors For to these Estates which were most of them given by their Ancestors the Clergy had no other right than as they were formerly Ministers of the Church in their Dominions Now when they understood the true Doctrin and their Apprehensions were better inform'd they could not with a safe Conscience tolerate known Errors any longer and being oblig'd to remove these Corruptions they did not think it fit to let those Men enjoy the Profits of the Church who positively refus'd to reform their Religion Now if any are of opinion that they ought notwithstanding to have been tolerated in their Perswasion they are mistaken for they could not grant them such an Indulgence without being involv'd in their guilt for we may deny Christ and the Truth not only in our words but in our actions therefore his Excellency had charg'd them wrongfully in this Point For what a strange piece of imprudence would it be to endanger all their Fortunes their Reputation their Lives their Wives and Children and whatever was dear to them for the gaining such little and invidious Advantages They did not desire to possess other Mens Estates and which were not under their own Jurisdiction and if they were put upon it they could demonstrate by the Canon-Law that the Revenues of the Church did not belong to those who broached and maintain'd false Doctrin neither was worldly Interest propos'd by them in this case but their principal and only aim was That God might not be dishonour'd in their Territories and therefore those who profess'd the true Religion had been depriv'd of nothing Neither did they question but that they should give a better account of what they had taken from the Ecclesiasticks than those who assume the name of the Church to themselves and possess the Revenues of it without any right and spend them without any reason Now if they insist upon the right of Possession that is nothing to the purpose for to go no farther than the Canon-Law when Truth begins to display its light all Claims by vertue of Possession Prescription and Custom are to disappear and give place like so many shadows Therefore their Practices are contrary neither to Law nor Equity but are honest pious and consonant to the holy Scriptures That Objection likewise which his Excellency urgeth that he cannot approve that Men should be outed of their Estates is properly applicable to their Adversaries for when any of their Flock happens to turn to the true Religion he hath not only his Fortune but his life too taken from him That this is no Calumny they appeal to his Excellency who very well knows what Cruelties have been exercis'd and how much Blood hath been shed upon this one account for banishment and the ruine of their whole Families is the gentlest punishment such Converts are favour'd with And whereas he insists farther that an Accommodation would be very feasible if the point of Property was waved they grant the truth of this Allegation but then the strength of it ought to be turn'd upon their Adversaries who unless they valu'd their Wealth their Honour and their Luxury that dissolute and scandalous Life which they lead above any regard to Truth all Differences might be easily reconcil'd but though they are sensible of the Excesses and Prodigality of their Expences yet they will not endure a Reformation which is of so absolute necessity Now what truth there is in the Gentlemen of the Chambers Affirmation where they say they have done nothing contrary to their Office his Excellency may understand by what they have deliver'd to him already For their parts they desire nothing more than a legal Trial and have formerly moved that the reasons of their demurring to the Jurisdiction of the Chamber might be examin'd by Referees Now that the Causes which the Chamber have unjustly decided should be brought about again by the Emperor as his Excellency suggesteth this will be a very difficult matter to effect neither will the Parties who have had Judgment given on their side allow it And because he is desirous to know their Resolution in the present case They declare that they value nothing more than Peace that they have not done any thing
Venice is will be of the Duke's Opinion and not let their Town be filled with so great a multitude without a Garrison to secure it so that upon this account there will be as few people to open the Council as there was at Mantua And since whatever he hath done is no better than Mockery it 's not fit he should have such an unreasonable Liberty allowed him any longer 'T is true Councils rightly constituted and managed are the most proper and useful Expedients which can be tried but when they are pack'd for private Interest and Advantage and to establish the Usurpations of a Party they are inconceivable mischievous to the State of Christendom And now when the Name of a Council and the Church made so great a noise in the World Luther undertook to write a Book in High Dutch upon both Arguments where in the first place he treats of the Council of the Apostles at Jerusalem which is mentioned in the Fifteenth of the Acts. Then he sheweth how the Fathers contradicted one another more particularly St. Augustin and St. Cyprian about Baptism where he takes occasion to mention those Ecclesiastical Constitutions which are commonly called the Apostles Canons and proves them spurious by unquestionable Arguments and that those ought to be hanged who give them that name From thence he proceeds to the first four General Councils which are of the most considerable Authority and recites them in Order the Nicene the Constantinopolitan the Ephesine and that at Chalcedon and gives an account of the Occasion of their Meeting and what was Decreed there afterwards he comes up to the main Question and sheweth how far the Power of a Council reacheth And here he maintaineth that a Council ought not to make any Article of Faith nor enjoin any new Duty nor tie the Consciences of Men to Ceremonies which were not practised from the beginning neither is it lawful for such an Assembly to intermeddle in Civil Government nor to make any Canons to found their private Grandeur and Dominion upon On the contrary their Office is to see that all Innovations in Doctrine repugnant to the Holy Scriptures that superstitious or unprofitable Ceremonies may be condemned and removed and always to make the Scripture their Rule to determine Controversies by Then he goes on to define the Church and lays down the Notes to know her by and running a Parellel between Christ and his Apostles and the Pope and showing what a different Doctrine his Holiness had settled in the Church and at what a wicked Rate he had plundered Christendom he concludes he ought to be Excommunicated and obliged to Restitution Besides many other Instances by which he demonstrates in that Book what gross Ignorance there was in the times of Popery how much Religion was corrupted and debauched he tell us Things were come to that pass that even the bare Habit of a Monk was thought to contribute considerably towards the obtaining eternal Life insomuch that not only the Vulgar but many persons of Quality would be buried in it After-Ages possibly will not believe this Relation but yet it is very true and is chiefly practised in Italy and in my time Francis the Second Marquess of Mantua made express Provision in his Will to be buried in the Habit of a Franciscan or Seraphick as they call it The same thing was done by Albertus Pius Prince of Carpi who died at Paris and by Christopher Longolius a Low Country Man who lieth at Padua He was a very Learned Person and a great Admirer of Tully There is an Oration of his Extant against the Lutherans as there is also one of Albert's against Erasmus of Rotterdam After the Death of George Duke of Saxony Henry of Brunswick immediately set forward through France into Spain to wait upon the Emperor Much about this time Henry King of England called a Parliament where besides other secular Matters he Enacts these following Articles concerning Religion That the true and natural Body and Blood of Christ were under the Appearance of Bread and Wine and that the Substance of Bread and Wine does not remain after Consecration That the receiving all the Lord's Supper is not necessary to Salvation Christ being entirely contained under each kind That it is not lawful for Priests to Marry Vows of Chastity ought to be kept and private Masses continued Auricular and private Confession of Sins is both profitable and necessary Those who teach and do any thing contrary to this Act are to suffer as Hereticks And at the same time when this Law was made the King courted Ann Sister to William Duke of Cleve a beautiful Maiden-Lady who when she was contracted to him sailed over into England some few Months after Some thought the Bishops influenced the King to sign this Act touching these Points that they might have an Opportunity to ruine the Authority and Interest of Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury and Thomas Cromwell who were both of them Well-wishers to the Reformation This Year in August the Turkish Admiral Barbarossa took Castle-novo a Town in Dalmatia in the Gulph of Cataro by Storm where all the Garrison was put to the Sword and some of the Burghers carried away into Slavery The Emperor and his Confederates the Venetians took this place a Year before in October but the Emperor garrisoned it himself with Four thousand Spaniards and made Francis Sarmiento the Governor This was a surprize to the Venetians who said a Town situated upon that Coast did rather belong to themselves Thus being disgusted with the Emperor and likewise foreseeing that an Alliance with him would prove dangerous to their State they apply themselves not long after to the Turk and upon their request obtain a Truce of him At this time there happened an Insurrection at Ghent the most considerable City for Strength and Interest in all those Parts and which has often contested very warmly for Liberty with the Earls of Flanders under whose Jurisdiction it is When the Emperor heard of this Commotion he changed his design of going into Germany by the way of Italy and resolved to Travel through France being earnestly invited thither by the French King who made him very obliging proffers of Security and Accommodation for his Journey In the mean time the Palsgrave and the Elector of Brandenburg being Princes of the Mediation wrote to the Emperor concerning the Pacification at Francfort and desired him to give leave there might be a Conference of Learned Men at Nuremberg But his Imperial Majesty told them That the Death of his Empress and some other Occurrences intervening had hindred him from being at leisure to attend that Affair When the Princes of the Mediation had sent a Copy of this Letter to the Elector of Saxony and the Lantgrave without signifying whether the Emperor had confirmed the Truce for Fifteen Months the Protestants appointed a Convention on the Nineteenth of November at Arnstet a Town in Thuringia
great grief to them to find in his Majesty's Letters that he complained of some who did not do their duty and were disobedient and disloyal but they hoped still that none of their Religion was any way guilty of so hainous a crime nor was it our fault say they that differences about Religion are not ended for when in the Diet of Ratisbonne five years since some Points were agreed upon and the question put by your Majesty to the States whether they would have them to pass into a Law or not you may remember Dread Sir that we and many others gave our assent which was in all likelihood a very good beginning of an accommodation but that others by the suggestions of the Pope refused and referred all to Rome there was no more done neither in other Diets afterwards through the opposition of our adversaries who not only did not approve of the Conference your Majesty appointed a Year ago at Worms but struck out also of the Decree all the words relating thereunto We make no doubt neither but that your Majesty has been informed by the Papers we exhibited of the reasons why the last Conference broke up and how we are not to be blamed for it How desirous also of agreement were they whom your Majesty appointed to be Conferrors were there nothing else to show it may sufficiently appear from this that the point of Justification agreed upon five years since was by them stoutly impugned again nor would they allow it to be adjusted What our wishes are and how very desirous we are of peace God Almighty knows from whom in our daily Prayers we beg it in our Churches But since the last Diet of Ratisbonne our adversaries have not admitted of any Treaty but referred all to the Pope whose Votaries they are and to the Council Now it is the Pope's design by force and a kind of high hand to retain the Errors which have occasioned these divisions in the Church and indeed he so orders all things that we cannot refer our cause to his decision whence it is apparent enough that they do us wrong who blame us still that our divisions are not healed besides it is not kindly done to accuse some of robbing the Church under a pretext of Religion for your Majesty knows very well by the late years transactions and the cause has been often heard before you why the Protestant Confederates could no longer suffer that Monastick Life which was so extreamly degenerated within their Dominions but converted into better uses the Revenues belonging unto it But our adversaries when possessed of the Goods of the Church are so utterly careless of its concerns that in many places of their Dominions there are either no Ministers at all or such as are 〈◊〉 for nothing more unfit either in regard of their Learning or of their Lives and Conversation It is well enough known also how they order Schools and what care they take of the Poor Nor is it to any purpose to mention how they hook in to themselves and accumulate the Revenues of several Churches that nothing may be wanting to their Luxury and Voluptuousness Wherefore though some perhaps of our Profession do not in all things rightly dispense the Revenues of the Church yet that is not at all to be compared to those things which now for many Ages they have committed so that the thing itself calls for a Remedy to wit that these Revenues be distributed according to the Word of God and the Decrees of the Primitive Church to which we are indeed most willing to contribute our endeavours Besides your Majesty hath made Decrees both at Ratisbonne and lately at Spire how for the publick peace these Goods ought to be disposed of for if there be any that have not observed a just measure therein we make no doubt but if they be brought to a tryal for it and have a fair hearing they 'l willingly submit to an equitable sentence and give no occasion that Germany should therefore be wasted and ruined by an intestine War. It is objected to those of our perswasion that they have subverted the administration of Justice but you are not ignorant Great Sir why they complained of the Judges of the Imperial Chamber and how earnestly they have sued for a Reformation of that Judicature which though it hath been often promised yet was never as yet accomplished And therefore for peace-sake you lately turned them out of Commission at Spire and prescribed a manner how the Chamber should hereafter be established This Regulation we also approved and in the other Diet of Wormes declared ourselves ready to submit to its Jurisdiction But our adversaries as your Majesty well knows constantly refused and had rather have no Justice at all at their door then all the blame ought to lye for if matters were carried in the manner your Majesty prescribed which is the thing we chiefly desire and accordingly have given Instructions to our Deputies in this Diet of Ratisbonne there is no doubt but that they who think that our Brethren have offended against the Decrees of Ratisbonne and Spire might have right and justice done them For effecting of that we offer our endeavours nor will we aid or abbet any that are refractory and regardless of their duty We have never discovered neither any of our party that aspired to your Majesty's dignity attempted to oppress others or bragg'd and threatened as if they intended open force And indeed we cannot but think that such things are frequently suggested to your Majesty by the Pope and his Ministers for the hatred they bear to our Religion However we presume that your Majesty has had proofs oftener than once of our love and fidelity to your Interests in those Wars we engaged in against Foreigners and would to God that he who now exasperates your Majesty against us had been always as true to you as we have been some Wars then certainly had never been made or had been ended much sooner than they were Now how these men behaved themselves towards your Majesty in these Seditions and Wars that broke out in Germany since you were Emperour and then how freely those of our perswasion sent in their Supplies against the Turk is every where known but more especially in your Provinces of Austria Since we make no doubt then that those States are clear of the Crimes they are charged with before your Majesty and that if they were brought to a fair tryal they could make their innocence appear to you and the whole World we most earnestly beseech your most gracious Majesty the Father of our Countrey by all that is sacred and by the safety and preservation of Germany that you would desist from those so great Preparations and bring them against whom you are so grievously informed to a fair tryal in the ancient manner observed by your Predecessours which we hope your Majesty will never recede from If you 'l be pleased to do so we are very
humbly beg forgiveness and promise amendment This Formulary being read over as I said before was by the Bishops after some deliberation approved and they promised to call Synods within a little time after they were returned home Nevertheless they desired that the Pope might be moved to give his assent to some things in it This Book was Printed also afterward Mention was made before that the Deputies of the Cities sent home to consult their Principals about the Decree But when the Strasburghers who were the chief were a little backward in answering the Emperour orders Granvell to press them to it He therefore June the Twenty eighth sends for the Deputies of whom James Sturmey was the Principal and speaking to them by Henry Hasen who then was his Interpreter he told them that they themselves knew how the States had begg'd of the Emperour and referred it to his care to devise some Expedient that might be observed till the sitting of the Council That he had done it and that a Form was drawn up by good and Learned Men which all the Princes except some few and the chief Cities had approved Now seeing they and some others had besought the Emperour that they might have leave to consult their Principals which he granted and in the mean time waited for their Answer he took it ill that hitherto they had made him none and that therefore he had commanded him to learn what their mind was When the Deputies had told the reason of their Silence they produce a Letter directed to the Emperour from the Senate wherein they tell his Majesty That they desired nothing more than to be able to gratifie him in all things but that they and all their Citizens were fully persuaded that if they should at all admit of that Decree they should wound their own Consciences grievously offend God and endanger their own salvation That since he in his own Wisdom knew how heinous a thing that was they begg'd for Christs sake that in so nice a point which concerned not Lands nor Goods but the salvation of their Souls and Eternal Happiness he would have some regard to them and as he allowed others of a different Persuasion the free use of their Religion so he would suffer them to enjoy that of the Augustane Confession until a Decree should pass in Council as it had been often enacted in Dyets and that he would not compel them to say with their Mouth what their Heart did not think That they again on their parts should take all imaginable care that nothing should be done tumultuously or irreligiously in their City that no wicked and pernicious Principles or Doctrines should be suffered among them nor no cause of Complaint given to their Neighbours When Granvell had heard the Letter read he told them that the Emperour had always had a good opinion of their City and that since all generally commended and approved the Decree they must not expect to be exempted for they had Orders to admit of no such Answer that it was in vain then to Petition but that they should tell positively what the Resolution of the Senate was To which they Reply That when the matter was referred to the Emperour they and the other Deputies had always understood it of the Civil but not Religious Concerns that they thought the last had been referred to a Council where upon hearing of the Parties the Controversie should be decided but that in this Book almost all the Points of Doctrine in dispute were determined that if they should now receive them without any previous Disquisition or the Learned Men of their Party being heard they would no longer remain Controverted nor stand in need of the Authority of a Coucncil That it was no wonder that most part of the Princes and States approved the Decree since it was for their own advantage all being left whole and entire to them but a manner of Religion prescribed to the Protestants and commands laid upon them to forsake those Doctrines that had been always disputed without so much as a hearing whereas nevertheless in all the Dyets the whole Cause was referred to a Council That to force any Man to act contrary to his own Conscience though it were erroneous was a very grievous thing unless the Errour were first made appear That they believed there were a great many good Men on both sides that nevertheless differed among themselves in Judgment and Opinion That no constraint ought to be put upon such but that they should be convinced by Reason Truth and Arguments That since then in all Matters not relating to Religion they were ready to give unto Caesar the things that were Caesars they prayed him to recommend to his Imperial Majesty these humble Demands of the Senate That they were not ignorant of the Emperours great power nor of the danger they now incurred if he should think fit to make use of force That therefore if they were not fully persuaded that by the approbation of this Decree God was greatly offended it would be the greatest madness in the world not to comply with the Emperour Here again Granvell having repeated what he had said before told them that they themselves when they were received again into the Emperours favour had promised to observe what he should appoint for the welfare of the Empire That of this nature was the Decree made with the Counsel and Advice of Learned Men and by the greater part approved That therefore it could not be refused because it was consonant to the Doctrine of the Church Did they arrogate so much to themselves as to think they saw more than the Universal Church that they should make a separation from the rest That it was not lawful for them to change Religion without the common consent of the whole World. That therefore if they had no other Instructions they should inform themselves from their Senate whether they intended to obey or not That as to what they alledged that they had only understood it of Civil Affairs when the Matter was referred to the Emperour it was no matter how they understood it but how the major part of the States did The Deputies again represent that they and the rest of the Deputies of their State had in a manner been excluded from all Deliberations nay and that they had not been then consulted when the matter was referred to the Emperour so that they had understood it no otherwise than as they told him Yea and that some Princes had also understood it so for that when they made their peace with the Emperour they would not promise absolute obedience for fear it might be some time or other extended to Religion that his own Son the Bishop of Arras knew this to be true who then promised in the Emperours Name that the whole Cause of Religion should be referred to a Lawful Council That whereas he said that Decree ought to be received as
agree amongst themselves both Parties gave their Reasons in writing to King Ferdinand and desired him to find out some way They were got but thus far the thirteenth of June because the Proceedings were very slow and most Men thought that the reason was because they would first see the Event of the Treaty between the Emperor and the King of France because this would afford both Parties some considerable Advantage The Roman-Catholicks at the same time put in a third and extraordinary Paper Penn'd with great Passion and Bitterness that they might recommend their Cause so much the more to the King. In the first place say they those who follow the Augustan Confession have proposed five Conditions First That the Catholicks should approve that Doctrine which many Ages since and again in our times upon its first appearance has ever been Condemned by the ordinary Magistrate Secondly That all the Sacriledges they have perpetrated within these thirty Years should be confirmed and approved and that neither Law nor any other of the Pious and Natural ways should be left open for the Church to recover her Revenues And in the interim they would have a Peace made with them when all Communion with them is forbidden Thirdly They would be permitted to institute their wicked Ministers in the Churches and Chapters of the Archbishopricks and Bishopricks and to Preach in these Churches their leud and condemned Doctrines and abolishing the true Ministry and Ceremonies of the Church they would set up in their stead new and wicked Ceremonies and maintain those false Preachers with the Revenues of the Church contrary to the ancient Laws and Customs of the Church Fourthly They would have it lawful that all those Ecclesiasticks and Lay-Princes who do yet adhere to the Roman-Catholick Religion may freely desert their true Religion and pass over to their Camp. Lastly They desire that when any Bishop or Prince makes a defection to their Party that this should not affect his Person only but that it should extend it self to the People which are subject to him and also to the Church Revenues and whole sacred Administration and Jurisdiction which belonged to him Now say they though these things are contrary to all Laws both humane and divine and to the Oaths taken by the Emperor the King a nd the Bishops so that Catholicks cannot well receive them without violating their Faith and Oath yet because they stuck stifly to these Proposals and threatned to make use of Force the Catholicks at last yielded in the Treaty of Passaw as far as they could and have since in the Diet explained themselves by shewing that they cannot-grant a Promiscuous Liberty to all that will to change their Religion For then say they the Empire would be dissolved and that high Honour would be taken from the German Nation For it is the Duty of the Archbishops and Bishops not only not to suffer any condemned Religion but peaceably to disswade and affright all Bishops and Churchmen and all Lay-men too who are inclined to make defection or if they will go on in the Error then they are to represent them to the Roman-Catholick Church for this Custom has ever been observed from the times of the Apostles as may be proved by many Testimonies out of the Councils especially from the ☞ Council of Chalcedon Nor is it fit that any Man should think that those who make defection are to be left to their own Consciences because in things pertaining to the Faith no Man's Conscience should be free But whenever any Man departs from the common Consent of the Church be ought to be punished and restrained That if he will not obey that Church he is to be Excommunicated by the example of the four Principal Councils which condemned Arius Macedonius Nestorius and Eutyches and that of Chalcedon condemned Dioscorides and removed him from his See for defending Eutyches For whereas they pretend that every Man was to be left to the freedom of his own Judgment that neither Christ nor his Apostles compelled any to Believe and which is yet more that when many deserted no Man was retained against his Will. All these Pretences are without Foundation and are abundantly refuted by St. Augustine in his two Hundredth and fourth Epistle But if now the Bishops should be suffered to desert the Catholick Religion and make defection to another they will certainly never leave their Bishopricks because they will say they cannot do it with a quiet Conscience but on the other side they will implore the assistance of the Protestants for the Preservation of their States and People in that Religion And if this be done there is no doubt but they will undertake the Protection of them and pretend it is their Duty so to do for the security of their Administration and the maintaining them in the possession of their Lands and Goods But then whereas they pretend that they ought to admit others into the Society of their Religion and not to exclude any Man out of the Kingdom of Heaven this does not excuse them because there is but one Faith which all Christians ought to profess and preserve And this Faith hath heretofore been approved and confirmed by the oaths of our Emperors Kings Princes Governours and the People of this Empire This is that Catholick Faith which we Germans have from the beginning followed to this time those only excepted who have revolted from it Therefore nothing is to be innovated but every thing ought to be referred to this Faith and Men ought to submit their Souls to the obedience of the Catholick Church and he that does otherwise and assumes unto himself a peculiar Religion if he does not submit to the Admonition of his Superiour is to be Excommunicated and removed from the exercise of his Function and his Goods are to be saized by the Civil Magistrate and his Person is not to be endured in the Empire For the Fathers have ever rejected the Liberty of Conscience and Toleration of Religion as a dissipation of the Faith and have made it a fixed Law of the Church that those Articles of Faith which are once defined by a Council shall neither be disputed nor called in doubt so as to establish any thing to the contrary For History informs us what disturbances followed the general toleration of all Sects granted by Valentinian the Emperor and if it be once granted that he who differs from the Catholick Religion shall be excused by his Conscience than are the Anabaptists Zuinglians and Schwinkfeldians to be excused also on the same account and to be comprehended in this Peace They say that the Promises of God pertaining to Eternal Life belong to all Men and that they ought not to restrain them as if these Promises belonged to none but those of their Profession but in truth the thing is quite otherwise for seeing they have forsaken the Communion of the Church they are excluded out of the Kingdom of Heaven even
by their own Judgments And seeing there is no Salvation out of the Church how can the Kingdom of Heaven belong to them who have rejected the Sacraments of the Church and despise the Priesthood to whom Christ has given the power of Binding and Loosing Now if there are no Priests ordained amongst them how shall they obtain remission of Sins and if their sins are not remitted how shall they be made Partakers of the Kingdom of Heaven Therefore the Promises of the Kingdom of Heaven belong not to them alone but they are rather to be esteemed in the number of them which Christ faith he doth not know They boast that they can shew how the Catholicks have many ways abused Religion and the Revenues of the Church let us see then what is to be blamed in this Particular According to the sacred Scriptures and the Canons of the Councils and Fathers the Revenues of the Church are to be distributed to the Bishops and the Ministers of the Church the Poor and the Buildings belonging to the Church and if need require to the Redemption of Captives in Slavery to Barbarians For above thirteen hundred Years the Custom has ever been to imploy these Goods in the maintenance of the Ministers of Religion and other such Uses as the saying Mass the Preaching the Word of God the repairing and building Churches the maintaining the poor Monks and Nuns But now do the Protestants dispose of them They Banish the Bishops and set others in their rooms who are a sort of meer Lay and profane Prefects on whom they bestow as little of the Revenue as they can possibly under him they set other Ministers who lead the miserable Multitude into Errors whilst they despise the sound Doctrine and the Sacrament of the Eucharist and give the People the whole Sacrament indeed which is nothing but unconsecrated Bread a Creature instead of the Creator and thus under the shew of true Religion they exercise Idolatry They say that hereafter they will imploy the Revenues of the Church to no other use but that of Schools and that they will take no part of them to themselves be it so But then by this very use the Catholick Religion is altogether prophaned and oppressed and this is a worse use of them than if they were applied to meer prophane uses and therefore this use is not to be approved by Catholicks This Writing as I said was composed privately and without order As soon as the Protestants knew of it they answered it and first they shew what was the true Doctrine to wit that which was contained in the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles and then they shew how contrary to this the Doctrine of the Papists was who had so many ways prophaned the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper who had brought in such abominable Errors concerning Purgatory and the Invocation of dead Men who take away and deny the remission of Sins by teaching Men perpetually to doubt of the Favour or Grace of God. That they had contumeliously treated Marriage which was instituted by God and in the mean time had in their pretended Celibacy contaminated themselves with those lend and horrid Villanies which St. Paul Commemorates From these things say they it will manifestly appear who have made a defection from the true Religion and seeing this is the true state of things they ought not to neglect those Ecclesiasticks who now do or hereafter shall imbrace the pure Doctrine And as to the Revenues of the Church every thing with the Roman-Catholicks was wonderfully corrupted the Benefice was instituted for the maintaining the Office but let us see what kind of Episcopal and Priestly Office theirs is without which the Church cannot be and Care ought also to be taken of Schools as has been observed from the times of the Prophets Their Bishops in the Interim make it their greatest Care to gain into their own Purses all those Revenues which should of right be given to the Ministers to Teachers Schollars Schools Hospitals and Alms-houses that thereby they may be enabled to live in all manner of Luxury and after the same manner they used the Religious Houses Was not their Bishop à kind of Lay Lord who when he first entred his Diocess came usually with a Guard of two Thousand Horsemen This is their usual Practice whilst none of them regard their Duty and Ofice what Reason what Conscience do they shew in any thing do they object Sacriledge and Rapine to others Their Doctrine they confess was condemned by Princes but it happened through the wickedness and fraud of those who made this Objection who disswaded Princes from reading their Writings But then that the Pope and the rest of his Followers condemned and rejected their Doctrine was no wonder for that Christ and his Doctrine was treated in the self same manner by Anna and Cayphas and the Sanhedrim of the Pharisees and Priests That they alked much of Councils and the Church but then neither the Councils nor Church had any Power to propose any new Doctrine or to command us to receive any other than what was left us by the Prophets and Apostles That what they said of the Consecration of Ministers was ridiculous for that ridiculous and ludicrous Unction was of no good use Lastly that this Paper was full of reproaches and injurious reflections but that they committed to God and chose rather to set forth the state of their Case in a few words When things were in this Posture King Ferdinand who had been desired by both the Parties to find out a way to an accommodation as I have said above about the beginning of August sent four deputies to the Electors and some of the other Princes to represent to them that in Obedience to the Emperor his Brother and in order to consult the welfare of his Country he came the thirtieth of December last past to Ausburg to the great dammage and hindrance of his own Affairs That finding few or none of them here he had been forced to attend a great while before he could propose any thing to them that is to the fifth of February and then he had first opened the Causes of the calling this Diet but then the Debates had been very long and no answer had been returned him till the twenty second of June and then upon one head only of the Consultation to wit concerning the Peace of Religion and that very Answer not fixed and agreed but contrary and opposite one part to the other That he feared long since that this would be the event and therefore he had desired the Electors to be present in the Diet and if in this they had complied with him he was of an opinion the thing might have been brought to a desired Issue As to the other head which concerned the publick Peace he had something to offer to their Consideration but because it was not likely that it could be dispatched in a short time and
we Petitioned your Majesty that we might not be forced to act against our Consciences but then your Majesty referred this Cause to the Diet at Ratisbone But you may be pleased in the mean time to consider how grievous it is to those who do most ardently desire the Salvation of their Souls to be turned off to an uncertain time When in the interim the Mind is in Anguish and in this anxiety and doubt many Thousands must end their Days Certainly the Word of God which was reveal'd to us by Jesus Christ our Saviour ought to be the only Rule which the Church should follow and if any thing has crept into the Church contrary to that Word how ancient soever it may seem to be it is to be rejected For God will be Adored and Worshipped in the manner he has Prescribed and Commanded and not as Men shall think and feign God has always inflicted horrible and fearful Punishments on those who have neglected his Commandments and in the stead of them have introduced the observation of humane Inventions as may be shewn from the Calamities of the more ancient Kingdoms and those which are nearer and have happened in our own Countries seem to speak the same thing Therefore after the most diligent Search we can find no other Remedy than the casting away those manifest Errors and Corruptions which have been brought into the Church and the receiving and free Profession of pure Doctrine attended with such an administration of the Sacraments as Christ himself has instituted and appointed For it is utterly unlawful for us to depart and turn aside from so plain and clear a Command of God as we have often already shewen For we are first to seek the Kingdom of God which being done he will be present by his Spirit with us and govern our Actions and Counsels That therefore he may deliver us from these so great dangers and be the Counsellor and Leader of us in this War stand for us in the Battel and protect us from our Enemies Rage We beseech your Majesty by the Death of Christ by the Salvation of our Souls and by that judgment which shall pass upon all Men because this thing tends to the perpetual Felicity of your Majesty your Children and Countries That it may be lawful for us who are not corrupted by any Sect with your good Leave to live in the true and pure Religion and to enjoy the benefit of that Peace which you lately made in the Diet with those who profess the Augustan Faith. For seeing we are all Baptized alike in Christ we desire our Condition may not be worse than theirs and that you would not deny us what you have granted to some other of your Provinces and that you would recal those Edicts you have put out concerning Religion and deliver us from the Fears which now afflict us and we desire you would by a new Edict secure the Peace of those Ministers who teach according to the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles and distribute the Sacraments in form abovesaid and that our Schoolmasters may not be Banished or Imprisoned till they have defended themselves before a Lawful Judge And if your Majesty please to do this as we verily believe you will in this extream danger then we do not at all fear but that God will abundantly recompence the same and the States of the Empire will grant greater Supplies than they have at any time heretofore and we for our Parts will not be wanting in our Duty but will chearfully give whatever shall be requisite for the defence and safety of our Country and will to the utmost of our Abilities omply with all your Demands About this time the Ambassadors of the Emperor and the King of France met again and not being able to conclude a Peace between their Princes the fifth of February they agreed on a Truce for five Years by Sea and Land as well in Italy and the Low-Countries as in all other Places That both of them should in the interim possess those Places which he had gained during the War That the Fugitives of Naples and Sicily should be excluded out of this Truce and that the Pope should in the first place be comprehended in it and after him all the Kindred and Servants of both the Princes as the manner is This Truce was soon after Proclaimed by the King of France in his Kingdom and at Metz and some time after it was Proclaimed by the Emperor in his Provinces There was soon after a Report that the Pope was displeased with this Truce and that he endeavoured to perswade the King of France to break it On the other side some said the Pope was the great Promoter of it because he was then contriving a War against the Lutherans In this Truce nothing could be brought to an Agreement which concerned the Captives The Principal of which were the Duke of Arescoâ— a Low-Country Nobleman and the eldest Son of Montmorency Constable of of France who was taken about three Years since in Terovanne The States of the Lower Austria addressed to the King as I have shewn above the thirty first of January that Prince the eighth day after having in the Preface deplored the Calamities and Disorders of the Times and the Wrath of God he assured them of the great Inclinations of his Soul to serve the Commonwealth but then said he whilst I consider diligently my Condition and Place and that I have from my Infancy followed the Precepts of the Christian and Catholick Church as my Ancestors have ever done from whom this Religion and Discipline have been handed down to me In truth I find that I cannot lawfully grant what you ask Not because I would not gratifie my People but because I see it is not lawful for me to prejudice the Christian Church and to change her Laws and salutary Decrees at my Will and Pleasure seeing as Christ saith I am rather bound to hear her Yet nevertheless because I have many years since observed what grievous Calamities have been occasioned by this dismal division in Religion I have been labouring with my Brother the Emperor that theremight be a Composure of them and the thing has been attempted in many Diets and in some Conferences and by our means there has been once or twice a Council begun at Trent but then that the acts of it have produced no Fruit ought not be charged upon us and it is not so obscurely carried but it is known by what Councils and Arts the same has been hindered And now whereas you desire the benefit of the pure Religion and of the peace of Religion lately made may be granted to you Truly as I never yet forced any Man from the true Religion so for time to come I shall not in the least do it nor are ye less comprehended in that Peace of Religion than the Subjects of any other German Prince The plain meaning of the Decree of the said Diet being
That this Limitation was an Hindrance to the so much desired Union of Religion seeing thereby the Bishops were deprived of the Liberty of speaking their Minds freely in Matters of Religion because they should thereby forfeit their Office and Revenues if they approved of the True Religion That on the contrary the Peace would be much stronger between the Princes and States of the Empire if Religion were perfectly Free. That therefore the Electors Princes and States who had imbraced the Augustane Confession desired now as they had also formerly done in the Dyet of Ausburg That this grievous Limitation and Restriction might be abolished and that it might be free for all Ecclesiastical Persons to imbrace the Augustane Confession and suffer their Subjects to imbrace it That they of the Augustane Confession did not by this desire that the Revenues of the Church should be dissipated or turned to Profane Uses or annexed to certain Families but they would take great Care to prevent these Inconveniences and do their utmost in it And that by this means the true Intention of the Founders should be observed tho' the Profession of the True Religion should be permitted for it was without doubt their Design to have the Pious and Sincere Service and Worship of God Promoted and Setled tho' they err'd in their Choice That the Electors Princes and States aforesaid would suffer the Publick and Civil Business of the Empire to be dispatched in this Dyet at Ratisbonne but then they had commanded them their Deputies not to give any consent to any thing till the said Limitation were taken away But then if it was once Abolished and Repealed they were ready and willing to assist and promote the Publick Affairs in this Dyet to the utmost of their Abilities This Protestation or Remonstrance was very often renewed afterwards in several of their Dyets but being always opposed by the Princes of the opposite Religion and by the Emperours it could never be obtained because they ever thought That the granting this Liberty would end in the Rnine of the Roman Catholick Religion On the other side those of that Religion wrote sharply against the Peace of Religion as it was then established by the Treaty of Passaw and the Dyet of Ausburg calling it a Lawless Confusion and in private saying That as it was obtained by a War so it must by a War be revoked In the Year 1556 the Thirty first of July Ignatius Loyola the Founder of the Order of Jesuites died in the Sixty fifth year of his Age. He was born in Spain and at first served as a Soldier which Employment he deserted in the Year 1521 upon a Wound received at Pampelune In the Year 1528 he began to gather Companions In the Year 1534 or 35 this Order was first framed by him and in the Year 1609 he was Canonized by Pope Paul IV. And as Petavius saith it was confirm'd by Paul III in 1540 the Twenty seventh of September James Lainez a Spaniard was this Year his Successor and the second General of that Order which had then obtain'd One hundred Colleges in several Parts of Christendom as one of that Society assures us In the beginning of this year Albert the Son of Casimir Marquis of Brandenburg having lately by the Interposition of some of the Princes obtain'd leave from the Dyet to return into Germany to defend his Case and sojourning then with Charles Marquis of Baden at Pforzheim in Schwartzwalt being extremely worn out with the Troubles of his Affairs and a Disease which sprung from the Intemperance of his former Life died the Eighth Day of January This Prince was an Illustrious Example of the Instability of Human Greatness and of the Divine Justice For He that was once surrounded with so many Thousands of Fighting Men that his Name was terrible to all Men and almost the whole German Empire lay exposed to his Ravage at last by a change of his Fortunes was deserted by all Men and now ended his Life in great Misery and Poverty being despised by his very Enemies as the great Thuanus represents it The Eleventh of March the Dyet began at Ratisbonne the last year was ended In it there was a Decree of Recess made That a Friendly Conference should be held the Fourteenth of August at Wormes for putting an End to the Differences of Religion That a double Supply of Eight Months should be granted to King Ferdinaud to enable him to carry on the War against the Turks That the Peace of Religion and that of the State should be preserved with great and exact care and for the Renewing the Imperial Chamber of Spire which is the Supreme Court of the Empire In April died John Count Palatin of Simeren President of the said Imperial Chamber and the Father of Frederick who about two years after succeeded Otho Henry in the Palatinate of the Rhine He was a Prince of great Learning and managed this Trust with the highest Commendations both for his Prudence and Justice Soon after the great Controversie between the Families of Nassaw and Hesse which had been depending Fifty Years and is often mention'd by Sleidan concerning the County of Catzenellobogen was friendly ended at Frankfort upon the Main by the Interposition and Mediation of Otho Henry and Augustus Electors William Duke of Cleves and others who were made Judges in this Affair for both Parties the Landgrave of Hesse by their award retaining that County upon paying to William Prince of Orange 1600 Crowns and resigning up to him the Earldom of Diez for 1050 Crowns When the time of the Conference appointed by the Dyet drew near the Divines who were of the Augustane Confession had a Meeting at Frankford on the Main the First of August to adjust their own private Differences before they entred into a Conference with the Roman Catholicks so that this latter was not begun till the beginning of September At the opening of it Julius Pflug Bishop of Naumburg who was President in this Conference desired those of the Augustane Confession that they would in the first place shew openly their Disagreement with and Detestation of the Zuinglians Osiandrians Synergists and Adiaphorists Because the Peace of Religion was only granted to those of the Augustane Confession by the Dyet and this Conference was appointed with none but them and the Emperor besides knew that most of them had Orders to do this That therefore some benefit at least might result from this Conference they would once for all by a common consent condemn these Erros and there would be much less danger and difficulty in the rest The younger Ministers and Deputies of Saxony easily assented and producing their Instructions were very forward to separate the Augustane Confession from these Errors But Philip Melancthon an old wise Man who saw the drift of this cunning Gamester said the Examination and Explication of their several Doctrins ought to go before the Determination and Condemnation of them and that
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
fondly perswaded he could confute all the Doctrines of the Protestants out of the Fathers and thereby acquire a great Reputation to himself if he could procure à Conference with their Pastors It was therefore resolved that there should be a Meeting for that purpose at Poissy near St. Germain the Tenth of August and that Pasports should be granted to their Ministers which were to come thither on that account All of both sides being invited thither at the same time The Queen Regent was very much for this Disputation but the greatest part of the Roman Catholicks were against it as thinking it a dangerous thing to suffer the Doctrine which had hitherto been received to be brought under debate and the Religion of their Ancestors to be disputed In the Interim Mary Queen of the Scots left France and return'd into Scotland the Cardinal of Lorrain attending her as far as Calais There was also a Theatrical Reconciliation between the Prince of Conde and the Duke of Guise by the Order of the King the later protesting That he had no hand in the Imprisonment of the Prince and the Prince telling Guise That the Adviser and Procurer of his Commitment was a Wicked Man and a Villain To which Guise Answered That he believed so too but was not concern'd in it After which by the King's Command they embraced each other as Kinsmen and Friends and promised a firm and sincere Friendship each to other and there was great Rejoycing in the Court. The Assembly of the States was Prorogued last year till May of this and then was on the account of the great Affairs prorogued to August and Appointed to be opened at Pont-Oyse In this Assembly the Agreement between the Queen Regent and the King of Navar was Confirm'd by the three Estates which was very difficultly obtain'd by the later This Assembly was opened at St. Germain where James Breâ—agne d Autum who spoke for the Commons declaiming sharply against the Ignorance of the Priests and the Corrupt Manners and Depraved Discipline of the Clergy so that they were unfit to Lead or Instruct the People but rather disgusted and displeased them doing all things for Hire and nothing as their Duty enslaving themselves to Pleasures and wallowing in Luxury and Idleness To this he assigned the Calamities which at present oppress'd France He therefore moved the King to take away all their Jurisdiction that he should employ their over-great Riches to Pious Uses and call a National Council which was the only present and certain Cure of those Evils That free Pasports should be given to all that would come to it and that the King or some of the Princes of the Blood should preside in it whilst Business of Religion was debated That the late Decree against Conventicles should be no prejudice to those of the Reformed Religion who rejected the Ceremonies of the Church of Rome nor any Presription as to length of time which could not make what in it self was false true and the Business of Religion was to be quietly and friendly debated according to the Word of God and not with the Sword and Reproaches He that spoke for the Nobility excused the Clergy and desired the King to preserve their Priviledges and Dignities But then he moved to have the greatest part of the Church Lands sold to pay the Debts of the Crown pretending that a third part of the Purchase Money put out to Use would be as good to them as the whole Land. That the Edict of July might be recall'd and only multiplicity of Sects and ill Language under the pretence of Liberty prohibited That a National Council might be call'd in which the King should preside That all Jurisdictions should be taken from the Church and annexed to the Crown There were also many other things demanded in this Assembly which tended to the Ruine of the Clergy the Papal Authority growing into Contempt and the greatest part either out of a desire to promote Piety or of Love to Novelty favouring the Protestant Party and daily increasing their numbers by joyning with them The Clergy to prevent this Storm wisely gave the King four Tenths for six years which very much appeased the King and the Principal Courtiers towards them The Queen by the Advice of Monluc Bishop of Valence wrote about this time a long Letter to the Pope dated the 5th of August In which stating the dangers which attended the differences in Religion she exhorted him to provide speedy Remedies because they were become so numerous that they could no longer be suppressed by the Sword that many of the Principal Nobility and Magistrates embraced that way and had drawn over such Numbers and so united them that they were become sormidable to the State yet by the Rare Blessing of Heaven they had no Anabaptists Libertines c. none that denied the Apostles Creed or the Interpretation of it received in the Seven General Councils That therefore most were of opinion that notwithstanding these differences they ought to be received into the Communion of the Church which would end in the Peace of the Church That the use of Images which was forbidden by God and as to Adoration disproved by St. Gregory ought to be taken away That Exorcisms and some of the Prayers used in Baptism might be omitted The Lords Supper Administred to all the Laity in both Kinds and the Decree of the Council of Constance ought not to be preferred before the Command of God That the Prayers might be used in the Vulgar Tongue and all that would Communicate might do so the first Sunday of every Month That the Psalms might be sung in the French Tongue A Publick Confession of Sins Prayers for the Prince the Magistrates Clergy Good Weather Fruitful Seasons and all Affliction might be in the same Tongue That the late invented Feast of the Holy Sacrament might be abolished it being unnecessary and the cause of great Scandal and Offence and that this Mystery was Instituted for a Spiritual Worship and not for Shew and Pomp That the use of the Latine Tongue which was foreign and unknown was a great fault the Prayers of the Church belonging not only to the Clergy but to all but as now it stands Who can say Amen to a Prayer in a Language he knows not That if yet the Latine must be used it were fit an Interpretation should be made of the Prayers in the Vulgar Tongue That the Receiving of the Priest in the Sacrifice of the Mass the People only looking Idely on is contrary to the Institution That the Psalms ought to be in the Vulgar Tongue and also the Private Prayers of the People That these things might be granted without derogating from the Papal Authority The Pope was infinitely offended with this Letter and the more because of the same of a National Council shortly to be holden in France but then he dissembled his Resentment and became the more sincere in the Assembling a General
them the more cruel they fell next upon the Priests and Monks as the Authors of their Calamities this more incensing the Roman Catholicks And they again using the most horrid barbarities that were ever practised by Men the Protestants rose likewise in their Executions on them so that if this War had continued a few years France must have been depopulated Now though in all this the Roman Catholicks were the first Agressors and forced the Protestants to this severity in their own defence yet their Writers cunningly omitting the Provocation or softing the Actions of their own Party set forth at large the Cruelties of the Hereticks as they call them and many times aggravate them above what is true but Thuanus though a Roman Catholick was too great a Man to be guilty of so false a representation and who ever pleaseth to consult him will and I have been very favourable to the Roman Catholicks in this Abstract and have not sought occasions to make them odious without cause A CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF THE Reformation of the Church BOOK IV. The CONTENTS The Cardinal of Ferrara leaves France The Causes of the Delay of the Council The Pope's Legates sent to Trent The Prohibition of Books taken into Consideration The French Ambassadors arrive at Trent The French King's Reflections on the Proceedings of the Council The French Clergy arrive there The Pope's Fear of them Maximilian Son of Ferdinand the Emperor chosen King of the Romans The Emperor dislikes the Proceedings of the Council The Spanish Ambassadors received in the Council The Fathers of Trent much Displeased with the Peace made in France The Queen of Navarr cited to Rome and many of the Bishops by the Inquisition The French King's Declaration against these Proceedings The Queen Mother of France complains of the Council The Pope Gains the Cardinal of Lorrain to his Side That Councils have no Authority over Princes The Ambassadors of France Protest against the Council and retire to Venice The Council ended The Censure of the Council The State of Religion in Piedmont A Tumult in Bavaria for the Cup. The Romish Reasons against granting Marriage to the Clergy and the Cup to the Laity The Siege and Surrender of Havre de Grace Charles the IX declared out of his Minority The Scotch Affairs HAVING thus dispatched what concerns the first French War I now return to the Affairs of the Rest of Christendom in the Year 1562. And here I will first begin with the History of the Council of Trent Whilst the recalling this Council was agitated with great heat the Cardinal of Ferrara the Pope's Legate in France after the Revocation of the Edict of January seeing all things there in the state he desired he took his leave of the King and returned into Italy Before he went however he took care to furnish the King with Money to carry on the Siege of Orleans which he took up of the Bankers of Paris He had raised a vast Expectation of this Council in the minds of all those who had yet any Kindness left in their Hearts for the See of Rome and the more because they thought the Edict of January which had caused the War would then fall of Course it being made only by way of Provision till a Council should determine otherwise As the Cardinal was in his Journey Fifty Horsemen came out of Orleans under the Command of one Monsieur Dampier and surprized all his Mules Horses and Treasures and when he sent a Trumpeter to demand them again the Prince of Conde made Answer That this magnificent and warlike Equipage did not befit Pastors and the Successors of St. Peter but rather Commanders and Generals of War who were in Arms for Religion Yet if he pleased to recal the 200000. Crowns which he had furnished the Triumvirate with to carry on the War against him and the Italian Forces out of France he would then restore all he had taken to his Eminence The Council which was appointed to meet at Easter of the former Year was delay'd to the beginning of this the Pope putting it off because he was as much afraid of the Spanish Bishops as of the French National Council He had been necessitated to grant great Contributions to King Philip to be levied upon his Clergy and he thought the Bishops would on that score come with exasperated Minds to the Council and all his Thoughts were bent on the keeping the Papal Power undiminished rather than on satisfying the just Compaints of the Nations At last being forced by an unresistable necessity he sent Hercules Gonzaga Jerom Seripand and Stanislaus Hosio out of his Bosom to be his Legates at Trent And not long after he added to them James Simoneta and Mark Sitico Bishop of Altemberg in Transylvania who had orders to open the Council again the Eighteenth of January 1562. That those things might be therein treated of which the Legates should propose and in the same Order for the taking away the Calamities of these Times the appeasing the Controversies of Religion the Restraining deceitful Tongues the Correcting the Abuses of depraved Manners and the obtaining a True and Christian Peace by such means as the Holy Council should approve of The French Clergy insisted That mention should be made of a Free and General Council to be call'd for the Quieting of their Differences because their Protestants would never submit to the Determinations of the former Sessions On the contrary the Spaniards professed they would only continue the former Council and therefore they used a middle way and decreed A Council should be Celebrated The Spanish Bishops were as much dissatisfied because all the Power of proposing was given to the Legates and taken from the other Bishops and complained of it to King Philip who Ordered his Ambassador to treat the Pope about it that the Council might be free The Pope Answered the Ambassador That he was not at leisure to dispute about Ablative Cases Positive and the Genders of Words and that he had something else to do And in private he spoke of the Calamities and Dangers of France with the same unconcernedness For when one of the French Cardinals deplored the Danger the See of Rome was in of losing that Kingdom he replied What then if as long as I am Bishop of this City I shall not be forced to abate any thing of the Greatness of my Table and the Magnificence of my Buildings And when they insisted to have the Manners of Men and the Discipline of the Church throughly Reform'd he said In that Particular he would satisfie France to the full and take such Care in it that they should all of them Repent that they had mentioned a Reformation Adding That he foresaw that the Kingdom would be divided on the account of Religion but he did not value the loss of it a Farthing All which Expressions saith Thuanus Are in the Letters of the French Ambassador that was then at Rome out
IOANNES SLEIDANVS PATRICIVS ARGENTORATENSIS Natus Sleidae A. D. MDVI Legatus in Anglia pro Protestantibus A. D. MDXXXXV Legatus Argentorat in Concilio Trident. A. D. MDLI. Obijt II Kal Novemb A. D. MDLVI Printed for Henry Bonwicke and Abel Swalle THE General History OF THE REFORMATION OF THE CHURCH From the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of ROME Begun in GERMANY By Martin Luther With the Progress thereof in all Parts of Christendom From the Year 1517 to the Year 1556. Written in LATIN By John Sleidan L. L. D. And faithfully Englished To which is Added A CONTINUATION To the End of the Council of Trent in the Year 1562. By EDMUND BOHUN Esq LONDON Printed by Edw. Jones for Abel Swall at the Vnicorn and Henry Bonwicke at the Red Lion in St. Pauls Church-Yard MDCLXXXIX The Testimony of the Reverend and Learned Doctor Burnet in the Preface of his Celebrated History of the Reformation of the Church of England Pag. 1. wherein he gives an Honourable Character not only of Sleidan but also of Thuanus and Father Paul two of the Authors Cited below THe Changes that were made in Religion in the last Century have produced such Effects every where that it is no wonder if all persons desire to see a clear Account of the several Steps in which they advanced of the Counsels that directed them and the Motives both Religious and Political that inclined Men of all Conditions to concur in them Germany produced a Sleidan France a Thuanus and Italy a Frier Paul who have given the World as full satisfaction in what was done beyond Sea as they could desire And though the two last lived and died in the Communion of the Church of Rome yet they have delivered things to Posterity with so much Candour and Evenness that their Authority is disputed by none but those of their own Party Jac. Aug. Thuanus Historiar Lib. xvii pag. 542. Sub Exitum Octobris c. The last day of October in the year 1556 John Sleidan when he had brought down his History to that time with an Exact Faith and Diligence died of the Plague at Strasburg in the One and Fiftieth year of his Age. He was born at Sleidan a Town in the Dukedom of Juliers near Duren and from thence he took his Name He was a Person who for his Learning and great Experience in Affairs was much esteemed by that Age He had spent the greatest part of his Youth in France and being entertained in the Family of Bellay had both Learned and done great things in the Service of Cardinal John Du Bellay but a sharp Persecution arising in France against those who were suspected of Lutheranisme he went and lived at Strasburg and served that Free City and being by his own publick Employments well informed of the Carriage of Affairs he added to what he had seen what he had learned from Men worthy of Credit and Wrote his Commentaries Joannes Bodinus Method Ad facilem Historiar Cognitionem pag. 66 67. Sleidanus Franciscum Regem c. John Sleidan greatly and truely commends Francis I. King of France the Duke of Saxony Bellay and Alenzon and yet declin'd all odious Comparisons And if he at any time was forced to set down any thing which tended to the Dishonour of any Man he either proved it by good Arguments or put it in the Number of the Rumors or Reports He notwithstanding Imitated Guicciardin Plutarch Machiavel Tacitus and many others in the disclosing the Counsels and Conceal'd Frauds of Men for Sleidan was Interpreter to Francis I. and was Employed in many Embassies for the City of Strasburg after which resolving to Write the History of Religion as he was a Pious and Religious Man he has comprised in it not only a vast number of Speeches and Letters but has also some times abridged the Books which were written on both sides which though it may seem very tedious to some Men yet on the contrary those that are true Lovers of Antiquity and desirous to be throughly informed concerning the great Changes which then happened in Christendom think nothing the less honourably of him on that Account Pietro Soave Polano Hist del Concilio Tridentino pag. 1. Il Proponimento mio c. My purpose is to Write the History of the Council of Trent for though many famous Historians of our Age have made mention in their Writings of some particular Accidents that happened therein and John Sleidan a most Diligent Author hath related with Exquisite Industry the Causes that went before yet notwithstanding all these things put together would not suffice for an intire Narrative This Author supposeth his Reader well Acquainted with Sleidan's History and on that account gives a very short and imperfect Relation of the Rise and Progress of the Controversies which necessitated the calling of that Council so that it is scarce possible throughly to understand that History without having first Read Sleidan's TO THE QUEEN MADAM THIS Work was design'd and begun when Our Church was in the Lowest degree of Danger out of a belief that it might contribute something to her Preservation in that Storm which lay so heavy upon her the Duration of which could then be known to none but God. I thought That a seasonable time to Imitate the Divine Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews and to set before us that Cloud of Illustrious Persons who had with an Heroick Courage baffl'd the Rages of former Persecutions by their Faith and Patience The Reflections I had in private made to my self on the many Deliverances the Holy God has in these last Ages so often wrought for his distressed Church when she seem'd ready to be swallowed up by Popish Fury and Fraud was so great a support and comfort to me in those Melancholy days that I passionately wished I had had some means of communicating them to others To that End was undertaken the Translating this Excellent History as the best means I could think of to raise the same Thoughts in others And as Your Majesty was ever in our Minds I wish'd I might have some favourable opportunity of laying it at Your Feet tho' I could then have no prospect of that Happiness Since then the late Wonderful Revolution has put so sudden and unexpected an End to our Sufferings and our Sorrows and brought Your Majesty back to England to be the Defender of our Holy Faith and the Deliverer of our oppressed Church I humbly beg Your Gracious acceptance of this History which is due to Your Majesty as the chief Patroness of the Reformation That God would for many years continue us under Your most Auspicious Government and at last reward Your Piety and Virtues with a more Glorious Crown in Heaven is and ever shall be one of the most fervent Prayers of Madam Feb. XX. 1688-89 Your Majesties most Dutiful Loyal Faithful and most Devoted Subject Edmund Bohun The Author of the Continuation to the Reader containing an account of
general Positions as the Ground-work of his Opinion as that the Pope of Rome is head of the Universal Church That the Church of Rome is the Chief of all others and that in Matters relating to Faith and Religion it cannot err no more than a Council where the Pope is present That the Holy Scripture receives all its Force and Authority from the Church and Pope of Rome as from a most certain Rule and that they who think otherwise who follow not the Doctrins of the Church of Rome or question its Authority are without doubt Hereticks Having laid down this for a Ground he comes to debate the Matter To this Writing Luther afterwards made Answer and in his Preface to Silvester told him That he admired more than understood his Positions and then following his Example in his own Defence laid down some Positions also but such as were drawn from Holy Scripture Wherein he affirmed That we are not to believe the Doctrins of all Sorts of Men but prudently to weigh all Things and embrace that which is agreeable to the Word of God And that no Doctrin was to be received though never so Specious besides that which was left us by the Prophets and Apostles That the Writers who came nearest to them were to be admitted but that we were to judge of the rest And that as to Indulgences the Collectors ought not to forge any Novelties but therein follow the Direction of the Canon Law. Afterwards he objects against him That he alledged no Text of Scripture and only quoted the Opinion of Thomas who himself had handled most things according to his own Fancy without the Authority of Scripture wherefore he rejects both and for so doing gives for his Warrant not only the Injunction of S. Paul but also the Example of S. Austin That it is an usual thing with Lawyers to say That nothing was to be asserted but what was clearly grounded on the Law and that in Divinity it was far less tolerable to admit of any Allegation without the Authority and Testimony of Scripture That S. Paul commands That they who teach the People should be furnished not with Syllogisms or the various Devices of Men but with sound Doctrin left to us by Divine Inspiration but that because most part slighted that Command thick Darkness had overspread the Church and jangling about frivolous and needless Questions had broke into it Having thus made Way for himself he comes to the Refutation and towards the End says That he was not at all moved at his Threats nor his lofty and swelling Expressions for that though he might be put to Death yet Christ still lived and was Immortal to whom all Glory and Honour ought to be given That if afterwards he intended to have another Brush he must make use of other Weapons and that else he would come but sorrily off with his old Friend Thomas Silvester makes his Reply That he was exceedingly pleased That he submitted to the Determination of the Pope of Rome and wished that therein he might have spoken truly and from his Heart Luther had twitted him with Ambition and Flattery which he altogether disowned but strongly defended Thomas Aquinas affirming That his whole Doctrin was so well Received and Approved of by the Church of Rome that it was even preferred before all other Writings He therefore rebuked him for speaking with so little Reverence of so great a Man and told him That he looked upon it as an Honour to be called a Thomist But that nevertheless he was also acquainted with the Writings of other Men which sometime or other he would make appear To this Preface he subjoyned a Short Book wherein he strangely commended the Power of the Pope of Rome so that he raised him above Councils and all the Canons and affirmed That the Force of Scripture depended wholly on his Authority Thomas Aquinas being nobly descended gave himself altogether to the Study of Learning and leaving Italy came first to Cologn and then to Paris where he attained to the chief Place amongst the Learned Men of his Age and published many Books both in Philosophy and Divinity He had been a Fryer of the Dominican Order and the Scholar of Albertus Magnus and about fifty Years after his Death was Canonized a Saint by Pope John XXII He had indeed been a rare Champion for the Papal Dignity for he gave him Power not only over all Bishops the Universal Church and Kings but also both Spiritual and Civil Jurisdiction affirming it to be necessary to Salvation That all Men should be Subject unto him and that he had full Power in the Church both to call Councils and to confirm the Decrees of the same Nay and that from National or Provincial Synods Appeals might lawfully be made unto him In short he attributed all things unto him save only that he could not make new Articles of Faith nor abrogate those which were handed down to us from the Apostles and Fathers He wrote also largely of Indulgences and made the Pope an absolute Monarch in dispensing them He is said to have died in the Year one thousand two hundred and seventy four and because of the sharpness of his Wit he is commonly called the Angelical Doctor To Silvester's Reply Luther made Answer only by an Epistle to the Reader wherein he affirms That little Book of his to be so stuffed with Lies and Horrid Blasphemies against God that the Devil himself appeared to be the Author of it That if the Pope and Cardinals were of the same Judgment and that if that was the Doctrin taught at Rome it was no more to be doubted but that Rome was the very Seat of Antichrist and that happy was Greece Bohemia and all the rest who had separated from it That if the Pope did not restrain him and force him to retract his Writings he protested that he Dissented from him and not only acknowledged not the Church of Rome but would look upon it for the Future as an Impure Sink of Errours wholly Devoted to Impiety That new and unheard of Elogies of the Pope of Rome were cunningly and craftily devised daily with intent that there might be no place for a Lawful Council since his Flatteries raised him above a Council and affirmed That the true Sense and Meaning of the Scriptures was to be sought from him as from an Infallible Judge That if they went on in this Madness and Imposed so upon the World with their Juggles there remained no other Remedy but that the Magistrates should Punish them That Thieves Robbers and such like Malefactors were put to Death but that it was more Reasonable That all Men should joyn in repressing these most pernicious Enemies of the Commonwealth of Christendom That their Pope was no more than other Men and no less obliged by the Laws of God than the Meanest Person whatsoever and that they who taught otherwise offered the highest Injury to the Divine Majesty
At that time James Hogostrate a Dominican wrote bitterly also against Luther exhorting the Pope to prosecute him with Fire and Faggot Luther gave him a short Answer upbraided him with Cruelty and Blood-thirstiness and sharply plaid upon the Ignorance of the Man advising him to go on in his Course for that to be Censured by Unlearned and Vitious Men was a ready Way to attain to Honour and Reputation However he said He hoped for better things at the Hands of Pope Leo. Whilst these things were in a Scholastick manner managed and debated by Writing on both Sides the Emperour Maximilian held a Diet at Ausburg whither Pope Leo â— sent his Legat Cardinal Thomas Cajetane All the seven Princes who because of their Right of Chusing the Emperour are called Electors were present at this Diet to consult about a Turkish War for Sâ—lym the Emperour of the Turks having lately subdued the Sultan of Egypt had reduced Syria and Egypt under his Obedience and Cardinal Cajetane having made an Hortatory Speech and in the Pope's Name offered the Treasures of the Church implored Aid of the Emperour Maximilian as being the Protector and Defender of the Church At this Time Pope Leo X made Albert Archbishop of Mentz a Cardinal and ordered him to be installed at this Diet by Cajetane with the usual Rites and Ceremonies The Emperour afterwards waited upon the new Cardinal from the Church home to his House and sent him Presents a Royal Litter with Horses Carpets and a great deal of very Rich Furniture But the Pope made him a Present of a Cap embroidered with Gold Pearls and precious Stones and of a Sword with a gilt Scabbard For generally all the Bishops of Germany have a Civil as well as Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Now it was thought That Leo conferred this Honour upon him That the Church of Rome might have a Champion in Germany conspicuous both for Nobility of Extraction and Dignity for though all Bishops are bound by an Oath to the Pope of Rome yet they who are called Cardinals are much more obliged unto him Besides he was not Ignorant how great a Stroak this Man had in the Affairs of the Empire as being by Ancient Custom the First of the Princes and as it were perpetual President of the Electoral Colledge Maximilian being informed of the Controversie raised by Luther in the Month of August wrote to Pope Leo That he had learned that Luther had vented many things in his Disputes and Sermons which for the most part seemed to be Heretical that he was the more grieved at it the more obstinately he maintained his Doctrin and had the more Approvers of his Errours and amongst those some also of great Quality That he exhorted his Holiness that by Virtue of the Chief Authority which he had he would cut off all Idle and Useless Questions and put a Stop to all Sophistry and Contention about Words for that they who gave their Minds that Way did a great deal of Mischief to Christianity since all their Scope was That what they themselves had learn'd should be approved and imbraced by all Men That care had been indeed taken in the former Age That able Preachers should be appointed to teach the People and avoid all Idle and Sophistical Nicities but that that Decree was by degrees brought into Contempt so that it ought not indeed to seem strange if they who should be the Guides of others themselves mistook the Way That it was long of these That the Writings of the Ancient Fathers and Interpreters of Holy Scripture had lain now long neglected and were become Faulty and Corrupted That it was also to be imputed to them That in these our Times many Controversies were broached in the Schools and amongst the rest that this dangerous Debaâ—â—â— about Indulgences was started That this indeed was a Matter of so great Moment as that it required a present Remedy to be applyed to the growing Evil before it should propagate its Contagion and spread further for that Delays were dangerous That for his part he was ready to approve whatever his Holiness should Determine and take care to have it received throughout all the Provinces of Germany We told you before of the Clashings and contrary Writings of Luther and Silvester Now since this Man having a publick Place in Rome eagerly pursued the Cause Pope Leo Cites Luther under a Penalty to appear at Rome and then August 23 wrote to Cardinal Cajetane his Legat in Germany to this purpose That whereas being informed That not only in Universities but also amongst the People and in Books published and dispersed over Germany Luther maintained some Impious Opinions contrary to the Doctrin of the Church of Rome the Mistriss of Faith and Religion He who out of a Paternal Care and Affection desired to put a Stop to his Rashness had commanded Jerome Bishop of Ascoli to whom the Matter properly belonged to Summon him to appear at Rome to answer the Accusations brought against him and give a Confession of his Faith. That the Bishop of Ascoli had indeed done as he was enjoyned but that he was so far from being thereby Reclaimed that obstinately persisting in his Heresie he had published Writings far more Dangerous to his great Grief and Trouble That he should therefore endeavour to have him brought to Ausburg by means of the Emperour and Princes of Germany whose Assistance he should crave herein and that being come he should put him in safe Custody that he might be sent afterwards to Rome But that if he repented of his own accord and begged Pardon for his Fault he might receive him into Favour and restore him to the Communion of the Church which never uses to exclude Penitents but if not that then he should Excommunicate him commanding all Men also to obey this Bull under the Penalty if they be Church-men of the loss of all the Church Livings they possessed and of being incapable of enjoying any for the future but if Lay-men and in Civil Office under the Pain of being declared Infamous degraded from all Honours deprived of Christian Burial and the Forfeiture of all Ecclesiastical Preferments which they held of him or of others also But to those who should perform faithful Service therein he orders either that Plenary Indulgences and Remission of Sins or else some Place and Reward should be given and to this Bull he subjects all Men the Emperour only excepted notwithstanding any Priviledge or Dispensation they might have to the contrary The same Day he wrote to Frederick Elector of Saxony who then was at Ausburg That among the other Ornaments of the House of Saxony it had been always peculiar to it to be most zealous for Religion that therefore it was not probable that any of that Family would so far degenerate from their Ancestors as to protect and defend a Man who entertained Erroneous Thoughts as to the Christian Religion That nevertheless to the great
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
the Disciples of Mahomet and who with his prophane and poysonous breath thought at once to blast and overturn the whole Disciplin of the Church who bewails the Punishments inflicted on Hereticks and in short who strove to turn all things topsie-turvie and is arrived at that degree of pride and madness as to despise the Authority both of Popes and Councils and has the confidence to prefer before them all his own single Judgment That he therefore had shewed himself a true Son of the Church in that he had nothing to do with that pernicious Rascal nor embraced any of his erroneous Opinions but in all things imitated the Vertues of his Fore-fathers That this made so many grave and understanding Men outvie each other in his Commendations And that he could not but think himself bound to return his most hearty Thanks to God who had bestowed on him so many rich endowments of Mind He says he had long borne with Luther's Sauciness and Temerity hoping he would in time grow ashamed of his Folly but now when he saw him deaf to all his Admonitions and that he was only hardned by the gentleness which he used towards him he was forc'd at last as in a desperate Disease to have recourse to a desperate Remedy to prevent if possible the farther spreading of the Contagion That having summoned therefor the Conclave and had the Advice of several learned Men in the matter after much serious deliberation he had signed the Decree being guided by that holy Spirit whose aids can never be wanting to an Infallible Church In it were recited some of his Tenets which were picked from among a great many more part of which were downright Heretical others directly contrary to the Precepts of the Gospel and some were destructive of Morality and even common Honesty it self and were such as by degrees would debauch Men into all manner of Wickedness That he had sent him a Copy of this Bull to let him see what monstrous Errors that Agent of Hell did maintain But now his Request to him was That he would admonish him not to persist in his Pride and Obstinacy but publickly and solemnly to recant all his former Writings which if he refused to do within a prefixed day then to take care to have him seized and committed to Prison by this means he would wipe off the Reproach of his own House and of Germany too and get himself immortal Honour by putting a timely stop to that flame which would else not have ended but in the ruin of his Country and it would be a Service also very acceptable even to God himself The Bull it self was very long and was published on the Fifteenth of June the substance of it was this After a Quotation of some Texts of Scripture which were applied to his present purpose his Holiness Pope Leo having called upon Christ St. Peter and St. Paul and the rest of that glorified Society to avert those dangers which at this time threatned the Church complains that there was now started up a Doctrin which not only revived all those Opinions which had been formerly condemned as Heretical but also contained in it several new Errours never before broached in the World and such as would justle out all sense of God and Religion That he was troubled that this Heresie should have its rise in Germany a Country always very Loyal to the Church of Rome and which to uphold the Dignity of that See had fought even to the last drop of Blood and never refused to undertake any the most difficult Enterprizes That it was yet fresh in memory with what Heroick Spirits and with what Zeal they maintained the Catholick Cause against the Bohemians and the Followers of Husse That some of their Universities had lately given Instances of a Vertue and Courage equal to what inspired the first Planters of Christianity But because he was Christ's Vicar here on Earth and the Care of the Universal Church was committed to him he could no longer neglect the discharge of his Duty After this he repeats Luther's Tenets which he says were repugnant to that Christian Love and Reverence which all Men owe to the Church of Rome That he had therefore summoned together the whole College of Cardinals and several other learned Men who after a long Debate all declared That these Points ought to be rejected as derogating from the Authority of Councils Fathers and even the Church it self Therefore with their advice and consent he condemns this whole summ of Doctrins and by virtue of his Supremacy commands all Persons under the severest Penalties to yield Obedience to this his Decree by renouncing those Opinions which are censured in it and he enjoyns all Magistrates especially those of Germany to use their endeavours to hinder the farther progress and growth of this Heresie He orders also Luther's Books to be every where brought forth and burnt Then he relates how Lovingly and Fatherly he had dealt with him in hopes to reclaim his by those gentle methods how he had admonish'd him by his Legates and cited him to come and make his Purgation at Rome not only granting him a safe Conduct but promising to furnish him with all Necessaries for his Journey but that he slighting this Summons had appealed from him to a General Council contrary to the Decrees of Pope Pius and Julius II by which it is enacted That whosoever shall make any such Appeal shall from that time be adjudged an Heretick and be obnoxious to the same Punishments That therefore it was in his power to have prosecuted him at first with the utmost rigour of the Law but that out of meer pity he had forborn so long if perhaps as the Prodigal Son his Calamities might bring him to a sense of his Errours and he would at last be willing to return into the bosom of the Chuâ—ch That he had still the same tender Affections towards him and that he most passionately intreated him and all his Followers that they would cease to disturb the Peace of Christendom and if they yield to this his request he promises to shew them all the kindness imaginable In the mean time he forbids Luther to Preach and prefixes Threescore days within which time he should amend burn his own Books and publickly Recant If he did not he condemns him as an Heretick and orders him to be punish'd according to Law he Excommunicates him and commands all Persons to avoid his Company under the like Penalty ordering this Decree to be read in all Churches upon certain days As to what he says of Pius and Julius the matter stands thus In the Year of our Lord 1359 Pius II on account of the War with the Turks holds a Council at Mantua and there among others makes a Decree That no Person should Appeal from the Pope to a Council because he said there could be no Power on Earth Superior to that of Christ's Vicar Therefore he
sufficiently weiged the greatness of the Matter and the troubles that this Doctrin hath occasion'd Nay truly I am exceedingly rejoyced to see that the Doctrin I profess hath given occasion to these Troubles and Offences for Christ himself tells us That it is the property of the Gospel to raise grievous Strife and Contentions where-ever it is taught and that among those very Persons too who are most closely linked together by the Bonds of Nature and Blood. It ought seriously then to be consider'd and maturely thought on most Noble Patriots what is fit to be decreed and care had lest by condemning the Doctrin which by the Blessing of God is now offered unto you you yourselves be the cause of the greatest Calamities to Germany Regard should likewise be had that the Government which the young Emperour who here presides hath lately taken upon him be not reckoned inauspicious and fatal by Posterity through any bad Act or Precedent that may entail its Inconveniences upon them For it may be proved by many places of Scripture that Governments have then been in greatest danger when the Affairs of the Publick were managed only by Human Prudence and mere Secular Councils Nevertheless I design not by what I say most Illustrious and Prudent Princes to prescribe or point out to you what you are to do but only to declare the Duty which I shall always be ready to perform to Germany our native Country which ought to be dearer unto us than our very Lives After all I most earnestly beseech you to take me into your Protection and to defend me against the Violence of mine Enemies When he had made an end of Speaking Eckius looking upon him with a stern Countenance You answer not to the Purpose said he nor is it your part to call again into question or doubt of what hath been heretofore determined by the Authority of Councils It is a plain and easie Answer that is demanded of you Do you approve and will you defend your Writings To which Luther made answer Since it is your Command said he most mighty Emperour and most Illustrious Princes that I should give a plain Answer I 'le obey and this therefore is my Answer That unless I be convinced by Testimonies of Holy Scripture and evident Reason I cannot retract any thing of what I have written or taught for I will never do that which may wound my own Conscience neither do I believe the Pope of Rome and Councils alone nor admit of their Authority for they have often erred and contradicted one another and may still err and be deceived The Princes having considered this Answer Eckius again told him You answer said he Luther somewhat more irreverently than becomes you and not sufficiently to the purpose neither when you make a distinction among your Books But if you would retract those which contain a great part of your Errours the Emperour would not suffer any Injury to be done to such others as are Orthodox and right You despise the Decrees of the Council of Constance where many Germans famous both for Learning and Virtue were present and revive Errours that were condemned therein requiring to be convinced by Holy Scripture you do not well and are very far out of the way for what the Church hath once condemned is not to be brought under Dispute again nor must every private Person be allowed to demand a Reason for every thing for should that once be granted that he who opposes and contradicts the Church and Councils must be convinced by Texts of Scripture there would never be any end of Controversies For that Reason therefore the Emperour expects to hear from you in plain Terms What you will do with your Books I beseech you said Luther that by your leave I may preserve a Sound and upright Conscience I have answered plainly and have nothing else to say for unless my Adversaries convince me of my Errour by true Arguments taken from Scripture it is impossible I can be quiet in mind Nay I can demonstrate that they have erred very often and grosly too and for me to recede from the Scripture which is both clear and cannot err would be an Act of greatest Impiety Eckius muttered something to the contrary That it could not be proved that ever a General Council had erred But Luther declared That he could and would prove it and so the matter concluded at that time Next Day the Emperour wrote to the Princes assembled in Council That his Predecessors had professed the Christian Religion and always obeyed the Church of Rome So that since Luther opposed the same and persisted obstinately in his Opinion his Duty required that following the Steps of his Ancestors he should both defend the Christian Religion and also succour the Church of Rome That therefore he would put Luther and his Adherents to the Ban of the Empire and make use of other proper Remedies for the extinguishing that Fire However that he would make good the Safe-Conduct he had granted him and that he might return Home with Safety This Letter of the Emperours was long and much debated in the Assembly of the Princes and some there were as it was reported who following the Decree and Pattern of the Council of Constance thought that the Publick Faith was not to be observed to him But Lewis the Elector Palatine and others also were said to have vigourously withstood that Resolution affirming That such a thing would lye as an eternal Stain and Disgrace upon Germany Wherefore most were of Opinion that not only the Publick Faith and Promise should be kept to him but also that he should not be rashly condemned because it was a Matter of great moment whatever should be decreed by the Emperour whom at that Age they perceived to be incited and exasperated against Luther by the Agents and Ministers of Rome Some Days after the Bishop of Treves appointed Luther to come to him the 24 of April There were present at that Congress Joachim Elector of Brandenburg George Duke of Saxony the Bishop of Ausburg and some other great Men And when Luther came conducted by the Emperour's Herald and was introduced by the Bishop's Chaplain Vey a Lawer of Baden spake to him to this Purpose These noble Princes have sent for you Martin Luther said he not to enter into any Dispute but to treat friendly with you and to admonish you privately of those Things which seem chiefly to concern your self for they have obtained leave from the Emperour to do so And in the first place as to Councils it is possible that at some Times they have decreed things different but never contrary and granting they had err'd yet their Authority is not therefore so fallen that it should be lawful for every Private Man to trample upon it Your Books if Care be not taken will be the cause of great Troubles and many interpret that which you have published of
first on the Frontiers of Spain and in Flanders The French held at that time Parma and Piacenza in Italy which Pope Leo was much troubled at But when more lately they had attempted Regio he fell quite off from them and made a League with the Emperour whereof the chief Conditions were That the Dignity of the Church of Rome should be defended That what the French had lately taken from it should be recovered That Francis Sforza who was then a banished Man should be restored to his Inheritance and the Dukedom of Milan Having therefore joyned their Forces under the Command of Prospero Colonna and Ferdinand d'Aval Marquess of Pesoara they recovered Parma and Piacenza from the French took the City of Milan and beat the Enemy quite out of Lombardy after they had been six whole years Masters of it Not long after Pope Leo had the News of this Overthrough he Died not without the Suspicion of Poyson He was the Son of Laurence de Medices and had to his Great-Grandfather Cosmo who raised that Family to its Splendour At Thirteen years of age Leo was made Cardinal by Innocent VIII He lived not above Seven and forty years and had for Successor Adrian VI a Hollander who had been the Emperor's Tutor LEO X. PAPA ANTEA IOANNES MEDICES FLORENTINVS Natus Ao. 1474. XIII An Adolescens Alectus fuit in Ordinem Cardinalium Electus XIo Martij Ano. 1513. Obijt 1o. Decemb 1521. Sedit An. 8 Men. 8. D. 21 While the Emperor spent his time in Germany and the Netherlands there happened great Seditions in Spain Therefore to prevent the growing evil in time having first setled a Council and Supreme Court of Judicature to administer Justice and in his absence to order the Affairs of the Empire he returned into Spain by Sea But before his departure the States of the Empire had met at Norimberg among other things to consult about the Turkish War and the Emperor having emitted a Proclamation towards the end of March enjoyned chiefly the Church-men to pray to God say Masses and make Processions for the Publick Safety and for atoning the Sins of Men. Now the grand result of this Diet was that on the First of May after they granted Aid to King Lewis against the Turk The Emperor upon his return home visited once more the King of England and to secure him for a firm Friend against the French King he promised to pay him yearly an Hundred and Thirty three Thousand Ducats For the French King by Agreement paid so much yearly to the King of England and his Sister Mary Queen Dowager of France so that unless he might be saved harmless the King of England would attempt nothing against him This Treaty was concluded betwixt them June the Thirteenth at Windsor For a greater Confirmation of their Friendship also it was agreed that the Emperor should Marry his own Cousin-german Mary the King of England's Daughter a young Lady then of Seven years of age when she should come to Maturity And that he who failed in performance of this should pay the other Four hundred thousand Crowns In the mean time the French King bends all his Force to the recovery of what he had lost in Italy Of Zuinglius you have heard before Now Hugh Bishop of Constance to whose Spiritual Jurisdiction Zurich belonged addressed himself to the Senate acquainting them with what Complaints he heard of Zuinglius who had started a new kind of Religion But Zuinglius being called before the Senate defended his own Cause and satisfied them Afterwards the Bishop wrote to the College of Canons of whom Zuinglius was one and having said many things of new Teachers who disturbed the Peace of the Church he entreats them to take heed and beware of such And because Pope Leo and then the Emperor had by most severe Bulls and Decrees condemned that Doctrin he admonishes them to obey the same and not to make any Changes or Innovations till they whom it concerned should by common advice and consent determin what was to be done This was in the Month of May. After this Letter had been read in the Convocation Zuinglius against whom it was written wrote an Answer to the Bishop That he knew very well who they were that put him upon these things and advised him not to follow their Counsels for that Truth was invincible and could not be resisted But he wrote a longer Letter afterwards to those whom he supposed to be the Authors of that Epistle After this Zuinglius and some others there joyned with him wrote a Letter to the Bishop wherein they prayed him not to act any thing against the Doctrin of the Gospel nor to suffer any longer that filthy and scandalous life of the Priests but allow them Marriage To the same purpose Zuinglius wrote to all the Switzers and counselled them not to obstruct the course of the Reformed Religion nor any ways molest the Married Priests for that the Devil was the Author of that single Life of theirs That it was a Custom in some of their own Cantons when they received any new Curate to enjoyn him to keep a Concubine lest he should attempt upon the Chastity of other Mens Wives That the Custom was laugh'd at by many but that it was prudently established at that time and in that darkness and depravation of Religion And that what they did then as to Concubines ought now to be put in practice as to lawful Wives Luther in the mean time having absconded as we said for some Months returned to Wittemberg and because he had not been recalled by Duke Frederick fearing that he might take it ill at his hands he wrote to him in the Month of March assuring him that it was out of no Ill-will or Contempt of his Authority that he was returned without his Command That he was sensible enough some would not fail to represent it as a dangerous thing to his Highness in regard that he stood Outlawed and Condemned both by the Pope and Emperor whose Power was not to be slighted That he had indeed seriously reflected on these things before hand but that for three chief Reasons he had been moved to do what he did First That he had been earnestly solicited by several Letters from the Church of Wittemberg to turn and that they were a People whom God had committed to his Charge and therefore could not be neglected That many without doubt spoke bitterly and reproachfully against this Reformation of Religion but that he was certainly convinced that this his Profession was most acceptable unto God That in the next place through the craft and subtilty of the Devil who could not endure this Light of the Gospel many troubles in his absence had been raised in his Church which unless he were there to teach them in Person could not be composed And that that was to him so weighty a Cause that it
we mentioned came to Norimberg and January 1 sent from thence the Pope's Letters we spoke of to the Senate of Strasburg offering his Service if they pleased to write him an Answer Zuinglius began now to give great Offence and whilst many both within and without the City preached against his Doctrin as Impious and Erroneous but especially the Dominican Fryers and that he justified the same offering to prove it to be consonant to the Holy Scriptures the Senate of Zurich called a Convocation of all the Clergy within their Jurisdiction to meet at Zurich January 29 about the Difference in Religion where all men should be heard as much as was Requisite They invited also the Bishop of Constance by Letters either to come himself or send one in his Place So then a numerous Assembly met at the Day appointed and among others John Faber whom the Bishop sent to represent him to whom the Burgomaster of the Town made a Speech to this Effect That because there was a great Dissension arisen about Religion the present Assembly had been called That if any man had ought to say against the Doctrin of Zuinlius he might freely propound the same Now Zuinlius had before comprized his Doctrin into certain Heads and common places to the number of sixty seven Articles and had published them to the end that all might come prepared to Argue and Dispute the Matter openly in the Assembly Wherefore when now the Burgomaster had done speaking he again propounded them and invited them to fall to the Dispute With that Faber having declared the Cause of his being sent endeavoured to persuade them That that was a Debate not proper for such a Place and that it belonged to a General Council which was shortly to be called But Zuinglius urging him to Dispute and if he had any thing to say not to dissemble it He made answer That he would refute his Doctrin in Writing Thus they two having exchanged many Words and no Body else appearing to take up the Cudgels the Senate dissolved the Assembly and proclaimed throughout their Territories That the Traditions of Men being laid aside the Gospel should be purely taught from the Books of the Old and New Testament THE HISTORY OF THE Reformation of the Church BOOK IV. The CONTENTS Pope Adrian by his Legate propounded several things confessing that now for many Years there had been various and grievous Corruptions in the Court of Rome The Princes of Germany answer him and declare upon what Conditions they would have a Council An alteration of Affairs in Denmark King Christiern flyeth The Imposts of Germany First-Fruits and Vacances are treated of Mention is made of the Pall of Archbishops Two Augustine Fryers are burnt at Brussels Luther interprets the Decree made at Norimberg He publishes some Books The King of England makes a heavy complaint of Luther Pope Adrian dies to whom Clement succeeds Troubles arise in Switzerland about the Doctrin of Zuinglius and at Strasburg about the Marriage of Priests Campegius is sent by Pope Clement Legate to the Dyet of Norimberg where he writes to Duke Frederick and then exhorts the Princes in a Speech he made to them To which they answer and he again replies thereunto The Switzers expostulate with those of Zurich who answer the Ambassadours of the other Cantons The Bishop of Constance's Book in defence of Images Which nevertheless are thrown down and burnt throughout all the Canton of Zurich The Emperour sends an Ambassadour to the Dyet of Norimberg The Senate and Bishop of Strasburg bring their Controversie before Cardinal Campegius After the Dyet is over Ferdinand and others make a League against the Reformation BEsides the Letters we mentioned Pope Adrian gave his Legates Instructions in Writing that he should signifie to the Princes How much he was grieved at the Troubles and Seditions which were occasioned by Luther not only because of the Damage that thereby accrued to mens Souls and the Ruine and Dissipation of the Flock which Christ had committed to his keeping but also because such a mischievous thing should have happened among that Nation and People from whom he derived his Birth and Being and who had always been a People free from the very least Suspicion of Heresie That therefore it was his most earnest Desire That some speedy Remedy might forthwith be applyed to the Evil lest by longer Delay the same thing might happen to the Germans which heretofore befel the Bohemians That for his own part he would spare neither Pains nor Charges in that Affair That therefore he besought them that according to their several Abilities they would do the same there being many and weighty Reasons for their so doing as the Glory and Honour of God which was chiefly violated by that Heresie all the Ceremonies and Rites of the Church being thereby not only impaired but in a manner quite abolished Charity and Brotherly Love since he that directed not him into the right way who was gone astray must be accountable to God for his Omission The Shame and Disgrace of the Nation since Germany which was wont to be chiefly praised for Religion was now by reason of that Defection fallen into Contempt and Ignominy Their own Fame and Reputation for since they might easily make an End both of Luther and of his Heresies if they did it not they would seem to be very sickle and inconstant and to degenerate from their Ancestors who left behind them at Constance a noble Instance of their Virtue and was it not a most heinous Injury that he did both to themselves and their Fore-fathers for since these followed the Religion of the Roman Catholick Church they were in his Judgment who condemned that Religion all debarred from Salvation That they should consider and weigh with themselves what the Purpose of these Men was and what their Doctrin drove at Which was nothing else than under a Colour of Christian Liberty to endeavour the Subversion of all Laws and all Respect and Obedience to Magistrates and that though Luther seemed at first only to impugn the Ecclesiastical Power as Impious and Tyrannical yet it was his Drift that having once persuaded People That Christians were by no Laws obliged to obey the Magistrate he might open a way for all Men to break out into what extravagant Courses they pleased And that therefore they themselves lay thereby exposed to great Dangers That as yet indeed they cunningly and craftily disguised their Purpose flattering the Magistrate That with impunity they might be suffered to wreak their Spleen and Malice upon the Church-men But that these being once oppressed without doubt they would try their Fortune also with the rest That they themselves now plainly saw and felt by Experience the Animosities Hatred Quarrels and Troubles which that Heresie had already occasioned in the State and it was to be feared That if these Evils were not timely repressed God who had given them the Power of the Sword
and prejudice that is entertained against us for we verily believe that if we had approved the League with the rest we should not have heard of any Quarrels nor Animosities For when ye often dealt with us that we would not separate from the rest we always told you what our Thoughts were That we would live quietly and entertain friendship with the King according to the Treaty of Peace long ago concluded and would observe the Conditions of our ancient League contracted for the defence and welfare of our common Country And because we stuck to that we have drawn upon our selves hatred from abroad After that the Light of the Gospel began to shine among us we have shaken off that Burthen which the Pope and his Party had laid upon us ignorant Men and abolished manifest Errors Some of you have laid hold on this occasion and by your Deputies required us to reform But we made answer then as we had done many times before That we acted according to the Prescript of God's Holy Word That if any Man could convince us of Error we would change our Purpose but if not that it was but reasonable that we should obey God rather than Man. With that Egly the Governor of Lucern stood up and told us That unless we did renounce the Sect of Luther and Zuinglius those of Lucern Vri Switz Vnderwaldt Zug and Friburg would sit no more in Assembly with us And not long after they had made a Law among themselves to that purpose the Governor of Turegie apprehended John Oxline a Minister of the Word in his own House in the Night-time and carried him away Prisoner whereby we have received a double injury First ' in that it was a Trespass not only upon a Man of ours but also upon our Limits And then in that when upon his crying out for help many armed Men flocked together and as it is usual in such cases committed many Insolencies our Men who crouded out promiscuously with the rest and we who were innocent bear all the blame of the Fact. Now the second thing wherewith you charge us proceeds from that Convention which last year Ferdinand Archduke of Austria held at Ratisbone with the Governors of his Country the Bishops and others who cannot endure the pure Doctrin of the Gospel But it is plain enough that for a long while it has been their design to raise Dissenssions among us and to divides us one from another And it grieves us the more that ye should trust such for there are some among them whom you have sometimes accounted lewd and wicked Men and whom we understanding their snares and treachery banished out of our Territories These very Men now finding that we would not give ear to their tricks and artifices are fled to you and now accuse us as if we had broken that League which was once made with the House of Austria They say that we gave aid to our Neighbors of Waldhust against Ferdinand their Prince but it is false For when they of Waldhust were in danger for the profession of the Reformed Religion and were not admitted to plead their own Cause some of our Men of their own accord unknown to us ran thither to defend harmless People from violence and force but so soon as we were informed of it we recalled them So then that head of Accusation falls of it self But if Ferdinand have any thing else to object unto us as to the violation of the League let him alledge it and he shall have an Answer so that all Men shall plainly see which side hath kept to their Articles But that you should have treated privately with Archduke Ferdinand's Embassadors our Deputies being excluded from the Conference is a thing that we have good reason to wonder at for if the Treaty had been about the old League it was but just that we should have been admitted but if it was about Religion why do ye not proceed with us upon the conditions that we have many times offered unto you There was a strong report that you have combined together for the Subversion of the Lutheran Religion which if true yet seeing we are joyned in League as well with him as with you and that we follow not the steps of Luther but the dictates of holy Scripture we ought not to be reckoned of that number But since we are ignorant of what was done betwixt you and yet are maliciously accused as if without your knowledge we had solicited some Cities for Aid we protest it is a meer Calumny Of the same nature is that other report also That we resolved by a Signal given to Muster Men together of a sudden and to surprize Baden and some other places for these are Lyes devised by them to incite you to seize those places and to put Garisons in them against us And if that were once done they make no doubt but that it would raise such Stirs and Commotions as may kindle a Domestick and Civil War among us There are besides many other Calumnies forged against us as among others That we teach that Mary the Mother of Christ had several Sons and that it was James the Younger and not Christ himself that died for us These and such other Slanders we would have refuted at Lucern but our Men were hindred by you from speaking to the People When Eckius also gave it out that he would convince Zuinglius of his Errors we were very glad of it and gave him and others also a safe Conduct earnestly exhorting him to come and promising to receive him with all Good-will and Affection We are told also that our pulling down of Images and Pictures hath given very great offence but we have already given Reasons for our so doing Since therefore we have done nothing against the Articles and Conditions of the League since we refuse no danger for the safety and welfare of our common Country and that we have the same Love and Affection for you that we have always had as far as you give us leave why do we suffer this Division among us It is well known what the state and condition of some of our Ancestors was who being content with their own Limits and by hard labour getting a Livelyhood for themselves and Families were oppressed by the Nobility with heavy Bondage But God looked favourably upon them for having driven out the Tyrants they recovered their liberty and being inriched by the Goods of those whom they ejected they strengthned themselves by a League under the Protection whereof they valiantly defended themselves against all Foreign Force and have many times triumphed over their Enemies Many have also laboured to infringe and dissolve that Society but in vain Now what Aid and Assistance our Ancestors contributed in those difficult times we doubt not but you will remember And this in short may suffice to be said of the Original and Beginning of our League Nor do we think it needful to relate what
through the dextrous management of the Magistrates and Mediators matters were peaceably accommodated And when upon an Insurrection in Brisgow they had surprized Friburg the chief Town in those Places Ernest Marquess of Baden who had great Possessions there fled to Strasburg and prayed the Senate to intercede for him whereupon James Sturney and Conrad Joham were sent as Deputies from the Senate who with the Deputies that came from Basil and some other Places dealt fairly with them and persuaded them to return home so that after the Difference had been debated and concluded at Basil on the twenty fifth Day of July they broke up from Lava four Miles from Strasburg and dispersed but Promises were not punctually observed to them neither for many of them were executed after they came home The Switzers also zealously bestirred themselves in quieting an Insurrection in Sontgow a neighbouring Province belonging to Archduke Ferdinand and the Dominion of Austria making it appear to the Seditious what the Magistrates Duty was and what the Peoples Now their Demands were almost the same in all Places which beginning first in Schwabia ran immediately all about like Wild-fire as we told you before so that from Thuringe and the Borders of Saxony as you shall hear hereafter it reached as far as the Alpes there having been a Rising also in the Country of Saltzburg But all things being setled in Franconia and Schwabia the Army of the Schwabian League marched thither also and destroyed and banished many among whom was their General Geismeier who with part of his Forces by difficult and inaccessible Paths crossed the Alpes and fled to the Venetians who having bestowed a yearly Pension upon him he went to live in Padoua where he was at length treacherously assassinated in his own House And this was the end of the Boors War which from a small beginning grew to such a height and spread so far for the Contagion was diffused over most parts of Germany and not only in the Country but also in Cities and Towns many Tumults and Riots happened as particularly in Cologn where for the space of a whole Month almost the City Companies daily met in Arms continuing so even in the Night-time also and were designing the Destruction not only of the Clergy but of the Senate likewise but the Tumult was quieted without any Blood save of one or two Seditious who many Months after were executed for it All do not agree upon the Number of those that were slain in this War which lasted but one summer they who speak the least say That in all places there died fifty thousand That Schwabian League so often mentioned was made long before first for eight Years then for three afterwards for twelve and then again for ten but in the year of our Lord 1522 it was renewed for eleven Years a little before the Emperour returned to Spain Those who ingaged in this League were first the Emperour as Archduke of Austria and his Brother Ferdinand who had been lately possessed of the Dutchy of Wirtemberg the Archbishop of Mentz the Prince Palatine the Bishops of Saltzburg Bamberg Wurtzburg Aichstadt and Ausburg the Brother William and Lewis Dukes of Bavaria Otho Henry and Philip the Prince Palatines Brothers George Marquess of Brandenburg and Albert his Nephew Philip Landgrave of Hesse besides many others of the Nobility and Clergy to whom were joyned most of the Cities of Schwabia and among these all Norimberg April 13 Mass was abolished in Zurich by Command of the Magistrates and that not only in the City but over all their Territory also in place whereof the Lord's Supper was appointed all Ceremonies being laid aside the Reading of the Scriptures Prayers and Preaching succeeded and a Law was published against Fornication and Adultery and Judges were appointed to determine Matrimonial Causes THE HISTORY OF THE Reformation of the Church BOOK V. The CONTENTS Thomas Muncer broaching a new kind of Doctrin That all Goods should be had in Common drew a vast number of Country People after him one Phifer being his Companion and chief Counsellor After the Death of Duke Frederick the neighbouring Princes raise an Army against the Muncerians nor did his Seditious Preaching nor vain Promises hinder but that many of his Companions were killed and he himself lost his Head. Luther had already written against him to the Senate of Mulhausen Here are recited the Demands of the Boors to which Luther answers shews the Nature of the Disorder and exhorts the Magistrates to punish such Villains The Emperour knowing of these Troubles and Disorders calls a Dyet at Ausburg Caralostadius leaving Wittemberg endeavours to purge himself in a Book that he published Luther marries a Nun and comes to Marpurg that he might confer with Zuinglius about the Lord's Supper Whilst the French King was Prisoner Pope Clement having received Letters from his Mother incites the Parliament of Paris against the Lutherans Le Fevre was forced to fly out of France the King being informed of that sent Orders That they should not molest Men of Learning The Master of Prusia is made Duke and receives the Reformed Religion THIS great and terrible War was in a great measure occasioned by busie and pragmatical Preachers of whom Thomas Muncer mentioned before was the Ring-leader who at length leaving off the Preaching of the Gospel broached an odd and new kind of Doctrin at Alstet a Town belonging to the Elector of Saxony upon the Borders of Thuringe There he began to teach first of all not only against the Pope but against Luther also condemning both their Doctrins as Corrupt and Erroneous That the Pope bound Men's Consciences with strict Bonds and hard Laws which Luther did indeed loose but then run to the other Extream allowing too much Liberty and not Teaching those things which were of the Spirit That it was lawful to neglect the Decrees of the Pope as not conducing to Salvation for obtaining whereof Men must said he first of all avoid manifest Sins as Murther Adultery Blasphemy Incest and Mortifie the Body by Fasting and simple Cloathing look gravely speak little and wear a long Beard These and such like things he called the Cross the Mortification and Discipline of the Flesh Those he said who were in this manner prepared must retire from Company and the Speech of Men and fix their Thoughts upon God that they may know what he is if he taketh any Care of us if Christ suffered Death for our sake and if our Religion be to be preferred before that of the Turks That we were to crave of God a Sign also to assure us that he taketh care of us and that we are in the true Religion that if he did not presently give us a Sign we must nevertheless persevere in instant Prayers nay and expostulate seriously with God that he dealt not well with us For that since the Scripture promiseth That he will grant such things as are asked
abide within his Territories But after the suppression of that popular Insurrection when in all Places many were dragg'd to Execution Carolostadius being in great Straits wrote a Book wherein he took a great deal of Pains to justifie himself against those who reckoned him among the Authors of the Rebellion affirming it to be an Injury done unto him and writing to Luther he earnestly prayed him That he would both publish that Book and also defend his Cause lest an innocent Man as he was might be in danger of losing Life and Goods without being heard Luther published a Letter to this purpose That though Carolostadius differed very much in Opinion from him yet because in his straits he betook himself to him rather than to others who had stirred him up against him he would not disappoint his Hope and Confidence especially since that was properly the Duty of a Christian He therefore desired the Magistrates and all in General That seeing he both denyed the Crime that was laid to his charge and refused not to come to a fair Tryal and submit to Judgment the same might be granted him as being most consonant to Equity and Justice Afterwards Carolostadius sent another little Book to Luther wherein he protested That what he had written concerning the Lord's Supper was not to define or determine any thing but rather by way of Argument and Disputation to sift out the Truth Luther admits of the Excuse yet admonishes Men That seeing he himself confessed he doubted and defined nothing positively to beware of his Opinion Or if they themselves perhaps doubted to suspend their Judgment so long till it should appear what they might safely follow For that in matters of Faith we ought not to waver and doubt but to acquire such a certain and steddy Knowledge as rather to suffer a thousand Deaths than to forsake our Opinion Much about this time Luther married a Nun whereby his Adversaries were excited to load him with more Reproaches for now he was down-right mad they cried and had sold himself a Slave to the Devil At the very same time Vlrich Zuinglius Minister of the Church at Zurich who almost in all other things agreed with Luther dissented from him also about the Lord's Supper For Luther understood these Words of Christ This is my Body literally and properly admitting no Figurative Interpretation and affirming the Body and Blood of Christ to be really in the Bread and Wine and to be so received and eaten by Believers But Zuinglius maintained it was a Figure that many such were to be found in Scripture and the former Words he so expounded This signifies my Body With him agreed John Oecolampadius Minister of the Church at Basil and he so interprets them This is the Sign of my Body The matter was contentiously debated on both sides and much was written upon the Subject The Saxons imbraced the Opinion of Luther and the Switzers that of Zuinglius others come after who explained the Words in another manner but all agree in this Opinion That the Body and Blood of Christ are taken Spiritually not Corporally with the Heart not with the Mouth This debate lasted three Years and more but at length a Conference was procured at Marpurg chiefly by means of the Landgrave as shall be said in its proper place The Dyet also which at this time was held at Ausburg because very few resorted to it by reason of the Popular Insurrection beforementioned was dissolved and all matters put off till the first of May the Year following against which time Ferdinand gave Hopes That the Emperour his Brother would be there in person from Spain and Spire was appointed to be the place of the Dyet It was decreed though among other things That the Magistrates should take special care That the Preachers did interpret and expound God's Word to the People according to the Sense of Doctors approved by the Christian Church and that they should not preach Seditious Doctrin but so that God's Name might be glorified and the People live in Peace and Quietness Whilst Francis King of France was Prisoner in Spain his Mother Aloisia had the Administration of the Government who to keep in with the Pope acquainted him among other things How zealously she stood affected towards the Church of Rome Whereupon Pope Clement VII writing to the Parliament of Paris told them How he understood from her That the Contagion of Wicked Heresies began also to infect France and they had wisely and providently chosen some persons to enquire into and punish those who laboured to oppose the Faith and Ancient Religion That he also by his Authority approved the Commissioners whom they had chosen for that in so great and grievous a Disorder of Affairs raised by the Malice of Satan and the Rage and Impiety of his Ministers every one ought to bestir themselves to preserve and maintain the common Safety of all Men since that Rage and Madness tended not only to the Subversion of Religion but also to the confounding of all Principality Nobility Law and Order That for his part he spared no Care Labour nor Pains that he might remedy the Evil And that they also whose Virtue and Prudence was every where celebrated should make it their chief Business that not only the true Faith but also the Welfare of the Kingdom and their own Dignity should be secured against Domestick Dangers and Calamities which that pernicious and pestilent Heresie carried with it into all places That they needed not indeed to be exhorted having already given Proofs of their own Wisdom But that nevertheless in discharge of his own Duty and as a token of his Favour and Good-will he had been willing to make this Address unto them for that he was exceeding well pleased with what they had already done and exhorted them That for the future they would with the like Zeal and Virtue bestir themselves for the Glory of God and the Welfare of the whole Kingdom that by so doing they would render most acceptable Service to God and merit the Praises and Applause of Men and that therein they might expect all sort of Assistance from him This Brief dated at Rome May the twentieth was delivered to the Parliament at Paris on the seventeenth Day of June During the absence also of the Captive King the Divines of Paris so persecuted James le Fevre d'Estaples who hath published many Books both in Philosophy and Divinity that he was fain to leave France and flie into another Country The King being informed of this by the means chiefly of his Sister Margaret who had a kindness for Le Fevre because of his Probity and Virtue wrote to the Parliament of Paris That he heard that there was a Process brought before them against James le Fevre and some other Learned Men at the Instigation of the Divines who particularly hated le Fevre for that before his Expedition out of France he had been
and that therefore it was to be abrogated and the right Administration of the Lord's Supper restored refusing no kind of Punishment if they proved not their Doctrin by Testimonies of Holy Scripture But the Papists teaching the contrary there happened a hot Contention which the Senate would have ended by having the Opinions of both stated and examined by a Disputation and when it could not be obtained and that the Papists accused the others of Preaching Impious and Erroneous Doctrin but yet would not come to a fair Tryal about the Matter they commanded them not to Preach any more for the future In the mean time the Bishop by frequent Letters and Messengers admonished and intreated the Senate to persevere in the Ancient Religion of their Fore-fathers and not to give Credit to new Doctors which he said was a matter of great Danger The Senate on the other hand prayed him as they had also done some Years before that he would endeavour that such things as related to the true Worship of God might be instituted but all things else antiquated and abolished for that that was properly his Duty But though he had sometimes appointed a Day and Meeting for that purpupose yet nothing was done by him only he deterred them by Letters from their Enterprize and mingled Threats sometimes with Entreaties This producing no effect and being now almost in Despair he applyed himself to the Council of the Empire which then was at Spire praying them to interpose their Authority These sending a solemn Deputation about the latter End of December desired the Senate that they would not abolish the Mass for that it neither belonged to the Emperour nor States to alter the Ancient Religion received from their Fore-fathers but to a General or National Council but if that seemed to be too far off that they would delay at least till the ensuing Dyet of the Empire which was shortly to meet and there propose their Demands that they made no doubt but they would obtain a reasonable Answer That it was contrary to Law that a Private Magistrate should rescind those things which had been decreed by the common consent of all the Christian World that therefore it was but Reason that they should prevail with them in that particular But that if they would needs proceed since there was Violence in the case the Emperour who was their chief Magistrate and King Ferdinand who was his Lieutenant in the Empire would take it very ill That they also would be obliged in Duty both to write to the Emperour about the Affair and also to apply such proper Remedies as it required which they were unwilling to be brought to do That therefore they prayed them seriously to bethink themselves and listen to sound Counsel That the Emperour would take it very well at their Hands and they themselves would find the Praise and Advantage thereof The Senate having declared their Reasons for what they had done civilly dismissed the Deputies A little before the Bishop of Heildesheim had been there and had demanded the same thing in the Emperour's Name exhorting them to comply especially seeing the Emperour had Thoughts of calling a National Council of Germany For that else the Emperour and the rest of the States would take some other Course Besides the Bishop of Strasburg addressed himself privately to some of the Senators of the City Gentlemen who held their Lands of him and writing to them severally admonished them seriously That since they were bound to him in Fealty they should not approve but with all their Might oppose the abolishing of the Mass in the mean time the Senate after the matter had been in agitation for above two Years and the Ministers of the Church urged them daily in their Sermons as the Citizens plied them with frequent Petitions they called a Great and Common Council to the number of three hundred as it was usually done in difficult matters and having stated the whole Case unto them and told them on the one Hand the Danger they were in of the Emperour's Displeasure if they abolished the Mass and on the other hand How much God would be offended if they did not they gave them time to deliberate and enjoyned them to meet and consult in their several Companies that in their next publick Assembly they might by Common and Universal Consent conclude and determine what was to be done When therefore the Day appointed came they who were for abrogating the Mass carried it by plurality of Voices Wherefore an Order and Decree past February 20 That the Celebration of the Mass ought to be suspended and intermitted until the Adversaries should prove That it was acceptable Worship unto God. This Decree the Senate ordered to be observed not only in the City but abroad also within the whole Precincts of their Jurisdiction and then certified the Bishop of the same by Letters who wrote back to them That with sighing and a most sorrowful Heart he had received their News that he was forced to bear it patiently but that he would do in the Case what his Office and Duty obliged him to There had been for some Years also great Dissentions in Basil upon account of Religion but the Senate ordered at length That there should be one uniform Doctrin throughout the whole City and that because Mass still continued in some Places that they should meet on a Day prefixt and having debated the matter publickly come to a final Resolution what was to be done therein But the Papists for all that went on in their way and in their Sermons taxed their Adversaries a little too sharply which being connived at many lookt upon that Impunity as an Approbation of the chief and leading Men wherefore a select number of Citizens were employed to petition the Senate again and to mind them of their Agreement these after much Debate and diligent prosecution of their Commission demanded That those Senators at whose Desire the Papists preached since their so doing was not only a contempt of the Decree but tended also to Tumult and Sedition might be turned out of Place But the Senate refusing absolutely to do that the People met in the Month of February this Year in the Grey Fryers Church and having there consulted about the matter demanded of the Senate the same thing that they had done before but not so submissively and at the same time flocked together into the chief Places of the City but without Arms That Day towards the Evening the Senate made answer to them That they were satisfied that such as they desired to have turned out should not for the future be present when any Matters of Religion were brought before them but that in all other things they should retain their Place and Dignity When by this Answer it appeared That a few Persons took to themselves the Supreme Power the Citizens were more incensed and therefore publickly protested That they would take Measure for the future
that considering the greatness of the danger they would do what otherwise they were in duty obliged to do When the Ambassadors had read this Answer as it was given them they having an Appeal ready presented it to Alexander Schueisse in presence of Witnesses as is usual but he at first refused to take it however at length he received the same and carried it to the Emperour but returning the same day in the Afternoon after some other discourse told that the Emperour confined them to their Lodgings commanding them not to stir out of doors not to write home to their Principals nor to send any of their Servants abroad till further Orders upon pain of forfeiture of Life and Goods Whilst this was doing Michael Caden was accidentally abroad and being immediately advertised of the matter by a Servant wrote an account of all that had past to the Senate of Norimberg taking care that his Letters should be conveighed with all speed for he was not obliged as his Colleagues were At length October the Thirtieth having followed the Court to Parma as they had been ordered Nicholas Granvel who then supplied the place of Mercurine that lay sick told them there That though the Emperour was displeased at the Appeal that was brought unto him yet he gave them leave to return home but commanded Caden to stay upon pain of death And this was the cause of it The Landgrave had given him upon his departure a Book finely bound and gilt containing the Summary of the Christian Doctrin to be presented to the Emperour and he taking occasion as the Emperour was going to Mass gave it him who presently put it into the hands of a Spanish Bishop that he might know what it was The Bishop fell accidentally upon that place where Christ admonishes his Apostles not to affect Rule and Dominion for that suited not with their Profession since it was the Kings of the Gentiles who exercised that power The Author amongst other things had handled that place shewing what was the Duty of the Ministers of the Church But he having superficially read it made a report to the Emperour That the little Book aimed at the taking away of the Power of the Sword from Christian Magistrates and allowing it only to Heathens who were strangers to the Christian Religion for this cause therefore he was detained Granvel told him further that it was the Emperour's pleasure that he should deliver the same Book to the Pope But when upon making an Apology for himself he received no Answer to his mind and from Granvel's discourse perceived the danger he was in he secretly hired Horses and posting first to Ferara and then to Venice returned home The Senate of Norimberg having received Caden's Letter which we mentioned before presently gave notice thereof to the Duke of Saxony the Landgrave and their Associates October the twenty fourth who having consulted about the matter resolved to hold a Convention at Smalcalde about the latter end of November Thither came at the day appointed the Elector of Saxony and his Son John Frederick Ernest and Francis Dukes of Lunenburg Philip the Landgrave the Deputies of George Marquess of Brandenburg and of the Cities also of Strasburg Vlm Norimberg Hailbrun Ruteling Constance Memmingen Kempen and Lindau About the same time the Ambassadour's returned from Italy and having made a report of their Embassy to the effect above related it was thought fit to treat first of all of Religion the Heads whereof had been lately proposed Wherefore the Deputies of Strasburg and Vlm are desired to tell what their Judgment was in the matter and they make Answer to the same effect as they had lately done That at that time when a League was first proposed no mention had been made of that Affair and yet it was only then moved how mutual aid and assistance should be given in case any of them should be molested or in danger upon account of Religion That it might be plainly enough perceived what their Adversaries had in their thoughts and what designs they were hatching That some of the Heads of Doctrin proposed might be controverted and that if Learned men did not agree about these it was to be feared that some division might thereupon ensue which would be very seasonable and advantageous to their Adversaries That it was therefore their Opinion that all their Deliberations should be directed to the making of a League which was the thing proposed at first The Duke of Saxony and with him the Brothers of Lunenburg and the Deputies of Brandenburg got the Deputies of Norimberg to deal with them that they might assent But the Landgrave taking a middle course was for an Accommodation betwixt the Two. When this could not do the Deputies of the rest of the Cities are also called to whom it was represented that if in all things they approved that Doctrin they would treat of entring into a League with them They make answer That they had no Commission as to that and urge the first thing that had been proposed At length they depart with this Resolution That they who would profess and receive this Doctrin should meet at Norimberg in January following to consult what was to be done for the future In the mean time the City of Strasburg that they might secure themselves against all Force and unjust Violence made a League with those of Zurich Berne and Basil who were both their Neighbours and agreed best with them in Doctrin after this manner If those Cities we named should be attacked and molested upon account of Religion they shall mutually aid and assist one another with as many Forces as the matter shall require yet so that for every thousand Foot the City of Strasburg shall pay two thousand Crowns a Month by way of Subsidy On the other hand if the Switzers be attacked the Strasburgers shall send no Forces but shall during the War disburst three thousand Crowns a Month Moreover That if the Enemies of the one be found within the Jurisdiction of the other they shall not be spared but be treated according to the Law of Arms. That if they be attacked all at one and the same time then they shall defend themselves severally at their own charges That Strasburg shall at a convenient time whilst they are in peace send ten thousand weight of Gun-powder to Zurich and as many Bushels of Wheat to Basil but not to be touched unless in time of War and Want and then to be distributed amongst the Town 's People at reasonable rates However if they come to the aid of Strasburg they may make use of as much of the Powder as shall be needful but in time of a common War pay half price for it This League was made for Fifteen Years and concluded the Fifth day of January When this came to the knowledge of the Council of the Empire whereof Frederick Prince Palatine was then President about the latter
none should be suffered to preach to the People without a Licence from the Bishops Besides that all the Canons and Laws of the Church should be observ'd and restored again in those Places where they were abolished The second Part contained five things chiefly the Communion under both kinds was rejected and the Emperour required That in this they would follow the Custom and Consent of the whole Christian World. As to the Marriage of Priests he wondered he said how they could demand it since it was never in use from the very Age of the Apostles that therefore it could no ways be be granted Their Mass was admitted provided it were celebrated according to the Rite of the Church of Rome but if otherwise it was rejected And at the same time the Mass affirmed to be a Sacrifice for the Quick and the Dead and that Private Mass ought not to be abolished That Daniel had prophesied long before That when Antichrist should come the daily Offering should cease That that was not indeed as yet come to pass but that nevertheless in those Places where Mass was despised Altars destroyed Images burnt where nothing was sung in the Churches nothing read no Lights burnt any longer there indeed that Prophesie was fulfilled That therefore all should have a special Care That they did not make way for the coming of Antichrist That Monastick Vows were grounded upon the Authority as well of the Old as New Testament that therefore they ought to be punished who forgetting their Profession forsook their Order That Bishops had Power not only to teach but also to bear Rule in Civil Matters and therefore ought not to be impeded in the Execution of their Right which they enjoyed through the Liberality of our Ancestors That not to abstain from Flesh on Days prohibited not to fast in time of Lent and not to Confess Sins was frowardness and not Christian Liberty These Points being thus read they confessed That there were some things which needed to be reformed for the amendment whereof and the Reformation of the state of the Church the Emperour promised to use his utmost Endeavours and was in good Hopes he said that since they agreed in many things the Protestants would return into the Bosom of the Church and submit themselves to him which if they would do they might expect any thing at his Hands But if not that then he must needs act as it became the Guardian and Defender of the Church To these things the Elector of Saxony answered both in his own Name and in the Name of his Associates That seeing they had professed in the beginning That if they set about a Reconciliation in Religion they would do any thing that they could with a safe Conscience Again that if by Testimonies of Scripture it could be proved that there was any Errour in their Doctrin they would not be obstinate That moreover if a fuller Explanation of their Confession were desired they would give it And that now since some Points of Doctrin which they offered were admitted and some rejected it behoved them to confirm and make good what they had asserted they therefore desired that a Copy of the Confutation might be given them Two Days after the Emperour having long consulted about the matter said They should have a Copy of it but upon condition that they would not publish nor print it And that he would admit of no more Debate but required them to close with him But they made Answer That they would not receive it upon that Condition Next Day after which was the sixth of August the Landgrave departed with a small Company leaving Deputies in his Place The Emperour took that ill and commanded the Magistrates of the Town That they should suffer no person whatsoever to depart out of the City by that private Place which used only to be open in the Night-time and having next Day sent for the Elector of Saxony and his Associates he did not dissemble his Displeasure and required them to stay till the conclusion of the Dyet for that he would omit nothing that would make for Peace and Concord They excused the Landgrave because of his Wife's Sickness telling his Majesty That he had left Deputies and that they would not depart But that in the mean time they wondred why Guards should be placed at the Gates which never used to be done in the Dyets of the Empire The Emperour excused it because of a Murther that had been committed and because of the Quarrels that happened betwixt the Spaniards and Germans But that if any Tumult should happen in time to come he would do no such thing before he had acquainted him who was Marshal of the Empire The Duke of Saxony answered That if any thing should happen wherein his Duty was required he would be ready as it became him So that the same Day the Guards were removed from the Gates About that time ended the War of Florence of which a little by the by At the time that Rome was taken and the Pope shut up in the Castle of St. Angelo we said before the Florentines cast out the Family of Medicis and then assisted the French in their Wars in Naples But the Pope being restored that he might right himself and Relations sent his Legate into Spain and made a League with the Emperour promising amongst other things to crown him if he would punish the Florentines as they had deserved The Emperour embraced the Condition and not long after arrived at Genoua Thither came Ambassadors from the Florentines to make their submission and beg pardon to whom the Emperour having sharply rebuked them made this Answer That though they had deserved to be severely punished yet their Fact might be pardoned provided they would receive the Pope again and that there was no other way but that of obtaining peace When the Ambassadors were returned home with this Answer the matter was much debated but at length the Opinion of one or two carried it who were for defending their Liberty to the last and the rather that as they alledged Pope Clement and the Emperour being now exhausted with long Wars were both in great want of Money Nevertheless when the Emperour was come to Bolonia they sent Ambassadors again but they were not admitted to Audience through the Persuasions of the Pope So that having maintained War and defended their City against the Forces of the Emperour and Pope for almost a Year on the Ninth Day of August they capitulated with Ferdinando Gonzaga General of the Emperour's Army Afterwards the Emperour by his Letters Patent addressed to them appointed Alexander de Medicis to whom he had promised Margaret his Natural Daughter in Marriage to be their Prince who afterwards built a strong Citadel there which was the beginning of their bondage The Town being taken by surrender Pope Clement caused some of the chief Senators to be beheaded and appointed a kind of Commonwealth amongst them being assured
in the mean time that Alexander would be made their Duke for that was the Advice he himself had given the Emperour when he sent his Legate to him into Spain But now to our purpose again After much debate on the Thirteenth of August Seven were chosen on each side to adjust measures of a Reconciliation On the side of the Catholicks were the Bishop of Ausburg Henry Duke of Brunswick two Lawyers one of Cologne and another of Baden and three Divines Wimpin Eckius and Cochleus For the Protestants were George Marquess of Brandenburg John Frederick Duke of Saxony two Lawyers three Divines Melanchthon Brentius and Schnepsius These agreed upon some Points but the great Controversie was about the Mass the Marriage of Priests the Lord's Supper in both kinds Monastick Vows and the Jurisdiction of Bishops but especially about Mass and Monastick Vows for in that the Papists would not bate an Ace but for the other Points though they disapproved them yet they said they might be tolerated until the meeting of a Council Marriage they allowed also to Priests but only to those who had Wives already not to the rest and all that to prevent further troubles As to the Power and Jurisdiction of the Bishops the Saxons granted a little too much and more than was allowed of by the Commissioners for the Landgrave Lunenburg and Norimberg Afterwards it was thought fit to abridge this number so that there were Three chosen on each side Melanchthon with Two Lawyers and Eckius with as many but Melanchthon was enjoyned to grant no more Thus when they could not agree in Opinions the Papists were for having the matter again debated by more Persons but the Protestants perceiving that their design was to find out more ways of Accommodation declined that Treaty but if they thought fit to consider of ways of setling Peace until the meeting of a Council they were not against it During these Negotiations the Emperour dealt with George Marquess of Brandenburg by means of the Elector of Mentz and others of the same Family and with the Duke of Saxony by the Mediation of Frederick Prince Palatine the Count of Nassau and George Truchses that they would desist from their Enterprize He endeavoured also to divide the Duke of Saxony from the rest as being the chief of all and refused to invest him in his Dukedom according to the Custom of the Empire unless he would first be reconciled to the Church of Rome The other he threatned That unless he did comply he should lose the Ward and Guardianship of his Nephew Albert his Brother Casimires Son. They endeavoured to perswade the Landgrave That if he would obey the Emperour Vlrick Duke of Wittemberg should be restored and his Controversie with the Count of Nassau concerning Catzenelbogen accommodated by the Emperour's Mediation In this Dyet the Pope gave leave to King Ferdinand to make use of the Ornaments and the Gold and Silver Plate of all the Churches of Germany and also to lay a Tax upon the Clergy for the Turkish War But the Princes would not consent to it and made application to the Emperour that he would vacate that Bull. August the Eighteenth Erasmus of Rotterdam wrote from Fribourg to Cardinal Campegius That the Power of the Emperour was indeed great but that all did not acknowledge it That the Germans so acknowledged his Authority as that they commanded rather than obeyed That Luther's Doctrin was spread all over Germany so that from the Ocean as far as Switzerland that Chain of Mischief was stretched That if the Emperour should declare That he would in all things comply with the Interest and desire of the Pope it was to be feared he would have but few to approve his doings That there was great danger also threatned from the Turk who was so powerful that all the Force of Europe was hardly able to match him That many instances could be given how unsafe it was to go to War with Soldiers that were unwilling to fight That the Emperour without doubt was inclined to Peace though by a certain destiny he was drawn into War That for many years now France and Italy had suffered much by Wars but that unless care were taken this War would prove more fatal than all the rest That People were generally persuaded that the Pope had the chief hand in all these things but that it was to be feared the Emperour might run the greatest risque That they who loved Sects deserved indeed to be punished but that the welfare and safety of the Publick ought more to be regarded That the State of the Church had been sore distressed in former times when the Arians Pagans Donatists Manichees broached their Doctrins and Barbarous Nations also made War against it and yet it weathered all those Storms at length That Time and Patience sometimes cured the worst Distempers That the Bohemians were tolerated though they acknowledged not the Pope That if the same thing were allowed to the Lutherans it would not be amiss in his Judgment And that though this would be bad enough yet was it much easier to be born with than a War. September the Seventh the Emperour sent for all the Catholick Princes and States to come to Court about Noon and two hours after for the Duke of Saxony and his Associates where all being removed except his Brother King Ferdinand the Bishops of Constance and Seville Granvel and Truchses he ordered Frederick Prince Palatine to speak to them in his Name to this purpose That having given them so kind and gracious an Admonition after they had presented their Confession of Faith he had confidently hoped that they would have complied with him And that although he was disappointed of his hopes therein yet at the intercession of the Princes he had condescended that some Commissioners should be chosen on each side to endeavour a Reconciliation which had put him again in fresh hopes of a future Accommodation But that now he had learnt to his great trouble that they dissented from the rest in the chief Points of Doctrin a thing that he could not have expected at their hands for that he did not imagine that they who were but few in number would have introduced Novelties contrary to the Ancient and most Sacred Custom of the Universal Church or that they would have framed to themselves a singular kind of Religion different from what was professed by the Catholicks by himself his Brother King Ferdinand and by all the Princes and States of the Empire Nay and utterly disagreeing with the Practice of all the Kings in the World and of their own Ancestors too But that since they now demanded to have a General Council called and a Decree past in this Dyet for securing the Publick Peace He who above all things loved peace would use his Interest with the Pope and the rest of the Christian Princes that as soon as the Place could be agreed upon a Council should be
Saxony and his Associates should not during that Interval suffer any Innovations in Religion within their Dominions nor any new thing to be printed nor yet allure or compel any Man to come over to their Persuasion That they should not by any means hinder or molest those within their Territories that made Profession of the Ancient established Religion That they should not disturb Monks and Friers nor no Religious Persons in the exercise of their Worship hearing Confessions and celebrating the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper after their own manner That they should consult with themselves and with the rest of the States How Anabaptists and those who maintained Opinions concerning the Lord's Supper different from the Doctrin of the Church were to be punished and restrained That lastly since for a long time there had been no Council and that many things needed to be reformed both in Church and State he would use his Endeavours with the Pope and other Kings that a Council should be called within six Months time and begin within a Year after The Duke of Saxony and his Associates after deliberation made answer to these things by the Mouth of Pontane That whereas it was mentioned in the Decree That their Doctrin had been refuted by the Authority of Holy Scripture they did not acknowledge nor grant that But that on the contrary they thought it so well grounded on God's Word that nothing could be found erroneous in it and that if they could have had a Copy of the Confutation which was read to them they could have plainly demonstrated so much That nevertheless lest that Confutation should be past over in Silence they had begun to draw up an Answer unto as much of it as they could retain in their Memories immediately after they had heard it read which Answer was now after much Labour and Pains compleated and that though all things could not be therein answered for the Reason above-mentioned yet if the Emperour would be pleased to peruse it they made no doubt but he would find their Confession still firm and unshaken notwithstanding the Battery of their Adversaries When Pontane had thus far proceeded he presented the Apology to the Emperour and Frederick Prince Palatine received it but the Emperour to whom King Ferdinand had whispered somewhat making him a Sign he delivered it back again Pontane afterward went on That whereas it was decreed That in the mean time they should not innovate nor print any thing they had so answered as to that in the former Dyet that they thought they had given Satisfaction That they were still of the same Mind and would not do any thing that might lawfully be censured That they had nothing to do neither with Sects and that though the Doctrin which they professed was true yet they had compelled no Man to imbrace it nor never would That as to Anabaptists and those who despised the Sacrament of the Altar they had never tolerated any such Men within their dominions that their Divines had always preached against them and that they had also punished Anabaptists insomuch that that Sect was so far from taking root that it did not subsist among them But that seeing it was a very weighty Cause which concerned the Eternal Salvation or Damnation of their Souls and required most serious Deliberation and that besides the Deputies of their absent Associates were necessarily obliged to make Report of all to their Principles They earnestly begged that they might have a Copy of the Decree that they might consider among themselves and resolve upon what they were to answer upon the main at the Day appointed Next Day the Emperour let them know by the Elector of Brandenburg That he could not wonder enough at their Confidence in affirming That their Religion was True and Pious when it was not only refuted by the Authority of Holy Scripture but also many Ages since condemned in all former Councils and that it increased his Admiration that they should charge him and the other Princes with Errour and False Doctrin for that if what they alledged were true then were all their Ancestors and even of the Duke of Saxony himself who had observed and promoted that Religion to be accounted Hereticks so that he could not be persuaded nor grant what they said That their Doctrin was grounded on the Word of God That therefore since he had out of gracious condescention and the desire of Peace ordered the Decree to be framed in that manner and therein granted more than in Reason he ought to have done he demanded of them That they would admit of it as the rest of the Princes did and weigh with themselves seriously how great occasion they might give to Troubles and be therefore accountable to God if they did not That besides it could not be shewn in Record or History that any Man might rob and spoil and then excuse the Fact as if he who had sustained Injury was not obliged to Restitution That as to their Paper in answer to the Confutation he had already declared That he would admit of no farther Dispute about Religion since he neither might nor ought in Duty to allow it which was the Reason he had rejected the same for that unless they submitted to and approved that Decree he would take another Course and do what became his Person and Character The Marquess of Brandenburg said farther That they themselves were sensible what Labour and Pains the rest of the States had been at to have got that Difference amicably composed That now therefore he prayed them to consider with themselves how much it concerned their own private Interest and the Welfare of the Publick that they should comply with the Emperour and submit to the Decree For that unless they would obey the rest of the States would do what the Emperour should please to command them having already promised to assist him with their Lives and Fortunes for putting an end to that Affair And that he on the other Hand had past his Word to bend all his Force and Power that way and not to depart out of the Empire before he had seen it accomplished And that he now represented these things unto them by order from the Princes and States The Protestants on the other hand persisted in it That their Confession of Faith agreed with the Word of God which the Gates of Hell were not able to prevail against And that the same was made out more fully in that other Paper which had been lately offered and which answered all that their Memories could retain of the Confutation read to them but that they could not with a safe Conscience approve of the Decree made and therefore begged a Copy of the whole Proceeding and time to advise in until the Day appointed for that they would do nothing obstinately but in all things condescend as far as the Word of God would give them leave and give their plain and positive Answer by the Day prefixt
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
of any thing that is acted contrary to the Customs and Liberty of the Empire and therefore cannot confer upon him the Title of King of the Romans But the Duke of Saxony adds this in his Letters to the Emperor That if the matter be carry'd on in a legal way he will not shew himself unlike his Ancestors Concerning the admittance of the Helvetians into the League which the Cities very much desire the Duke gives in this Answer by his Embassadors that he cannot enter into any Society with them because they entertain a different Opinion concerning the Lord's Supper He is not indeed ignorant of how great consequence their Accession would be upon the account of their Strength and Power but this is what he least of all regards lest the event thereof should prove as dismal as is recorded in Scripture to have faln upon them who for the strengthning of themselves had recourse to any sort of unlawful Assistances During this Assembly there were Letters brought from the Duke of Saxony and the Lantgrave to the Embassadors of the other Princes and Cities the Contents of which were to this effect That the Emperor had permitted the Bishop of Mentz and Lewis the Prince Palatine to be Mediators of a Peace who by their Letters had desir'd that they likewise on their parts would give them the same permission and that then they would appoint a day for a Meeting After some deliberation the Embassadors do return their consent and then the Lantgrave and the Duke of Saxony make the Mediators this Answer That they are not against the Expedient provided the Exchequer will be quiet in the mean time this therefore being obtain'd of the Emperor they appoint the 30th of August for the day of Meeting The Cities which had their Embassadors in this Convention were these Strasburg Vlm Lubesk Nuremburg Constance Rutelingen Memmingen Lindaw Bibrach Isenach Kempen Hailbrun Magdeburg Bremen Brunswick and Gottingen Wigand Bishop of Bamburg had some years before made a Complaint to his Associates of the Schwaben Confederacy against George Duke of Brandenburg the substance of which was this That he had disturb'd him in his Ecclesiastical Rights that he had very much sunk his Customs that he had converted the Revenues of the Church to other uses and forc'd the Priests into this Novel and false Religion or else ejected them for their non-compliance All which things are not only a Violation of the Pope's and Emperor's Edicts but also of common Equity and the Laws of the Country and since he highly suffers by them he desires that they would either by their Interest and Authority reduce him to his Duty or else afford him such Assistance as they are oblig'd to by the League whereby he may be inabled for the time to come to defend his own and recover what he had lost But when after various Disputes a day was appointed for the hearing of this Cause at Nordlingen the Embassadors of the Protestants at the Brandenburger's entreaty came thither in the month of July With the Bishop of Bamburg were the Bishops of Auspurg Wurtzburg and Aichstadt as his Assistants and Counsellors The Plaintiff puts in his Charge wherein he sets forth how great Injury and Damage he had sustain'd and withal declares that notwithstanding the Associates of the League had under a penalty commanded the Defendant to desist from his Undertaking and to restore the Plaintiff to his own yet nothing as yet had been effected He therefore prays that he may be proceeded against according to the Prescript of the League The Defendant on the other side demurs to that part of the Charge which properly belongs to Religion and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and Appeals from their Edicts and Decrees to a Council But they after some days intermission reply that they very much wonder he should put in such an Appeal as this because it is unusual and against the Prescript of the League which takes care that the Plaintiff and Defendant shall be both concluded by the Determination of select Judges That in this they had all agreed to defend the Ecclesiastical Liberties and therefore the Cognizance of this Cause does properly belong to them And since He himself had hitherto without any exception acknowledged their Jurisdiction with what reason could he now reject it As for a Council they are not by any means to be superseded by that nor ought the Preference to be giv'n unto it in this matter for these reasons therefore they do not accept his Appeal but proceed to confirm their former Edicts and if he will not yield Obedience they declare that they must proceed against him according to the Stipulation The Defendant on the contrary protests that he will stick to his Appeal in what relates to the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction nor will he take any notice of their Sentence This Cause was managed by the Duke of Brandenburg both in his own Name and upon the account of his Nephew Albert Son to his Brother Casimire whose Guardian he was In the mean time the Emperor appoints a Diet of the Empire to convene at Spiers upon the Sixth of September for the composing of Religious Differences But upon the 21th of August there came to the Duke of Saxony the Counts of Nassaw and the Count de Newenar Men of great Reputation for their Vertue and being permitted by the Emperor to treat of a Reconciliation they to that end lay down five Propositions relating to the Supper of our Lord Ecclesiastical Rites the Goods of the Church Assistance against the Turk and the Election of King Ferdinand But when it appear'd from their Discourse that the Emperor lay under a perswasion as if the Duke was a Favourer both of Zuinglius his Doctrin and of the Anabaptists His answer was That 't is sufficiently known from the Augustine Confession what kind of Doctrin it is which he professes and which the Ministers within his Dominions do Preach in the Churches That 't is farther plain that while he was at the Diet of Auspurg he had held no Correspondence with those who are reputed Zuinglians nor yet afterwards till they had giv'n him an explication of their Opinion That he still continues in the same mind and shall by the Grace of God till his last breath persist in that Doctrin of which he made profession at Auspurg he therefore prays that as to that point they will vindicate him to the Emperor They tell him that as for their parts they were before very well satisfied of his Innocence and will therefore do him justice to the Emperor to whom they doubt not but this will prove very pleasing and acceptable News As to the other Propositions they were pleas'd to refer them to the next Imperial Diet. However they intreated him that he would either come himself in Person to that Diet or at least send thither his Son. His Answer was that truly he was desirous in all things to oblige the Emperor
with those who entertain different Opinions about the Lord's Supper and Baptism from what is contain'd in the Writing set forth at Auspurg They shall not draw over to them or give Protection to the Subjects of other States upon the score of Religion But if there be any whose condition is such that they may lawfully go whither they will these having first giv'n notice to their Governors may Travail if they please and be entertain'd they shall not send out any Preachers to teach without their Dominions unless the Magistrate of such a place where a Convention is held shall desire or permit it But if he refuses it they shall then have liberty to do it privately at home But whenever they are present at a Diet of the Empire or do send out Forces against the Turks they may then make use of their own Teachers and receive the Supper of our Lord according to the Institution of Christ That all Reproaches be forborn however the Ministers of the Church may as they are in duty bound rebuke Vice and Error and shew which is the right way provided they do it with temper and moderation That those of their Religion be not excluded from the Imperial Chamber That Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction stand where it does but that the Bishops may not bring those into danger or trouble who make profession of this Doctrin That those Ordinances which have been made but are not yet put in execution concerning Religion Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Ceremonies and the Goods of the Church be suspended till the time of a Council That the Goods of the Church be made use of and enjoy'd by them who are in possession of those places to which those Goods do properly belong and that nothing be taken by violence from any Man but that the annual Revenues be dispos'd of to those places which have formerly receiv'd them till such time as a Council shall decree otherwise That in political Affairs every Man perform his duty that all Men endeavour the good of the Publick and exercise acts of mutual kindness and fidelity to one-another Though both sides stood thus at a distance from one another without any probability of a nearer Conjunction yet the Arbitrators thought fit to proceed in the Treaty and therefore for the convenience of dispatching a more speedy account of all things to the Emperor they appoint another Meeting to be held at Nuremburg upon the third of June Now though the main Controversie could not here be made up yet by reason of the Turks Interruption into Germany the Emperor finding himself obliged to draw his whole Strength together from all parts ratify'd a general Peace to all Germany and did by his Edict command that no Disturbance should be giv'n to any Man upon the account of Religion till such time as a Council should sit and if no Council should be held then till such time as the States of the Empire should find out some expedient to salve these Differences To those that shall disobey this Edict he threatens a very severe punishment and declares that he will use all his Endeavours that a Council may be call'd within six months and begin it's Session the year following But if this cannot be brought about then the whole matter shall be brought to an Issue in a Diet of the Empire He therefore Commands that all judicial Actions commenc'd upon the score of Religion be suspended and that no Process be hereafter carry'd on against the Protestants or if there be that all such Process become null and void The Protestants on the other side who were then seven Princes and 24 Cities do make him a tender of their utmost Obedience and Devoir and promise their Assistance against the Turks This Scheme of a Peace was by the Arbitrators drawn up on the 23th of July and the Emperor to whom they had address'd by Letters and Messengers gave it his Confirmation on the second of August and ratify'd it afterwards by a publick Edict commanding the Imperial Chamber and his other Judges to be obedient to it Whilst these things are transacting the Emperor as we said before is holding a Diet at Ratisbon where among other things he declares that he had some time since sent an Embassy to the Pope and the Colledge of Cardinals about calling a Council to which he has likewise received an Answer which he communicated to the King of France whose judgment it is that a Council is necessary But as to what the Pope has writ back concerning the manner but more especially the place of holding the Council there arises very great difficulty nor can they as yet come to any Resolution about it But because these differences about Religion do daily increase from which there is great danger fear'd he will therefore endeavour to prevail with the Pope to call a Council to some convenient place within the time appointed and he hopes that he will not be wanting either to his own Duty or the Publick Good. But if this cannot be effected then he will endeavour to find out some remedy in another Diet of the Empire which he will call for that purpose It was decreed in the Diet at Auspurg that a Reform should be made in the Court of the Imperial Chamber To which purpose the Emperor adds two Commissioners in his own Name and moreover delegates the Elector of Mentz and the Prince Palatine together with the Bishop of Spiers John Simmerius the Palatine William Bishop of Strasburg and Philip Marquess of Baden The Embassadors of all which Princes having met together at Spiers on the first day of March do Enact certain Laws which partly affect the Judges partly the Advocates and partly the Litigants A Copy of this Reform they present to the Emperor with which having first consulted his Friends he declares himself to be well pleas'd having first made some small additions to it This year which was the Tenth of his Exile Christiern King of Denmark having got together a Navy had some hopes of recovering his Losses but being taken at Sea he was committed to Custody and about the same time his Son died being a young Man and educated by the Emperor his Uncle In a former Book we took notice how the Emperor had rescinded the Contract that was made between Albertus Duke of Prussia and Sigismund King of Poland but Albert persisting in his purpose was about this time proscrib'd by the Imperial Chamber at the Suit of Walter Cronberg Which thing when the King of Poland understood he set forth in this Diet by his Embassador how Prussia had been anciently under the Command and Patronage of his Kingdom and therefore desires that this Proscription may be totally revers'd But Cronberg on the third of June did in a long Harangue declare that Prussia was a dependency of the Empire and did not at all belong to the King of Poland For though their Ancestors being overcome in battel had been forc'd to
Now it 's not to be express'd what a horrible deal of rank Idolatry these Recluses have been the occasion of O Lord be pleas'd after so long forbearance to appear in the Vindication of thy Honour which ought not to be shar'd by any created Beings This Butchering of Men which I have mention'd being begun in November in January following the King came to Paris and to avert the wrath of God went in Procession to the Saints Churches and was attended with a prodigious crowd of people who were very devout in their way At Paris Genevefe who was a Virgin hath a greater Worship paid her than almost any other Saint Now her Image was carry'd in the Streets with the rest at this Solemnity which is never done but in great Extremities either when they endeavour to remove some signal Judgment by their Humiliation or when they are about to fight an Enemy with the Forces of the whole Kingdom or when they are afraid of Scarcity and Famine In such cases they address themselves to this Lady as their only Refuge and Support and it 's generally believ'd She is never invok'd to no purpose Her Image is carry'd by the Butchers according to ancient Custom who for several days before the Procession prepare themselves by Prayer and Fasting for their Employment They have likewise Officers upon this occasion to clear the way which is done with a great deal of difficulty For the people press upon the Image with all the Devotion imaginable and happy are they who can but touch it with their Finger or their Hat or any part of their Linnen When Mass was over the King was entertain'd at the Bishop's Palace which was hard by and after Dinner his Children all his Nobility and some foreign Embassadors being present he made a very pathetical Harangue in which he declar'd how much he was troubled at the Insolence of some wicked Men And after he had told them at large how observant he had been of the Church he charged them all to have a care of this pestlent Sect for whoever was convicted should most certainly be punished Nay he added that if he knew any of his own Limbs were infected he would tear them from his Body to stop so fatal a Cotagion Now to purge the Town from the guilt of Heresie there were six brought to Execution that day who were fastn'd to Pulleys in the manner above mention'd and burnt in several places which the King was to pass in his return to the Louvre and it so happen'd that the Fires were kindled the same minute his Majesty came by and the poor Creatures begg'd of him to have pity on them The custom in France is to put Malefactors to death in the Afternoon where first Silence is cried and then the Crimes for which they suffer are repeated aloud But when any one is executed for Lutheranism as they call it that is if any Person hath disputed for Justification by Faith not by Works that the Saints are not to be invocated that Christ is the only Priest and Mediator for Mankind or if a Man has happen'd to eat Flesh upon forbidden Days Not a syllable of all this is publish'd but in general they Cry That he hath in effect renounced God Almighty behaved himself contemptuously towards the blessed Virgin and the rest of the Saints and violated the Decrees of our common Mother Holy Church This aggravating way makes the Vulgar believe such Persons the most profligate Wretches under the Cope of Heaven insomuch that when they are broiling in the Flame it 's usual for the people to storm at them cursing them in the height of their Torments as if they were not worthy to tread upon the Earth Now in regard the Turkish Embassadors were in France at this time and the King understood that he was both suspected and hated in Germany upon this account Besides a great many were displeas'd at those Executions which I just spoke of Therefore upon the first of February he wrote to the Princes of the Empire and all the States And first he excuseth his Correspondence with the Turk and then falls a Reflecting that of late years some Persons not naming who us'd to exchange Embassadors with the Grand Seigneur without acquainting those with it who were concern'd to know what they did Nay to gain their ambitious Designs they have not stuck to pay a yearly Contribution to the Port whereas if he would but come up to a bare Neutrality he might have very advantageous Conditions of the Sultan but he hath refus'd them always hitherto and will do for the future that other Kings and Princes may be comprehended in that Peace which good effect is hindred from taking place by the ambition of these Men of whose designs the Turk is very sensible and cannot endure they should grow so fast upon the World for fear their Power should prove troublesome to himself afterwards whereas was he once assur'd that every one would be contented with his own Jurisdiction and not encroach upon his Neighbours there is no question but that he would recall his Arms out of Christendom and employ all his Forces against other remoter Nations It lies in our Power therefore to take off so formidable an Enemy without any expence of blood and slaughter and in his opinion it 's the most prudential way to treat with him about a Truce or a Peace especially at this time when the Church and State are so unfortunately embroil'd with so many different and perverse Perswasions in Religion Now if it had pleas'd God Clement the Seventh had liv'd longer all this Controversie had been ended For he had a great deal of Discourse with him upon this Point and nothing then hindred the intimating of a Council but that his Holiness had promis'd the Emperor to convene it in Italy Whereas he was of a contrary opinion For seeing things were not perfectly setled in Italy the Emperor and the Pope having an Army on foot there neither was the reason of its continuance ceased as yet he insisted that a Council might be called in Germany for while these Forces were kept up in Italy it was neither safe for him to go thither for fear an actual War should break out nor yet for all the Germans upon the account of their different Religion But that which could not be effected when Clement was Pope he heartily wishes might have a happy Issue under the Government of Paul the Third And here taking an occasion to commend this Pope he said That there was no Simony no exceptionable circumstance in his Election and therefore he needs not be afraid as some have been of appearing before a proper and lawful Tribunal And though it was not difficult for him to have promoted one of his own Subjects to this Dignity yet he chose rather to perswade those Cardinals in which he had an Interest to Elect this Person And afterwards when he was created he desired him
For what danger can there be in Germany where all the Princes and Cities acknowledge the Emperor's Authority where the Towns are so well Govern'd that Strangers are secur'd from all Affronts and us'd with all the Civility imaginable As for his saying that those who came to the Council should have as much satisfaction of the Pope in their safe Conduct as was customary to receive and in his Power to give They said they did not well understand the meaning of this Period especially when they reflected upon the Practises of the last Age Christendom they were sure had need of a free and religious Council and to such an one they had formerly appeal'd But now since he declares the Form and Method is not to be stated before-hand and gives broad hints as if the setling of this Point belonged to the Pope they cannot imagine that there is likely to be any liberty there Two years since Clement the Seventh made them a Promise of a Council but clog'd it with ensnaring Conditions And now the main Point that is the setling the Freedom of the Council and the Form and Method of Voting is partly omitted out of design and partly given up to the Pope wherein he affirms to have a Right to intimate Councils and preside in them Now the Pope who hath condemn'd their Religion so often is no less than a down-right Adversary but if he who is an Adversary is allow'd to be a Judge too then the Council can never be free To put it into a right Form there ought to be certain unexceptionable Persons chosen out of the whole Company with the consent of the Emperor and other Kings and Princes and the Controversie refer'd to this Committee to be examin'd and determin'd by them according to the Rule of God's Word For Councils are not the Pope's Court only but others also in publick and elevated stations in a Christian-Commonwealth have an Interest in them For it 's easie to demonstrate both from the Scriptures and the practise of the Primitive Church that formerly Princes and other Persons of Quality were concern'd in the Debates of Councils But to prefer the Pope's Power to the Authority of the Universal Church is an unreasonable and tyrannical Assertion The Emperor therefore and the rest of the States are oblig'd to insist upon their Priviledge in Councils and make choice of proper Persons especially in the present case where the Corruptions of the Bishops of Rome their false Doctrin and unlawful Worship is oppos'd for this is no more than what the Canon-Law it self alloweth And since all Christendom both Church and State are concern'd in this Affair it behoveth the Emperor and other Princes to take care that the Controversie may be fairly determined Formerly several Bishops have been condemn'd by their own Diocess and so have Popes by the Emperor and the Church for persisting in their Errors But at this time of day there was a warm Contest about a great many weighty Points which the Pope does not maintain only by force of Argument but by ungodly and sanguinary Bulls and punishes those with the utmost severity who refuse to obey him Therefore since He is an Adversary and a Party in the Cause depending the universal Church the Emperor and other Princes ought in all Justice to interpose their Authority and prescribe the Laws of Disputation and Voting They now therefore repeat the same request they have always made that the Controversie may be managed without design and a just liberty reserv'd for defence for this is both equitable in its self and likewise agreeable to the Holy Scriptures and the proceedings of the ancient Church If the Differences between them are examined with this Order and Integrity they will assist the Council as far as lies in their Power and have great hopes that Truth will be discover'd this way the Glory of our Saviour promoted and the Church re-establish'd in her former Tranquility But if things are otherwise carry'd there is no question but much greater Disturbances will follow In short they would never omit any opportunity to serve the common Interest of Christendom and as they could not depart from the true Religion so in all other cases they would make it their business to promote an Accommodation The French King who was now resolv'd to march an Army into Italy sent William Bellay Seigneur of Langey Embassador to this Convention at Smalcade This Gentleman had his Audience upon the 19th of December And first he excuses the King in reference to the late Severities 'T is true he had punish'd some of his own Subjects but this was no manner of reflection upon them though some ill dispos'd Persons did not stick to say that by executing those Criminals he had as it were condemn'd their Perswasion before-hand But he desires that they would not take any notice of such extravagant Calumnies but examine the whole matter impartially For there was a great many in Germany who were utterly averse to their Opinion and some others did not altogether approve it nay themselves who are now agreed were not always of the same mind His Majesty is very glad that they are come to an uniformity in Doctrin at the last Neither does he question but that their Modesty and Candour is such that they will not offer to prescribe to any Body nor force people into their Religion against their wills His Majesty uses to speak very kindly and obligingly of them and owns that they have determin'd some things most primitively but wishes there had been more temper shewn in other cases For though he is sensible that Negligence Superstition and a long succession of Ages have given occasion to the bringing of several insignificant and needless Ceremonies into the Church yet he does not understand why they should all be abolish'd upon this account without distinction or publick Authority For Ceremonies add both strength and grandeur to Religion and the Contemners of them have always been punish'd with great severity And since they have joyn'd so unanimously in the suppression of the Boars Insurrection since they restrain and chastise the Anabaptists since they are unwilling to be thought to do any thing without a cause why are they not so kind as to entertain the same opinion of a Prince who is their Friend why do they not suppose that He had very pressing Reasons and absolute necessity to punish those Subjects of his though possibly some of them were none of the greatest Malectors what their Crimes were is not proper to relate in this place For oftentimes it is not convenient to assign the reason publickly why things are done and Punishments are sometimes abated sometimes more rigorously executed according to the nature of the Times Now his Majesty who hath so large a Dominion to Govern is oblig'd to have a regard to the future as well as the present and was to take care that his Clemency did not encourage a great many others to grow wicked
they conceive other Princes and States will not yield him this Point without asking them leave especially at this juncture when so many Articles of Faith are concern'd and the cause of Religion lies at Stake so that now if ever a regular Examination of the matter ought to be secured And whereas his Excellency mentioned the Kings desire of an Alliance with them they are abundantly thankful to his Majesty for it And are resolved that neither pains nor danger shall discourage them from endeavouring to carry on the Progress of the Reformation not doubting but God Almighty will preside over the whole Action and make it successful notwithstanding all the opposition of their Adversaries And because he desires to treat more at large in private about this affair they had commissionated certain Persons to confer with his Excellency to whom he might impart what he had farther in Charge And lastly They request him to report their Answer to his Majesty and let him know how ready they are to serve him Upon the 12th of December the Elector of Saxony came to Smalcalde from King Ferdinand and upon Christmass-Eve they renewed the League which was within a twelve-month of expiring for ten years more Here also they setled those things which were necessary for its defence and agreed to receive all those into their Association who had a mind to it provided they would consent to the Ausburgh Confession and submit to the common charge and circumstances of the rest of the Confederates Those who were for engaging were the two Princes of Pomeren Robert of the House of Bavaria and Duke of Zweibrucken the Cities of Frankfurt Ausburgh Kempton Hamburgh and Hannover some of these desired to be admitted at present and the others gave them hopes of coming in afterwards Concerning the Chamber of Spire they came to this Resolution That in regard King Ferdinand had promised to ratifie the Pacification agreed by the Emperor they should all of them make use of this defence if they should happen to be cited by the Judges But if they would go on notwithstanding and fall a proscribing and press the Execution of their Sentence Then the Protestants were to publish a remonstrance in the name of the whole Confederacy in which the States of the Empire were to be desired and advised not to take any notice of the unreasonable Proceedings of the Chamber but to stand to what the Emperor and King Ferdinand have determined in the Case and to look upon such Sentences as these as null and illegal without offering violence to any Person upon this account For otherwise they must be forced to take satisfaction for the injury and to resolve upon a way to secure themselves and their Allies It was likewise agreed that the Article of the Pacification at Nuremburgh which provided that no Man should be forcibly disseized of his Estate should be punctually observed but with this construction That it should be lawful for them to reform what was amiss in the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in the Ceremonies and in other things of the like Nature At the same time William Count Naâ—â—aw was admitted into the League where though the Lantgrave would not give his consent because both of them laid claim to Catzenellobogen yet he declared that if the Earl was invaded upon the account of his being a Protestant he would assist him upon his request This year also the Senate of Ausburgh after a long contest came to a unanimous resolution for the reformed Religion and wrote to Luther desiring him to send Vrbanus Regius and some other faithful Pastors of the Church to them THE HISTORY OF THE Reformation of the Church BOOK X. The CONTENTS Bernard Rotman by his Preaching and private Perswasions prevails upon Munster to receive the reformed Religion Which made the Roman Catholicks and their Bishops leave the Town in a Disgust Notwithstanding by the mediation of the Lantgrave both parties are reconciled upon Articles John of Leyden a violent Anabaptist comes thither brings a great many over to his Opinion even Rotman himself and at last infects the Town with his Frensy to that degree that his Sect grew uppermost and introduced Polygamy and community of Goods After the death of their Head Prophet John Matthews John of Leyden succeeds in the Primacy and soon after they make him their King. The Barbarities of his Government and his Antick State described During the Siege of the Town a Convention is appointed at Coblentz to decree a speedy reinforcement of the Army The Anabaptists write to the Lantgrave and send him a Book wherein they explain their Doctrin at large the Confutation of which had already been undertaken by Luther At last the Town being straitned in Provisions is taken by Storm A Convention meets at Wormes to settle affairs there after its reduction The King and his Companions are taken A relation of their Execution The Duke of Savoy makes War upon the State of Geneva and is beaten The French King invades part of his Dominions to facilitate his Conquest of the Duchy of Milan upon this occasion the pretentions of the King to that Duchy are examined The Emperor understanding those things comes to Rome and chargeth the King with breach of Articles and presseth the intimation of a Council The Protestants make a League with the King of England The Pope intimates a Council at Mantua A War breaketh out between the Emperor and the French King. The Siege of Peronne The Arch-Bishop of Cologne reformeth his Church Erasmus dieth The French King his Daughter married to the King of Scotland The Duke of Florence murthered by Treachery The Swiss's Embassy to the French King to intercede for those of the Religion who are imprisoned The Town and Castle of Hesdin is surrendred Cardinal Pool is sent Embassador to the French King. I Am now to proceed to the Siege of Munster and I shall give an account of those Occurrences which happen'd from the beginning of the Siege till that time in which the Town was taken and the Authors of the Sedition punish'd In the first Book I gave a relation of Thomas Muncer how he Preached the Mobile into Sedition what his Tenets were and what end he came to From this Mans discipling there sprung a race of Men who from their Doctrin and Practices are called Anabaptists For they will not suffer Children to be Baptized and are rebaptized themselves affirming that all People ought to follow their example and that their former Baptism is wholly invalid Their Actions have an appearance of Holiness in them They assert that it is not lawful for Christians to go to Law nor to bear any Office of Magistracy nor to swear nor have any property but that all things ought to be possess'd in common These were the singular Doctrins they maintained at first but afterwards they broached others of a much more pernicious Consequence of which I shall speak hereafter Now when these People had spread
their Sect over a great part of Germany Luther and almost all their learned Men crying out upon their Extravagance The Magistrates punishing and watching with that care that it was almost impossible for them to meet in any considerable numbers at last they possess'd themselves of the City before mentioned and in regard it was very well fortified made it the place of their Residence which happen'd thus Not far from the City of Munster there is a Church dedicated to St. Maurice in which in the year 1532 Bernard Rotman preached the reformed Religion and had a considerable Audience from the Town and when the Citizens had thoughts of bringing him in thither the Papists to prevent their design give him a moderate sum of mony that he might go and exercise his Faculties somewhere else Away goes he and travelling to some places where he thought he could better improve and advantage himself returns again after a few months But they being disgusted at his coming back endeavour to keep him from Preaching but to no purpose for he was followed with the applause of the People Soon after some of the principal Citizens receive him into the Town and because he was barred the Churches they make him a Pulpit abroad in the Porch and his Congregation encreasing daily they require the Papists to open him the Church otherwise they would break it open by force Not long after by the advice of a Committee of the People he sends Letters into the Neighbour-hood of Hassia which belongs to the Lantgrave and desires that they would send him some religious and learned Men to assist him in sowing the Seed of the Gospel Accordingly there are two sent him from Marpurg When they came thither six of the reform'd enter into consultation how they may clear the Town of Popery as soon as may be that the Gospel may be Preached with the greater success For the effecting of which they judged this following Expedient the most proper viz. To set down the Errors of the Church of Rome in writing which when they had digested into thirty Heads they delivered them to the Senate adding that they were ready to submit to the utmost severity if they did not demonstrate from the Holy Scriptures that all these propositions were repugnant to the Word of God. The Senate orders the Papists to attend the Court and reads over all the objected Errors to them and because they had always pretended that their Doctrin was unexceptionable and founded on Divine Revelation The Preachers on the other side denying this and offering to make good their Assertions under the highest Penalties The Court therefore asks them if they would confute the Objections of their Adversaries by the Scriptures Being thus called upon and perceiving that the Senate were earnest to have the matter brought to an Issue They answer in short That they had nothing to say for themselves and that it was only Ignorance and Opinion which made them hitherto maintain their Doctrin as Orthodox and Good. Thereupon in regard they were convicted of Error and false Doctrin had nothing to alledge in their defence and had made an acknowledgement of their Wickedness the Senate commands them to forbear Preaching for the future and to resign their Pulpits in all the Churches to the new Teachers who had discovered their Impostures Afterwards by the order of the Senate and People every Man has a Church assigned him to preach in which was very unkindly taken by the Papists especially by those who belonged to the Principal Cathedral Church being most of them Gentlemen These Persons when they could do nothing else go angry away and apply themselves to the Bishop of the City where after consultation they resolve to possess themselves of all the Avenues and Passes that no Provision might be carried into the Town A little after they had blocked up all the ways the Bishop and those before mentioned come to Telget to take further advice which is a little Town about a Mile distant from the City From thence they dispatch a Messenger to the Senate with Letters importing that they should desist from what they were about and put things into their former order otherwise they must be treated as Enemies The Bishops name was Francis Count Waldeck His immediate Predecessor was Ferdinand own Brother to the Arch-Bishop of Cologn But he not long before either because he had not his Health there or because he foresaw some Disturbance went off and resigned up his Station contenting himself with a private Life in his own Country The Citizens of Munster upon Deliberation detain the Messenger and upon Christmas-Eve Eve about nine hundred of them marching out in the night surprize the Village and take it and having secured the Gates that none might escape they seize upon all that were in it The Bishop by chance went away the day before They immediately bring the Prisoners into the City amongst these there were some Papists of great Quality with some others of the inferior Nobility The Senate asks them what their intentions were and whether they still designed to hinder the Preaching of the Gospel They very frankly answer that they would endeavour to make that Doctrin flourish Upon this a Treaty is concluded a Copy of which was sent to the Lantgrave by the Senate withal desiring him that for the sake of Religion and the Common-wealth he would assist in this Affair The Lantgrave sends several of his Subjects with a Commission by whose mediation they concluded a farther Treaty to this effect That forgetting all former Disgusts they should be heartily reconciled to one another and live peaceably on both sides That the Gospel should be Preached in six of their Churches That all impiety and superstition in Religion should be suppressed That nothing should be altered in the principal Church or Cathedral nor the Citizens pretend to any Authority there This Pacification was signed by the Lantgrave by the Bishop and his Tenants and Dependents and also by the Nobility and Commonalty upon the 14th day of February in the year 1533. When things were accommodated in this manner there comes to Munster a Dutch Botcher one John of Leyden a violent Anabaptist This Man at first privately asks some of the Doctors of the reformed Religion into whose familiarity he had insinuated himself Whether they thought the Baptism of Infants warrantable Upon their affirming it was John who was a great Zealot for the contrary Opinion began to deride and contemn them Which thing being understood Bernard Rotman whom we mentioned before exhorts the People at an Assembly to betake themselves to prayer that they might be enabled to maintain their Doctrin in its Purity and defend it from the Corruptions of the Fanaticks especially from the Anabaptists who had now privately crept in amongst them and mixed themselves in their Congregations whose Opinion if it should prevail not only the State but likewise Religion would be in a miserable condition
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-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 Religion but that they should proceed in that Affait in such a manner as they thought was accountable before God Almighty and that their Vassals who held of either or both Princes should enjoy their Property as formerly notwithstanding any difference of Religion For we are to observe that both these Princes have their Territories intermix'd which was so contriv'd on purpose by their Ancestors that they might be the better dispos'd to live peaceably together in regard neither of them could make War upon the other without prejudice to his own Country and Subjects But the Duke not minding this Agreement depriv'd some Ecclesiasticks belonging to the Elector's Jurisdiction of the Revenue of their Lands which they were possess'd of in his Country because they had turn'd Lutherans And for the same reason disseiz'd those who held both of his Consin and himself of their Estates contrary to all former Usage and Custom After the Electors death John Frederick his Son wrote to him and put him in mind of his Agreement but he return'd him a disobliging Answer and besides other Objections reflected severely upon him for his falling off from the Church the Pope and the Emperor Now after the Treaty which was set on Foot this year to take up the Quarrel prov'd ineffectual as several had done before The Elector lays the whole matter before his Allies in the Assembly and in case the Duke and his Adherents should offer him any Violence he desires they would assist him with their Advice and Fortunes afterwards upon the Tenth of May the Convention was dismiss'd In the beginning of June Anne of Bullein by whom the King of England had one Daughter Elizabeth was beheaded being condemn'd of Adultery and Incest This accident broke off the Embassy which was design'd for England After the War was grown hot between the Emperor and the French King Pope Paul the Third publish'd a Bull of the following Contents From the time that God had pleas'd to promote him to the Honour of his present Station he desir'd nothing more earnestly than that by his own Vigilance and the assistance of the Holy Spirit the Church which was committed to his Care might be purg'd from those Heresies and Errors which some while since have sprung up and spread themselves in it and also by a Reformation in Manners and Discipline it might recover its former Condition For now to his great grief it was miserably rent in pieces by Civil Wars and the Artifices of wicked Men and being very solicitous how to find out a Remedy for this great Evil he could think of no other way more commodious than that which had been always us'd by the Church in such cases that is a general Council this was the method which he always formerly approv'd and since he was rais'd to his present Dignity he still continued of the same mind with which he had by Letters acquainted the Emperor and other Princes several times and now at last had fully resolv'd upon this Expedient hoping it would prove effectual not only to clear the Lord's Field of Heresies but also to remove the Misunderstandings of Princes and settle a lasting Peace among them that so being at leisure to fight the common Enemy of our Faith Christendom might recover its own those who were taken Captives might be releas'd from a miserable Slavery Infidels converted to our Religion and all People brought within the Pale of the Church For these Considerations by vertue of the Power he was entrusted with and by the consent of his Brethren the Cardinals he does intimate a general Council of all Christendom to be held upon 23d day of May next ensuing at Mantua a rich and commodious place that all Persons repairing thither against that time the Council may be open'd Therefore he commands all Bishops and Prelates of what place soever under the Penalties decreed by the Canon to be present there at the time appointed As for the Emperor and other Kings and Princes who either by right or custom have the Priviledge of being present at Councils he does both advertize and conjure them by Christ that for the sake of the common Interest they would be there themselves or if their affairs would not give them leave to send an honourable Embassy thither with large Commissions and in as much as all Orders and Degrees are concern'd in their being present he hopes that the Emperor and the French King especially will not absent themselves As touching the Emperor he had sufficiently express'd his religious forwardness already and several times solicited Clement the Seventh about a Council both in his own name and in the name of his Brother Ferdinand and of the Princes of the Empire But this Design being interrupted by Wars and other accidents intervening especially by the death of Clement himself he at the very beginning of his Popedom had acquainted the Emperor with his Intentions to whom they were very acceptable He had also written to the French King who return'd him a friendly and obliging Answer having before sent a very religious Letter to Clement and the Conclave of Cardinals in which he declar'd what his Inclinations and Opinion was in this matter However if they could not come themselves he desires that they would command those of their own Subjects who might be present to repair thither or if for good reasons they were oblig'd to absent themselves the sufficiency of which excuses ought to be made apparent then they were to depute Proxies who were to stay at Mantua till the whole Debate was ended to the end that by the Decrees made in that Assembly the Church might be reform'd and recover her ancient Splendor Heresies wholly extirpated and a War made upon the Enemies of our Religion And because some Persons are concern'd in this writing to whom it cannot be publish'd without danger therefore that none may pretend ignorance he hath thought fit to have it openly recited in the Church of St. Peter and the Lateran and afterwards to be affixed to such places in the Town as are proper and usual upon such occasions This Bull was subscrib'd by six and twenty Cardinals Upon the 7th of June Ferdinand King of the Romans sends James Sturcell a Laywer from Inspruck upon an Embassy to the Switzers I understand says he the French King has solicited you for Supplies but obtain'd nothing which I was extreamly glad to hear and have acquainted the Emperor with it indeed it was very reasonable he should be so serv'd for the Emperor gave no manner of occasion to this War and was fully resolv'd to fight the Barbarians and Enemies of our Religion this Summer But the French King immediately upon the death of Francis Sforza Duke of Millain though he has no right to that Principality though he had agreed the whole matter some few years since begun to project a War and broke his Articles demanding the Restitution of the Dutchy and threatning if he had not
State and how much it will be expos'd to Misunderstandings and Tumults of the truth of this Allegation the Emperor's Edict which was then publish'd is a sufficient proof It was never their intention to plead in bar to the Jurisdiction of the Chamber in any Causes but those of Religion and they believ'd that Court could not prove the contrary upon them But they were very much troubl'd to hear from his Excellency that the Emperor had given the Chamber Authority to determine the quality of the Cause for they did believe all those Causes to be of a religious Nature and they were really such which could not be decided till the Extent of the word Religion was defin'd in a lawful Council which thing both by Letter and their Embassadors they had several times acquainted the Emperor and King Ferdinand with For this Dispute concerning the meaning and latitude of Religion is a preliminary Question and ought to be setled by the Council before other matters which relate to it are determin'd And in regard Benefices ought to be bestowed in consideration of Merit and Function They said they could not allow that those in their Dominions who were of a different Religion from themselves should enjoy the Revenues of the Church to which they had no manner of right because they were either unwilling to discharge their Office or wanted abilities to do it and since Conscience is more than ordinarily concern'd in the present case the usual Pleas of Law founded upon the right of Possession or Restitution ought not to be urg'd Moreover when the Treaty of Nuremburgh was on foot they particularly mention'd all those Suits and Difference which were then depending in the Chamber and in other Courts and represented them under the notion of Ecclesiastical Causes to the Princes of the Mediation who promis'd that they would endeavour to perswade the Emperor that they should be all exempted from the Jurisdiction of the Courts which was also promis'd by King Ferdinand at the Convention at Cadan besides it 's plain from that Clause in the Emperor's Edict which stops all Prosecutions of this nature that the Chamber of Spire has no Authority to determine the Quality of Causes And to say nothing more severe they could not choose but observe that the apparent Inclination of that Court to give Judgment against them had made a great many Persons much bolder and more contentious than they had formerly been which they were able to prove more than one way For when those of their Party moved that Court in any Cause their Suit was not only rejected but they were sent away with reproachful Language And lately the Hamburghers were commanded by them not only to restore the Clergy of their City their Goods and Estates but also to return them their old Religion and Jurisdiction back again and because they could not do this with a good Conscience they were amerced in a great Sum of Mony and therefore there needs no more Instances to let the Emperor understand what the Design of that Court is for if any Cause relates to Religion this certainly does But if the Judges are allowed to proceed in this manner the Truce serves to no purpose If the Rites and Ceremonies which were abolish'd may be lawfully restor'd by such Methods as these there will be no need of Council and yet the Emperor is pleas'd to grant that all Differences of this nature ought to be determin'd there and since their Exceptions against the Proceedings of the Court were not consider'd they were forc'd to decline the Jurisdiction of it As concerning the Persons of the Chamber there was not above one or two of the whole Bench of their Religion what Provision was made at Ratisbone for this Affair was well known it being apparent that those who were most violent against the Reformed were most acceptable to the Chamber nay a man may plainly discover how they stand affected by observing the air of their Countenances when they are trying of Causes and therefore they hope his Imperial Majesty will send them a positive Order to desist As for the Penalty which his Excellency mention'd was decreed at Ratisbone against Mal-administration that was no advantage to them Indeed if the Cause had related to Property and secular Affairs they might have had a compensation this way but matters of Religion were too weighty to be satisfied with Costs and Damages However if the Emperor is of opinion that they have intermix'd any civil Causes in their request they are willing this matter should be tried provided there may be a stop put to the Proceedings of the Chamber in the mean time Now as concerning those who came over to their Religion since the Pacification of Nuremburgh they confess'd that some few years since the Princes of the Mediation did insist at Schweenfurt that no more might be admitted into their Association which Proposition they then rejected and afterwards at the Convention at Nuremburgh they persisted in the same Opinion As to what his Excellency objects in reference to the Promises and Articles by which several of the States had engag'd themselves not to make any alteration in Religion To this the parties answer That some of them promis'd nothing others in private Treaties reserv'd this Liberty for themselves a third sort it 's true did engage themselves but it was upon the assurance which the Emperor gave them that a Council should be intimated within six Months and opened the year after But since this Assembly was delayed beyond their expectation and God had been pleas'd to give them a fuller apprehension of the true Religion they could not defer so good a Work any longer but thought it their Duty to make an open profession of that Doctrin which they were assur'd had both Truth and Piety to recommend it This the Canon-Law it self would justifie them in for from thence they had learn'd that if any Person had sworn to do a wicked Action this Oath did not oblige Besides as their Adversaries would not refuse any one who offer'd himself for a Convert so neither did they think it lawful to bar any person from coming over to themselves Therefore their earnest request to the Emperor was That the Judges might be check'd and that not only themselves but those who joyn'd them afterwards might be comprehended in the Peace For if matters should be otherwise carried and any violence should be offer'd they could not desert those they were allied to both by Vertue of their League and Religion This had been already declar'd to King Ferdinand at Vienna and that with a great deal of reason for the Cause of these later Confederates no less than their own belongs to the Cognizance of the Council But if the Judges of the Chamber will fore-stall the Hearing and hale in the business of the Council to their Court this is no less than down-right Force and Injustice against which by the Laws of Nature they are bound to defend themselves
now how unfortunate such Methods will be and what will be the end of them so wise a Person as the Emperor must needs fore-see As for them they desir'd nothing more than Peace and were willing to gratifie the Emperor in every thing which lay in their power but with this condition That every one might have the liberty to profess the true Religion which request being granted they should be more ready to comply with the Emperor's and King Ferdinand's Demands in reference to the Turks and the Imperial-Chamber As touching the Council to which they were invited by the Emperor they had seen a Copy of the Bull which was publish'd by Paul the Third upon this occasion by which they perceiv'd that the Pope's Designs and the Emperor's were not the same For notwithstanding Adrian the Sixth had frankly confess'd by his Nuncio at the Diet at Nurembergh that almost all things were very much out of order of Rome and promis'd to use his endeavours that these Irregularities should be rectify'd in the first place yet his Successor Clement the Seventh who sent this Nuncio to another Diet in Germany two years after went a quite different way to work insomuch that the Embassadors of the Emperor and the rest of the Princes made a Decree there for the calling of a free Council in Germany that the Church might be clear'd of all Errors and Corruptions in practice which had insensibly crept into it This Decree was afterwards approv'd by the Emperor at the Mediation of the Elector of Mentz and the Palsgrave But a year after Pope Clement propos'd a Council of a very different Form from that which was agreed on in the Diet and appointed Italy for the place which they then refus'd to consent to which Proposition was afterwards renew'd by Paul the Third his Nuncio to whom they return'd the same answer as before that the Pope is now carrying on the same Design appears by his Bull though he does not think it proper to speak out so much as Clement did For where he speaks of Heresies which are lately sprung up they have reason to believe he meaneth their Doctrin which he has as it were condemn'd before-hand under that notion for what a severe opinion he has of their Religion intending no less than the utter Extirpation of it is plain by those Punishments with which he Percutes innocent People only for the profession of it and yet at the same time he hath the Impudence to pretend as if he only design'd to purge the Church of those gross Errors and Corruptions which have been so long and so sharply complain'd of by so many Men of Piety and Learning With these Subtilties he had prevail'd upon the Emperor to call upon them to attend the Council which his Majesty would never have done if he had understood his Holiness's Tricks With the same flattering Pretences he solicits Kings and Princes and themselves among the rest to admit the Council that by this means he may hook them in to applaud and defend his wicked Project and by their approbation of the Council condemn their own Doctrin themselves which Artifice Julian the Apostate formerly made use of to circumvent the Christians in his Army And notwithstanding the Pope gives such apparent signs of being their Adversary yet he continues to arrogate the authority of a Judge to himself which is contrary to all right and reason and is backed in this usurpation by the rest of the Prelates who are tied to him by Oaths and several other Obligations Now how unreasonable such a Claim is and how dangerous to be granted the Emperor and other Princes they presume may easily understand For by the blessing of God their Divines had abundantly shewed that the Popes had broached several Errors in the Church and maintained Tenents not only contrary to the Word of God but to the ancient Councils and Fathers That they had made a great many Laws without any Warrant from God Almighty by which the true notion of Religion was quite stifled and suppressed therefore they intended when they had the opportunity of a lawful Assembly to accuse the Pope and his Adherents of these high Misdemeanors and to prove the Crimes charg'd upon them Besides by what wicked Practices by what uncreditable and indirect Methods of force and deceit they raise themselves to these Dignities what a lewd life they lead what a scandalous example they set how perfectly they abandon their Function how they neglect the people committed to their care and riot in all manner of immorality is so notorious a Truth that to talk any further of it would be superfluous Therefore neither for these reasons can the Pope have any Authority no not by his own Canon-Law to intimate a Council much less to preside in it neither ought his sworn Adherents take upon them the Office of a Judge since they have not so much as a right to Vote in a lawful Council Farther they said That Italy was made the Seat of the Council in direct opposition and contempt of what was decreed by the Emperor and the State of Germany Neither as yet had they any assurance that other Christian Princes would like the place and moreover they had great reason to suspect it was not safe for them and their Party to come thither For notwithstanding they may have a safe Conduct drawn up in ample and satisfactory manner yet because those places are most possess'd by the Popes Vassals who mortally hate the Reformed Doctrin they must lie expos'd to Treachery and secret Practices which are very formidable dangers in that Country and since this Debate is of the most important nature imaginable it being impossible for the World to produce a greater for the eternal happiness or misery of Men is concern'd in it and since the weightiness of the Affair obligeth them to appear there in considerable numbers with their Divines and Pastors of their Churches and not trust a matter of such Consequence with their Embassadors and Proxies it would be very inconvenient for them to be forc'd to travel out of the Empire and go into Italy and leave their Country and Subjects without a Guard and their Churches without Pastors for any considerable time especially at this juncture when there are such Misunderstandings and Animosities among the Germans therefore they earnestly beseech the Emperor that he would please to allow the Reasons they had laid before him a full and distinct consideration and since he was the chief Magistrate to whom the support of the true Religion did more especially belong that he would make it his principal Endeavour that the right way of Worshiping God might be taught under the Countenance of Law and spread into a farther extent As for themselves they embrac'd no Doctrin that was wicked nor aim'd at any thing but the Glory of God. This Answer of theirs concerning the Council was approv'd by the Embassadors of George Duke of Brandenburgh and of the Cities of
upon which they refus'd the Council they thought it convenient to set them down in writing which Paper they afterwards publish'd in Print where they address themselves to foreign Princes and Nations to this effect Paul the Third say they hath lately publish'd a Bull in which he hath intimated a Council at Mantua which will be opened upon the 23th of May and hath offer'd some Reasons why these Measures were pitch'd upon Besides he hath dispatch'd his Nuncios to foreign Kings and Princes both Germans and others to acquaint them with the Council and invite them either to come thither themselves or send their Embassadors and in regard we have been solicited by him and by the Emperor upon this account we think our selves oblig'd to demonstrate how dangerous and disadvantageous a Compliance with him in this Point will be not only to us but to all Christendom And though we proceed upon none but justifiable grounds yet when we consider the temper of our Adversaries we have reason to believe they will censure our actions and interpret them in the worst sense For it 's likely in order to the bringing us and the whole Cause under their Jurisdiction they will not stick to affirm that we will not abide by any Trial nor submit to any Judge That we contemn other Nations which have been often remarkable for a great many Men of Learning They will say also that it 's a wicked thing to refuse Submission to the determinations of a Council which is the highest Tribunal of the Church and ought to be obeyed by all Persons They will likewise pretend as if we were asham'd of our Tenents and durst not bring them into view or that we watched an opportunity to make an unnecessary Breach and could not reconcile our selves to the Peace of Christendom Now if this Charge against us were true it were not only wicked in it self but it would be a kind of a Calamity to hear it For these reasons we are under a necessity of publishing our own Justification and we hope the consequence of it will be that all honest Men both in Germany and other places will not only forbear believing any thing of this nature of us but that they will make it their business that this most important Affair may be rightly manag'd and that it may not be in the Pope's Power to Tyrannize over apparent Truth and suppress it under the pretended and venerable Authority of a Council For we will not only make it appear that we hold no Opinions in Religion but what are sound and Orthodox but likewise that we aim at nothing but the Glory of God and the good of the Commonwealth and that no Man can justly charge us with obstinancy and perverseness And in the first place how far we are from contemning the Judgment of other Nations and of the Church is evident by our endeavouring to prevent the Pope and his Party from setting up for Judges and that all things may be debated by proper and unsuspected Persons which they believe is the unanimous desire of all good Men For in regard in some Countries there are now extant several ancient Books complaining of false Doctrin Immorality wicked Ceremonies and Practices which were then crept into the Church they do not question but that in those very places there are at this day several Persons of Learning and Piety who understand the true Doctrin though at present they are brow-beaten and overaw'd into silence by the Pope's Tyranny Now these are the Men who ought to appear in Councils that they may speak their mind freely for that is not to be accounted a lawful Council which is govern'd by the Pope and his Party who maintain their unorthodox Tenents by dint of Violence and Power and according to their old custom make Canons contrary to the Word of God. For our Saviour when he erected his Supream Tribunal upon Earth ordered That whatever required Reformation should be brought before the Church in which very words all manner of Tyranny and Dominion is excluded Farther they asperse us falsely if they say we are afraid to make our publick Appearance and will not endure the Light. For in the Diet at Ausburgh we made an open Profession of our Doctrin in the Presence of the Emperor and all the States of the Empire Besides this very Religion is publickly taught in our Dominions several of our Subjects have written Books of it and own'd it in Print and many of our Adversaries confess that our Writers have recover'd a great number of ancient Tenents which before were quite smother'd and suppress'd For now the true Doctrin is come to Light again which gives us the right notion of Repentance of Faith in Christ of Remission of Sins of good Works Religious Worship the use of the Sacraments the Power of the Keys of Magistracy Humane Traditions and such like Neither to speak in St. Paul's Language are we asham'd of the Gospel but wish above all things that we had an opportunity to declare our sense of these Points in the most publick Audience And whereas it 's objected to our Party as if they had reviv'd old condemn'd Heresies and therefore there is no need of any farther Dispute or Examination of the Cause this Suggestion is false and those who have read our Confession and the Defence annex'd to it will not require much Apology from us For the Doctrin which we Profess is no new one but was approv'd by the Primitive Church as may be made good to a demonstration Neither have we receiv'd any Heresie or wicked Opinion but on the contrary our Divines have regain'd the Doctrin of the Ancients in several Points which the Popes and Monks had suppress'd It is another Calumny to say that we are pleas'd with publick Animosities and Divisions for we are sorry at our very Souls that Christendom is so miserably distracted and earnestly desire a Council in order to a Reconciliation And since the Pope and his Adherents have condemn'd that Doctrin which is both true and necessary to be believ'd since they punish and persecute the Professors of it and excite others to follow their Example we could do no less than reprove them for their Cruelty and Insolence For God requireth us to Honour him by an open Confession and to hold any farther Correspondence with the Pope when he rages at such a barbarous rate would be a very wicked Alliance Besides it cannot be deni'd but we perform all Offices and undergo all Burthens which the Commonwealth requires as well as the rest of the States from whence it appeareth that we would willingly comply with others in Religion too if our Consciences would give us leave especially when we understand what danger hangeth over our Heads upon this account For the Popes for many years last past have told us pretty plainly what they would be at and how busie they have been in exasperating the Passions of Princes against us Now to run all these
hazards and be at all this Expence to no purpose is perfect distraction But we are convin'd this is a Duty which God requires of us whose Commands ought to be preferr'd to all Secular Interest and we protest before God Almighty That we design nothing but his Service And now having confuted thier Accusations we shall proceed to another branch of our Apology Possibly most People of foreign Countries may think that we have been too nice in quarrelling with those things which have no great malignity in them and which might have passed without notice for Peace-sake especially when the nature of Humane Affairs in such that there will always be some Imperfections in Church and State which must be conniv'd at But the case is quite otherwise for first we are not to conceal our dislike of Errors and wrong Opinions in Religion being commanded by Christ to beware of false Teachers Besides the Contest is not about little Mistakes but concerning the Doctrin of Faith and right Apprehensions of God upon which the due performance of a Christians Duty and of Divine Worship does principally depend now these are points which cannot be passed over in silence but are to be maintain'd in their Purity and diligently taught in the Church But that this part of Truth was perfectly extinct cannot be denied and a new Doctrin introduc'd in its room to the great dishonour of our Saviour We likewise disapprove many other Errors and ungodly Practices in their Worship which some Persons who liv'd long before our time have discover'd and thereupon wish'd for a Council that those things which were amiss might be rectified and the Peace of the Church establish'd But now there is more need of a Council than ever because the same Corruptions remain and have spread their Infection further because they have occasion'd Broils and Divisions in Christendom insomuch that many innocent Persons run the hazard of losing their Lives upon this account For these weighty reasons not only our selves but the Emperor and the rest of the States and Bishops of the Empire voted a Council very necessary for the preservation of the true Religion in the Church for unless such an Expedient was made use of they foresaw the Distractions of Christendom would encrease And while we were big with the expectation of such a Council as this out comes the Pope's Bull with Contents directly contrary to the Decrees of the Empire And because we are not concern'd alone but the whole Christian Church is interessed in it we thought it necessary to set forth a publick Declaration of our Reasons in this Paper why we refuse this Council of the Pope's calling For the right of Voting does not belong solely to the Pope and Bishops but to the Church in which signification Kings and other degrees of Men and Secular Magistrates are included Therefore though the Pope was no Party in the present Debate yet there was no reason to allow him and his Adherents the whole Power of Determining and exclude the other Ministers of the Church But since he is apparently one of the Litigants himself the yielding him such a Priviledge is still more unaccountable and no less than a contradiction to the Laws of God and Nature Now we do not accuse the Pope of small Misdemeanors neither do we quarrel with him only for his Luxury and Lording it over the Church but the main of our charge lieth against his Doctrin his Canons and abominable Worship that is we arraign him for Idolatry and Heresie and when he is impeached of such Crimes as these the Church and not himself is to examine and give Sentence in the Cause according to the Provision which the old Canon-Law it self hath made for this purpose Besides the Pope hath made himself the more suspected not only by being a Party but because he hath condemn'd our Doctrin long beforehand now the case standing thus it 's easie to imagine what sort of Censure will be past upon our Doctrin in a Council of his own packing For we are not to suppose that he will give a liberty of Voting to any Persons contrary to the old customs of his Church And in regard the Bull does not mention in what order and method Debates are to be managed we have reason to suspect every thing For he only summoneth and Mustereth those who are engag'd to him upon many accounts and of whose Trustiness he is sufficiently assur'd He likewise professeth that the reason of his calling a Council is That those Heresies which have lately sprung up may be extirpated And notwithstanding these words will bear a large signification yet there is no doubt but that he meant them of our Doctrin for we have no reason to believe that he would tax his own Errors Nay afterwards he publish'd another Bull concerning the Reformation of the Court of Rome where he owneth in express words That the Council was call'd that the pestilent Lutheran Heresie might be suppress'd At first it 's true he cunningly dissembled his Intentions that he might make the Bull appear plausible but afterwards he discover'd himself It 's plain therefore that he aims only at the subversion of our Religion Now what a madness would it be for us to approve of such a Design as this For this is the thing which he driveth at namely to draw a Confession from those who admit his Bull that our Doctrin is wicked and heretical and when Kings and Princes have own'd this they may be oblig'd to contribute their good wishes and endeavours to the Cause And because the common Interest of Christendom is concern'd in this Affair we intreat all People that they would seriously consider the designing subtilty of this Man for his couching the Bull in such Terms is somewhat admirable and it is a question Whether he intended to fright us from the Council this way or else to ensnare us by approving the Instrument That the Emperor intends the welfare and security of the Commonwealth we do not in the least question and believe that his Majesty does not approve the form of the Bull. But as for the Pope he hath not so much intimated a Council as publickly given Sentence against us Neither will he allow the Scriptures to determine the Dispute but his own Canons and Customs and the Opinions of some modern Councils must overrule all other Pleas whereas it 's one of our principal Assertions That Humane Traditions are to be rejected when they are repugnant to the Word of God. That which is really the Doctrin of the Church we willingly receive but then the Errors and Tyranny of the Pope ought not to be flourish'd over with that reverend Name For first the ancient Church never admitted of any Constitutions which were contrary to Scripture nor yet gave the Pope that unlimited power which he now assumes to himself And secondly These Men who condemn and persecute the Doctrin of the Gospel are none of the Church but Parricides and Sons
be granted frequently nor without particular Reasons for fear of making the Solemnities of Religion grow Contemptible and more especially the principal part of them the Sacrament Those they call Indulgences or Pardons of Sins ought not to come about so often but be distributed only once a year and in great Towns. Vows should not be altered inconsiderately nor discharged in any other Performances but those which agree with the Design of such a Religious Obligation We observe likewise That the last Will and Testament of those Persons who have happened to give a summ of Money for pious Uses is sometimes unfulfilled upon pretence of the Poverty of the Heirs or Legatees But it 's requisite this Practice should be narrowly enquired into and not permitted but when this Poverty happens in such a manner after the Death of the Testator that in all probability if he had been living he would have altered his Will himself For otherwise it 's Wickedness to alter that which a Man is supposed to will the last thing which he does in this World. And now having given an Account as far as our Memories would serve us of what concerneth the Church in general we shall add some few things more which relate particularly to the Pope and Bishop of Rome And in regard this City and Church of Rome is the Parent and Mistress of all Churches She hath an extraordinary Obligation upon her to exceed all others in Religion and Decency of Living But notwithstanding there are a great many ignorant and slovenly Priests belonging to the Cathedral of St. Peter who are so meanly and scandalously habited both in respect of their own Cloths and the Vestments of their Office that it would be a very ill Sight for them to appear in that manner if it were only in ordinary and private Houses And in this indecent Garb they perform Divine Service to the great Dissatisfaction of those who are present Therefore Order must be given to the Arch-Priest or to the Penitentiary That all such offensive Negligence may be removed out of the way first in this Town and afterwards in other places But then what Complaint is sharp enough against those shameless Strumpets who are suffered to appear in the same Dress and Figure with other Women of Vertue and Condition who ride upon Mules through the most publick places of the Town at noon Day and have part of the Retinue of Cardinals of the first Quality and such extraordinary Attendance to wait upon them Truly we must needs say we never saw such Marks of Dissoluteness and Debauchery in any other Town but in that which ought to be as it were the Pattern and Original for all the World to draw after and imitate And to make their Grandeur Uniform these lewd Women are permitted to dwell in stately Houses to the great Scandal of the place There are likewise in this Town very great Feuds and Factions Now 't is your Holiness's Concern to make up all these Breaches and it would be very proper for you to put the Management of this Affair into the Hands of a certain number of Cardinals who are likely to be most successful to the End that all Differences may be composed and the Townsmen reconciled to one another Lastly The Maintenance and Protection of the Poor and Widows does in a more particular Manner belong to you These may it please your Holiness are the Disorders which we conceive ought to be corrected And though we were not sufficiently qualified to perform the Task you have laid upon us yet because we have done our best we are satisfied with the Discharge of our Consciences and your Government gives us great Hopes of an Effectual Reformation and that we shall have the Satisfaction to see the Church regular in the Conversation of her Members decent in her Administrations and undisturbed in her Communion and your Holiness's Memory immortaliz'd upon this Account You have taken the Name of Paul upon you and therefore we hope you will endeavour the Welfare of the Church with the fame generous Affection which he did God chose St. Paul that he might make him a remarkable and extraordinary Instrument in publishing his Kingdom to the Gentiles So also we hope you are chosen to recover the ancient Lustre of Christianity which is somewhat Eclipsed at present to heal the publick Distempers to bring the Flock of Christ into one Fold and to avert the Wrath of God which hangs over us for our Sins Thus this Reformation was drawn into a Scheme but it was neither put in practice nor made publick The Pope at last prorogued the Council again from the first of November till the first of May following and appoints Vicenza for the place which is a large City and well served with Provisions in the Territory of the Venetians and dispatched away three Cardinals who were to open the Council and receive those who came thither The Pope as was before observed had a mind to carry the Business of the Reformation privately but it was not long before it came to light And as soon as an Account of it was brought into Germany Luther wrote against it in High Dutch and John Sturmius in Latin and addressed themselves in their Answer to the Reformers In Luther's Book a Man needs only look upon the Cutt in the Frontispiece to understand his Argument For the Pope is represented fitting upon a high Throne and several of the Cardinals placed about him who with Foxes Tails ty'd at the End of Poles brush down all the Cobwebs both above and below Nicholas Cardinal and Archbishop of Capua one who was violent against all Reformation was in the Consistory when this Matter was farther debated This Man who was certainly believed to be sent thither on purpose by the Pope bestirred him mightily that nothing might be reform'd and among other Arguments urged That if his Advice was not taken the Lutherans would brag that they had as it were forced them to put things into better Order This Cardinal was so prevalent that the Pope and the Fathers were perswaded at last not to make any Alterations And yet this very Man who hindred the Reformation is said to have sent a Copy of it privately into Germany to a Friend of his which most People thought he did to expose the Pope and his Reformers Others are of Opinion the Pope was not unwilling to let this Book come out because he might imagine it might shew him inclinable to correct the Abuses in the Church and this Men were to understand by the bye as if he would have given them a larger Draught of Amendments if he had thought any thing of this nature would have been published Now concerning Erasmus his Colloquies which the Cardinals found fault with the case stands thus This Author amongst many other Works with which he wonderfully promoted the Advancement of Learning wrote a little Book by way of Dialogue for the use of young
the Emperor and King Ferdinand with whom he had concluded an Agreement some few Years since would be disobliged which would make him run a great Hazard in his whole Fortune Duke Vlrich gave his Majesty Thanks for his Caution and told him That he was wronged in this Relation and believed the Dukes of Bavaria were the Authors of this Calumny who had falsly spread such a Report as this of him in Germany therefore he desires his Majesty that he would not give any Credit to it for neither himself nor any of his Allies intended to raise any Disturbance or do any Act of Hostility unless they were forced to it in their own Defence and he did not question but that they when they heard of it would purge themselves As soon therefore as the Protestants at Francfort had received an Account of this Complaint from the Duke the Elector of Saxony and the Lantgrave wrote an Answer to the French King in the Name of all the Confederates dated April the Nineteenth in which they acquaint him That they understood by the Duke of Wirtemberg what Reports had been made to his Majesty concerning them but all these Accusations were nothing but Calumnies raised by Enmity and Ill-Will for they were not about making any Preparations for War but were very desirous of Peace as the Princes of the Mediation could testify For though they had received several Provocations though a confederate Town of theirs had been proscribed and a League claped up by some of the other Party to back their unjust Decrees notwithstanding their Adversaries had raised Forces and given them extraordinary Pay who were now making hostile Depredations in the Territories of their Allies yet they were contented to sit still all this while without the least Motion towards an Opposition for the Love they had for their Country made them willing to forgive all manner of Injuries for the Sake of the Commonwealth But their Adversaries were of a violent and implacable Temper and would not harken to any moderate Proposals nor submit the Differences between them to a legal Determination but were wholly bent to fill the Empire with the Blood and Slaughter of its own Subjects And seeing the Case stands thus they entreat his Majesty not to believe any false Suggestions but endeavour to promote the Interest of the Church by Religious and defensible Methods for the Protection of Truth and Innocence is a Duty peculiarly incumbent upon Kings As for their standing up in the Defense of Religion it was only to discharge their Conscience and not out of any sinister and secular Design neither did they question but that their Doctrine was agreeable to the Word of God which they had not the Liberty to depart from upon any Consideration whatever Upon the Twenty Fourth of April at the breaking up of the Diet George Duke of Saxony departed this Life leaving no Issue behind him for his Two Sons were already deceased without Children one of which was married to Elizabeth the Lantgrave's Sister and the other to a Daughter of the House of Mansfield George therefore made his Brother Henry and his Sons Morice and Augustus his Heirs by Will upon Condition That they should not make any Alteration in the State of Religion If this Condition was Unperformed then he bequeaths all his Dominions to the Emperor and King Ferdinand till his Brother or his Nephews or the next of the male Line of the Blood should fulfil what was enjoined Now after he was grown old and had but an ill Health he acquainted the Nobilility and Commonalty with his Will and desired them That they would ratify it and swear to stand by the Contents But they being affraid that this would occasion a War in the Family prayed him to send to his Brother Henry and treat with him about it for they did not question but that he would agree that no Change should be made in Religion Upon this Ambassadors are sent who besides several other Arguments to perswade him insisted principally That there was a great deal of Money in the Exchequer abundance of rich Furniture and Plate all which would be his own provided he complied with his Brother To which he made this remarkable Answer immediately Truly says he your Ambassy puts me in mind of that Passage in the new Testament where the Devil promised our Saviour all the Kingdoms of the World upon Condition he would fall down and worship him Do you think that any Temptation of Riches has such an ascendant over me as to make me forsake a Religion which I know to be pure and Orthodox I assure you you are much mistaken in your Expectations Now having received this Answer and had their Audience of Leave without effecting any part of their Negotiation It so happen'd That George their Master was dead before they returned Home which when his Brother Henry understood he immediately went to Dresâ—en and to the other great Towns and made the People swear Allegiance to him which they were the more inclinable to do because he was supported with the Interest of the League at Smalcald The Elector of Saxony also who knew how George's Will stood and what his designs were as soon as he heard of his Death made haste Home that he might be ready to assist Henry if need were This was a very considerable Addition to the Protestant Interest and a great and unexpected disappointment of the Roman Catholick Princes who were extreamly troubled at it especially the Elector of Mentz and Henry Duke of Brunswick as I shall have occasion to mention afterwards Thus George had an Heir and Successor quite contrary to his Inclinations and Luther whom he hated above all Men living was invited to Leipsick by the New Prince where he preached several Sermons and began to enter upon a Reformation This Year in May a Comet was seen and just about the same time Isabella the Emperor Charles's Wife died the French King as soon as he heard of it solemnized her Funeral at Paris according to the usual Ceremony among Princes I have already mentioned the Council of Vicenza which the Pope had Prorogued till Easter this Year but the Company not appearing at the time upon the Tenth of June he published another Bull in which he did not Prorogue it to a certain day but suspended it during the pleasure of the Conclave and himself Some few Months since the King of England published another Paper concerning the Council of Vicenza shewing how the Pope abus'd the World for his laying the Fault upon the Duke of Mantua is a ridiculous Excuse For if he hath so great a Power as he pretends why does he not force him to his Pleasure If he cannot do this why does he summon people upon uncertainties to a place which he hath not the command of And now though he hath pitched upon Vicenza for the same purpose yet there is no question but so wise a State as that of
Here they consulted about strengthening their League with new Alliances and how to prepare for a necessary defence in case the Emperor would not allow the Treaty at Francfort They likewise debated how the Church 〈◊〉 might be best disposed of as also concerning the sending an Ambassy into England to molliâ—le the King upon the Point of the late Act of Parlament made in Relation to Religion they resolved likewise upon an Address to the French King to entreat him not to Persecute Innocent People for the sake of Opinion and also about dispatching away their Ambassadors to the Emperor as soon as they had any certainty of his being in Flanders for there was a report as if he were come thither already And because some of the Confederates were absent and others had no Authority to treat in several Cases they agreed to meet at Smalcald upon the First of March to conclude the remaining Business At this Convention the Burghers of Riga a City of Livonia were received into the League They had a difference with their Archbishop which was the Case of a great many Towns in Germany they were concerned in the Alliance no farther than to be defended by the common Advocates of the Protestants in the Chamber of Spire and upon this account they paid the Confederates a Thousand five hundred Crowns Henry Duke of Saxony Brother of George was admitted into the League Two Years without any Incumbrance charged upon him because his Fortune was but small but with this Proviso That whenever his Circumstances were enlarged he should submit to the same Condition with the rest Therefore since he had now such a noble Inheritance fallen to him they assessed him his proportion of the Charge in his Meeting which ended upon the Tenth of December The Princes were not here in person but sent their Agents The Elector had also lately sent John Dulcius and Francis Burcart his Vice-Chancellor into England to be present at the Solemnity of the King's Marriage with Ann of Cleve whose Sister Sibill was his own Dutchess as I observed in the Sixth Book These Ambassadors therefore having this occasion were enjoined at Arnstet to treat with the King in the Name of the Confederates as was lately mentioned The Emperor having received a safe Conduct set forward in November with a very small Train when he came to the Frontiers of France next to Spain he found Henry and Charles the King's Sons there who had Horses laid to meet him the sooner The Constable likewise who went a great way before the Princes was there to wait on him with a great Attendance of Nobility Being thus received he was conveyed through the middle of France and through the fairest Cities and when he came to Loches in the Dukedom of Berry the King met him who was scarce then recovered of a late Distemper From thence he travelled to Orleans and came to Paris upon the First of January which he entered being placed in the middle between the King's Sons the Constable carrying the Sword before them Neither was there any sort of festival Solemnity or Respect omitted with which its possible for the Mind of Man to be entertained There came thither also Cardinal Alexander Farnese the Pope's Legate who with Cardinal Bellay the Archbishop of the Town received the Emperor in Nostre-Dame His Imperial Majesty after a weeks stay went for Flanders the King accompanying him to St. Quintins and his Sons as far as Valenciennes a Town in Hanault The King at this time was almost sure of recovering Milan but it fell out quite otherwise as will be shown afterwards When the Emperor was with the French King they both of them sent a very splendid Ambassy to the Venetians the Emperor sent Alphonso Davalo Governor of the Dutchy of Milan and the French King Claude Hanebald Governor of Piedmont These Ambassadors made a long Harangue to the Senate to perswade them to concur with these Two powerful Monarchs who were now united and to bend all their Forces against the Turk But the Venetians after they had parted with the Ambassadors in a very respectful Manner concluded upon a full Consideration of the Case That it was absolutely their Interest to get the Turk with whom they had a Truce already throughly reconciled to them At last therefore they came to a Treaty with him and bought their Peace by the Delivery of Napoli di Romania and Malvasia into his Hands Some say the French though in publick they pressed the same Opinion with the Emperor's Ambassadors yet they gave them private Caution to take care of their State and not run themselves upon so great Danger to which they were more exposed than others Indeed the French King himself in a certain Apology of his chargeth the Emperor with ruining the State of Venice which he says he had supported by his Assistance and recovered by his Mediation The Venetian Ambassador Aloisius Baduarius who was sent to the Port to treat about a Peace with the Turk was commanded to offer all his other Conditions first reserving the Two Towns for the last Necessity But the Sultan who had the Resolution of the Senate betrayed to him reprimanded the Ambassador for not sufficiently explaining his Instructions and would not conclude anything except those Places were consigned to him Baduarius was amaz'd to see the Secrets of the State betrayed but since the thing was out he agreed to the Proposition though with regret which possibly he must have made at last of his own accord When he came home he gave an Account of the whole Matter The Senate being wonderfully surprized at it after a most diligent Enquiry apprehended some Persons and upon their being found guilty beheaded them One of the Criminals took Sanctuary as it were in the Bishop of Montpellier's Lodgings the French Ambassador upon which Officers are sent to search the House but being denied Entrance the Senate ordered some Engines to be brought out of the Arsenal to batter down the House But the French when they saw what Danger they were in delivered up the Person The Senate afterwards gave the King an Account of their Proceedings in a Letter that he might not think his Ambassador affronted When the Emperor was come into Flanders King Ferdinand took a Journey from Austria to meet him And afterwards the Protestant Ambassadors came thither as they had agreed it at Arnstet These Gentlemen after they had in the beginning of their Speech wished the Emperor all Happiness and congratulated his Return into Germany told him They heard how they had been blacken'd by their Adversaries who charged them with Obstinacy and an Aversion to the supreme Magistrate that they were of a restless and turbulent Spirit and delighted in disturbing the Commonwealth They had often wished they said for an Opportunity to purge themselves of these Crimes before his Majesty and were very glad it was now in their Power to do it And first since God was
Protestants because of their Religion The End of the Twelfth Book THE HISTORY OF THE Reformation of the Church BOOK XIII The CONTENTS The Protestants make Answer to the Emperor's Demands and by many Arguments prove that they aim more at Piety and Religion in their Actions than at appropriating to themselves Church-lands and Possessions They also refute the Arguments of the King of England The Emperor having punished the City of Ghent orders a Meeting of the Protestants who answer his Letters The Pope sends his Legate Farnese the same who went with the Emperor from Paris to the Netherlands He makes a long invective Speech against the Protestants In the mean time the French King makes a League with the Duke of Cleve to whom he gives his Sisters Daughter in Marriage At this time the Pope was making War against the People of Perusia The King of England turns away Ann the Sister of the Duke of Cleve Some Points of Religion are accommodated in the Assembly of Haguenaw The rest are repriev'd to the Convention at Wormes appointed by King Ferdinand whither Granvell came and made a Speech Campeggio the Pope Legate came after who also makes a Speech The Conference is broken off and all the Negotiation put off till the Diet of Ratisbone Luther makes a smart Answer to the Book of Henry Duke of Brunswick wherein Mention is made of the dear Pall which the Pope of Rome sells The Treaty commences at Ratisbone The Emperor passes over into Barbary Granvell presents the Book called the Interim to the Conferrers The Duke of Cleve marries the King of Navarr's Daughter TO these things the Protestants April the Eleventh make Answer and in the first place say they we return our hearty Thanks to the Heer Granvell who hath always advised the Emperor to Moderation in this Affair a Virtue which deserves the highest Commendation And we pray God to confirm him in this so laudable a Resolution for what can be more glorious than to allay publick Grievances by prudent and moderate Counsels without Slaughter and Bloodshed Now we pray all Men in general not to think that we delight in the Clashings and Dissensions of Churches that we propose to our selves any private Advantage or that it is out of Frowardness that we have separated from other Nations contrary to the inveterate Custom of many Ages It was not out of Wantonness Rashness or Unadvisedness that we have exposed our selves to the implacable Hatred of our Adversaries that we have undergone so much Trouble and Toil so great Charges and Losses and the continual Dangers of so many Years No but when Division in Doctrine broke out in the Church which hath happened oftner than once of old we could not in Conscience resist the Truth for the Favour of Men and far less approve the Actions of those who with great Cruelty persecute the Innocent Nay on the contrary for so many weighty Reasons for such true and holy Causes we are constrained to oppose them and separate from them For it is manifestly known that they defend gross and intolerable Errors not only in Word but by Violence and Force of Arms Now it is the Duty of the Magistrate to protect his Subjects from unjust Force And because we hear that we lie under Suspicion as if we only minded our own Profit and Advantage and not the Glory of God nor Reformation of the Church we beseech the Heer Granvell that he would justify us in that Matter to the Emperor We are sensible enough of the Calumnies of that Nature which are dispersed far and near by our Adversaries with intent to bring our Persons and the true Religion we profess into contempt and hatred But in the Emperors honourable Council whom God hath placed in so eminent a Sphere Truth only should be enquired into and regarded and all false Informations discountenanced For the Reason why they hunt about for Pretexts to load us with that Aspersion and publickly traduce us is because they maintain a weak and unjust Cause because they see their own Errors blamed and condemned by all Men and cannot withstand the pure Light of the Gospel But it suits ill with the Character and Duty of Bishops so to urge and importune the Emperor about Lands and Revenues as if the Christian Religion stood or fell with them when in the mean time they take not the least Notice of those many and enormous Errors and Vices which they themselves cannot dissemble It ought indeed to be their first care to see Religion and the purer Doctrine preserved in their Churches But now their Thoughts are wholly taken up how they may defend their Wealth and Power their Luxury and Splendor They know well enough that the Contest is not about Church-lands and Possessions they themselves know that these are not the things we aim at but they use that as a Cloak and Veil to cover their own wicked Counsels in resisting the Truth that they may inflame the Minds of Kings and Princes to the Destruction of this Religion For no Man of our Profession hath invaded any part of Church Possessions within the Territories and Dominion of another nor deprived any Bishop of ought that was his but the Bishops themselves have slighted their Jurisdiction when the Profits thereof began to fall and indeed they know not how to administer the same Again The Colleges of the Canons Regular still enjoy all they had but they on the other hand have appropriated to themselves the Revenues of many of our Churches and discharge their People from paying us any yearly Rent And whereas they were wont formerly to allow somewhat of their yearly Revenues to the Ministers of the Church and Schoolmasters they are now so far from contributing anything that way that the Cities are necessitated to be at all the Charges And it is not like that these Cities which both lie under heavy Burthens and are exposed to great Dangers do espouse and maintain this Cause meerly for Covetousness sake But our Enemies especially such of them as hunt after Church Preferments maliciously accuse us so to the Emperor We could heartily wish that the Emperor were rightly informed of the present State of Monasteries why monastick Institutions have been change and how these Goods are employed partly for maintaining the Ministers of the Church and Teachers of the People and partly for other pious Uses We would the Emperor also understood how our Adversaries hook in to themselves all Profits and rob and spoil not only Monasteries but other Churches also so that within their Precincts many Churches are wholly slighted and the People degenerate into Paganism But before we speak any more of that Matter we beseech Granvell that in his own excellent Judgment he would weigh these things with himself For grant we might from hence reap some Advantage yet it may easily be imagined that the Controversie proceeds not from this but from a far different and more considerable Cause and that for
so small a Matter we would not expose our selves to so bitter Hatred to so much Labour Care and Danger Besides waving all Dangers if the daily Charges we are at in maintaining this Cause were compared with the Rents of these Monasteries it will soon appear how far the one comes short of the other and yet these Charges we have now born above Fifteen Years whilst our Dangers daily encrease with our Expences Let any Man also but consider the restless Endeavours and implacable Hatred of our Adversaries and then what Prince in the World can be thought so silly and inconsiderate as to put his whole Fortune to the risk for Goods of so small a value Wherefore we humbly beseech the Emperor not to entertain any such Suspicion of us for we preferr his Friendship and the publick Peace before all worldly Enjoyments Those of our Adversaries in like manner who are acquainted with the State of our Dominions and Affairs without doubt entertain no such Suspicion of us for they know that the least part of these Revenues accrue to us Now the chief and only Cause why with so much Burthen and Danger we profess this Doctrine is because God requires it of us that we should profess the Name and Gospel of his Son For he commands us to fly from all false and idolatrous Worship and by no means to approve the Cruelty of those who persecute the true Religion Now will we speak of the Possessions of Monasteries Answer the Complaints of our Adversaries and give the Reason why the Houses and Rents of Monks and Friars are converted into another Use When the Light of the Gospel began to shine in Germany and the Vices and Errors of Men were detected and condemned many and especially the more learned of their own Accord forsook that Pharisaical kind of Life and some of them that they might prosecute their Studies and follow some other honest Course of Life demanded some Allowance in Money Now this Change happening not only amongst us but also in the Monasteries of our Adversaries in all places where Monks and Friars remained we appointed good Men to inspect and censure false Doctrine and Worship For those also who chose rather to stay than to remove we provided necessary Sustenance and took particular Care that the Aged and Sick should want for nothing there being still some of these Monasteries within our Territories It was a Duty incumbent upon us indeed as Magistrates when once we knew the Truth to abolish false Religion and to take care that these Revenues should not be dissipated especially when the Monks in all places fell away and some of them had thoughts of appropriating the same to their own private Uses Besides there were none to be found in Monasteries fit to labour the Land or to mind domestick Affairs So then their State was changed for we thought it not fit to send for Monks and Friars from other places to put in their room least that might disturb our Churches and therefore we converted good part of their Revenues to pious Uses for maintenance of the Ministers of the Church free Schools and those that are afflicted with Poverty or Sickness And upon these Accounts the Revenues of Monasteries are somewhat impared but what is over and above is kept to be distributed amongst Priests whose Living are too small and poor young Scholars For the state of the Time is such now that by all means Ways ought to be thought on for educating Youth who may prove hereafter fit Instruments to serve both in Church and State. What more remains of these Goods we are ready to assign them to pious and publick Uses according to the Determination of a lawful Council when such shall be or of an Assembly of the Empire For to this Use ought the Goods of the Church to be applied as both the Holy Scripture and the Ancient Canons and Councils do testify Which being so we reciprocally do desire That our Adversaries will suffer those Goods to be applied to the like Uses For now in most Cities the Stipends of the Ministers of Parishes are either none at all or at least very inconsiderable and yet in the mean time the Bishops and other Prelates who enjoy these Possessions discharge no Office neither in Churches nor Schools Wherefore to the great Prejudice of the State publick Schools run daily more and more into Decay Therefore as we said before some Remedy must be found to heal this Wound God made Mankind and appointed Magistrates for that end that in such Assemblies Men should learn the true Knowledge of himself And therefore it is the part of Kings and Princes to take care that so necessary Duties should be performed We for our parts are ready to give Security that within our Territories these Possessions shall be applied to a right and lawful Use provided our Adversaries do the same and that 's but reason since we see idle and debauched Men that are of no use but indeed a Burthen to the State squandering away those Revenues in Luxury and Riot And would to God the Emperor knew all of our Adversaries how that in those places within their Territories where our Churches have yearly Revenues they receive them and keep them for their own Use And when we demand what belongs to us and give them mutually Leave to receive the Rents of their Churches within our Bounds they reject the Offer and are therein supported by the Imperial Chamber However it is a common Proverb That Equality is the Nurse of Peace and if they laid to Heart the Peace and Tranquility of Germany they would not certainly act in the manner they do But the Truth is they spare not their own Churches imposing and demanding new Dues of them And because they banish learned Preachers out of their Countries many Parishes are destitute and solitary and the Church Revenues squandered away Again they so exhaust the Monasteries that in some places it is a Proverb amongst the Monks That there is nothing at all left to them but the Bells to Ring and the Choire to Sing in which gives occasion to Licentiousness and threatens Religion sometime or other with a fatal blow It would be really very acceptable to us if the Emperor would examine the whole matter and dilligently inquire Where it is that the Ministers of the Church are most civilly and kindly used Schools best ordered the Functions and Ministry of the Church most decently performed whether in our Territories or amongst our Adversaries If the Emperor would give himself this trouble we needed not make any Apology to justifie and defend the matter of Fact for the thing it self would speak in our behalf and move him to set about a true Reformation of the Church But now that Cruelty is practised that harmless Priests are put to Death and that there are no limits set to Severity it will come to pass that fit Men being removed out of the way gross Barbarity will ensue and
be propagated to posterity It is manifest then that Covetousness and desire of Lucre is not to be Objected to us when besides Trouble and Dangers there comes nothing to our share and our Adversaries in the mean time without any regard to the Pope whom they usually magnifie so much make what booty they please of the Church Revenues and besides bestow great Rewards and Gifts upon some that they may obstinately Persecute the true Religion That we also submit the rest of Church-Possessions to the Determination of a Council we hope will be sufficient to justifie us in the Opinions of all Good Men. But that it should be imputed to us by our Adversaries That we do but dissemble and play the Hypocrites as often as we speak of Reconciliation and as if that were only done that we may put a stop to the Emperor's Designs pervert the matters and hinder a lawful Trial as a thing that does very much trouble and afflict us for what can be more wicked and base than to make a blind pretext of Piety and Religion We therefore desire seeing that is a very heinous Accusation that the Emperor would patiently and attentively examine those things which we are to say in our own defence When Ten Years ago our Enemies made a great complaint to the Emperor in the Diet of Ausburg concerning our Churches and that we were enjoined to give an account of our Doctrine Religion and Ceremonies we acted nothing craftily nor in hugger-mugger but in plain Terms gave an open profession of our Doctrine that all might be convinced that it agreed with the Doctrines of the Apostles and we make no doubt but that was a means of bringing many to embrace our Religion when they saw that we taught nothing contrary to the From of the Ancient Church but only shewed and detected the Errors which had slipp'd into the Church For it cannot be denied but that many and grievous Errors had crope in the Doctrine of Repentance was frigid and perplexed not a word preached of Grace received by Christ and the Remission of Sins the Lord's Supper was in a horrid manner and wholly corrupted and contaminated by the Popish Mass for it is known that private Mass is but a new thing introduced partly through Ignorance and partly out of Covetousness because Marriage was denied to Priests there was nothing to be heard but Instances of the foulest Incontinence the Doctrine of the Keys and Power of the Church was altogether slighted and the Pope arrogated all that Power to himself only for the Confirmation of his own Dominion and Rule and loaded the minds of Men with almost infinite numbers of Precepts and Laws which learned and judicious Men often bewailed but no care was had of setting able Men over the Churches What our Opinion was of those many and necessary matters we declared before the Emperor at Ausburg and Books on that Subject written by Men of our Profession are publickly extant Many learned Men also of other Nations confess That they had the Knowledge of the true Doctrine from these Books so that then we shun not the Light. And when a Reconciliation was attempted at Ausburg we acted not Fraudulently nor Craftily but shewed our selves to be desirous of agreement and that if our Adversaries would have received the Principal Doctrines we should not have been very scrupulous nor contentious about indifferent Things And though the Ways then propos'd by us were moderate yet our Treatment was neither too Friendly nor Impartial Nay would to God the Emperor knew how our Adversaries that were Commissionated then behaved themselves for they often protested in the beginning of all Treaties that they would not depart a Hairs breadth from their own Opinion and Doctrine but that all they did was only to bring us over to their Judgment Wherefore they began to speak of Doctrines of the Invocation of Saints of Private Mass and Satisfaction affirming that there was no Error in them That was not then a Conference wherein the Truth was sifted by solid Arguments and testimonies of Scripture but it was a kind of haughty and pompous Confirmation of manifest Errors And because we did not then acquiesce to them they now construe that as if we had only made a shew of Treating about Accommodation not with any real and sincere design of Success but only to shuffle with the Emperor and elude a Trial For so they understand the word Reconciliation as if we should abandon the Truth and approve their Cause But after the Conference at Ausburg these things were no more debated which nevertheless was not our fault for it is our chief desire that good and learned Men may conferr of all these matters and freely give their Judgment concerning them Wherefore we pray all Men not to give credit to this their Accusation for if we shunned the Light or were ashamed of our Cause we might easily forsake it and ingratiate our selves with them but seeing we are convinced that of all Causes this is the most pious and necessary therefore we undergo all this Labour submit to all Losses and Dangers and profess the Doctrine of Christ which we desire to retain and propagate longing for a Reformation of the Church with Peace and Concord and what a Year since we protested at Francfort we now also profess that we will not decline a Conference nor treaty of Reconciliation Which that no Man may be mistaken we so understand that following the Scripture as our Guide Truth may be sought after Error abolished and true Doctrine take place in Churches For otherwise all Labour and Pains will be in vain Christ the Son of God made known to us his Will and Doctrine from the Bosom of the Father He is to be heard and only to acknowledged for our Judge Now all the Emperor's Edicts and Proclamations sufficiently show also that this Affair ought to be orderly and lawfully debated but we do not think that our Adversaries method of proceeding at the Diet of Ausburg has been made known unto him But now what our mind is and upon what Grounds we proceed may be seen in the publick and printed Confession of our Faith which we are certain does agree with Holy Scripture and therefore we cannot forsake it Besides this Doctrine which is the chief and Foundation of all the rest there are some other mean and as it were indifferent things as concerning Ceremonies Ordination of Priests Jurisdiction Visiters Church-Goods matrimonial Causes c. all Controversies as to these may in our Judgment be reconciled if first there were an Agreement about those necessary Points For so long as our Adversaries impugn the chief Matters and go on in a way of Cruelty the difference cannot be removed How in that some endeavour to perswade the Emperor that our Doctrine is blended with many Heresies and Errors they do us an Injury for if they have any thing of that nature to Object unto us they may do it publickly and
they shall be answered And if perhaps there be any thing in our Apology too briefly or not plainly enough expressed we will explain it Again if it be convenient to alter any thing that hath been Printed and Published we will not be Obstinate when once the Fault is detected We know also that the weak and unlearned are offended that the same Laws are not every where observed in all our Churches And though there is no necessity of retaining the same Form every where provided the Doctrine be the same yet we do not refuse but that may also be handled in some Assembly Since therefore we have laid open our Thoughts and Intentions we beseech the Heer Granvell that he would advise and perswade the Emperor to reform and settle Peace in the Church For though manifest Vices and Errors may be defended by Power and Force yet God will always stir up those that shall confute and reprove them How unjust and contrary to the Law of Nature it is also to attempt by Force and Arms the Suppression of the true Religion is obvious enough to be understood The Emperor Constantine gave the Donatists twice a publick Hearing though they taught Doctrines manifestly false and he himself was present at a Third Hearing they had that nothing might be Decreed against them till he had been exactly informed of the whole matter a most excellent Example which ought to admonish us of Meekness and Moderation And since at this time also there are many most weighty Matters under debate we hope the Emperor will attempt nothing by Arms before a fair Hearing and Trial and therefore we humbly Petition his Imperial Majesty that he would appoint a Conference which by his Deputy he promised us at Francfort For it properly belongs to his Charge to consult the Salvation of Men especially when Popes are inflamed with most bitter hatred and have no other aim than to incease Kings and Princes against Innocent People that they may be dragg'd away to the Slaughter The Emperor also deserves high Applause and Commendation which will be celebrated by Posterity that hitherto he hath not given way to those sanguinary Councils And indeed it is the Will and Command of God That all Good-will and Protection should be shown to the Ministers of his Church Now the Report that is spread Abroad as if we enclined to the Emperor's Enemies is a Calumny of the same nature as the former For it can be made out that in time of the War we supplied the Emperor's Generals both with Work-men and Powder and that we enjoined our People to gratifie them in every thing they could Conditions it 's true were at that time offerred unto us and those neither inconsiderable nor inconvenient but we rejected them all upon no other consideration than that we might demonstrate our Loyalty and Affection towards the Emperor And if any one should be informed against as to that particular and the thing done openly we are of Opinion that the Emperor would be satisfied with his Justification Now it is our desire that Granvell would weigh all these things with himself and also represent them to the Emperor recommending to his Majesty at the same time our Duty and Services with a publick Reconciliation For unless a stop be put to that Persecution of Holy Men and such extraordinary Cruelty a horrid Desolation in all Churches will certainly ensue since the Popes and Bishops had rather have no Religion at all than admit of a Reformation We also desire that he would present to the Emperor our Grievance concerning the Imperial Chamber for many of our Associates are most unjustly oppressed by them contrary to Law and the Emperor's Edicts and for the smallest matters most grievous Suits are commenced against them as is notoriously manifest in the Case of Minden The Action was only for Threescore Florins which the Senate applied to the use of a Parish to which they really belonged and had of ancient time been applied but our Adversaries had rather that thet small Revenue should be filthily spent by useless and idle Drones And though the Clergy of that City wallow in Riches yet by no means will they suffer that small Pittance of Money to be taken from them and employed as it ought to be in the Service of the Church For this so inconsiderable a Trifle the Judges of the Imperial Chamber have prosecuted the City of Minden with the utmost Rigour and outlawed them Now it is our Desire that this so great Insolence of theirs may be in general restrained and all those Suits laid aside as it was agreed upon with the Mediators at Francfort for this must of necessity be done if the Emperor would see Peace in Germany And indeed what else are these Sentences and Condemnations of theirs but Alarms to make us prepare for War Against which the very Law of Nature warrants us to defend our selves For if the Emperor repress them not and others in the mean time raise Forces what can we judge but they are designed against us Which may give occasion to a great Combustion though sore against our Wills. We therefore pray the Heer Granvell that he would supplicate the Emperor in our Names to grant us that Peace which has been so often begged and desired When they had thus answered on the Thirteenth of April they put an end to their Deliberations having enjoined their Divines to refute the Arguments of the King of England concerning the Points of Doctrine we mentioned and that the Book should be afterwards sent thither To which if the English Divines should answer and any Hope 's appeared of a future Agreement it was resolved not to refuse a Conference but that they should make a League with him upon any other account than that of Religion no Man thought it convenient A Decree was also made for making Intercession to the French King for those that suffered for Religion in France but so That first they should be informed of the State of France and of the King's Mind and whether or not their Mediation would be well taken Afterwards Decrees were made concerning Church-Lands and the several Grievances Those of Hailbrun were also advised to abolish the Popish Mass in some Churches which they had not as yet done promising them Aid if they should chance to incur any Danger thereby Lastly They enact what was to be done if the Emperor should either reject a Peace or answer ambiguously or if the Imperial Chamber should proceed in their wonted way or Forces should be secretly raised During these Transactions the Emperor punished the Men of Ghent puting the Authors of the Sedition to Death and disarming the rest But that was not all for he deprived them of their Privileges and Immunities built a Castle and put therein a Garrison to curb them It has been a common thing for that City to resist their Princes as we have observed before Thus they served Charles Duke of Burgundy the
January where all should be present Afterwards Granvell himself came to Wormes accompanied by the Bishop of Arras his Son and some Spanish Divines Muscosa Malvenda and Carobello where having produced his Commission and the Emperor's Instructions in the Assembly he made a Speech on the Five and Twentieth Day of November And excusing the Emperor and King Ferdinand that they could not be present he enlarged upon the paternal Care and Affection that the Emperor had for the publick who desired nothing more earnestly than that long and inveterate Dissension might be removed which was very pernicious both to Church and State That he made no doubt but they themselves were sensible of the present Calamity and thought it necessary that there should be a Reformation in the Church That nothing therefore would more concern them in Duty than to prevent the spreading of this Evil by their sound and pious Counsels For that as when a Fire broke out in a City it is the Inhabitants part to quench it even so were they now to do that Peace and Concord might be re-established That moreover they should ponder with themselves and set before their Eyes what an Inundation of Evils had by this Dissension broke in upon Germany For that not to mention the Blood and Slaughter Religion was banished Charity quite exstinguished in the Hearts and Minds of Men all the Beauty and Ornament of the ancient Catholick Church defaced and that in short the Eloquence of no Mans Tongue was able to express the greatness and extent of the misery That Germany had heretofore flourished in Zeal for Religion and in all kinds of Vertue but that now it was sadly degenerated and looked upon as the Head and Source of all the Disorders of Christendom That unless then a Remedy were applied to this Distemper all things would grow worse and worse and run to ruine And that as the Emperor had appointed this Conference for examining the Truth and advancing the Glory of God so were they to bring along with them no ambitious nor covetous Minds but pious and moderate Dispositions and look up only to Christ who now with out-stretched Arms desired the same of all of them That that was also the chief desire and wish of the Pope the most August Emperor and King Ferdinand that therefore he adjured them by the Death and Sufferings of Christ and all that was Holy and Sacred that they would mend and make whole again the seamless Coat of our Lord which was rent and torn all over being therein mindful of the Name of Christians which they took upon them in their Holy Baptism and being mindful also of the renowned Province of Germany their common and native Country For that unless they would be reconciled all the Evils that might afterwards ensue from that Obstinacy and Frowardness of Mind would be imputed to them but and if they managed that weighty Affair with Soberness and Modesty they would do God most acceptable Service and extreamly oblige the Emperor who would make it his Endeavours that the whole matter should be accomplished in the next Diet of the Empire After the Death of the Vayvode the Guardians and other Nobles sent Ambassadors to the Grand Seignior and recommended the Child to his Protection The Turk promised to defend him and sent him Presents King Ferdinand also understanding this sent Jerome a Laski who some Years before had Revolted from the Vayvode from Haguenaw to Constantinople as a fit person to make the Turk his Friend Returning afterwards Home he thought it best to begin a War before the Queen Dowager and the Guardians of the Child should be in a readiness Which being known at Constantinople Solyman committed Alaski to Prison as most privy to Ferdinand's Designs and at the same time sent Aid which being hindered by the Winter Weather came a little too late Next Day after Granvell had spoken they began to treat of Clerks and Notaries and on each Side Two were chosen carefully to take Notes of all that pass'd and keep them The Protestants appointed on their part Caspar Cruciger and Wolfgang Musculus both Divines On the Eighth of December after Thomas Campeggio Bishop of Feltri the Popes Legate made a Speech and having promised some things concerning Peace which Christ so much recommended to us and lamented also the Condition of Germany some Popes said he and especially Paul III. had already essayed all Means to have delivered it from this Calamity and had therefore called a Council lately at Vicenza But that when after some Months Expectation none came to it it had been of necessity put off to another time That now the Emperor the eldest and most obedient Son of the Church the Protector also and Advocate of the same had appointed this Conference as a certain preparatory Prelude to the Proceedings of the future Diet at Ratisbone And that with his Will and Consent and by Command of the Pope he was come thither and earnestly intreated them that they would direct all their Counsels to Unity and Concord For that the Pope would do any thing in order thereunto that he could with Safety to Religion The Presidents and Moderators of the Assembly made this Law at first That the Acts of the Conference should not be communicated to any Man unless he were appointed to be one of the Number and that they should not be made publick neither before a full Report of all were made to the Emperor Then they required the Protestants to produce in Writing those Heads of Doctrine which they were fully resolved to stick to There was a long Debate betwixt them about these things as also concerning the Form of the Oath the Number of the Coâ—â—ocutors and the way of giving their Voices For when the Catholicks perceived that the Deputies of the Elector Palatine the Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Cleve favoured the Protestants they were afraid they should be out-voted and therefore purposely drove off the Time from Day to Day until they should have other Orders from the Emperor as shall be said hereafter So then on the Second of January they propounded new and strange Conditions as that Two Divines should be chosen out of the whole Number to reason about the Question proposed That their Arguments and Discourse being taken by the Clerks should be carried to the Presidents That the lesser Number should not be obliged to follow the Opinion of the greater unless the Emperor and States of the Empire decreed it should be so That the Clerks should not write down all the Discourse of the Conferrers but only their bare Opinions whether reconciled or controverted And that nevertheless the Decree of Ausburg and the like should still continue in Force On the contrary The Protestants demanded that since on both sides there were Twenty two appointed for the Conference every one might have Leave to speak their Minds And that not only the bare Opinions but also
publick and understand also the Reasons why he came not sooner into Germany that what trouble pains and charges he was at in supporting the Government of the Empire he would in due time make it so plain to them that all should be convinced that nothing was dearer unto him than the Welfare of Germany nor would he mention neither what vast Expences he was put to daily in maintaining a Fleet at Sea to withstand the Encroachments of the Turks That he was come and in great haste too to this Diet though his Health and other Affairs had been a great hindrance unto him That besides he had moved the Pope to send a Legate hither and that accordingly Cardinal Contarini was come a Man of great Vertue and a Lover of Peace That therefore since this Diet was called chiefly for settling the Affairs of Religion and that nothing was yet determined therein though it might be of dangerous consequence if an end were not put to these Divisions it was his earnest desire that a Reconciliation might be made and that he would willingly contribute thereunto whatever lay in his Power That he expected the like Will and Inclinations from them and therefore was importunate with them that they would consult about measures for accommodating the Controversies and the manner of proceeding therein and that they might perceive how much he loved Concord it was his Advice provided they knew of no better Expedient that of the whole number a few good and learned Men that were desirous of Peace and Germans Born should be chosen to conferr amicably about the matters in Controversie and how they might be adjusted and then to make their Report to him and their own States that the thing being afterwards deliberated amongst them and communicated to the Popes Legate a Decree might accordingly pass That this course had been looked upon as the most convenient both at Ausburg heretofore and lately at Wormes but with this proviso That it be no derogation to the Decree of Ausburg To these things the Protestants answered April the Ninth and having praised and extolled the Virtues and Goodness of the Emperor they craved that the Conference of Wormes might be continued as being transferred to this place That to what his Majesty offered of commissionating some new they would give their Answer they said when they should learn from him who the Persons were But the other Princes and States having given their Answer April the Twelfth throughly approve his Council and mainly urge That the Decree of Ausburg may continue in Force and Authority Afterward the Emperor demanded of both especially of the Protestants that they would referr the choice of the Persons to him and confide in him as to that particular who would do nothing but what should tend to the Peace and Welfare of the Country When that was granted him on the Thirteenth of April he caused Frederick Prince Palatine in his Name to appoint for the Conference Julius Pflug John Eckius John Gropper Philip Melancthon Martin Bucer and John Pistorius that they should handle the controverted Points of Doctrine and then make a Report thereof to him and the Princes He afterwards called them before him April the Two and twentieth and gave them a long and serious Admonition that in handling of this matter they should not be swayed by Passion nor Affection but have regard only to the Glory of God. They all modestly excused themselves desiring that other fitter persons might be appointed except Eckius who said that he was prepared and ready but when the Emperor urged it upon them they submitted and at the same time entreated him to add some more to their number who might be present partly as presidents and Moderators and partly as Witnesses and Hearers of the Proceedings He therefore named Frederick Prince Palatine and Granvell for Presidents and Theodorick Count Manderschitt Eberhard Ruden Henry Haseu Francis Burcart John Fig and James Sturmey for Witnesses Now when they all met April the Twenty seventh Frederick Prince Palatine made a Speech and advised the Conferrers seriously to set about the matter and conferr amicably Then Granvell presented to them a Book in Writing which he said had been delivered to the Emperor by some good and learned Men as a proper means for a future Reconciliation That it was therefore the Emperor's Pleasure that they should peruse and weigh that Book as a lawful Argument and Matter to treat on commend what all of them approved therein and correct what was amiss That Book contained these Heads of Doctrine Of the Creation of Man and of the Uprightness of Nature before the Fall Of free Will Of the cause of Sin Of original Sin Of Man's Justification Of the Church and the Marks and Authority thereof Of the Mark of the Word Of Repentance after the Fall Of the Authority of the Church in discerning and interpreting Scripture Of the Sacraments Of Orders Baptism Confirmation the Lord's Supper Penance and Absolution Matrimony Extream Unction Of the Bond of Charity Of the Hierarchy of the Church and its Authority in settling Discipline and Government Of Images Of the Mass Of the Administration of the Sacraments and of the Discipline of the Church both as to Ministers and People In the Month of May the Protestants wrote from Ratisbone to the French King interceding for those of the Protestant Religion in Provence who were partly in Prison partly banished and partly forced to abscond and lead a miserable Life for their Profession and because some were received into Favour if they would renounce their Religion they desired he would release them from that condition shewing what a grievous thing it was to force Mens Consciences This Persecution proceeded from a Sentence pronounced the Year before against the Inhabitants of Merindole a Village of Provence by the Parliament of Aix which being exceeding terrible and cruel put the poor people into extream Terror and Apprehension However the full Execution of it was put off to another time and this Year's Persecution was but a Play in respect of that which followed four Years after as shall be said in the proper place Whilst these things are in agitation at Ratisbone William Duke of Cleve whose implacable Enemy the Emperor was because of his Possession of Guelderland went privily into France having appointed a day and place for those whom he designed to have with him to come to him by several ways When about the end of April he arrived at Paris he was received by the King's Officers and being conducted by Orleans on the Sixth of May he came to the King who was then at Amboise a Town in Turin upon the Loire The King embracing him as a Father would a Son sends presently word to the King of Navarre and his Sister that they should come to him as soon as possibly they could and bring their Daughter with them for they were at that time in Guienne Upon their coming
the Opinions of all made a new Proposition and recapitulating what had been represented before that the Cause could not be finally determined then that there was present Danger threatned from the Turk in more Places than one and that much Time was already spent told them That he would referr the Matter wholly to the Council which both the Legate had put him in certain Hopes of and he himself would sollicite the Pope about He also promised to return into Germany and desired the Protestants that in the mean time they would not attempt any thing more than what had been agreed upon by the Divines Next he advised the Bishops and other Prelates to take such Courses in rectifying the Abuses of their several Churches as might prepare the Way for a publick Reformation All generally praised the Emperor's good Intentions and were of Opinion that the Pope's Legate also should seriously enjoin the Bishops to purge and reform their Churches The Protestants promised to behave themselves both as to the reconciled Doctrines and every thing else according to their Duty desiring that other Princes might have free Leave to propound those Doctrines in their own Churches also We have already told you that Eckius was sick both of the Book produced by the Emperor and of the Collocutors also When therefore after the Conference it was returned to the Emperor as has been mentioned and the Matter brought into Debate in the Assembly of the Princes He being ill of a Fever sent a Letter to the Princes to this effect That he had never liked that insipid Book wherein he found so many Errors and therefore ought not to be admitted for that the Use and Custom of the Fathers was therein slighted and the Phrase and Cant of Melancthon to be found in it all over That he had not seen the Book as it was corrected by his Collegues and afterwards delivered back to the Emperor but that only some of the Lutheran Doctrines had been read over to him as he lay sick That far less had he approved that Writing which was presented to the Emperor with the Book nor indeed had he ever seen it When this came to the Knowledge of Julius Pflug and John Gropper who thought their Reputation therein concerned they prayed the Presidents and Auditors of the Conference as being Witnesses of all the Proceedings that they would do them right and defend their good Name against the Calumnies of Eckius These inform the Emperor of the Matter who afterwards in a publick Paper gave a fair and honourable Character of both declaring that they had acted as it became good and honest Men. The Cause of Religion we told you before was referred to a general or provincial Council of Germany But when this came to the Knowledge of Contarini he sent a Letter to all the States dated the Twenty sixth of July desiring that the last might be dashed out and cancelled for that Controversies about Religion ought not to be determined by such Councils but that they belonged to the Decision of the universal Church That whatsoever also was determined privately by any one Nation in Matters of that nature was void and of no effect That so they would much gratify the Pope the Head of the Church and Council if they would omit that whereas it would be very troublesom unto him if they did otherwise for that it would give Occasion to more and far greater Scandals as well in other Provinces as chiefly in Germany And that this was the thing he had to acquaint them with from the Pope and in discharge of his own Duty The Princes made Answer the same Day That it lay in the Pope's Power to prevent any Scandals or Troubles upon that Account by calling of a Council which had now for so many Years been promised That if he did not call it and that speedily too the State of Germany was such that there was an absolute Necessity of taking some other Course to make up the Breaches of the Publick which could not subsist longer with Safety in so inveterate a Dissention That therefore they earnestly desired the Pope would apply some Remedy and that he himself according to his Prudence and Candor would promote the Matter The Protestant Divines also in a long Writing refute the Letter of Contarini proving it to belong to every particular Province to establish the true Religion and Worship of God. These Things done the Emperor made a Decree and caused it to be read on the Eight and twentieth of July wherein he referrs the Conference of the Doctors and the whole Affair to a Council to an Assembly either of all Germany or of the States of the Empire In his Progress into Italy he promises to intercede earnestly with the Pope for a Council and that if neither a general nor national Council could be obtained he assured them of an imperial Diet to be called within Eighteen Months for settling the Differences about Religion and that he would use his Endeavours to perswade the Pope to send a Legate to it The Protestants he commanded not to attempt any new thing besides the Articles accommodated and the Bishops also to reform the Vices and Abuses of their Churches There were other Heads in the Decree as Of not demolishing Religious Houses Of not misapplying Church Revenues Of not tampering with one another to make them change their Religion and Of the Jurisdiction and Members of the Imperial Chamber But the Protestants being somewhat dissatisfied with these things the Emperor in a private Paper told them separately what his Intentions therein were That he prescribed no Rule to them in the Points not as yet reconciled That he would not indeed have Religious Houses demolished but that the Monks and Friars should be brought to a pious Reformation That Church-men should in all Places be allowed to enjoy their yearly Revenues without any Respect to the Diversity of Religion That no Person of another Jurisdiction should be allured over to their Religion and much less be defended upon that account but that still they might admit of any Person who should willingly come over unto them Moreover that for Peace and Quietness Sake he suspended the Decree of Ausburg as far as it concerned Religion and all Processes that were doubtful whether they related to Religion or not in like manner all Proscriptions and namely that of Goslar until the Matter should be determined in some Council or Diet That no Man should be excluded from the Imperial Chamber for differing in Religion but that Justice should be indifferently administred to all When they had obtained this Grant from the Emperor under Hand and Seal they promised Assistance against the Turk of whose Approach there was fresh News daily brought besides there were Ambassadors come both from Hungary and Austria who earnestly begged for Aid wherefore there was a present Supply of Germans sent into Hungary under the Command of
over us he looks upon himself as God's Scourge and thinks none can escape his Vengeance Since then our Transgressions are most grievous what can we promise our selves or how shall we be able to stand out against him This is certainly the only remedy That all things are in the Hands of God It is God that giveth and taketh away Empires that smiteth and healeth again who invites us to Repentance by offering unto us the knowledge of his Word which he always does before he afflicts So sent he before the Prophet Jonas to the Ninevites and pardoned them when they Repented so was he favourable to Nebuchadnezzar King of Assyria when he followed the Counsel of Daniel We truly know no other Medicine most dread Sovereign than that the Word of God be purely taught and the People stirred up to amendment of Life that in confidence thereof they may withstand the Violence of the Turks for in the true worshipping of God all our safety consists Many Errors have crept into the Church it cannot be denied which being in this our time discovered have occasioned great Dissensions But in the late Diet of the Empire many Points of Religion have been agreed upon and for a certain time Peace given to Religion Besides the Bishops have been enjoined to reform the Abuses of their Churches Now if that accommodation be denied to us and if any one incurr danger for following those Heads of Doctrine which have been accorded it is obvious enough to think how grievous a thing that will be Wherefore we humbly beseech your Majesty to give command that the Gospel may be purely taught especially that Point of Doctrine which relates to Justification to wit That our Sins are pardoned through Christ alone In the next place that Men be exhorted to the practice of Charity and good Works which are as it were the Fruit and Signs of Faith Let them also be made afraid of Sin and accustomed to give God Thanks that through his Mercy we are by Jesus Christ delivered from Sin Death and Hell and made Inheriters of the Kingdom of Heaven In like manner that they who desire it may have the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper given them according to the Custom of the Primitive Church That Injunctions be also laid upon the Bishops that according to the late Decree of the Empire they reform what is amiss in the Church that they appoint able Ministers to instruct the People and not turn out sound Preachers as they have always done hitherto And though because of the inveterate corruption this Reformation cannot be brought about of a sudden yet the pure Administration of Doctrine and the Sacraments ought to take place in Churches because our Salvation dependeth thereupon and it is necessary it should be so that the People who are now ignorant and under no Discipline and has scarcely any tincture of the knowledge of God may be brought again into the right way for there are very many Churches altogether destitute whence it comes to pass that the common sort of People wholly degenerate into Paganism so that with much ado they can be restrained from it which with great grief and sorrow we now mention and therefore we pray your Majesty that in so pious and necessary a Mark you would not be wanting to us And let not your Majesty think that we so importunately beg this that we may thereby have greater Liberty or that we are given to Changes For we acknowledge that our Salvation rests only upon Christ that the knowledge of the Gospel is to be adorned by Holiness of Living and we own our selves to obey and serve you with our Lives and Fortunes Now seeing it is so we humbly pray that we may have the benefit of the Decree lately made and that they who shall follow the form of Doctrine mentioned by us before may not be molested in their Religion for by that means Ministers will be found for the Churches and your People will have greater courage to Fight against that most cruel Enemy who for our Impiety and Ingratitude hath by God's permission hitherto been so often Victorious and hath so many times triumphed over us This Petition was presented in the Name of the Nobility and States of Austria by Four and twenty Noblemen and Ten Cities amongst which was Vienna besides their Neighbours of Stiria and Carniola who therein joined with them To these things King Ferdinand made Answer That he was extreamly grieved for the Calamities they mentioned not doubting but they were the Judgments of God for the Sins and Wickedness of the People and that he had many times enjoined the Ministers of the Church diligently to exhort Men to the Amendment of Life But that it increased his Sorrow to find that his Endeavours had met with so little Fruit which was the Reason why lately before he departed from Lintz he had renewed the same Commands as was well known unto them That he never was against it neither but that the Word of God should be rightly taught according to the Tradition of the Apostles and Interpreters received and approved by the Church That he was still in the same Mind and never to the best of his Knowledge punished any Person for following this Form That at present also he would command the Churchmen that according to the last Decree of the Empire they would endeavour to banish Vice reform their Churches and employ able Doctors to teach the People That they themselves knew how zealously and painfully he had bestirred himself in endeavouring to quiet and compose this Difference about Religion That the same was now his chief Desire and that he had good Hopes that either in a General or National Council of Germany or else in a Diet of the Empire the whole Matter might be determined and brought to a Period and that therefore he promised himself the same thing of them That they would submissively wait for that Reconciliation and without attempting any Change or Innovation follow the Footsteps of their Forefathers walking in the old way of their Religion as well as of their Duty and Obedience and that they should not think the Decree of Ratisbone any way concerned them the Intent whereof was only that the Catholicks should continue in the old Religion and the Protestants in that which they followed at the time of the Accommodation untill the meeting of either of the Two Councils or the Diet of the Empire to be called within eighteen Months That since it was so he could not allow his People to act any thing to the contrary They again petition to the same Purpose but in few Words praying that the pure Worship of God may be established and the true Ministers of the Church brought into no Danger For that otherwise it was in vain for them to expect any Victory or good Success against the Turks A little after this died the Bishop of Naumburg and Julius Pflug whom we mentioned was by
Christ which nevertheless suits neither with the Doctrine nor Name of Christ Not with his Doctrine because he forbids us to resist Evil or to revenge a Wrong nor with his Name neither because in so great Armies there is hardly perhaps Five true Christians to be found most of them being worse than the Turks themselves whilst in the mean time all take to themselves that Name which indeed is an Affront and Injury done to Christ when his Name is in this manner defamed and vilified and would be far more if the Pope and Bishops carried Arms also and marched out into the Field with the rest For since it is their peculiar Office to resist the Devil by the Word of God and Prayer it is very undecent that they should leave that Station and make use of Sword and Pistol that ought to be the Care of the civil Magistrate and the Offices are distinct But it is now long since the Popes invented those things though they be forbid to do it by the Laws and Canons of our Ancestors How unsuccessful have Wars hitherto been for wrongfully arrogating the Name of Christ the thing it self makes it manifest since Rhodes and the best part of Hungary being now lost we have the Turk at our very Doors And how unlucky it is to have the Confederacy of Papists in a War may be seen by the Battle of Varna and the Overthrow of King Ladislaus who was perswaded by Cardinal Julian to engage the Enemy It may be seen also by the late Overthrow received Two Years since when King Lowis miserably perished Having made this Preface he came to the Matter it self saying That God was in the first to be reconciled and enjoining the Ministers of the Church to exhort Men to Repentance Afterwards he lays open the Religion and Impiety of the Turks and says That it properly belongs to the Emperor to make War against them not for Revenge Vain-glory or Profit but out of Duty that he may defend his Subjects from Injury That the Emperor was not to be excited to this War neither as being the Head of Christendom Protector of the Church and Defender of the Faith since these were false and vain-glorious Titles and injurious to Christ who alone defends his own Church And that the Injury was the greater in that most part of Kings and Princes were sworn Enemies to the true Religion That therefore the Turk was to be fought against and resisted not because he is of different Religion but because he Robs and Spoils carries on a most unjust War and brings along with him the Examples of a most foul and shameful Life Then comparing both together he affirms that the Roman Papacy is no better than Turcism and that as the Turk by his Alcoran so the Pope by his Decretals hath extinguished the Light of the Gospel That what he does by open Force the Pope does the same by his Curse and Excommunication That both lay a Reproach upon Marriage and are punished saith he for the Contempt of the Law of God which institutes Matrimony when being wholly rejected of God they burn in filthy Lusts and most flagitiously invert the Order of Nature Lastly speaking of the Power of the Turks he advises them not to be secure but war circumspectly as knowing that they had to do with the cruelest of Enemies These and the like Points of Doctrine were the Subject of that Book we mentioned But now when at the Perswasion of the Emperor and King Ferdinand the States of the Empire had decreed a War against the Turk he published another Treatise a Military-Sermon as I said that the Ministers of the Church who followed the Camp as is common might have some Form set before them of Teaching and Exhorting The first thing then saith he is that Men understand what they are to think of the Turk For the Scripture prophesieth of Two cruel Tyrants who are to lay wast and plague the Christian World before the last Day of Judgment the one by false Doctrine of whom Daniel and after him St. Paul speaks and this is the Pope of Rome And the other by Force and Arms to wit the Turk of whom Daniel speaks in his Seventh Chapter Let those therefore who will be Christians put on Resolution and expect no Peace no quiet Life for the future for that time of Trouble and Misery which he foretold is now come But let us comfort our selves with the Hopes of Christ's coming and our future Deliverance which will appear presently after these Afflictions and let us know for a certain that all the Rage and Malice of the Devil is fully poured out upon us by the Turk for no Tyrant hitherto ever raged as he doth Then he expounds the Seventh Chapter of Daniel about the Four Beasts coming out of the Sea and proves the Turkish Empire to be signified thereby For this is that little Horn says he which sprang up amongst those Ten Horns of the Fourth Beast And though it be grown to a great bigness yet it can never reach to the Power of the Roman Empire for the Prophet there describes only Four Empires which were to succeed in order that the last of them was the Roman Monarchy Therefore there shall never be another that can compare with the Roman in greatness And because Daniel assigns it only Three Horns which it is to pluck out from among those Ten its Force and Power will not proceed much farther For those Three Horns are long since pluck'd off being Greece Asia and Aegypt which three vast Provinces of the Empire the Turk now possesses and is by the Prophet confined within those Limits so that it is to be hoped that he 'll not hereafter make himself Master of any other Province of the Empire But now that he makes a Bustle in Hungary and is ready to invade Germany it is the last Act of the Tragedy He may possibly indeed get some Footing in those Provinces but it is not to be thought that he can peaceably enjoy them as he doth Asia Greece and Aegypt for the Prophecy is manifest and plain After this he handleth all the other parts inviteth all chiefly to Repentance and readily to obey the Magistrate who calls for their Service in this War against the Turk exhorting them not only to venture their Fortunes but even their Lives and Persons upon that account he uses also many Arguments to comfort the Slaves who were already under the Power of the Turks or might be taken by them thereafter and admonishes them to have a special Care they be not allured by that specious and painted Religion of the Turks For that he was told many Christians of their own accord made Defection to that Religion because it had a kind of shew of Probity and Holiness That they should patiently bear their Bondage and faithfully serve their Masters though Wicked and Profane not running away from them nor putting Hand on themselves through Impatience for the
Irksomness of their Condition But that they should always have in their Thoughts what St. Peter and St. Paul wrote of the Duty of Bondmen That however when they make War against Christians they should rather hazard their Lives than serve them for that they were Robbers made War against the Saints as Daniel saith and shed innocent Blood That therefore it should be their chief Care not to be partakers with them in so great a Crime and Wickedness Unto this Discourse he subjoins a Form of Prayer against the Fury of the Turks and towards the end enlarging upon the Vices of the Times which reigned amongst all Ranks and Degrees of Men he concluded that Germany which was so wholly corrupted and defiled could not continue long in Safety Now this is the Form of Prayer which he prescribes O Eternal Father we have indeed deserved to be punished but do thou thy self punish us not in thy Wrath and Displeasure but according to thy great Mercy seeing it is far better for us to fall into thy Hands than into the Hands of Men and Enemies for thy Mercy is infinite and above all thy Works We have sinned against thee O Lord and broken thy Commandements yet thou knowest O Heavenly Father that the Devil the Pope and the Turk have no Right nor Cause to afflict us for we have not wronged them but thou usest them as a Rod to correct us with who have many Ways provoked thee all our Life time They I say have nothing to charge us with but would rather that after their Example we should for ever grievously offend thee that we should sin against thy Divine Majesty by Idolatry and false Doctrine by Lying and Deceiving by theft Robbery and Rapine and by Adultery Fornication and Sorcery That 's the thing they most desire But because we worship thee God the Father and thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord with thy Holy Spirit one God everlasting that is our Crime and Wickedness for which they so hate and persecute us Should we make Defection from thee and renounce this Faith we needed not to expect any Hurt from them Look graciously towards us then O Father and help us for they are more thine Enemies than ours when they smite us they smite thee for the Doctrine we profess is not ours but thine The Devil indeed cannot endure it but would be worshipped in thy place and force Lyes upon us instead of thy Word And the Turk also would place his Mahomet in the room of thy Son Jesus Christ Now if it be a Sin to profess thee Father Son and Holy Ghost to be the only true God then certainly thou art a Sinner who teachest us so to do and requirest this Duty at our Hands And when for this Cause they persecute us they hate and afflict thee Awake then O my God and avenge thy Holy Name which they pollute and profane suffer not this Injury at their Hands who punish us not for our Sins and Trespasses but endeavour to extinguish the Light of thy Word amongst us and to destroy thy Kingdom that thou shouldest not have a People to worship and adore thy Name Now as to the Origin and Growth of the Turks since so many have writen of it it is no purpose to discourse here Their Rise hath been as great as their Beginning was small and the first of their Emperors is reckoned Ottoman who reigned about the Year of our Lord 1300. After him succeeded in order Orchanes Amurath who first crossed the Hellespont and brought an Army into Europe invading Thrace Bajazet Cyriscelebes Moses Mahomet Amurath Mahomet Bajazet Selim Solyman Much about this time Alfonso Davalo Marquess of Pescara whom we mentioned before published a Declaration addressed to the Princes of Germany wherein he Accuses and Blames the French King that in such troublesome Times he should plot and contrive new designs on purpose to frustrate and hinder the honest Endeavours of the Emperor and all the States pretending a very slight and trivial Reason for it to wit the intercepting of Anthony Rink and Caesar Fregoso after whom he had made most diligent Inquiry but could not learn what was become of them This coming to the French King's Knowledge he declared that he had a great Injury done him in that his Ambassadors had been so barbarously used That he had several times complained of it both to the Pope and Emperor and desired Satisfaction but all in vain And that therefore if he should let so unworthy an Act pass it would be to his dishonour and the greatest stain imaginable to his Reputation Afterwards on the Second of May he wrote to the Parliament of Paris to this Effect To the end said he that God may illuminate our Hearts and grant us Constancy in our Faith bring those that go astray if any such be into the right Way of Salvation again and send us Peace by means of Satisfaction for the Injuries we have received by Usurpation of our Right and Violence done to our Ambassadors or if in dispair of Peace there be a necessity of going to War that he may grant us Victory our Will is that Processions be made and Prayers in all Churches and that able Preachers be employed to give the People an account of the Cause hereof Moreover we Charge and Command that if there be any who entertain sinistrous Thoughts of our Faith and Religion and do not promise amendment that they be publickly punished for their Crime Not long after he sent the Duke of Longueville to the Duke of Cleve who having raised Men against the Summer under the Conduct of Martin Van Rossem waited for an opportunity of Action The Pope in the mean time on the First of June calls a Council and by way of preamble gives a large account how he had often before called a Council and last of all suspended its sitting till a more convenient time wherefore he clears himself of all the Blame and professes he could delay no longer though the Affairs of Christendom were still in a doubtful State. So then he appointed it to be held at Trent on the First of November whither he Summoned to appear all Patriarchs Bishops Abbots and others who had Right and Privilege to sit and Vote in Councils He exhorted also the Emperor and French King that they would either come themselves or send Ambassadors and command their Bishops to repair to it But before all others he invited the German Bishops because for their cause and at their desire chiefly all that pains was taken In the Month of July the French King declared War against the Emperor in a very cutting Stile of Language giving his Subjects free Liberty by publick Proclamation to use all manner of Hostilities against him and his Countries both by Sea and Land. Longueville and Van Rossem had a little before made an Incursion into Brabant where they put the People who were unprovided into great Terror
and Consternation and were very like to have taken Antwerp and Lovain but wanting Ammunition and other things necessary for the Artillery they could not batter the places however where-ever they went they ravaged and plundered all and having extorted a great deal of Money forced their way through and in the Month of August joined Charles Duke of Orleans the King's Son who was then making War in the Dutchy of Luxemburg There were Four hundred Horse in this Service sent by the King of Denmark And besides Damvilliers Virton and Yvoix Luxemberg the Chief City of the Province was taken by the French. The King himself carried on the War on the other side and besieged Perpignan a Town of Roussillon by the Pyrenean Hills He also ordered William of Langey to act in Piedmont whilst the Duke of Vendosme invaded Artois and Flanders So that he attacked the Enemy in Five several places at once but many thought it would have been better to have fallen into any one Province with his whole Army as it proved to be true in the end for both Perpignan was attempted in vain and the Duke of Orleans being returned Home the Imperialists recovered all almost except Yvoix Upon this occasion Antwerp began to be Fortified having been a place of easie access before When the King was about to make War he sent back Paulain to the Turk to entreat him that he would send him a Fleet into Provence But Paulain arriving too late Solyman put it off till the Year following In the Heat of this War the King published Edicts against the Lutherans And the Parliament of Paris charged all Printers and Booksellers under great Penalties that they should not print publish nor sell any Books that were condemned or suspected and Calvin's Institutions by Name Afterwards at the request of the Inquisitor they made a Decree on the Seventh of July that the People should be admonished from the Pulpit to be Obedient to the Church and if they knew any Lutheran or any one that thought amiss of Religion they should present him for that it was a work very acceptable to God. But the Curats and Ministers of the Church had a Form prescribed to them which they were to follow in examining and making their Enquiry For they were enjoined to put the Question to the Informers If they knew any that said there was no Purgatory That so soon as a Man was dead he was either damned or saved That Man is not justified by keeping the Commands of God That God only was to be Prayed unto and not the Saints That the Worshipping of Images was Idolatry That the Saints did not work Miracles That the Ceremonies of the Church profited nothing That the Canons of the Church obliged no Man That it was necessary for all Men indifferently to understand the Gospel That all Men ought to read the Scripture in the vulgar Tongue That it was an Idle thing for common People to pray to God in Latin That the Priest did not forgive Sins by the Sacrament of Penance but that he was only the Minster who declared God's Mercy in pardoning of Sins That the Church could not oblige any Man under pain of mortal Sin Or that it was lawful to eat Flesh at all times This Form of Inquisition was given and enjoined to Priests privately But there was an Edict published whereby all were commanded to inform against and accuse those who neglected the Rites and Constitutions of the Church who had Heretical Books themselves or gave them to others to read or willingly dropp'd them in the Streets that so they might be dispersed who kept private Meetings in Houses or Gardens and framed designs contrary to the Constitutions of the Church and those who received such Men into their Houses and Gardens They that were privy to any such thing were commanded under pain of Excommunication to present all within Six Days to the Doctors of Divinity chosen by the Inquisitor to wit Henry Gervase Nicholas Clerk Peter Richard Robert Buccine John Benot Francis Picard and John Morine Booksellers also were charged within Six Days to bring all the suspected Books and Manuscripts they had to the aforesaid Doctors which if they did not no excuse was to be admitted afterwards The same Day that Edict was proclaimed publick Processions and Prayers were made in all Churches of Paris for the safety of the Kingdom and preservation of Religion and the Relicks of St. Gennevieve their tutelary Saint were carried about and much about the same time some were burnt for Religion There was one Francis de Landre Curat of St. Croix in Paris who preached the pure Word of God to the People at that time and did not say Mass because he drank no Wine but whether out of natural antipathy or design I know not The Sorbonn Doctors conceived a great Hatred against this Man and having employed some Emissaries to take Notes of his Sermon they propounded to him these Heads of Doctrine to know his Judgment of them That the Sacrifice of the Mass is instituted by Christ and is propitiatory both for the Living and the Dead That Saints are to be prayed unto that they may be Advocates and Intercessors for us with Christ That the Substance of the Bread and Wine is changed by Consecration That none but Priests can Consecrate the Bread and Wine and alone have right to the Sacrament in both Kinds That monastick Vows are to be kept That by the Sacraments of Confirmation and Unction the Holy Ghost is received That by Fasting Prayer and good Works Souls are delivered out of Purgatory That the Constitutions of the Church concerning Fasting and choice of Meats bind the Conscience That the Pope is Head of the Church whom all are bound to obey by divine Right That many things are to be believed and necessarily received which are not expressed in Scripture That the pains of Purgatory are remitted by the Pope's Indulgences That Priests though they be vitious and sinful consecrate the Body of the Lord That all mortal Sins are to be confessed to the Priest and Absolution to be received from him That Man has free will whereby he may do good or evil And rise again from Sin by Repentance That the pardon of Sins is obtained not by Faith alone but by Charity and true Repentance That the Church and Councils lawfully called cannot erre and that they are to be obeyed And that it belongs to the Church to Interpret and Expound the Scripture if any Controversie arise about the Meaning of it These Articles they required him to approve under hand and Seal Some Days after he gave them a general Answer that whatever the Holy Catholick Church taught as to these things was Pious and Holy. But not satisfied with that Answer they attempted greater Matters against him as you shall know hereafter At this time also two Dominican Friars preached the Gospel at Metz and seeing the Priests began to shew their dislike
King had driven the Duke of Savoy out of his Country That he designed to do the same likewise with others when time and occasion should offer And that the cause of this violent Malice of his was because the Emperor put a stop to his Attempts and Enterprizes That they themselves had heard from the Letters lately read what designs he was carrying on with the Turk what also in Germany and how it was his Resolution to obstruct the Turkish War That in like manner since the Duke of Cleve was in League with him who also retarded the Emperor's most just Enterprizes and prejudiced the Welfare of Germany Aid was to be decreed against both that their Insolence and Boldness might be repressed In the mean time the Protestants present a Petition to King Ferdinand and the Emperor's Deputies wherein they relate at large what for many years had been done in Religion how that Peace had been granted at Nurimberg but that the Imperial Chamber had infringed it how that the Emperor two Years before had granted them a Proviso and told them his mind at Ratisbone how that there was a Decree made there for Reformation of the Imperial Chamber and rectifying of that Judicature what they also had then publickly protested unless the Decree should be fulfilled That now since none of these things were performed and that the Judges of the Chamber proceeded in their wonted way to molest them first for defending themselves against Henry Duke of Brunswick and then for non-payment of the Salaries and Charges of the Chamber they had declined all their Jurisdiction which they protested they would do long before in the General Diet That now therefore if the matter were otherwise represented to them they beg of them not to believe it for that necessity forced them to do as they did and to make use of a lawful Remedy which Justice and Equity allowed every Man to do For that should they go on in that manner usurping to themselves a power of judging and pronouncing Sentences of Proscription and other Penalties against them it would prove not only hurtful to them but also to the whole State For that who could doubt or be ignorant how seasonable and advantageous a thing it would prove to the Turks if Feuds and Animosities amongst the States should kindle a Civil War that might exhaust all their Wealth and Substance That many Instances could be given how difficult it was to pacifie and quiet Minds once exasperated and provoked That for their parts truly there was nothing they wished for more than to see a firm Peace settled and equal Justice administred in Germany That all their Animosities and Diffidences sprung from difference in Religion And that the cause of all that Dissension was that the preaching of the Gospel and true Worship of God were discountenanced and oppressed that Errors and notorious Vices were not only not removed and amended but through Ambition and the sake of Lucre even tolerated and defended That God being therefore provoked and offended by this ingratitude did afflict his People with great Calamities and would never cease to do it so long as they continued in them That it was therefore their desire that they would turn their Thoughts this way and effectuate at least that no stirs should be made upon account of Religion and that Justice should be impartially administred to all but that since this was not to be expected considering the present state of the Imperial Chamber they craved That that Judicature might be Reformed according to the Ancient Laws of the Empire and the Emperor's Declaration that other Judges might be appointed all Suits and Actions left in the same state as they were in before the Declinatory made and that Injunctions should be laid upon the Judges exactly to observe the Rules of the future Reformation and act nothing contrary to the Pacifications of former Years For that unless matters were so ordered and they sufficiently secured they would not consult about the Turkish War though otherwise there was nothing but what they coveted to do for the Publick When after much and long debate King Ferdinand and the Emperor's Deputies made Answer That there was a Council already called at Trent where the Emperor himself would be and that without a hearing of the Cause they could not remove the Judges of the Imperial Chamber that it was ordered to be Reformed and would soon be put in Execution That they could not deny Justice to Henry Duke of Brunswick who was ejected out of all and demanded it and that that was all they could grant and no more The Protestants reply That they did not approve that Council nor would they go to it That they had no Satisfaction given them in other Matters nor sufficient Assurances made them and that therefore they would enter into no other Deliberations Notwithstanding King Ferdinand and the other States make a Decree for Fortifying the frontier Places upon the Turks Territories for contributing Money to defray the Charges thereof and appoint the Third Day of July for the Reformation of the Imperial Chamber which they ordered to be Reformed according to the model prescribed Eleven Years before at Ratisbone They Decree also That those who did refuse to furnish their proportions of the Moneys and Aid imposed should be prosecuted in name of the Publick and be distrained therefore But the Protestants protested against this Decree as made without their Advice and Counsel as containing nothing positive concerning Peace and Property and as imposing the Contributions very unequally Now because upon the Emperor's coming the War was like to prove much hotter betwixt him and the Duke of Cleve the Princes Electors and rest of the States interceded by their Deputies and with much ado obtained a Truce from Granvell not indeed positive and absolute but such as it was still at the Emperor's Discretion so soon as he set Foot in Germany to ratifie or reject it and in the mean time Zittard a very strong Town upon the Frontiers of Juliers was put into the Emperor's Hands until he should declare his Mind in the Matter The Mediators promised also to meet the Emperor with an Ambassy to make intercession on behalf of the Duke and Granvell put them in great Hopes of obtaining a gracious Answer from his Majesty The Deputies of Cleve of whom the chief was John Vlatten a learned Gentleman approved this Agreement and thanked the Mediators for the pains they had taken But in the mean while a Battle happened at the Town of Zittard March the Twenty-fourth wherein Cleve having had the better partly for that Victory and partly to comply with the French King who supplied him with Money he grew obstinate and upon the return of his Deputies rejected the Truce The News of this Success being in great haste carried into France occasioned great Rejoicing there and the French King appointed publick Thanksgiving to be made for it at Paris The
Dukes of Bavaria Brothers by their Deputies dealt with the Protestants in the Diet and amonst others propounded also this Condition unto them That all the Country of the Duke of Brunswick should be sequestrated in the Hands of the Emperor or some Princes of Germany until the matter were decided by a fair Trial But nothing could be then concluded as to that Christopher Bishop of Ausburg died of an Apoplexy at this Diet having appointed a Feast at his House the next Day He was of the Family of the Stadio's a learned Man and not averse to Peace To him succeeded Otho Truchses The Decree here made was neither inserted into the publick Records as the Custom was nor had it the force of a Law. It was somewhat late before the French King saw the Letter which the Emperor wrote to the Pope as we mentioned in the foregoing Book and therefore now at length he made Answer to it in a very long Epistle That for the Emperor to expect to be preferred before him as having deserved much of the Church of Rome was an idle and ridiculous Thing For that neither were the Emperor's Ancestors to be compared with his nor he himself neither with him upon that account That he was an excellent Son indeed and worthy of the highest Praise who sent an Army to besiege vex and take Prisoner his Father the good old Man Clement VII who sack'd the chief City of the World many ways profaned and polluted the Holy Churches and committed all kinds of Wickedness Lust and Cruelty Who to so great a barbarity added Scorn and Derision commanding Prayers and Processions to be made in Spain for the Delivery of the Holy Father whom all the while he himself kept close Prisoner That on the contrary his Predecessors Kings of France from the times of Charles Martell King Pipin and so downward had all along studied to honour and advance the Popes of Rome That he run much out in commending his own great Care and Zeal for the Publick but it would appear to be far otherwise if Matters were rightly examined For that under his Conduct and Command many Thousand Christians had been cut off by the Barbarians not long since in Hungary once and again at Castle Novo in the Bay of Ambracia and afterwards at Algiers in Barbary when he gave it out that he must needs go thither but indeed fled and left Germany open to the approaching Enemy That it was through his fault that the Infant-Child of the Vayvode John King Ferdinand his own Brother and Hungary fell into this Calamity That he gloried much that he had ventured to come to Aigues Mortes to settle a Peace but that if any Body ought to be praised for that it was himself who first went up to him into the Galley and sent his Sons also thither afterwards with no small danger both from him who trusted no Man and also from Andrea Doria Admiral of the Fleet a crafty subtile Fox That he afterward made a Journey through France at his desire indeed but after that by Letters and Agents he had craved it of him and offered him Milan That it was true he pretended other Causes now but in reality he was forced by the Insurrection of Ghent to pass that way That it never entered his Thoughts to have stopp'd him and what he said of the Deliberations of the Counsel of Francis in order to have detained him was altogether false That he had done the Duke of Savoy no wrong but that since the Duke had withheld from him his Mother's Dowry and Inheritance would not suffer him to redeem Nizza and besides had basely used his Lieutenants and Souldiers he had regained by force of Arms what by Law he could not fairly recover especially since all his Actions generally were influenced by the Emperor whose proper and peculiar Talent it was to incite the Subjects of other Princes to Revolt and then to leave them in the Lurch witness the Dukes of Bourbone Brunswick and Marquess of Saluces Nay and to be Troublesom and Injurious to his own Kinsmen and Relations too as to Christiern King of Denmark his own Brother King Ferdinand and to himself especially who had Married his Eldest Sister That it was to be imputed to him and his Brother and to no Body else that the Turk lately had Invaded Hungary and seized the chief Town of it he having treacherously made War against the young Son and Heir of the Vayvode That in the Diet of Ratisbone all the States of the Empire were sollicited to give Supplies pretendedly against the Turk but in reality against a poor unfortunate Child whom they designed to have turned out of all That as often as he had sent Ambassadors into Germany he had done it without any crafty or treacherous Intent And that he was falsly charged with fomenting Factions and wheadling with both Perswasions in Religion For that on the Concord and Welfare of Germany his own Safety depended and that all Men knew what his own Religion was That it was true he had sent Ambassadors lately thither and upon most weighty Grounds disswaded them from the Turkish War And that the sad and dismal success of that War made it sufficiently appear that his Counsel was good and safe but that all the Emperor drove at was to keep Germany in continual Dissension that it might thereby be prepared and made fitter for servitude That on the other hand how great an Injury had been done to himself in violating his Ambassadors Rink and Fregoso all Men were sensible since they had been sent to the Turk for the good of all Christendom but chiefly of Hungary and Germany For that the Grand Seignior had been frequently sollicited by him to live in Peace with the Christians and that he had always received this Answer from the Port That he had no Quarrel with the Christians as such but with the Emperor Charles and King Ferdinand from whom he had received Injuries and whose boundless Ambition he could not brook so that the Emperor doubled his Injury in laying a snare for them wherein he had never intended to make him Satisfaction but had in a manner always shamm'd him off and fooled him with shifting Answers and that therefore he had never dissembled the Offence he had received but had declared plainly enough That if he had not Satisfaction given him he would not sit down with the Affront That he had indeed essayed all other Means before he came to Arms and had detained the Archbishop of Valencia to see if that way at least he might recover his Ambassadors whom then he took to be alive So that having in vain taken all other Courses he had been forced at length to take up Arms and to defend himself against Hostilities which the Emperor was the Author of That he objected to him as a great Crime his League with the Turk which he himself had often sought for but could not obtain though he had
that he would confirm his Son in the Possession of them and give him the solemn Investiture of a Prince The Emperor who held Milan and would not part with any part of his Right refused that The Pope had also a Design as it was said to have purchased from the Emperor with Money the Dukedom of Milan for his Grandson Octavio But the Emperor that he might be no longer hindered broke up the Interview and having compounded with Cosmo of Medicis Duke of Florence for the Castles of Florence and Leghorn which till then he had in his Hands and having delivered them up to the Duke for the Summ of above Two hundred thousand Crowns which he received for them he went on in his Progress Before he left Spain he had created his Son Philip King and gave him in Marriage the Infanta Mary Daughter of John King of Portugal This Year also Sigismund the Son of Sigismund King of Poland married the Lady Elizabeth Daughter of Ferdinand King of the Romans Henry Duke of Brunswick having made a Journey into Italy to meet the Emperor grievously accused the Protestants at Cremona And now the Emperor being upon his March with an Army from Italy the Protestants who had lately received his Letters dated from Genoa on the Twenty fourth of June met at Smalcald and there consulted about sending Ambassadors to him concerning those things that related to the securing the Dutchy of Brunswick and their own League and about Application to be made to Duke Maurice to the King of Sweedland to Otho Henry Prince Palatine to Wolfgang Duke of Deux-Ponts and to the Bishop of Munster who all desired to be admitted into the League This Assembly ended the One and twentieth Day of July Much about this time the Emperor and King of England made a League against the French King who assisted the Scots as we said before But the Pope was much offended at this Alliance and therefore looked upon the Friendship of France as necessary for his Interests When about the end of July the Emperor came to Spire the Protestants sent thither their Ambassadors Francis Burcart George Bemelberg Christopher Veninger and James Sturmey who being admitted to Audience on the Second of August spoke much to the same Purpose as we told you before they had done to King Ferdinand The Effect of their Speech was That if they had sufficient Security given them of Peace if the Judicature of the Imperial Chamber were reformed as had been lately decreed at Ratisbone and if the Inequality of Contributions were rectified they would not be wanting to their Duty in bearing their Parts in the publick Necessities That as to the Duke of Brunswick they desired the Cause might be brought to a fair Trial and then they offered to prove that he who had first done open Injury to those of Goslar and Brunswick Two free States was justly expulsed and driven out of his Country To these things the Emperor Two Days after made Naves give his Answer in Presence of Granvell That they could require no more of him for that their Peace had been sufficiently secured by former Decrees That the Judges of the Imperial Chamber could not be removed without a Hearing That in the Month of October ensuing Enquiry would be made into their Proceedings and that they should not go unpunished if they were found Guilty of any Fault That a Moderation in the Contributions could not be made but with the common Advice and Consent of all the States That they should reflect upon the present State of the Publick and that seeing it was in great Danger without speedy Help they should follow the Example of the rest of the States and contribute their Aid against the Turk That he the Emperor was now to make all the Head he could against the French King and Duke of Cleve that he might defend his Subjects from Injury That Henry Duke of Brunswick did earnestly urge a Restitution and therefore they should declare their Mind as to that Point They desired to have that Answer given them in Writing that they might consider it more carefully to which the Emperor consented and next Day leaving Spire went to Mentz The Ambassadors who had received the Answer in Writing followed him thither and made a Reply to Naves and Granvell showing them that they had not sufficient Assurances given them of Peace and urging the Emperors Declaration at Ratisbone mentioned in the former Book they altogether persisted in demanding the same things and that since their Desire was That the Cause of Brunswick might be brought to a Hearing they had no farther Instructions they said in that Particular They on the other hand alledged that the Emperor could do no more and repeating what had been said before told them That if the Duke of Brunswick were not restored he would certainly take some Course for recovering his own And this being all that could be had the Ambassadors departed to make their Report to their Masters The Archbishop of Cologne came to the Emperor at Spire and interceded for the Duke of Cleve But it was to no purpose for that unless he first delivered up the Possession of Guelderland the Emperor would not hear of Peace And when the Ambassador of Saxony by Orders from his Prince interceded for the same Duke with Granvell at Mentz and to perswade him alledged that a private Wrong should be sacrificed to the Good of the Publick especially when now the Turk was coming upon them His Answer was That the Emperor would not desist from his Enterprise whatever the Turk might do You heard before That the People of Heildesheim having abandoned the Popish Religion entered into the Protestant League therefore Valentine the Bishop of that City grievously accused them to the Imperial Chamber and King Ferdinand before and now to the Emperor That they had changed the old Religion and Ceremonies of the Church That they had appointed new Preachers to instruct the People abolished the Mass punished the Followers of the ancient Religion not only thrown down Altars and Fonts but demolished also Churches partly carried away the Goods Furniture and Ornaments of the Clergy and partly detained them in their Custody having seized the Keys of the Places where they were kept That they had lately made publick Plays wherein they had exposed the Virgin Mary and the rest of the Saints to the Scorn and Derision of the Mobile That they purposed to withdraw themselves from under his Jurisdiction had entered into the League and put themselves under the Protection of the Protestants That they compelled by Force Monks and other Religious to conform to their Religion and not only openly reviled but also banished out of their Territories those who would not comply The Emperor hearkening to this Accusation on the Sixth of August wrote to them from Wormes and with severe Threatnings commanded them to restore Religion and all things else to their
could hardly believe those who told them that they had not only seen the Emperor but also spoken with him The Prince was also so fatally credulous as to be perswaded of the same thing Now this was thought to be an Invention of the French that those of Cleve might not lose Heart and being terrified at the Emperor's Power make Peace with him The Emperor having received this Answer Fortified his Camp provided all things necessary and on the Twenty fourth of August began to Batter the Town by break of Day and afterward gave the Assault especially by the Spaniards who went on with great Chearfulness and Resolution and though they were often beat off and lost many Men yet they gave not over till they forced the Place and treated the Towns-people as the Inhabitants are commonly used when a Town is taken by Storm We must know that in this Town was kept the Head of St. Ann the Mother of our Lady and was usually exposed to the view of vast numbers of People who flocked thither yearly on the Six and twentieth day of July the Anniversary of that Saint to pay their Devotions to it But the Spaniards being now Conquerours took that Head inclosed in a golden Reliquary and with great Pomp carried it in Procession to the Grey Friars Church least it should have perished in the Ruines and Flames of the Church The Town being plundered and burnt the Emperor advanced and had surrendered to him first Liege and then Reremund a strong Town of Guelderland standing where the Rivers of Roure and Maese do meet For the unexpected Calamity of Duren had put all Men into extraordinary Fear and Consternation From Ruremund he went to Venlo Thither at last came the Duke of Cleve to him in the Camp accompanied with Henry Duke of Brunswick and the Ambassadors of Herman Archbishop of Cologne where he having made his Humble Submission and the Duke of Brunswick and the Ambassadors earnestly interceding for him the Emperor at length arose and ordered the Prince of Orange and Granvell to prescribe Conditions unto him upon which he was received into Favour again the Seventh of September The Conditions were That he should not depart from the Religion of the Catholick Church That if he had made any Alterations he should restore things again as they were before That he should promise Allegiance and Obedience to the Emperor King Ferdinand and the Empire That he should renounce his League with France and Denmark That he should make no League wherein the Emperor King Ferdinand and their Heirs were not excepted That he should deliver up the whole Possession of Guelderland and release the People from their Oath And that he should Assist the Emperor in Recovering Guelderland if perhaps any places should refuse to Surrender The Emperor on the other Hand restored to him the Province of Juliers lately Conquered by War except Two Towns Hensberg and Zittard which he kept in his Hands for a time till he should make trial of his Fidelity and Obsequiousness Whilst the Emperor was upon his March against the Duke of Cleve the French King advanced through Champange towards the Country of Luxenburg and sent for his Sister's Daughter the Lady Joanna who had been Two Years before betrothed and publickly Married as we said to the Duke that he might carry her to her Husband She went most unwillingly as hath been mentioned also before but however she obeyed the King her Uncle The King had appointed Cardinal du Bellay Bishop of Paris as the fittest Person to perswade her to wait upon her and keep her Company during the whole Journey Now when she was come as far as Soissons on her way to the King News was brought That the Duke of Cleve was subdued which much rejoiced her as well perceiving that that might put an end to all her Sufferings and Constraint and indeed she was not mistaken for the King was exceedingly troubled at the News and so she returned Home But nevertheless he proceeded and again took the City of Luxenburg about the latter end of September which after deliberation he fortified At the same time Henry King of England who had lately made a League with the Emperor sent over some Forces into the Netherlands who joining the Imperialists Besieged Landrecy In the mean time Charles Boisset a Lawyer was in the beginning of October sent from the Emperor to Metz who having consulted with the Senate the Monks and Churchmen upon his first coming sent for one of the Preachers whom he severely chid and commanded upon pain of Death to depart the City within three Days and not to converse with any Citizen for the future Afterwards the Emperor's Edict was on the Fifteenth of October publickly read wherein the Emperor commanded the Senate not to admit of any new Doctrines and to punish those that were guilty that way Wherefore the Senate published their Orders to the Citizens that they should persist in the ancient Religion produce all prohibited and suspected Books within a Weeks time obey the Canons of the Church abstain from flesh on days prohibited shew Reverence to Church-Men and that those who upon account of difference in Religion had put themselves into the protection of the Protestants and promised Fidelity unto them should within a certain time renounce the same Denouncing several Penalties against Offenders herein as Fines Banishment and other Punishments according to their several Deserts When Barbarossa had in vain Besieged the Castle of Nizza whither the Emperor's Forces were coming out of Lombardy under the Command of the Marquess of Piscara he drew off and went to his Winter Quarters in Thoulon somewhat sooner than the Season of the Year required for the King had assigned him that Town the Citizens and Inhabitants being commanded to leave it Scotland was this Year much disturbed with intestine Broils and Divisions the Nobles disagreeing among themselves For those of the Nobility who were Prisoners in England as we said being generously dismissed by the King cordially espoused his Interests But the Cardinal of Scotland who enjoyed great Revenues from Church-Livings in France and the Queen the Duke of Guise's Daughter maintained the French King 's Part. After the Death of the King of Scots it was the chief Design of Henry VIII that the young Queen of Scots might be affianced to Prince Edward his Son. In that matter the Nobles we mentioned did him good Service And having perswaded the Earl of Arran the Regent they seized the Cardinal of St. Andrews and kept the Queen Besieged in a Castle till they had confirmed the Marriage and drawn up Writings thereupon But the French King interfering in the Matter the Nobility also pitying the Queen's Condition and the Regent falling off to the other side they broke their Articles which gave occasion of a new War betwixt the English and them as shall be said hereafter The King of Denmark was also in War with
the Demands of the Emperor and King Ferdinand After long and great Debate about the Matter on the Twentieth of June the Diet was dissolved But though it seemed to lie heavy upon the States of the Empire to be charged with double Aid yet because they thought that the Turkish War might be more successfully carried on if the domestick Enemy were first reduced to Duty they granted the Emperor a Six Months Subsidy for entertaining Four thousand Horse and Twenty four thousand Foot against the French King of which Money the Emperor allotted a part to his Brother King Ferdinand for fortifying the Places upon the Frontiers against the Turks And for the future Turkish War they imposed a Tax and Poll all over Germany that all without Exception should pay according to their Lands and Estates and for their Heads They enacted under severe Penalties that no Man should serve Foreigners especially the French King in their Wars and Power was granted to Punish such as should be found Transgressors herein Because the Difference about Religion could not be treated of during these warlike Occupations it was referred to the next Diet to be held in the Month of December The Emperor in the mean time promised to employ some learned and pious Men to draw up a Form of Reformation He entreated the Princes to do the like also that having compared all together in future Diets something might be agreed upon by common Consent to be observed till the meeting of a General Council to be held in Germany or until a National Synod of Germany That in the mean time all should live in Peace without making any Bustle or Stir for Difference in Religion and that the Churches every where of what Religion soever should enjoy their Rents and Revenues which should be applied to the Maintenance of the Ministers of publick Schools and the Poor That the Judges of the Imperial Chamber should retain their Places during the time that was prefix'd to them After the Expiration thereof that all should be indifferently admitted to that Bench without any respect to their Religion That the Edict of Ausburg and all Suits commenced against the Protestants upon account of their Religion and Profession as also the Proscription of the Cities of Goslar and Minden should be suspended till the next Treaty That the Anabapists should suffer the Punishments long since decreed against them That nevertheless the Magistrates should employ learned and pious Men to convince them of their Error and reclaim them This Decree was much disliked by the Catholicks who with all their Force opposed it But seeing the Bishops of Cologne and Munster sided with the Protestants and Cleve and Baden submitted all to the Emperor's Pleasure who after much debate made it appear That this was a middle and tolerable way for both they being much weakened in number condescended at last not indeed to assent to it but yet that they might not seem to prescribe Rules to the Emperor nor to derogate from his Power to tolerate the same and the Electors Palatine and Brandenburg had interceded to have the Decree pass in this manner The Protestants also desired that the Cause of the Duke of Brunswick might be comprehended in that Decree but that could not be obtained And the Emperor urged That either they would restore him or else put the Province into his Hands by Sequestration until the matter should be Tried He had treated about this with the Duke of Saxony and Lantgrave whilst they were present and much more with their Deputies after their Departure The Cities at first refused to contribute to the Subsidy against the French because of Intercourse and Trade But when the Princes assented to it and the French King's Cause seemed Odious to all they also subscribed though much against their Wills especially they who bordered upon France The Deputies of Lunenburg and Wirtemberg refused also but they were privately admonished and with harsh words too that they alone should not put a stop to the Resolutions of the rest When the Lantgrave upon his Return Home went to take leave of the Emperor he was most graciously received his Imperial Majesty telling him That he would not now make use of him against the French King on purpose not to expose him to hatred but that so soon as that War was over he designed to march against the Turk and that then he would make him his Lieutenant General and commit the whole management of the War to his Care And when he modestly and humbly excused himself as unfit for such a Charge You have done good Service ere now saith the Emperor both for your self and others and I make no doubt but you can render me good Services too and with these words most courteously dismissed him so that he having acquainted some of his familiar Friends with what had pass'd betwixt them returned Home full of Hopes and Joy that the Emperor was so Favourable unto him As to the Business of the Sequestration after the matter had been long canvassed and disputed it was agreed upon at length That all the Country of Brunswick should be put into the Emperor's Hands as chief Magistrate until the Controversie were either friendly taken up or fairly tried and determined by Law And that the Emperor should commit the Government of the Country either to the Prince Palatine or the Elector of Brandenburg or else to Duke Maurice or the Duke of Cleve that they that did not obey should incurr the penalty of the breach of the publick Peace That the Emperor should command Henry Duke of Brunswick to obey or else to punish him according to Law. The Emperor at length proposed these Conditions and persisted in that and the Protestants ratified them afterwards as you shall hear in the proper place After the Conclusion of the Diet the Emperor went from Spire to Metz. Now all his Army had Mustered in Lorrain upon the Borders of France and about the latter end of May had taken Luxenburg upon Surrender In this War Duke Maurice of Saxony and Marquess Albert of Brandenburg served the Emperor with a Thousand Horse a piece also Count William of Furstemburg an Officer of Foot and Sebastian Scherteline all Protestants Whilst the Emperor was at Metz Hubert Count Bichling a German that served the French was taken in Lorrain and brought to Metz. He was there condemned to lose his Head and his Wife who came thither and fell at the Emperor's Feet could not prevail for his Pardon so that all things were prepared for his Execution But at length Maximilian King Ferdinand's Son whom the Emperor had lately received into his Court being sollicited used his Interest with the Emperor and at last saved his Life In the mean time Babarossa either because his Affairs so required or that he was perswaded by the French King or else that he feared the King might make Peace with the Emperor returned Home and Landing made
Savoy to all that he had taken from him That the French King should also keep Hesdin And that the Emperor should use all his Endeavours to procure a Peace betwixt England and France That as to the Duke of Cleve since the King and Queen of Navarre did affirm that their Daughter never consented to that Marriage but on the contrary had protested against it in the solemn and usual manner the French King should within Six Weeks send that Protestation to the Emperor that he might consider what was to be done In this Peace were comprehended the Pope King Ferdinand the Kings of Portugal Poland and Denmark the Venetians and Switzers the Dukes of Savoy Lorrain Florence Ferrara Mantua and Vrbin the States of Genoa Luca and Siena the Princes Electors and States of the Empire that were obedient to the Emperor The Peace being concluded the Emperor dismissed his Forces and returned home from Soissons All Men wondered at this Pacification for the Emperors familiar Friends promised themselves certain Victory before the Emperor took the Field and bragg'd that within a few Months France should be their own or at least the King become Tributary having Three such powerful Enemies against him the Emperor the Empire and the King of England The End of the Fifteenth Book THE HISTORY OF THE Reformation of the Church BOOK XVI The CONTENTS The Pope writes to the Emperour admonishing and expostulating with him sharply threatens his first-begotten Son and the same year promotes a great many new Cardinals A Council is again called The Clergy and Colledge of Cologne once more vigorously withstand their Archbishop Peter Bruly having preached the Reformed Religion at Tournay is therefore burnt alive The Divines of Paris assemble at Melun During the Diet at Wormes wherein many things are handled they of Merindolle and Cabrieres commonly called the Waldeneses are miserably harassed and at length turn'd out of all Though the Pope had called a Council yet he is wholly bent upon a War against the Protestants Luther publishes a little Book wherein he sets him off in his colours Grignian is sent Embassadour to the Protestants that he may perswade them to approve the Council The Emperour cites the Archbishop of Cologne to appear before him A hot War between the Kings of England and France The Duke of Orleans dies A War breaks out betwixt Henry Duke of Brunswick and the Landgrave wherein the latter prevails The Elector Palatine embraces the Reformed Religion Rumour of War against the Protestants is spread abroad A Conference appointed at Ratisbonne about matters of Religion This being broken up a Council is called at Trent and the Sessions begin Luther in the mean time dies IN the heat of War the Pope sends Letters to the Emperour bearing date August 23. acquainting him that he had an account of what nature the Decrees were which he had lately made at Spire but that in discharge of his own Duty and for the love he bore to him he could not dissemble his thoughts concerning them and that the Example of Eli the High-Priest was a warning to him to do so whom God severely punished for his too great indulgence to his Sons That in the same manner since these Decrees tended to the danger of his own Soul and great disturbance of the Church he could not but give him this Admonition First then that he should not leave the uniform practice of the Church nor customs of his Forefathers but carefully observe the same Discipline Method and Rule which Method is that when any Debate happens about Religion the whole Decision ought to be referred to the Church of Rome Whereas he lately in appointing a General and National Council and a Diet of the Empire had had no regard to him who by Divine and Humane Right hath alone power of calling Councils and determining matters of Religion Nor was that all he was to be blamed for but also that he allowed not only private men but even the Asserters of damned Heresies to judge of Religion that he gave judgment concerning Ecclesiastical Possessions and the Controversies that arose about them that he restored to Honours and Dignity such as were out of the Communion of the Church and long ago condemned by his own Edicts without the consent of those who persevered in their ancient Allegiance and Religion Did these things agree with the sacred Laws and Ordinances Nay rather did they not overturn all Discipline and Order That it was his opinion however that these things proceeded not from himself but that ill affected persons out of the hatred they bore to the Church of Rome had counselled and sollicited him to give some signe of his aversion to the same but that it grieved him the more to see that he should be drawn in and perswaded by them in that he clearly perceived the prejudice it carried along with it would be greater both to himself and the Church unless he repented That this his fear also grew greater and greater when he considered who the persons were with whom he had contracted friendship for that as ill company corrupts good manners so also it was very dangerous to make Alliances with wicked and vicious men That he made no doubt but they had used specious pretext to him since there is no counsel so bad but may be varnished over with some plausible colour but that in truth he who searches the Scriptures will meet with many and famous instances of the wrath and vengeance of God against those who had usurped to themselves the Offices of the High-Priest That Adversaries object Negligence to Priests as an odious crime and make use of that as a Spur to incite Princes whilst they exhort them to undertake the care and conduct of Religion a thing indeed that seems fair and laudable but which has no foundation in reason to support it That as in private houses the Master of the Family allotted to every one their several businesses and would not suffer any to set about the work of another lest Order might thereby be disturbed so also in the Church which is the house of God every one had his duty assigned to him which he was to discharge so that it was undecent that Inferiours should take upon them the Offices of Superiours and that that was so much the more to be observed by how much the Church surpasses any other house in greatness and glory That seeing then the chief Office of the Church is by God recommended to Priests it was a great injury in him to act their parts and take upon him their honour That it was known what happened to Uza who put his hand to hold up the Cart wherein the Ark of God was which was tottering and ready to fall That no man but would think he had done right when in the absence of the Levites he lent a hand to support the Cart which was in danger of falling Nevertheless that God's striking of him with a sudden death was
that as often as any mention had been made of a Popish Council they had always rejected it and that solemnly too in an Assembly of all the States Now also though no such exception was made at Spire yet if a War must be carried on against the Turk it was necessary that all things should be first quieted at home for Money must be raised of the People for that War but what colour of Justice can there be to exact Money from Subjects unless certain hopes may be given them of living securely with their Wives and Children in the free exercise of their own Religion For the true end of making War against the Turks is the safety of the Common-wealth the preservation of the true Religion and the Liberties and Properties of the People Now to war with the Turk and in the mean time to be exposed to danger at home were two things that consisted not well together That therefore the Cause was weighty wherefore they desired greater security for themselves that as for the Chamber they were satisfied with what they said that it should be constituted according to the prescript of the Decree of Spire and that they were willing to confer with the rest about the Subsidies that were to be paid to it These Debates lasted all the Month of April and until the seventh of May and then at length the Emperor being upon his Journey thither King Ferdinand commands them to be put off until his arrival but at the same time requires of them that in the interim they would with the rest consult of the Turkish Affair The Protestant Princes themselves were not present nor the Papists neither except the Cardinal of Ausbourg The King of France sent an Embassador thither one Grignian Governour of Provence in France through whose absence there arose a great persecution in those places In Provence in France there are a People called Waldenses These by an old custom acknowledge not the Pope of Rome have always professed a greater purity of Doctrine and since Luther appeared greedily hunted after more knowledge Many times had they been complained of to the King as despisers of Magistrates and fomenters of Rebellion which envious rather than true Accusation is by most made use of at this day They live together in some Towns and Villages amongst which is Merindole And about five years since sentence was pronounced against them in the Parliament of Aix the chief Judicature of the Province That they should all Promiscuously be destroyed that the Houses should be pulled down that Village levelled with the ground all the Trees also cut down and the place rendred a Desart as we hinted at in the thirteenth Book Now though this Sentence was pronounced yet it was not then put in execution William du Bellay of Langey the King's Lieutenant in Piemont with some others having represented the Matter to the King as a Case that ought to be reviewed by himself But at length this Year John Meinier President of the Parliament of Aix having April the 12th called the Parliament reads to them the King's Letters which warranted him to put the Sentence in execution Now Meinier is said to have procured thse Letters by means of the Cardinal of Tournon and the sollicitation of Philip Cortine a proper Agent in the case However having received them in the Month of January he produced them not presently but kept them up till a season more proper for the exploit The Letters being read some of the Parliament were chosen to see the Matter put in execution to whom Meinier offered himself as assistant because that in the absence of Grignian the Governour of the Province he had the chief command Before that time he had by the King's orders raised Forces for the English War and these he makes use of for his purpose besides these he commands all that were able to carry Arms in Marseilles Aix Arles and other populous places to repair to him under severe Penalties if they disobeyed having assistance likewise sent him from the Country of Avignon under the dominion of the Pope The first attempt then was not made upon those of Merindole but upon the Country adjoyning the Town Pertuse April the thirteenth Meinier attended by a multitude of Gentlemen and Officers came to Cadenet In the mean time some Captains make an irruption into one or two Villages upon the River of la Druance and putting all to Fire and Sword plunder and carry away a great many Cattle The same also was done in other places whilest those of Merindole seeing all in a flame about them leave their Habitations fly into the Woods and in great consternation spend the night at the Village of Sainfalaise Now the Inhabitants of that place were themselves preparing to fly for the Pope's Vice-Legat had ordered some Captains to fall upon them and put them to the Sword. Next day they advance farther into the Woods for they were beset on all hands with danger Meinier having made it death for any person to aid or assist them and commanding them all without respect to be killed where-ever they were found The same Edict was in force in the neighbouring places of the Pope's Jurisdiction and some Bishops of that Countrey were reported to have maintained a great part of those Forces They had a tedious and uneasie Journey of it then marching with their Children on their Backs and in their Arms nay and some in the Cradle poor Women also big with Child following them When they were got to the appointed place whither many in that forlorn condition had fled they had intelligence not long after that Meinier was mustering together all his Forces that he might fall upon them and this News they learnt towards the Evening Wherefore consulting together what was best to be done they resolve upon the spot because the Ways were rough and difficult to leave their Wives Daughters and little Children there with some few to bear them company amongst whom was one of their Ministers and the rest betake themselves to the Town of Mus This they did in hopes that the Enemy might shew some compassion towards a helpless and comfortless multitude but what wailing and lamentation what sighing and embracing there was at parting any man may easily imagine Having marched all night long and passed the Mountain de Leberon they have the sad prospect of many Villages and Farms all in a flame Meinier in the mean time having divided his Forces sets about the work and because he had got intelligence of the place to which those of Merindole had betaken themselves he himself marches to Merindole and sends the rest of his Men in search and pursuit of them But before these were come into the Wood one of the Soldiers moved with pity runs before and from the top of a Rock in the place where he judged the poor Fugitives might have rested he threw down two stones calling to them by
of Rome and Council he excused his Master's absence offered them his Labour and Services in his Name and withal told them that the distance of Place and difficulty of the Journey was the cause why the Bishops whom the Emperour had ordered to come from Spain were not yet arrived This was done during the Diet of Wormes mentioned above The Cardinals Legates return him answer That though they never questioned the Emperour's Piety yet his Speech had been very acceptable to them and that since the Pope the true Vicar of Christ and Successor of Peter the Prince of the Apostles had with the advice of the Emperour called that Council for curing the publick Evils and especially those of Germany they hoped that the Emperour would take care that nothing should be determined concerning Religion at Wormes but that all things be referred to the Council for that that was a Matter that highly concerned both the peace of his Conscience and his Reputation But that if it should happen otherwise not only the ancient Custom of the Church but the Law of God and Man also would be violated a pernicious Precedent introduced and the Dignity of the Council utterly vilified that as for himself his person and presence was very acceptable unto them However since most part of the Members were late in coming there was nothing done that Year unless that in the Advent which is the time immediately preceding the Birth of Christ some Monks preached to the Fathers according to the usual custome The Pope also in his Bull of Indulgences emitted the Thirteenth of December bewails the Misery of the Times which he affirms to be so great by reason of over-spreading Heresies that all the pains labour and care that possibly he can and does take does not all satisfie himself that therefore he had called a Council that the Wounds of the Church which wicked Hereticks had made might be healed that now seeing the salvation of all men depends upon it and then that the Fathers of the Council assisted by other mens Prayers may be the more acceptable to God He exhorts all and every one that forthwith they betake themselves to Repentance confess their Sins to a Priest three days a Week subdue the Flesh by fasting and the same days be present at Divine Service or if their Health do not allow it that they bestow something on the Poor That the poorer sort say often over their Pater noster and then receive the Sacrament To those that obey he grants Free Pardon and Remission of Sins and commands all Bishops to declare the same to the People The seventh of January after when the number of the Bishops was encreased the Council commenced And when they were all met in the chief Church after Mass the Cardinal-Legates whom we named read a Speech to the Fathers telling them that for three causes the Council was called That Heresies might be rooted out the Discipline of the Church restored and Peace resetled That the blame of the present Calamities ought to be imputed to the Clergy for that no Man did his Duty nor minded God's Husbandry as he ought and that therefore Heresies were sprung up like Briers and that though they themselves had raised no Heresie yet because they had not laboured the Land sowed the good Seed and rooted out the growing Tares they were in the same fault that they should look about them and every one examine his own Conscience whether or not he had done his Duty that certainly all the blame lay at their doors that the Discipline of the Church was neglected That a third Evil was War and that this was a punishment inflicted by God for the neglect of Religion and Discipline that the Church was now afflicted not onely with Turkish and Foreign Arms but also with Domestick and Civil whilest either Kings themselves were at War or they who had made defection from their own Pastors confounded all Order and made havock of the Goods of the Church That they themselves had given occasion to all these Evils when through Avarice and Ambition they had introduced into the World most pernicious Principles of living That therefore God's Judgment was just in smiting them so at this time and that yet the punishment was far less than what they had deserved that happy were they indeed who suffered for Righteousness-sake but that they could pretend to no such thing who deserved a far more heavy Judgment That all and every one then should confess their Faults and study to appease the Wrath of God for that unless they acknowledge them there was no hopes of amendment and then it was in vain to hold a Council and in vain also to implore the Grace and Assistance of the Holy Ghost That it was truly a great Blessing of God that he had given occasion of beginning a Council whereby as Jerusalem of old after a long Captivity so the Church after a long and violent Storm being brought into a safe Harbour might be repaired That Esdras Nehemiah and the rest of the leaders when they were returned home seriously admonished the People of Israel that confessing their own and the sins of their Forefathers they should implore the Mercy of God that the same Example was to be imitated by them that there were men in those days who hindred and laughed at the Jews who were repairing Jerusalem that in this Age also there would not be wanting those that would endeavour and do the same thing and that because they bore the Office of Judges they must have a care not to be swayed by Passions and Affections but to lay aside all hatred and friendship not to determine any thing for the love or favour of man nor flatter the ears or desires of any but to ascribe all Glory and Honour to God alone for that all Ranks and Orders of Men had strayed from the way nor was there any that did good no not one That the eyes of God himself and his Angels were upon this Assembly and that the thoughts of no man's heart could be hid from them That they should then act with sincerity and that those Bishops who were sent by Kings and Princes should indeed obey their Instructions but have in the first place the Fear of God before them and not be biassed either by love or hatred for that since it was for the sake of Peace they were met all Faction and Contention should be banished After this Oration was made the Decree of the Session was next read by John Fonseca a Spaniard Bishop of Castrimarino Therein all that profess the Christian Religion are admonished to reform their Lives to fear God often confess their Sins frequent the Churches and pray for the Publick Peace That Bishops and all other Priests be diligent at their Prayers and every Lord's Day at least say Mass and pray for the Pope the Emperour and the whole State of Christendome that they also fast and
he had promised you Supplies against us That your Majesty sued to the Turk for a Truce was a thing many wise men wondered at and could not but conclude it was for some great Matter seeing you were at peace with the King of France but now that your Majesty says you do it for the sake of the Publick I have nothing indeed to say to the contrary for it is long since Germany stood in need of some ease from the great Charges it hath been at We did indeed earnestly demand a Council but it was a free pious Council and that in Germany too now that we do not reckon the Council of Trent for such we fully declared to your Majesty at Wormes for all Laicks as they call us being excluded the Bishops and others who are bound by Oath to the Pope take to themselves solely the Power of Judging and Decreeing That I should propose some way for accommodation in Religion is a thing Sir I dare not venture upon without the concurrence of my Allies and I 'm sure that if I did so I should have but little thanks from either side for my pains but in the mean time provided it draw not into consequence I do not refuse a Conference with such as your Majesty shall please to appoint for that purpose The truth is I have no great hopes in the Council but believe that a Provincial Assembly of Germany might not prove unuseful for other People differ too much from us as yet in Opinions and Doctrine but in Germany matters are now come to that pass that they cannot be changed so that nothing could be better than if your Majesty would allow a liberty of Religion there but so that all should live together quietly and in peace I make no doubt but that the Conference you appointed at Ratisbonne was done by your Majesty with a very good intent but I had it from those that were present How some bitter Monks bring again under debate Points that were adjusted some Years since in the same place and are of so bad a Life and Conversation that no good at all can be expected from them Without all doubt the Archbishop of Cologne is a good Man and does what he does purely because he thinks it his Duty especially seeing the Decree of the Diet at Ratisbonne commits the care of the Reformation of his Church to him which truly he set about in a very moderate manner taking away no more than what was necessary should be and making but very small Alterations in the Goods of the Church Now the Book he published for that purpose agrees with the Holy Scriptures and is backed by the Testimonies of the ancient Doctors Tertullian Augustine Ambrose and others who lived nearest the Age of the Apostles if any harsh course then be taken against him for that matter it will be a warning to others who have made far greater Alterations To this the Emperour replied That he passed by the Treaty of Franckfort neither did believe the things that were told him of it nor had given any cause why he should but that yet he was much better satisfied by his discourse That he had indeed procured a Council to be called that it might both be beneficial to the Publick and that the Fathers who were there might of their own accord reform themselves and that it was none of his design that violence should be offered to those of the Augustan Confession because of any Decree that might pass there that the Conference of Ratisbonne was appointed for that very reason which had begun very well indeed if it had continued so That the Archbishop of Cologne though he had promised to supersede and delay did nevertheless proceed and force men to do as he would have them That it was the intent of the Decree of Ratisbonne that the Bishops should reform their own Churches but not introduce a new Faith and Religion and that it was added besides that they should draw up a formulary of Reformation and give it in to be considered of in the next Diet of the Empire but that he having turned out the ordinary Ministers and Pastors of the Church had of himself appointed new ones nay and more that he withheld the Revenues and Stipends of the Canons and appropriated part of them to himself carrying all things by his Edicts with a high hand so that the Clergy being necessitated to implore his help and protection he could not but according to the Power and Character he bore put a stop to him by contrary Edicts and Commands that in fine he was well pleased that the Conference betwixt his Commissioners and him should in no ways be captious nor ensnaring To which the Landgrave made answer That it exceedingly rejoyced him to see his gracious Majesty so well-affected towards Germany and his Associates and that he prayed God he might persevere in the same mind For said he if your Majesty according to that excellent Judgment God has endowed you with do but seriously consider and weigh with yourself how advantageous Germany is to your Majesty your Kingdoms and Provinces you 'l find that there is nothing more to be wished for than that all Ranks and Qualities may rejoyce and delight in you their chief Magistrate and your Majesty again use them as loving and dutiful Subjects For truly if Germany happen to be weakened it will recound chiefly to your Majesty's disadvantage I have likewise most joyfully heard what your thoughts and intentions are concerning the Decrees of the Council but that they should reform themselves is a thing I fear not to be expected for they are bound by Oath to the Pope judge alone in their own cause and though they stand in need chiefly of a reformation yet they look upon that as a thing can do them no great good and which will prove prejudicial to their yearly Revenues I doubt things are not carried at the Conference of Ratisbonne in the way and method they should be for not only Copies of the Proceedings are denied but also in the beginning our Commissioners were not allowed to have Clarks and Notaries As to the Archbishop of Cologne I can say no more but what I have already said He is a Shepherd and therefore desires to give good and wholsom Food to his Flock He thinks that to be his Duty and therefore caused a Form of Reformation to be drawn up nay and those who are now his Adversaries and especially Gropper were in the beginning most desirous of a Reformation but when they find it is come to that they shuffle and draw back Here the Emperour interrupting Ha said he what can that good Man reform He has hardly a smattering in the Latine Tongue In all his life-time he never said but three Masses of which I myself heard two nor does he know so much as the very Rudiments of Learning But he carefully peruses German Books answered he and what I know
for a certain he understands Religion To which the Emperour again replied To bring in a new Faith and Religion is not to reform an old Nor does he profess said the Landgrave to have embraced any new Religion but to have restored the ancient and true one as it was left unto us by Christ and his Apostles that he hath turned out some and promoted others to Cures in the Church is a Duty belonging to his Charge for if a Minister be either of a scandalous life and conversation or unlearned it is certainly the Bishops part to substitute a fit man in his place there are a great many vacant Churches in the Bishops Lands as I can affirm where for want of Pastors the People are neither taught nor ruled but lead a dissolute and barbarous Life liker to Beasts than Men. That he intercepts some of the Revenues of the Clergy he gives this reason That he had contributed a great deal of Money to the maintaining of the War against the Turk and French now it is the custom of the Empire for Magistrates to lay Taxes upon their Subjects on such occasions and that therefore he was not to be blamed but as it is commonly given out that he does it upon a religious account that is a malicious Aspersion of his Enemies to render him odious Next day the Landgrave Granvell Naves and Masbachen met at the Elector Palatine's Lodgings There Naves begins the discourse repeats somewhat of the Conference the day before with the Emperour declares the reason of their present meeting and shews that when the Emperour out of his earnest desire of peace and concord had appointed a Conference at Ratisbonne the Divines had of themselves broken up and departed To this the Landgrave made answer That he knew nothing as yet of their departure but that they had written to the Elector of Saxony and himself what uneasie Conditions were proposed to them when the Presidents would neither suffer them in the beginning to have Clarks exhibit any Copy of the Proceedings nor to send home any account of them that he did hear also how immodestly the conferring Monks behaved themselves who not only recinded what had been agreed upon before took away all hopes of agreement but also gave scandal and offence by their leud Lives and Conversation that he did not as yet know whether or not his Deputies were therefore gone but that he had not recalled them Next spoke Granvell and having premised some things concerning the Emperour's good intentions and desire of peace he partly excuses what was objected touching the Conditions of the Conference nevertheless that they were forbid to write home what they thought fit to be imparted was a thing he said they had no orders for from the Emperour But the Landgrave having pray'd them to wave those things and come to the matter in hand makes mention of that Decree made two Years before at Spire concerning Peace and the Administration of Justice urging chiefly a Provincial Council of Germany as the fittest means for setling and quieting Religion and because the Italians Spaniards and French differed so much from the Germans in the matter of Doctrine it was his opinion that a General or as they call it an Oecumenical Council would be but of little use but let things happen as they pleased whether a reconciliation could or could not be effected that yet the Decree of Spire ought not to be recinded that the state of Religion was such now in Germany that if any attempted to bear it down by force it would cost many and many a thousand Lives which would redound to the great loss of the Emperour whose Power was mightily encreased by the Forces of Germany and to the no small Joy and Benefit of other Nations and especially the Turks our Enemies The Decree of Spire was suited to the times said Granvell and it was none of the Emperour's fault that it had not its effect but that it was well enough known at whose door it lay In Private and National Councils Vices and Manners only are reformed but not a word of Faith and Religion Now there is nothing but Sects and Divisions when all Men have not the same thoughts in matters of Faith so that to the Debates of this Nature not only the Germans but all other morose Christians also have a just right That most part of Divines are a morose awkward and obstinate sort of Men unfit to dispatch any business that therefore Princes and Great Men ought to be admitted and some middle way found out of according Doctrines nor do you yourselves allow a liberty of Religion since they who differ from you in Opinion are imprisoned and fined Now though the Emperour be above all things desirous of agreement yet he cannot grant any thing that is impious for if all things were left to the disposal of the promiscuous multitude the chief Magistrate himself could no longer be safe It is unwisely done in me said the Landgrave to speak of such weighty Matters in the absence of my Associates However since there is no body here upon the catch I will go on I think that the Decree of Spire was made by the Emperour with a very good intent and since our Adversaries promised then to comply with it they ought not now to retract In the next place because we gave the Emperour good assistance against the French King we hope that what was then granted and confirmed under Hand and Seal is not to be violated Now there is nothing that ought to put a stop to a National Council do we not profess the same Faith that the Apostles that the Nicene Council and Athanasius professed and are not our Divines agreed about the chief Points of Faith There was indeed some dispute amongst them concerning the Lord's Supper but that is now quite hushed there is none but confesses that the Body and Bloud of Christ is really there received There are Anabaptists Davidians and I know not who besides but those are punished by Law there is no need then that foreign Nations should also be present when these things are determined though if they proposed to themselves the knowledge of the truth that were chiefly also to be wished that certain middle Opinions were established and that by Men of Honour and Quality I am not much against it but do not think that it can well be done without Divines However make no doubt but that if the pure Doctrine of the Gospel were preached the Sacrament given in both kinds and Church-men allowed to marry as Paphnutius of old urged in the Council a reconciliation might be accomplished I know no place where men are forced to be of our Religion we do not indeed suffer a variety or diversity of Doctrine in one and the same place but we compel no man nor upon that account deprive any of Life or Goods Now if men of our Religion were suffered to
prescribed by Law and the crime of neglect of Duty and slighting the Obedience they promised to him by Oath That his Nuncio would tell them the rest whom he prayed them to give credit to The Clergy and Colledge of Cologne vigorously pursued their Process at Rome against the Archbishop So that on the sixteenth of April the Pope pronounced sentence against him That forasmuch as unmindful of his own salvation he had several ways offended against the Rules and Doctrine of the Church and Apostolical Traditions against the Rites and Ceremonies of the Christian Religion in the Church accustomed contrary to the Censure of Leo X. published against Luther and his Adherents he therefore deprives him of the Communion of the Church of his Archbishoprick and all other his Benefices Priviledges Dignities and Faculties charging and commanding all People within his Territories and Jurisdiction not to obey him in any thing for the future he also absolves them from their Oath of Allegiance to him enjoyns him silence and awardeth him to pay to the contrary Party all the Costs of Suit. The Bishops of Liege and Utricht with the University of Louvain were joyned with those of Cologne in the Action This Sentence was in the Month of August following printed at Rome So soon as the Emperour came to Ratisbonne and was informed of what had pass'd in the Conference by the Presidents thereof he was extreamly offended at the departure of the Divines and by his circulatory Letters over Germany complains much of it and earnestly presses the Princes to come themselves in person From the Protestants there came only Deputies there were also present Duke Maurice Duke Erick of Brunswick John and Albert of Brandenbourg the Bishops of Trent Ausbourg Bamberg Wirtsbourg Passaw and Hildesseim About the latter end of May King Ferdinand came thither also June the second the Protestants make application to the Emperour complain of the Murder of John Diazi and demand Justice to be done upon the murderer all the Emperour told them was that he would advise about it with his Brother and when they had applied themselves to Ferdinand his Answer was to the same purpose With the Protestants were the Deputies of the Prince Palatine the Archbishop of Cologne Munster Norimberg Ratisbonne and Norlinguen The third day after the Emperour assembles all the States and in his Speech tells them the reasons of calling the Diet. That it was known to them how that most weighty Affairs of the Empire because of the absence of many remaining undetermined in the former Diet of Wormes had been referred to this Assembly but that he did not himself come at the appointed day in the beginning of January it was partly because of his indisposition and partly because the Conference began later than he had expected That he had had respect also to the bitter Winter-season and was unwilling to put them to any unnecessary charges and that though he had business enough to do at home yet he had undertaken the Journey and was the first that came contrary indeed to his expectation since the rest according to his example ought to have preferred the publick before their own private concerns However that he was still confident that they who were detained by sickness would come and the rest send their Deputies with full power and commission That moreover there had been a Conference of learned men appointed at Wormes which had indeed commenced and given him ample hopes that it would have continued so that when he and the other Princes had met here they might have found the Conferours minding their business and have taken cognizance of what had been transacted by them but that now they themselves were sensible that the Conference was dissolved and broken up without any fruit That seeing now it was his earnest desire to pacifie Germany by removing all dissensions about Religion he prayed them to communicate to him what more they thought it fit for him to do in the case that at length he might in discharge of his duty and trust enact somewhat for the publick good That moreover since it was absolutely necessary to the Empire that the Judicature of the Imperial Chamber should be reformed and seeing the manner how that was to be done was already prescribed by Law he did require that they whose right it was should provide Assessors and defray all the charges and not put him to more expences who was already overburdened with charches upon account of the Empire for that it was an intolerable thing and without precedent that Germany should be without Laws and Justice That the Debate about the Turkish War was also put off to this time but that last year the French King had sent him advice that there was hopes of obtaining a Truce and promised his aid and assistance for procuring it and because that not long since the States had given him supplies and that in many places the Crop did not answer expectation he had thought it convenient to give Germany a little relief that it might be able when occasion required to support the necessary charges so that by the mediation of the French King he had made Truce with the Turk for one year but that now since it expired at the end of October and was otherwise often violated as he was informed by his Brother King Ferdinand nor was it known what the issue thereof might prove it was wholly his opinion that seeing the matter required it they would now perform what formerly they had promised concerning supplies and that he on his part would do all that lay in his power both by counsel and acting for the safety and protection of the Empire It is the custom of the Electors to communicate and consult together but at this time the Deputies of the Electors of Mentz and Treves separated from those of Cologne the Palatine Saxony and Brandenbourg struck in with the Papists and having consulted the matter approved the Council of Trent and entreated the Emperour that he would maintain the same and perswade the Protestants to go thither and submit themselves to the Judgment and Decrees thereof The Protestants on the other hand beseech the Emperour that he would maintain Peace and the equal administration of Justice that he would refer the matter of Religion to a lawful Council of Germany a Diet of the Empire or a Conference of learned men to be managed according to a prescribed Rule and Method alledging that the Council of Trent was not the Council that was decreed and promised them in the Diets of the Empire Whilst these matters are under debate a sudden report flies abroad of great preparations for War that were making by the Emperour King Ferdinand and the Pope For since the Emperour had peace with the King of France and the Turk had granted a Truce for this year it was thought a fit time to attempt somewhat Some Bishops and the Emperours
have fully resolved by the help of God to stand upon their defence and resist this War which is brought upon them contrary to all expectation nay and to former Promises and Covenants too And therefore they have listed you and others for Soldiers with all the expedition they could But because the Heads of the League are as yet absent though within a few days they will be with us the most illustrious Prince Ulrick Duke of Wirtemberg in the mean time that all things may be done in order and no opportunity given to the Enemy of doing us any prejudice hath appointed John Heideck a Gentleman of an honourable and illustrious Family to be your Captain in place of himself Him therefore according to the Oath you have taken ye shall obey and in all things so behave yourselves that the glory and renown which our Forefathers fighting valiantly against foreign Nations of old purchased with their best Blood may be by us also handed down to our Posterity All things else we shall commit to the care of the Almighty who without doubt will in this so just a cause and defence order all matters as to his Divine Majesty it shall seem most conducing to our safety and welfare The Reader has been told before that the Protestant Deputies left Ratisbonne when they found there was no good to be done in the Conference there but Forces being now raised as we said they meet at Ulm there to consult what was to be done Therefore June the one and twentieth they write to the Doge and Senate of Venice and complaining of the Pope's injustice beg that they would not allow his Troops a free passage through their Territories and by former instances put them in mind what they and the rest of Italy were to expect if the Pope's Forces did encrease They write also to most of the Nobility of Germany and urge them not to put a stop to the Soldiers who repaired to their Camp And being informed that the Grisons and those of Tyrol were much troubled at the approach of foreign Soldiers by Letters dated the last day of June they entreat them also that they would hinder their passage and for that end promise to send them assistance They demand Aid likewise from the Citizens of Norimberg but they excuse themselves as not able seeing they were hardly strong enough to defend their own borders They moreover July the second give orders to Scherteline to fall upon the Enemy that were raising Men near the foot of the Alps and lastly they send Embassadors to the Suizers It has been said before that the Cardinal of Trent was by the Emperour sent in post haste to Rome By his means and sollicitation then the League which had been before conceived and drawn up in Writing is June the six and twentieth concluded and agreed upon on these Conditions Whereas for many Years Germany hath persisted in great Errours such as threatened extraordinary danger for the averting of which a Council hath been called that commenced at Trent in December last and whereas the Protestants reject and disown the same therefore the Pope and Emperour for the glory of God and the Publick Good but especially the Welfare of Germany have entered into league together upon certain Articles and Conditions And in the first place that the Emperour shall provide an Army and all things necessary for War and be in readiness by the Month of June next ensuing and by Force and Arms compel those who refuse the Council and maintain these Errours to embrace the ancient Religion and submit to the Holy See but that in the mean time he shall use his endeavours and try all means to accomplish that if he can without a War That he shall make no Peace nor Capitulation with them upon Terms prejudicial to the Church and Religion That the Pope besides the hundred thousand Ducats which he hath already advanced shall deposite as much more in the Bank of Venice to be employed by his Lieutenants in the War only and for no other use but if no War happen he shall receive his Money again that moreover he shall in this War maintain at his own charges for the space of six Months twelve thousand Italian Foot and five hundred Horse who shall be commanded by a General and other inferiour Officers commissioned by him but if the War be ended before six Months expire he is no longer to be obliged to keep his Forces in pay That the Emperour by virtue of a grant from the Pope may for this Year raise one half of the Church Revenues all over Spain That he may also sell as much of the Abbey-Lands of Spain as do amount to five hundred thousand Ducats but all this only for the use of the present War and upon condition also that he morgage to them as much of his own Lands and because this is a new thing and without a president he shall at the discretion of the Pope give all the security he can That if any one endeavour to hinder this their design they shall joyn their Forces and assist one another against him and to this both shall be obliged so long as the War continues and six Months after it is ended That all may freely enter into this League and share both in the Profit and Charges of the War That the Colledge of Cardinals shall also ratifie this League and that what is said of June is to be understood of the Month of June this present Year And this League both Parties signed a Copy whereof Jerome Franco the Pope's Nuncio produced afterward in Suizerland as shall be said hereafter Much about this time the French King makes Peace with the King of England leaving Buloigne in his hands till the Money he owed him should be payed And Henry the Dauphin of France having a Daughter then born to him who was named Isabel for confirmation of this new friendship the King of England is invited to be Godfather At that time also the Cardinal of St. Andrews in Scotland was about dinner-time killed in his own Castle by a Gentleman whose Brother he had too severely used for Lutheranism after the slaughter was committed the murderer fled into England July the third the Pope wrote to the Suizers and insinuating into their favour upon account of the intimate friendship that he and his Predecessours had entertained with them he bewaileth that some of them through the craft of the Devil and the arts of Rebels were snatched away from the Apostolick Religion and him like dear Children out of the bosom and embraces of a most loving Father nevertheless that it was a great blessing of God that many of them continued stedfast and constant in the Faith towards God and his Church that so others who had been seduced by the perswasions of wicked men might have an example set before their eyes and at length return to the Religion of their Forefathers for
with the Turk quite contrary to your Promise for when two years since Germany gave you Assistance against the King of France you pass'd your Word that so soon as that War were ended you would go in Person with an Army against the Turk but now have you patch'd up a Truce with him to the end only that you might more conventently accomplish what you had designed against us And now in the Diet of Ratisbonne you have put a colour and new face upon the matter having enlarged much upon your Affection and good Intentions towards Germany our common Country and upon the Contumacy of some Persons which you did with a design of dividing us who were Confederated upon the Account of Religion For you are not able to make out against us any Crime of Undutifulness or Disobedience and distrusting your Cause you cited not the Accused to answer before the Diet of the Empire nor indeed did so much as name them Whereas in the mean time by Letters to several Princes and Free Towns you cunningly pretended that the War you designed was not for Religion but for repressing the Contumacy and Stubbornness of some Men Nevertheless that Religion is the thing you strike at it is even apparent from this that you have procured a Council from the Pope wherein none but his Vassals and Creatures have any place Some there were indeed in that Assembly a little more free in their Speech but ways were found out that they should be recalled and turned out and worse Men put into their places It is also well known to all what sort of Decrees they are which the Fathers at Trent have already made in some Sessions It is not then the Council so often promised in the Diets as we declared unto you a year ago at Wormes and what we then alledged we would have now again here repeated That it is your Design also to compel us to approve the Council will easily appear from the Pope's Letters sent lately to the Suitzers wherein he heavily complains of many in Germany who slight the Dignity of the Council and that he says is the reason why he was willing to undertake a War And because you also had resolved for the same reason to try the Effect of your Arms he says that that had happened very luckily for his purpose and that therefore he would employ not only his own but also all the Force and Treasure of the Roman Church Since then the Pope hath discovered that Purpose of yours which you would have cloaked under another Disguise who can any longer doubt but that our Religion is struck at For we indeed are conscious to our selves of no Fact for which we should either refuse a Publick Trial or that we cannot justifie our selves in But it was your Duty to have brought us before the College of the Princes according to ancient Custom and heard our Reasons and Defences Nor did it become you thus to use us to call us to a Diet to propound Publick Affairs to ask our Counsel and Advice and in the mean time to be projecting a War against us For what indeed can be the meaning of this to leave the Turk and turn all the Rage of the War against us as if we were a great deal worse than he But our Hope and Confidence is in God that he will hinder and put a stop to so base an Undertaking For if you and King Ferdinand your Brother entertained any Grudge or Dispeasure against us that was wholly removed at Cadam Vienna Ratisbonne and Spire so that you may gloss and varnish the Matter as you please we are still certain that there is no other Cause for this War but that with the suppression of the true Religion Germany may lose its Liberty You write indeed to several Persons and endeavour to perswade them that you are very desirous the Doctrine of the Gospel should be propagated but the Decisions of the University of Louvaine confirmed by you the Punishments inflicted upon good and pious Men within your Dominions and that Confederacy made with the Roman Antichrist sufficiently declare that it is your intention to restore Popery in its full extent and to extirpate the Religion which we professed at Ausbourg And since it is so and that we made a League to live and die in this Religion and with united Forces to defend it whatsoever Quarrel or Provocation may be by any pretended against any of us it necessarily behoved us to undertake our own Defence which the Law both of God and Nature allows us And although by reason of this your Design against us we are freed from all Obligation unto you so that we needed not to have declared to you our Resolutions in the Matter yet for the greater security we hereby renounce all Allegiance Homage and Duty that we were any ways bound to perform to you not as if thereby we impeached the Rights and Prerogatives of the Empire but rather that we may assert and defend the same Wherefore we openly and solemnly declare That it is our Purpose and Resolution to defend our selves by way of Arms against the Hostilities of you and your Confederates For the Cause is too good and just that we should be afraid of any Danger This Letter they send by a young Gentleman and a Trumpeter as the Custom is to the Emperour in his Camp at Landishut But he was so far from receiving it that upon pain of Death he commands them to carry it back to their Masters adding withal That if any Man should for the future come from them to him in stead of a Present and Gold Chain he should have the Reward of a Halter Then he gave them the Instrument of Proscription above-mentioned and strictly charges them to deliver it to their Princes Before this Letter was sent it was debated what Title was to be given to the Emperour and the Duke of Saxony was of opinion that he was not to be called Emperour for that then it was not lawful to make War against him But the Landgrave was of another mind and both had those that approved them At length they hit upon this Expedient that they should call him The Pretended Emperour Then they consult whither they should march Some were for going streight to Landishut where the Emperour was but when they were told by those who knew the Country That they had Fens to pass where the Ways were so narrow that for a Mile or two a pair of Horses could not go abreast they change their mind and resolve to march to Ratisbonne where the Emperour had left both a Garrison and Artillery for that there they might chuse a convenient Ground to encamp in and if the Emperour came to the Relief of the Besieged they might hazard a Battel Having then removed their Camp they advance but with a very slow March and about the same time to wit the thirteenth of August the Italian or
any Confederacy with them That since it was so then and that they were convinced of his Intentions and of the Cause of the War he was very confident that they would reject their League keep their Men at home recal those that were already in the Service under severe Penalties and in nothing act contrary to the ancient Leagues and Alliances but according to the example of the rest be still and live in peace and friendship which would redound to their own praise and be very acceptable to him To these Letters they make Answer in the same manner as we said before they answered the Embassadour and beseech his Majesty to take in good part their delay and that because he assures them that by that War there was nothing intended against the Liberty of their Country and their Religion they also on their parts would do what was fit and becoming them that if any were gone from amongst them to the Wars it was in no ways by permission from them but that they went privately as many times they had done before however that it was not their Custome to recall those who went into foreign Service without their privity and consent but to punish them when they came home again The Landgrave and Duke of Saxony sollicited the Bohemians as well as the Suitzers but these answer in such a manner that it might easily appear their minds were already prepossessed with the Calumnies of King Ferdinand When the Protestants perceived that by their Letters they write an Answer about the latter end of August assuring them That Religion was the thing aimed at by the War they send them also the Declarations published by them upon that subject desire of them that they would commit no Hostilities against them and that they would signifie unto them what their Intentions and Inclinations were At the same time also they publish a Declaration importing that they were informed by credible Persons that the Pope that Roman Antichrist the Instrument of Satan and the Author of this War who caused many places to be set on Fire in Saxony had now suborned Poysoners to infect their Wells and Standing-waters that what Fire and Sword did not Poyson might destroy Wherefore they give warning to all especially to their own Subjects to use all endeavours to Take and Apprehend those Emissaries put them to the Rack and punish them severely when their Crime should be made out Some days after the Elector's Son John William by publick Letters warns his Country-men that they have a special care of themselves for that at Weimur a Town in Thuringe an Italian had been lately apprehended upon suspition who had confessed That he and some others had received Mony at Rome in the Pope's Name to do all the Mischief they could in Germany by Fire and Poyson We spoke of the Proscription and Imperial Ban before and how that a Copy of the Instrument thereof was sent to the Duke of Saxony and Landgrave So soon then as they had received this from the Camp at Ingolstadt for their Honour and Reputation sake they frame a large Answer which they published on the second of September That he so highly commended his Zeal and Affection towards Germany was nothing but dissimulation for that from the very time of his Inauguration it had been his whole design to bring it into Bondage That that indeed was the reason why leaving Spain and his other Provinces he had so often returned into Germany and been at so vast Charges that what he said of Religion was of the same sort it having been always his purpose with the first opportunity of time to suppress the true and Reformed Doctrine So often say they as he hath given Peace to us and our Religion it was cunningly done by him to serve a turn only till we had contributed Mony for the publick Concerns of the Empire that afterwards he had called the Decrees that were made in question and kept the matter in suspence until in the mean time he might make Peace with France and a Truce with the Turk and till the Pope and he waiting for a fit opportunity might call that same Council of Trent and enter into League together We will now give some instances for the proof of this Five years since he made a Decree at Ratisbonne concerning Religion and when that Decree did not satisfie us in very many things he declared his mind more fully and for our security and satisfaction gave us an explanation of it in Writing which afterwards his Commissioners and King Ferdinand confirmed in another Diet but when two years ago mention was made of that in the Diet of Spire he did not call to mind he said that Declaration In the Diet of Wormes the year before the Bishop of Hildesheâ—â— said openly in presence of the Princes That he had past his Word to the Catholicks That the Decree of Spire should be of no force after the War with France were over Some Months since when he was going to the Diet at Ratisbonne Granvell told me in presence of the Elector Palatine some Counsellers of mine and of the Duke of Wirtemberg's Embassadours said the Landgrave That that Decree of Spire was accommodated only to the times but that now the Emperour could not justifie it to the rest of the States Six years ago when King Ferdinand declared his Instructions to the Catholick States at Haguenaw he said That no Decrees were to be observed to us for that they were made in time of the Turkish War when there was need of our assistances What! Does not this seem to be a pretty fetch for circumventing us and our associates they themselves confess it to have been a trick whereby they squeezed Money from us It is plain then that he hath always been contriving the destruction of our Religion as the League lately made demonstrates and that he waited only for a fit opportunity of accomplishing it Now that he might seem to have a lawful pretext he always dealt with us that we would submit to the Council but why we could not do so our printed Papers sufficiently declare It was all along his design to maintain the Decrees of the Council and to put them in execution for the accomplishment whereof he long before sollicited the assistance of some Foreign Princes but fearing lest by that means he might stir up against him all that espoused the Cause of Religion he devised another colour and feigned a Rebellion that he might divide the Confederates and having suppressed the chief of them constrain the rest afterwards to submit to his pleasure And though he and his Brother laboured with great Care to conceal this their cunning and crafty Councels yet through God's great blessing it came more and more to light daily for the Pope himself by his Nuncio informed the Suitzers both of the Cause of the War and gave them a Copy of the League whence it is evident that not
Emperour accused the Farneses as the Authors of this Enterprize and especially Petro Aloisio Duke of Piacenza of which more in its proper place The Session of the Council of Trent which was to have been held about the latter end of July the year before was put off till this time and January the 13th the Fathers as their custom was meeting in the Cathedral-Church make a Decree about Mans Justification and condemn all those who say That by the fall of Adam man lost his Free-will that man is justified by Faith alone and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ that Justification is nothing else but a confidence in the mercy of God who forgiveth sins for Christ's sake that it is necessary that a Man firmly believe and doubt not that his Sins are forgiven and that he is of the number of the Elect that no Man can keep the Commandements of God not though he be justified that Justification received is not preserved and encreased by Good Works that after Baptism Justification that is lost may be recovered by Faith alone without the Sacrament of Penance that a penitent Sinner has his Offence wholly forgiven him and that there remains no Punishment to be endured for the same neither in this Life nor in the Life to come in Purgatory and that these Decrees derogate from God's Glory and Christ's Merit Upon the Elector of Saxony's approach with his Army Duke Maurice puts a Garrison into Leipsick and burns the Suburbs At the same time above a thousand Hungarian Horse came thither so January the thirteenth the Place began to be besieged But the Towns-people making a slout Resistance about the end of the same Month the Siege was raised without any Success Nevertheless the Town was miserably shattered and defaced by the Batteries of great Guns that continually plaid upon it The Duke of Saxony marching from thence not only recovered what he had lost in Thuringe and Misnia but took all Duke Maurice's Towns also except Leipsick and Dresden He gained likewise the Bishoprick of Magdenburg and Haberstadt having compounded therefore with John Albert the Bishop The day before he laid Siege to Leipsick King Ferdinand commanded the Bohemians to take Arms and march to the Assistance of Duke Maurice they obeyed indeed but afterwards returned home again without Orders wherefore about the end of January King Ferdinand renews the same Command But the Inhabitants of Prague who have the Chief Authority in those Places make application to the Senate that they would use their Endeavours with the King and prevail with him to recal his Order because it was inconsistent with their Liberty and they could not honestly obey it for that there was no reason why they should take Arms against the Elector of Saxony that in many things their Religion agreed with his and that besides he had been always very forward and instrumental in beating off the Armies of the Turk Whereunto King Ferdinand amongst other things said in answer That they did not make War against him upon the account of Religion but Rebellion and that what was alledged of his giving Aid against the Turks was quite otherwise for that some Months before he had by Envoys sollicited the Turk to make War upon Hungary and Bohemia to grant no longer Truce and to break that which he had made and that he had promised for the better Success in the Attempt to fall upon them on the other side When the Emperour was made acquainted with the State of Saxony and had been sollicited by frequent Letters from Duke Maurice he sent him Supplies of Horse and Foot under the Command of Albert of Brandenburg and then orders the Spanish and Italian Forces to follow under the Conduct of de Sandi and Marigan January the ninth Marquess Albert marched with his Troops from Hailbrun The Emperour departing also from thence went to Ulm and in his Progress receives into Favour the Cities of Lindaw and Esling It hath been mentioned before that the Pope pronounced Sentence of Excommunication against the Archbishop of Cologne and deprived him of his Dignity and Function At the same time he did that he conferred all his Right and Authority upon Adolph Count Schavenburg whom some years before the Archbishop had amongst all others chosen to be his Coadjutor Wherefore the Pope by a Bull enjoyns all the States of the Country to own and accept of him as their Prelate and moves the Emperour withal to see the Sentence put into execution But when the Archbishop being several times admonished to dimit his Charge had answered That he could not do it with a safe Conscience the Emperour who had now conquered all in a manner sends to Cologne his Embassadors Philip Laleing Governour of Guelderland and Viglius of Zuichem a Lawyer By them he enjoyns all the Orders of the Province whom he had ordered to meet at a certain Day there to shake off their Allegiance to Archbishop Herman and to tender their Fidelity and Duty to him who had been their Coadjutor as to their lawful Prelate It was no difficult matter to obtain that from the Clergy for they had been the Authors of the Revolution But the Nobility and of them many of the chiefest Quality with the Deputies of the Towns remonstrate That they could not make defection from him whom they had so long obeyed whom for so many years they had found to be a very good Prince and to whom they had bound themselves by an Oath of Allegiance This Difficulty being started the Duke of Cleve their very next Neighbour for avoiding greater trouble sent some of his Counsellors thither to mediate who after a long and serious Debate obtain'd at length of the Clergy that they would be quiet until the other States should fairly represent the Case to the Archbishop To him therefore were sent Theoderick Count Manderscheyt and William Count Nouenar the chief of all the Nobility who by their Dexterity and the Interest they had with him perswade him that in compassion to the People and that the whole Province might not be undone by a War he would comply and resign his Place Accordingly he released all his Subjects from their Oaths and Allegiance and so the Coadjutor whom we named who had been always as dear to him as dear to him as a Brother succeeds and takes possession of his Dignity January the twenty fifth The Archbishop had a Brother Frederick who as we told you in the Tenth Book had been Bishop of Munster and was now Provost as they call it of the Church of Bonn but he was turned out of that Office and Gropper had it for his Share Count Stolberg Dean of Cologne who had constantly stood up for the Archbishop met with the same Fate Presently after by Orders from the new Archbishop there was a Change made in Religion and all Bucer's Reformation overthrown When the Embassadors of the
Protestant Confederates had been with the French King they went to the King of England to negotiate the same thing with both But King Henry was then on his Death-bed for his Sickness growing upon him about the latter end of January he died in the eight and thirtieth year of his Reign having by his last Will left Prince Edward a Child of nine years of age his Heir and to him substituted the Lady Mary whom he had by his first Queen and the Lady Elizabeth by the second But before he died he condemned Thomas Duke of Norfolk a Peer of great Authority to perpetual Imprisonment and beheaded his Son the Earl of Surrey for some suspicious Words he had spoken during the King's Sickness after whose Death a Change in Religion hapned as will appear hereafter For though he had shaken off the Pope's Authority in all his Dominions and had made it Death for any Man to own him for Head of the Church nay though in the Publick Prayers of the Church he detested him as the Bane of Religion and Antichrist yet he still retained the Popish Doctrine as hath been said before He had caused his Son to be well educated from his Childhood and upon his Death-bed left him sixteen Guardians and amonst these Edward Earl of Herford the young Prince's Uncle To him the rest of the Guardians afterwards committed the chief Care and Tuition of the King as thinking he would be the most faithful to him of any and gave him the Honourable Title of Protector of the King and Kingdom The King also made him afterward Duke of Somerset He was both a Friend to the Reformed Religion himself and used his Endeavours also that it might be publickly received having perswaded the King his Pupil to embrace the same wherein he was chiefly assisted by Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of All England a Man of singular Learning About the same time died also Queen Anne Wife to King Ferdinand the Mother of many Children whose Funerals the Emperour solemnized at Ulm. In the mean time the Citizens of Ausbourg moved by the Example of their Associates and their own Danger and having got proper Mediators amongst whom was Anthony Fuggher made their Peace and were received into the Emperour's Favour again but upon condition that they should pay a Fine of an hundred and fifty thousand Florins furnish twelve Pieces of Cannon and receive a Garrison of ten Companies of Foot. Scherteline lived in the Town and for many years had served under them and taken their Pay one that the Emperour and King Ferdinand could not endure because he had taken the Castle of Erenberg Wherefore though the Senate interceded earnestly for him yet because the Emperour was so stiff that otherwise he would not treat with them he was forced to fly the Country and with his Wife and Family to remove to Constance a Town bordering upon Suitzerland During the Siege of Leipsick the Elector of Brandenburg interposes and having sent Embassadors to both desires that they would refer the Matter to him The Elector was not unwilling but Duke Maurice blaming him exceedingly for pursuing the War so hotly six days after when he saw the Town was not likely to be taken began to answer coldly and be off on 't Brandenburg therefore presently acquaints the Landgrave with it praying him to perswade Duke Maurice and that because the intestine War of Saxony could hardly be taken up unless the Publick War with the Emperour were also ended he entreats him to bend his Mind that way The better to perswade he lays open before him the great danger he was in That most of his Confederates were already reconciled to the Emperour and that the Duke of Wertemberg was fain to capitulate upon very hard Terms That the Emperour was preparing fresh Forces and that seeing he was not able alone long to resist so great a Power as was against him he advises him not to think ill to submit but to capitulate upon the Conditions which he himself had drawn up and now sent to him by his Embassadors For seeing the Emperour's Mind was for many Reasons much exasperated the thing it self required that with a kind of humble Submissision he should beg Pardon That he should therefore turn his Eyes upon himself and Children and upon the promiscuous Multitude and not drive on things to the utmost extremity He wrote also to the Elector to the same purpose A little before the Protestants in the Month of November broke up and quitted the Field The Emperour gave Commissions to some that they should forthwith raise new Forces and carry the War into those Places which bordered upon Saxony that the States and Towns of those Quarters might not be able to give the Duke of Saxony and Landgrave any Assistance The Command of these Forces consisting of one and twenty Ensigns of Foot and twelve hundred Horse he gave to Joyce Grunning Governour of Zeelandt These put Conrade Count Teckelbourg one of the Protestant Confederates the Towns of Osnaburg and Minden the Count of Lippe and some others in those places under Contribution and compel them to take Orders from them They also take the Castle of Ritberg and from thence fall in upon Bremen Here served under the Emperour Philip Count Eberstein Christopher Vrisberger and Frederick Speed. The Elector of Saxony being informed of the Emperour's Success February the thirteenth wrote to the Senate and Council of Strasburg giving them an Account how that he had recovered his own and taken from Duke Maurice most part of what belonged to him in Thuringe and Misnia That he had made the Nobility and Gentry of his Territories swear Fidelity to him and that he had added to all the Bishoprick of Magdeburg But that Ulrick Duke of Wirtemberg and most of the Free Towns of Upper Germany should have capitulated upon so very hard Conditions and without mentioning their Religion and promised the Emperour Assistance against him and the rest of the Confederates was a thing that had fallen out quite contrary to his expectation and was wholly repugnant to the Tenor of the League That he heard well of them in that they continued constant which had been acceptable News to him That they should go on then and not faint acting as became Confederates and if they were harder put to it that they should defend themselves with the Aid of the Suitzers and King of France That it was his hearty desire he could give them all Testimonies of his Love and Fidelity but that he was hindred by a Domestick War which if it would please God to put an end to to his advantage he would not then be wanting unto them That the Deputies of the States and Free Towns of Saxony were now met at Magdeburg That he treated with them there about those Affairs for which the Convention was called at Frankfurt and that he was in hopes they would
consonant to Right That for his own part there was nothing but what he was willing to do for the sake of Germany and in that he could appeal to the Emperour 's own Testimony That he had omitted nothing which belonged to the Office of a good Shepherd and most loving Father That he saw indeed what it was that the Emperour King Ferdinand and the States of the Empire demanded but that still he thought they desired it so as that it might consist with the Good and Peace of all other Nations and the Liberty of the Church When Mendoza perceived that the Pope took that Assembly at Bolonia for a Council he resolved to have protested against it upon the spot but the Dean of the Sacred Colledge and some Cardinals interposing he was perswaded to send that Answer to the Emperour wait for Instructions from him and to put off the Protestation until the 20th day When Mendoza then wrote an account of the whole matter to the Emperour the Pope also on the first of January writes an Answer to the Letter of the German Bishops which we mentioned before wherein having commended them for their Piety he tells them That they had good and lawful cause to be concerned for the Publick amidst those Stirs of heretical and seditious men for that he himself was extreamly affected thereat and that because it was a matter which concerned his Pastoral Office it was continually in his thoughts how to find a Remedy for it That for that reason also so soon as he was promoted to the Pontificate he had betaken himself to the Refuge which they themselves mentioned and of his own accord had called a Council first at Mantua and then at Vicenza but seeing that proved unsuccessful he had pitched upon Trent a Town on the very Borders of Germany whither they might come without danger and that a War breaking forth about the same time which hindered free access to the place though his Legates had been already sent thither he was necessarily obliged to defer the matter till another opportunity which happening by the Peace that was afterwards made he had again called the Council and acquainted all Princes and States therewith by Letters That though a year and more had intervened betwixt that time and the last War yet none of them came to it nor indeed excepting one or two sent their Deputies neither for though perhaps because of the danger of neighbouring Hereticks it was not fit they should have come so far and left their own charges at home nevertheless they might have been present by their Proxies as he himself had dispensed with him in his Bulls That a great number of Bishops and other Prelates came to Trent not only from Italy but from more distant Provinces also and that by their unanimous and harmonious consent Decrees had past there as well concerning Religion as Discipline wherein a great part of those wicked Doctrines that are maintained by the Hereticks of these times are refuted and condemned which was to him indeed matter of great joy and gave him cause not to dislike that place wherein sate an Assembly so useful to the Christian World Now that it was removed from thence it was done without his knowledge and the news thereof brought to him before he suspected any such thing but that there was no doubt that the Council had power to do so and that therefore he did believe they had a lawful cause for doing it unless he were sure of the contrary and that thought some few had left the Council yet it was not therefore divided for what the greater part did was to be considered That moreover it was not translated into a Town which was either too far distant from Trent or unsafe and inconvenient for that the interval was not too great and then it was a place highly commended both for the wholsomness of the Air and also for plenty of all Provisions and good Accommodation and Lodging That that City as being under the Jurisdiction of the Church ought not to seem the more unsafe to Germany which had received long ago not only the Christian Faith and Religion from the Church but many other Monuments also of Bounty and Liberality That besides it was to be considered that the Neighbouring Princes and People were under the Emperour's Jurisdiction That though this was the case yet he was not much concerned in what place chiefly the Council should be held but that if any other place were chosen by the common consent of the Fathers he should not oppose it provided the Fathers might have their freedom and be under no constraint there That the reason that was urged why they desired and wished them to return to Trent was that the Germans might come to the Council more willingly That he commended indeed this desire and endeavour of theirs nor doubted he but that for their parts they were not very anxious about the place but that they might know by the Letter of the Fathers at Bolonia what sort of Obstacles they were that lay in the way That the reason why he was so slow in answering them was that not long after he had received their Letter the Cardinal of Trent came to him from the Emperour and that seeing the Demands which both he and the Embassadour Mendoza made to him jump'd exactly with their Letter he did not think fit to answer them till he had first answered the Emperour That since they had treated that Affair with him not only privately but also publickly and often in the Consistory of the Cardinals he had by an Express sent and consulted the Fathers assembled at Bolonia and afterwards communicated their Answer to Mendoza when the Cardinal of Trent was gone a Copy of which Answer he now sent them that they might see what was first to be done before there could be any thought of returning That therefore he prayed them to have regard to the Peace of the Church and come to Bolonia with the rest either in Person or send their Proxies thither to continue the Council or if the place should not seem so fit that they should there debate the matter with the rest of the Fathers That now in the close of their Letter they hinted that it was to be feared lest if he neglected his duty other courses would be taken he was not at all moved thereat seeing he had omitted no duty in that Station and Dignity wherein God Almighty had placed him as in a Watch-Tower to take care of the whole Flock but especially of those who had gone astray from the rest That seeing nothing was wanting to him then and that it was publickly known how much he tendered the Welfare of Germany he was the less apprehensive of any Accident but rested satisfied in the Conscience of his own Integrity and honest Endeavours That as for themselves and the Emperour of whose Constancy and Sincerity there was no doubt to be made he thought
made me this Report That if rightly understood it was not inconsistent to the Catholick Religion nor with the Doctrines Canons and Constitutions of the Church except only in two Points the one concerning the Marriage of Priests and the other touching the Lords Supper But that it was a proper Expedient in its kind for establishing the Peace of Germany the thing I most wish for For what would be more agreeable than to see all the States unanimous in following one and the same form of Religion Which being so I require those who have hitherto to their praise observed the Laws and Rites of the Catholick Church that they continue in the same without wavering or starting of any Innovations as they have heretofore promised unto me and I earnestly desire those who have changed their Religion that they would either come over to the rest of the States and joyn with them in the Profession of the same Religion or moderate their Doctrine according to the Prescript of this Book and in every Point make it their Pattern Nor would I have them alter or add any thing to it but contain themselves within the limitation therein prescribed and neither in their Writings nor Sermons publish or vent any thing to the contrary but obediently expect the Decree of the Council which I shall endeavour shall be called as soon as possibly may be In the mean time it is my whole care that a Form of regulation be conceived for reformation of the Clergy When he had thus spoken by the Mouth of his Secretary as the Custom is he commanded the Book to be read So soon as that was done the Archbishop of Mentz who has the first place amongst the Electors without consulting the rest of the States started up and as in name of the whole Dyet gave the Emperour most hearty thanks for the great labour and pains he had been at for his care and diligence and for the zeal and affection he had for his Country And that seeing they had formerly referred the Matter to his prudent and faithful management and that now he had laboured to bring it to effect It was but just and reasonable said he that with most thankful hearts they should acknowledge so great favours and dutifully submit to the Decree The Emperour took the thanks for a publick consent and confirmation nor would he afterwards admit of any excuse as shall be said hereafter and commanded the Book to be printed both in Latin and in the Vulgar Tongue Four days after he represented to the States the great labour and charges he had been at in restoring Peace to Germany And that because the thing it self required that the same should be secured for the future it therefore seemed to him very necessary that some considerable sum of Money should be raised and in certain places kept in a publick Bank that if any Commotions should happen to arise within or without the Empire there must be a remedy ready at hand Some few days after that King Ferdinand also represented to the States that for necessary causes and considerations which were not unknown to them and needed not to be related he had by his Ambassadour made a Truce with the Turks for five years which had begun the year before And that though the Turk had charged his Subjects that they should act nothing to the contrary yet he nevertheless desired that they would contribute the Aids which they had promised before that if he should chance to break the truce he might be in a condition to make head against him That besides since the Turk fortified his frontier places with strong Garisons it concerned him not to be negligent And that therefore he had resolved to fortifie all proper places and keep Garisons in them But that because of the great charges he had been at in the late Wars he was not able long to support so great a burden That therefore he entreated them that they would give him a yearly Subsidie for those uses during the continuance of the truce For that that concerned the quiet and safety of them all in general In the mean time Maximilian the Son of King Ferdinand went from Ausburg to Spain to celebrate his Marriage with the Lady Mary the Emperours eldest Daughter and his own first Cousin The Cardinal of Trent was sent with him and the Duke of Alva went some Months before about the later end of May. The Neapolitan Horse who had before quartered in Nortgow came into the Country about Strasburg and continued almost three Months there behaving themselves with incredible insolence They came now and then into the Town which created no small suspition Duke Maurice not long after the publication of the Emperours Decree departed But Marquess John of Brandenburg Brother to the Elector Joachim waited upon the Emperour and in presence of King Ferdinand humbly begg'd that he would spare him as to that Decree and having taken a little notice of the services he had rendered him told him that it was chiefly the confidence he had in the Emperours promise concerning the free exercise of his Religion that made him serve in the late Wars The Emperour made answer That the Decree was made with the consent of the States of the Empire and therefore not to be dispensed with He on the other hand cryed that all had not assented nor could he with a good Conscience approve that Decree and challenged the Emperours Word and Promise When the Emperour perceived there was nothing to be done with him he bad him be gone and it was thought he did so that by his Example or Discourse he might not confirm the minds of others Wherefore the same day towards the Evening he set out on his Journy homewards and made no alteration in all his Country His Brother the Elector who had made it always his study to please the Emperour shew'd no resistance Nor the Elector Palatine neither who otherwise was not much in favour at that time with the Emperour When the Decree was put to the Deputies of the Cities that were of the Augustane Confession they prayed that they might have leave to consult their Principals about the Matter that afterwards they might answer according to their minds which was granted them Wolfgang Duke of Deux-ponts of the House Palatine had his Deputies there but the Emperour commanded him to come before him in Person which being done he pressed him to approve the Decree He made Answer That he knew no other Religion but that wherein he had been born and bred to that very day wherefore he prayed his Majesty to have some Consideration for him promising to do therein whatever he could with a safe Conscience At that time the Emperour did indeed dismiss him but plied him sharply afterwards by Messengers and Letters as shall be said in its proper place Whil'st the Senate and Council of Ausburg are consulting the Emperour posts Soldiers
footsteps Nevertheless we beseech Your Majesty on the other hand to consider that since every one must render an account of his Actions to God we have just cause to be concerned for our Salvation and to take care that we do nothing contrary to our Conscience Which was the reason also we were in good hopes that having given Audience to our Divines Your Majesty would have moderated the Decree But since now you refer us to the Council where you say matters shall be handled according to the holy Scriptures we admit of the condition and that we may not seem to be contentious or obstinate we are not against it but that the Bishop may by men of his own Order officiate in some of our Churches according to the formulary you have prescribed We shall transact with him about the Churches and shall neither offer any disturbance nor hinder the Citizens from repairing to them but it shall be free to every one to follow what Religion they please and that seemeth rightest to them Yet still on this condition that we on the other hand may be allowed some Churches wherein the Word of God may be purely taught and the Sacraments administred as is fitting and in the vulgar Tongue We shall also take care that the People live orderly and that nothing be done undecently Besides we shall command Holy days and Fast days to be observed and that no Flesh be eaten on days prohibited nor shall we suffer that in Sermons or any other way the least cause of Offence be given And because this Doctrine hath now for many years taken such deep rooting in men's Minds that without wounding their Consciences it cannot be so suddenly taken away And then Sir since in the manner we have declared Your Majesties Decree will be received amongst us we beseech Your Majesty from the very bottom of our Hearts that you would be pleased to condescend to our humble Supplications and suffer us to enjoy our Religion until the sitting of the Council This will be an Office most acceptable to God and most conducible to the Peace of our City and whole Province When the Emperour had heard this Letter and also what James Sturmey after his eloquent way had more largely said to the same purpose and by the mouth of Selden made ample protestations of his affection and good intentions towards Germany at length after a long Parly he thus dismisses them that they should accord with their Bishop but on this condition That if they did not agree they should stand to his Arbitration When the Emperour was come into the Low Countries he kept the Duke of Saxony with him but the Landgrave he sent to Oudenard a Town of Flanders And upon the borders of Brabant he dismissed all the Forces that he had brought thither from Ausburg We mentioned before that the States of the Empire had referred it to the Emperour to constitute the Judicature of the Imperial Chamber The first day of October then according as it had been enacted it began and three Advocates were turned out upon suspicion of Lutheranism and all the rest are cautioned amongst other things that they continue in the Doctrine of the Catholick Church or be turned out of place There Henry Duke of Brunswick commenced a suit against the confederate Protestants for the past War wherein he was overthrown He had conditioned nay and sworn too when he was let go out of Prison that he would not attempt any such thing but he fell off from that Agreement and not only he but also the Elector of Mentz the Master of Prussia the Counts of Nassaw and Solmes brought their Actions against the Landgrave The Men of Constance lately outlawed being reduced to great streights and seeing no way how to save themselves fly to the last refuge and surrender themselves for ever to the House of Austria King Ferdinand then takes them into his Protection and presently sent a Noble Man to be their Governour who on the fifteenth of October proposed these Conditions unto them That from henceforth they acknowledge King Ferdinand and his Heirs for their lawful Lords that they perform all Fealty and Obedience unto them at no time fall-off from their Allegiance and not enter into any League with others That they absolutely obey all Decrees to be made by King Ferdinand and his Governours concerning Religion and all things else That they faithfully and truly serve King Ferdinand and his Heirs and obey his Commands as the rest of his Subjects do and then they swear to these Conditions Two days after the Governour calls a Council and demands of them what Money they had in their Treasury and that an Inventory be made of all their Artillery and Ammunition He also commands that no Towns-man wear a long Sword that none presume to come near the Works of the Town nor the Guard-house that the Names of those who during the War gave the City intelligence of their danger be given in that the Goods of those who are absent and of those who have removed to other places be inventoried and detained That all publick Writings be produced and some who are skilful in the Affair give an account what every one of them concerns Afterwards all the Ministers of the Churches are commanded to leave the Town within eight days In this Month Augustus Brother to Maurice Duke of Saxony Brother to Maurice Duke of Saxony married the Lady Ann Daughter to Christian King of Denmark It was agreed upon in the Contract of Marriage that Duke Maurice should settle no Estate of Inheritance upon him out of the Lands of Duke Frederick but out of his own Paternal Inheritance At that time there was a great Insurrection through Guienne about the gabel of Salt and the Customs The chief City of the Country is Bourdeaux a large and populous Sea-port Town which sometimes belonged to the English They were the very chief in the Rebellion and killed the King's Governour This being then a thing of most dangerous consequence the French King sent thither under the Command of the Constable and Duke of Aumale one and thirty Companies of Foot of which one and twenty were Germans and a small Body of Horse The Bourdeaux-men hearing of this make their Application to the Constable offering him free entry into their Town with his Soldiers but pray him not to suffer the Germans to enter His answer was That they were not to give Rules to him that the Germans were in the King's Service as well as the rest that he would do what he thought fit and if they did not open the Gates he had Keys to unlock them So then he entred the Town October the nineteenth and having drawn up his Men in several Posts he first commands the Citizens to bring out all their Arms and carry them to the Castle which took up two days time The third day they began to enquire from house
Age being sent for by his Father prepares to be gone and leaving behind him his Cousin German and Brother in-Law to govern the Kingdom in his absence he set sail with a Fleet of fifty Gallies and almost as many Merchants Ships under the command of Andrea Doria who had brought over Maximilian and on the twenty fifth day of November arrived at Genoua accompanied with a great train of Nobility amongst whom was the Duke of Alva and the Cardinal of Trent For some fews days after his arrival he lodged without the Walls in the Palace of Andrea Doria the Admiral till the Ships should be unloaded and the preparations within the City finished But on the second of December he made his entry and was magnificently received Being there furnished not only with Money but also other necessaries for a journy by Land eight days after he departed and passing by Alessandria and Pavia went to Milan At Pavia were the great Guns that the Emperour took from the Duke of Saxony John Frederick as we said and these also he viewed At Milan where he arrived the nineteenth of December triumphal Arches and Statues with honourable Inscriptions were erected for him in many places at his entry he was received by the Duke of Savoy and the Ambassadours of Venice Florence Ferrara and Siena About that time Maximilian Count of Buren died of a Quinsie at Brussels where the Emperour then was his Physician Andrew Vesalius having at first sight foretold him as they say the very hour of his death Duke Maurice as we told you after the Decree about Religion was read left Ausburg So soon as he came home he called a Convention of the Nobility and other States at Meissen where he propounds the whole Matter and declares to them what the Emperours will and pleasure was They urge him with his own and the Emperours promises and insist upon having the Religion of the Augustan Confession allowed them Afterwards it was thought fit that the Divines of Wittemburg and Leipsick should be consulted Who accordingly met first at Begy then at Zell and afterwards at Juterbock Whither also came John Islebius sent from the Elector of Brandenburg Here was a Decree made concerning things indifferent and what are called Adiaphorous The last Convention was at Leipsick and there a form of Religion was drawn up which all Men within the Territories of Duke Maurice were to observe but this Book gave afterwards great offence as shall he declared in its proper place In the mean time the Emperours Son proceeded in his journy and passing by Mantua and Trent he came first to Ausburg then to Spire and so continuing forward through the Country of Luxemburg he came to his Father the Cardinal of Trent amongst others waiting upon him The Emperour upon his approaching sent a party of goodly Horse under the command of the Duke of Arescot to meet him Duke Maurice also having gone to meet him as far as Trent took a short progress with a small number of Attendants to go see Mantua and Venice and was most honourably entertained by the Senate He earnestly begg'd of Prince Philip that he would intercede with the Emperour for the Landgrave his Father-in-Law which he did and sent him word of it bidding him be in good hopes for that he had received a fair answer but that withal he should dissemble and seem not to know of any such thing About this time there happened troubles in Africa for one Zeriff rising from a very small beginning was at last advanced to a Kingdom and drove his next Neighbour the King of Fez out of his Country who afterwards came to the Emperour at Ausburg to bewail his own misfortune and implore his aid Nicholas Bishop of Metz Son to Anthony Duke of Lorrian and Guardian to his Brothers Son as we mentioned in the sixteenth Book renouncing his Ecclesiastical Orders married a Lady of the House of Egmont which has large Possessions in Brabant so that the Bishoprick fell to the Cardinal of Lorrain We told you before what past betwixt the Emperour and the Deputies of Strasburg at Cologne A little while after they returned home they began to treat with the Bishop who having assembled the Nobility declares to them what the Emperours pleasure was and charges all to obey laying the same commands also upon the Clergy of Strasburg But seeing he propounded harder conditions than were expected on the twelfth of February the Senate sent Henry Cope as their Deputy with Letters to the Emperour wherein they acquaint him that they had taken great care to treat with their Bishop but that he propounded such Conditions to them that if they accepted them they could not enjoy those things which were allowed them by the Decree lately made at Ausburg For after a long debate they say we told him that we would enjoyn our Citizens to keep Holy-days and on certain days abstain from eating of Flesh Besides we have dealt with the Ministers of our Church and we believe some of them will of their own accord lay down their Office of Preaching We are willing and free then that he settle Religion according to the Platform prescribed at Ausburg For no hinderance shall be made on our parts nor by the Citizens neither whom we shall strictly charge not to offer the least opposition Now this being our Case most victorious Emperour we pray your Majesty that you would be pleased to suffer us to keep our own Ministers even such of them as are married and not reduce us to extremity especially since we are ready to behave our selves with all moderation and shall not give the least cause of offence Mention has been made before of the Emperours proscribing the Republick of Magdenburg But their rejecting of the Decree lately made about Religion did much inflame their former offence So that now the Emperour proceeded against them with new Edicts and Proclamations exposing them as a prey to all inviting the neighbouring Princes and States to make War against them and to do them all the hurt and damage that by any means whatsoever they could It hath been said before that the Ministers of Ulm were by the Emperours Orders made Prisoners but at length after seven Months confinement they are now in the third day of March set at liberty having first payed their charges About this time began the State of England to be troublesome Edward Duke of Somerset the King Uncle and Protector of the Kingdom as we said before had a Brother who was Lord High Admiral Of him the Protector conceived some suspition or suffered himself to be persuaded that he aspired to the Crown and intended to get the King into his power whereupon he ordered him to be apprehended and brought to his Tryal where being condemned to die he was beheaded on the twentieth of March. He had married Catharine Parr the Queen Dowager of
King Henry the Eight and that also somewhat increased the suspition But the envy and emulation of another great Lady was thought to have contributed much to this disaster The Bishop of Strasburg again enjoyns the Clergy to obey the Emperours Edict Now there is in that City a Church dedicated to St. Thomas the yearly Revenues whereof were by the Senate allotted for stipends to the Ministers of the Gospel and the other learned Men who had the Education and Instruction of the Youth Those chiefly he urged to tell him within what time they would satisfie the Emperours Decree and Expectation then what fit Men they had for that purpose and what Ornaments of the Church were yet in being But they took time to advise with Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of England a Man of excellent Learning who made it his whole business to revive and promote Piety and Learning Wherefore when he saw in what state Germany was and the danger learned Men there were in by frequent Letters he solicited Bucer chiefly and Paulus Fagius one most expert in the Hebrew Language to come over into England assuring them of all love and friendship wherefore by permission from the Senate on the first of April they set out upon their Journey that they might go thither and sow the Seed of pure Doctrine Their coming was very acceptable not only to the King but to most of the Nobility also and the People And after they had been for some time with the Archbishop of Canterbury they were both sent to teach in Cambridge On the first of April Prince Philip of Austria with a most splendid Pomp made his entrance into Brussels where his Father was The Ambassadours of Duke Maurice and the Elector of Brandenburg were there being sent to solicite the intercession of Prince Philip and the Cardinal of Trent who was a great Friend to Duke Maurice But though they put the Landgrave who then was at Oudenard in good hopes yet nothing could be effected and not long after when the Landgrave for his healths sake would have eaten Flesh the Captain of the Guard coming in threw down the Dish Meat and all that was brought him upon the Ground At the same time the Bishop of Strasburg after eight years takes at length Orders and says Mass and holding a Convocation of his Clergy at Saverne made such Decrees as suited their purpose Then he requires of the Senate of Strasburg by Messengers that they rebuild the Altars restore to him the liberty of appointing the Ministers of the Church absolve the Clergy from their Oath restore their Priviledges and produce all the Ornaments of the Churches But the Professors he strictly charges to give him a positive answer whether they would obey the Emperours Edict or not They having spoken at large of their submission and deference to the Emperour and then of their several Charges and Employments openly declare what it is they teach and do that being Divines Philosophers Logicians and Rhetoricians and Men of the like Profession they were not only useful but also necessary in the Church and Schools then they shew by whom they were admitted into the College with the Approbation of the Senate and after a long Declaration of their Case they humbly and lovingly pray that he would not disturb an Order so well established nor put them upon minding of other Affairs that were not near so necessary The Agents on the other hand make answer that that College was not Instituted for such kind of Scholastick Employments and that the Antient Order ought not to be changed That if there were any among them that thought themselves grieved and could not with a good Conscience comply the Bishop was not the Man that would persuade them to any thing against their wills But that they were free to give place and as the common Proverb is Either to drink or be gone For that if the Senate had a mind to have Professors of Arts and Sciences in the Town it was but reasonable that they should be maintain'd out of the Publick Treasury and not by the Rents and Profits of the College which was appointed for other uses That the Bishop and the Predecessors had for many years past been hindred in the Exercise and execution of their Right but that he would not suffer it any longer After a long debate about the Matter they depart without coming to any conclusion and when the Senate came to know of it they interceded with the Bishop by most kind and friendly Letters praying and beseeching him that he would have some regard at least to the Youth who were much improved in Parts and Learning by the Endeavours and Education of that School In this manner was the Matter long tossed to and again by Messengers and Letters till at length by the interposition of Mediators it was taken up and compounded as shall be mentioned hereafter It was thought that the Bishop who had been always look'd upon as a Man of a mild and peaceable Nature that loved his ease did not act thus so much out of his own inclination as at the instigation of his Friends who represented to him that this occasion of recovering his Jurisdiction was not to be slighted and that unless he prosecuted it he might also incur the Emperour's displeasure In all these Transactions he made use of one Christopher Welsinger a Civilian who had sometimes studied at Wittemberg But the Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Strasburg employed as their Advocate one John Tischell a Doctor of the Laws The last Book mentioned how that after the promulgation of the Decree about Religion Wolfgang Duke of Deux-ponts was sent for to come to Ausburg The Emperour had pressed him by several Letters to obey the Decree and because he had referred the matter to the Bishops the Emperour put the Question to him whether or not he himself approved the Decree And if he would turn out the Ministers of the Church who did not conform thereunto He therefore wrote to the Emperour in French resuming in a few words what had been done the Summer before at Ausburg and telling His Majesty That upon his return home he had intimated to his people and commanded them to observe that part of the Decree which related to the keeping of Holy days and the eating of Flesh that he had also several times carefully read over the whole Decree about Religion wherein he confessed there were many things that agreed with that Faith whereby he expected Salvation and many also that were inconsistent with it But that nevertheless he had charged the Ministers of the Church to weigh seriously all the Points of it and afterwards make their Report to him how they thought the matter might be ordered that since all of them with one voice affirmed that they could not with a safe Conscience approve it in all points he thought it not
consult with him in what manner they might put in execution their Commission and that afterwards when they understood that it was not possible for them themselves to have access into all places that stood in need of their help they had been necessitated to employ others This Indulgence or Indult of the Popes as they call it the Emperour presently sent to all the German Bishops admonishing them severally to use gentle and mild ways and to try all Courses by fair Language Exhortation and Entreaty before they should come to Threats and Excommunication Wherefore the Archbishop of Mentz writing amongst others to the Landgraves Governours and Counsellors and having said much of his own Pastoral Care and of the Emperour's earnest Concern for the Publick requires them to shew the Pope's Indulgence to the Ministers of the Church and command them to obey it The thing being proposed to the Preachers their answer was That their Doctrine agreed with the Doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles and that though their Lives and Conversation did not suit with their Profession yet they acknowledged no Error in their Doctrine and that therefore they stood not in need of an Indulgence from the Pope that they had preferred Marriage before an unchast single Life according to the Word of God and that they would not forsake their Wives and Children whom Christ himself commanded us to love cherish and provide for That in administring the Sacrament under both kinds in their Churches they therein followed the command of Christ and the custom of the Primitive Church and that there was no reason to admit of any Alteration therein In the Month of May Peter Martyr and the Divines of Oxford disputed publickly concerning the Lords Supper and the Presence of Christs Body in the Sacrament Martyr proposed these Points to be defended That the substance of the Bread and Wine was not changed and That the Body and Bloud of Christ was not Carnally or Corporally in the Bread and Wine but sacramentally united to them Afterward there was a Book of this published wherein the presidents of the Dispute who were appointed by the King give no obscure intimation that Martyr had the better on 't in that Debate On the Tenth day of June the Queen of France was crowned at St. Denis as the custom is the Ceremony being performed by the Cardinals of Bulloigne Guise Chastillion Vendosme and Bourbon for all the rest were at Rome Six days after the King made a most splendid and magnificent Entry into Paris the chief Town of the Kingdom where he had not been seen publickly since the death of his Father and two days after the Queen During his abode there some were put to death for Lutheranisme and as it is said he himself was a Spectator of the Execution Afterwards July the Fourth he made a solemn Procession and Prayers in the Churches and next day after published a Printed Proclamation declaring the causes of it to have been That he might give God thanks for the many Blessings he had bestowed upon him that he might pray to God for the safety and preservation of himself his Wife and Children and of the whole Kingdom and Commonwealth as also for the Souls of good Men departed especially for the Kings of France his Progenitors and the late King his Father after whose Example he was resolved to take upon himself the protection and defence of the Catholick Religion the Authority and Liberty of the Apostolick See and of the Ministers of the Church that amongst others this was also a chief cause that it might publickly appear how much he detested those who contrary to the command of Christ contrary to the Traditions of the Apostles and the consent of all Antiquity deny the presence of the Body and Bloud of Christ who take away all force and efficacy from Baptism Penance good Works and the Sacraments who professedly despise the Authority and Hierarchial Order of the Church who reject the Worship and Adoration of Saints and Relicks Moreover that by that solemn Procession and Supplication he might make known what his Judgment and Inclinations were to wit that according to the Example of his Forefathers and in a certain Hereditary Imitation he so thought and believed as the Catholick Church the Apostles Creed the first Council of Nice and many other Councils of the Fathers enjoyned as also that he was fully resolved to root out of all his Territories those Heresies which were long ago condemned but now again partly revived and partly contrived by Luther Carolostadius Zuinglius Oecolampadius Melanchton Bucer Calvin and such other monstrous and pestilent Arch-Hereticks and severely to punish such as deserved it This Writing set forth in the Vulgar Tongue he sent all over France commanding it to be published to the People and accordingly publick Processions and Prayers to be made in all places A little while after he caused Monsieur de Vervius to be beheaded for surrendring the Castle and Town of Bulloigne as was mentioned in the Fifteenth Book and confined to perpetual Prison his Father in Law d' Abigny a very ancient Man who had been Governour of all the Bolonese and one of the four Mareschals of France For many Months now he had solicited the Switzers to renew with him the League they had made with his Father and though the Emperour by Messengers and Letters did what they could to dissuade them from it yet they judging it more for their Interest consented and first the Catholick Cantons with the Rhinwalders and Wallisserlanders and afterwards also those of Basil and Schafhawsen to the great astonishment of many because of those Edicts and Punishments we spoke of For it was the general opinion that no League nor Society ought to be made with him who so cruelly persecuted the Reformed Religion and by name condemned their Churches and Doctors But the Cantons of Bern and Zurick following the counsel of Zuinglius as may be seen in the third and sixth Book refused to enter into that League We took notice before of the Convocation at Leipsick But now that some talked and complained that Popery was again stealing in upon them Duke Maurice in his Letters addressed to his Governours July the Fourth tells them that he was informed many partly out of a too solicitous jealousie and partly through the suggestions of others were apprehensive that the old Errours might be by degrees introduced again that some of the Ministers of the Church and other busie and restless spirits that delighted in changed were not altogether free from fomenting of that Calumny that by several Declarations he had formerly made publick what his Purpose and Resolution was which now because of the Slanderous Reports raised he again repeated thereby to convince all that his Religion was dear unto him that therefore he required those who either out of a fond credulity or through the suggestions of others were
apprehensive of a change to lay aside all their fear and give credit to his Letters and Testimony And that as for such who went about to spread such Reports they were not to expect to go unpunished if they persisted to do so Moreover that by his Order some Heads were abstracted out of the Decree lately made at Leipsick which he would have to be taught that therefore they should enquire and learn whether the Ministers did follow that form in the Churches or openly condemned it in their Sermons However it were that they should give him notice of it that if any doubts were started the Divines of Wittemberg and Leipsick were to be consulted and that he commanded these things to be declared unto the People At this time died the Landgraves Wife and Duke Maurice's Mother in Law being heart-broken with sorrow and care for her Husbands Imprisonment and many other Calamities she had suffered There happened now a Popular Insurrection in England upon a double account the one was for enclosing of Lands for it was a Vulgar Grievance that the Nobility and Gentry had taken in and Emparked a great deal of Land which had formerly been Common and made Parks thereof for Deer the other Pretext was Religion for though the Devonshire-men were also against new Enclosures yet their chief Quarrel was for the alteration made in Religion and therefore they demanded that the six Articles made by King Henry the Eight which we mentioned in the Twelfth Book might be restored Since then they were up in Arms a thing of no small danger and would not listen to any Admonition or Advice the King and Council much against their Wills were obliged to send Forces against them that routed and killed some thousands of them The French King who exceedingly longed to recover Boloigne again laid hold on this occasion and partly by Storm and partly by Surrender took some Castles and Forts along the Sea shoar betwixt Boloigne and Calais whereby he reduced the Garison of Boloigne to great difficulties and streights The Nobility of England highly resented this Accident and because the whole Government was in the hands of the Protector the Kings Uncle all the blame was laid upon him that he had not in time provided the Places with Necessaries This Accusation and Envy increasing daily more and more the Protector by the joynt consent of the Peers was in the beginning of October apprehended at Windsor where the King then was and sent to the Tower of London The Nobles afterward by a publick Printed Proclamation signed with all their Hands declare to the People the causes of it and charge him with bad Administration of the Government And the Ringleader of them in this attempt was John Earl of Warwick Whil'st the French King is thus employed against the English the Emperour goes with his Son through Flanders Haynault and Artois making the People of those Provinces swear Allegiance to him and then both return to Antwerp about the Thirteenth of September There the Emperours Son was received in a most magnificent manner not only by the Towns people but also by the Foreign Merchants Spanish Italian German and English and being afterwards accompanied by his Aunt the Regent he visited the other Provinces also and received Homage from them We mentioned before how the Senate of Strasburg had sent a Deputy to the Emperour for adjusting the Controversy that they had with their Bishop wherefore with the Emperours leave Arbitrators were chosen on both sides to take up the matter These met in the Month of October and after a long debate the Senate allowed the Bishop three Churches that according to the Decree lately made he might therein have the Exercise of his Religion and took all the Clergy into their Care and Protection The Bishop on the other hand grants the Senate the College of St. Thomas for a publick School and all the rest of the Churches The Clergy also was to pay a yearly Tribute and some Money to the Senate and were exempted from all other Charged and Duties The Emperour as we said before prosecuted those of Magdeburg with Edicts and Proclamations and solicited the States of Saxony for Aid Most part did not refuse provided all the other States not only of Saxony but of the Empire also did the same But the Lubeckers and Luneburghers at that time having obtained leave from the Emperours Deputies went to Magdeburg with a design to make their peace but it was in vain No Man indeed attempted any open Hostility against them but being outlawed they were in continual dangers and durst not stir abroad out of the City without risking their Lives and Fortunes for it was lawful for all Men to fall foul on them The Senate therefore having in a publick Declaration complained before only of the Injury and Violence received from their Neighbours do now emit a Manifesto directed to all in general but chiefly to those that lived next to them complaining that Calumnies and false Reports went abroad of them as if they behaved themselves stubbornly and arrogantly towards the Emperour and Empire slighting Peace and publishing reproachful Papers but that therein they were wronged That they owned Charles the Emperour for their chief Magistrate and had by publick Proclamation charged all their People not to presume to utter any the least undutiful Expression of his Majesty or of any of the States that they had given no other cause of offence but that they professed the Gospel of Christ and that all the rest were but Calumnies forged by their Enemies That it was not unknown to them who had been present but in some few Assemblies how desirous they had been of peace for that they not only understood but had tasted the sweetness and comfort of it and on the contrary the miseries and calamities that attended War that it would be also a great grief and trouble to them if for their sake their Neighbours should be exposed to danger or receive any prejudice that moreover they confessed that it was neither lawful for them nor in their power obstinately to stand it out against the Emperour and Empire but that being necessitated to defend themselves from injury they had demolished some Houses and seized some Castles small Towns and Villages in time of War not indeed with a design to appropriate them to themselves but that they might not fall into the hands of Strangers nor would they refuse to deliver them up provided their Neighbours would live quietly That there were two main Reasons why they could not obtain a Peace first because they retained the pure Doctrine of the Gospel and rejected the Idol of Popery and then because the other Conditions proposed were not only heavy but intolerable to them and altogether such as could not be performed for that to betray their Liberty which had been granted them by the Emperour Otho the Great the first of that Name and
had been handed down to them from their Ancestors and successively even to the present time was a thing that could noways be defended nor justified to Posterity That now it manifestly appeared what end the Authors of the Book made at Ausburg had proposed to themselves and what they drove at for that they had endeavoured to deprive Mankind of the chief head of the Doctrine of Justification the very groundwork of our Salvation as also to question the use of the Lords Supper and the Marriage of Priests to teach besides the Invocation of Dead Men and all that depends thereon in short to restore Popery again in its full extent as many Men of Excellent Learning had made it appear that certainly so great Impiety was not to be winked at nor past in silence but earnest and fervent Prayers made to God that he would not suffer the glory of his own Name to be thus polluted That it was indeed a sad and lamentable spectacle to see men violently driven to a false Religion and Idolatry the Ministers of the Church cast into Gaols or with their Wives and Children forced into Exile and some also butchered and killed but it was extreamly grievous that though these things were openly seen especially in Upper Germany yet there were some who had the boldness to say that Religion was not struck at that nevertheless it was no new thing since from the very Creation of the World it had been the condition of Pious and Innocent Men to suffer affliction and that there were many Examples both in the Old and New Testament which declared the constancy of holy Men when Kings and Princes set forth Edicts contrary to the Word of God for that Rule of Scripture always prevailed with them That it is better to obey God than Men That this was not only the Doctrine of St. Chrysostome St. Austin St. Ambrose and others but their Practice also when the Emperours commanded any thing repugnant to the Law of God that their case was now the same that they saw the danger they were in and yet could do not otherwise than they did for that they would suffer any thing rather than applaud to and embrace manifest Errours That it was reported of Gordius the Martyr how that being desired by his Friends as he was going to the place of Execution that to save his Life he would forsake his Opinion he made answer That the Tongue ought not to speak any thing in reproach of him who created it A saying that concerned all Men in general for that it was the Opinion of the Ancient Church and of some of the first Bishops of Rome also that they do not only betray the Truth who teach false Doctrine but those also that dare not openly confess and defend the known Truth That therefore the event of all was to be committed to God and that Men ought not for love or favour or the fear of any danger to turn aside from the profession of the Truth but to have the Example of Daniel always before their Eyes who contrary to the Decree of King Darius prayed to God with his Windows open That he might indeed have done the same privately and closely without any danger but because the open confession of his Faith and the glory of the Divine Majesty required it should be otherwise he had with a great and undaunted mind openly called upon God without any regard to that danger which being laid for him by his Enemies fell afterwards upon their own heads That therefore they begg'd they would not raise Arms nor attempt any Hostility against them who were Members of the true Church but therein follow the Example of the Christian Soldiers of former Ages who would not obey when the Emperours would have employed their Arms against those who professed the Christian Religion as might be made out by the instance of St. Mauritius the Martyr That it was to be found in the Book of Judges how highly God was offended with the Israelites because being terrified by the multitude of the Enemies they assisted not their weaker Brethren which might be a lesson to all that not only Brethren and Associates were not to be deserted but ought also to be relieved and succoured That they made no doubt but that good Men were moved at these things that God lived and was immortal who had often shew'd strength with his Arm in old time and was still able to do it That after all they most earnestly besought them that they would carry these their Complaints to the Emperour King Ferdinand and the other Princes and States and at the same time intercede for them that they might not be reduced to extremity for that they refused nothing that could be lawfully and honestly performed that it was their hearty Request also that they would commend them in their Prayers to God that in imitation of the Ninivites they might from the bottom of their hearts repent of their Sins and send up their sighs unto God that they might undauntedly persevere in the profession of the Doctrine of the Gospel which had now for these thirty years been preached amongst them and set it forth with Pious Lives and Conversations that they might do the Works of Charity to all Men but especially to the Ministers of Gods Church who were now turned out and in exile to their Wives and Children and such other poor People in distress and that they might retain this pure and wholesome Doctrine in spight of the tricks and artifices of those who under the Pretext of restoring of Ceremonies would again let in upon us the sink of Popish Pollutions In the Month of October Francis Duke of Mantua the Son of Frederick took to Marriage the Lady Catharine Daughter of Ferdinand King of the Romans and the Tenth day of November after Pope Paul III. departed this Life in the Fourscore and second year of his Age. The day before he died he discharged the Imposts which he had laid upon Salt and most part of other Commodities to the grievance of the People Some Months before he had solicited the Emperour about the restitution of Piacenza but it was in vain and it was generally thought that if he had lived longer he would have espoused the Interests of the French King for it was believe that he had been hatching Revenge in his mind ever since the Murder of his Son Petro Aloisio His Body lay for three days in State in the Chapel of Pope Sixtus whither the People flocked in great numbers to kiss his Feet which were put out at an Iron Gate as the custom is Before he died a bitter and Satyrical Book came out against him under the Name indeed of one Bernardino Ochino but as it was thought written by other hands with a Prefatory Dedication to Ascanio Colonna whom he had banished This little Book amongst a great many other things which would be too long to relate addressing to him calls
give credit to those who inflame him to the commission of wicked and unjust Cruelties but that he would first truly and duly examine the whole Matter Lastly They humbly deprecate all War but at the same time if occasion so require they crave the assistance of their Neighbours Of the Tumult which we told you happened in the Cathedral of Strasburg the Bishop made a complaint to the Emperour but the Senate by a Deputy whom they sent purged themselves of having any hand in it Wherefore the Emperour wrote to the Bishop enjoyning him to continue the Service that had been intermitted and proceed However the Bishop took an Engagement first from the Senate that there should be no violence offered nor any obstruction made to their Actings So at length on Whitsunday which fell on the Four and twentieth day of May the Clergy began again to officiate For a few days at first the Consuls and some Senators were present in a different place of the Church to prevent any disturbance and the Clergy of the Church had enclosed with Iron â—rates that part of the Quire by which they went into the Vestry that no body might approach too near About the end of May the Emperour with his Son departed from Brussels and went to Ausburg to the Dyet there taking with him his Prisoner the Duke of Saxony but leaving the Landgrave at Mechline Not long after his departure a Proclamation dated the Twenty ninth day of April was published against the Lutherans both in Flemish and French of which this was the purport Although saith the Emperour it hath been always our endeavour that the true and ancient Religion should be observed within our Dominions though it hath been always our chief study that the Errours Heresies and Sects which for many years now have spread over Christendom should be utterly abolished and though we have for that end emitted many Proclamations enjoyning most severe Penalties Nevertheless to our great grief we have learned that not only many of our Subjects but Strangers also who live and Trade in our Provinces spread the contagion of this Evil far and near amongst the People so that it is absolutely necessary that some sharp Medicine be applied to the Disease and the Guilty strictly enquired after that this Plague may be totally rooted out as in the late Assemblies of the Provinces we gave it in charge to the Governours and States that they should in their several stations diligently apply themselves thereunto and persevere in the true and Catholick Religion Especially since it plainly appeared to all Men what Troubles and Commotions this Infection had raised amongst the Neighbouring People not to mention the danger of Souls and loss of Salvation thereby occasioned Therefore with the Advice and Consent of our dearest Sister and of the rest of our Nobles we make this new Law and strictly charge and command in the first place that no Man of what Rank or Quality he be presume to keep buy or distribute any of the Books of Luther Oecolampadius Zuinglius Bucer Calvin or generally any Books that have been published within these Thirty years without the Authors Names as in the Catalogue of the Divines of Louvain is more at large contained Moreover That no Person or Persons have a Picture or Image made in contempt and derision of the Blessed Virgin and Saints neither throw down or break any Image or Picture made to the honour of any Saint That no Man receive secret Conventicles into his House wherein Errors are commonly preached up Children rebaptized and Conspiracies framed against Church and State That no Man privately or publickly dispute about holy Scripture especially about difficult and obscure passages nor take upon him to interpret the same unless he be a Divine authorized by some approved University that such as do otherwise be punished as seditious persons and Disturbers of the publick peace the Men by the Sword and the Women by being buried alive in the Earth if they forsake their Errour but if they continue stubborn that they be burnt and what punishment soever they undergo that all their Goods be confiscated Moreover that they have no power to make a Will And if after they have violated this our Edict they offer to do any such thing by these Presents we declare it to be void and null Furthermore We charge and command that no Man receive into his House or any ways help and relieve those whom he knows to be suspected of Heresie but presently inform the Inquisitor or Governour of the place of them at his utmost peril That such as not out of malice and obstinacy but through infirmity have fallen into Heresie and Errour and have not transgresled this our Edict nor been guilty of any Seditious Practices but of their own accord have returned and upon abjuration of their Errour been reconciled to the Church presume not for the time to come to entertain any Talk or Discourse about Matters concerning Faith and Religion otherwise that they be punished as Apostates That if any Man not convicted but vehemently suspected of Heresie be sentenced to abjure it or to do publick Penance for the same and shall afterward be accused of Heresie he shall be punished as if he were relapsed into the Crime That they who have been stained with Heresie and such like Crimes even after Reconciliation shall not be admitted to any Honour publick Place or Dignity in the State. That he who has not a Certificate from the Curate of the Parish where he last lived be not allowed any House or Habitation for such are to be reckoned suspected Persons That the Governours of Places and all in Authority under us do in their several Provinces and Jurisdictions make diligent inquiry after those who shall transgress this Law as also that they aid and assist the Inquisitors and Ecclesiastical Judges in bringing the guilty to condign punishment according to the form prescribed by us to the Inquisitors or otherwise they shall suffer for it at our pleasure That the Atturney General also inquire into the Administration of their Offices and if he find them negligent bring them to a tryal for it wherein if they be cast that they be turned out of place or otherwise punished according as shall be thought convenient That Bishops Archdeacons Abbats and other Rulers of the Church diligently examine if any Churchmen be infected with this plague and severely punish them That they who know of any that is infected with Heresie or of the places where Hereticks lurk and hide themselves do instantly present them upon pain of incurring the punishment due to Hereticks That the Informer if the Information prove true have the one half of the Goods of the Party convicted provided they exceed not the value of six hundred Ducats but if they be worth more than that sum that he have then only a tenth part He that discovers private meetings to the Inquisitor though he hath been
Magdeburg not to those who persecute the Church they may very well be imployed in the defence of Religion against false Doctrine and Idolatry Nor is that a thing without Precedents in former Ages We are indeed outlawed by the Emperour but for no fault of ours as we have many times heretofore declared But this Fortune and Case is common to us with the Prophets with the Apostles and with Christ himself who were persecuted and afflicted for Truths sake as Seditious Rebels and the worst of Men. We have supplicated the Emperour that he would spare us our Religion and Liberty but all has been in vain hitherto and what all their Counsels and Intrigues drive at we have susficiently made appear in our former Declarations And indeed the thing speaks it self that the grand and sole design on foot is to estabish wicked Popery again The Controversie hath oftner than once been brought to a Conference and some meetings there have been for that end but we had no satisfaction given us as to the very chief Points the Deputies telling us That they had no power to act in that Affair We are really grieved and that heartily too that any Man should for our sake sustain prejudice but we make no doubt but that such as are good and godly Men will think the same as we do and that all things are to be suffered rather than to forsake the Truth For since Christ so long ago foretold the Crosses and Inconveniences that attend this Profession and at the same time promised eternal Rewards to those who forsake Wives Children and Possessions for his sake why do we not trust to those sure and ample promises The truth is they who slacken and give back and avoid displeasures for fear of their own danger draw upon themselves eternal damnation unless they do repent What our Adversaries object to us may be very well and truly retorted upon themselves For they lead a filthy scandalous and beastly Life and in those places where they bear rule hardly can the Men defend the Chastity of their Wives and Daughters We imposed a little Money indeed upon the People but not with that severity they pretend As to what they say of Customs they might have had a clearer Answer if they had spoken more clearly we cut through the Dyke they mention though it belongs not to them for a publick convenience For it was a kind of a short cut to come and do mischief within our Territories and it was an usual thing for Robbers to retreat with their booty that way and so get out of danger They cry out that we have treated the Neighbouring Gentry in an hostile manner But what ever we have done that way has been forced from us after that for a year and more we had born with injuries from many What they say of Women and young Maids we utterly deny And such of the Gentry as were made Prisoners by us we dismissed with their Servants without any Ransom and the Matter has been agreed and compounded betwixt us They swell the value of Losses received to a very high pitch and set down the sum of eight hundred thousand Florins What if we on the other hand should shew them to what misery they have reduced us Pictures and the like came out privately and by stealth not all from one place and yet all the blame is laid upon us But it is certainly true that we gave strict charge by Orders and Proclamations affixed on publick places that no man should offer to do any thing saucily against the Emperour or any other Prince And some were also punished for so doing We do not deny but that other Books have been printed and published amongst us whereby Idolatry has been battered and the Consciences of many comforted and diverted That we have received an overthrow we acknowledge it being the good Will and Pleasure of God not to destroy us but to bring us to an amendment of Life Those who were killed died in a good cause fighting for the Glory of God and the safety of their Country Nor do we question but that God in his own due time will look mercifully upon us and punish also our Adversaries But neither was this a chance of Fortune as they pretend For by presents and promises they allured in George Duke of Meckleburg and in the mean time by a singular fetch of cunning called a Convention of the other States of the Archbishoprick to meet at Stasfurt to consult what course was to be taken for driving out of the Country those Robbers as then they called them For it can be made out by their own Letters that they raised Soldiers nay they have been heard to glory and boast that they were not much concerned at publick Calamities For grant say they some hurt and damage may be done yet the Ground and Land remains still our own When news was therefore brought us that they had unexpectedly surprised plundered and burnt Mansleben besides a great many Villages that they had laid waste and that at the same time crouds of Country Men Women and young Maids came all in tears begging help of us we could not indeed deny them And though we had no good success yet we make no doubt but what we did was acceptable to God. Now what they say to curry favour that it was our design to oppress the Nobility and Gentry and other States of this Bishoprick it is a most idle Fiction and can never be made out For we have always honoured the Nobility But if we have done any hurt to those who fell upon our People as they passed to and fro what man is so unjust as to blame us for it What they say of Executioners Swords found after the Battel is all Fiction We deny not but that they might find Ropes and Halters for it is plain enough that they were necessary for the Waggons and other Carriages For very weighty Reasons we did not embrace the Conditions of Peace proposed by Duke Maurice and the Elector of Brandeburg for had we but yielded and received a Garison it is easie to understand what would have been the condition of our Religion and Commonwealth God in his infinite Mercy hath discovered to us the knowledge of his Gospel and we pray him that we may never be without this so great a blessing But how it is credible that they who promise to protect us in it either can or will perform that since their minds do waver as to their Religion and that they study to please Men We are willing that our Adversaries should recover their own and that the damages done on both sides should be equally born But that they should return into the City and there set up their Idolatry again is a thing we can by no means endure They say that they did not at all molest us in our Religion no thanks to them for that But we ought to render our hearty thanks to the immortal God that
Therein the Emperour made a Decree And because says he this sad difference about Religion can no way better be remedied than by a free and holy General Council Again because in the former Dyet the States submitted to the Council and still persist in the same purpose that shall be firm and stable What I also then promised shall be performed and I 'le make it my chief care that all things be rightly done and in order Now seeing this Bull of his Holiness extends to all the Provinces of Christendom I do suppose that all Kings and Higher Powers being mindful of their Duty will obey it and promote so Pious a Work to the utmost of their power Whatsoever is proper for me also to do as Protector of the Church and Defender of Councils I shall be ready to perform and will give safe Conduct to all that shall repair to the Council and to their Representatives whether they have changed their Religion or not that they may safely be there propound whatsoever they may think expedient for the quiet of their Consciences and return home again when they please Moreover I will endeavour that all matters be debated and determined in a holy and Christian manner without passion or interest according to the holy Scriptures and the Doctrine of the Fathers that all Errours and false Doctrines being removed both Church and State may be reformed It is my design also to remain within or at least near the confines of the Empire and to protect the Council that it may have the wished for issue that the fruit of it may extend to all People and that it may chiefly be an healing Council to Germany Wherefore I require and exhort all the Princes and States but especially the Churchmen and those who have changed their Religion and have embraced the Augustane Confession that according to the Popes Bull they come thither ready prepared that they may have no pretext afterward to complain that they have been supplanted by too much haste or not admitted fully to plead their own Cause For as I said they shall have safe Conduct and I will procure that they have a competent hearing Furthermore because the States have given several Reasons why the Decrees about Religion made in the former Dyet of Ausburg are not observed I take to my self the care of that and will know of them severally what the Impediment is Let every one then make it their business to have their Case fairly stated It was also Decreed that Commissioners from the Electors and the six other Princes should meet at Norimberg by the first of April to consult how the Money that was taken out of the publick Treasury for the Magdeburg-War should be refunded that what they determined as to that particular should be as valid as if it were Enacted in a full Dyet And since that War concerned the common Welfare of all Germany power was granted to the several Magistrates to impose Taxes upon their People for that end Again if any Subject of the Empire or Foreigner should assist the Magdeburgers the Emperour in that case promised also to be at the Charges As to Jurisdiction and Ecclesiastical Possessions the Emperour said he would take care that they who applied themselves to him should have right done them so that every one might recover their own The supplies against the Turk which had been promised King Ferdinand in the former Dyet were now decreed to him though somewhat unwillingly Lastly because the Winter before Mansfield and Heideck had levied Soldiers for the assistance of the Magdeburgers as hath been said it was enacted by the Emperour That if for the future Soldiers did muster together in any part of Germany the next adjoyning Princes and States should forthwith unite their Forces and quell them and so quench the flame before it should grow to an head About the same time Henry King of France received into his protection Octavio Farnese who being both privately a mortal Enemy to Ferrante Gonzaga Governour of Milan for the Emperour because of his Fathers Murder and doubting also because of the Neighbourhood of Piacenza which was in the Emperours hands that he was not able with his own Forces to secure Parma sought for Aid elsewhere and put a French Garison into the Town This exceedingly vexed the Emperour and much more Pope Julius as will appear hereafter The Emperour pronounced Sentence now against the Landgrave for the County or Lordship of Dietz and he was condemned for Contumacy that he did not Answer But he again alledged that it was not in his power to Answer since he had not the liberty to Discourse with his Counsellors being observed and over-heard by his Keepers for since the discovery of his late design to make his escape no Man was permitted to go to him nor talk with him but in presence of a Witness On the penult of February Bucer died at Cambridge and was honourably buried being celebrated by the Epitaphs of the Learned among whom were two Brothers Young Noblemen of the House of Suffolk whose Mother had all along before and in time of his Sickness been extreamly kind to Bucer a Lady very zealous for the Reformed Religion About this time the Bishop of Strasburg wrote to the Senate complaining heavily of their Preachers that they did inflame the People and expose the Clergy to great dangers and therefore he desires that these things may be reformed or that otherwise he would consider what was to be done March the Tenth King Ferdinand and his Son Maximilian parted from Ausburg for till then they had been Treating with the Emperour and his Sister Queen Mary The Deputies of Bremen also depart at length without any success in their Negotiation There were no great matters acted at this time at Magdeburg only frequent sallyings out and light Skirmishes And when the Elbe was out the Besieged made Boats and up and down the River brought in Provisions to the Town Many Prodigies were at that time seen in Saxony and amongst the rest three Suns and as many Moons sometimes of a pale and sometimes of a bloudy colour The Magdeburgers sent Volrate and John of Mansfield the Sons of Count Albert to solicite Aid from the Maritime Cities but all in vain The Enemy then built Castles upon the Elbe above and below the Town and having posted Vessels on both sides well manned hindered the Towns Men from venturing out by Water There happened many Conflicts also when the Besiegers attempted to carry off the Cattle which the Besieged turned out daily to graze about the Town On the Eighth of April the Pope published a Bull wherein he grievously accuses Octavio Farnese and when said he I conferred upon him Parma and the chief Ministery he promised faithfully neither to espouse the party of any Prince nor without my consent to put a Foreign Garison into Parma And when he seemed to be inclining to new
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-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
Infamy and Disgrace of so great an Assembly that the Divines come when they would should have a full hearing about all things and be most courteously used that if any thing should offend them or seem to be partially carried they should have liberty to depart when ever they pleased that they earnestly desired they would have respect to the Times and not to expect that all things should be granted them at once that when Matters came into agitation most part of what they demanded might be occasionally obtained which now seemed somewhat too hard that the Fathers were very desirous of Reformation and would not be wanting in their Duty that they much longed for the coming of the Divines whom they would treat with all Civility and Kindness and that they themselves had Matters of great importance to propound but were desirous that the Protestant Divines would break the Ice that so they also might appear in due time that what they demanded likewise as to the Pope's submission they begg'd they would be a little more reserved as to that point that the Fathers were very sensible that in so high a Pinacle of Dignity several thing were to be found fault with and ought to be reformed but that nevertheless such a thing was to be managed by fine and quaint measures that it was the will and desire of the Emperour that all things should be carried on duly and lawfully but that they had daily experience how tenderly and slily the Pope's Legates were to be handled for that it required singular Art and Dexterity to manage them that they should therefore acquiesce in what was now obtained for them not without great trouble and pains and hasten as much as they could the coming of the Divines that both in their publick and private Capacity they would be ready to do them all kindness and having proceeded so far they gave them a draught of the safe Conduct which they desired them to read over and then send it back to them again This past Januuary the Twenty second in the morning After they had so dismissed them they presently sent for the Ambassadors of Wirtemberg and in the first place made an excuse for what was past because of the extraordinary business the Fathers had been engaged in but that now if they had any thing to be done they were ready to serve them They made answer That a good while since they had had Matters to propose and that they desire Admittance as soon as possible These being also dismissed they sent for the Deputy of Strasburg and discoursed him much after the same manner He gave them a short account of the business he was sent about by reason Don Francisco de Toledo was there to whom he had not spoken before that he had no more to say at present but expected Letters from his Principals for he had Orders upon the arrival of the Ambassadors of Duke Maurice to write immediately to the Senate to acquaint them with their Instructions and then to expect farther Orders from home but in the mean time he entreated that what was communicated to them by the Mauritian Ambassadors they would presently bring under publick debate They replied That some things they had to treat of with the Ambassadors of Duke Maurice and Wirtemberg and that when any thing was done therein they would impart it to him that he might acquaint his Principals therewith that they heartily wished for Agreement and that the Emperour bent all his Thoughts and Care that way that they were very desirous Matters might once be brought upon the Debate and that they made no doubt but God would Bless all honest Endeavours When these things were over the Ambassadors of Saxony Wirtemberg and Strasburg consulting together examined and weighed the draught of the safe Conduct which they had received And because they had before drawn out the Heads of the Decree of Basil those especially wherein the stress of the business lay that they might have them before their Eyes it was no difficult matter by comparing them together immediately to observe wherein this differed from that Having run them over they presently found that the chief places were partly altered and partly omitted for in the safe Conduct that was heretofore given to the Bohemians there are these things amongst others That also they should have the power of deciding that in every Controversie the Holy Scripture the practice of the Primitive Church Councils and Expositors agreeing with the Scriptures should stand in place of a Judge that they should have the free exercise of their Religion at home in their own Houses and that nothing should be done in contempt and disparagement of their Religion The first third and last of these were omitted the second and that which is indeed the principal was plainly altered Having observed these things they themselves drew up a form consonant to the Decree of Basil but in the mean time whilst they were busied in drawing up that from Don Francisco de Toledo sent a Servant once or twice for the Paper fearing as it should seem too strict an Examination However they went on and having finished it at length the Ambassadors of Duke Maurice return to Don Francisco de Toledo and comparing the one with the other shew him what they found wanting in his Then began he to storm and huff and why were not they content with that which had cost them a great deal of Labour and Pains in the obtaining that there was security enough in conscience provided for those that were to come that safe coming and going was the chief point to be mineded and that the rest signified nothing but only in relation to the way of proceeding which might be far better adjusted when the Divines were present than then They made answer That they durst not transgress the limits of their Commission which was that they should not accept of a safe Conduct different from that of Basil Two days after all the Fathers met in the Legate's House in the morning and with them the Emperour's Ambassadors who sent for the Ambassadors of Wirtemberg thither as they had told them they would two days before Being introduced they were bid speak what they had to say so having produced their Commission and made some little Preamble they presented their written Confession of Doctrine and gave it in to the Clerk of the Council according to Custom and then told the Fathers That there were Divines coming from the Prince who would handle all the Points more at large but upon these Conditions First That fit Judges should be chosen by consent of both Parties who might hear the Plea of the Divines and judge uprightly of the Matters in Controversy for since the Prince understood that the Doctrine of his Divines in most things was repugnant to that of the Pope and Bishops who were all many ways bound and engaged to his Holiness it seemed very unreasonable and unjust
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
own Quarters but also five Churches and all the Vessels on the River even those that were laden with Wine and Wheat The same he did at Spire with a purpose to incommode the Emperor's Passage and having called out the Souldiers whom he had placed in Garrison there he marched into the Country about Treves On the Thirteenth of August Herman Archbishop of Cologne now very aged ended his Life in his own Native Countrey and had such an End as he desired for many times he had wished that he might either be permitted to propagate the Gospel and reform the Church within his Territories or else to lead a private Life and being sometimes admonished by his Friends that he exposed himself to great hatred and malice by that changing of his Religion he used to answer That nothing could surprize him and that he was long ago prepared against the worst that could befal him He was descended of the Noble Family of the Counts of Weden The Landgrave being set at Liberty as it was agreed upon and returning home when he came to Maestricht by the Command of the Governess Queen Mary who was there then he was stopt again and committed to the Custody of the same Spaniards who had kept him Prisoner five whole years before Now the reason of it was because Rifeberg who had served under the Landgrave's Son went over to Marquess Albert with all his Men as we said before by which Action the Queen alledged the Peace was broken and that therefore she could not let him go before she knew the Emperor's Pleasure Duke Maurice being as hath been said advanced to the Danube August the two and Twentieth sent his Army before the Foot down the River but the Horse over Land whilst he himself made a start home about some private Affairs with design suddenly to come back to them again When Marquess Albert was upon his March to Treves George Count of Holen one of the Emperor's Commanders came to the Defence of the City with ten Companies of Foot but being kept out by the Towns-People who refused a Garrison he marched back again with his Men into Luxembourg Marquess Albert in the mean time August the Twenty seventh summoned the Place to surrender and being next day received he quartered his Souldiers in the Town and the places about The Bishop all this while was in the Castle which as we said stands at the meeting of the Rhine and Moselle And now the Emperor having staid some days at Ausburg turned out the Senate which the Confederate Princes had lately established abolishing at the same time all the Companies and Fraternities and restored the former Government and Senate which he himself had appointed Of the Ministers he turned out three suffering the rest to preach and act according to the Form of the Augustane Confession which being declared from the Pulpit caused great Joy amongst the People This happened on the Twenty fifth of August when about the same day the year before they had been turned out as we related in the two and twentieth Book Departing from thence on the first of September after he left a Garrison of six Companies of Foot in the Town and two days after came to Ulm but the Army marched another way till they came to the Confines of Wirtemberg which was done for the sake of the People of Ulm that the Countrey of those who had been so faithful to the Emperor might receive no dammage The same day the Emperor departed from Ausburg he dismissed John Frederick Duke of Saxony with most kind expressions and large Promises of Favour and he next day set out also upon his Journey homewards The Landgrave in like manner being released September the fourth returned home six days after About the same time was published the fourth Tome of Luther's Works Melanchthon in his Preface to it largely congratulated the liberty and return of the Duke of Saxony and highly extolled the Constancy that he had shewn in the worst of Times All the while Marquess Albert was at Treves the Churches were shut having staid then eight days there and Burnt some Monasteries and Religious Houses with a Castle of the Bishops standing not far from the Town he left a Garrison of twelve Companies of Foot in the Place Afterwards Marching to Kirchen a Town of the Duchy of Lorrain lying half way betwixt Treves and Mentz on the thirteenth of September he there crossed the Moselle and entred first into the Duchy of Luxembourg and then Lorrain doing great Damage every where and there stayed to know what Conditions the French King would propose unto him How sadly he had afflicted the Bishops of Franconia we told you before but they having made their Application to the Emperor upon his approach towards them he rescinded the Capitulations they had made charging them not to stand to them but to endeavour to recover their own The same thing he permitted to those of Norimberg and after advised them to make a League for the defence of their Country To the same purpose he wrote to those of Schuabia to the Borderers on the Rhine and others as well Princes as free Cities Wherefore the Bishops we mentioned and Norimbergers entred into a League together and whilst Marquess Albert upon the Emperor's coming was gone into Lorrain those of Bamberg about the end of August and in the Month of September recovered Forcheim and most of the other Towns. The Emperor being come out of the Country of Wirtemberg directed his March towards Spire but when he came to Bretta a Town belonging to the Prince Palatine changing his Mind he struck off to the Left and Marched towards Strasburg When he was come within six Miles of the City he was met by the Deputies James Sturmey Frederick Gottesseim and Lowis Grempen who came from the Senate to beg of his Imperial Majesty that he would spare their Country by sending part of his Army another way and that he would not enter the Town with too many Men nor change any thing in the Government The Emperor having received them very graciously told them that he knew very well and was sensible how nobly and bravely they of the City had lately behaved themselves and how great a Kindness they had done to him and the Empire a thing he should never forget and would upon occasion make it manifest how much he was obliged to them upon that Account He afterwards made an ample Excuse for his sudden coming partly because of the Vessels that were burnt by Marquess Albert partly because of the News he had of the French making Incursions into Alsatia and partly because of the Season of the Year which required Expedition that he might as soon as possible come up with the Enemy That therefore he would March his Army by the City and none should enter but he himself and his Servants to Dine only but not to stay all
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-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
Emperor's Lieutenant was marching towards them with his Forces and that it would be very difficult to defend it they Plundered the Place and in good time marched away laden with the Spoils of it Not long after this an account was given from Venice and other places that Solyman Emperor of the Turks had caused Mustapha his eldest Son to be Strangled upon a suspition of Treason and Disloyalty towards him The report was very strong that a second Wife of Solyman's had put him upon this Murther in order to the advancement of her own Son which she desired might succeed his Father in the Empire I have already given an account of the Commitment of the Archbishop of Canterbury he and the Lady Jane with three Sons of the Duke of Northumberland were brought to Tryal in the Month of November for Rebellion and Treason and found Guilty But according to the custom of that Kingdom they were remanded to Prison and upon the Intercession of some on their behalf they were reprieved Sebastian Schertilingen whom I have often mentioned upon whose Head and Life the Emperor had set a Price as I have said in my twenty fourth Book was about this time reconciled to the Emperor and Ferdinand his Brother and recovered his Estate again At the Sollicitation of the Bishops and their Confederates the Judges of the Imperial Chamber in the usual form Proscribed Albert of Brandenburg the first of December as a disturber of the publick Peace and of the Empire and sending their Letters to all Parts to be publickly affixed exposed his Life and Fortunes to the will of any Man that would make a Prey of them In the Interim Henry Duke of Brunswick having left Count Plaw to carry on the Siege of Blasseburg he marched the sixth of December with his Forces to Schweinfurt which is a City of Franconia seated upon the Mayn which Albert then held with a strong Garrison The Forerunners of Henry's Army was a reinforcement of Soldiers sent from Norimberg and Forcheim But Albert foreseeing this Siege had before-hand carried into the City whatever Victuals could be found in the Neighbourhood and then had burnt down all Houses near it that he might make it impossible to carry on a Siege against it in that dead time of the Year So not being able to effect any thing and having also lost some of his Men in a Sally which Albert made out of the City this General was soon forced to retire and marching with a small Retinue he passed through the Territories of John Frederick Duke of Saxony without doing him any Dammage in his return Home When Albert heard that he was Proscribed he appealed to the Emperor and beseeched him to reverse the Sentence But the Emperor said he ought not to hinder the Execution or Administration of Justice Whereupon Albert refused to submit to their Judgment pretending it was obtained by Purchase and Bribery and soon after published a Protestation or Remonstrance against it The Chamber in the mean time commanded the neighbouring Provinces of the Empire to put this Decree in Execution The tenth of October a Parliament was begun in England which sate till the sixth of December and then was dissolved in which all the Laws of Edward the sixth concerning the Lord's Supper the Ceremonies of the Church and the Administration of the Sacraments the Marriage of the Clergy the Election of Bishops the Ordination of Ministers and the publick Liturgy and all other things of that Nature were repeal'd and all things pertaining to Religion were reduced to the same State they were left in when King Henry the eighth died That no disturbance should be given to those Priests and Ministers of the Church which should hereafter be Licensed the Divorce of Catherine the Mother of Queen Mary was declared Illegal There was also a Proposition of the Marriage of the Queen to Prince Philip the eldest Son of the Emperor made to the Lords of the upper House for the obtaining their Approbation There had before been a Fame spread that he was to Marry his Cousin-German the Daughter of Emmanuel King of Portugal and of Elenora his Queen This Marriage with Queen Mary of England being at last agreed after the rising of the Parliament which opposed it the Emperor sent for Cardinal Pool to him out of Germany where till then he he had detained him as I said before This Procedure caused a Report That Pool being descended of the Royal Family and much esteemed by the English Nation It was suspected he might have possibly put some stop to this Marriage There were also other Bishops ordained in the Sees of those whom I have mentioned to be Imprisoned about this time The Emperor also sent a very splendid Embassie into England for the Solemnization of the Marriage between Prince Philip who was absent and Queen Mary the principal Person in which was Count Egmondt They arriving in London in the beginning of January after a Treaty of some few days Continuance concluded this Affair The People were much enraged against this Match and some of the Nobility having Communicated their Counsels to each other broke out into a Rebellion the Principal Leader in which was one Sir Thomas Wiat he raising an Insurrection in Kent caused grievous and sharp Sermons to be Preached against the Queen and her Council as designing by this forreign Match to involve England in a perpetual and most wretched Slavery and also that she had extinguished the true Religion and restored the Roman-Catholick again Kent is one of the most Eastern Counties of England ennobled by the City of Canterbury and lying upon the Streights of Calais over against France The report of this Commotion coming to London the twenty fifth day of January there came soon after News that Henry Duke of Suffolk was raising Men in Devonshire whereupon the Queen levied what Forces she could get together and made Thomas Duke of Norfolk whom she had lately discharged out of the Tower her General who marching towards Rochester Bridge was deserted by his Soldiers who went over to Wiat so that he got back to London with great Difficulty For the appeasing these Tumults and avoiding of the Dangers that threatned them the Emperor's Ambassadors took Ship in the beginning of February and returned into Flanders The same day the Queen went into the City of London and in the Guild-Hall made a sharp Speech against Wiat saying she knew all his Projects and expressing the tender Love she bore to her People and saying she had done nothing in it without the Advice of her Council That she had now lived a considerable part of her Life in Virginity and that even now it was none of her Desires to Marry but would willingly have continued Single if the States had thought it convenient That she was very much afflicted to see her Kingdom endangered and filled with Slaughter and Bloodshed on the Account of her Marriage She desired
Baptism Whether original Sin is altogether obliterated in Baptism so that the Concupiscence which remains after Baptism loseth the name of Sin Whether the Bread be changed and Consecrated into the Body of Christ and the Wine into his Blood by virtue of the words which the Priest speaks and whether it continues such though it is not presently received Whether an Eucharist so Consecrated is to be worshipped Whether it be carried about in honour of Christ or carried to the Sick or reserved shut up Whether Christ is to be adored under the Species of Bread and Wine Whether whole Christ be under each of the Species Whether confession of Sins prepares a Man to the worthy receiving of the Eucharist Whether the Mass is a true and perpetual Sacrifice Whether both the Canons of the Mass are to be retained Whether the Sacrament of Confirmation is to be Exercised Whether there be three Parts in Pennance Contrition Confession and Satisfaction Whether the Priest can forgive a Man those Sins who has not Confessed them before Whether none but Priests have the Power of the Keys Whether the Souls of Holy Men have not Charity for us Whether they interceed with God on our behalf Whether the Saints are to be Invocated Whether the Holy-days consecrated to the Saints are rightly Celebrated Whether the Reliques of the Saints are to be worshipped Whether the Souls of the Pious which are not throughly purged are relieved by Masses Prayers Fasts and Alms Whether there is a place of Purgation Whether Lent and the other Fasts instituted by the Church ought to be observed Whether Men are to abstain from eating Flesh on the days it is forbidden by the Church Whether the People is to be incited to Religion by Ceremonies What Ceremonies are Pious and what not or less Pious To all these questions he answered the twenty seventh of May at large but though he confirmed his Answers not only by the Testimony of Scripture but also by those of the Fathers yet the twenty fifth day of June he was condemned and removed from all his Offices or Functions Towards the end of June the King of France marched with his Army out of Champagne and passing down by the Maes in the Provinces belonging to the Emperor he took Bovines and Dinant amongst many others and having plundered and dismantled them he took Marienbourg and Fortified and Garrisoned it The Emperor with his Forces leaving Brussels marched to Namur which stands upon the Sambre and the Maes five Miles below Dinant The King seem'd inclined to come to a Battel but when he saw the Emperor delayed it he turned off into Hainault and took the Town of Binche and a Castle which Mary Queen of Hungary extreamly loved being surrendred into his Hands he plundered and burnt it and with Fire and Rapines wasted all that Province Then entring Artois he sate down before Renty a Town upon the River Aa But the Emperor coming up his Forces being all by this time come up to him the King of France raised his Seige after which there happened only some light Skirmishes between the Armies In the same Month of August the French Army in Tuscany under the Command of Peter Strozza was surprized and defeated by the Imperial Forces under the Marquess di Marignano In this Battel the greatest part of the Swiss which I mentioned above to be sent thither by the French King were cut off In the mean time Prince Philip the Emperor's Son arrived the nineteenth day of July with a considerable Fleet from Spain at Southampton in England the twentieth he Landed and the twenty fifth he was Married to Queen Mary at Winchester by Gardiner Bishop of that City and then Chancellor of England in a vast concourse of the Nobility of both Nations amongst which was the Duke de Alva The day before his Marriage he had a long Conference with the Queen but the Marriage was deferred to the next day because it was the Festival of St. James the Patron of Spain The Emperor's Ambassador was at this Solemnity and presented the Bridegroom with a Resignation of the Kingdoms of Jerusalem and Naples in consideration of the Marriage After a short stay here the King and Queen went to London into which they made a splendid and magnificent Entry In August there was another small Diet of some of the States and Princes of Germany at Worms The Emperor urging the Execution of the Sentence given against Albert Marquess of Brandenburg who being driven out of his Territories in the manner I have above related retired first into Lorrain and from thence went to the Court of France the King not denying him his Protection There was thereupon a Jealousie arose in the Mind of the Emperor lest this restless Prince might attempt something against Alsatia or some others of the German Territories bordering upon France To prevent this the Circles of the Rhine sent some Troops to the Borders of Lorrain about the end of September to secure the Passes but there being no occasion for these Forces they returned without having done any thing but impoverished those places where they were quartered and made some inroads into Lorrain In October there was another Diet held at Franckfurt on the account of this and some other Affairs In this Convention a Letter of the Marquess of Brandenburg's was read in which he complains very much of the Militia that was employed of late to secure the Borders and especially of those that came from Artois he reflected severely amongst others on the Bishops of Trier and Strasburg and 〈◊〉 the Landgrave and said this Party of Horse were bloody Men and that they privately designed his Death The first of October there was a Letter read in the same Diet written to them in the German Tongue by the King of France In which speaking first of the ancient Union between France and Germany he said that the adverse Party made it their whole Business to put an end to it and of late years they prevailed so far that my Father was declared an Enemy by the Empire yet notwithstanding when ahout two years since the State of the Empire was very miserable and disordered I laid aside the memory of that Injury and gave a clear demonstration of my Affections to you following in this the Example of my Ancestors who have in all times made the dignity and enlargement of the Empire one of their Principal Cares For it cannot be shewn that the Kings of France have at any time injured the Empire But then our Enemies have endeavoured many ways to deprive you of your Liberties and Fortunes not only by inventing various Arts of Levying Money but also by inflaming the Factions in the Illustrious Families as you may easily see And though the Truth of this is clear yet by the perswasion of our Enemies some of the States which are next my Kingdom have as I hear taken Arms against me when I expected no
Primitive Church and first four Councils that it commends and teacheth those Works which are truly Christian and exhorts the People to obey their Magistrates So that if a firm and certain Peace may be established in this Diet there was no doubt but the Emperor and his Majesty might obtain great Succours from the Germans against the Turks but then those who had imbraced the Augustan Confession and for the most part had been brought up in it would constantly persist in that Faith so that if there were not such a Peace made as should include Religion and confirm the Possessions of the Church Revenues where they now were though this affair were only referred to another Diet as has already been frequently done and one day spent after another in Delays whilst the People were left in a miserable uncertainty of enjoying what they had That in this case it was very doubtful whether all Men would patiently bear it for though he and the rest of the Princes should sit still acquiesce and do their duties and continue in their Obedience yet it might happen that those that were mean Men and of no regard might cause Troubles by means of this uncertainty of Danger and of this fear for Religion especially in those Places which lay most exposed and afforded the greatest opportunities for Insurrections of this Nature That this being a thing in which the fortune of the Empire consisted he desired earnestly that his Majesty would apply his Thoughts to it now he had obtained a full and plenary Power from the Emperor That besides this Condition was some years since proposed by his Brother Maurice at Passaw that if perhaps the differences in Religion could not be Composed that yet nevertheless an inviolable Peace should be Established till things could be intirely Composed And though the Emperor would not then admit this offer because as he said all the States were concerned in it yet seeing he did not neither totally reject it and in the Treaty or Decree expresly promised That he would take Care that things might be equitably discussed in the Diet and there should be no Arts used to suborn the Votes of Men in the business of Religion He was confident on this account that in the entrance or beginning of this Diet He would solicite not only those States and Princes who met then at Passaw but all the rest of the States to imbrace a Peace When the Deputies of the Duke of Saxony had made this Speech in the Diet the fourth of February the next day the King of the Romans made a reference or proposal of it to the States in the manner I have set forth in the conclusion of the last Book About this time the Learned Men of Misnia and Wittemberg and especially Melanchthon sent their Letters of Consolation to those Ministers which were Banished out of Bohemia as I said in the end of the last Book wherein they shew the Craft of the adverse Party who alledged that they only desired to preserve necessary Order in the Church and that those who either had no Episcopal Ordination or who were Married ought not to distribute the Holy Sacrament for they only pretended this Cause of their Banishment that they might not seem to intend the oppression of the true Religion But then these Learned Men sufficiently proved that it was a meer Tyranny to deprive Ministers of their Functions only because they were Married for that the Devil was the Author of the Prohibition of Marriage as appears sufficiently in the sacred Scriptures That Orders were not to be sought from the Hands of the Bishops who were the declared Enemies of the Gospel and defended Idolatry but that they were to be sought from that Church which imbraced the true Doctrine and therefore had the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven That it was extreamly absurd and dangerous to ask Shepherds of the Wolves That the Church has ever had a Right to elect fitting Ministers and that so it was decreed in the Council of Nice That those that were thus Elected and Tryed were confirmed by those that presided in the Holy Churches That this Custom was still retained and therefore it was a meer slander when they pretended the Protestants disturbed or broke the Order of the Church Therefore since this was the true state of things and for that they were Banished for the Profession of the true Religion they ought to bear their Sufferings with the greater moderation of Mind for that God in due time would take Care of them and they and the Neighbour Churches would afford them the best Hospitality and Charity they could The French having taken Jurea a City of Piedmont upon the River Doria under the Command of Brisac the thirteeenth day of December of the last Year This Year the third day of March they took Casale a City standing near the Po by surprize though there was in it a Garrison of Spaniards and Germans the Castle held out for some time and then was forced to yield too after this they possessed themselves of several other Towns and amongst them of Valenza and Salvadora both which they beat down and levelled The sixth of March Augustus the Elector of Saxony Joachim Marquess of Brandenburg and Elector the Children of John Frederick late Elector of Saxony the Landgrave of Hesse and several of the neighbouring Princes met at Naumburg upon the River Saal and there renewed the Hereditary League between these Families which I have mentioned before in my twenty fourth Book and at the same time mutually agreed to stick to the Augustan Confession and that no suspition might thereupon arise af any under-hand Combination the fifth day after their Meeting they gave the Emperor an account of the reason of this congress in this manner The last year when there was a Treaty concluded between Augustus and John Frederick Electors of Saxony it was then determined that the ancient and Paternal League should be renewed which was begun above a hundred Years since and afterwards confirm'd by a Law That they were then met to renew that League and as it had been very beneficial to their Ancestors and their People so they hoped that for the future they should reap the same Advantage from it seeing they sought nothing from it but the Publick Peace and Welfare and did not design to offend any Person and they said that pursuant to the old Custom they had excepted his Imperial Majesty and his Brother the King of the Romans out of it and that as they desired to live in Peace amongst themselves so they would perform that Duty which they owed to the Publick and which became obedient Princes of the Empire That as to Religion they would not exceed the terms and limits of the Augustan Confession but then because those Heads of the Christian Religion which were contained in it had not the least mixture of any Seditious or Impious Doctrines by the Blessing of God they would
persevere in it That they would not fail to promote the safety of Germany as far as it was possible for them by their Labours Counsels and Estates That seeing in these unquiet times they were necessitated to stay at home to prevent greater Inconveniences which would have attended their Absence they had therefore sent Deputies to the Diet to whom they had given order in all things to promote the publick Peace and to take Care that neither Religion nor any Civil Cause whatsoever should occasion the fear of Force or Danger For that if a Peace were once well setled all other Controversies would so much the more easily be Adjusted That the present state of the Empire was such that it was needful to joyn and unite all their Forces and Minds to prevent the nearer approaches of the Turks towards them They said they knew how much his Imperial Majest desired a Royal Army should be raised to repel the Insults of the Enemy that if such a Peace were once setled there was no doubt but the States of the Empire would freely spend their Moneys in that War which had hitherto been hindred by their Domestick Commotions and Calamities That for their Parts they would not be wanting in this Case and they had given their Deputies order to say the same things in the Diet. The same day they wrote to King Ferdinand and almost in the same Words as Augustus had ordered his Deputies to speak in the Diet. For they insisted upon that Article of the Passaw Treaty shewed their desire of Peace their Esteem of the Augustan Confession perswaded the setling a Peace and desired that no Credit might be given to those who made it their Business to disquiet the Empire The fifteenth of March the Elector and Archbishop of Mentz died he had been a Member of the Council of Trent and was afterwards severely Treated and forced to seek his Safety in a Flight as is set forth in the twenty fourth Book of this History Daniel Brendel succeeded this Prelate in his See. The twenty third day of March Julius III. Pope of Rome died of a Dropsy because contrary to the Opinion of all Men he had so easily reduced England under the Obedience of the See of Rome he had taken up a vast hope that he should recover Germany also as was then believed And he had sent the Cardinal of Morone to the Diet at Ausburg who arrived there the day after the Pope died but hearing eight days after the news of his Holiness his Death the last of that Month he and Truccesio Cardinal of Ausburg left the Diet and returned to Rome that they might be present in the Election of the new Pope but the Cardinals which were then at Rome made more haste than is usual and without expecting the Arrival of those who were abroad they chose Marcellus the second of that Name who with the Cardinal of Farnese was sent Legate to the Emperor Charles the Fifth as I have said above in my thirteenth Book The Cardinal of Ausburg some days before he left the Diet to go to Rome sent a Letter into the Convention wherein he signified to the Princes and Deputies That he did by all means desire a Peace but he would never consent to any advice whereby the dignity of the Apostolical See and the old Religion should be violated In the Interim which from the time of the defeat of Peter Strozza had been besieged now eight Months by the Forces of the Emperors and of the Duke of Florence being reduced to extream want of all things and seeing no possibility of Succour the twenty first day of April yielded it self to the Emperor who put a Garrison into it In the Tear 1558. This City was afterwards sold by Philip the Second to the Duke of Florence The Emperor's Forces were Commanded in this Siege by the Marquess di Marignano a great Soldier About three years since the Inhabitants of this City having by the assistance of the French beaten the Spaniards and destroyed their Citadel they thereupon sent Ambassadors into France to give the King their Thanks and to assure him they would for the future commit their Fortunes to his Protection Marcellus the Second who was chosen Pope sat but twenty two days and died the last of April Hereules Duke of Ferrara and Guido Ubaldo Duke of Urbino were according to the Custom just then come into Rome to pay their Respects to this new Pope who being nearer had thereby the opportunity to come before some others who designed it too The Cardinals being shut up in the Conclave the twenty third of May they Elected Cardinal Theatino Pope His Name was John Peter and he was a Neapolitan by Birth and then Dean of the College a Son of the Illustrious Family di Caraffa a Man of great Age and of more than usual Learning He changed his Name and was called Paul IV. because Paul III. had made him a Cardinal This was the Man who instituted a Sect of Men who are called Jesuites and have since nestled not only in Italy but in Germany too and some other Places A small time after he made his Brother's Son a Cardinal who was a Soldier and had been a Captain and for the most part had served in the French Camp. In the former Book I have given an account how Cardinal Pool went to the Emperor and King of France to perswade them to a Peace which he endeavoured by Word and Writing and amongst many other Arguments he told them that whilst they went on with this Civil War the Turks took the opportunity of enlarging their Bounds both by Sea and Land they having in this time taken Belgrade and Rhodes and opened their Passage to the Possession of Buda and the Danâ—be That if God had not stirred up a War between them and the King of Persia it is not unlikely he might have made himself Master of all Christendom by this time That from hence bad Christians had also encreased to such a number in many Places to the great weakning and corruption of all Ecclesiastical and Civil Discipline that it was not now in their Power to curb and restrain them as might be seen by the Rebellions which were stirred up in all places the neglect of the Offices of the Church and the Heresies and Schisms which have arisen and spread themselves in this time In the next place you ought to consider that you are the Princes of the Christian Religion and that though God has suffered Satan who is the Author of all Evil and whose Business is to fift the Church of God as Wheat to stir up a War between you two who are the Principal Members of the Church yet he has not suffered his wickedness to go further than civil and common affairs and things For he has preserved both of you sound in Religion of the same Mind and united to the Body of the Church without which it would
the Word of God diligently or cause it to be Preached by fit men and that for the future no man be admitted into these Functions but such as can teach the People themselves and not turn them over to be taught by Curates This is the Root which Your Majesty ought to cultivate This is the Foundation on which the Church must be built and then we may hope that in a short time Heresies will vanish but if this way is neglected there is great reason to fear they will encrease whatsoever other Remedies or Edicts are provided against them The 16th Day of October this Answer was made by the Deputies of the Parliament of Paris and in a Letter About the same time the Mediators in the Difference concerning the County of Catzenellobogen met again according to their former Agreement first at Bacheren and after at Worms on the Account of the Sickness of the Elector Palatine At last this Controversie was determined by a Sum of Money to be paid by the Landâ—grave to the Count of Nassaw the Territories in the mean time being to remain in the possession of the Landtgrave But then when the Count of Nassaw insisted That this Agreement should be void if the Money were not paid within the time limited and appointed and that in this case his Claim should be as it was before but the Landtgrave who had sent his Son the second time refused to submit to this the Meeting broke up without any effect In the same Month the Emperor call'd all the Nobility and States of the Low Countries to him to Brussels and having amongst other things spoken of his want of Health he said he would retire into Spain and therefore laid down the Government and conferr'd upon his Son Philip all the Right and Power of those Countries exhorting them to perform their Duties to him The Fame of this flew over all Christendom and a Fleet was forthwith prepared for his Passage and the 13th of November was appointed for his setting Sail but then this Rumor cool'd by degrees and it was said because the Winter was coming on the Voyage was delayed till the Summer It is now time to shew what was done in the Diet which was now Sitting at Ausburg Ferdinand King of the Romans had in a Speech made the 5th of February as I have said in the End of the last Book proposed what was to be transacted in this Convention But the Deputies and States coming slowly in there was no beginning made till the 9th of March and then the Deputies of the Electoral Princes began to consult what was first to be done And although there were at first some Dissenters yet at last they all agreed to begin with the Business of Religion and this Resolution was approved by all the other Princes and the Imperial Cities After a long Debate it was Agreed That a Peace of Religion should be granted but then the great Controversy was because those who had Imbraced the Augustan Confession insisted to have this Peace Communicated indifferently to all that they might all alike follow their several Doctrines and yet enjoy the benefit of this Peace But this was vigorously opposed by the Enemies of the Reformation who would not suffer any of the free Cities which had received the Decree made at Ausburg concerning Religion about seven Years since and commonly called the Interim nor any of the Ecclesiasticks in any Case whatsoever to be comprehended in this Peace but they stood stifly to this That if any Bishop or Abbot changed his Religion he should be removed and another put in his Place This Point was sharply debated the Protestants saying that the Promises of God both in the Old and New Testament which concern our Salvation belonged equally to all Mankind and therefore it was not lawful for them to restrain them within any limits or to streighten them for fear they thereby might exclude both themselves and others out of the Kingdom of Heaven That there was no Turk or Jew that was well affected to his Religion but desired all Men should imbrace it and therefore it was much more reasonable that we should labour to do it who are Commanded by God so to do upon the severest Threatnings And therefore in this matter all were to be left at Liberty They said also that they were able from the sacred Scriptures and the Decrees and Canons of the Fathers and Councils to prove That those who to the great dishonour of God assumed the Title of the Ancient and Catholick Religion had done very ill things in the matters pertaining to Religion and abused the Revenues of the Church Yet for Peace sake they were contented to suffer them to enjoy their Laws Rites and Ceremonies together with their Goods Possessions Tolls Rights and Priviledges till this difference in Religion could be Composed and therefore that they could not consent that they on the contrary should impose such Conditions on the Bishops because the consequence of it would be that they must hereafter be obliged to oppress the approvers and friends of their own Religion and by consequence they must defame their own Cause For this would be say they to confess that our Doctrine and Religion is such as it doth not deserve the Church Revenues and therefore those which have already been given to the Ministers of our Churches are ill bestowed and we shall hereby seem to confess that their Doctrine which is Impious and their Ministry are founded upon the Scriptures and that the Church Revenues are consecrated to their impure Lives Laws and Ceremonies Now who can tell how great the offence this may give will be if we should seem to defend the Cause and Power of those Men who afford the Church no useful or necessary Service And if on the other side we should betray and desert those whom we ought to esteem above all others because they profess the Religion we do Those of the Roman-Catholick Religion alledged on the other side amongst many other things that if Liberty were granted to the Ecclesiasticks to change their Religion their Bishopricks and Colleges would be prophan'd and by degrees be torn from the Church and fall into the hands of the Princes and by them be made Temporal Inheritances but the Protestants said this was no part of their Intention but that all that they desired was that being reduced to their first Institution they might be applied to their true uses and for ever continue annexed to the Church and that there might be no place left for this Scruple They were contented that in those Bishopricks and Colleges in which the Religion should happen to be changed nothing of the Revenues should be alienated and that after the Death or Resignation of the Bishop or Abbot both the Election of the Successor and the Administration of the Revenues should be left free to the Colleges or Chapters When therefore after a tedious debate they could not
for that the present state of his own Provinces required his Presence because the Turks seemed to be preparing for some new Enterprises against them and threatned high though he was then in Treaty with them and because nothing could to any good purpose be debated and determined if the Electors were not present in Person he thought it was the best way to prorogue the Diet to another time and that in this Convention a Decree should be made to this Purpose Because by reason of the absence of the Princes no Decree can now be made We are pleased to deferr all the further Transactions to another Convention of the States which shall be holden at Ratisbon about the beginning of March in the next Year and then the Princes shall be present in Person that they together with the Emperor or King of the Romans may determine and fix those things which have been now debated or which shall then come under Deliberation And that in the mean time the Pacification of Passaw shall remain in its full force and whereas that contains a Resolution first That in a Diet of the Empire of Germany should be considered whether the differences of Religion might be ended by a general National Council or by a Conference and lastly That this question should be determined by the common advice of all the States and by the ordinary Authority of the Emperor Therefore he who loved Peace and Agreement was resolved to exhibit in the next Convention a Writing concerning the way of determining those things which were now in Controversie That there should be nothing of Fraud in it and that what was offered should only aim at the appeasing the present Offences and the mitigating their mutual Exasperations and give them means of considering with the greater certainty whether the way he should then propose could put an end to the differences or whether it would be necessary to seek out another Therefore he desired they would approve this Prorogation and that they would in Person attend at the next Diet as he had given them an Example who for the sake of the Commonwealth had in this been so many Months absent from his own Provinces That he had chosen Ratisbon because by reason of the impending Dangers which he feared from the Turks he could not conveniently go further than that City from his own Bounds That therefore they should assure him what their Intentions were that he might be certain the thing should not be any longer delayed that so the better part of that time too might not be spent in a vain Expectation as has often happened already These Demands being made the greatest part of the Princes were of Opinion that they should not part till the Peace were confirmed for that all Germany was in great Expectation this would now be done and that seeing they were now nearer an Agreement than at any time before therefore they desired to see this dispatched before his Departure that so in the next Diet they might proceed to the business of the Turks and the other affairs of the Empire with the greater Expedition As to what concern'd the Book he mentioned some of them said what happened about seven years since to a former Book written and published concerning Religion would certainly be the Fate of this For that they could well remember the Reproaches it met with and whereas it was proposed and by a Law established by the Emperor only for Peace sake it became the occasion of very great Offences and Contentions when Ferdinand about the Twenty fifth of August had received this Answer from the Deputies the thirty first of the same Month he gave in an Answer to the Papers delivered him by both the Parties in which he shews what was his own Opinion and especially as to what concerned the Bishops that is that if any of them changed his Religion he should immediately be removed from the Administration of his Bishoprick and be deprived of the Revenues belonging to it and he very largely exhorted the Protestants to yield their Consent to this For said he this Condition takes nothing from you but only takes Care that if any Bishop deserts his Order and falls from the ancient Religion the Benefices or Diocesses shall nevertheless continue in the same state they were at first Instituted which in it self is agreeable to the Law the Statutes of the Empire and the Pacification of Passaw which last in express terms saith That all those who follow the ancient Religion shall not be disturbed whether they be Laymen or Ecclesiasticks in their Religion Ceremonies Goods Possessions Rights or Privileges but they shall quietly use and enjoy all these without the interruption of any Person whatsoever That I do not see saith he why this condition should be refused which tends directly to the same end that is that they may quietly enjoy what is their own which it is certain they cannot do if they part with this Security for then it will follow that those who have deserted the ancient Religion and yet will retain the Administration and the Possession of the Revenues will thereby hinder the Colleges or Chapters from dealing with them according to their Laws and another inconvenience will follow upon it which is that there will be no great affection between their Bishop and them Seeing therefore it is fit that according to the Laws of their Institution fit Persons should govern and administer the Diocesses and that if they act contrary to the Laws and make a â—efection from their Order that then their Colleges should remove them from their Places and take Care that this Defection may hurt only one Man therefore surely this Demand ought not to be denied And therefore I do with great earnestness exhort you that you would not persist any longer in this Refusal For amongst other things you are to consider they do not prescribe to you after what manner and form you shall act in those Bishopricks Colleges Chapters or Benefices which are all ready in your Possession nor how you shall treat the Ministers of your Church who shall violate your Laws and neglect their Duties For as it would be very troublesome and grievous to you if they should desire that such of your Ministers who have deserted your Religion and do make it their Business to oppose it should yet be retained by you So it must be much more grievous to them if theirs must still retain the Administration of their Diocesses and the possession of their Revenues who have cast off their Religion and oppose it for what can be expected from hence but Suits Offences and Contentiens So that the very Foundations of the thing we are seeking in this Treaty Peace shall be hereby rained and entirely destroyed The eighth day after the Protestants replied that it was not their intention to prescribe a Rule to the Ecclesiasticks and much less that the Revenues of the Bishopricks should be dissipated or that the
nature of them being changed they should be turned into Civil or Lay-Fees It is apparent to us that a part of the Empire depends upon and is founded in these Sees which we do not in the least desire should be diminished or imbezelled but by all means we would have them preserved It would have been to our great satisfaction if this question had never been moved but that we might have pursued the decrees of the former years made at Norimburg Ratisbonne and Spire which include all them that imbrace the Augustan Confession And at first the Legates of the three Electoral Archbishops did also wisely consider this but when some others had started and exagitated this Doubt then they joyned with them They who first moved this question had perhaps some reason for it but what has since followed is apparent For if this Rub had not been cast in our way we had long e're this been at our desired End and all things in our Opinions had been determined but then there are many grave and pious Reasons why we should not admit that Condition For any Man may see what a contempt and detriment it will be to our Religion if we suffer those that imbrace it to be put out of their Places deprived of all Dignity and to be treated as Hereticks we will now in silence pass over the first Institution of Colleges or Chapters and the Corruptions which by degrees crept into them But nevertheless we are of Opinion that very much of that Institution is no way repugnant to our Religion And for us to consent that no Bishop that imbrace our Religion which we profess as true and Christian should continue in his Station is a great Wickedness because by this act we should condemn it as impious and unworthy of the order of Priesthood whose duty it is to promote and exercise it Wherefore great Sir we humbly beseech your Majesty to consider this seriously and according to the Power given you by the Emperor to cause this Clause to be struck out and omitted But he answered that no more could be granted and that they had obtained what they could never gain before in the many years they had endeavoured for it That they should have some Consideration for him for otherwise the Diet should be ended and nothing done which if it happened and any Inconvenience ensued there was no reason the Blame should fall either upon the Emperor or him who had so sweetly and patiently Treated of this Affair and attended upon it thus long but could now stay no longer Therefore he would give them ten days more that in that time they might send home to their Princes that so he might have a positive Answer When that day came they having shewn their utmost Diligence that in all other things the good of Religion might be promoted and considering that it belonged to the Emperor and King and not to them to limit this Article the King also on his side remitting some things as shall be said hereafter they upon these Considerations gave their Consent So the twenty fifth of September the Decree was publickly read according to the Custom which is as followeth Neither the Emperor nor Ferdinand King of the Romansâ— nor any of the other Princes or States in the Empire shall in any manner whatsoever hurt or injure any Man for the Confession of the Augustan Doctrine Religion and Faith nor shall they by Command or by any other way whatsoever force any Man to forsake his Religion Ceremonies or Laws which he has already instituted within his Dominions or which those of the Augustan Confession shall hereafter Institute nor shall the said Emperor King or Princes contemn the same but shall suffer them freely to profess this Religion and also quietly to enjoy their Goods Estates Tolls Possessions and Rights and this Controversy in Religion shall not be attempted to be Composed by any other than by Pious Friendly and quiet ways Those of the Augustan Confession shall behave themselves in the same manner towards the Emperor King Ferdinand and all the other Princes and States which joyn in the ancient Religion as well Ecclesiastical as Civil and towards all others of the Clergy and their Colleges whither soever they shall travel to dwell provided they exercise their Ministries in manner and form following All which shall be suffered freely to enjoy their Religion Ceremonies Laws Possessions Tolls and all other their Rights and shall not in any way be hindred in the peaceable enjoyment of the same and if any Difference or Suit shall arise it shall every where be tried and determined by the Laws and Customs of the Empire and those that embrace neither of these Religions shall not be included in this Peace If any Archbishop Bishop or Prelate or other Clergy-Man shall make a defection from the ancient Religion he shall presently relinquish his Bishoprick Diocess or Benefice and shall lose all those Fruits he should otherwise have received from the same which yet shall not in any wise tend to the Infamy of the said Person And it shall thenceforth be lawful and free for the Chapter or those to whom the Eâ—ection shall belong by Law or Custom to elect and constitute another in his Place who is of the ancient Religion whereby the right of Institution Election Presentation and Confirmation together with the peaceable Possession of all the Goods thereunto belonging may be fully preserved to them Yet nothing shall hereby be taken to derogate from the intended Reconciliation above-mentioned And because some Princes of the Empire and other States or their Ancestors have assumed some Ecclesiastical Revenues Districts Chapters or Colleges of Monks and other such Church Revenues and have assigned them to the use of their Ministers to Schools and to other good uses they shall not on this account be troubled nor brought in question but such Goods which do not belong to any of the other States of the Empire or to other Persons who are Subject to the Empire the Possession of which was not at the time of the Treaty of Passaw nor since in the possession of Ecclesiastick Person shall from henceforth continue as they now are and be comprehended in this Peace and it shall not be Lawful for the Judges of the Imperial Chamber upon the account of these things thus taken and alienated to hear or determine any thing against the said Princes and States The Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction shall not be exercised or take place against those of the Augustan Confession their Religion Faith Rights Laws and Ecclesiastical Ministry But shall be suspended and stopped and shall not give them the least disturbance till the difference in Religion be entirely taken away But in all other things which do not concern the said Religion Ceremonies Laws and Ministry it shall be of the same force and be exercised according to the ancient Laws and Customs And all the Revenues Tolls and Rights belonging to the Clergy shall
be entirely reserved to them But so that those Princes and States in whose Territories the same are shall not hereby lose that civil Right they had before this difference of Religion in and to the said Goods And moreover that they may with the same Goods provide for the necessary Services of the Churches Parishes Alms Hospitals of the Poor and Sick according to their first Constitution without any Consideration of which of the Religions the Person is who shall be thus assisted or relieved and maintained And if upon the account of this Alimony or the manner of it any Difference or Suit shall arise they shall mutually or by consent chuse Arbitrators who having heard the Controversy shall within six Months determine and appoint what shall be deducted for such Uses and Services and conferred or bestowed upon the same And in the mean time till the Suit is thus determined they who are to pay this Allowance shall not be interrupted in their Possession but shall continue to yield and pay during the Suit what they anciently used to give or Pay. In October and November there was a Parliament held in England and most Men thought the Crowning King Philip would have been one of the principal Affairs of it but this was never proposed But the Queen sollicited the restitution of the Abby-Lands because the Pope required it but the great Men and Nobility had got them and therefore nothing could be done in that Affair But the Queen restored the first Fruits and the tenths to the Church During this Session of Parliament certain sharp and virulent Pamphlets were spread abroad in London in which were some things tending to stirring up the Minds of the People against the Spaniards and others for alienating the Mind of the Queen from King Philip her Husband and an Inquisition being made after the Authors of them nothing could be found Before the end of this Parliament Gardiner Bishop of Winchester died of a Dropsie the twelfth of November who was then Lord Chancellor of England which Office in February following was given to Heath Archbishop of York who had travelled with Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury in Germany and did then profess the Reformed Religion About the fifth of November died the Wife of John Frederick Elector of Saxony who was the Daughter of the Landgrave whose Marriage I have mentioned above Francisco Venerio Duke of Venice was deposed for having unfaithfully managed the business of the Corn and sought his own private more than the publick Good. When the Emperor had resigned the Soveraignty and Government of the Low Countries Philip his Son sent Ambassadors to the principal Princes and Cities of Germany to acquaint them with it and to offer them his Friendship and Alliance And at the same time the Ambassadors of King Ferdinand solicited the said Princes and Cities to be present at the day prefixed for the opening of the Diet because a great danger hung over his Head from the Turks who had demanded of him the resigning into his Hands of the Principality of Transylvania which was very strong by Nature and exceeding Fruitful and afforded great numbers of Horsemen He called also a Diet of his own Provinces for the same purpose in which the States of lower Austria desired to have Liberty of Conscience granted them But the King turned them over to the general Diet at Ratisbon for an answer to this and he also appointed them to meet again the thirteenth of January of the next Year at Vienna The Marquess di Marignano dying at Milan the Emperor or his Son sent the Cardinal of Trent to supply his Place and the Duke de Alva was made Viceroy of the Kingdom of Naples About Christmas the Pope according to his Custom created some new Cardinals amongst whom he named John Gropper Coadjutant to the Archbishop of Cologne who has been often mentioned by me who refused the acceptance of this Dignity And then Cardinal Pool was first promoted from a Cardinal Deacon to a Cardinal Presbyter and began to say Mass which by the Papal Laws is not allowed to the Deacons In the beginning of January there were horrible Tempests in Saxony Misnia and Bohemia attended with Thunder Lightning and violent Winds which every where did great dammages especially to the Churches In the same Month at Wintertbur a Town of Switzerland two Miles from Zurich in the Night time after Supper a Fire appeared in one of the Turrets of the Church which seemed by its noise and brightness to threaten the Ruin of that Fabrick but when the Inhabitants came to put it out it was a delusion and they found no Fire this happened twice in this Month viz. the fourth and the fourteenth day Some of the Cantons being after this solicited by the Pope went to Rome which caused a very great Suspition in many King Philip being to enter upon his new Government upon the Resignation of his Father began it with a pompous and splendid Entrance the eighteenth day of January into Antwerp which was then the Principal City of those Countries The Persecution of the Protestants in England was then very sharp The thirteenth of January the Deputies and States of Austria met at Vienna as they had been Commanded when the King shewed them in a long and grave Speech how great the danger was which threatned them from the Tarks and therefore admonished them forth with to expedite their Succours aud to grant him Money that he might be in a Condition to repress his Cruelty and Rage Then those which belonged to the lower Austria acquainted him that they were commanded linded by their Principals in the first Place to transact the business of Religion That therefore they informed his Majesty what they had been doing for fourteen years last past how often they had addressed to him and supplicated him in this affair and what kind of Edicts he had in the mean time issued out contrary to their Expectation And therefore say they seeing all our Counsels against the Turks have been disappointed and as yet we have been so far from repressing him that he has rather more and more prevailed against us and has taken many Cities Towns Castles and strong Forts in Hungary and Sclavonia and now hangs over our Heads we may therefore justly aver that it is a manifest Judgment of God who chastiseth us for our Sins and afflicts us because we have not amended our Lives and that in such manner that it is visible that if his Word is not received and a Reformation of Life promoted we shall lose not only our Lives and Fortunes but Eternal Salvation too For though the whole Earth were to Arm against that Enemy whilst it remains in this unreformed state of Life there is no Victory to be hoped for but instead of it Ruin and Destruction as hath often heretofore happened to the most flourishing Kingdoms We did something towards this in the last Convention when
that the People should follow the Religion of their Prince and it grants all Princes but the Ecclesiasticks a Liberty to chuse which of the two Religions they will embrace because the People ought to be content with the choice of the Prince but so that those who are not pleased with the Religion which the Prince hath chosen have a liberty to sell their Estates and to remove whither they please without any detriment to their Reputations It is therefore your Duty to continue in the old Catholick Religion which I profess And I have never hindred the Gospel from being Preached purely according to the Interpretation which the Church has received from the Holy Apostles Martyrs and Fathers And as to the Lord's Supper though it was instituted in both Species yet in the ancient Church it was distributed under one as may be shewn at large It was not therefore first changed in the times of the Council of Constance but that Custom was much more ancient than that Council and thence you may easily infer that it is not lawful for me to change and abolish by my own private Authority or Law what has been received and approved by the Canons of a Council especially now when a Peace has been so lately made in the business of Religion and when in the next Diet it is designed to Treat of an Union in which I am resolved to extend all my Powers for the taking totally away of this Difference but if this cannot be done then I will enter upon such Courses as may secure both your Fortunes and Salvations And in the mean time that you may see how much I am inclined to help and favour you I will put a stop to that part of my Edict which relates to the Lord's Supper but upon condition notwithstanding that renouncing all Sects you shall change nothing in the Laws and Ceremonies of the Church and that you shall expect the Decree of the next Diet. The Ministers of the Church and the School-masters so long as they follow this form shall not be molested nor have I suffered any Man to be injured without Law so that being thus disposed towards you I hope you will desire nothing more and because the publick necessity is now very urgent it befits you to consult together and to grant what is needful To this they answered the twelfth day of February That in the greatest of all Cases which pertained to their Salvation and to that of their Children that they should be so far denied was a very grievous affliction to them That which your Majesty affirms concerning the present Custom of distributing the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper having been received by the ancient Church may be largely refuted by the sacred Scriptures and also thereby their Error may be shewn who perswade themselves it was so And whereas you say the meaning of the Decree made at Ausburg was that the People should accommodate themselves to the Religion of their Prince Certainly then seeing many Years before this Decree was made by the common Consent of the Diet we have at all times supplicated to you for the freedom of our Religion if this Answer must stand we shall be allowed also to sell our Estates and with our Wives and Children to go and live elsewhere But then who is there who does not see the mischief of this and how sad and mournful the Report of this must necessarily be to your People When they shall be told that they who after the manner of their Ancestors have been accustomed to spend their Blood and Lives for the Honour and Safety of the House of Austria must now desert their Beloved Country which has for so many Ages been inhabited and cultivated by their Ancestors And therefore this Answer as to this Part of it is not received nor allowed by us but as often before so we now again beseech your Majesty by all that is Sacred to grant us that incomparable Treasure the Word of God and that you would not in this put any obstacle in our way But if this were a thing of that Nature that you only were to answer to God for it certainly as in all other things so in this we would have obeyed you But seeing every Man must give an account for his own Action and that there is no respect of Persons with God and seeing every moment may be the last of our Lives and that there is nothing more uncertain than our Lives we cannot but with the utmost Study and Industry desire and pray that we may be secured by the Grant of this Petition The fourth day after the King answered that he did not think there was any reasonable Cause why they should not be satisfied with his former Answer For that said he I have allowed that you should be taught as the Apostles have delivered and as the Martyrs and Fathers received by the Church have interpreted the Scriptures What do you require more in this Particular For seeing God has promised his Holy Spirit to his Church Salvation is not to be sought any where else You say that you are not corrupted by any Sect of which there are many as Anabaptists Sacramentarians Zuinglians Schwenckfeldians and the like this indeed is true but if a promiscuous Doctrine is once allowed which is not restrained within those Bounds I have prescribed how long do you think this Purity will last When every Man will boast he has the Word of God for him and that it is not subject to any Creature nor any Being but God and none of them will submit to any Censure as we see comes to pass in many Places where every thing is filled with disorder whilst every Man defends his Opinion with Obstinacy despising absolutely the Authority of the Church And because you recite the last decree of the Diet in your former Address a little otherwise than it is therefore I have explained how it is to be understood not that I would have you leave my Country and that I might abate your Sollicitude I have suppressed that part of my Edict which concerns the Lord's Supper promising my best Endeavours that there may be a Reconciliation I have shewn my reasons why I cannot make a defection from the Laws and Ceremonies of the Church For that Christ has commanded us to hear the Church and Experience teacheth us that the former Age which did not innovate but continued in the Religion of their Ancestors were more quiet and happy in all things than this is wherein all Places are disturbed by Sects and Dissentions and the greatest part of Mankind are tossed and driven hither and thither with every wind of Doctrine And even for this Cause I thought you would not have answered in this manner And now though it were very easy to make a large Reply to your last Paper yet because it is necessary at present to enter into the consideration of the Contributions and Subsidies and to take a speedy Resolution
imaginable That the Town had been taken but the Castle still held out but much oppressed by the Cannon of the Enemy That he had received Accounts by Letters and Messengers That the Bassa of Bosnia was assembling great Forces to in vade Sclavonia That the Beglerbeg of Greece was drawing great Forces together at Sophia and then designed to come forward and that Solyman himself would come into Hungary in Autumn to Winter there or at least that he would be there early in the Spring with a vast Army to take Vienna That in a time of so great distress he was not at leisure nor durst he leave his Provinces but was wholly taken up in providing for the Defence and Security of them and because he would not have the Dyet held any longer in suspence which was contrary to the Interest of the Empire he had committed the management of it to the Duke of Bavaria that he might begin it and preside till he could come thither himself That he had sent a splendid Ambassy to treat of a Peace or a Truce three years since with Solyman and his Ambassadors were detained at Constantinople and although a Truce had been concluded till the Ambassador should return home yet the Turk had broke his Faith and had taken many Towns and Castles in the Borders of his Kingdom of Hungary and seeing he was now battering Sigeth it was not reasonable to expecta firm and lasting Peace upon tolerable Conditions This being the state of things he said a great and terrible Danger was threatned thereby not only to the Remainder of the Kingdom of Hungary but to Austria and all Germany and therefore it was needful to come presently to a Resolution of sending Succours and levying money for the defence of it which might be deposited in certain Places to be issu'd out by publick Treasurers as need should require That the King had sollicited other Princes to send Supplies and that he was resolv'd to spare no Treasures and to hazard his own Person and his Sons But then his Hereditary Countries being exhausted by a War which had lasted so many years were not now able to grapple with so formidable an Enemy alone but it was absolutely needful the Empire should assist them and that speedily And seeing in the last Dyet it was resolved That the composing the Differences of Religion should be considered in this he earnestly exhorted them to consider whether it was possible to be done and by what way They were to consider also of the Money and of the establishing the Peace of the Empire But then the Turkish War ought not to be postpon'd or delay'd but to be one of their first and most important Considerations that so the present and impending Danger might be averted The 15th day of September the Emperour having a fair Wind and a promising Season set Sail with a good Fleet for Spain and took along with him as his Companions in this Voyage Mary Queen-Dowager of Hungary and Leonora Queen-Dowager of France his Sisters But before his departure he had resigned to his Son Philip the Government of the Low-Countries and to his Brother King Ferdinand the Empire of Germany to which purpose he had sent a Letter to the Electors wherein he desired they would accept of him and acknowledge and obey him as Emperour of Germany The last day of October John Sleidan I. V. L. a Person worthy of great Commendations on the account of the rare Endowments of his Mind and his great Learning died at Strasburg and was honourably buried FINIS A CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION To the End of the COUNCIL OF TRENT In the Year 1563. Collected and Written by E. B. Esq LONDON Printed in the Year MDCLXXXIX A CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION BOOK I. The CONTENTS The Introduction The Revolt of Transylvania The Siege and brave Defence of Sigeth a Town in Hungary Charles V resigns the Empire He goes to Spain John Sleidan's Death and Character Paul III a Furious Prince The War between him and King Philip in Italy The Peace between them The Affairs of England The Dyet of Ratisbonne The Death of Ignatius Loyola the Founder of the Order of Jesuites And of Albert Marquess of Brandenburg The unsuccessful Conference at Wormds between the Romish and Protestant Divines The War between France and Spain The Siege Battle and Taking of S. Quintin Charles V his Letter to his Son. The Spanish Army disperse and the French increase A Persecution in France The Siege and Loss of Calais The Situation and Form of that Town Guines taken A Turkish Fleet land in many Places in Italy and carry many into Captivity The Dauphin Married to Mary Queen of Scotland The first Overtures for a Peace between the Kings of France and Spain Andelot Marshal of France ruined by the Arts of the Duke of Guise Thionville Besieged and Taken by the French. The Defeat of the French near Graveling An unsuccessful Expedition of the English against France The Treaty of Cambray began The Parliament of England meet and Queen Mary Dies The German Affairs the Death and Character of Charles V. The Succession of Queen Elizabeth The Scotch Affairs and the first setling of the Reformation in that Kingdom IT was the Misfortune of this Great Man John Sleidan to die in that nick of Time when the Fates of the two contending Religions and of all Christendom were just upon the setling It is true he lived to see the Augustane Confession setled in the Dyet of Ausburg and perhaps he might hear of the Resignation of the Empire by Charles V to his Brother Ferdinand but then Death surprized him before he could give any account of it for with it he designed to have begun the next Book in all probability and to have filled up this with some other Accidents such as a large account of the Revolt of Transylvania and the Siege of Sigeth would have afforded him But then had he lived till the Year 1563 he should have seen the Death of Queen Mary Henry II of France and Charles V and the setling of the Roman Catholick Religion by the Determination of the Council of Trent contrary to the Expectation of all Men which seems to be the first Period of the Reformation and absolutely necessary to give the Reader a clear Prospect and full View of the first Joynt of this great Revolution I have therefore persuaded the Stationer to add a Suppliment to this Version for that purpose and because I am a Member of the Religion by Law established and not willing to offend them of the other Persuasions I resolve to advance nothing in it but from Authors who lived and dyed in the Communion of the Church of Rome shewing the matter of Fact with great Brevity and making few or no Reflections of my own That so the Reader may be left entirely to himself to think what he Please and God shall direct him I will
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
the Lawful Succession is transmitted without any interruption The Cardinal of Lorraine had design'd in the former Reign to make a Speech in the Name of the three Estates which was then not opposed but now the Commons would not suffer it because contrary to the Ancient Usage And for that they had some things to object against the Cardinal himself Jean l' Ange an Advocate of the Parliament of Bourdeaux spoke for the Commons and remarked three great Faults in the Clergy Ignorance Covetousness and Excessive Luxury which had given Being to the new Errors and Scandal to the People That the Preaching of the Word of God which was the chief cause of the instituting Bishops was totally neglected and they thought it a shameful thing and beneath their Dignity And by their Example the Curates had learned to neglect their Duty too and had ordered the Mass to be sung by Illiterate and Unworthy Stipendaries That the excessive Pomp and Avarice of the Clergy who pretended by it to promote the Glory of God had raised an Envy and an hatred of them in the Minds of the People And therefore he desired that a Council might be assembled by the order of the King to remedy these Mischiefs After him James de Silty Comte de Roquefort made a Bold and an Elegant Oration in the Name of the Nobility and taxed the Clergy for invading the Rights and oppressing the People under Pretence of the Jurisdictions granted them by the Ancient Kings of France That therefore the King ought in the first place to take care to reform the Clergy and assign good Pensions to those that Preached the Word of God as had been done by many of his Ancestors which he named Jean Quintin le Bourguinon made a long tedious Speech in the behalf of the Clergy to shew I. That the Assembly of the three Estates were instituted for the providing for the Sacred Discipline II. That the King might understand the Complaints of his People and provide for the Necessities of his Kingdom by their Advice and not for the Reformation of the Church Which could not Err and which neither hath nor ever shall have the least Spot or Wrinkle but shall ever be Beautiful But then he ingenuously confest That the Sacred Discipline was very much declined from its Ancient Simplicity That therefore the Revivers of the the Ancient Heresies were not to be heard and all that had Meetings separate from the Catholicks were to be esteemed Favourers of Sectaries and to be punished Therefore he desired the King to compel all his Subjects within his Dominions to Live and Believe according to the Form prescribed by the Church That the Insolence of the Sectaries was no longer to be endured who despising the Authority of the Ancients and the Doctrine received by the Church would be thought alone to understand and imbrace the Gospel That this was the next step to a Rebellion and that they would shortly shake off the Yoak of the Civil Magistrate and with the same Boldness fight against their Prince that they now imployed against the Church if Care were not speedily taken He desired that all Commerce between them and the Catholicks might be forbidden and that they might be treated like Enemies and that those who were gone out of the Kingdom on the account of Religion might be banished That it was the King's Duty to draw the Civil Sword and put all those to Death who were infected with Heresie to defend the Clergy and restore the Elections of Bishops to the Chapters the want of which had caused great Damages to the Church That it had been observed That the very Year the Pope granted the King the Nomination of Bishops this Schism began and has ever since spread it self for in the 1517 Luther Zuinglius and Oecolampadius set up and Calvin followed them This Speech incensed the whole Assembly against him and especially the Protestants who published so many Libels and Satyrs against him that he soon after died of Shame and Grief He was no ill Man but was a better Decretalist than a Divine and had never well thought whether a Reformation were needfull or no But then it ought also to have been considered that he did not speak his own Single judgment but had his matter prescribed him by the Clergy for whom he spoke After some days the King Signified to the Bishops that they should prepare themselves for the Council which was now recall'd at Trent and the Judges and Prefects were commanded to discharge all that were Imprison'd for Religion only and leave all that were suspected the free injoyment of their Estates and Goods And it was made Capital to reproach or injure one the other on the Account of Religion After which the Assemly was Prorogued to the Month of May of the next Year There was in Piedmont a Valley called by the Name of Perosia and St. Martin Inhabited by about 15000 Souls whose Ancestors about 400 Years since had upon the Preaching of Waldus Speronus and Arnaldus made a defection from the Church of Rome and had at times been severely treated for it by the French under whom they had been but by the last Treaty were assigned to the Duke of Savoy This People about the Year 1555 had imbraced the Reformation and had suffered it to be publickly preached tho it was forbidden by the Council at Turin which the Year following sent one of its own Members to inquire after the Offenders and to punish them to whom the Inhabitants of this Valley delivered the Confesson of their Faith Declaring that they profess'd the Doctrin contained in the Old and New Testament and comprehended in the Apostles Creed and admitted the Sacraments Instituted by Christ the IV first Councils viz. those of Nice Constantinople Ephesus and Chalcedon and the Ten Commandments c. That they believed the Supreme civil Magistrates were Instituted by God and they were to be obeyed and that who soever resisted them fought against God. They said they had received this Doctrin from their Ancestors and that if they were in any error they were ready to receive instruction from the Word of God and would presently renounce any heretical or erroneous Doctrin which should be so shewen to them Thereupon a Solemn Dispute was in shew appointed concerning the Sacrifice of the Mass Auricular Confession Tradition Prayers and Oblations for the Dead and the Ceremonies of the Church and her Censures all which were rejected by them they alledging that they were humane Inventions and contrary to the Word of God. This Confession was sent by the Duke of Savoy to the King of France who about a year after return'd Answer That he had caused it to be Examin'd by his learned Divines who had all condemn'd it as Erroneous and contrary to true Religion and therefore the King commanded them to reject this Confession and to Submit to the Holy Church of Rome and if they did not do so their
Persons and Estates should be Confiscated But they on the contrary were resolved to stand by their former Confession They were thereupon commanded not to admit any Teacher who was not sent by the Archbishop of Turin or the Council there and that if any Teachers came among them from Geneva they should discover or apprehend them upon pain of Death and loss of all they had For three years after this the people of this Perswasion were let alone and no way molested but this Year the Duke of Savoy much against his will and Inclinatiion was drawn by the Pope to make a War upon them In the begining of March Jean de Carquignau and one Mathurim and his Wife were taken and burnt and several of the Neighbour Valleys were Plundred several of the Inhabitants were put to death and about Sixty sent to the Gallies and some recanted and profess'd the Roman Catholick Religion After this one Thomas Jacomel a Dominican was sent with one Turbis for his Assistant who was a bloody man to inquire diligently and severely into all that were suspected but the Nobility interposing there was no great Severity shewn The Monks of the Abbey of Pignoral which was seated in the Entry of the Valley on the other side kept a parcel of Souldiers in Pay and trapping as many of these poor People as they could as they passed to and fro they used them very cruelly and some others of the Nobility did the same thing and a Sedition following upon it they fined the poor Inhabitants One Thousand six Hundred Crowns Upon this a sharp war insued which ended in the Ruine of the Aggressors of the Church of Rome The Pastor also of Perosia was taken and burnt with a slow Fire with many of his Flock and the Inhabitants were spoiled of all they had and forced to Flee to the Mountains Being thus inraged with hard Usages in the Month of July Fifty of them set upon One Hundred and Twenty Souldiers belonging to the Abbey of Pignoral put them to flight and slew the greatest part of them and about Four Hundred more of their party coming up they took the Abbey of Pignoral and delivered all their people which were imprisoned there In October following News being brought that the Duke of Suvoy was sending an Army to destroy them They resolved that it was not lawful to take Arms against their Prince but that they would take what they could carry away and betake themselves to the Mountains and there attend the good pleasure of God who never forsakes his own and can turn the Hearts of Princes which way he pleaseth There was not one Man amongst them who repined against this Decree In after times they had Pastors who taught them otherwise and told them it was not their Prince but the Pope that they resisted and that they fought not for their Religion but for their Wives and Children The second of November the Forces of the Duke of Savoy entered their Borders and the Soldiers attempting to get above them they betook themselves to their Slings and maintained a Fight against them though they were but few in number the space of a whole day with no great loss At last the General finding they were not to be forced gave them leave to Petition the Duke of Savoy That they might live in Peace assuring him that nothing but utter ruin could have forced them to take Arms against him for which they humbly implored his Highness's Pardon and begging the Liberty of their Consciences and that they might not be forced to submit to the Tradtions of the Church of Rome but might with his good leave enjoy the Religion they had learned from their Ancestors This Petition was seconded by the Duchess of Savoy who was a merciful Princess â—and had great Power over the Affections of the Duke It being ever her judgment that this People were not to be so severely used who had not changed their Religion a few days agon but had been in Possession of it from their Ancestors so many Ages Upon this they were to be received to mercy but the Soldiery fell upon them when they suspected nothing and Plundered them three days together The General seemed to be much concerned at this breach of Faith yet after this they were fined eight thousand Crowns which they were forced to borrow on great Usury and they were also commanded to bring all their Arms into the Castles the Duke had Garrisoned in their Country And at last they were commanded to eject all their Pastors which was granted with the tears of their People that they might avoid the fury of the Soldiers The General pretended not to be satisfied that their Pastors were in good truth gone and when they suffered them to search their Houses the Soldiers Plundered them again and then burnt their Town There was one Town called Angrogne in a Valley of the same name the General pretended to shew them more favour and agreed that they should have one Pastor left them but they forced him also to flee into the Mountains afterwards and Plundered his House and all his Neighbours and then injoyned the Sindicks who are their chief Magistrates to find up and bring in the Pastor threatning that otherwise they would burn and destroy the whole Territory and when they had so done then they withdrew In the mean time their Messengers were gone with the Petition mentioned above to the Duke to Vercelli where they attended forty days before they could get Audience and then they were forced to promise they would admit the Mass and when the Prince had upon these terms forgiven their taking Arms against him they were commanded to ask Pardon too of the Popes Nuncio which at last they did During their absence the Inhabitants of Angrogne had suffered no Sermons but in private that they might not exasperate the Prince or make the Affairs of their Deputies more difficult But they resolved when these were returned they would exercise their Religion openly and not give any thing to the maintaining of the Soldiers whether their Request were granted or denied In the beginning of January the Deputies returned and when their Principals understood what had been done they wrote of the rest of the Valleys to give them an account of it and defired a publick Consultation or Diet. At which it was resolved that they should all joyn in a League to defend their Religion which they believed was agreeable to the Word of God professing in the mean time to obey their Prince according to the Commandments of God and that they would for the future make no Agreement or Peace but by a common Consent in which the freedom of their Religion should be saved Upon this they grew more Confident refused the Conditions offered by the Duke of Savoy and the promises made by their Deputies And the next day they entered into the Church of Bobbi in Arms and broke down all the Images and Altars and after a Sermon
her Heart she had a kindness for the Protestant Party and that underhand she and Navarre had one and the same design And thereupon he deserted her and joyned with the Guises his till then Mortal Enemies the Duchess de Valentois procuring the Reconciliation Magdalen of Savoy Wife to Montmorency was also an implacable enemy to the Reformation and hated Coligni the Admiral for that and other causes and therefore she perpetually stimulated him against the Protestants Francis Montmorency Son of the Constable was a person of great Prudence and he wisely advised his Father not to lose the least of his friends in so necessary a time for he foresaw a Tempest would arise in France of what Religion soever they were that it did not become a wise Man to endeavour to gain new friends with the loss of his old ones and to prefer the uncertain friendship of reconciled enemies before the tried affections of his old Acquaintances That if he rejected Conde Coligni and Rochefoucault on the Account of Religion he would deprive his Family of the assistance of three great Men and perhaps the Queen would think never the better of him therefore his advice to his Father was to sit still and let Coligni and the Guises fight it out without taking part on either side and in all probability Guise would be worsted and he would become the Arbitrator of the two contending Religions And in the mean time it was most certain there were many great Errors by length of time crept into the Church which he ought not to defend because they were injurious to the Majesty of God. The good old Gentleman was much moved at this Advice from his Son but made no other answer to it than That he certainly knew that if the Religion were changed the Civil Government would be changed too That he cared not what became of him if his little Masters did well and the Actions of Henry II. might not be called in question who was a wise Prince and his good Master So he perished in his first resolves believing he was obliged to defend the Cause of Religion against his best and most ancient and tried friends The Pope seeing his Jurisdiction and Authority decline so fast in Germany England and France greedily embraced a pretended Overture made by one Abraham a Syrian Impostor who pretended he was sent by the Cophthites an Eastern Sect of Christians to make a submission to the Holy See whereupon he sent Christopher Roderick and John Baptista Elianus two Jesuits to them who gained nothing by this Mission but an exact Account of the Opinions of these Cophthites and a certainty of the Frauds of this pretended Ambassador Abraham who had feign'd this Mission to the Pope for his own Ends. This Mortification was soon after attended by another not less afflictive to his Holiness for Gothard Ketler Master of the Teutonick Order in Libonia intirely submitted to Sigismond King of Poland which put an end to that Order when it had flourished there 357 years He was thereupon made Duke of Gurland and Semigallen and Governor of Livonia and Marrying a Wise withdrew himself and his Subjects from the See of Rome The Archbishoprick of Riga was also about the same time changed into a Dukedom John Kothewick the last Archbishop of that See embracing the Augustane Confession put himself under the Protection of the Crown of Poland and was by Sigismond made Duke of Lithuania This Archbishoprick was founded in the year 1215 by the procurement of the Knights of the Teutonick Order the City being then and a long time after the Seat of the Master of it who divided the Sovereignty and Administration of Justice with the Archbishop After this short Digression which the Reader is desired to Pardon I shall now return to the prosecution of the French Affairs The new Friendship between Montmorency and the Guises was a very frightful thing to the Queen Regent who sought all the way she could possible to divide their Affections for the preserving her own Authority and therefore she was very Anxioâ—sly inquisitive to find whether this new Kindness between two such Ancient Enemies tended The Prince of Conde in the mean time was declared Innocent by the Parliament of Paris the Thirteenth of June and his Discharge Recorded The Differences in Religion not only disquieted the Court but the Provinces also the two Parties reproaching each other with the Names Papist and Huguenot There were frequent Tumults raised also by the Roman Cabolicks to shew that Coligni was out when he said The Protestant Religion might be divulged throughout all the Provinces without any Disturbance And at Amiens and Pont-Oise things came to a Sedition the Catholick Artificers beginning the Quarrel and falling upon some of the Houses of some of the Protestants and they slew one Hadrian Fourre a Priest because he was reported to savour the Reformation and afterwards burnt his Body publickly for which only two were hanged This necessitated the Council to forbid all Reviling Expressions and all Tumults on the Accounts of Religion And by it all that had been banished for Religion in the Reign of Francis II. were invited to return and promised they should enjoy their Goods and Estates if they would live like good Catholicks for the future or otherwise might sell them and retire elsewhere which was after opposed by the Parliament at Paris but yet many returned on that account and many that were in Prison were discharged so that the Protestant Party appeared numerous The Cardinal of Lorrain was Alarm'd at this and represented to the King and Queen That the whole Kingdom was fill'd with Conventicles That the meaner sort ran to the Sermons out of curiosity and were easily corrupted That the Ancient Ceremonies were little frequented or regarded and that they were already derided and scorn'd by many That great numbers every day forsook the Church and went over to the Protestants So he would needs have had a new Edict forthwith published to prevent these Inconveniences This being Debated in the Council in the Month of July there was another Edict published That all should live peaceably and without any furry each to other or reproaching one the other That there be no Listing or Inrolling Men on either side That the Preachers should use no Seditious or Turbulent Expressions upon pain of Death and the Presidents of the Provâ—ces should determine of these Affairs and execute the Ediâ—t That no Sermons should be frequented by Men Armed or Unarmed in publick or in private nor any Sacraments Administred but according to the Rites of the Church of Rome And That if any Man was Convicted of Heresie and delivered to the Secular Power he should only be Banished and this was to stand till a General or a National Council should determine otherwise This was called the Edict of July The Cardinal of Lorrain had so good an opinion of his own Abilities that he was
Ulrick Duke of Meckleburg Christopher Duke of Wirtemburg Charles Marquis of Baden Ernest Prince of Henneberg and the Ambassadors of Joachim Duke and Elector of Brandenburg and of John and George Fredirick of that Family of Philip Landtgrave of Hesse and of Barnim and Jo. Frederick Dukes of Pomerania upon the report of a Council suddenly to be assembled met at Naumburg to which Place the King of Denmark and the Princes of Lunenburg sent only Letters of Friendship to assure those that met that they would stand by them The design of it was to put an end to those Controversies which had arisen amongst the Protestants themselves to renew their Subscriptions to the Augustane Confession to consider and by mutual Consent to resolve whether they should go to the Council or refuse it They had great Controversies amongst themselves about the various Editions of the Augustane Confession which had been explained enlarged and as to the Expressions very often changed and the Elector of Saxony was for the retaining the first Edition and putting the Smalcaldick Articles by way of Preface to it but the rest not consenting to it he left Naumburg and return'd When they came to consider the Council of Trent they were no less divided in that too Some were for an absolute rejection of it others were for the fending Ambassadors from the several States who should propose the giving an Account of their Faith in a free and truly Christian Synod and enter a great Complaint against the Pope and Court of Rome make their Exceptions to the Council on the account of the Suspition of the Judges the perverse Method or Order of Proceedings and the Inconvenience of the Place this they conceived would â—itigate the Envy had been raised against them and shew that their Enemies and not they were the obstructers of Concord and Union After this they sent Deputies to the Duke of Saxony deploring his departure before the End of the Conference and giving him an Account of the Form of Confession they had Agreed to Subscribe and desiring him that he would also subscribe it or at least restrain his Divines from traducing and defaming it as they had before done by some things agreed at Frankford Soon after Augustus Duke of Saxony Married Anne Daughter of Morice of the Family of Nassaw and Brother to William Prince of Orange Jerolamus Martinego who was sent to Treat with Queen Elizabeth for the same end as I have said already came into Flanders and from thence according to the ancient Custom sent for Leave to come into England but was denied it the Council of England not thinking it fit to admit a Nuncio from the Pope when there Religion would be apt upon such an Encouragement to Imbroil our Affairs upon began to Treat with Throcomorton our Ambassador in that Court That Queen Elizabeth would be pleased to send her Ambassadours to the Council in which he was seconded by Letters from the Kings of France Spain and Portugal and the Cardinal of Portugal and the Duke de Alva To which she replied That from her Heart she desired a General Council but she would have nothing to do with a Papal That she would have nothing to do with the Pope neither whose Authority was banished out of England by the consent of the Three Estates That it belonged not to him but to the Emperour to call a Council and that she acknowledged no greater Authority in him than in any other Bishop The Twenty fifth of July Erirk King of Sweden was Crown'd with great Pomp at Stockholme upon the Baltick Sea. Charles Cardinal of Caraffa and Nephew of the last Pope was strangled the Sixth of March in the Castle of St. Angelo upon pretence That he had Exasperated Paul IV. his Uncle with his false Stories and put him upon a War That he had caused the Truce between France and Spain to be broken had entered underhand Treaties with the Protestant Princes of Germany and also with the Turk the Enemies of Christianity but in reality because the Pope was much offended with the sharp Answers the Cardinal made after he was imprison'd The Pope being thereupon made sensible that the Cardinal was a Person of great Spirit and Interest and if ever he were dismiss'd he would at one time or other Revenge the Quarrel upon the Popes Relations so that his Holiness contrary to his first Intentions found it was needful to cut him off though against Law as his own Canonists generally said The Count de Paliani Brother of the Cardinal of Caraffa had the same fate but on other pretences In France all that desired the Peace of the Church and the Reformation of Religion concluded the Pope would not hold a Council whatever he pretended and therefore urged the having of a National Council which was opposed by the Guises and their Faction for fear the Protestant Party should prevail in it against the Catholick They did whatever they could to perswade the King and Council from it and procured the Pope to perswade Philip King of Spain to interest himself in it who sent Anthony Bishop of Toledo to perswade the Queen to send the French Clergy to the Council of Trent and that in the mean time to prevent a Schism the thoughts of a National Council should be laid aside He had Orders also as occasion offered to threaten those who favoured the Protestants and to give assurances of his Masters readiness to support the young King which was ill taken in France as a kind of usurping a Right to interpose their Spanish Pride in the French Affairs Toledo died in France and Maurice his Successor became very importunate with the Queen to begin a Persecution against the Protestants which was as stiffly opposed by the King of Navar who demanded his Kingdom and interrupted all the Spanish Proceedings by his frequent Complaints to the young King. King Philip finding to his Cost that this Princes Power was greater in France than he imagin'd began a Design upon him to make him more pliant to his Desires This was to reject his Wife and Marry Mary Queen of the Scots and then declaring himself Head of the Catholicks in France the King of Spain was to give him Sardinia for Navar and to help him to Conquer England and so two Heretical Queens were for Heresie to be laid aside and the Pope was to Consecrate and Bless the Business The King of Navar detesting the Project of Repudiating his Queen the Exchange of Sardinia was driven on with more eagerness pretending it was the greatest Island in the Mediterranean Sea next Sicily and the most fruitful rich and populous and situate very conveniently for a Conquest of Barbary This Project being also seconded by the Popes Nuncio the Cardinal of Ferrara prevented the calling of a National Council which Wise Men thought was the only thing that could have prevented the Civil War which after broke out to the almost total Ruine of France
Leith but this she said she could not do 'till she had consulted with the Nobility of Scotland and when the Ambassador replied They could not but approve of what they had made she replied They did but not all and when I come amongst them it will appear what mind they are of The Duke of Guise and the rest of the great Men of that Family attended her to Calais and the Marquess of Elboeuf and Francis Grand Prior of France went with her She took Ship the 14th of August and arrived at Leith in Scotland the 20th She was much concerned for fear Queen Elizabeth might intercept her in her way home and therefore sent again for the English Ambassador but when he still insisted to have the Treaty of Leith ratisied she delayed it Her Uncle the Cardinal of Lorrain advised her to leave her Jewels and Treasures in France 'till she were safe in Scotland but she said It was folly to be more concerned for her Jewels than for her Person which she must hazard The truth is her Fear was well grounded for Queen Elizabeth sent a Fleet to way-lay her but the two Navies passed by one another in a dark foggy day unperceived and she safely arrived at Leith the 21th of August The beginning of her Government was very gracious and she condescended to grant That no Change or Alteration should be made in the present State of Religion only she said she would use her own Religion apart and have a Mass in private which was and by many was thought very reasonable she having been Educated in the Roman Church and being a Sovereign Princess Yet the Preachers in their Sermons publickly condemned that Toleration of their Queen as unlawful and the Earl of Arran being exasperated by his Imprisonment on the account of Religion in France by the Order of the Guises from whence he made his Escape replied That he did neither agree to Publick nor Private Mass which highly displeased the Queen And Archimbald Douglas Provost of Edinburg put out an Order commanding all Papists to be gone for which the Queen committed him to the Castle of Edinburg And one of the common sort of Men broke the Tapers in the Court which were prepared for her Chapel and a Tumult had ensued to the Ruine of the other Preparatives for her Chapel if some wiser Men had not interposed amongst whom the Lord James was one of the greatest and forwardest to suppress this insolent Disorder On the other side the Marquess of Elboeuf was much offended to see the Protestant Religion exercised openly in Scotland and the Earl of Huntley a vain Man proffer'd the Queen his Service to reduce all the North Parts of Scotland to the Popish Religion which was wisely rejected In the middle of September the Duke of Aumarl and the rest of the French which had come home with the Queen went back to France but the Marquess of Elboeuf who stayed with her all the Winter She sent William Lord Maitland to Queen Elizabeth with Letters full of kind and friendly Expressions and desiring the like Returns from her And amongst other things that she would declare her the lawful Heir to the Crown of England in case she Queen Elizabeth should dye without Issue which Queen Elizabeth denied but said She would never wrong her nor her Cause if it be just in the least point and that she knew not any whom she would prefer before her or who if the Title should fall to be controverted might exclude her The Queen of Scots caused a new Provost of Edinburg to be Elected changed the Common Council and put out a Proclamation That all her good and faithful Subjects should repair to and remain within the Birgh at their pleasure for doing their lawful Business which was in opposition to the Provost's Order She kept her Masses too more publickly and with greater pomp of all which the Ministers complain'd in vain in their Sermons The Nobility had divided the Church Lands amongst them and had now another Game to persue and were striving who should be most in the Queen's Favour The Queen's Expences being soon found too great for the poor Revenues of the Crown of Scotland to maintain The Remainder of the Church Lands was divided into three parts one was assigned to the Queen one to the Ministers and the third was left to the Bishops and Parsons of the Romish Communion which they were forced to yield to to prevent the loss of all they now subsisting merely by the Queen's Favour The Earl of Huntley to be made Lord Chancellor turned Roman Catholick again which encouraged one Winyet a Priest to write a Book against the Reformation for which he was censured and forced to leave Scotland Not long after which she created the Lord James her Brother first Earl of Marr and then of Murray the Lord Ereskin claiming and at last obtaining the Earldom of Marr which much offended Huntley which had enjoyed both these Titles ever since the death of James the Fifth This made Huntley enter into many base and unworthy Designs to murder Murray which were all by one means or other discovered and at last ended in the Death of Huntley and the Executiou of John Gordon his eldest Son a hopeful young Gentleman in the Year following The beginning of the Year 1562 was very unquiet in France The King had called an Assembly of the Delegates of all the Parliaments of France in the end of the last year which was to meet at St. Germain the 17th of January of this year to consider of the means of appeasing these Broils and preserving the Peace of France The King opened this Assembly with a short Speech which was seconded by a larger made by the Chancellor who having given a short account of the several Edicts that had been made before in the business of Religion and shewn how they had all by one means or other been defeated He added That Laws were of no use if they were not Religiously observed But then said he if the Question is put Why are not the Laws executed Must not you that are the Judges bear the blame For if they excuse themselves and say That it was not in their power to execute them I will accept the Answer upon condition they will ingenuously confess That neither was it in the King's power And that this Affair of Religion by a secret Judgment of God for the Castisement of our Luxury Indevotion and Neglect of his Glory is so disposed that we may by the severity of the Punishment be brought to Repentance In the year 1518 when these Commotions first began there is no Man but knows how corrupt the Manners and how loose or rather profligate the Discipline of the Church was throughout the World For to omit the Court of Rome in which there was nothing right and sound we had here in France a young King brought up in Pleasures tho' he afterwards was
Bishop had a great hand in this and was turned a Soldier and treated all such as he suspected of the Clergy very hardly nor did he spare the Churches Treasures more than the Protestants had done but took them to pay his Soldiers raising besides great Contributions on the People for that purpose There were in the Cathedral Church the Images of the twelve Apostles of Silver of great Weight and adorned with many Jewels and the Bishop had carried them to his Castle de Trouvoy in Maine for their greater Security but that being taken afterwards they were lost and the Bishop was suspected of having converted them to his own use and going after this to the Council of Trent it was said He must needs have the Holy Ghost because he carried the twelve Apostles with him The 13th of May the Protestants were forbidden their Meetings at Amiens their Books sought out and burnt and amongst them all the Bibles they found in French and the Pulpit with them and some few of them were flain in the Tumult At Abbeville there was a greater Tumult raised by the Roman Catholicks and many of the Soldiers in the Castle and of the Inhabitants of the Town were murdered upon a pretence they favoured the Prince of Conde's Interest and the Governour of the Town was assassinated in his House and his naked Body was dragged about the Town and another Gentleman most barbarously murdered At Senlis many of the Protestants were assassinated and some were put to death by the Decree of the Parliament of Paris on other pretences I have transcribed only a very few of the horrid and insufferable Villanies committed by the Roman Catholicks of France in this War from Thuanus For so madly did they dote upon their Images and Altars that when ever they got any of the Protestants into their hands they treated them with unheard-of Cruelty and Rage whereas all their Fury spent it self on the Statues Pictures Altars and Relicks of their Churches or in some places on their Tombs and if some few Slaughters happened in was in the Surprize or taking of Places before they were masters of them but the Roman Catholicks raged most where the Protestants were least able to resist them The Prince of Condé hearing that his Party was worsted in Normandy sent Lewis de Lanoy with three hundred Horse who with some difficulty arrived at Roan the 11th of June and recitified the Disorders he found in that place the Protestants would have expell'd the Roman Catholicks out of the City but he persuaded them only to disarm them and swear them to live peaceably Roan in a short time after this was besieged from the 29th of June to the 11th of July by the Roman Catholicks but then they were forced to withdraw and the City remained in the Protestants hands In the interim a Treaty was carried on by the Vidame de Chartres with Queen Elizabeth for Succours which displeased many tho' the Roman Catholicks in the mean time had called in German and Swiss Auxiliary Forces to support their Quarrel The Roman Catholick Army in the mean time took Poictiers after a sharp Siege which yet might have holden out longer where they plundered the Protestants and put many of them to the Sword And after that Bourges being besieged by the Duke of Guise was at last surrendered by the Cowardize or Treachery of Mr. de Yvoy the chief Commander when the Roman Catholicks had almost spent all their Ammunition and the Admiral had taken that which was sent to supply them from Paris The taking this place so far discouraged the Protestants that a great many places yielded upon the first Summons The Duke of Guise and his Party after they had taken Bourges were divided in their Opinion some advising the Army should march to the Siege of Orleans as the Capital of the adverse Party and others that they ought first to take in Roan as more easy to be reduced and of no less advantage because preventing the English from powering great numbers of Men into France So at last this Party prevailed and that Siege was undertaken Montgomery who by misfortune slew Henry the Second was by the Prince of Condé appointed to command here in Chief who entered the place the 18th of September with 300 Horse and having added some new Works to St. Catherins he built a new Fort at St. Michaels which he called by his own Name About the same time a League was concluded between the English and the Protestants at Hampton-Court by which the Queen was to send 6000 men into France 3000 of which were to keep Haure de Grace in the King's Name for a place of Safety for those of the Religion and the rest were to be employed in the Defence of Diep and Roan and she was to supply 140000 Crowns for the Charge of the War the Forces were immediately sent from Portsmouth and landed at Haure de Grace under the Command of the Earl of Warwick The 28th of September the Forces of the Triumvirate came before Roan being then 16000 Foot and 2000 Horse Montgomery had besides the English and the Townsmen 800 Veterane Soldiers for the Defence of the City The Besiegers would have stopped the passage of the River by sinking Ships in it but the violence of the Tide cleared the Chanel so that the Frigates came from Haure de Grace with Canon Ammunition and Victual notwithstanding The 6th of October St. Catherins Fort was taken by Storm and Surprize and 300 Townsmen beaten back who came to relieve it The 9th of October 500 English under the Lord Gray entered the Town The 13th of October the Besiegers stormed the City from 10 'till 6 at Night the English and Scotch sustaining the brunt and at last repelling them the next day they stormed it 6 hours more to the loss of 600 men The 15th of October the King of Navar was shot in the left Shoulder with a Musket Bullet in the Trenches The 25th of October there was a sharp Fight at St. Hillary's Gate three Mines being sprung to small purpose The next day the City was taken by Storm the greatest part of the brave Men having been slain or wearied out in the continual labours of the Siege Montgomery and the greatest part of the English and Scotch shipped themselves in a Galley and breaking the Chain which the Besiegers had drawn cross the River they escaped to Haure de Grace There were slain in this Siege about 4000 Men on both sides The 17th of November the King of Navar died of his Wounds having received the Sacrament according to the Custom of the Church of Rome but blaming his own wavering and unconstant temper in the matters of Religion and saying If he recovered he would embrace the Augustane Confession and live and dye in it He was a person of great Beauty of a generous and liberal Disposition a good Soldier just and fit for business but too
the Council had contentions and differences amongst themselves which were unworthy of that moderation which they ought to have and tended very much to the detriment of that concord which was hoped for from them and yet these contests frequently broke out to the great satisfaction of their Adversaries That there was a report That the Pope intended to dissolve or suspend the Council and he advised him not to do it because nothing could be more shameful or damageable and which besides would certainly cause a great defection from the Church and bring a great hatred on the Papacy and from thence cause an equal contempt of all the Clergy That this dissolution or suspension would certainly procure the Assembling of National Councils which the Popes have ever opposed as contrary to the Unity of the Church and which those Princes which were well affected to the See of Rome had hitherto hindred in their Dominions but after this they could find no pretence to deny or delay them any longer Therefore he desired the Pope to lay aside that thought and to apply himself seriously to the celebration of the Council allowing the Ancient Liberty to all in its full extent that all things might be dispatched rightly lawfully and in order and thereby the mouths of their Adversaries who sought an opportuntity to calumniate might be stopp'd That it would become his Holiness to attend the Council in person if his health would permit it and he earnestly desired he would That he the Emperor if the Pope thought fit would also come thither that they both by their presence might promote the Publick business That the Pope might compose and decide many difficulties which had arisen from his absence The Emperor sent a Copy of this Letter to the Cardinal of Lorrain also and desired he would promote those things which tended to the Glory of God and the good of Christendom The 21th of May the Count de Luna Ambassador for the King of Spain was received in a Congregation and there was a Speech made in the behalf of that Prince in the Assembly by one Pedro Fontidonio de Segovia a Divine who extoll'd above measure the care of his Master in the Affairs of Religion and especially his severity shewn towards Sectaries he said this Prince Married Mary of England only to the end he might restore the Catholick Religion in that flourishing Kingdom He Reproached the French and German Nations for thinking that much was to be indulged to the Hereticks that being won by these Concessions they might be reduced into the bosom of the Church At last he said That they ought so to consult the Salvation of Hereticks and the Majesty of the Church that all things might be done for the promoting the latter rather than for gratifying the former And he exhorted all Princes to imitate the severity of his Master in bridling Hereticks that the Church might be delivered from so many Miseries and the Fathers of Trent from the care of celebrating Councils A little before this time the news of the Peace made with the Protestants of France came first in Generals and soon after the particular Articles This was blamed by the greater part of the Fathers in that Council who said it was to prefer the things of the world before the things of God yea to ruin both the one and the other For the Foundation of a State which is Religion being removed it is necessary that the Temporal should come to desolation whereof the Edict made before was an example which did not cause Peace and Tranquility as was hoped but a greater War than before The truth is these men would have all the world fight out their quarrel to the last man and then if their Catholicks perish they are as unconcerned as for the Hereticks and accordingly ever since that time they have made it their business first to hinder all Treaties of Peace wherein any liberty was granted to the Protestants and when they could not gain that point to make them be broken as soon as was possible tho this too has for the most part turn'd in the end to their great loss and shame The French Court perceiving how the Fathers of Trent took the Peace Ordered the Cardinal of Lorrain to shew the great Dangers which from the Civil War threatned that Kingdom and to assure the Council that it was the intention of the King to dissipate the Factions of France by a Peace that he might be at leisure to attend seriously the restitution of the Peace of the Church But when this would not be allowed neither the Queen sent Renate de Birague President of Dauphine to assure the Fathers That their Intentions were not to settle a New Religion in France nor to suffer it to grow up and encrease but that having disarmed their Subjects and quieted the Tumults they might with the less trouble return to the Methods used by their Ancestors for the reducing their people into the way and the Unity of the same Catholick Religion That this could never be done but by the Authority of a lawful and free either General or National Council that a General Council seemed the safer way but then it was necessary that a liberty and security should be given to all that would to come That tho' this had been done by the Pope and the Fathers yet the place was such and so situate that being rather in Italy than Germany the Protestants could not think themselves sufficiently secure For they desired a Council in Germany and thought they were not safe if it were any where else That not only they of Germany but the English Scotch Danes and Swedes were of the same mind and it was very unjust to condemn so many Nations unheard and besides it was unprofitable too for whereas all good men hoped that this Council would procure an Unity on the contrary it would cause a greater opposition and enmity when these Nations saw themselves neglected and by the inconvenience of the place as it were excluded out of the Council For it was fit for none but weak and credulous men to think they would ever submit to the Decrees of a Council in which they had never been admitted nor heard but it was to be feared on the other side that their minds being exasperated their patience would turn to fury and they would traduce to Posterity the Decrees of the Council and in the present age treat them with a virulent sharpness in their Writings Therefore Birague was Ordered to desire the Council might by the consent of the Fathers and Pope be transferr'd into Germany to Worms Spire Basil or Constance This Discourse would not edifie at Trent and he was sent on the same Errand to Inspruck to the Emperor and to Vienna to his Son Maximilian There were two others sent at the same time one into Spain and another to Rome but this latter found the Pope enraged to the utmost with the Peace so that
to have the Articles considered by the Council who that they might elude this pursuit made some Decrees which had some respect to those things the French had desired but which aimed at the granting a Liberty and Immunity to the Clergy against all the Laws Privileges Liberties and Jurisdictions and Lawful Authorities of all Kingdoms States and Princes which being seen by La Ferriere and Du Faur the King's Ambassadors at Trent they by their Master's Order opposed the said Decrees The 27th of September the King by a Letter having commanded his Ambassadors to insist upon their first Demands and to assure the Council that as none of the Christian Princes should exceed him in the fervor of true Piety and a desire to promote the Affairs of the Council so if they still went on to cure the desperate wounds of the Church with a light hand or rather to plaster them over and conceal than cure them whilest they omitted the proper and most necessary remedies and instead of considering the Reformation of the Church turn'd the edge of their Authority against the Power of Princes and the Decrees of Councils he would not have the Presence of his Ambassadors add Authority to such unjust Decrees to the great prejudice of his Royal Dignity and to the Damage of the Liberties of his Kingdom He said also that he had been informed that the Council had entertain'd a design to declare the Marriage of Anthony de Bourbon King of Navarr and Joan his Queen unlawful and to declare Henry his Son a Bastard and he commanded them not to be present at any such Act. Lastly he commanded them to repeat their former demands and if the Fathers of the Council would not grant them then to leave Trent and go to Venice and stay there till they had further Orders from him He told them also that his principal desire was by a serious Reformation of Church-affairs and manners the corruptions in which had caused so many to make defection from the Church of Rome by the Authority of a General Council to unite the divided minds of men in the matters of Religion That his Ambassadors and Proctors had often treated with the Pope and the Fathers of the Council about this and to that end had exhibited the said XXXIV Articles to which no satisfactory return had been made but on the contrary they having lightly touched the business of Reformation had exercised an Authority which belonged not to them against the Rights Liberties and Power of Soveraign Princes That they neither could nor ought to inquire into the Civil Administration which was not subject to their Court nor to derogate from those Constitutions and Customs which had been long enjoyed by Princes nor to Anathematize Kings all which things tended to Sedition and the interruption of the publick Peace That he would not suffer that Authority which he had received from his Ancestors to be weakned by their unjust censures Yea he commanded them to tell the Fathers That if they presumed any more to undermine the Authority of Kings and the Prerogatives of their Betters that they should then also protest against their proceeding and leave Trent Advising the Bishops and Divines of France who were in the Council to promote the Reformation of Religion as much as was possible for the good of his divided Kingdom and to that end to stay still at Trent But then the King did trust to their wisdom and conscience that they would not approve of by their presence or consent to any thing which was prejudicial to the Royal Authority Prerogative or Dignity of the King or Kingdom of France But however the Council still persisting in their former Methods La Ferriere came into the Council and made a sharp Oration against the Pope and the Council Polano in his History of the Council of Trent has the sum of this Oration and Thuanus saith it was pronounced the 22d of September But however I will not trouble the Reader with it here because of its great length this Oration pleased none of the Fathers the French themselves not excepted because he set Princes as the Ministers of God above the Anathema's of the Clergy and made both their persons and revenues subject to the Laws and Authority of Kings telling them too plainly of their great prevarications obstinacy and unwillingness to reform or be reformed But however all the Fathers could do was to bring the Faith of the Ambassadors in question which they soon discuss'd by producing their Instructions This failing they cavell'd at the parts of the Oration and end eavoured to pervert the sense and meaning of it so that Ferriere was forced to publish an Apology for it And soon after this they mended the matter by a sharper Oration in which amongst other things they told the Council plainly That Hadrian the Sixth was in the right when he told the world That what care soever was taken of the lower members of the Church that body could not be restored to its health if the Head also the Pope were not reformed Towards the end they said They protested only against Pius the Fourth They Venerated the Apostolick See the great Pontiff the Holy Church of Rome for the increase of whose Dignity their Ancestors had so often shed their blood and of late had fought in France but it was against the Soveraignty of Pius the Fourth that they protested all whose Decrees and Sentences they refused and despised and seeing there was nothing done at Trent but all was dispatched at Rome and what was here published was rather the Dictates of Pius the Fourth than the Decrees of a General Council they denounced and testified That whatever was decreed in that Convention or should hereafter be decreed or published they being only the Decrees moved by Pius the Fourth they should not be approved by the Most Christian King nor the French nor be taken for the Acts of a General Council And then commanded all their Archbishops Bishops Abbots and Divines to return into France till God should restore to the Catholick Church the ancient form and liberty belonging of right to General Councils and to the Most Christian King his just Rights Thuanus saith he can hardly believe this Oration was made tho' he finds it Printed in the Commentaries of Jacques de Bourdin Secretary of State. But however it shews the sense great men had of the Council of Trent at that time when it was best understood A little before this time the Emperor being about leaving Inspruck discovered that they consulted at Rome and Trent about proceeding against Queen Elizabeth of England and he wrote to the Pope and the Legates that if the Council would not yield that fruit which was desired that they might see an Union of Catholicks to reform the Church yet at least they should not give occasion to Hereticks to unite themselves more which they would do in case they proceeded against the Queen of England
as Honourable Terms as he could get The 28th of July the Articles were Signed the next day there came sixty Ships and 1800 men to the Relief of the place but it was too late so the English that remain'd were sent on Board the Fleet who had the misfortune to carry this Plague with them into England and within one year there died in London only 21530 persons of this Disease There was so much joy in France for the recovery of this small place that the Chancellor of France said openly That now the most malicious must needs confess That the granting Liberty of Conscience had at once delivered France from a most destructive Civil War united the Princes of the Blood Royal and enabled them to recover too what had been seized by their Enemies during the War and that chiefly by the help of the Protestants who before were so dreadful to them whilest they fought for their Religion The Queen to cut off all pretences to the Guardianship of the King by the advice of the Chancellor resolved to have him declared out of his Minority by the Parliament of Roan pursuant to a Constitution of Charles the Fifth King of France made in the year 1373 tho' he had then entered only into the Fourteenth year of his age which was accordingly done the 19th of August when he declared again That he was resolved not to suffer his Edicts to be disputed by his Subjects as had been done during his Minority and especially the last for the peace of Religion which he was resolved to make all his Subjects obey till it was otherwise setled by a Council This Decree met with some opposition from the Parliament of Paris which pretends to be the Supreme Court of that Kingdom and said they ought to have had the honour of declaring the King of Age and no other which was soon over-rul'd The desire I had to prosecute the Affairs of France and the Story of the Council of Trent has kept me from mentioning Scotland and its Affairs so that I am behind hand with that Kingdom two years In the beginning of the year 1562 Mary Queen of the Scots took her Progress towards the North At Sterling she was Petition'd by certain Commissioners of the Church for the Abolishing of the Mass and other Superstitious Rites of the Roman Religion the punishing Blasphemy the contempt of the Word of God the Profanation of the Sacraments the Violation of the Sabbath Adultery Fornication and other like Vices condemn'd by the Word of God but not punishable by the Laws of Scotland That all Suits for Divorce should be remitted to the Judgment of the Church or at least trusted to men of good knowledge and conversation and that Popish Church-men might be excluded from places in the Session and Council This Petition being read by the Queen she replied That she would do nothing to the prejudice of the Religion she professed and that she hoped before a year was expired to have the Mass and Catholick Profession restored through the whole Kingdom And so in a rage turn'd her back and left them In January 1563. John Hamilton Archbishop of St. Andrews was committed to the Castle of Edinburgh for saying and hearing Mass the Abbot also of Corsragnal and Prior of Withern had the same treatment and divers Priests and Monks were censured for the same cause The Scots thought by these Severities to terrifie the Queen into a compliance with their Religion And it is certain that in a Parliament held at Edinburgh in May this year she passed many Acts in favour of the Reformation However certain it is some of the Protestants made her an ill requital For in August following certain of the Queens Family remaining in the Palace of Edinburgh call'd Holy-Rood House and having a Priest to attend them and perform the Romish Service in the Chapel divers of the Inhabitants of Edinburgh out of curiosity or devotion resorting thither great offence was taken at it and the Preacher began to complain of it as a disorder Whereupon some of the Citizens went thither to see if it were so these being denied Admittance they forced the Gates of the Queens Palace took several of those who were there assembled and carried them to prison the Priest and some few others escaping by a Postern or Back-door This Uproar was very great and yet it was related to the best advantage to the Queen who was then out of Town she was very much incensed as she had good reason against these Zealots and swore she would shortly make them Examples of her Royal Indignation The Earls of Murray and Glencarne however wisely interposed and appeased her anger for the present Soon after John Knox was call'd before the Council and charged as the only Author of this Insolent Sedition and likewise for stirring up the people by his Circular Letters to Tumults whenever he thought fit He answered That he was never a Preacher of Rebellion nor loved to stir up Tumults contrariwise he always taught the People to obey their Magistrates and Princes in God. As to the Convocation of the Subjects he had received from the Church a Command to advertise his Brethren when he saw a necessity of their Meeting especially if he saw Religion to be in peril And had often desired to be discharged of that burthen but stil was refused Then speaking to the Queen with wonderful boldness He charged her in the name of Almighty God as she desired to escape his heavy wrath and indignation to forsake that Idolatrous Religion which she profess'd and by her power maintain'd against all the Statues of the Realm He was going on when the Earl of Morton then Chancellor of Scotland fearing the Queen might be yet more exasperated against all the Protestants of her Kingdom by his indiscreet zeal commanded him to hold his peace and go away After this things were carried more peaceably between the Queen and the Church the Earl of Murray making it his business to propound their Petitions to her and to return her Answers to them FINIS A TABLE OF THE Principal Matters Contained in this HISTORY A. ADiaphorists who Pag. 478 481. Adolph Count Schawenburg is made Archbishop of Cologne by the Pope 417. Enters upon the Resignation of the Archbishop 418. His first Mass 457. Makes his publick Entry into Cologne 499. He leaves Trent 543. He makes a League with the House of Burgundy 560. Adrian succeeds Leo X. 50. Sends a Legate to the Diet of Nuremberg 54. And a Breve to Frederick Ibid. Writes a long Letter to the States assembled at Nuremberg 55. And to Private Persons against Luther 56. As also to the Senate of Strasburg Ibid. An account of his Life Ibid. He is chosen Pope 57. Writes to the College of Cardinals Ibid. And to the People of Rome Ibid. Goes to Rome Ibid. His Instructions to the Diet at Nuremberg 58. Desires an Answer to them 60. Dies
a Holy League amongst the Popish Princes 245. Loses his Interest in the Emperor's Court 255. Elector vide Albert 14. The Elector's Answer to the Emperor at Ratisbon 281. The Electors of the Rhine meet about the Elector of Cologne 356. The Electors separate their Councils at the Diet of Ratisbon 375. Ecclesiastical Electors severe for the Interim 477. And hold Synods wherein the Trinkets of Popery are restored 481. They complain of the Soldiers who came from Magdebourg 535. Emperor how chosen 19. Now subject to the Pope in his Election 38. Empire vide Princes English refuse to pay First-fruits for Benefices of small value 63. English Bibles Printed at Paris 241. Enthusiasts begin to Preach in Germany 52. Erard Bishop of Liege dies 240. Erasmus writes to Frederick in Luther's behalf 21. And to Luther encouraging him to go on but calmly ibid. And to Rome in favour of Reuchlin 31. Writes about Free-will 75. VVrites against the Reformers under the Title of Gospel-teachers 122. VVrites to Campegio to promote Vnity in Germany 133. His Jest upon Eckius and Faber 139. Quarrels with Luther again about Free-will 170. Dies 209. His Colloquies forbidden by the Delegate Cardinals 236. Erixon Gustavus wrests Sweden from Christiren King of Denmark 62. Marries Steno Stura's Daughter ibid. Ernest D. of Brunswick taken Prisoner by the Emperor 427. Is set at liberty 428. Exorcisms with the Ceremonies 481. Eysenach a Town in Thuringia a Convention of the Protestants there 244. F. FAber John Deputy to the Bishop of Constance at Zurick 57. Faber Jacobus Stapulensis persecuted by the Sorbonists 98. The King of France writes on his behalf out of Spain ibid. Farel William Preaches at Metz 290. Farnese Cardinal his Speech to the Emperor against the Protestants 264. Retires from the Emperors Court 266. Goes to the Diet of Wormes with the Emperor 348. Goes from thence to Rome 349. Farnese Octavio General of the Pope's Troops which help'd the Emperor against the Protestants 394. His Parma secur'd to him by P. Julius the III 492. Puts a French Garrison into Parma 513. Is Cited to Rome ibid. Pursues the Business of Parma 514. Being supported by the French King it occasions a VVar ibid. Ferdinand Arch-Duke of Austria Marries 50. Executes the Ban severely against the Lutherans 54. Claims the Kingdom of Hungary after K. Lewis's death 105. Is made K. of Bohemia 110. His claim to Hungary what 114. Made K. of the Romans 144. The Terms upon which the Protestant Princes promise to acknowledge him 157. Makes a Treaty of Peace with the D. of Saxony 173. Allows Ulric to be D. of Wirtemberg ibid. Inhibits the Prosecutions of the Imperial Chamber 184. Suspends them till the Meeting of the next Diet 185. Sends an Embassie to the Switzers not to aid the French against the Emperor 207. Is routed by the Turks 231. Goes to the Diet at Haguenaw 267. His Proposals to the Protestants there 268. His Answer there about the Procedings of the Imperial Chamber 269. Prepares to invade Hungary 270. Sends Alaski his Ambassador to Solyman ibid. Is overthrown at Buda 284. His Answer to the Austrian Nobility 287. His Speech to the Diet at Spire 288. Opens the Diet at Nurenberg 298. Makes an unsuccessful War in Hungary 304. Opens the Diet at Nurenberg 305. His Answer to the Protestants Petition 307. Is acknowledged King of the Romans by the D. of Saxony 325. His Daughter is Betrothed to the D. of Saxony's Son ibid. Opens the Diet at Wormes 343. Answers the Deputes of the Protestants 345. Goes to the Diet at Ratisbon 374. Denounces War against the Saxons 409. His Answer to the Bohemians 417. His Demands to the Bohemians 420. His Letters to the Bohemians 423. He Answers their Letters 424. He writes to them again 425. His Commissioners to the Convention of States in Bohemia 426. His Army ibid. Writes again to the Bohemians 428. Writes to them again from Leutmeritz 431. Goes to Prague and forces the Bohemians to submit 434. Obtains vast Sums of Money from the Free Towns 436. Raises Money of the States at teh Diet 460. Receives Constance and imposes strict Conditions upon them 474. Complains at the Diet of Augsbourg of the Irruptions of the Turks 511. Aid is granted him by the Princes at Norimberg 512. Treats with D. Maurice about Peace at Lintz 556. Goes to Passaw to Mediate a Peace 563. Presses D. Maurice to stay a while for the Emperor's Answer 568. Goes again to the Emperor to Villach ibid. Brings the Emperor's Answer back to Passaw 569. He there answers the French Ambassador in the Emperor's Name 570. Opens the Diet of Augsbourg 598. Publishes an Edict about Religion 602. Which is answered by the States of his Country ibid. He comes to Augsbourg 607. Opens the Diet with a Speech ibid. What effect it had upon the Diet 610. Banishes two hundred Protestant Ministers out of Bohemia ibid. Invites the Princes to the Augsbourg Diet 612. Mediates between Papists and Protestants at Augsbourg 624. Answers those Papers that were dispersed in the Diâ—t 625. His Answer to the Protestants Reply 626. Sollicites the Princes of Germany against the Turk 628. Answers the Address of the Austrian Nobility 630. Replies to the Austrians Answer 631. Is Sollicited by the Bavarians for Liberty of Conscience 633. He goes into Bohemia ibid. Fevre d'Estaples vide Faber Stapulensis Fisher Bishop of Rochester Beheaded for not acknowledging King Henry Supream Head of the Church 180. Made Cardinal in Prison ib. Flisted Peter burnt at Cologne for his Religion 121. Florentines aid the French against Charles 131. Send Ambassadors to him with Submissions 132. They yield to him after a years Siege ibid. Fox Edw. Bishop of Hereford his Speech to the Protestants at Smalcald 188. Desires a Private Conference 189. Which is allowed ib. France a Persecution of the Lutherans there 175. Francis King of France Competitor for the Empire 13. Is troubled that Charles V. is preferr'd 19. Makes a League with the Switzers 48. Takes Milan 76. Besieges Parma ibid. Is taken Prisoner there 79 Writes into France in Favour of Faber Stapulensis 98. Falls sick in Prison 102. Treats a Peace with Char. V. ibid. Leaves two Sons Hostages in Spain 103. But makes a League with the Pope and Venetians against the Emperor 105. VVrites to the Princes of the Empire 108. Publishes an Apology for engaging in VVar with Char. V. ibid. Sends Letters of Defiance to Char. V. 112. Makes a league with Henry VIII ibid. Challenges Char. V. to a Duel 112. Concludes a Peace with him at Cambray 121. The Articles of it ibid. His Letter to the Protestant Princes 149. Marries Catharine de Medicis to his Eldest Son Henry 168. He goes in Procession to St. Genevieve 178. He writes to the German Princes to take off Misunderstandings 179. Sends Bellay to Smalcald to the Protestants 182. His Opinion about the Points of Controversie in Germany 186. He offers to enter into a Leage with the Protestants 187.
Duke of Aumales Marraige Louis d' Avilaâ— History of the German War. Islebius brags of the Interim The Bishop of Auranches writes against the Interim So does Romey the Dominican The constancy of the Sons of the Duke of Saxony The Duke of Saxony avows to the Emperour his rejecting of the Interim The Deputies of Constance with the Emperour Their humble Letters to him The Bishop of Constance dies of an Apoplexy which he had imprecated unto his People Maximilian's War against the Switzers The Emperour changeth the Senate of Ausburg The Companies are abolished The Emperour gives sentence in favour of Nassaw against the Landgrave The Spaniards march privately to Constance Alfonsus Vives was killed and the Spaniards draw off without success A Custom of the Switzets The Letter of the Strasburgers to the Emperour Their Judgment of the Interim The Emperours answer to those of Strasburg The people of Constance proscribed They pray some Princes and the Suitzers to intercede with the Emperour for them The Emperous answer to the intercessors Those of Lindaw receive the Interim The Strasburgers consult about the Interim Many of them renounce their freedoms in the City and depart The Senate of Vlm changed The constancy of four Divines of Vlm The Ministers of Vlm put into Chains The Emperour comes to Spire The Popes Legats sent to Germany The Duke of Saxony and Landgrave carried Prisoners into the Low Countries The Deputies of Strasburg with the Emperour The Bishops of Strasburg's Letter to the Clergy about the observation of the Decree Their Letter to the Emperour The Deputies of Strasburg are dismissed and ordered to agree with their Bishop The Emperour keeps the Duke of Saxony with him The Landgrave he sends to Oudenard The Reformation of the Chamber The Duke of Brunswick brings an Action against the Protestants and so do some others The people of Constance give themselves up to the house of Austria King Ferdinand upon Conditions takes them into his protection And then lays his Commands upon them The Marriage of Duke Augustus of Saxony A Sedition at Bourdeaux The Bourdeaux-men receive the Constable and his Soldiers The Punishments inflicted by the Constable at Bourdeaux The Bells are taken from them and their Charters burnt The dead Body of the King's Lieutenant being by the Citizens scraped out of the ground with their Nails is splendidly buried The horrible History of Francis Spira John Caso Archbishop of Benevento the Pope's Legate at Venice Spira falls sick and also into despair admitting of no comfort He dyes despairing of Salvation Vergerio The strange Conversion of Vergerio to the reformed Religion Vergerio writes a Book against the Apostates of Germany John Baptista Vergerio Bishop of Pola The Inquisitors against Vergerio An Invective against Vergerio The Inquisition of Pola and Justinopolis Grisonio's exhortation against the Lutherans Vergerio goes to Trent to justifie himself in Council But is deny'd a place in it Vergerio preached the Gospel against the Grisons from thence was called to Tubingen Vergerio's Brother dies not without suspition of Poyson The Book of an Archbishop on the praise of Sodomy Marriages contracted by the Ministers of the Church of Cologne are annulled and declared to be incestuous The Custom of the Province of Treves The Interim is in vain pressed upon the Landgrave's subjects Siâ—onius consecrates a new the Churches of Franckfurt The Queen of Scots carried over into France Philip the Emperour's Son passes through Italy to the Low Countries Philip is magnificently received at Genova 1549. As also at Milan The Count of Buren dies A Convention of States in Saxony A Form of Religion is drawn up for Saxony The Emperous Son comes to Germany The Duke of Arescot is sent to meet him Duke Maurice's intercession for the Landgrave his Father-in-Law Troubles in Africa Upon what occasion the Cardinal of Lorrain was made Bishop of Metz. The City of Strasburg's Letter to the Emperour The People of Magdenburg exposed as a prey because of Religion The Preachers of Vlm freed out of Prison Tumults in Engâ—and The Admiral of England beheaded The Bishop of Strasburg enjoyns the Clergy to obey the Emperours Edict The diligence of Archbishop Cranmer in Promoting Piety Bucer and Fagius go over Sea to England The Emperours Son makes his entry into Brussels Intercession made for the Landgrave but in vain The Bishop of Strasburg says Mass The Plea of the Professors of Strasburg to the Bishop The Answer of the Bishops Agents to the Professors of Strasburg The intercession of the Senate of Strasburg for their Professors Christopher Welsinger a Civilian The Duke of Deux-ponts is again urged to approve the Decree His Letter to the Emperour The Ingenuous Confession of the Duke of Deux-ponts The refutation of the Interim by those of Lower Saxony The beginning of the divisions in the Churches of Saxony The Hamburghers Letter to Melaâ—chton about indifferent matters Melanchton's Answer The Electoral Archbishops held Provincial Synods The Heads of their Decrees Of Consecrations and Exorcisms The manifold use of Holy Water Salt in Baptism The Churching of Women 1589. The Ceremony of the Dedication of a Church The Consecration of Bells The way of Consecrating Altars The making of Oyl and the Chrism The Popish Ceremonies brought into contempt through the preaching of Luther A Papal Decree concerning the use of Holy Water The Pope's Legates to the Emperour The Pope's Indulgence The Power of the Bishops delegated Of Monks fallen into Heresie Of the Communion in both kinds Of the Profits of Church Lands The Subdelegation of the Bishops Delegate The Emperour sends the Pope's Indult to the Bishops of Germany The Archbishop of Mentz sends the Pope's Indult to the Landgravians A godly Answer of the Preachers A Dispute at Oxford in England about the Lord's Supper The Coronation of the Queen of France The King and Queen of France make their entry into Paris A Persecution in France Solemn Processions and Prayers at Paris Luther and other Hereticks to be rooted out of France Monsieur Vervine beheaded A League betwixt the Switzers and French. Duke Maurice's Letters to his Subjects The Landgraves Wife dies An Insurrection in England The French King recovers some Places from England The Duke of Somerset committed to Prison The Emperour makes the Low-Countries do Homage to his Son Prince Philip. The Senate of Strasburg agree with their Bishop The danger of the Republick of Magdeburg by reason of the Emperours Proscription Their Apologetick Declaration Two Reasons why they cannot obtain Peace Gordius the Martyr The Marriage of Francis of Mantua The death of Paul III. A Book against Paul III. The Murders of Paul III. Paul's Sister being a Whore makes him a Cardinal He murders another Sister His Lusts The Funeral Charges of Paul III. A description of the Conclave of Rome 54 Cardinals in the time of Paul III. The way of chusing the Pope How many Voices every Cardinal may give Three Factions of Cardinals The Conclave full of chinks Pool upon
Emperour and Princes of the Empire So soon as these came to Ausburg which was ten days after they bring a heavy accusation against the Senate and People of Magdeburg and in consideration that Duke Maurice had taken into his Service the Forces of the Duke of Meckleburg that they had also sent him Supplies and that they were not able long to support such Charges they desire the Princes to take some speedy course to quench the common Flame that both the Soldiers may be paid and these outlaw'd Criminals brought to condign Punishment before they recovered Strength and Courage after their late overthrow for that otherwise the Soldiers would run away to the Enemy which would put not only them who were the next Neighbours into present danger but also all the States of the Empire That it was their whole design to overturn the Government and to raise a popular Insurrection all over the Empire and therefore they proposed a Supply of eight thousand Foot and twelve hundred Horse The same day the Answers of the Bremers and Magdeburgers to the Princes Letters we mentioned before were publickly read and the Bremers in the first place plead the earnest desire they have always had of Peace and the Emperour's Friendship that for obtaining it they had not only employed Deputies of their own but used the mediation also of the King of Denmark and the Maritime Cities and that the Conditions proposed were very hard But however that it might appear how great the Emperour's Authority was with them they would not refuse to send Deputies and promised to do any thing provided they might be allowed their Religion and Liberty The Magdeburgers again alledge that in the former Dyet they had made most humble and earnest suit to the Emperour for a Peace but that the Conditions were intolerable and the Wrongs since that time they sustained so grievous that finding no end nor measure of suffering Injuries they had been necessitated to resist force by force but still moderately That the cause why they were so much hated was only that they desired to retain the true Doctrine and eschew Idolatry That as affairs stood they could find none that would undertake to go in their Name with full power to the Diet against the Day appointed as they were commanded That besides George Duke of Meckleburg had unexpectedly made War upon them and declared openly that he did it by command from the Emperour and Empire That now also the City was blockt up by the Enemy but that if these did withdraw and safe Conduct were given to their Deputies with liberty to return and make a report of their Demands they would not refuse to send some About the beginning of November Ulrick Duke of Wirtemberg died whilst the suit which he had with King Ferdinand as we said before was still depending and his Son Christopher succeeded him When the Emperour had received the Answers of the two Cities he said the Bremers were to be expected because they had promised to come but as to the Magdeburgers since the matter was quite otherwise than what they said and because they answered with a kind of contempt he bids them proceed in consulting what was to be done with them and chiefly that they should take the Demands of the States of the Bishoprick into their serious consideration and do therein what they should think fit both for the welfare and dignity of the Empire The Princes and States easily perceived that no Peace could ever be made upon these Conditions and therefore they desired easier Terms might be proposed but the Emperour persisted in his purpose So they at last though much against the minds of many especially of the free Towns assent and promise Assistance but on the other hand they pray the Emperour that he would also contribute And then that if he could not command in person he would appoint a General to carry on this War and for that end propose to him Duke Maurice if he thought fit but as for the Charges of it it was their judgment that they should be paid out of the Money already raised for the future occasions of the Publick The Emperour on his part made answer That he had been at vast Charges in the former War to restore Peace to Germany and therefore desires them to take it into their Consideration That as to Duke Maurice he was very well pleased nor did he know any man at that time more fit for the Charge than he was and that for several Reasons But that Money should be taken out of the publick Treasury he so far approved and allowed it as that what was taken out should within a certain time be refunded again for that that Money was not raised for this use and he exhorted them to prosecute the matter with all their Force that they might be punished according to their Deservings which was easy enough to be done he told them if Castles and Redoubts were raised about the Town and the Siege vigorously carried on without intermission till they were forced to yield but that there was need of expedition because of the season of the Year and the opportunity of Action For that if that headstrong and obstinate Rebellion were not suppressed it was obvious to them how much it would redound to the prejudice and disgrace of the Empire So then Duke Maurice who as we said had already thrust himself into Action having mustered the Forces under him is now publickly entrusted with the management of the War For defraying the Charges whereof a Subsidy is granted of threescore Thousand Florin's a Month and an hundred Thousand allotted for the Charges already made The Emperour in the next place assured the Princes That the Council should be again continued at Trent before Easter for that he had the Pope's Promise for it In the mean time he urges the Decree of Ausburg and bids them tell him the Reasons why the Regulations that were made two Years before for the Reformation of Religion and the Clergy were not observed The Electoral Archbishops answer That they had not omitted any thing and were at present wholly taken up about it but that the cause why it did not take effect was the Exemptions and Privileges that some pretended to The Representatives of the absent Electors said That all Endeavours had been used but that an inveterate continuance had withstood the effect for that this Religion was not so soon to be pluckt out of Men's minds but that there was need of Instruction and bringing them over by degrees who were fully persuaded that that Decree was in many things repugnant to the Holy Scriptures that no violent Change could be made without Troubles and Stirs and that if any Man should constrain the Preachers to it there would be no Service in the Churches for that hardly any one could be sound that would stoop to it because of that Article of Celibacy and of
the Lord's Supper The other Princes and States of the Catholick Religion give for Reasons the Schools and Colleges wherein the Youth is not rightly Educated the Protestant Ministers who srighten the People from that Decree the Poverty of Priests and the Negligence of the Magistrates that the dissolute and impure Lives of some Church-men also was a great hinderance and lastly that many in scandalous Books and Pamphlets did scurrilously rail and inveigh against the Decree without any Punishment Pope Julius having been often importuned by the Emperour about the thirteenth of November issued forth his Bull of Indiction for calling of the Council affirming it to be in his power to call and direct Councils That he was desirous also to procure the Peace of Germany which had been always most dutiful to the Catholick Church and Popes of Rome who are Christ's Vicars upon Earth That therefore all should come by the first of May to Trent who by any right custom or privilege ought to have place there and whom Paul the Third formerly called when he summoned the Council to meet at the same place for that from that day forward the Council should be continued And that if by reason of Age Sickness or publick Affairs he could not come and preside therein in person yet he would do so by his Legates This Bull he afterwards sent to the Emperour Duke Maurice being now Generalissimo of the Imperial Forces against Magdeburg vigorously persued the Enterprise and having built some Castles and Redoubts for lodging the Soldiers in the Winter time about the end of November he attack'd the Town The City is divided into three parts one of which that is called the New Town he surprized by scaling the Walls and Gates with great silence in the Night time and gave no Alarm before he had brought in his Soldiers The Towns-people rouzed by the Noise were such of them as were in Arms put to the Sword and the rest being taken and plundered were turned out But the Magdeburgers that they might force the Enemy from that advantageous Post sent Soldiers to set fire to it on that side which belonged to them and afterwards burnt the other part of the Town also which is called Sudeburg and received the Inhabitants into the City Much about this time Lazarus Schuendi came to the Camp that in the Emperour's Name he might assist Duke Maurice with his Counsel At that time Count Heideck whom as has been said the Emperour proscribed two Years before was in Saxony where he and Albert Count Mansfield were raising Forces in the Neighbouring Cities which are called the Maritime Towns for the Relief of the Magdeburgers Duke Maurice therefore in the Month of December marches against them with part of the Army and disperses them taking four Companies of their Men into his Service the same he did afterward to Count Heideck as shall be related hereafter On the fourteenth of December the Emperour published a very long and severe Edict against the Magdeburgers charging all Men not to aid nor assist them and commanding the Officers and Soldiers that were in the Town within fourteen days after sight of his Proclamation to depart out of the City and to certify the same to Duke Maurice or in his absence to Lazarus Schuendi upon promise of Pardon if they obeyed but if otherwise upon pain of his heaviest displeasure Albert Count Mansfield was in the Town who had not indeed been Outlaw'd by the Emperour but was turned out of all for his having continued to the last true and faithful to John Frederick Duke of Saxony We told you that the Emperour upon his going to Ausburg from the Netherlands had left the Landgrave Prisoner at Mechline The Elector of Brandenburg and Duke Maurice had indeed earnestly solicited his Enlargement but they were told that both he himself and his Sons and Counsellors did so behave themselves that he could not as yet be set at liberty nay his Keepers also told him that he was to be carried to Spain He therefore craved the assistance of his Sons whom he minded of the Duty they owed to him and charged them to enter their Action against the Elector of Brandeburg and Duke Maurice and force them to make their appearance according to the tenor of their Obligation and to fulfil their promise His Sons obey and by frequent Messages admonish and cite them They again sometime joyntly and sometimes severally now by Messengers and then in Person excuse themselves shewing them that it was neither for their own nor Father's Interest to do so and after alledge new Reasons which gave them confidence that he might be set at liberty without any danger They therefore begg'd Pardon and that they would have a little longer patience But the Emperour who as has been said had by De Lire solicited the Landgrave before to deliver up the Letters Obligatory being again put to it sent Lazarus Schuendi to his Sons and Counsellors commanding them not only to desist for the future from suing Duke Maurice and the Elector of Brandeburg but also to send him all Papers and Obligation of that nature and to let fall their Action under the severest Penalties but this was all in vain By publick Letters also he discharges the Princes engaged and declares them free from all obligation When therefore the Landgrave saw no hopes remaining he resolved at all ventures to make his escape if he could and cast about and devised how he might effect it with his Servants whom he had sent for out of Hess and were some of them Gentlemen of good Families but they fearing the danger went but slackly about the business At length he prevails with two of them Conrad Bredenstein and John Rommelun these laid fresh Horses all the way from Hess to Mechline for him to fly upon and make his escape But the design took vent through the fault of a Servant of his own who in familiarity blabb'd it out to a friend of his at Mechline that within a few hours his Master would be at liberty This being carried from hand to hand came at length to the Captain of the Guard 's ears and so the design was baulked in the very nick when it was to have been put in execution Two of his Servants were therefore run through upon the spot some others taken and beheaded and he himself made a close Prisoner The Emperour was highly displeased at this attempt and wrote to Duke Maurice and the Elector of Brandeburg telling them That so bold an enterprise was injurious both to him and his Government and that he would severely revenge himself upon those that therein had assisted him either with aid or counsel They sent Copies of these Letters to Prince William the Landgrave's Son and amongst other things acquaint him that if any such thing were attempted for the future they would be absolved from all obligation unto them Nevertheless Duke
thousand killed and amongst those many innocent Men whom they had partly feared and partly wheadled into their service eight Colours with all their Artillery Ammunition and Baggage taken Now they endeavour to make us the cause of this War and say That at our instigation the Duke of Meckleburg took up Arms But it is false for many times before and since the Battel we sent Deputies to treat of Peace and desire nothing else at present than that they might make their Peace with the Emperour and suffer us to live peaceably and quietly at home as in former times we did But seeing they reject all offers of Peace and by unjust violence detain from us our Castles Towns and Villages we are constrained to take some course to recover them again Now all that they alleage and publish in their own justification is utterly false as is commonly known For we did not disturb nor molest them in the Exercise of their Religion and when lately the most Illustrious Princes Duke Maurice and Joachim Elector of Brandeburg proposed reasonable Conditions of Peace unto them they proudly rejected them and sallying out in the night time fell upon an Aged Gentleman a Bed in his own House without any offence given and when with very much ado he had escaped half naked they plundered his House robbed his Wife and Children of all their Cloaths and having threatned many times to kill them left them naked so that a Gentleman happening at that time to come was fain to cover the Lady with his own Garment The truth is it cannot be expressed in few words what outrages they committed that night They have made their brags also and that not obscurely too that it is in vain for us to expect restitution for having raised their Fortunes with our Lands and Goods they are accustomed now to an higher rate of living and cannot be easily brought to restore the Possessions of other Men. Which being so and seeing to past injuries they add present contempt and are wholly bent upon our destruction we could not but give this short account of their noble Actions Wherefore it ought not to seem strange to any man if courses now be taken to reduce them to their Duty For whoever love the Civil State and common Society of Manking cannot but have an aversion to them and so be far from succouring or assisting them In the same manner they had a little before accused them by their Deputies at Torgaw where Duke Maurice held then a Convention of States upon account of this War. But not many days after the same Month the Senate made answer by a publick Declaration that they did not suppose all the States of the Archbishoprick made this complaint of them but that it proceeded wholly from the Clergy For it is a great grief to them say they that the Purity of the Gospel is preach'd up amongst us that their our naughtiness is detected and dignity abased And this is the source of all their hatred This hath egged them on to accuse us falsly to the Emperour that being outlawed by him we might lie the more exposen to injuries We have not truly offended the Emperour in any thing and saving our Religion and Liberty there is nothing but what he might expect from us We are indeed bound to the Archbishops of this City but upon certain Conditions to wit that they impeach not our Rights and Liberties and these Conditions we have not violated But our Adversaries advised John Albert the Archbishop to demand some things that were new and unsual Wherefore we refused to do homage unto him However they have no great cause to instance him for neither were they themselves faithful unto him and it much grieved them when in former years they saw a way made for him to enter into the Archbishoprick for they would rather have had him excluded Now we are not subject nor any ways bound to them And so long as the Compacts of the last Age were observed we refused no kind of Duty but after that these began to be laid aside we withstood it and many Quarrels have arisen from thence When of late years also new ways were now and then found out to raise Money in this Province we openly opposed it in the publick Conventions shewing that it was a thing never attempted by former Archbishops though all we could do was in vain For a great part of that went as a prey amongst some of the States but especially the Clergy This is that refractariness which they object to us They went out of the City but of their own accord and prompted to it by a certain kind of pride when they saw that the Duke of Saxony and Landgrave were overcome For then they thought the time was come when they should have their hearts desire invade the Government and live again at their wonted rate of impurity We did not indeed drive them out and though some of our Ministers would now and then inveigh against the filthy and dissolute couse of life they led yet for many years they lived with all safety amongst us and now but very lately some of them dwelt in the City Now if we had had a mind to have used any force upon them it had been no hard matter to have been done But we attempted no such thing and when the state of our Affairs was such that we had reason and were constrained to fear hostilities we called a Convocation of the Chapter of the Cathedral Church and that since the Light of the Gospel was made manifest and that God also requires the Profession of it we earnestly entreated them as we had done many time before that they themselves would chuse some learned Divine to preach the Word of God in the Cathedral Church That that in it self was a very pious Work and would much conduce to the settling of mutual good will and friendship betwixt them and the Towns people But upon their refusal to do it we procured it to be done And because the Enemy was at hand and had already entred our Frontiers we desired of them that they would advance a certain sum of Money send no Letters out of the Town remain with us and use and enjoy their own Possessions But not long after they removed and being afterwards importuned by us to send Deputies at a day prefixed to Salfield with whom we might treat they scornfully rejected the Conference Wherefore since they thus expressed their hatred and enmity to us we were forced to requite them in the same manner Though if they had tarried with us all this trouble might have been avoided But they were inflamed with malice against us and were still hatching ways to ruine and destroy us So that we were necessitated to take up Arms for our own defence For if we had not seized their Villages and Towns there had been a place of refuge left for the Enemy And seeing these Lands belong to the Church of